Ash, and all other characters are from Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - characters and locations are from Hasbro
Chapter 9
Bridle Gossip
It was another beautiful day in Ponyville and Ash, Pikachu, Twilight, and Spike were enjoying it by walking around town. "Rainbow Dash must have gotten up early for once and cleared all the clouds away." Spike said as he rode on his sister's back while looking up at the clear sky.
"I'm sure that all of Ponyville will be out enjoying the sunshine." Ash said as he walked along side the studious one. When they got into town the four were not greeted by any-pony.
"What? Where is every-pony?" Twilight questioned when she saw the deserted streets before her. After seeing a couple of ponies take shelter in their homes the four walked around on high alert.
"Is it some sort of pony holiday?" The voltage one questioned as he looked around and could not see or hear anyone around.
"Not that I know of." TS said back and the three others believed her since she knows of every holiday ever conceived for this world.
"Does my breath stink?" The young dragon questioned before belching a small flame and took a whiff of it.
"Not more than usual." The sister said back as they continued to walk around town. Spike thought of everything, but after looking up at Ash he knew what it could be.
"Is it zombies?" The baby dragon offered to the group which none of them believed that to be the case.
"Uh, not very likely." The student stated back since she did not believe in such beasts.
"Not likely, but possible." Spike stated back to her with his fear getting the better of him. Ash saw this and decided to say something about that.
"Spike, don't worry. Nothing badly happen while I am by your side." Ash told him with a smile. The dragon felt better, but not convinced.
"Psst." A voice called out causing all to stop and look around. "Twilight, Spike, Ash, Pikachu come here. Hurry, before she gets you." Pinkie whispered/shouted causing them to do just that.
"Who, the zombie-pony?" Spike questioned while putting a vice grip on TS neck.
"Zombie pony?" PP questioned back with growing fear in her voice.
"Spike, there are no zombie ponies." The student assured the scribe that his fear was meaningless.
"Pinkie Pie, what are you doing here in the dark." Ketchum questioned and even though he knew the pony was random this was strange even for her.
"I'm not alone in the dark." She answered back and dimmed the light a bit brighter in the Sugar Cube Corner which revealed the rest of the elements and one kid sister around them.
'You knew, didn't you?" Ash whispered to his partner since he knew the rodent's ears wouldn't miss much even if he tried. Pikachu's response was an innocent whistle which the human ignored, and focused on the current mystery.
"Okay then, what are you all doing here in the dark." Twilight questioned as she looked at her friends, and was a little weirded out at the gathering around her.
"We're hidin` from her." Honesty informed while pointing out the window. This caused them all to look out the window and saw a hooded, hooved creature digging at one spot in the ground and then turned to face the eyes it felt which most hid from the returned gaze.
"Did you guys see her? Did you see, Zecora?" Applebloom asked while using Spike as a boost to look the sixth element right in the face.
"Applebloom, I told you never to say that name." The elder sister ordered to her younger since she recalled telling all in the small group never to say the 'Z' word.
"Well, I did see her glance this way…" Twilight started to say, but was cut off by the cake maker.
"Glance evilly this way." Pinkie Pie said while saying 'evilly' in a dramatic style.
"And then almost all of you cower for no good reason." Ash carried on where his friend left off. Honesty felt offended by his statement, and decided to tell the new hiders why they were hiding.
"No good reason?! You call protecting your kin - no good reason. Why, as soon as my sister saw Zecora riding into town: she started shaking in her little horseshoes." The farm girl explained while shaking the girl in question to prove her point.
"Did not." AB sounded out through her shaking.
"So, I swept her up and brought her hear." AJ finished her little tale.
"I walked here myself." The youngster stated, and the four could believe that since she was the only one in the group - not freaking out.
"For safety." Applejack counter commented.
"Applejack, I'm not a baby. I can take care of myself." Applebloom commented back after getting off of her sister's back and stared at her right in the eye.
"Not around that creepy Zecora." The elder of the two stated back which caused the others to voice why the others feared her.
"She's mysterious." Fluttershy informed in her usual tone.
"Sinister." Rainbow Dash added while staying in the air to emphasize her point.
"And Spooooky." Pinkie Pie informed them, but the trainer and the student did not believe them, and returned to looking at the new girl; the others did as well and almost pressed the two into the glass.
