Not sure about these next couple of chapters. Then again, I was unsure of even starting this. Take from that what you will.

I don't own My Little Pony

Bridle Gossip or Silence Will Fall

"Wow, what a gorgeous day!" Twilight mused out loud.

"Rainbow Dash must've gotten up early for once and cleared all the clouds away." Spike speculated from his back. Myles chuckled a bit, following behind Twilight as they walked through town.

The other two continued talking as he tried to focus on new ideas for his crystals. His efforts to figure out the unique properties of the materials and their applications for magic had redoubled in the last few weeks. For now they were only hampered by his lack of a house, a problem which would soon be fixed if the half-built tower at the edge of Everfree Forest was any indication. He had designed parts of it himself and initially he had planned to build it using crystals to set pieces in place. Twilight had talked him out of this and he had handed over his shoddy blueprints to professional construction ponies. They had said they could manage it and so far Myles was impressed with how closely they'd stuck to his design. Of course, Twilight had been right and a few things had had to be changed for practical and safety reasons. He was fairly certain Twilight had been smiling when she reminded him of this, but he wasn't sure if she was teasing him or not. Actually, Myles wasn't very sure of anything concerning Twilight Sparkle anymore.

That was the other reason he'd thrown himself into his research. He'd been having trouble looking Twilight in the eye since his realization concerning his feelings for her. Every time they spoke he felt on edge out of concern that she might find out and their friendship might crumble. Myles had previously had friends who had abandoned him and was not eager to feel that pain again, but this seemed even worse, the thought of her never speaking to him again filled him with dread. Over the course of trying not to think about her, he discovered several things he would miss about her if she shunned him. Her laugh, her smile, her tendency to completely overanalyze a problem scientifically before considering there might be a simple solution and any number of little things he found brightened his day every time he saw them.

He had almost rationalized himself into telling her, fearing that keeping this secret would tear apart their friendship as well, but then he had realized the situation was broader than the two of them. He and Twilight represented two of the Elements of Harmony, one of the most powerful forces known to ponykind and a tool essential to keeping ponies safe from magical threats. However, that force was based on the magic of friendship and Twilight had confirmed that the Elements wouldn't work if they stopped being friends. He had asked her hypothetically so as not to raise suspicion, but it confirmed what he'd feared. Twilight and he could never be anything more or less than friends, since one day the Fate of Equestria may depend on that connection.

So he continued hiding, keeping his distance from Twilight as much as possible while staying under the same roof with her. She tended not to disturb him when he worked on his crystals as he needed to be able to hear them to fine tune them. So whenever she was home he worked on his research to keep himself from spending too much time with her. When his home was finished, he'd have his own sanctuary away from the problem, so Myles told himself every day that it would get easier. So far, he hadn't fooled himself at all.

"Is it… zombies?!" Spike asked in fear, finally catching Myles attention again. He looked around and wondered what they were discussing when they heard a "Psst!" from the house nearby.

In short order, the three of them had been dragged into the house by Pinkie Pie, who revealed that the rest of their friends were present as well, evidently hiding from a mysterious figure outside. He kept an eye on the figure in question, who seemed to be guilty of nothing other than having strange patterns on her coat and pawing at the ground. The girls had continued their discussion without him.

"That's just it," Applejack spoke with a shiver, "She lives in… the Everfree Forest!"

"What?" Myles head snapped round as he turned his attention to her, not even flinching when Spike knocked over several pots and pans and created a loud crash.

"The Everfree Forest just ain't natural!" Applejack continued without acknowledging Myles, "The plants grow!"

"Animals care for themselves!" Fluttershy added.

"And the clouds move…" Rainbow Dash began before the three of them finished with

"All on their own!"

Myles shook his head and tapped his detection crystal, checking the perimeter as the others speculated about this Zecora. His ear twitched in irritation, not at Pinkie Pie's sudden singing, but at what his detection barrier showed. Then he remembered something else.

"The cottage," he said simply as the others turned to him.

