Chapter 9: Bridle Gossip
"Golly, that was good. Thanks fer the milk shakes and the talk again sir!"Young Apple Bloom emerged from Sugar cube Corner with Orion right behind her.
"Not a problem, little Apples have so much of life to enjoy before work becomes a part of their life,"At least that's the way Orion remembered it, Apple's still worked a little bit even as children,"Well… That may just be my opinion…"
"Pardon the question, but how old are you? You remind me of the Apple elders,"Apple Bloom giggled thinking of all the grandparents, and elders that seemed to know much about the history of Equestria,"Never knew any pony outside my family who knew so much history about Equestria."
"Well… Let's just say, I could never look like this or even move much without immortality being my handicap."He reached into his hood and scratched at his black hair.
"What's immortality like? It must be fun being able to live all the time and do just about anything!"
"It's… Not as fun as you might think. Through the ages… You experience things, and learn things… Whether it's good or bad,"He patted and tasseled her mane a bit,"Believe me… You'd rather grow up and enjoy a life time than live forever. Don't let the way princess Celestia lives effect the way you live."
"Ok… You seem like you got a bit of bad thing with the princess. Is there a reason fer that…?"
Suddenly Apple Bloom was snatched up and taken back into Sugar Cube Corners in a flash. The prince looked around, only to be hugged at the waste and forced into the same building. He was released upon entering, and quickly slugged the first muzzle he could find. He snatched up the hoof it belong to and slammed the body it belonged to against a wall. Bending the hoof upward and backwards against the grabbers back before quiet voices were trying to stop him.
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa! Easy there partner, it's just us…!"The whispers of Applejack sounded in the dark building.
"Yeah, we brought you inside before she noticed you! Um… You mind letting Rainbow go?"Pinkie bounced before him and pointed out the Rainbow Dash was in his vice grip, struggling.
"What…? What the hay is this all about? I thought you were kidnappers for Celestia's sake…!"Orion let Rainbow go before she was quickly gripping at her sore muzzle.
"Me too…! Why in tarnation are y'all hiding in here?!"Apple Bloom got free from Fluttershy and shook off the scare.
"Why is every pony taking refuge in their homes?!"Orion looked out the window and saw a strange sight.
Every pony was rushing back into their homes or the nearest establishments to hide. Children ran in all directions and either ended up in a store or even joining them in Sugar Cube Corners. Restaurant employees were shutting down their establishment and boarding up the windows. Before they knew it, the town became a ghost town within thirty seconds flat. The cloaked man was left in confusion, looking around to find any pony else, or maybe the cause of this strange occurrence.
"Hey…! There's Twilight and Spike! They probably don't know,"Pinkie whispered and opened the window to call to Twilight,"Psst! Twilight! Spike! Come here, come here! Before she sees you!"
Quickly, Twilight and Spike were brought inside, meeting every pony else. Even Orion and Apple Bloom that was sneaking peeks outside to see what was going on. She groaned, and Orion replied with a shrug as he looked around some more.
"What?! Who?! The zombie pony?!"Spike exclaimed with confusion and panic.
"No…! Not Zombie ponies Spike…! The time of undead has long been over…!"Orion rolled his eyes at the hysteria before spotting something of interest.
"Thank you, O… So why are you hiding all alone in the dark for?"Twilight got back to the issue at hoof.
"I'm not all alone in the dark."Pinkie said before pointing out that every pony was in here with them.
"Ok then… What are you ALL doing here, hiding in the dark?"She rephrased the question.
"Does it have something to do with the zebra in the cloak out there?"Orion pointed to the lone pony like figure, he could see right through the confines of a cloak.
"Well yeah…! We're hiding from her!"Applejack pointed to the very zebra, Orion watched with a bit of nostalgia.
(Mlp Fim, Theme Song)
"Are you all kidding me right now? Hiding from a zebra?"Orion mused, taking his eyes away from the window to look to the mares.
"Did ya see her Twilight? Did you see…Zecora?"Apple Bloom asked of Twilight.
"Apple Bloom! I told you never to say that name …!"
"Well… I saw her glance this way."
"Glance…EVILLY this way?"Pinkie suggested.
"And then a bunch of you flip out for no reason?"Twilight questioned their judgment on the zebra, as was Orion.
"No good reason? You call protecting your kin no good reason,"Applejack explained a bit irrationally and blindly in Orion's opinion,"Why as soon as my sister saw Zecora riding into town. She started shaking in her little horseshoes."
"Did not…! I wasn't even with you…!"Apple Bloom denied her sister's claim.
