My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Bridle Gossip
A/N: (In the writers studio, Pinkie Pie waits until Discord runs past with Thanos on his heels, and then she sneaks over to the laptop. She opens it and is unaware that Dede42 is in the room.)
Dede42: Watcha doing, Pinkie?
Pinkie Pie: (Jumps into the air) AAAHHH! (She lands with a loud thud) Ow!
Dede42: Pinkie, you're aware that I read all of the reviews posted on my stories, right?
Pinkie Pie: (meekly nods) Yes…
Dede42: So, if you want to use my laptop, you just have to ask, you don't have to sneak around behind my back. It's bad enough when someone like Discord does that.
Pinkie Pie: Ok! (And she bounces off doing her happy singing.)
Dede42: (shakes her head with a smile) Oh, Pinkie, you silly girl.
Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from My Little Pony: Magic is Friendship. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.
CHAPTER ONE: WHO IS ZECORA?
It was another beautiful day in Ponyville and Twilight Sparkle was happily walking down the road into town with Spike on her back, and he was also enjoying the beautiful day, too.
"Wow, what a gorgeous day!" the purple unicorn commented happily.
"Rainbow Dash must have gotten up early for once and cleared all the clouds away," Spike agreed.
Twilight Sparkle nodded, trotting into the town square. "I bet all of Ponyville is going to be out enjoying the sunshine," she predicted, only to discover that there weren't any ponies and the few that they did see, they were hurrying inside and shutting both the doors and windows to their homes and shops. "What? Where is everypony?" she wondered.
"Is it some sort of pony holiday?" Spike guessed.
Twilight Sparkle shook her head. "Not that I know of."
"Does my breath stink?" the baby dragon guessed and belched out some green flame, sniffing the air.
Twilight Sparkle chuckled. "Not more than usual."
"Is it… zombies?!" Spike asked fearfully.
This time Twilight Sparkle shook her head skeptically. "Uh… not very likely."
Spike didn't like the sound of that. "Not likely… but possible?"
Twilight Sparkle was about to reassure him again when she heard a hissing sound, but she couldn't find the source until a familiar pink head peered out of Sugarcube Corner.
"Psst! Twilight! Spike!" Pinkie Pie hissed, waving frantically at them. "Come here! Come! Here! Hurry! Before she gets you!" And when they reached the door, she shoved them both inside, shutting and locking the door behind them.
Twilight Sparkle blinked, surprised to find that the shop was completely black and groaned when a beam of light was beaming into her face. "Pinkie…"
"Sorry," Pinkie Pie apologized, lowering the flashlight a little. "Just had to make sure that she didn't get you both."
"Who?!" Spike asked fearfully, clinging to Twilight Sparkle's neck tightly. "The zombie pony?"
Pinkie Pie whimpered and almost dropped the flashlight. "Z-Zombie pony?!"
"Spike!" Twilight Sparkle scolded. "There are no zombie ponies. Pinkie, what are you doing here alone in the dark?" she asked.
"I'm not alone in the dark," said Pinkie Pie, turning on a lamp to reveal that Sunrise Blossom, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy were in the room with them, cowering near one of the curtained windows.
Twilight Sparkle was surprised to find them all hiding. "Okay then, what are you all doing here in the dark?" she asked, joining them near the window.
"We're hidin' from her!" Applejack hissed, pulling aside the curtain just enough so that they could see a cloaked figure enter the square, and they watched as the figure pawed at the ground with one hoof connected to a black/white striped foreleg. The ponies watched the figure down this for a full minute when it suddenly looked directly at them with glowing yellow eyes, and they all duck down, shutting the curtain with fearful gasps.
Well, Twilight Sparkle didn't duck down and she thought her friends and her twin sister were acting silly. Apple Bloom hurried over to her and asked a question. "Did you see her, Twilight? Did you see… Zecora?"
"Apple Bloom!" Applejack hissed. "I told you never to say that name."
"Well, I saw her glance this way-" Twilight Sparkle began.
"Glance evilly this way," Pinkie Pie interrupted.
Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. "… And then a bunch of you flip out for no good reason. Really, Sunrise, why are you hiding like this?" she asked her twin.
"Seemed like the smart thing to do," Sunrise Blossom admitted.
"No good reason?" said Applejack, annoyed. "You call protectin' yer kin no good reason? Why, as soon as my sister saw Zecora ridin' into town, she started shakin' in her lil' horseshoes." And she held her little sister close, shaking her.
"Did not!" Apple Bloom protested.
Applejack ignored her and continued talking. "So I swept her up and brought her here."
"I walked here myself!" Apple Bloom protested.
"For safe keepin'," Applejack concluded.
Apple Bloom pulled away from her sister and glared at her. "Applejack, I'm not a baby!" she snapped. "I can take care of myself!"
