“So there is a herbalist near this town and you didn’t tell me?” Spliced asked as she lifted the spoon of cereal to her mouth the next morning.

“Well I didn’t think you would be interested in such things, Spliced,” Twilight replied from her own breakfast. “With how backwards you claim everything to be, it is surprising to me that you’d like to meet with Zecora.”

“Why wouldn’t I; herbology is a fascinating field of chemistry, which is my special talent.” Spliced responded before a smile crept onto her face. “Besides, I know of my history that said zebras were excellent in herbology in the past.”

“They still are,” Twilight replied. “At least, Zecora is. I… haven’t met any others, actually. I know Princess Celestia and Princess Luna met some that were living here in Equestria once, but that was over a thousand years ago, so their descendents may or may not still be there.”

“Regardless of the fact, I would love to learn from her if she is willing to share some of her knowledge,” Spliced said as she raised the spoon midway before pausing. “After I visit Fluttershy; I had promised to meet with her to have some tea yesterday and I completely forgot about it. I hope she will not be upset by it.”

“I’m sure she’ll understand,” Twilight replied. “After all, she was here for Spike’s party yesterday morning, so she knows what you were involved in.” She tilted her head. “Though speaking of…”

“If you’re about to bring up my fainting like I did, please don’t,” Spliced said with a sigh. “I’m still not sure what brought that on. I mean, I was surprised, sure, but one big surprise alone shouldn’t have triggered me passing out.”

“Right.” Twilight smiled at her. “So, I’ll meet you by Fluttershy’s later, since it’s actually on the way to Zecora’s home, and there are some things in the forest that you won’t be familiar with. And I’m not talking about how the plants grow on their own, animals take care of themselves, and clouds move without pony intervention, since that’s apparently normal where you come from.”

“It is.” Spliced rolled her eyes. “Seriously, how did things get to the point where you have to do things like manually change the seasons here?”

“I really don’t know,” Twilight said with a sigh. “I wish I did but we have no real historical records before the time of Discord’s rule besides a few stories. But besides that, the Everfree has things that really are dangerous - timberwolves, manticores, Ursa Majors and Minors, cockatrices-” and here she shuddered - “And a few other things. There’s also at least one sea serpent who moved into the river there, but he’s friendly.”

“Thank you for the warnings; despite death more or less a matter of fact with me; I still feel the pain of dying and I’m not looking to be accustomed to being mauled apart.” Then Spliced looked curious. “What’s an Ursa Major, by the way? I’ve heard stories about the other things, I think at least, but that one doesn’t ring any bells with me.”

“They’re bear-like creatures with fur that makes them look like the night sky come to life,” Twilight replied. “And they’re big, really big - a cub, or Ursa Minor, could swallow both you and me in one bite, and the parents are more than ten times that size. I actually handled an Ursa Minor once.”

Spliced blinked. “Dare I ask?”

Twilight nodded. “A while after I first moved here, there was an incident with a certain traveling unicorn showmare claiming she’d beaten an Ursa Major once, and two of the local colts decided they wanted to see her do it again. So they went into the forest to find one and lure it back into town.” She sighed. “Luckily, they only found an Ursa Minor, and it didn’t do too much damage to the town before I figured out how to lull it to sleep and take it back to its mother.”

“Seriously?” Spliced looked at her incredulously. “A dangerous wild animal, and they wanted to see somepony fight it off just for fun?”

“Yes they did,” Twilight replied.

“From a pony that was a showmare, a pony that tells tall tales for a living?” Spliced sighed. “Kids…”

“I know,” Twilight replied. “Their parents and the local authorities gave them a good talking-to about it, plus they had to clean up the mess that the Ursa left and I gave them my own little punishment… but I’m not sure if they learned anything, because these are the same two colts who later managed to glue themselves together with chewing gum. And since somepony wrote about that little incident in the school newspaper, they did the whole gum thing again just to try and get more attention.”

Spliced blinked again. “Oh-kay… has anypony taken these two in for testing to see if they’re mentally deficient in some way?”