"She was with me enjoying milkshakes and company, and all of you just suddenly snatched us up and brought us inside."Orion gave Twilight the real story on that issue.
"Yeah… Thanks for the sore muzzle by the way…!"Rainbow had a bit of demeanor pointing at Orion for his conduct earlier.
"Well… She was with you fer safe keeping is all…!"Applejack defended.
"Applejack, I'm not a baby. I can take care of myself!"Apple Bloom wanted to feel brave and bold like Orion made her want to be since the Ursa attack.
"Not from that creepy Zecora!"Applejack put her hoof down.
"She's mysterious…"Fluttershy started.
"Sinister…!"Rainbow added on.
"And spoooooooky!"Pinkie finished their judgment on the zebra.
"Will you cut that out!"Twilight and Orion snapped after a group gasp.
"Just look at those stripes…! So Garnished…!"Rarity spat with disgust.
"She's a zebra!"Twilight cleared the air about the stripes.
"A what?!"They all exclaimed.
"A zebra, and her stripes aren't a fashion choice. She was born that way…!"Twilight explained before Rarity fainted in horror.
"Born where? I've never seen a pony like her in my life, except her…!"Applejack argued, and Orion finally stepped in to explain for Twilight.
"Geez you are all so misunderstanding… Zebras come from a far off world across the very ocean known as Afriquine,"He sat down for this one while they seemed more into watching Zecora dig in the dirt,"Back in the day they were highly respectful people, and gifted in their knowledge of every form of magic that had ever existed…"
He looked down for a moment and remembered all too well what zebras were capable of. They themselves were his means of controlling his very power he used with prejudice. His own warrior comrades were consoled and taught about their gifts by zebras. Their expertise on abnormal and unique magic was always one to be admired, especially when curiosity was their drive to learn. Not only that, but their natural experience with nature made them very appreciated for natural remedies, and potions for bodily stimulation
"Hah… Those were the days... Zebras were certainly a sight to see."Orion sighed only to get the dramatic thunder bolt after hearing Ever Free Forest.
"Spike!"Twilight and Orion yelled at the baby dragon for letting lightning bolts rip.
"Uh…sorry."Spike apologized.'
"The Ever Free Forest just ain't natural…! The plants grow…"Applejack started another group scare.
"The animals care for themselves…!"Fluttershy added with fear.
"And the clouds move…"Rainbow added before they all chanted.
"All on their own!"Rarity fainted from the spooky explanation
"And the wicked enchantress Zecora lives there, doing her evil…stuff,".Pinkie bounced around spouting more hate and judgment on the zebra,"She's so evil, I wrote a song about her!"
"Here we go…"Rainbow Dash felt her ears droop for a song, but Orion was fed up.
"Alright I've had enough of this evil talk on a stranger…"He lifted his fist and let a tiny sharp looking bit of wind like magic appear on his knuckles.
Once the concentrated wind became a small spike on his middle knuckle, he then gently jabbed Pinkie in the arm. Making her pause her intro to a song and feeling nothing. She was confused, and lifted an eye brow to his seemingly gentle fist tap. Only to suddenly feel a sharp, but invisible sting in her arm, causing her to yelp and bounce right through the ceiling. Only to come down yelping in pain as she slammed on her flank and rubbing at the injury that simply wasn't there.
"What was that?!"Pinkie exclaimed as she rubbed at her stinging arm.
"The punishing punch, my father used it all the time whenever I misbehaved to a level. Surprised I still remember it,"He cracked his fingers and snorted in protest of their judgment,"I cannot believe the things I am hearing from all of you! I've known zebras for thousands upon thousands of years, and they have not once played a part in any sort of evil!"
"Well in case you haven't learned old timer, this isn't exactly YOUR time any more-"Rainbow was silenced as she was presented with punishing fist right in front of her muzzle.
"You want to finish that sentence you reckless fly with wings?!"He challenged only to be held back by spike and Twilight.
"Alright…! Lets try not to…draw conclusions. I feel maybe that's our best bet here maybe…!"Twilight struggled to keep the peace between them all.
"Right…! In fact…I'll go out and I'll greet her like I actually have respect for others…!"Orion fixed his cloak and waited to be released before bursting out the door.
"Can I have your cloak when she eats you?! I might be able to make something wonderful out of it!"Rarity called and made the man roll his eyes.
He quietly strolled over, hearing Apple Bloom rant about their behavior towards Zecora. He released his crystal eyes and let them remain normal, for his magic was already alarming her. Her ears flickered as she turned to the approaching tall and bipedal creature. Garbed in disguising robes just like her, but he could see she was more interested. She was feeling out and study the magic on Orion, simply growing more curious as she stopped digging.