"Will you cut that out?" Twilight stated to the others after Zecora took off her hood, and her friends gasped in alarm.
"Would you look at those stripes - so garish." The fashion expert commented since she believed that was the new girl's sense of fashion, and nothing more.
"She's a zebra." TS informed them which caused a group 'what' in confusion since none of them have heard of one of those before. Even Ash has never encountered a zebra-like Pok`emon in his travels. "A zebra, and her stripes aren't a fashion choice, Rarity, they are what she was born with." The student informed them which caused the fashion designer to gasp and collapse on the floor.
"Born where? I've never seen a pony like that in these parts…except her." AJ questioned and commented while shaking in fear for a bit.
"Well, she's probably not from here, and she's not a pony. My book says that zebras come from a far away land, but I've never seen her in Ponyville. Where does she live?" Magic informed and asked her fellow elements for more information.
"That's just it. She lives in - the Everfree Forest." Honesty answered her friend and was even more scared of bringing up that location. There was suddenly a cloud clatter come from the kitchen.
"Spike!" The sister figure said to her younger brother figure since she did not see him in the room with them.
"Uh, sorry." He answered back through the doors and went back to snacking.
"The Everfree forest just aint natural. The plants grow." AJ started to speak of the location.
"Animals take care of themselves." FS stated and did not like that one little bit.
"And the clouds move…" RD stated and the last comment was a group effort.
"All on their own." AJ, RD, and FS said as one for emphesize. This caused R to gasp dramatically again and collapse again.
"No offense, but didn't we all learn that when we had to go into the Everfree Forest to get your guys' Elements of Harmony." Ash stated to the others, and remembered that day causing them to realize that they should already know that much.
"And that evil Zecora lives there doing her evil…stuff. She's so evil I've even wrote a song about her." PP informed them.
"Here we go." The weather controller stated since she had been singing this all day in their hiding spot. Ketchum simply walked to the stairs and sat down - ready to listen to this argument.
"She's an evil enchantress. She does evil dances, and if you look deep in her eyes she'll put you in trances." Pinkie started singing her song which was started to really scare Applejack who was clutching onto her sister for dear life.
'Get off me.' Applebloom thought while trying to pull herself free which se was able to do so. This only caused her elder sister to shake in place out of fear as he friend continued to sing.
"So watch out!" Pinkie shouted out as she finished her song.
"Wow, catchy." The sixth pony commented hearing the whole thing.
"It's a work in progress." The pink one answered back.
"This is all a bunch of gossip and rumors. How about you tell us exactly what you guys seen Zecora do?" Ash questioned while still sitting on the stairs.
"Well…once a month she comes into Ponyville." RD started to explain causing TS to gasp in sarcastic alarm.
"Then she lurkes by the stores." R informed next causing another fake gasp from the non believer.
"And then she digs at the ground." FS informed after that with the same result from her friend.
"Okay, I'm sorry, but how is any of this bad? Maybe she comes to town to visit." Twilight offered to them and had one supporter.
"Yeah, maybe she's just tryin to be neighborly." AB informed them as she backed up Twilight's point of view.
"And maybe she's not lurking by the stores maybe she's going to them - lurk free, to do some shopping." Magic offered to the others.
"Yeah. Every-pony likes to shop. You know what I think…" AB stated, but was cut off by her elder.
"Applebloom, hush and let the big ponies talk." AJ instructed and shooed her away.
"I am a big pony." The youngster stated back before walking over to the door.
"What about digging at the ground? You've got to admit - that's weird." The speedster questioned and commented since she could see those first two comments of her, but that still left the digging.
"What if she's digging for innocent creatures?" The animal whisperer questioned back to her fellow flyer.
"I'm sure there's a logical explanation for everything Zecora does, and if any-pony here was brave enough to aproch her she will find out the truth." Twilight explained to the others which gave the youngest an idea.
"Well, I'm brave enough. I'm gonna find out myself." Applebloom said and walked right out the door.
"Pikachu, go with her." Ash whispered when the two of them saw the little pony walk out of the building. He saluted, and was off to follow her. The rodent got to the little filly and tapped her on the shoulder which gave her a start, but the voltage one clamped one hand over her mouth.
"Shh, you want her to know that she's being tailed." Pikachu whispered and after calming down a bit the two followed her while trying to remain out of sight. The two stayed with her even when she left town.