“They’ve been tested,” Twilight told her. “And they’re not ‘mentally deficient’, as you put it. They’re just…” Twilight’s face heated up as she tried to find some way to finish her sentence.

“Stupid?” Spliced ventured.

“Bright in their own, unique way,” Twilight replied. “I think they just never quite got a hold of the whole concept of ‘look before you leap’, if you know what I mean.”

“So, eager to do things that they don’t stop and think before they act. Gotcha.” Spliced nodded as she finished her breakfast off and moved her bowl to the sink with her thaumatics.

“That sounds about right,” Twilight agreed. “Also, in that first case, they were more than a little starstruck and fell for the whole ‘great and powerful’ persona.”

Spliced shook her head. “I said it before, and I’ll say it again: kids…”

“Well, one of them at least is surprisingly talented in some things when he’s not concentrating on them,” Twilight replied. “Also, I know some fillies who are a little over-eager, but are really good at heart. They were my students for a while, actually. Not in friendship, but in learning general things to help them broaden their prospects.”

“I will take your word on them, Twilight,” Spliced said with a smile. “Despite your lack of aggressiveness in dealing with possible threats, you seem to be doing a very good job in helping and aiding others.”

“Thank you, I think,” Twilight said blinking in confusion before smiling again. “You should get going; I believe Fluttershy will be doing her run of taking care of her animals soon.”

Spliced nodded, and headed for the door.

Some time later, Spliced made her way out of Fluttershy’s house after an enjoyable and, to her immense relief (though she hadn’t voiced this opinion aloud), Discord-free time; according to Fluttershy, he’d been off visiting another friend. “I think he said he was going to ‘schmooze with the Smooze’,” she’d said, something that still confused Spliced. However, she’d decided she probably didn’t want to know what a ‘Smooze’ was, since the answer would probably make even less sense than the name.

Pausing for a moment, she took a deep breath of fresh morning air before she turned her head to the path where the zebra lived and made her way down into the forest. It reminded her of her home back in her own dimension; the rich smell of life and animals although this time she wasn’t annoyed by it. After spending four hundred years on the moon, being this close to nature was actually refreshing.

Flicking her ears, she took in the Everfree forest and found herself fascinated by everything she saw. Everything was so vibrant and full of life and green; outside her old house in the forest, she had never seen so much greenery that wasn’t used for farming or gardens of important Pures. It reminded Spliced of her own attempts to create a farm on the moon and made her interested in restarting that field of study; now that she had the proper materials she could conduct a proper botany experiment and she was sure that Applejack and the other farmers here would not object if she made it clear she was doing it purely for her own benefit and was not seeking to enter any kind of competition.

Spliced then paused and tilted her head to the side, wondering why she was being considerate about those beyond Twilight’s friends and she did her best to place it as her being overly cautious but something told her that it wasn’t true.

Shaking her head of the odd emotions in her head, she continued down the path when she head some voices off to the side. Moving towards the voices, she saw that the bushes were rustling.

With her horn glowing as she lifted up a large rock, she was about to drop it when three fillies emerged out of the bush, one of each type of Third. For some reason they looked familiar to her, but she couldn’t remember where she might have seen them before.

“I still don’t see anything,” the unicorn of the trio spoke up. “Are you sure this is the right way?”

“Ah’m sure it’s this way,” the Earth pony in front said. “Ah’ve been here several times, remember?”

The pegasus filly snorted. “Yeah, but how many of those trips involved getting stuck in a tree along the way?”

“Girls…” The unicorn filly looked at them. “Please don’t fight…”

The pegasus turned and smiled at her. “Sorry, Sweetie Belle. I’m just a little stressed.”

As Spliced carefully set aside the rock she’d been holding, she caught a glimpse of the pegasus’s flank and blinked as she saw the familiar Cutie Mark there. A moment later, it hit her, and she shook her head. “Of course… that first day,” she muttered to herself. They were the trio she’d seen laughing and running down the street in Ponyville.

At her sudden words, the trio jumped back to look up in surprise. “Uh…” the little Earth pony began nervously. “Who’re you?”

“And why are you out here?” the pegasus added.