"Greetings… It's been quite a while since I've seen one of you around these parts."He stopped in front of her as she lifted her head up to meet his eyes.
"Your greeting is much appreciated and new, for I usually see any pony in town, so very few,"His greeting was met with gratitude and a smile to see life in Ponyville,"You are a curious being of magic, something mysterious, powerful and mystic."
"I get that a lot… Is there a reason you are searching the dirt here?"He asked as he spotted seeds of curious origin right where she was digging.
"A batch of poison joke is rising at the forest edge. I must make a batch of serum, that is my today's pledge,"She explained an interesting problem Orion had encountered once before,"I must collect the natural ingredients to make the cure for poison joke, should children wonder to close to the plants smoke."
"There is plenty of natural herbs and spices in the shop over there."He pointed to the herb shop to the far right.
"I've tried there, but it seems closed. Some pony out to lunch I supposed."Zecora explained her situation further to the man
"It is because ponies are nervous about you. They are not so use to strangers like you, and so they are hesitate to open up to you, regardless of your intentions."Orion explained the reason behind her struggles, and to his surprise she took it nicely.
"I…understand… I will search for the remaining ingredients in the forest. I will allow the nervous ponies to peacefully rest,"Zecora collected the seeds from the dirt and turned to leave,"I do hope I have caused no trouble, next time my activities will be more subtle…"
"I will change that, and help you appeal to these judgmental fools. You don't deserve isolation…"Zecora nodded to his kind words and continued on.
"Boy… The things that have changed about Equestria. Never thought judgment would be such a high esteem,"He slowly turned away and slowly walked back to the mane six,"Even in my time their judgment only went so far…! What have you done Tia…?"
His memories flooded back in, his eyes closed as he began to remember his old days. He remembered, he was a small colt around seven perhaps, he had sneaked out. Found a way out of the castle to try and make friends he could play with, a small break from his father's relentless training. It didn't end well, for his crystals were beyond his control, and destroyed everything. He remembered just standing there in the middle of red chaos that struck a groups tree house.
They looked to him with judgment and a bit of hatred that stung his innocent heart. While he waited for his father to arrive at the scene and scold him dearly for his misdeeds. He never tried to find another friend since, at least until they showed up, under his father's watch. The friends he would fight, train, sleep, and become a warrior with. The friends he could call his own, and that he would certainly die for when it came to a battle for Equestria.
He found himself lost in the memories of those great six warriors, all unique and special like he was. He became so caught up in the memories, a tear nearly escaped his eyes. However those dreams were then crushed, along with his body. He was suddenly leg checked, and when he turned to see who had hit him. He was suddenly mowed down by all six mares and left in a cloud of dirt and hoof prints.
He laid there, shaking his head and coming out of his dream in a daze. He did his best to not choke on dust or get too much in his small nose before slowly getting up. He patted his hood down to shake off the dirt and brush his cloak off before looking to the group. Running off towards the Ever Free forest, but why they were doing this was a mystery to him. Possibly trying to run Zecora out of town, but with a glimmer of his crystal eyes, he saw a reason.
He took off after them, following their tracks as his eyes were on Apple Bloom. She was following Zecora into the forest for an unknown reason. It was practically a suicide run they were all making for just one zebra, it was outrageous. He started running, and gaining more speed before he was almost making a trail in the dirt. He entered the forest about a minute before they had entered, and was hit by it's shadows of evil.
"This is crazy… All this because of a zebra?! How bad do they honestly think she is,"He spoke to himself quietly as he followed the hoof tracks through the deep shade of the trees,"Now they are in the most dangerous of places, for some odd reason? What is up with ponies these days?!"
Finally his eyes spotted them coming to an end of their run once they had found Apple Bloom. His sights narrowed while also spotting Zecora before them, but why? He gasped, and saw the reason why as he approached the group, standing in the blue plants and flowers. He saw Apple Bloom about to stand in the flowers as well, and was quick to act. A long rod of crystal slipped from his hand and slammed into the ground before him.
He began to pole vault, and as he swung up from behind the mares, he scooped the filly up. Apple Bloom only gasped before she was tucked into his right arm for safety. Just as he fully vaulted over the mares and into the air, over the patch of blue flowers He found an in coming tree branch, and drove the rod into the branch to stop their momentum cold. He and Apple Bloom were then dangling over Twilight and all her friends, as well as the plants they were stepping in.