'Don't they realize that this is getting them no where.' Ash thought as he sat and listened to the whole thing, and they were still going at it.
"You ponies are being ridiculous." TS stated in aggrivation.
"Well, I heard Zecora eats hay." PP informed her now knowing that she was grasping at straws for reasons not to trust the zebra.
"Pinkie, I eat hay. You eat hay." The student informed while pointing a hoof at herself and then at her friend.
"Yeah, but I heard it's the evil way she eats hay." The party animal countered which got one of them thinking - that they were short one Zecora supporter.
"Hey, where's Applebloom?" The elder sister of the missing girl questioned while looking around. They all saw that Ketchum was pointing at something, and after following his finger they saw what he wanted them to see.
"The door's open." The caretaker of the animals informed after seeing what the human was pointing at.
"She went outside." The designer of clothing shouted in alarm.
"And Zecora is still out there." The weather manipulator informed them which got the sister worried.
"That silly, little filly I told her to stay put." The bucker informed the others before the five of them headed out the door.
"Spike, you stay here in case Applebloom comes back." The magic user explained before following them with Ash bringing up the rear.
"Will do." The dragon responded with a pot on his head and a pan in his claw and a salute with his free hand. Outside of town the four continued to follow her until she got to the outskirts of the Everfree Forest.
'I can do this.' The youngling thought as she put on a brave front and ran on it. The mouse beside her raced in regardless since he had been with Ash so long he knew how to embrace danger no matter what form it comes in.
'Hmm, I wonder why she's avoiding these blue flowers.' Pikachu wondered as they continued to follow her.
"Applebloom, you get back here - right now." AJ said as the seven caught up with them easily.
"Beware! Beware you pony-folk. Those leaves of blue are not a joke." Zecora explained to them in rhyme as she backed into a creeping mist.
"You keep your creepy mumbo jumbo to yourself, ya hear." The bucker said as she rushed through some of those blue flowers to pick up her sister, and Ash to his old friend. Three others started shouting at the zebra while the other three remained silent.
"Oh, brother." TS said as she still could not believe how her friends were acting. The disappearing one said 'beware' two more times even though the others would not listen to her.
"Yeah, back at ya, Zecora! You and your lame curse are the ones who better beware." RD shouted back to put up a brave front.
"And you. Why couldn't you listen to your big sister." AJ ordered to AB who tried to explain herself, but was cut off, "Who knows what kind of curse Zecora cut put on you and Pikachu." She informed the young one.
"Just like in my song." PP informed before seeing her song while frolicking in the blue flowers they all stood in.
"You guys there's no such things as curses." TS insisted on to the rest of her friends.
"Well, that's interesting to hear coming from Miss Magic-pants herself." The speedster said while flying through the flowers and tapping her friend's horn with her hoof.
"My magic, real magic, comes from within. It's a skill your born with. Curses are artifical: fake magic. It's conjured with potions and incantations. All smoke and mirriors meant to scare, but curses have no real power. They're just an old pony-tale." Magic informed the other elements and trainer, but saw that most of them were walking away.
"Just you wait, Twilight. You're gonna learn that some pony-tales really are true." Honesty informed her friend while following the others out of the forest.
'Doesn't she already know that much with our fight with Nightmare Moon?' Ash thought as he once again brought up the rear on the way home. The group slumbered and tried to forget what happened with Zecora.
"What a dream. Curses, shmerses." Twilight said as she got out of bed and walked to her mirror. "Whoa. Maybe Zecora cursed my horn." She said after seeing her bed head, but after a few brush strokes she saw something - wrong. "Or she cursed my horn." TS said in alarm as she saw the blue spotted limp body part on her head.
"I better see how Twilight is doing." Ash said since her friends did give her the third degree of her belief that the zebra was harmless. The trainer got out bed and headed to the library, but not without arousing suspicion.
"Was that?" Pikachu questioned the others as they all saw the 'human' leave the house.
"Afraid so." Tauros said back and wondered if the others were affected the same way, or more importantly his lasso throwing chum. As the trainer journeyed to the library the girl in question was busy looking through her books for a cure of some sort.
"No, no, no, no, no! None of these books have a cure! Ugh! There has to be a real reason for this. An illness? An allergy?!" Twilight said as she looked through all of her books with zero success.
"A curse." The dragon said as he looked at one of the few books that the unicorn did not look at.
