Author's note: The story has taken on a life of its own.

Chapter 6: Insanity is Poison

It has been about week since the whole Ouija board incident, and not much has actually happened. The three ponies that I pranked still have been going on about their day, but seem to be avoiding Fluttershy. I guess they are just trying to forget what happened.

I'm currently just floating over Ponyville watching the ponies just go about their business. They all look like ant from up here.

Suddenly, Pinkie comes running thorough the town yelling something, but I am too far away to hear it. All that I know is that whatever she said had all of the ponies running into their homes to hide from whatever it was. This seems interesting.

I lower myself towards the ground so that I could get a closer eye on what is going on. I can see Twilight, and Spike walking through the town, maybe I can find out what is going on from them. So I follow the two, and listen to their conversation.

The first thing I hear is "Is it… Zombies?!" from Spike.

Does this place have Zombies? I'm not sure if that would be cool or lame that there are zombie ponies.

"Uh…not very likely," stated Twilight. Not likely? Does that mean that could happen? That's the last thing we need The Trotting Dead.

"Not likely…but possible?"

Before Twilight can answer, we can hear someone trying to get their attention, "Psst! Twilight! Spike! Come here! Come! Here! Hurry! Before she gets you!" I look over and see Pinkie. Twilight and Spike then go into Sugercube Corner.

"Who?! The zombie pony?" asked Spike.

"Z-Zombie pony?!" Pinkie seemed scared of that idea, or was she humoring him? I can't tell with her.

"Spike! There are no zombie ponies. Pinkie, what are you doing here alone in the dark?" Twilight asked, trying to get to the meat of the situation.

"I'm not alone in the dark," said Pinkie. I look around and see a few other ponies in here hiding as well.

Twilight, getting over the surprise everyone is in her,"Okay then, what are you all doing here in the dark?"

"We're hidin' from her!" Applejack says as she points out the window.

We looked out of the window and saw a cloaked pony digging in the middle of the street. That was odd. The ponies all gasped when they saw her, except Twilight.

"Did you see her Twilight? Did you see... Zecora?" asked a small child pony. What is the term for them? Fillies I think.

Wait Zecora? That odd zebra I met in the woods?

"Apple Bloom! I told you never to say that name," Applejack told Apple Bloom in a harsh whisper.

"Well, I saw her glance this way..." Twilight said.

"Glance evilly this way," Pinkie added in.

Twilight continues, "... And then a bunch of you flip out for no good reason."

Applejack seemed offended by that, "No good reason? You call protectin' yer kin no good reason? Why, as soon as my sister saw Zecora ridin' into town, she started shakin' in her lil' horseshoes," as she shook Apple Bloom

"Did not!" Apple Bloom said shakily

Applejack continued, ignoring her, "So I swept her up and brought her here."

"I walked here myself!"

"For safe keepin'."

"Applejack, I'm not a baby! I can take care of myself!"

"Not from that creepy Zecora."

"She's mysterious." Oh not you too Fluttershy.

"Sinister," added Rainbow

"And spoooooky!" Pinkie chimed in.

We then see Zecora remove her hood, and revel her stripes. And that seems to surprise everyone.

Twilight seemed to be getting annoyed by this, "Will you cut that out?"

"Just look at those stripes! So garish!" Rarity exclaims. This coming from a unicorn with such freaky hair.

"She's a zebra."

"A what!?" All of the other ponies ask her.

"A zebra, and her stripes aren't a fashion choice Rarity, they're what she was born with." At least Twilight reads the books in the library. If she didn't she would be doomed. And did Rarity just faint? Little over dramatic.

"Born where? I've never seen a pony like that in these parts, 'cept... her!" asked Applejack. Is she xenophobic or something?

Twilight tries to explain, "Well, she's probably not from here, and she's not a pony. My books say that zebras come from a far away land. But I've never seen her in Ponyville. Where does she live?"

"That's just it, she lives in... the Everfree Forest!" she says the last name with fear.

Then the sound of thunder fills the room. What the hell?

"Spike!"

"Uh, sorry," said Spike, surrounded by metal pots and pans.

"The Everfree Forest just ain't natural. The plants grow..." Applejack started

"Animals care for themselves..." continued Fluttershy

"And the clouds move..." added Rainbow

"All on their own!" the three said all together.

So that place is considered bad because it can work without magic? My world must be hell to them. Did Rarity faint again? Is she related to a fainting goat?

Pinkie starts bouncing around the room, "And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil... stuff! She's so evil I even wrote a song about her!"

"Here we go." Rainbow sighs in exasperation

Then Pinkie starts to sing

"She's an evil enchantress

She does evil dances

And if you look deep in her eyes

She'll put you in trances

Then what will she do?

She'll mix up an evil brew

Then she'll gobble you up

In a big tasty stew

Soooo... Watch out!"

It ended with Pinkie nearly out of breath from her little number.

"Wow. Catchy." Twilight states. I agree, it is.