Applejack shook her head. "Not from that creepy Zecora."
"She's mysterious," said Fluttershy with a shudder.
"Sinister," Rainbow Dash added.
"And spoooooky!" Pinkie Pie concluded.
Rolling her eyes, Twilight Sparkle peered out the window again, sighing when the ponies joined her, and she raised her eyebrows while they gasped when Zecora pushed back the hood with one black hoof to reveal that she was covered with strips, including her mane and tail, and she wore gold jewelry around her neck, on her ears, and on her legs. "Will you cut that out?"
"Just look at those stripes!" Rarity gasped as they moved away from the window again. "So garish!"
Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. "She's a zebra."
"Oh, so that's a zebra," said Sunrise Blossom while their friends were confused.
Twilight Sparkle nodded. "A zebra," she agreed. "And her stripes aren't a fashion choice Rarity, they're what she was born with," she added, leading to the grey unicorn to faint.
"Here we go again," Sunrise Blossom muttered, and she pulled out some smelling salts from her saddle bags since she'd been in the middle of making deliveries to revival their friend.
"Born where?" Applejack wondered. "I've never seen a pony like that in these parts, 'cept… her!"
"Well, she's probably not from here, and she's not a pony," Twilight Sparkle explained, unaware that Spike was sneaking into the kitchen. "My books say that zebras come from a faraway land. But I've never seen her in Ponyville. Where does she live?"
"That's just it, she lives in… the Everfree Forest!" Applejack exclaimed and they all yelped when there was a loud clap of thunder.
"Spike!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed, spotting the baby dragon, who'd accidentally knocked over some pots and pans while trying to grab a candy cane.
Spike flushed. "Uh, sorry."
Applejack did her best to not freak out when she continued her explanation. "The Everfree Forest just ain't natural. The plants grow…"
"Animals care for themselves…" said Fluttershy with a shudder.
"And the clouds move…" Rainbow Dash began and was joined in by Applejack and Fluttershy. "All on their own!" And Rarity fainted again.
This time, Sunrise Blossom rolled her eyes as she used the smelling salts to wake her friend up again. "Enough being dramatic, Rarity."
"And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil… stuff!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing around. "She's so evil I even wrote a song about her!"
"Here we go…" Rainbow Dash sighed.
"She's an evil enchantress, She does evil dances," Pinkie Pie sang, still bouncing around grabbing the purple unicorn at one point. "And if you look deep in her eyes, She'll put you in trances, Then what will she do? She'll mix up an evil brew, Then she'll gobble you up, In a big tasty stew. Soooo… Watch out!" she finished, standing on a table.
"Wow. Catchy," Twilight Sparkle said sarcastically.
Pinkie Pie shrugged and hopped off the table. "It's a work in progress."
"This is all just a lot of gossip and rumors," said Twilight Sparkle, positive that they were all acting like fillies. "Now tell me; what exactly have you actually seen Zecora do?"
Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. "Well… Once a month, she comes into Ponyville."
"Oooooh," said Twilight Sparkle dramatically.
"Then, she lurks by the stores," said Rarity.
Twilight Sparkle pretended to be shocked. "Oh, my."
"And then, she digs at the ground," Fluttershy added.
"Good gracious!" Twilight Sparkle gasped before shaking her head. "Okay, I'm sorry. But how is any of this bad? Maybe she comes to town to visit?" she suggested.
"Yeah!" Apple Bloom agreed. "Maybe she's just tryin' to be neighborly."
Twilight Sparkle nodded. "And maybe she's not lurking by the stores," she continued, "maybe she's going to them, lurk free, to do some shopping?"
"Yeah! Everypony likes to shop," said Apple Bloom in agreement. "You know what I think?"
"Apple Bloom!" Applejack interrupted, fixing her little sister with a look. "Hush and let the big ponies talk."
Apple Bloom glowered at her sister. "I am a big pony!" she muttered angrily.
"W-what about digging at the ground?" Rainbow Dash wondered while Pinkie Pie sang her song again. "You've got to admit that's weird."
"It's kinda weird," Sunrise Blossom agreed.
"What if she's digging for innocent creatures?" Fluttershy suggested.
"I am sure there is an explanation for everything Zecora does," said Twilight Sparkle. "And if anypony here were actually brave enough to approach her, she would find out the truth."
Apple Bloom crept over to the door and nudged the lower half open. "Well, I'm brave enough," she decided in a low voice, "I'm gonna find out myself." Going outside, she crept around, keeping the zebra in sight and gasped when the zebra looked her way for a moment before heading into the Everfree Forest after digging at the ground a bit more. Swallowing, Apple Bloom quickly followed her into the forest.
Meanwhile back at Sugarcube Corner, Twilight Sparkle still wasn't convinced that Zecora was as dangerous as they believed. "You ponies are being ridiculous!"