"Whoa nelly…! That was some crazy fast moves there!"Apple Bloom exclaimed before hugging his arm tight, seeing how high up they were.
"Just don't look down kid! That's all you gotta do,"He said before looking down to the mares that were looking to Zecora,"Every pony! Get out of those flowers! It's all poison joke!"
They were not listening, they were too busy listening to Zecora warn them personally in a chant. He could only watch as Zecora disappeared into the forest fog, leaving them right there. He sighed and looked down to them before hopping off the tree branch. Landing behind the mares away from the flowers before putting Apple Bloom down. He turned to them and was shaking his head as they finally turned to find him and Apple Bloom safe and sound.
"Come on…! I didn't stutter, we gotta get out of here before creatures show up,"He pointed out the best road out and they gladly took the lead and ran for it,"Ugh… I hope that poison joke didn't contaminate them."
Orion hoped for the best, but it seemed that equestria was not on his side this time. They had gotten home, and unrest was heavy for him, Spike, and Twilight. He was awoke half the night thinking of Zecora and the flowers the mares ran into. While he could also see Twilight struggling with bad dreams that seem to be haunting her. The things Zecora spoke of to them stuck to her, and her dark foreboding chant was like a child's nightmare.
He was left to only get a couple hours of sleep, but it was better than nothing. His eyes opened slowly as he awoke in his bed, his tiny and soft bed he finally started to adjust to. He yawned, and slowly moved his head to see that Twilight was already out of bed. Most likely in the bathroom brushing her mane for the day, Spike was of course still sleeping. Suddenly they heard a gasp and a small scream before both dragon and man were wide awake.
Spike panicked in his bed while Orion nearly fell from his bed and almost lost his hood. He rolled to the floor and immediately pulled his large red crystal sword from his right wrist. Screams were always a call to action no matter what. He rushed to the bathroom and sliced the door in two, just as Spike finally crawled off his bed to run in as back up. Orion kicked the spliced door down and aimed it at the source of the scream.
"Oh… You gotta be kidding me…"He immediately lowered his sword and sheathed it when he saw the situation.
All was normal, except for the poor unicorn's horn that flopped like a water balloon. While the blue spots that appeared all over it told Orion everything. The poison joke had spread to her over the night, and left her looking quite hilarious. Orion did his best not to chuckle, while Spike was already gone. Laying against the man's leg and laughing before Orion finally released some chuckles.
"Oh…dear…! The jokes Thunder Blitz would make right now…"Orion chuckled.
"This isn't funny! I can't seem to use my magic properly! I'm practically as sick as I can be!"Twilight ranted before rushing down stairs.
"Twilight. Twilight! Relax it's actually not a sickness or virus…!"Orion and Spike followed her downstairs while she was going through books.
"Well whatever it is, there has to be a book on it!"Twilight was quickly going through books like there was no tomorrow.
"Twilight just relax, you're not going to find the info in those books."Orion finally had his fun and locked the books into the shelves with his magic.
"Maybe this one perhaps?"Spike had finally found a book close to what they had believed to be the cause.
"Super natural? This has to do with superstitious things like ghost and spirits and zombies,"The dragon and prince looked to each other, and the man shook his head,"Which are as make believe as curses. This book is a bunch of hooey."
"Twilight, let me explain what's going on here."Orion tried to explain, but like yesterday his words fell on deaf ears.
"But what if you're wrong Twilight? What if this really is a-"Spike was then interrupted by slobber spitting at him and Orion.
"Ah pfurse!"Pinkie Pie muffled with a swollen blue spotted tongue.
"A purse? How is a purse behind this?"Spike asked.
"Pinkie? What happened?"Twilight questioned with shock.
"Pee pah Zethcora, pfut ah cursthe on meh…!"Pinkie tried to talk over her slobbering big tongue.
"Say it, don't spray it will ya!"Spike and Orion suggested for the pink pony.
"What Pinkie ow, is trying to say is, ow! Zecora slapped a curse on us!"Rainbow Dash arrived, only to slam all over the place, flying in a strange and unpredictable pattern.
"Oh my Celestia, not this again…!"Orion sighed knowing more judgment and hate for something different was coming.
"I'm afraid I would have to agree…!"Came the voice of Rarity, from a mass of long white fur and a long purple mane covering her face and her horn.
"Whoa… Talk about a bad hair day."Spike laughed at Orion's comment.
"I hate to say I told you so Twilight! But I told you so!"Came the tiniest voice from a very tiny Applejack, currently climbing up Orion's pant leg.
"Geez, I almost thought you were a spider Applejack."Applejack glared at him before he picked her up and gave her to Apple Bloom.