"I said a real reason. Something that points to something real." TS explained to the baby dragon before her.
"How about this?" He offered while showing the cover of the book he was looking at.
"Supernaturals?" She questioned after reading the first word of the title of the book. She immediately decided to dismiss his offer after just the first word.
"Spike, the word: supernatural referrs to things like spirits and zombies. Which are as make-believe as curses. This book is just a bunch of hooey." She said to him and wanted to add ghosts, but she felt that would be an insult to Haunter since he was real.
"But if your wrong, Twilight? What if this really is a-." The dragon started to questioned but was interrupted by Laughter. "A purse? How could it be a purse?" He asked the pink one who had a blue spotted tongue sticking out of her mouth.
"Pinkie, what happened?" Magic asked Laughter with a concerned tone. She tried to explain, but with the way her tongue was neither of them understood her.
"Say it, don't spray it, Pinkie." Spike said as he shook away her spit. There was a loud crash from outside causing all to look at a window.
"She's…trying to say, ow, Zecora, ugh, she slapped us all with a, ow, curse!" Rainbow Dash explained after running into the window, wall, slammed through the door, and got tangled in a ladder.
"I'm afraid I have to agree." Rarity said to them, but when the group turned to face her they were met with a white/purple hairball which scared the two at first glance.
"I hate say I told you so, Twilight, but I told ya so." Applejack said as she stood on her little sister's rump. TS scanned around and saw that most of her friends were transformed, but did notice that Kindness seemed fine.
"But Fluttershy seems just fine." TS informed them, and the others could see that as well. They did notice, however, that she seemed a bit more quiet than normal.
"Yes, there doesn't seem to be a thing wrong with her." The long haired pony commend as she could see the still perfect silent one through her hair. The field leader of the six still sensed that the quiet one was hiding something.
"Fluttershy, are you okay?" The purple pony questioned the cream/pink one who only looked away. "Is there something wrong with you?" She asked and received a nod as an answer. "Would you care to tell us?" The student questioned since she would like a vocal answer. "So, your not going to tell us?" She questioned and received another nod. "Yes you are or yes your not?" TS questioned and received a 'no' shake for a response.
"Good gravy, girl, what's wrong with you." The tiny one demanded after getting off of her sister to the centerpiece of the room, and got as close as she could to the quiet one.
"I don't wanna talk about it." Fluttershy answered and felt bad that her friends had to hear her very deep voice.
"Well, at least Ash is okay?" Spike questioned while trying to hold back his laughter. It was at that moment another hoofed creature walked in.
"I can see that you guys are having a bad day." Ash said to them, but none of them recognized him. "Is there something on my face?" Ash asked them when he was receiving weird looks.
"Ash, if that's you then you probably don't want to look at the mirror." The owner of the library commented causing the hero to look at her confused, but decided to disobey her.
"What? What are you talking about?" AK questioned before looking at the item he was told not to look at. "What! I'm a zebra!" The tamer of monsters shouted before adding, "I'm a multi-colored zebra." The others could see that as well with his: green hooves, red/orange eyes, sea blue stripes with his white body, along with a yellow mane/tail. It was then the dragon started cracking up.
"This is hilarious! Look at all of you. We have: Hairity, Rainbow Crash, Spitty Pie, Appletini, Flutterguy, and, uh, I got nothin." Spike started to speak, but lost his momentum when he came to the last two affected creatures. "Twilight Sparkle and Ash Ketchum, I mean seriously I can't even work with that." The dragon commented to the others.
"This is no joke, Spike. Now, start looking for more books so I can find a cure." TS instructed to her assistant who was still trying not to laugh as he looked at the limp horn. He groaned at her order, but still followed through with it.
"I think we'll find a cure to this curse at Zecora's place." RC said as she finally pulled herself free from the ladder, but still didn't seem to be able to fly straight.
"It's not a curse!" TS shouted causing her friend to slam into another wall. The tiny one trotted over to the nay sayer and decided to set her straight.
"I agree with Dash. We'll go to Zecora and force her to remove this hex." AT said whit a small hoof stomp to make her point.
"It's not a hex either." TS shouted out, and with that another five way argument began. The young one was watching this and felt awful since this was her fault.
"This is all my fault. If I hadn't followed Zecora in the first place none of this would have happened. I just gotta fix this." The little sister as the elements were arguing with one another.