"It's a work in progress."

"This is all just a lot of gossip and rumors. Now tell me; what exactly have you actually seen Zecora do?"

"Well... Once a month, she comes into Ponyville," Rainbow says.

"Oooooh,"Twilight says over dramatically

"Then, she lurks by the stores," Rarity adds

"Oh, my."

"And then, she digs at the ground," Fluttershy ends with.

"Good gracious!" Then Twilight returns to her normal voice, "Okay, I'm sorry. But how is any of this bad? Maybe she comes to town to visit?"

"Yeah! Maybe she's just tryin' to be neighborly," adds Apple Bloom.

"And maybe she's not lurking by the stores, maybe she's going to them, lurk free, to do some shopping?"

"Yeah! Everypony likes to shop. You know what I think?" I'm starting to like this filly.

"Apple Bloom! Hush and let the big ponies talk." And Applejack has to be like this about it.

"I am a big pony!" Apple Bloom argues.

"W-what about digging at the ground? You've got to admit that's weird," says Raindow

"What if she's digging for innocent creatures?" That is not surprising coming from Fluttershy, she is overly worried.

Pinkie begins to sing her song in the background again. Everyone's voices start to overlap

"I am sure there is an explanation for everything Zecora does. And if anypony here were actually brave enough to approach her, she would find out the truth." Twilight says trying to be the voice of reason.

"Well, I'm brave enough; I'm gonna find out myself." Apple Bloom said. But of course all of the others ignore her. This ponies need to learn to listen to the children sometimes. I follow her as she leaves the building through the back

I follow her as she tries to catch up to Zecora, but I notice something in front of her. It was those odd flowers from the health book I read. Sorry about this Apple Bloom.

I trip her, so that she doesn't reach the Poison Joke. And by the time she got up, the other ponies showed up.

"Apple Bloom?" Applejack calls out, "You get back here right now!" I am starting to not like her.

The other ponies all walked infront of Apple Bloom, and into the Poison Joke.

From across the patch of flowers, we could see Zecora. And she gave them a warning, "Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!"

"Y-you keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, ya hear?" said Applejack

"Oh brother," Twilight said tiredly from all of the insanity.

"Beware! Beware!" Zecora continues as see left.

"Yeah, back at ya, Zecora! You and your lame curse are the ones who better beware!" Brave words coming from you bird brain.

Applejack turns to her sister,"And you! Why couldn't you just listen to yer big sister?"

Apple Bloom tries to explain, "I...I..." And failing

"Who knows what kind of nasty curse Zecora could have just put on you?"

"Just like in my song!" Pinkie begins singing her song once again.

"You guys, there's no such thing as curses!" Twilight once again tries to bring peace to her friends.

"Well, that's interesting to hear coming from Miss Magic Pants herself," said Rainbow. Yes she knows magic, so she should know how it can and can't work bird brain.

Twilight tries to explain to everyone, "My magic, real magic, comes from within. It's a skill you're born with. Curses are artificial, fake magic. It's conjured with potions and incantations; all smoke and mirrors meant to scare. But curses have no real power, they're just an old pony tale."

"Just you wait, Twilight. You're gonna learn that some pony tales really are true," said the paranoid Applejack

After that little episode I just floated back to the library to continue reading. When you are dead, books are pretty much everything to you.

I end up doing an all-night reading session again, and stopped when I heard some loud talking from above.

Twilight came down stairs with…a floppy horn. But isn't that a bone? How… magic. Sigh

Twilight starts pulling down numerous books to try to find what happened to her. Watching all the books just circulate around is very odd.

She goes through a few books trying to find it, but it is Spike who finds the right book for Poison Joke. But she dismisses it due to its name, and not even the full name, just the first word.

Soon the other ponies of the yesterday group arrived with different alterations, except for Apple Bloom.

Pinkie came in with a swollen discolored tongue.

Then Rainbow with her upside down wings.

Then a very hairy Rarity, she looked like one of those show dogs.

Apple Bloom came in carrying Applejack, a very small Applejack.

And finally Fluttershy, who seemed rather normal, or at least she did till she spoke with a deep voice fit for a jazz singer. I had to leave the room in order to laugh. This was hilarious.

When I came back into the room the group was arguing rather or not this was a curse or not. So I decided to give them a little advice. I moved over to the Supernaturals book and pulled it off, and let it hit the ground with a slam.

The ponies in the room jumped at the loud noise. Well at least it stopped the arguing.

Twilight picked up the book with magic and saw that it was the Supernatruals, but she ignored the sign, and just said, "Spike put the books on the shelves better, this could damage the books." You put the book up.

While everyone was startled by the book, I saw Apple Bloom leave the library. I had a guess where she was going, and it was better to watch her, then listen to these girls arguing.

I followed Apple Bloom as she went to Zecora's hut on the path from the other day, but oddly enough the Poison Joke was gone, odd.

