Chapter 2: The Wisdom of Zecora

“...A radish leaf does not a good brew make...
But quiet now, I see your friend’s awake.”

Scootaloo groaned and opened her eyes. She could barely see through the throbbing pain, but the smell of strange herbs and the rhyming, melodious voice told her she was in Zecora’s hut. The zebra in question trotted over and gently placed a bow of green liquid in front of the pegasus. The filly carefully tried to feel the area where her head had met the cliff, but rather than meeting a rough mane and somewhat soft fur, her hoof made contact with several layers of bandages. She tried making a face as she felt moisture, only to stop when the effort just pulled on the wound underneath. Looking up, she opened her mouth to talk, but the zebra stopped her with a raised hoof.

“Although your wounds are mostly mended,
You’re not as healed as I’d intended.
This potion green will ease your pain,
But wait until you’re well again.
For speaking now would only make
Your head and body both to ache.”

The pegasus nodded as well as she could without making her headache worse and sipped the potion. Almost immediately the pounding decreased to an almost bearable level. Sighing deeply, she closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

----

Apple Bloom waited for her friend to resume resting before collecting the bowl. Of the three fillies, she was the only one not physically hurt, so it fell to her to watch over the others. She didn’t mind; the work kept her mind occupied, and she was desperate for an excuse to think of anything other than... that.

She shook her head and kicked herself, refusing to let her mind wander down that path. There would be time to break down later; right now, her friends needed her. As Zecora gently replaced Scootaloo’s bandages, the Earth Pony wiped off the bowl she was carrying and carefully refilled it with a ladle of potion from the bubbling cauldron sitting in the middle of the room. She carried the substance to the white unicorn lying in another corner. The filly’s expression visibly brightened at Apple Bloom’s approach, but it quickly turned dark with worry as she glanced over at the sleeping pegasus

“How is she?” asked Sweetie Belle. The Earth Pony grunted.

“About as good as Zecora’s potions can make her. How’s yer leg?” The filly motioned at the somewhat freshly bandaged limb.

“A lot better than it was before,” the unicorn admitted, “although the bandages are going to need changing soon. Where’s Zecora?”

Apple Bloom looked around. “She was just here a moment ago.” She thought about going outside to look but stopped, thinking about the creatures that waited beyond the door. Getting eaten, or worse, wasn’t on her agenda at the moment, especially not right after escapting that fate a day or so ago.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to dwell on that dilemma for long, and the kindly zebra came in from a back door carrying an odd assortment of vegetable and fungal matter. Although Apple Bloom would usually have no problem with this, a flash of blue drew her attention like a magnet to the straw saddlebags the herbalist set down on a low table. It only took a glance to identify the vile plant. It was Poison Joke.

The filly gaped as Zecora carefully used a pair of hoofmade tongs to place the toxic leaves in a stone pestle. Setting down the tool, she then proceeded to drop in what looked like truthflower seeds and a few strange dotted mushrooms. Satisfied with the small pile of herbs, the zebra picked up a mortar from a shelf and began slowly crushing the materials into a smooth paste.

Apple Bloom watched in awe as the mixture began smoking and bubbling on its own. Just as she thought it might spill over, Zecora whisked over to a tall jar, scooping up some glimmering dust from the very bottom and carefully sprinkling some into the frothing potion. As if by magic the bubbling ceased, the angry red hue of the mixture giving way to a gentle, orderly deep blue color. Satisfied with the result, Zecora reached into a nearby drawer, pulling out a funnel and some glass vials. She picked up the pestle with a surprisingly gentle movement, given that she was using her teeth, and carefully poured a few drops of the liquid into each vial. As soon as the last drops left the implement, the zebra set it down on the counter and swiftly corked the vials, taking care to make sure the liquid was sealed tightly.

Apple Bloom was unable to keep her curiosity inside any longer.

“Miss Zecora, what potion is that? Ah ain’t never seen nothin’ like that before!”

The zebra only smiled mysteriously.