"What?"

"One of the times I went into the forest, I was being pursued by timberwolves and I spotted a thatch-roofed cottage built around and into a tree. It was in good shape and there was a light on. Must've been hers…"

"See? A little strange," Twilight said triumphantly, "but she's just like the rest of us."

"Except that was months ago," Myles continued, turning to see the others' expressions of apprehension, "and I never found it again."

"Even her house is enchanted!" Pinkie cried.

"She is not an enchantress!" Twilight yelled angrily. Myles brought up the display of the perimeter for all of them to see. Twilight looked at Myles with an irritated expression, "What?"

"No alerts," he said nervously, "It's detected nothing all day long. How'd she get in without setting the system off?"

"Maybe she walked around?" Twilight suggested.

"How would she know there was something to walk around?" Myles asked with increasing volume and urgency, "Yeah I didn't exactly hide the crystals but if she was staring at her hooves the whole way out of the forest, she'd have been eaten by something. Even if she'd tripped over one I would've been notified…" Myles continued speculating to himself as he headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Twilight demanded.

"Gotta check the perimeter, if she disabled it somehow… Ponyville might already be in danger!" He galloped outside and headed directly for the forest.

When he neared the tree line, he spotted a yellow and red filly running ahead of him and gave chase. He glanced briefly at his crystal as it pinged a warning for the filly crossing the barrier just inside the forest. Frowning, he continued to follow, even if the perimeter was working, he had to keep her from attracting attention from anything living in the woods. If it weren't for the dozens of peaceful animals that made their way in and out of the forest each day, he'd seal it off permanently. Not that it would ensure the town's safety, he thought as he spotted another figure ahead of the one he was chasing, this one had stripes and a cloak. He struggled to remember the name of Applejack's younger sister.

"Apple!" he shouted after her, hoping her name also contained the name of the fruit her family was famous for. Evidently it did, because the filly skidded to a stop and looked round. As he continued galloping forwards, the cloaked figure turned towards them. Its eyes seemed to glow an eerie yellow as they narrowed at the two of them.

"Guardian, you must stray no more!

You alone stand twixt these woods and war!"

Myles merely frowned at this as he skidded to a stop in front of Applejack's sister. He heard shouting behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see the girls were approaching as well.

"You okay?" he asked the filly.

"Ahm fine," she replied. He turned back to the zebra and began to charge at her. Applejack called out to her sister and the sound of hoof-beats let him know the others were right behind him. Suddenly the figure spoke again.

"Beware, beware you ponyfolk,

Those leaves of blue are not a joke!"

Applejack scooped her sister up and placed her on her back before shouting at the figure.

"Y- you keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, ya hear!"

"Beware! Beware!" the figured intoned as it faded into the darkness.

The others continued to argue a bit as Myles glanced around. Zecora's words were unusually phrased, but they hadn't seemed to be malicious at all to Myles. He was still worried about the last phrase however, which had seemed familiar to him, though he couldn't figure out why. His ears stood straight in alarm as he heard something. A small sound came from beneath his hooves. He looked down only to be met with the blue petals of flowers he was standing in. He brushed some of them aside, looking for the source of the sound and still uncertain he was hearing correctly.

It sounded like laughter.

"Everything okay, Myles?" Twilight caught his attention and he looked up to find the others had gone, leaving him and Twilight alone in the field. Alone together. Myles eyes' widened at this thought as he looked away from Twilight.

"Ye- yeah…" he muttered, "I'm fine. Just tired that's all."

Twilight looked at him skeptically and he did his best to fake a smile. She shrugged and walked back towards town. Myles looked around and then checked the perimeter again, stretching a hoof through it and taking note of the red light that appeared on the projection. He frowned and stood for a few moments before heading back. For the rest of the night he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd missed two or three very important details about what just happened.

He dreamed of the crystal cave again that night. This time however, the crystals broadcast Zecora's words instead of their usual hum. Myles tried to tune them but whenever he did they increased in volume and more crystals sprung forth from the surface. The crystals filled the room, pressing in and trapping him. Before encasing him completely they harmonized to repeat one last phrase.