“I’m Spliced Genome and I am looking to visit the zebra that lives out here,” Spliced said. “Why are you out here?”

The Earth pony’s eyes lit up. “You’re goin’ to see Zecora? So are we!”

Spliced smiled. “That’s good. Maybe you can show me the way.” The fillies gave her an odd look before they started to talk to each other before nodding their heads.

“Uh, aren’t you going to tell us to go back or something?” the pegasus said, tilting her head.

“Why? Your friend has obviously been to see Zecora before, so the path to her place can’t be that dangerous.” Spliced said to the fillies.

“Well, there are some things to watch out for on the way there,” the yellow filly mentioned, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “Such as a patch of poison joke between here and there…”

“You mean poison ivy,” Spliced corrected the filly.

“Nope. Ah mean poison joke. Poison ivy is way different. They don’t even look the same. And it’s a good thing you met us if ya don’t know what it looks like, or ya might’ve stumbled right into it without realizing the danger.”

“And what does this poison jokedo?” Spliced asked, actually interested in learning about the local flora and something else she could put away in the neat folder in her head.

“It plays mean jokes on you. Usually some type of transformation effect that takes place during the next time you sleep. Lahk, mah sister prides herself on bein’ mah big sister, so the poison joke made her shrink ‘til she was small enough to ride on mah head,” the yellow filly replied.

Spliced took a moment to breathe and calm herself before forcing herself to be polite when she spoke. “How… peculiar,” she said through clenched teeth.

“I know that face,” the pegasus filly grumbled. “She doesn’t believe us.”

“It’s true,” the yellow one insisted. “If you don’t believe us, just ask Zecora or Twilight. You can even tell them that we were the ones that told you so they know who to punish if we’re havin’ ya on.”

“That sounds fair to me,” Spliced said, staring at them again before frowning. “Just to clarify, you three are allowed to be out here, right?”

“Well, Apple Bloom is,” the white one admitted. “She studies under Zecora sometimes, and knows what to watch for between her place and Ponyville.”

“Sweetie Belle!” the pegasus protested.

“My friends wanted to visit Zecora, an’ Ah didn’t see any harm in takin’ them there since Ah was allowed to go.”

“I suppose that is appropriate,” Spliced said slowly, trying to piece together if it was truly okay for these three fillies to be out in this forest.

“And since you’re with us, it will be even better!” the pegasus shouted happily, causing Spliced to raise an eyebrow.

“So who are you three?” Spliced asked them.

“Well, I’m Sweetie Belle,” the unicorn said.

“Ah’m Apple Bloom,” the earth pony with the massive bow on her head added in.

“I’m Scootaloo,” the last of the three introduced herself with a grin before the trio leaned in close with each other and took a deep breath in as if they were about to shout which told Spliced to brace herself.

“And we’re the CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” the three of them yelled, with Spliced acting just in the nick of time to protect her ears.

“How delightful,” Spliced said with her ears ringing just a tiny bit. Blinking, Spliced saw that all of them had their cutie marks, and ones that were near identical to each other; a shield of faded orange, white and purple with differences being that of a lighting bolt imposed on a wing, a heart on an apple and a musical note on a star. “Yet I see you already haveyour cutie marks,” she said with a frown.

“Well, yeah,” Sweetie Belle said. “It’s our talent. We help other ponies discover their talents, and if they’re having problems with it, we help them solve that problem.”

Spliced blinked. “And you all… have the same talent?”

“Well, we did earn them all together,” Apple Bloom said. “When we helped somepony remember what her Mark meant and how to live up to it.”

“I see.” Spliced considered. “And… there’s a lot of call for this sort of thing?”

“More often than you’d think,” Scootaloo replied. “You’d be surprised how many ponies have times when they can’t figure out what they really want in life and haven’t earned a Mark yet, or think they aren’t living up to their special talents after they’ve had theirs for a while.”

“And sometimes they start to freak out about it pretty bad,” Apple Bloom added. “So that’s where we come in.”

“A noble cause; suffering cutie mark failure is not a pleasant fate for anypony,” Spliced said while remembering the times that she suffered it during her imprisonment.