"Not funny big tall and old…! It's a curse I tell ya!"Applejack ranted.
"But Fluttershy…seems fine…!"Twilight argued.
"Yes, she does appear to be just fine…!"Rarity spoke while blowing at her purple bangs hanging in her face.
"I wouldn't say she's completely fine,"Orion scanned her over with his eyes and bent down to check her throat before shaking his head,"There's a reason she doesn't want to speak."
"Good gravy girl what's wrong with you?!"Applejack bounced and questioned before Fluttershy took a deep breath in.
"I don't want to talk about it…"he spoke with a voice as deep as Big Macintosh himself.
Spike snorted and could not help but to fall over laughing at the shear hilarity of poison jokes work. Orion wheezed and backed away and did his best to hold in a burst of cackles. They rattled in his chest forcing him to cough and pat his chest down. Finally he could laugh quietly as he sat down to process what he called instant karma for their behavior yesterday. He sat down to catch his breath from the laughter while noticing Apple Bloom appeared to be more than concern.
"What is wrong Apple Bloom… I'm shocked that you don't find this funny…!"Orion questioned with his breath finally caught.
"How can I laugh when this is all my fault? None of this would have happened if I didn't follow Zecora into the forest."Apple Bloom was coming to grips with what was happening here.
"True as that may be…! It was more of their fault as anything,"Orion slowly got to his knees to explain while the mares quarreled among themselves,"If they had listen to me back there, and not resort to superstition and such dramatic action, they wouldn't have wanted to give chase and run right into the poison joke."
"Poison joke? What in the hay stacks is that?"Apple Bloom asked with a lifted eye brow.
"Zecora herself warned me of the poison joke, and even warned them in the forest, but they wouldn't listen,"He sighed and shook his head before whispering the rest into Apple Bloom's ear,"So… I simply call it instant karma for their irrational judgment and trying to chase her out yesterday."
"Golly…! Well then we need to go find Zecora and help her fix this!"Apple Bloom insisted as Orion gave a small chuckle.
"The forest is a dangerous place. You won't survive out there."
"That's why I said we. As in me and YOU. You must have went through the forest loads of times,"Apple Bloom corrected him surprisingly and rush to the door,"With you by my side, there ain't nothing that can stop us…!"
"They're probably going to follow when they find out where we are going…!"He whispered as he got up and checked on Twilight and her friends before going to the door.
"That's a risk that I am willing to take!"Apple Bloom ran outside before Orion quickly followed and shut the door quietly.
"You know…! I've never seen a filly more ready to risk her life on an adventure since Luna herself ran away from home."He made conversation while following Apple Bloom through the town.
"Really? Princess Luna once just ran away from home?!"Apple Bloom asked while simply walking under ponies that crowded around Sugar Cube Corner.
"Yup! Got her first flank spanking from father. Was not happy about it,"Orion responded as he gently nudged ponies out of his path,"I saw her outside the castle gate and I sprang after her. Followed her all the way to Ponyville…! I never saw her more scared to go home in her life!"
"How did you manage to get her to come home?"She asked, just as they were exiting the town on the path they were on yesterday.
"Well… We found a new friend. We were young at the time and… We found all his magic stuff fun,"Orion said before they froze at the entrance to the forest itself,"We became best friends… He actually took the blame and said he kidnapped us because he needed a friend… His punishment was to remain in the castle with us. Under the king and queen themselves."
"What was your friends name?"She asked before she and her protector were holding hand and hoof for the journey.
"His name was… Discord…"He spoke a bit heavily on the subject before they entered the forest.
Before they knew it, they were slowly going the thick brush and untamed forest. The Ever Free was as unexplored, and heavy with dark nature magic as it always was. Unpredictable, crawling with the most vicious of beasts they could ever imagine. Yet Zecora had made herself a home in such a dark and dank place. Apple Bloom appeared less confident, but all she needed was to look at the big tall pony at her side to keep her going forward
"Great apples and dumblings! How dark can this place get…?! How do you handle such a place?"Apple Bloom asked as bats suddenly dispersed over their heads.
"I've seen far darker than this… I've witnessed and survived the deepest pits of Tartarus,"He spoke quietly before getting her over to a rock to hide,"A place where demons of titan proportions could be found…! Capable of burning our world to black…!"
"Why are we hiding again?"She asked in a small whisper as he looked over to the hazard.
