"One more day, go and cross it out, and a year's already flying by. This dark place puts a darker ring and a tear in every living eye."

I grinned as I sang on my way to Zecora's place. It had been a week since I'd met her and we'd seen each other a few times during that week. The tests she performed on me were inconclusive, but she wanted to keep on trying She's also begun teaching me some of her own potion making craft, something I was pretty eager to try.

"What if I told you, it's all a lie? And the truth will set you free... my advice? Just lose yourself in my fantasy for a small and meager price."

I'd held off on watching any more of the show, since I wasn't sure if I should anymore. Ever since I'd watched the show with Zecora I decided to hold off on watching anything more until I decided what I should do. However, I'd been continuing to use my abilities to reconstruct the palace. I'd also been using my knowledge of the episode Dragonshy, looking for that particular mountain where the dragon had been sleeping in that episode in the hopes that the gold that was there was just something the dragon found.

"And we could fly! Fly! Fly over evergreens. It's everything you could want to be. Just sign your soul over here to me: the world one dream away!"

The day was gorgeous, partly cloudy with a thirty percent chance of rain according to the weather app. The normal darkness in the forest seemed to have been at least temporarily banished from the forest. I even saw a small family of squirrels in a tree on my way to Zecora's.

"But before you do, just know you will not return. This here's one bridge that you gotta burn. So ask yourself, did you really earn the world one dream away? Whoa!"

I wasn't watching where I was going and tripped over a root. Fortunately, I was saved some serious injury by a small field of gorgeous looking blue plants, but I still hit my elbow as I fell. I felt one of the leaves, and found them to be somewhat slick with some oily substance. After a bit, I stood and continued heading towards Zecora's place.

When I knocked, she immediately opened the door. "My savior, you know you don't have to knock. Feel free to enter at any time."

"Force of habit," I replied as I stepped inside. I held up the laptop bag with a grin. "Hope you're ready for some more movies."

"Of course," Zecora said, bringing out a two bowls of one of her delicious smelling meals.

"Wow! That smells great!" I said as the two of us sat comfortably against the wall, the laptop on a small single person bench between us. "What is it?"

"Baked Jollhoof Rice," she replied, placing one bowl beside me.

"Aaah, so you do have rice here!" I grinned. "Did you grow it yourself or find it in the woods?"

"When I came here from Farasi, I brought seeds with me. They're in my garden."

"Sweet. I'd love to have some, if I may?" I asked as I booted up my laptop.

"I'll give you some later," she replied as I logged in. "So what movie do you have planned for us today?"

"I found a Disney movie I think you may like," I replied. "It's a movie about a human baby raised by apes in the African jungle." I plugged the speaker into my headphone jack, maneuvered to the movie and clicked play. "It's called Tarzan."

She chuckled. "Now that does sound interesting," she said, pulling down the shades behind us so we could watch better. Anytime the two of us had visited each other, we'd exchange something from each of our cultures. I usually either read another chapter of a book to her or we'd watch a movie, or use my internet connection to look at certain cultures. Zecora would share some of her personal stories about Farasi and teach me about certain beginning potions and brews.

Despite it only having been a week, I found myself looking forward to our get togethers immensely. It was nice having someone to talk to, someone to distract me from my ever-growing worries about an eventual meeting with the Elements and the Princesses.

Zecora was enraptured by the African jungle scenery, and after a brief pause where I had to answer the call of nature, she told me that there was a jungle in Farasi that looked a lot like the depictions in the movie. She was disappointed that there weren't any zebras, but all in all she did really enjoy the movie.

Her Jollhoof rice dish was phenomenal and actually resembled a casserole. She gladly provided me with seconds. When the movie finished, the two of us discussed what we both loved about the movie. She told me she could relate in a way to how Tarzan felt about being the only one different among his ape family. I blushed a bit when she told me that feeling had been slowly going away ever since meeting me, even if I wasn't a Zebra.

We continued talking well into the late evening about many other different topics. Unfortunately, when we both looked outside, it was way past time for me to leave. "Wow," I chuckled a bit, "Time speeds by when fun is being had."

"There's no way you can return home in this darkness," Zecora said, walking over to her bed. "You're gonna have to sleep over."

I chuckled. "I can sleep on the floor, you know."

"My savior, we've talked about this," she said in a stern voice. "If you insist on me sleeping in your bed whenever we are at your house, then I will insist the same of you whenever we're here? Clear?"

I held up my hands in surrender. "You're a stubborn mare, I'll give you that. I graciously accept."

She grinned. "Good. Sleep well. I'll see you in the morning." She grabbed a blanket from a closet and curled up on a few pillows near the window, covering all but her muzzle underneath the blanket. It wasn't long before I heard the soft breathing of the Zebra.

I removed some of the clothes I wore, and in the process one of the small bits of blue flower fell out of my pocket. Picking it up, I placed it on the endtable next to Zecora's bed, climbed into bed, and fell asleep.