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said. “My sister’s talent is working with gems to make things beautiful, like the dresses she designs. There was a thing a few years ago where she wound up having to make ones that were exactly what her clients wanted, but what they wanted turned out to be so ugly, she had a major freak-out over it until they realized how badly their requests had affected her.”

“And mah sister had kind of a breakdown when she thought she’d failed us ‘cause she wasn’t able to do all the farm work without any kind of help at all,” Apple Bloom added.

“Ooh! And there was this pony who completely misinterpreted his mark so he thought his special talent was being unlucky, until we pointed out he could take his klutziness and make it work for him!” Scootaloo spoke up. “Now he works entertaining ponies as a rodeo clown.”

“That’s… quite something.” Spliced looked down at the three fillies. “So, I guess you’ve gotten a lot of experience with this sort of thing.”

“Yup!” the trio chorused happily before Sweetie looked at her flank and said. “So your talent is science?”

“Science related,but my real speciality is chemistry,” Spliced said while being conscious enough not to say the complete truth.

“How did ya get your cutie mark?” Apple Bloom asked eagerly, with Spliced blinking in surprise.

“I have not thought of that day in a very long time,” Spliced said to the fillies as they led her down into the forest.

The three of them frowned and Scootaloo asked, “Why? I thought it would be one of the most important parts of a pony’s life.”

“Well that is due to the fact that when I was your age, I was a part of a large class of ponies that were being tested in all kinds of subjects to see if any of us triggered. I was doing a fairly simple science experiment when it happened for me,” Spliced said as she began to recall the past and looked at her own cutie mark. “After which, I was put on a more structured learning path that aligned with my talents and I more or less threw myself into my education and my work.”

“What about your friends?” Sweetie Belle asked her next.

“I really didn’t have friends,” Spliced said, as she recalled those days. “I scored highly and that meant I had to really focus my time and efforts into being the best I could so I could do the best with my life.” She blinked, frowning for some reason. “And that’s not to say I didn’t try or anything… but when I did try, something always came up or they were not interested in being with me.”

“That’s a right shame.” Apple Bloom declared. “No one should be without friends.”

“I appreciate your concern girls, but I am okay; I mean I did reach this point of my life and I’m okay…” she trailed off, the words dying in her mouth as she briefly wondered how different things would have been if she’d had friends during her youth. But it didn’t matter; the past was the past and there was nothing she could do to change that.

The three fillies exchanged glances. “Well, if you want, we could be your friends,” Sweetie Belle offered. “We’re always open to making new ones.”

“And you and ah could talk about chemistry!” Apple Bloom said excitedly. “Potions are one of mah passions, and they’re basically the same thing - seein’ how the different ingredients interact to come up with new effects, and studyin’ why they act the way they do.”

Spliced found herself smiling and said, “That is true. That is what drives me when I do my research; to learn new things and how everything can work together. Since I’ve come here, this thing you call magic has frustrated me so much but I know there is logic and science behind it. My own studies back home turned out interesting results, but what I was working with then was still relatively basic in terms of what it was made of, compared to some of the things I’ve witnessed here. These energy manipulations I’ve witnessed...”

Sweetie Belle looked a little dismayed. “Yeah… I wish I could understand those fancier spells better too. I can’t do much yet beyond moving things or lighting up my horn so I can see when it’s dark - I did manage a shield once, but that’s still relatively low-level magic.”

“Hmm,” Spliced tilted her head as she thought of some of the methods that they used to test foals back in her old foalhood home. “I think I know of something that could help you but I am not sure how effective it would be for you.”

“Really?”

Spliced nodded. “I’ll see if I can write up a primer for you as soon as possible.”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes lit up in delight, while Scootaloo just groaned and muttered something about “eggheads” under her breath. Spliced, however, chose to ignore her remark, and turned back to Apple Bloom. “So, can you show me the way to Zecora’s home now?”

Apple Bloom nodded eagerly, and started trotting along the path, her friends and Spliced following her.