"Now, where does she think she's goin this time." AT questioned before hopping over to her, and then hid in her tail.
'Little sis trying to make things right. Good call.' AK thought as he watched the little one walk off, and wanted to follow, but decided to wait and see if any of them will notice the disappearance.
"I don't care what you say, Twilight. It's time to pony-up and confront Zecora. Come on girls, are you with me?" The clumsy speedster stated and questioned to the others which got a slurred answer from the party animal.
"And I as well." The hairball explained.
"I don't know. Seems awfully dangerous." FG said which caused the dragon to laugh again.
"What about you, Applejack." RC said while looking at the center table, but saw no one there. They all became alarmed when they couldn't see the ant sized Applejack anymore.
"Or some-pony stepped on her." Hairity shouted while looking at her hooves which the others did as well. TS face grew with fright when another idea struck her.
"Or sat on her?" The student offered to them causing the girls to all try to look at their rumps with little success.
"Rarity's hair?" RC shouted since she believed the tiny one could have gotten lost in that jungle. SP tried looking through it, with some protest from the owner of the hair, but came up dry.
"Will you five relax. Applejack hitched a ride on Applebloom since the young one blames herself for what has happened to us." Ash said to them in a calm tone, but sadly they took it the wrong way.
"Then we better go after them. Come on, guys, let's move." Twilight said and headed to her doorway. The fuzzy one was about to follow, but for some reason she felt tied down. Spitty saw that she was still standing on a strand of hair so she released it which caused her friend to tumble after the spell caster.
"Hey, a little help here." Rainbow shouted as she tried to fly upside down, but her head would not leave the ground.
"Oopsie. Sorry." The quiet one with a deep voice and the sprinkler picked up their friend who then tried to fly to the door, but slammed into the section of wall on top of it.
"Ow!" The blue one shouted before sporting an embarrassed smile, and then flew out the door.
"Uh, Spike, are you coming?" Flutterguy questioned to the dragon that now seemed to be reading something.
"Nope, uh, got to stay here and look for a clue." Spike said and when the three left he went on thinking of funny nicknames for the other two. As they tried to catch up with their friends Ash couldn't but think he saw something bright yellow and circular on the side of his leg; he knew the mission came first, so he shrugged it off and carried on.
'I'm positive that Zecora's not a bad gal. She'll know what to do.' Applebloom thought as she galloped into the Everfree Forest. Right when she was making some real progress a voice called out to her.
"Stop right there!" The voice shouted causing the girl to do just that. "Turn around right now, missy." AT ordered after pushing herself to the top of her sister's mane.
"No." AB stated back to the tiny woman on her head which surprised the older sister.
"No? You can't ignore a direct order from your big sister." AT said before being flicked into the air, and being caught by her tail.
"Sorry, Applejack, but I'm the big sister now." AB informed her after placing the little thing on a tree branch, and walked away.
"Applebloom, you come back here right this instant." AT shouted but when she did not the sister tried another gambit. "I'm gonna tell Big Macintosh on you!" She shouted and then realized where she was. "Oh, corn-feathers." The farm girl muttered after seeing that there was no close-by ground to jump to on the branch she was on.
"Come on girls. We've got to get to Zecoras. Hurry!" Twilight informed them as the other elements just made it to the entrance of the forest.
"Easier said than done." Hairity stated after stumbling on her long hair again, but was able to keep up with them.
"Hey, wait for me." Rainbow Crash shouted to them before taking another detour into some thick brush. She kept crashing into things until a tree helped her to stop, and that was when the flyer found something strange in her mouth.
"Rainbow, thank Celestia. There's no time to lose." The tiny one shouted after getting out of her friend's mouth, and then made a make-shift reigns. "I need to get to Zecora's pronto." She shouted before slamming the mouth piece into her friend's mouth. "Get along little pony." She instructed to the flyer.
"Excuse me?!" The rain maker demanded, but a swift kick on her throat got her airborne. As the two hit a rough patch of trying to keep the flight steady the others hit a snag.
"Twilight, do you even know where Zecora's house is?" Ash questioned to the point pony who grinded to a halt.
"Actually I don't. Do any of you?" The student stated and questioned and received a collective 'no' as her answer. It was then Ketchum felt something, within his spirit.