He watched, and gently shushed her as he watched raw nature taking place in an opening of bushes. A cragodile, a great reptilian beast of brown color and rock like skin. It had caught itself a hearty meal in the form of an Ursa minor, most likely ambushed it in the bushes. Now it was feasting on the baby like the barbaric reptile it was, it's long and large snout crushing down on it's quarry. Snapping bones in two and picking out chunks of meat in hunger.
He dared not let Apple Bloom see nature at it's rawest form, and simply kept her hidden under his arm. He nodded to her and looked into her eyes with his glowing red crystal eyes. He then looked back at the gruesome scene with an idea in his head. He lifted his hands to his hips and let them glow with red magic that sparkled in the filly's eyes. He nearly clutched them into fists before his magic was around the Ursa carcass.
With no struggle, he was slowly lifting the dead Ursa into the air in front of the cragodile. He smiled once he saw the beast following it's moving prey. It growled and hissed as it began to snap and bite at the corpse as it floated above the creatures head. It kept following as it began to move away from the area, and right over a near by lake. Orion could see the lake from a good thirty feet away, and simply kept moving the corpse slowly towards it.
The reptile seem to be getting more and more angry by the second, but it did not stop chasing. Finally Orion sighed and ceased his magic, just as he heard the corpse splash near the lake. With the cragodile out of the way, and feasting in it's new home. He gave Apple Bloom the thumbs up that it was safe, and they were quick to get out from behind the rock. They were then on their way again, crossing over the open area, surrounded by bushes.
"That was some pretty intense magic! What did you do back there?"She asked curiously again.
"Let's just say I moved something very ugly looking…"He spoke and began slicing at heavy branches and bushes with a small hunk of crystal.
"Is it whatever made that blood spot on the grass back there?"She asked quietly as the crickets sounded.
"Yeah… You could say that,"He spoke as his eyes had finally pin pointed the hut he could see glowing in the distance,"It's not too far now! And I think she's expecting us."
"Hold it right there little missy!"Both Bloom and Orion almost jumped at the tiny little voice.
"Applejack… How did you find us all the way out here?!"He questioned as he stood on Apple Bloom's muzzle.
"I followed you two, I can't believe you took my sister with you to see that evil enchantress,"She yelled at Orion while turning back to Apple Bloom,"And you…! You march right back home…!"
"No…!"Apple Bloom simply responded.
"No?! You can't ignore a direct order from your big sister!"Applejack argued before she was picked up and sat on a branch.
"Hehehe, sorry Applejack, but it looks like I'm the big sister now…!"Apple Bloom then ran off pass Orion who then followed right behind her.
"Apple Bloom, you get back here this instant! I'm gonna tell Big Mac on you,"they heard Applejack yell in the distance as they spotted the yellow glimmer of the hut,"Awe pony feathers…!"
"There it is…! Zecora's hut, that was easier than I expected,"He stopped at the door with Apple Bloom as she gulped and slowly knocked,"We must hurry now… Twilight and her friends are in pursuit of us as well."
After one more knock on the door, she stopped for a moment and waited for an answer. Orion could hear the hoof steps from behind the door just as the knob turned. The door slowly opened, and the head of a zebra mare slowly poked out with swaying gold rings on her neck. She looked around and found her first friend from Ponyville, as well as the little filly he saved. She slowly sighed in relief before standing up straight and opening the door.
"I feared it be another creature from the eastern forest. Thankfully it appears to be friends, my nerves can now rest,"Zecora moved to the side as a way to invite them in,"Come in if you wish, and do so quickly. Ever Free squirrels have lately been in quite a pish…"
"We are glad we came as soon as possible, honestly Apple Bloom here insisted upon it,"Orion said as they entered swiftly, allowing Zecora to close the door,"How goes your concoction for the poison joke?"
"It is going a bit slow unfortunately… It is almost done, but my supplies have been low lately,"Zecora explained as she rushed back to the bubbling pot in the center,"I require a bit of bramble, and magic dust. Bramble can be substituted by others, but the dust is a must."
"I can give you the magic dust, Apple Bloom. There was some black bramble around the hut's back,"Apple Bloom saluted and took the back door swiftly,"We must hurry this up. The mares from yesterday contracted the poison joke, but they think you put a hex or a curse on them…!"
"That is preposterous, such unnecessary judgment from these ponies. What makes me appear as a one of the vile phonies?"Zecora questioned as she kept stirring the batch of potion in her pot.
"You would be surprised what some may do when they're scared by something different… I've been there myself,"His left hand clutched with red magic and slowly began to drop magic dust into the pot,"All you have to do is show that you're as good and worth while as them, and that fear turns to respect…"
"Your words are much appreciated in my struggle with this new place. Your little friend Apple Bloom appears to be open to me and my face,"Zecora admitted as she went over to hang up her coat,"Speaking of which, this is now the perfect temperature for the ponies I presume. Now where is that Apple Bloom?"