“A potion blue to help your quests,
When next you face Lord Discord’s tests.”

Her smile faded into a serious expression as her rhyme ended.

The filly thought about the explanation, then shook her head in frustration.

“That ain’t answer anythin’! Couldn’t you just say outright waht it is?”

The playful grin came back onto Zecora’s face, and she put on a mock disappointed expression.

“Dear Apple Bloom, you are no mule;
What lands indeed did Discord rule?”

The filly blinked, confused. She thought back to what little she had learned before... She knocked a hoof against her forehead; that wasn’t relevant. Why would geography have anything to do with a potion? And what... Then it hit her.

“Equestria,” she whispered in a hushed voice. “He only ever ruled over Equestria!”

Zecora smiled at her, a fierce glint in her eyes.

“His armies mad did bring much pain,
But never did our lands he gain...”

“An’ the zebras must’a brewed some sorta anti-Discord potion or somethin’!”

The herbalist chuckled softly.

“Indeed; it kept our soldiers sane
‘Till the Sisters brought peace again.”

Apple Bloom felt a spark of hope in her heart. For the first time they had a wa to fight Discord’s power! Then she looked at the five tiny vials, and her face fell.

“But... there’s so little...”

Zecora nodded sadly.

“That is correct, dear Apple Bloom.
Though many herbs are in this room,
‘Tis not a plant this potion needs:
Not flowers white nor berry-seeds,
But Diamond Dust, a precious thing
Found only where the Diamond Dogs sing.”

Apple Bloom blinked in confusion, and said, “Zecora, Diamond Dogs don’t sing.”

The zebra only shook her head, a strange, distant look in her eyes.

“No more in day do they appear,
Surrounded now by stone cliffs sheer,
But once their songs, hearty and loud
Did echo in great feast halls proud.”

The filly tried imagining the dark, dank tunnels and mines she heard about as royal halls and made a face. It was as silly as putting up ribbons in a mine to beautify it. Still, as she began thinking about the stone halls like foundations for a castle, she could almost see the majestic passages of polished granite, carpeted against the cold and lit with endless rows of glowing lanterns.

A quiet nostalgia was slowly replaced by a gnawing fear. If Diamond Dust could only be gathered in those halls, the mineral would probably be guarded jealously by hundreds of Dogs. She reminded herself the Dogs had probably descended into barbarism centuries ago, and she shuddered to think what they’d do to a few helpless fillies trying to steal their Dust.

Her hindlegs buckled, and she sat down in despair at the thought of it. Zecora waited patiently for her to speak.

“We don’t have nearly enough potion to do ANYTHING in Equestria... but we’re not strong enough to fight for the Dust you need...”

A snort stopped her line of thought, and she looked at the zebra, a puzzled expression on her face. Zecora only buried her face in a hoof.

“Dear filly, kingless though they be,
Some will still use diplomacy.”

“Oh,” replied the earth pony, looking down in embarrassment at having so quickly made assumptions of an entire species. Still, the prospect of diplomacy with such creatures frightened her, and not just because of the stories she had heard about them. She remembered the last time she had tried to... do a business transaction, and she didn’t look forward to botching such an important event. Still, she couldn’t just put all the danger and responsibility on Zecora. She looked up at the zebra.

“How soon would you need the Diamond Dust? I think everypony here would like to help get it, but the diamond fields are a long ways away even before everything, and Sweetie Belle might not be able to walk that far for weeks!”

The herbalist smiled.

“It has been long since I could walk
In granite halls simply to talk,
But soon before the clouds turned pink,
I fixed our diplomatic link.
Tomorrow night they’ll come to speak;
In Everfree, His strength is weak.”

“They’re coming here?” the filly squeaked. She trusted the zebra, but there was a large gap between believing that the creatures which had always been described to her as evil were reasonable and actually having them in the same room as her. She only hoped the other Crusaders were ready to have a whole new perspective on the creatures who had once kidnapped an older sister and a hero’s friend.