"You alone stand twixt these woods and war!"

Feeling a hoof poke him in the side, Myles eyes' snapped open and he rolled off the bed again. As he pulled himself upright he realized something was very wrong. His sheets didn't rustle and he couldn't hear voices, yet someone had woken him. He untangled himself from the covers and threw them at the bed. He spotted Twilight looking at him with concern and mumbling something he couldn't make out.

What? He asked Twilight and she flinched, her ears leaning back and a wince crossing her face as though he had shouted at her. She looked a little grumpy and her mouth moved once more. Myles stood with his mouth agape.

All he heard was silence.

He desperately ground a hoof into his ear, trying to remove an obstruction that didn't seem to exist. He reared up and stomped on the floor, hoping for the reassuring sound of hooves striking wood. His ears drooped and his face fell as he sank back onto his haunches in shock and breathed heavily. He was completely deaf. He began to breathe faster as this realization hit him, panting heavily as he thought of the fact that he could no longer defend the town, tune crystals or hear any of his friends' voices again. He'd never hear Twilight laugh again. This last realization brought tears to his eyes and he desperately wished he could hear himself sniff in sadness at his new life.

His eyes snapped back into focus as he felt Twilight's hooves wrap around his shoulders and pull him into a tight embrace. He blinked the tears away, ashamed of himself for showing such weakness in front of Twilight. Then he nearly broke down again. He'd shouted at her a minute ago and that would be the last thing approaching a conversation they ever had. He strained to feel the volume of his voice and kept his lips tight as he muttered as quietly as he could.

"I'm sorry."

Twilight pulled away from their hug, her mouth moved and she looked apologetically at him. His eyelids drooped as he pointed as his ear and shook his head. She nodded sadly, causing her horn to flop around a bit. Myles spotted it for the first time and pointed at the drooping, spotted protrusion from Twilight's head, managing to stop himself from shouting in surprise. Twilight looked unsettled by the situation as she nodded again. He pulled her back in for a hug and after they parted, they both went downstairs.

Twilight began searching her library frantically. Myles knew she must be looking for a cure, but he didn't know the library as well as she did. He searched a little at first but found he wasn't even in the right section, not to mention he had no idea what had caused this. He idly turned the pages of the book in front of him to distract himself from the fact that he couldn't help Twilight without interrupting her and trying to communicate. Myles head and shoulders sank in sorrow as the oppressive silence seemed to push at him from all sides.

He felt a hoof on his shoulder and looked up to see Rarity. His eyes widened as he took in the massive dreadlocks adorning her coat. She brushed them out of the way and pulled Myles into a hug. He felt her face move next to him and realized she must've spoken, at which point Rarity pulled back as his head sunk lower. She looked at him sadly and went to join the others, who were all evidently discussing the situation, each with their own unique ailment to contend with. He didn't see anything wrong with Fluttershy, but then he supposed he appeared normal as well. He returned his gaze to the book in front of him and sighed.

"I don't wanna talk about it."

Myles ears perked up as he heard a faint but deep voice, the first sound since waking up, and he looked around frantically for its source. The others looked at him for a moment in confusion. When he saw no pony else, he hung his head in sadness again.

"That woman's gotta be stopped!"

He perked up as he heard the voice again. The girls appeared to be in a heated argument but he couldn't hear any of them. Though he kept his ears and eyes alert as he searched for the source of the voice.

"I dunno, seems awfully dangerous."

Myles gaped as he spotted the only mouth that matched up with the sentence he heard.

"Flutteryshy?" He mumbled. At least he thought he had mumbled, though everyone turned as if they had heard him.

"What?" Fluttershy asked in confusion.

"I can-" Myles stopped as everyone in the room flinched, he continued in the quietest voice he could produce, "I can hear Fluttershy." The girls leaned forwards, straining to understand him. Twilight was nearest and her eyes widened as she had evidently understood. She turned and said something to Fluttershy. Who looked back to Myles.