"Must be collecting the whole batch for you. Apple family members are quite the workers,"He spoke before gasping once his eyes were seeing an ambush commencing,"Hurry! They're about to drop on us and mess everything up!"
"What did you do to Apple Bloom!?"Came the same high pitched voice as the door was busted open.
"Sigh, what the buck…?! Every pony just relax and let me explain."Orion tried to reason before they were attacking.
"You're in enough trouble as it is big guy!"Applejack yelled only before Rainbow Dash was crashing all over the place.
"Are you kidding me?! Stop! You're going to mess everything up!"Orion once again tried to reason.
The mare's were too busy screaming and attacking everything in sight. Her masks were knocked from her walls, and her shelves were knocked loose. Everything was being destroyed in front of Zecora, but her only concern was the brew she was making. Her home was nearly in ruins while Orion was trying to control the situation nice and easy. Yet he was now being tempted to use force on them all.
"Ponies! What is with you?!"Zecora panicked before she was knocked to the ground.
Rainbow Dash then screamed before flying into the large pot of concoction she had worked on for a whole day. Zecora gasped and went to save what was left as the brew as Orion finally put his foot down. His right hand grasped Twilight by the back of her neck and slammed her to the dirt. He kept her pinned while swinging his other arm and grabbing Rainbow by the chest. Slamming her against the wall and pinning her as well before looking to Rarity and Pinkie.
He swung his left foot to the left and a hunk of red crystal shot from the ground and pinned Rarity. While He partially round housed his right foot to pin Pinkie with another hunk. He then looked to Fluttershy and stared her down before she simply sat in a corner. He stomped his right foot down before a tooth pick size rod of crystal hung Applejack up by her pony tail. With all six detained, he was able to help Zecora recollect her brew with a bit of magic.
"How dare you! You destroy my home, and nearly destroyed my work! Then accuse me of being a jerk!"Zecora yelled once she had saved her brew.
"You put this curse on us! Now you're going to uncurse us!"Rainbow said before she felt her spine rattle as she got slammed against the wall.
"WILL ALL SIX OF YOU SHUT UP AND FOR ONCE JUST LISTEN!"Orion finally roared in a loud echoing voice that shook the entire hut.
"Do not go down this road, or my anger may explode!"Zecora warned them before getting back to her boiling pot.
"Zecora! I found all the things you asked for! What in Ponyville is going on here?"Apple Bloom questioned upon entering.
"Apple Bloom! You're ok!"Applejack exclaimed with relief.
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"Apple Bloom questioned while they all looked to each other.
"Because Zecora is an evil enchantress and was about to make Apple Bloom stew?!"Twilight finally answered and forced laughter from both zebra and filly.
"No, she was in the middle of making a cure for your poison joke you idiot! I was trying to tell you all before!"Orion explained loud and clear.
"Poison joke?!"All six mares yelled in confusion.
"If you remember way back, my words were quite exact."Zecora reminded them of the warning she gave them yesterday.
"It was a warning. About the blue flowers. It's called poison joke!"Apple Bloom cleared it up for them.
"The plant is much like poison oak, but it's results are simply a joke."Zecora added.
"That's why I scooped up Apple Bloom and went for the tree above your heads,"Orion slowly let them all go and stood tall as they all found the ground,"I spotted the flowers on sight and prevented Apple Bloom from walking into them."
"Poison joke, instead of causing wrath, it just wants a laugh."
"Will some pony talk normal?"Applejack asked while finally meeting the ground.
"Orion already said it, but we just didn't listen to him. When we ran in to save Apple Bloom. We ran right into the poison joke,"All our problems are just little jokes it played on us."
"What about the chanting?"Fluttershy asked.
"And the creepy decor?"Rarity added.
"They are all treasures from the native land where I am from. This one speaks hello, and the other means welcome,"Zecora explained her decorations before going to her chants,"The words I was chanting were from olden times. Something you would call a nursery rhyme."
"And this pot of water wasn't for me, it was for all these herbal ingredients. The cure for poison joke is simply an old remedy,"Apple Bloom explained as the mares were sent into a state of disbelief,"You just have to simply take a bubble bath…!"
"Remember that super natural book you thought was garbage that Spike showed you? It had that very remedy in it."Orion was given the book by Zecora to show to Twilight.
"Well…why didn't you say anything about it?"Twilight questioned only to get his head shaking no at her.