When she reached Zecora's hut she knocked on the door, and told her everything that had happened to the others, and she got to work making a cure. But she didn't have everything she needed, so she sent out Apple Bloom to gather some herbs.

But before Apple Bloom left, she said something odd…er, "Be careful young Apple Bloom, there is a human on the prowl, and to meet it would be quite foul." What? Why would she think I was on the prowl?

Apple Bloom just nodded her head, and head out to Zecora's supply shed. I was going to follow her, when I heard someone else. I looked over the hut, and saw the rest of the ponies. And honestly, it was well worth it for what I saw.

Fluttershy was singing Pinkie's song in her new deep voice. She sounded good too.

Then they started murmuring to each other again, and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know why they were here. I saw them burst into Zecora's front door, and started raiding her hut. Applejack riding Rainbow ended up crashing into the cure for the Poison Joke.

"We're onto you Zecora. I didn't want to believe that you cursed us, but the evidence is overwhelming!" Oh god, they got Twilight to believe this stuff too.

"You made me look ridiculous," said Rarity

"You made me sound ridiculous!" yelled Fluttershy. I actually think it sounded pretty good with the song.

Pinkie made some incoherent words.

"You ruined my horn!" Twilight accuses.

Zecora quickly defended herself, "How dare you! You destroy my home, destroy my work. Then rudely accuse me of being a jerk?"

"You put this curse on us, now you're gonna uncurse us." Bird brain, just shut up.

"It is unwise to venture down this road. Your actions will make my anger explode!"

"Where is Apple Bloom!?" Twilight demanded

Said Apple Bloom entered the through the busted door, "Zecora! I think I found all the things ya asked for," she notices the other ponies, "What in Ponyville is goin' on here?"

Applejack: [gasp] Apple Bloom! You're okay!

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because Zecora is an evil enchantress who cursed us and was gonna cook you up into soup!" Twilight exclaimed.

This had both Zecora and Apple Bloom laughing

"Oh Twilight. Did those silly fillies finally get in yer head? You know there's no such thing as a curse." Using her own words against her, clever girl.

"Apple Bloom, sweetie. You can't just stand there and tell me this isn't a curse." She did, just accept it Twilight.

"This isn't a curse."

Zecora explains, "If you will remember back, the words I spoke were quite exact."

Apple Bloom added helpfully, "It was a warnin'. About that blue plant. It's called Poison Joke."

"That plant is much like poison oak. But its results are like a joke."

Applejack was confused by this, "What in the hay does that mean?"

"It means this plant does not breed wrath. Instead this plant just wants a laugh," Zecora explains to her.

"... Will somepony please talk normal?"

"I think what she's saying is that when we ran in to save Apple Bloom, we ran into the poison joke. All our problems are just little jokes that played on us," Twilight translate.

Applejack didn't like that little crack, "LITTLE JOKES?! Very funny."

"Ok, fine. But what about the cauldron?" asked Rainbow

"And the chanting?" Asked Fluttershy

"And the creepy decor?" Rarity continued.

"Treasures of the native land where I am from. This one speaks 'hello', and this 'welcome'," said Zecora, pointing to the respective mask. Cool mask.

"Not welcoming at all, if you ask me."

"The words I chanted were from olden times. Something you call a nursery rhyme," Zecora continues.

"But the cauldron... The Apple Bloom soup?" Twilight asked, slowly coming back to reality.

"Looky here Twilight. That pot of water wasn't for me, it was for all these herbal ingredients. The cure for poison joke is a simple old-natural remedy. You just gotta take a bubble bath!" said Apple Bloom

"But I tried to find a cure in all my books and couldn't find anything. What book has this natural remedy?"

"Here is the book, you see? Sad that you lack it in your library," Zecora shows Twilight the same book I tried to get her to read.

"Actually, I do have this book, but I didn't look inside because the title was so... Weird. Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-alls That Are Simply Super. I...I... I'm so sorry, Zecora. I had the answer the whole time, if only I had bothered to look inside."

Zecora chuckles, "Maybe next time you will take a second look, and not judge the cover of the book." Apple Bloom laughed from that joke.

"Zecora? Would you be kind enough to mix up another batch of the herbal bath?" asked Twilight, sanity finally returning.

"Mix it up I certainly will. Yet I am missing an herb from Ponyville," rhymed Zecora.

"But whenever Zecora comes to town, all the shops are mysteriously closed," Apple Bloom continues

"Oh, well... I think we can help you with that," Twilight says.

All of the ponies ended up being cured of their ailments, and they thanked Zecora for her understanding, and forgiveness.

I went back to the library when they got the cure, they may be ponies, but I'm still not going to spy on girls bathing. And also while there I did a little joke of my own.

I set another book on the table and started reading it, till Twilight came back from the bath. She then went to the shelf that held the Supernaturals book, and pulled it down so she could read it. But she notices a little sticky note on the cover.

'I tried to tell you –Chrome'