I woke the next morning feeling somewhat stiff all over. I blearily sat up, reaching up to wipe the cobwebs from my eyes. I hadn't even been in my astral form that night, which concerned me, but I reasoned that I needed the mental break.

Swinging my legs over the bed, I stood. And immediately fell flat on my face, slamming my nose into the floor. That, and my forehead as well, since a part of it immediately began hurting.

"Jethro?!" Zecora's voice called out in alarm. "Are you alright?"'

"Just feeling a bit…woozy…" I started, then stopped. My voice…it had completely changed. It was higher pitched, and more feminine than it had been. I sat up and looked over at Zecora, who had a look of pure shock on her face. "Was that…my voice?"

"That is you, isn't it my savior?" she asked, uncertainty in her voice.

"Of course it's me, who else would look like the only human in Equestria?" I asked, then tried to clear my throat as I climbed back towards the bed, sitting down on the mattress.

Zecora approached me, tilting her head curiously as she looked me up and down. She sat and stroked her chin thoughtfully. "My savior, think back to yesterday. Did you happen to step in something unusual?"

"Well, yeah. I fell into some blue flowers earlier and hit my elbow on the ground on the way here," I replied. "How'd you guess?"

Zecora froze, eyes wide. "My savior," she said, her voice worryingly quieter than normal, "please describe these flowers."

Not liking her tone, I swallowed and thought back. "Um…well, they had large leaves and a big bulb with petals in the center. The plant itself was light blue with some darker streaks. Zecora, is it dangerous?" I felt the fear returning to me.

To my surprise, she looked slightly relieved. Almost amused, now. "No, but you might want to look in the mirror," she said, handing me a handheld mirror from her dresser.

I grabbed it and looked at the reflection. Staring back at me, instead of my own reflection, I saw the face of a Pony looking back at me. And not just any kind of Pony. A Unicorn, by the looks of it.

I looked down at my hands, which were still hands, but they were covered in a slightly golden and silvery fur. Hesitantly reaching up, I felt the horn on my head, long and the same color as my fur, but with a slightly rainbow-ish sheen glimpsed in certain light. "The fuck?!" I shouted in English. I immediately felt pain on both sides of my back as well as the shattering of a few pieces of pottery.

"My savior! Be careful! Your wings are going to shatter the window and injure them!" Zecora shouted frantically, rushing to my side and grasping onto my back.

I quickly turned. Sure enough, I had a pair of wings as well, which Zecora was trying to push back into place. "How do I control them?!" I asked, feeling as frantic as Zecora looked.

"Try just relaxing," Zecora said firmly but as calmly as she could, still pushing on the wing that was pushing against the window.

Swallowing hard, I took a few deep breaths. The wing automatically retracted. Strangely enough, I felt it happen. It was like I had two new sets of arms which folded up behind me. After taking a few seconds to calm down, I began looking at myself more closely. I started with my feet, which weren't feet anymore. I saw two sets of strong looking equine hooves instead. Looking up, I further saw that my thighs were remarkably more feminine than before. My waist was more slender than normal, and to my great horror, I had large female breasts, which I then started to notice were really heavy.

Something fluttered into my lap. Looking down, I saw a large brown object that resembled a tail sitting in my lap. It was floating in some kind of invisible breeze in a way that I remember Celestia's, Luna's and Athena's doing. Holding up the mirror again, I realized that the new long mane I sported was doing the same thing as my tail, floating in whatever breeze an Alicorn's mane blew in. I took a deep breath, exhaling loudly. In my new female voice, I said, "I turned into a female Alicorn? But how?!" I turned to Zecora, looking for an explanation.

"Calm down, my savior, calm down. You're in no danger. You stepped into some Poison Joke," she replied. "It's the beginning of their germination season. They're a lot like Poison Oak, but their effects are like a joke."

"What do you mean?" I asked, still flinching at my new voice.

"Well, Poison Oak causes a rash, but Poison Joke is much more powerful. But don't worry, it isn't life threatening," she explained. "When somepony steps into it, the oils on the leaves cause changes in the victims."

"Like changing my entire appearance to become a mix of Alicorn and human?" I asked, swallowing hard.

"Indeed, but the effects are varied. When I stepped in it once, I was unable to speak normally," she replied. "Normally for me, anyway. I spoke backwards and there was no rhyme or reason to my words."

"But judging by your current speech, there's a cure?" I asked with a hopeful tone.

"There is. Hold on." She walked over to one of the bookshelves and pulled out a dark green book with some golden binding. On the front was a light green embedded plant. "In this book."

"Huh…Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-Alls That Are Simply Super." I read the cure and found it to be a simple herbal bath. "Thank goodness there's a cure," I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Indeed. I have all the ingredients for one herbal bath more before I need to get more supplies," she said. "Would you like to assist?"

