Chapter IX

I smiled as Rex, Rainbow and I walked along a path, while Rainbow spoke. "Wow, what a gorgeous day."

I chuckled lightly as I wrapped my wing around Rainbow, and felt her snuggle into my side as we kept walking. "I bet everypony is gonna be out enjoying the sunshine." I then raised an eyebrow upon seeing nopony around. "Where is everypony anyways?"

A nearby window closed with a squeal, while another pony closed the door behind her with much fear in their movements.

Rex stretched out his arms before wrapping them behind his head. "Their loss, to tell you the truth."

I gave a nod as we continued through the town, but still saw nopony, until i heard Pinkie from a door. "Ethan! Rex! Rainbow! Come here!" She then stuck her head out. "Come here! Hurry! Before she gets you!"

I raised an eyebrow and trotted over to the door. "Before who gets me?"

She squeaked out her answer. "From her!"

I looked around the corner, and spotted a female zebra in a brown cloak. "A zebra?"

The zebra looked over at me, making Pinkie dive in, while Rainbow dove in with her. This made me very confused, while Rex spoke. "This is very different from how they responded to us being here."

I gave a nod in response, then looked in to see that little apple filly speak. "Did you see her, Ethan? Did you see... Zekora?"

Applejack snapped at her. "Applebloom, I told you never to say that name."

I grunted at them. "This is sad, even for you five." They looked at me. "How could a simple zebra be bad? Hell, they don't even know magic. Plus, all she did was glance this way."

Pinkie pointed a foreleg at me. "Glance e-e-evilly this way."

I rolled my eyes while Rex snorted. "And then all of you flip out for no good reason."

Applejack was shocked, while Rainbow was giving a disbelieving look. "No good reason?! You call protecting your kin no---"

I interrupted her. "Like I said, no good reason. She could possibly just want to buy some food, and visits every once in a while to say hi. But given how you're all reacting, I'd say you're all racist."

They all gasped in response, while Rainbow spoke. "How could you call us such a thing?! She's--"

"A mere zebra who wants to buy food, unless I see her do something different." I then turned my back on the building of ponies. "I'm going to settle this thing once and for all."

They began crying out my name as Rex and I headed for the zebra. Said zebra looked at me, and a faint smile crossed her muzzle as she spoke. "Well hello there, pony of Ponyville. My name is Zecora, and I would be wondering if you could share a moment of time?"

I gave a faint smile, while Rex was listening to his Ipod. "A pleasure to meet you, Zecora. My name is Ethan, Ethan Mason."

I offered my hoof, which she took and shook gently. "Such a strange name, for such a strange pony."

I simply shrugged. "Well, I don't get freaked out by different races." I then smirked a little. "Especially different races." I sighed slightly as I remembered Raul, Charon, and Gob.

Zecora seemed to be thinking of old friends as well. "Indeed, good friends are hard to come by in such strange lands." I gave a nod. "Perhaps you would help me? I require food and ingredients for a home made brew as well as to feed myself."

I gave a small nod in response. "Of course, though I don't think you'd be able to get any from the stalls, they seem to get scared way too much. I think I got some food and ingredients back home I could part with."

She was a little shocked. "Truly one would not simply give away food and herbs, as one would usually pay for it."

I shook my head, the smile still on my face. "Don't worry, it's perfectly fine. Now come on, I'm sure it's getting a bit hot in that cloak."

She didn't lose her smile either. "The temperature out is quite warm indeed, a cool time of relaxing would be welcome."

I nodded and looked at Rex. "Go ahead and check on the girls, I'm going to try and help Zecora out as best I can."

Rex nodded and headed for the nearby house, while I led Zecora towards my own house.

...

Rex's POV

...

I walked into the dark house, and spotted the five girls who dragged me in, and locked the door behind me as Applejack spoke. "See? Ain't she strange?!"

I shook my head. "Nope, she just came to town for some food and herbs, and spoke in rhymes too."

They stared at me like I was insane, while Applejack narrowed her eyes at me. "She lives in the EVERFREE FOREST! The place where nothin's natural!"

Fluttershy spoke next. "And the animals protect themselves."

Then Rainbow got in my face. "And the clouds move on their own!"

I grunted as I pushed her out of my face. "Keep that up, and I don't think Ethan'll date you anymore." Rainbow went wide eyed while I looked at them. "You're all just too paranoid about different races, so get used to the fact that ponies aren't the only species that live in Equestria, and let me leave."

They huffed in response.

I groaned and rubbed my temples. "This is all such a load of gossip and rumors." I then narrowed my eyes at them. "Now, tell me, what exactly have you actually seen Zecora do?"

Rainbow thought for a minute. "Well..." She then narrowed her eyes. "Once a month, she comes into Ponyville."

I gave a grunt. "And...?"

Rarity took over. "Then... she lurks by the stores."

I folded his arms. "Which...?"

Then Fluttershy. "And then she digs at the ground."