"You can hear me?"

Myles nodded eagerly and grinned, glad he wasn't completely deaf. The other girls seemed to be searching desperately for something. Pinkie Pie lifted Myles off the ground and searched under him, putting him down when she was satisfied the object wasn't there.

"Oops. Sorry." He heard Fluttershy say as she went to help Rainbow Dash, who appeared to be having trouble flying, then she turned to Spike, "Spike? You coming?"

Myles never heard his answer, but figured he wasn't as the dragon didn't follow him out the door. He prodded Fluttershy and she jumped and turned around. He pointed at the others and shrugged.

"Oh, we think Applejack and Applebloom went looking for Zecora's hut, we're going after them."

Myles nodded and followed them into the woods. Partway in, Fluttershy turned and pointed at the bracer around his hoof. The detection system had gone off when they'd entered, but Myles hadn't heard it. He tapped the crystal to acknowledge the alert and silence the crystal, even though he couldn't hear it. His head drooped as he thought of pitching the useless device into the woods and though better of it. Surely someone else would be able to make use of it.

After a long trek through the woods, Myles apologized quietly as he had walked directly into Fluttershy. She excused him and he looked ahead to find the girls arguing again, likely over the supposed location of Zecora's hut. Myles looked past them into the woods and spotted a ravine a short distance away. His eyes widened as he shouted in surprise.

He remembered this place. The memory was vivid as he galloped forwards, following the same route he had taken previously, only with his friends following close behind instead of a pack of hungry timberwolves. He had run straight to the ravine, turning himself parallel to it and then kicked behind him with his back hooves. He remembered the satisfying howl and clatter of a wolf falling into the gorge and shattering at the base. Myles sprinted forwards, following the cliffs edge like he was still being chased. Spotting a fallen tree spanning the gap, he crossed it and remembered the hollow sound of wooden claws colliding with rotten bark. He ran up a nearby boulder and kicked off of its surface, landing on a higher cliff and smirking. Further down the cliff there was an overhang of rock that he eagerly squeezed himself under, stopping for a second to grab a paw shaped piece of wood jammed into the narrowest part of the gap. He ran up the short incline that followed and grinned.

He turned around to see the others panting as they caught up, Twilight appeared furious as she stalked up and her mouth opened wide and shut several times. Evidently she was shouting at him. He merely stood there and looked impatient until she stopped and looked him in the eyes, seeming to be waiting for an answer. He merely grinned and nodded his head towards something over his shoulder. Twilight's irritation changed to surprise as she glanced behind him and saw a thatch-roofed hut built partway into a tree. She said something else and then looked at Fluttershy.

"She says sorry."

Myles just shrugs.

"They want to know how you found it again."

Myles holds out his hoof with the timberwolf paw on it as an answer. The girls finally seem to understand and they all turn towards the hut. The lights are on and the group makes its way to Zecora's window. After spotting the zebra inside, the girls talk amongst themselves a bit until Pinkie falls at Fluttershy's hooves, begging her for something. Myles holds his hooves over his mouth as he stifles his laughter at Fluttershy's version of Pinkie's enchantress song, which sounds like its being performed by a jazz musician.

Eventually the girls burst into Zecora's cottage, Rainbow Dash making a mess of the place. Myles follows them in but fails to understand what's being said until Fluttershy's voice catches his attention.

"You made me sound ridiculous!"

Myles looked shocked, he figured out they were accusing Zecora of their ailments, but that still didn't make sense to him. She'd said "Beware," hadn't she? Suddenly Myles remembered why that phrase sounded familiar.

"And you made him dea-" Fluttershy's deepened voice was cut off as Myles placed a hoof over it and shook his head. The girls looked perplexedly at him as he ducked to the ground and rose up again, spreading his hooves away from himself and slowly letting them spread wider. The others still look confused but then turn to Zecora as she speaks. Myles merely sits back and hopes that Zecora's words communicate things clearly to them as well as rhyming this time. After a bit Fluttershy turned back to him.