"I think I might." AK informed and took point while simply walking, and then saw something. Hoof prints, prints that should not have been there, but seemed the earth was giving them hints. When they stopped the wind aided them as well until they finally found the home they were searching for.
"I look horrible." Generosity commented as she could barely see through the dirt and mud she had collected on their walk. After a slurred comment from Laughter, and aid of getting her bangs out of her eyes the fashion expert knew what she said. "Oh my! That place really does look horrible." She commented before moving forward with the others.
'Appearances aren't always everything.' Ash thought as he and the others peeked through a window.
"Nice decorations. If you're into creepy." The white/purple one commented as they took a look around. It was at that moment the female zebra came walking in, and after pouring something into a caldren she began to speak.
"She stole your song?" The fuzzy one questioned as she believed that was what the sprinkler said to them.
"Oh, Pinkie, it doesn't sound anything like your song." Magic commented, and after seeing that even Ash did not believe her Pie went to the only one that would help - after giving her a sad eyes expression.
"She's an evil enchantress. She does evil dances, and if you look into her eyes she will put you in trances. What will she do: she'll mix up an evil brew, and she'll gobble you up in a big, tasty stew. So, watch out." Flutterguy sang to them with SP miming every statement.
"You saw those terrible things. Now do you two believe us?" H questioned to where she could see her two friends. Ketchum was still skeptical whil Sparkle was actually changing her vote.
"Scary looking masks, confusing incantations, and a great big bubbling cauldren. Everything is pointing to Zecora being - bad." Twilight said as she took another look at the zebra's home and did not like it.
"Or maybe she's just making some soup?" Ash offered to them as he felt his stomach starting a slow hungry snarl since he did skip Breakfast.
"Mmm. The perfect temperature for ponies I presume. Now, where is that little Applebloom?" Zecora stated after lapping up a small sample of what was in that pot.
"Or…what if she's making Applebloom Soup?" TS questioned the monster tamer after hearing what the zebra just say. After hearing that the others began to scream aloud, and above them were two more members of their party.
"I'm coming Applebloom!" AT shouted before her aircraft slammed through the door and started wrecking the place.
"What have you done with Applebloom?" Twilight questioned after re-opening the door. Zecora tried to order the cause of the disturbance to stop, but she did not listen. The tiny one lassoed the herbalist's ear, and started wrestling with said ear.
"Okay, this is the part I can do without." Ash said as he raced past the girls to body check Rainbow Crash, but in doing so the trainer accidentally spilled what was in the big pot in the center of her room.
"No! You know not what you do. You've gone and spilled my precious brew." The female zebra said to them as she watched her mixture pour out of the big container and right onto the floor.
"We're onto you, Zecora. I didn't want to believe that you cursed us, but the evidence is overwhelming." Twilight informed the curse bringer which got her attention, and decided to listen to the rest.
"You made me look ridiculous." Hairity commented first.
"You made me sound ridiculous." Flutterguy commented after her friend. Spitty Pie tried to comment, but once again no one really understood her.
"You ruined my horn!" The student of Celestia shouted out in anger.
'Actually, I don't mind my transformation.' Ash thought as he recalled his encounter with that potion maker who turned him into a Pikachu for a bit, so this wasn't that far off.
"How dare you! You destroy my home. Destroy my work! Then rudely accuse me of being a jerk." Zecora shouted back at them, and felt great aggrivation to the six around her.
"You put this curse on us. Now your gonna un-curse us." Rainbow shouted with the reigns still in her mouth.
"It is unwise to venture down this road. Your actions will make my anger explode!" Zecora shouted at them as a fair warning not to push this issue any further.
"Where is Applebloom?" TS questioned before getting right in the shaman's face. As if on cue the filly that they were searching for spoke out.
"Zecora, I think I have all the things you asked for." The youngling stated as she looked at the side bags before seeing what her new friend's home was like. "What in Ponyville is going on here?" She questioned to the group before her.
"These six mainly jumped to the wrong conclusion without gathering all the facts." Ash informed the young one and recalled something similar happened when Team Rocket stole a rock and Nando got the blame, but the trainer had to respect how the bard was so level headed throughout the whole thing.
"Applebloom, your okay." The tiny sibling said after looking at the doorway, and saw the creature they were looking for.
"Why wouldn't I be?" AB questioned calmly.