I motioned to them. "Like every single other pony I know." I sat back. "Okay, this proves nothing, so tell me something that actually points out she's bad and not a pony looking to buy something? Maybe she just comes to visit."

Applebloom nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Maybe she's just trying to be neighborly."

"And maybe she's not lurking by the stories and is, like I said earlier, going to them to do some shopping?!"

Applebloom nodded. "Yeah, everypony likes to shop. You know what I think?"

Applejack snapped at her. "Applebloom, hush and let the big ponies talk."

I shook my head. "No, Applejack, I wanna hear what she has to say." Applejack opened her mouth, but I stuffed an apple in there to keep her quiet, and gave a friendly smile to Applebloom. "Go ahead, Applebloom, tell us what you think."

Applebloom smiled in that adorable way. "Ah think she's just a friendly mare who wants to make some friends and help steer ponies away from bad parts of the Everfree Forest."

I clapped my claws together. "And we have a winner! A good reason to go on top of all those accusations of her being evil when she hasn't done a damn thing. This filly just proved to be more mature then ALL of you." I then got to my feet. "Now if you will all excuse me, I feel like going home."

I then left the building and headed for the library.

...

Ethan's POV

...

"That is truly a large claim, dear Ethan, for I have never heard of a pony who has little to no skin, almost no coat, and was still intelligent enough to be far friendlier then other ponies."

I smiled as we trotted into the Everfree, and the stuff I gave her was in her saddlebags. Just then I accidentally tripped and fell into a pile of blue flowers, which made Zecora gasp. "Poor friend, that there's Poison Joke, one that plays cruel tricks on upon contact. I am afraid I will have to make a brew to get rid of it before it takes affect."

I gave a small nod as I climbed out of the pile. "Yeah, that was an accident. And boy do I hope it doesn't do something bad."

Zecora gave a small nod in return, and then we heard Applejack call out. "Applebloom?!" We looked back to see Applebloom a few feet from us, and Applejack with the girls were on the other side of the flowers. "You get back here right now!"

Zecora cried out. "Beware! Beware, you young pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke."

Zecora then began trotting away as I waved at her. "See you around, Zecora!"

Applejack then got to my side. "Y-You keep your creepy mumbo jumbo to yerself, you hear!"

The other girls then began yelling in agreement, all of them in the Poison Joke, which made me bark out. "SHUT IT!!"

They looked at me. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves, treating her bad simply because she was warning you all about those flowers!" Their ears went back. "And since your all being so rude to such a nice mare, I think i'll keep from telling you all why she warned you about the flowers."

I then trotted passed them, and began my trek back home

...

Next Morning

Rex's POV

...

"AAAHH!!!!!"

I groaned as I sat up on the couch, being woken up from a great dream by the sound of a mare crying out. This made me groan again and roll onto my feet, and began to head for the stairs. Once there, I headed up for the bathroom, and knocked on the door, hearing a very beautiful mare's voice call out. "Not now, Rex!"

This made me raise an eyebrow. "Hey! Who's in there?! Come out now before I break the door down!"

"Rex, trust me, you don't want to know."

I raised an eyebrow. "Do I know you?"

"Given that I raised you from an egg, yeah I'd say you do!"

I went wide eyed. "HOLY SHIT! YOU'RE A MARE!!!"

"No shit, detective." I then heard a very seductive groan. "Ugh, it's that damn Poison Joke that did this, and it really messed me up a bit too."

I thought for a moment, before the door opened and my jaw slammed to the ground while my eyes were wide as saucers.

Ethan was now, well, beyond beautiful! His... er, her, coat was a soft brown that looked much like silk. Her mane was a beautiful style of messy black with a very sexy red patch in it, and her eyes were even more beautiful then Rarity's. And boy did her body fit her well, slim and seductive.

She then spoke in a very hot annoyed tone. "You say one word about this, or even go so far to laugh or try ANYTHING, and you are dead meat."

I stuttered in response as I gave a nod. "S-S-Sure thing."

She pushed past me, and her coat really did feel like silk as she headed downstairs, me close behind, and she sat down on the couch. "I gotta wait for Zecora to finish making that brew so I could get back to normal. I just know Rainbow will kill me for being like this."

I then thought of something. "Well, if your a girl now, does that mean you're..."

"Technically, yes, I am gay, but I ain't moving shit in that direction. I would rather get back to normal instead."

I let out a groan in disappointment, and folded my arms in annoyance.

...

Much Later

...

Ethan... or Elizabeth as I began calling her, continued to look through books in hopes of finding some way to get rid of the spell instead of heading for Zecora's, but she found nothing. She then collapsed with a defeated sigh, and spoke. "I got no choice, I gotta go out there and get to Zecora's... meaning going through many mares, and possibly a few stallions." She shuddered. "I am so going to regret this."

Just then we heard a loud gasp and much spit, making us look over, and spotted a wide eyed pinkie, with a swollen tongue, covered in blue spots.

Elizabeth spoke in anger. "You may be like that, but I still understand everything you say. And no, this is not permanent, and Zecora will have a brew to fix this when we get to her hut in the Everfree."