"The flower?"

Myles nods vigorously.

The rest of them seem to come to some sort of an agreement and they all return to Ponyville. Myles follows them sadly into town and tries to head towards the treehouse, but the girls pull him towards the local spa. He rolls his eyes and waits outside their room. After a few moments, Fluttershy comes out of the room and her mouth moves. Myles eyes start watering again as he hears silence. She looks worried as she says something else. When he doesn't reply, she returns to their room. Suddenly Rainbow Dash bursts out and drags Myles inside. He pushes back with all his might but can't get a grip on anything.

Myles face turns red as Rainbow flies around behind him and pushes him through the doors. He tries to look away from the tub where all of the girls are bathing, but Rainbow shoves him to the edge of it and then places her hooves on his head, shoving it under the water. He pulls his head out of the water, spitting and sputtering as he comes up.

"-estly Rainbow, you could have waited for someone to get some paper."

"But you guys wouldn't stop whining about how sad he looked."

Myles stood there stunned a moment.

"CAN YA HEAR YET MYLES?!" Pinkie Pie screamed causing everyone to flinch and Myles to fall back from the tub and cover his ears in pain. Beyond the ringing in his ears he picks up laughter from everypony in the room.

"Yeah," he mumbles, his eye's squeezed shut in pain, "Yeah I think I can, thanks."

He sits up and when he looks at the girls he remembers where he is. His face turns crimson.

"Sorry," he excuses himself quickly to an uproar of laughter, secretly glad that he can hear it again.

Just outside, he finds Zecora chuckling to herself.

"Greetings, brave guardian,

Are you glad to hear again?"

He laughs a bit as well, "Yeah, its nice to know there's a cure for Poison Joke."

"My knowledge of your past is scant,

How did you hear about this plant?"

He frowns a bit, "Dad made me go camping with the other colts outside South Flankston. Didn't really enjoy it but I remember a few things. Like the rhyme they taught us for poisonous plants.

Purple and grey hues will make you croak, leaves of blue make a sad excuse for a joke."

He recited and sighed.

"The cure for poison joke has long been known,

Did they lack this knowledge where you were grown?"

Myles frowned, "Probably not, but evidently they thought it'd be a laugh to leave that part out. Instead one of them told me that they knew somepony who'd stumbled into some poison joke and had to stand on their head for the rest of their days because their legs would sprout flowers whenever they touched the ground."

"Beauty on contact with the ground,

Does not such an awful fate sound."

"Oh the flowers didn't sprout out of the ground." Myles laughed bitterly, "Thinking back now, I guess I should've figured out they were lying, but I could never tell when they were pulling my leg."

"Do not fault the cruelty of foals,

They know not the power they hold."

Myles raised an eyebrow at her.

"One who tries to perfectly rhyme will soon find themselves lacking extra time."

He chuckles a bit, "Alright alright, thanks anyways. One thing though, how'd you get past my barrier without setting off the crystals?"

"The noisy stones of which you talk,

Can be fooled by simple chalk."

"Chalk?"

"Rhythm fades in these and other unstable stones,

It's softness absorbs the very life of tones."

"Good to know, thanks," Myles begins to leave but then stops, "You can hear them too?"

"A welcome melody to our ears,

Heard only from relics of the Empire's years."

"You have relics from the Crystal Empire?" Myles asked eagerly.

"Alas, now we do not,

By another they were bought."

Myles head hangs in disappointment, "Figures…," he turns to leave again.

"Remember what we said before," Myles looks around curiously when she hesitates. The spa owner asks Zecora for the recipe for the bath that cured the poison joke, but she spares a meaningful glance for Myles before returning to the inner room of the spa. Myles thinks a bit and then something clicks into place.

"You alone stand twixt the woods and war?" he mumbles to himself. He frowns as he leaves the spa and heads for the edge of the forest. "Was really hoping for that part to have been another joke."