"Well, I heard that Zecora eats hay," said Pinkie Pie confidently and had finally stopped signing after much pleading from Sunrise Blossom, who was certain that she would have that song stuck in her head for the rest of the day.
"Pinkie, I eat hay," Twilight Sparkle said exasperatedly, "you eat hay!"
"Yeah, but I heard it's the evil way she eats hay," Pinkie Pie added.
Applejack shook her head at Twilight Sparkle's skeptical look and then she realized that they were missing a certain filly. "Hey! Where's Apple Bloom?" she asked, looking around wildly.
Looking around Fluttershy spotted the lower of the door. "The door's open."
"She went outside!" Rarity gasped fearfully.
"And Zecora's still out there," said Rainbow Dash, worried.
Applejack sighed. "That silly lil' filly! I told her to stay put!" And she hurried out the door with the other ponies following after her.
Twilight Sparkle turned to Spike, who was wearing a pot on his head by this point. "Spike, you stay here in case Apple Bloom comes back," she instructed.
Spike saluted. "Will do!"
While all of this was going on, Apple Bloom was still following Zecora through the forest, which she hadn't been in since the incident involving Shadow Star, not that she remembered very much about it. She followed the zebra along a path that was bordered by strange blue plants that had large leaves with a bulb with several petals sticking out of the center, each bulb sporting a few stamen. The entire plant is blue, including leaves and stalk, with dark streaks running over it in a design.
Apple Bloom started having second thoughts when a strange fog began coming out of the trees when she heard a familiar voice behind.
"Apple Bloom?" Applejack called out, running through the strange flowers toward her sister with her friends right behind her, and immediately scooped her onto her back. "You get back here right now!"
Hearing this, Zecora turned to find the Mane 7 standing in the middle of the strange blue flowers while Apple Bloom was draped over her big sister's back. "Beware! Beware, you pony folk!" she warned with a strange accent and was rhyming. "Those leaves of blue are not a joke!"
"Y-you keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, ya hear?" Applejack said warning with the others in agreement.
Twilight Sparkle sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh brother."
"Beware! Beware!" Zecora warned, backing away and disappearing into the fog.
"Yeah, back at ya, Zecora!" Rainbow Dash called out after the zebra, rising into the air a little. "You and your lame curse are the ones who better beware!"
Applejack carried Apple Bloom out of the flowers and deposited her on the ground. "And you!" she scolded. "Why couldn't you just listen to yer big sister?"
"I…I…" Apple Bloom stammered, but faltered while hanging her head in shame.
Applejack sighed and hugged her little sister, relieved that she was safe once again. "Who knows what kind of nasty curse Zecora could have just put on you?" she wondered.
"Just like in my song!" Pinkie Pie agreed and she started singing a shorter version of "Evil Enchantress".
"Here we go again," Sunrise Blossom grumbled. "Pinkie, please stop singing that blasted song!"
Twilight Sparkle shook her head in an exasperated manner. "You guys, there's no such thing as curses!"
"Well, that's interesting to hear coming from Miss Magic Pants herself," Rainbow Dash remarked, tapping the purple unicorn's horn with one hoof.
"My magic, real magic, comes from within," Twilight Sparkle reminded the blue pegasus, annoyed. "It's a skill you're born with. Curses are artificial, fake magic. It's conjured with potions and incantations; all smoke and mirrors meant to scare. But curses have no real power, they're just an old pony tale."
"Just you wait, Twilight," Applejack warned as they started back toward Ponyville. "You're gonna learn that some pony tales really are true."
Later that night, Twilight Sparkle was lying in her bed, trying to sleep, but was having a strange dream that was filled with all the strange things that'd happen that day, and she kept seeing Pinkie Pie, Zecora in her hood, Rainbow Dash, and the others with their concerns, songs, and warnings.
`"She's an evil enchantress, she does evil dances! Beware! Beware! If you look deep in her eyes, she will put you in trances! Yeah, was that supposed to scare us?! Wicked, wicked zebra! No pony knows that much about her. … it's a curse. Then what will she do? Just you wait, Twilight; some pony tales really are true. Then she'll gobble you up in a big tasty stew! Soooo… Watch out!"`
Twilight Sparkle woke with a gasp when a rooster started crowing and she saw that it was morning. "Ugh… what a dream…" she groaned, getting out of bed and went over to her vanity, trying to forget the dream that had ended with the hooded Zecora laughing evilly. "Curses, schmurses. Whoa!" She started at her reflection when she saw that her mane was all frizzy from her tossing and turning most of the night and she chuckled. "Maybe Zecora cursed my hair," she joked, magically using a brush to fix her mane and then she gasped with horror when she saw that her horn was limp and covered with blue spots. "Or she cursed my horn!"
A/N: Has Twilight been cursed by Zecora or is something else is going on? R&R everyone!