"If I can figure out how to walk on these hooves," I said, grabbing onto a nearby wall and gently pulling myself up. "Ugh, these boobs are such a pain!" Just then I felt nature's call. Blushing, I looked at Zecora. "Um…this is embarrassing, but…"

"You need to relieve yourself?" Zecora finished, smiling kindly at me. "Don't be embarrassed. You didn't know this would happen."

I walked unsteadily towards Zecora's lavatory, helped my Zecora who let me use her back to stabilize myself. It took me a while, but when I came out, I was both relieved and feeling utterly ashamed, since I had little control with my new body. I sheepishly admitted my lack of control and aim to Zecora and asked for some towels. She gave me some and I wiped her lavatory down as best I could.

When I came back out, hot tears of humiliation were stinging my eyes. Zecora, who was busy gathering ingredients, saw me and rushed over. "This is so humiliating…" I hiccupped as Zecora ran her hoof through my new mane.

"Hush now, my savior," Zecora said gently. "Everything will be alright in time. While I'm preparing the bath, why don't you lie down and rest some more?"

She helped me over to the bed, where I pulled off the now torn shirt I'd worn to bed, covering my now exposed breasts with the blanket. Had I been in a calmer state of mind, I might have looked more closely at my new body parts, but all I wanted was my old body back. I could barely walk and I needed help to even do the simplest of tasks. I felt useless. Curling up, I grabbed my knees and lay there. My wings seemed to reflexively curl up around me as well, forming a wing cocoon. In a way, it felt relaxing, like I was back in the womb.

I don't know how long I lay like that, but eventually someone shook me. Looking up forlornly at Zecora, I saw her smile. "My savior, everything is ready. The tub is all full. All we need is for you to get in and fully submerse yourself."

I slowly uncurled myself, using the blanket to cover my new modesty. "Can you get me a towel?" I asked.

"Of course," Zecora said, walking over to a nearby shelf, taking a large towel in her mouth and carrying it over. I took it and slowly wrapped myself up as best I could. "Don't worry about getting it wet," she added, "I know how you are about not wearing clothes."

I did my best once more to get over to Zecora's bathtub. The water inside was steaming and had an earthy smell. One I found remarkably pleasant. I slowly climbed in feet, or hooves, first, then lowered myself in slowly. As I did so, I felt a strange tingling all over wherever the water hit. I looked at Zecora, I asked, "How long should I be underwater?"

"It shouldn't take too long, five or ten seconds at the longest," she replied.

Nodding, I took a deep breath and plunged completely into the water. It was the most unusual feeling I ever felt. If I had to describe it, it was as if my body had been encased in an anthropomorphic Alicorn shaped egg shell. The bath I was in was like acid which melted away the eggshell, but only that, revealing the chick within. I counted out the seconds, making it to fifteen to give myself a little wiggle room.

When I came up for air, I gasped. To my relief, the voice I hear from my throat was my own. Looking down, I nearly passed out from relief. I was back in my own body once again. "Thank God…" I said in extreme relief.

Zecora, on the other hand, was looking at me with a smile. She approached and tapped my shoulder. "Jethro, how are you feeling?"

"Much better. And I'm sorry for any trouble I caused you," I said apologetically.

"My savior, anypony in your situation would be as terrified as you were. You were in a body you weren't used to. I'm not upset at you."

Grabbing the towel from the bath, I stood and wrapped it around my waist. "It seems I owe you again."

"You owe me nothing," Zecora said with a wide smile. "I mean it."

I smiled back at her. "Thanks." Pointing sheepishly to my discarded clothes, I added, "Could I…get changed now?"

As I was walking home, carrying my now torn undershirt with me, I reflected on the events of the past day. It had been a sobering reminder about how lucky I had been. It didn't matter that this world was based off of a children's television show. There were clear and present dangers at play, especially in the forest where Zecora and I lived. I had been extremely lucky to have fallen in only Poison Joke and not something life threatening.

"I've gotta be more careful," I whispered. "It's a miracle I haven't been attacked since that thing with the Timberwolves."

I looked at my torn shirt sadly. Now that I wasn't on Earth, I needed to be more careful about my remaining clothing supply as well. It wasn't like I could purchase new clothes for humans at Rarity's boutique or anywhere else in the world. I sighed, held up the shirt by the shoulders, and shook it.

To my surprise, I saw a few feathers fly out of the inside of the shirt. I watched in confusion as the feathers fell towards me and landed on my chest, blown there by a small burst of wind, and stuck to me. I reached down and plucked the wings from my chest, examining them. There were twelve in all and they were long, pliable, strong, and extremely soft.

I put them in my laptop bag and continued going home. I hadn't taken more than three steps before a small scroll landed on my head, falling into the dirt. I quickly opened it. And my jaw dropped.

My faithful student Jethro,

What's brown and gold and silver all over? You!

Athena

I couldn't help myself. Even if that was an incredibly corny joke, I laughed.