"Because Zecora's an evil enchantress who cursed us, and was about to cook you into soup." The studious one said as she stood guard between Applebloom and Zecora. After hearing the reason for their anger the two of them just laughed.
"Oh, Twilight, did those silly fillies get in your head? You know there's no such thing as a curse." The youngest of the apple family pointed out to the book worm.
"Applebloom, sweetie, you can't just stand there and say this isn't a curse." Magic informed the sister of Honesty.
"This isn't a curse." AB replied calmly as she walked past those five, and over to her friend the witch doctor.
"If you'll remember back. The words I spoke were quite exact." Zecora informed and that was when the group thought of her first speech: 'Beware! Beware you pony folk. Those leaves of blue are not a joke.' That still didn't add up to the others.
"It was a warnin. About that blue plant: its called Poison Joke." AB explained to them before the zebra took over from there.
"That plant is much like Poison Oak, but it's results are like a joke." Z explained to them which only confused the tiny pony on her head.
"What in the hay does that mean?" AT questioned the lady she was standing on.
"It means this plant does not wreak wrath. Instead this plant just wants a laugh." The herbilist explained to the others, but that still didn't add up to the micro one.
"Will some-pony please talk normal." AT said to the others since all she wanted was a straight answer.
"She's saying that when we went to get Pikachu and Applebloom we walked right into the Poison Joke. All that has happened to us was just a few jokes it played on us." Ash explained to the others, and was not surprised in the least since he had seen weirder.
"Little jokes?! Very funny." The ant sized Applejack said now feeling offended by any words that had to deal with her current size.
"Okay, fine, but what about the cauldren?" RC questioned to the lady before her.
"And the chanting." FG questioned.
"And the creepy decore." H questioned as well, and they wanted to see how she was going to get out of those points.
"Treasures from the native land where I am from. This one speaks - hello, and this - welcome." Z explained while looking at a few toppled over masks.
"Not welcoming at all if you ask me." The fuzzy one said as she saw one sporting her long haired look.
"The words I chanted were from olden times. Something you call a nursery rhyme." The female zebra explained to them which was making them feel sheepish.
"But the cauldren? The Applebloom Soup?" TS questioned and wondered if she had an answer for that.
"Lookie here, Twilight. That pot a water wasn't for me. It was for all these herbal ingredients. The cure for Poison Joke is a simple all natural remedy." AB explained while pointing to the grocery list that was part of a book. "You've just got to take a bubble bath." She added while picking up her sister to make sure she was okay.
"But I've tried to find a cure in all of my books, and couldn't find anything. What book has this natural remedy?" TS questioned and the owner of the building was more than happy to answer.
"Here is the book you see. Sad that you lack it in your library." Zecora explained while closing the book, and showed the cover of it to the spell caster.
"Actually, I do have this book, but I didn't look inside because the title was so…weird." The librarian stated and saw that the book holder was pointing at something so she decided to see what it was. "Supernaturals - Natural remedies and cure alls that are simply super." TS said as she fully read the title and that's when she really felt bad. "I…I…I'm so sorry, Zecora. I had the answer the whole time. If only I bothered to look inside." She confessed to the Wicca before her.
"Maybe next time you will take a second look, and not judge the cover of the book." Z said to all of them which told them that she had no hard feelings over what just happened.
"So, now that that's taken care of - could you make up more of that herbal bath?" Ash questioned to her since he wanted them to learn this lesson without him explaining it. She looked at the fellow zebra and decided to answer him truthfully.
"Mixing it up. I certainly will yet I am missing an herb from Ponyville." Zecora said to the fellow zebra while carefully glancing at his build.
"But whenever Zecora comes to town all of the shops are mysteriously closed." AB explained to the group which one knew what to do.
"Oh, I think we can help you with that." Twilight stated, and with that the guy and gals headed into town. Back in town every-pony was enjoying the Zecora free moment, but that came to a crashing halt when one of them spotted something headed their way.
"Look, Rose, how awful." One of the ponies exclaimed.
"The wicked enchantress has cursed them all and made one her suitor." A red manned girl said as she spotted a male zebra by the cloaked one. The ecomancer was grateful for her hood due to the 's' word and the fact that the male beside her did seem appealing.
"The horror. The horror." One of the civilians shouted which caused all to hide out of fear. The group got to the store, and Twilight decided to talk to the owner since she was one of the few that remained normal throughout the ordeal.