Pinkie went wide eyed, shock in her eyes, as she quickly shook her head in response. Just then Rainbow flew in, and went wide eyed upon seeing Elizabeth as she crashed into a shelf. She stuttered a bit upon seeing her. "E-E-Ethan? Is that y-you?"

Elizabeth gave out a soft sigh. "I'm afraid so, Rainbow."

Rainbow was on the verge of tears now, making me speak. "Relax, Colors, once we get to Zecora's we'll--"

"WHAT?!"

I groaned and looked at Rarity, before stopping dead, and fell to the ground laughing at Rarity's messy mane and coat. We then all spotted Applejack on the back of Big Macintosh with Applebloom next to him. "Ah hate to say Ah told you so, Ethan, but Ah told ya so."

Big Mac went wide eyed upon seeing Elizabeth, and sat Applejack on Applebloom, trotted over to Elizabeth, and smiled coyly. "Yep."

Elizabeth stepped back, and let out a scoff. "Yeah, right, nice try big guy, but I'm only this for temporary purposes."

Big Mac simply wiggled his eyebrow, and leaned towards Elizabeth, making him pull back, and soon a chase started with Elizabeth running for her life from the big stallion.

Applejack shook her head as we all got together (Minus Elizabeth). I then looked at Fluttershy. "What about you?"

Fluttershy gulped, then spoke in a deep male voice. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Rainbow fell to the ground while I was laughing my ass off. This was just too perfect, all five girls and my friend were turned to their worse nightmares, and I was the only one normal.

As I laughed, I heard Rainbow speak. "Ethan! Stop messing around with Big Mac and let's go get Zecora to get rid of this!"

Elizabeth spoke as she dodged Big Mac, causing him to crash in a pile of books. "Yeah, let's go now, and leave Big Mac here."

I sniffled as the tears from laughing ran down my cheeks, and I spoke a little. "A-Alright... just come on, I'll lead us there..."

...

Later

...

We ran into the forest, while I was actually on Elizabeth's back, and eating an apple. The others were right behind us, and we were heading straight for Zecora's, while Rainbow pretty much crashed everywhere she went.

...

I sighed as I got off of Elizabeth's back, and we could see Zecora's hut now. This made us trot over to it, and Elizabeth knocked on the door. "Zecora! It's Ethan... after the Poison Joke kicked in! We need help!"

"One second, my good friend." She then opened the door. "Ah, welcome good... friend..." She was shocked to see Elizabeth, before motioning us to come inside, which we did.

Upon entering, we saw a large pot in the center with masks and stuff hanging on the sides and the such. Zecora then trotted over to the pot and poured in some pink herbs, then spoke. "Would any of you mind if I sing a lullaby to give myself some luck?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "Of course not, Zecora, go right ahead."

She nodded and began speaking in her native tongue, which made the girls scared out of their minds, while me and Elizabeth were just fine. She then tasted it and smiled. "Hmm, should be the perfect temperature for ponies, would you agree, Ethan?"

Ethan took a small taste, and spoke in response. "Doesn't taste too hot or cold, no. Is this the brew you told us about?"

She nodded. "Indeed, the brew the reverses the affects of Poison Joke are within this cauldron."

I smiled at this. "Great! Now you can just turn everypony back and we'll be good."

Zecora nodded, that is until rainbow crashed into the hut, making us all go wide eyed as Applejack cried out. "Ah'm here to save ya, Applebloom!"

Zecora raised an eyebrow in response. "Save? Little Applebloom came here to ask me to help you, and help I shall."

Elizabeth nodded in agreement, then looked in the cauldron. "So, how does this work?"

Zecora smiled. "It is quite simple, is it not? Take a bath, and become who you once was."

Elizabeth nodded, and spoke as she looked at the bath. "I call first dibs!" Then she dived in said bath.

...

Ethan's POV

...

I sigh as I got out of the shower, and looked in the mirror, seeing myself back to normal, which made me smile greatly, and left the bathroom, heading downstairs. Once there I spotted Rainbow who was quite annoyed by her wings. This made me smile gently and trotted up behind her, used my spell to give myself claws, and began messaging the wings, which made Rainbow yelp in surprise, but calmed down as she lowered to soft purrs.

I smiled at this as I kept messaging her wings, getting the stiffness out of them, and soon heard Rex speak. "I will never understand you two." And headed upstairs.

I simply rolled my eyes at him as I got a spot that made Rainbow moan slightly, while I spoke. "So... forgetting about the craziness of yesterday, how about we save today as a special date for just the two of us?"

Rainbow slowly twitched her ear up. "Mmm... That sounds good... I wanted to spend some time with you lately..."

I smiled as I messaged the tips, which made her shiver slightly in delight. "Hmm... I'm no expert, but you feel quite tense. Bad night sleep?"

"More like nightmare." I raised an eyebrow. "I was worried you'd be stuck as a mare forever."

I chuckled slightly. "So not going to happen, I'd rather stay who I am."

She giggled in response.