"I tried to explain things to all of you, but you all chose not to listen because I was OLD and we weren't living in my world any more!"Zecora shook her head at the fact he gave.
"Maybe next time, you'll take a second look. Before you judge the cover of the book."Zecora insisted while Apple Bloom giggled about being right.
"Zecora… Orion… I am so sorry we misjudged both of you. I guess I should have listened,"Twilight admitted with a sigh that she did not listen to her highly experienced friend,"Please.. Will you both forgive us, and make us that herbal bath?"
"Of course Twilight… Issue is, now that we lost some of the herbs before they could mix. We need to get more from Ponyville."Orion forgave and professed their final issue.
"And whenever Zecora comes to town, all the shops are mysteriously closed…!"Apple Bloom reminded them as they all lit up with embarrassment.
"Oh…well… We might be able to do something about that…"Twilight admitted with a small smile to Zecora.
Orion smiled from under his hood, seeing as every pony was now opening up to Zecora. Their judgment now realized was becoming a thing of the past as they went back to Ponyville. Slowly they manage to explain everything to the ponies, before they knew it, everything was opening up. Zecora finally found the herbs she needed, and had finally brewed up a cure for the poison joke. They took their business to the spa where they had a tub big enough for every pony.
Orion simply laid against the giant bath tub while every pony was in the tub getting a bubble bath. He already saw it going to work, Twilight's horn was already straight and normal again. Rainbow was no longer smashinging into things once she had shot from the bath. Fluttershy was speaking in her normal gentle voice while Rarity was blessed with her normal fur and mane again. Applejack was back to her normal size almost instantly once she dove into the bubbles.
"I hate to say I told YOU so Applejack, but… Actually I'm happy to say, I told you so!"He chuckled as he rested back just in time to hear Twilight's new friendship lesson.
"Dear princess Celestia, my friends and I learned an important lesson this week. Never judge a book by it's cover,"Twilight spoke of her lesson while Spike wrote it down,"Some pony may look unusual, or funny, or scary. But you have to look pass that to learn who they are inside."
"That's what I like to hear…"Orion slowly nodded his head in approval with that.
"Real friends don't care what your cover is. It's the contents of a pony that count. And a good friend, is like a good book. It will last forever,"Twilight finished it with her signature,"Your faithful student Twilight."
"Couldn't have said it better myself Twilight… Can't believe you were ready to call it a curse,"Orion lightly chuckled as Applejack showed herself off, being big again to Apple Bloom,"Curses can be far worse than simple jokes ya know…"
"I thought curses weren't real?"Rainbow hovered over his head in curiosity.
"Oh yeah curses are very much real. There's just not many of them out there. There's only four,"His words caught every pony's attention that he knew this,"You all…don't know about the four curse spells?"
"Curses are strictly forbidden in Afriquine. Their chaos is the furthest thing from divine."Zecora gave her recipe to Lotus and turned very seriously to Orion.
"That's good. They are forbidden here as well, using either of the four earns you a one way ticket to prison,"He spoke and sat up for this talk,"That is…if you're not just sentence to death."
"Really? Where can I read up on such curses?"Twilight asked and got a sigh from Orion.
"Come on partner, we wanna actually listen to ya for once."Applejack insisted, only for Orion to roll his eyes.
"You'll find two of them in the supernatural book. The other two are even forbidden to be spoken of, unless you are an authority figure."Orion tried to keep it from peeking too much interests.
"What are the other two then? Authority figure?"Twilight pressed and got one out of him.
"The graver curse, it's simply a curse of death. Once it is cast upon you. You simply die, now lets forget we talked about curses."Orion said and quickly shut up.
"What about the other? Is it worse?"Rarity was now curious but also nervous to know about illegal magic.
"Yes… Far worse…"He spoke before they were all interrupted by a happy Pinkie Pie.
"Oh my gosh! I never realized how terrible it was not to talk! Because I mean, I love talking so much! And when I couldn't talk any more,"Pinkie went on a talking spree to compensate for not talking much before,"My tongue was all like "eeeehhhh"and it was the worst! Don't you agree Fluttershy?!"
"Yes…"Fluttershy spoke in her same gentle voice, causing every pony to laugh.
"Hehehe… Good to have you back too Pinkie,"Orion admitted, quite relieved that he was out of that hairy situation,"Phew… I almost let it slip… They can never know about… Black graver… The Black Death Curse…"
And there you have it. I get the feeling this one might bring up some curious questions, so feel free to pm me. Coming up, Swarm of the Century, and Orion meets Tia once again!