"Daisy, we need to talk." TS said and explained it all to the girl on the other side of the door. After hearing the tale she was more than happy to help out, and give them whatever they needed.
"Looks like they've got an antidote." Bulbasaur stated as he, and others, watched them walk past their house.
"Yep." Tauros replied before catching a glimpse at the tiny thing on Pinkie's head. 'Is that…Applejack?' The wild bull thought with alarm.
"You better get to work." Pikachu said as he tossed the first Grass-type a pair of swim trunks which he caught and followed after them. At the local spa the group got into the largest tube and started to relax with Rainbow, Zecora, and Applebloom pouring in the cure.
'Good to be back to normal.' PP and TS thought as they checked their tongue and horn to see that they were back to normal. As the elements and Ash relaxed one of the spa workers decided to confront the herbalist.
"Miss Zecora, I would love to get the recipe for this bath. It's simply luxorious." A blue/pink pony stated, but before she could speak someone else spoke first.
"Applejack! Hey, where's Applejack?" AB said causing all in the pool to freak out, but a familiar voice put a stop to that.
"I'm right here, little sis. I aint tiny no more." AJ explained while sitting in a tiny version of their pool.
"I've never felt so lovely in all my life." Rarity said since she was grateful of being at her true hair length, and able to see everything clearly again.
"Oh my gosh! I never realized how horrible it was not being able to talk." Pinkie started to speak her joy of being able to speak again which easily got on Rainbow Dash's nerves. "It was the worse. Don't you agree, Fluttershy?" She stated and offered to Kindness.
"Yes." FS answered back and was grateful that her voice was back to the way it should be.
"Yep, everything's back to the way it's supposed to be, but I can't help but feel that there is something I'm forgetting." Ash offered to them as he rested his arms on the side of the tub.
'He still hasn't figured it out. Well, good thing he's got Pok`emon like me to keep him in line.' The plant creature thought as he walked in, and headed for the big tube. As soon as he got there the eldest of Grass creatures stretched a vine up to his partner.
"My swim trunks?" Ash questioned aloud when the item reached his face, so he glanced over his shoulder to see who was offering him a vine. "Bulbasaur, why do I need…" Ash began to ask, but stopped when reality sunk in. "Doop!" The monster tamer shouted before looking down and saw that he was in the buff.
'She does not need to see this.' Zecora thought as she moved a hoof to sheild the young one's eyes. The others saw this, looked at Ash, and felt the need to turn their backs to him.
'Better work fast.' Ash thougtht before grabbing the trunks, dove into the water, and put them on. "I'm good." He said after surfacing which made them a bit at ease. "Well, it was nice meeting you Zecora, but I got to run." Ketchum said as he swam to the ledge, climbed out, raced down the stairs, and raced out of the door.
'Smooth partner. Real smooth.' Bulbasaur thought as he gave chase. The girls spent a bit more time together before parting company as well - grateful that they didn't see anything since he acted too quickly for anything to sink in.
"Spike, take a letter." TS instructed which the dragon came up with the right name for her, but when he saw that she was fine the lizard forgot it, and wrote the note.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
My friends and I all learned an important lesson this week. Never judge a book by it's cover. Someone may look unusual, or funny, or scary, but you need to look past that and see the being inside. Real friends don't care what your cover is. It's the contents of a pony that counts, and a good friend, like a good book is something that will last forever.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
The note was sent off, but the student wondered if she should have added the Ash moment once he was human again, but decided against it. As for the human in question he had arrived at his home, and was feeling rather flushed.
"That was embarrassing. Good thing you guys had my back." The raven haired youth commented to the creatures around him. They appreciated his words, and smiled about them.
"I know that you don't really think about them, but what of the tickets?" The wild bull questioned the human as Ash made his way past the door, and over to his bed.
"If you mean do I know the next guest the answer is no. Why? Do you have any suggestions?" Ash questioned after sitting on his bed and looking at the bull in the room.
"Well…I was thinking me. Just to see if they can handle a bull of my caliber, and for no other reason." The horned male informed his trainer who raised an eyebrow about his reason.
"I suppose the princess would be okay with that." AK said before going over to where he had the tickets, and one of them floated right over to monster in question. With nothing better to do the human decided to finally eat since he was starving.