Okay, so there's that done. Not sure how to feel about it still. On the one hand having to write Zecora's rhymes led me to a few new ideas, some of which I liked, on the other hand I then punished myself by giving Myles multiple reasons to talk to Zecora at the end of the episode.

I think it's safe to say she won't be having any extra dialogue anytime soon.

I'm still not entirely satisfied with Zecora's way around Myles defenses, and I think it'll turn out to have been more complex than just covering the crystals with chalk, but the idea of chalk as a sound dampener might still be useful. On writing this though, I sort've panicked when I realized that not only had I not thought of the solution by the time I got to that part, but that because Zecora was saying it, it had to rhyme.

I get the feeling I'm not going to be able to write down all of season one on the fly as I have been. Twenty three episodes seems like a lot less when you're just watching it than when you're writing it down with major alterations.

Also, I promise I didn't have Myles go deaf just to avoid typing dialogue, but after his hearing became a plot point I decided that taking it away would be the likely thing for the poison joke to do. It wouldn't matter much if it took his magic like Twilight, since he doesn't use it exclusively and probably had a bunch of crystals prepped for such a situation. Also I would've felt awful about reusing something one of the others had already. The real clincher was the idea that Flutterguy's voice was deep enough for him to hear anyways, which was just funny to think of, if not easy to make fun in the story.

I'd just like to point out that Spike and Pinkie Pie mention zombies in this episode and Twilight promptly calls them out for believing it. Thought of from an in universe perspective and not as a children's cartoon, this makes no sense at all. Which I'm guessing is probably why the concept is never mentioned again. The way that Spike and Pinkie react indicates there's fiction out there in their world that portrays such things. This is brought up in an episode with an individual from a far-off land. If I remember correctly, zombies were originally ordinary people that Voodoo practitioners deprived of air until they lost enough brain cells to be obedient. Twilight eventually buys into the fear of Zecora from the others, going as far as believing she has actually eaten Applebloom. As a scholar who has read about the far-away lands Zecora hails from, shouldn't she have read about this before? So perhaps she meant there are no zombies as our world portrays them, the rotting, flesh-craving husk variety. But even then that's a stretch, since you have beings like Discord running around and an accessible opening to TARTARUS and you're telling me NO ONE has ever managed to create an undead monster? Actually, given the proximity of the above, I'm surprised there aren't herds of zombie ponies stalking the lands outside of Equestria.

Maybe they're saving that for season 6.

Oh hey, I mentioned Myles' family… and I really wish I could say I planned that, but I didn't. Just wanted to tie that into real life stuff I learned in Boy Scouts, "Leaves of three, let it be."

Everyone insisted that the next line was "Leaves of four, eat some more," but no one ever said that part with a straight face, so I figured they were joking about that bit.

And I realized that Myles not knowing about Poison Joke is a bit of a stretch, but him forgetting about it might not be as much, even though he had a rhyme to help him remember. In my defense, there have been three seasons hence with many forays into the Everfree Forest and no one has ever stumbled into it again. My guess is there was that one patch and somepony set fire to it after this episode. Can't decide if it was Rainbow Dash or Rarity. Maybe both. You can never be too sure.

Oh look, I also dropped a reference to the Crystal Empire in there, clumsy me. Ah well, it seems to fit. Was gonna continue not mentioning it, but Twilight wasn't in the room and I wanted to remind myself of something I'm looking forwards to. How am I not even halfway into season 1?

Sorry for the rambling outro. The chapter you just read probably isn't the same one I typed right before this long author's note, I'm not entirely satisfied with it at present.

Later Note: I left the chapter mostly as I first typed it. Its not so bad and the chalk definitely isn't the first crystal thing I've put off until later to explain. Rest assured there will be more to it.

Besides, I'll never get through season one if I keep delaying and I've got my work cut out for me in the next chapter. Of course, by the time you read this, I'll have finished it, so go ahead and check it out.

-Dr. Spacewizard Esq.