As they continued on their way, Spliced couldn’t help but notice that Scootaloo was occasionally shooting her looks as if she wanted to say something, but was hesitant. Finally, the little pegasus managed to speak up. “Um…”

“Yes?” Spliced asked.

“Well… your wings. How good are you at flying?”

“I am a fair flyer, to be honest,” Spliced replied. “Average speed for a mare my biological age.”

Scootaloo blinked in confusion. “Uh…”

“Short version, I’m a lot older than I look, but my aging was stopped a long time ago,” Spliced told her. “For reasons I really don’t want to get into. Anyway, I’m not the best at it, but I make do. What makes you ask?”

Scootaloo looked down. “Well… a lot of the colts and fillies my age are already at least able to get off the ground. And I know my wings work, you should see me when I’m buzzing along on my scooter.” She twitched them for a moment. “But I can’t get off the ground, and I don’t know why! It can’t be the size, ‘cause I know a full-grown pegasus who’s got wings that are as small as mine, but he can fly - hay, he was able to qualify for the Aerial Relay team in the last Equestria Games.”

“Show me,” Spliced said, turning to focus on the filly.

Scootaloo nodded, cocked her wings, and started buzzing them, fast enough that a small cloud of dust was blowing up off the ground behind her. Spliced winced, seeing the issue immediately.

“Stop,” Spliced said, leaning down with her thaumatics reaching out to the filly but caught herself before she actually touched Scootaloo as she recalled that doing so was almost always frowned upon. “I see one of two things. Either you’re trying to move the wrong direction when you’re trying to take off, or… there’s something wrong with the thaumatic flow in your wings, and I’d have to do in-depth scans to be sure about the latter. You’re certainly generating enough thrust, that’s for sure.”

Scootaloo tilted her head at that, and then asked her, “So if you’re right, if I go like this,” Scootaloo adjusted the angle of her wings and started to buzz them, but looked disappointed when nothing happened.

“Actually, it’s more your entire position when you’re trying to take off,” Spliced told her. “Here, let me re-angle you.”

With that, she reached out with her hooves, pressing one end of Scootaloo’s body down and the other up. “Now, go for it.”

Scootaloo nodded, and started buzzing her wings even harder.

Nothing happened.

As she finally stopped, Spliced sighed. “Well, there goes that idea… must be the thaumatic flow,” she mused.

“You mean… I’m never going to fly?” Scootaloo looked dismayed.

“No,” Spliced shook her head. “It could still be something else. I’ll have to take some scans and check to be sure, but even if it is your thaumatic flow that’s not working right, it is a correctable problem.”
“Really‽” Scootaloo asked excitedly.

“Yes but the procedure would be highly invasive, and there still could be problems due to the technical limits of this world. At least we have an angle to work at now.” She looked up. “And I think your friends are starting to get far enough ahead of us… we need to catch up.”

Scootaloo looked in their direction and gasped, then hurried off after them. Following after her, Spliced shook her head. “I just hope I’m right about this,” she muttered to herself as even she knew that operating that deeply on a filly would not be accepted unless it actually worked. And she would need the permission of a parent or guardian, and a lot of evidence to back up her methodology.

Mentally adding it to her list of things to do, she trotted a little faster, until she’d caught up with the trio, who’d stopped.

“Er, miss Spliced? You see those flowers ahead of us?” Apple Bloom piped up as Spliced caught up to her.

“The blue ones?” Spliced looked at the plants.

Apple Bloom nodded. “We’ve got to be careful goin’ through this section. That’s the Poison Joke Ah warned you about, an’ we don’t want to touch it.”

Spliced nodded, and carefully moved to avoid the plants. When they were past the patch of them, they were able to move more quickly.

Finally, turning around the corner, she saw the hut… or was that a tree? She blinked for a moment, and then was certain: it was indeed a comparatively short but wide tree, with a set of stairs leading to the door in front. There was also what looked like a mask hanging over the door, another one sitting off to the side, and a number of bottles hanging from the branches. She supposed they were some of the various herbs and concoctions that Zecora worked with, although she supposed there were more inside of the dwelling.

She was wondering what kind of proper greeting she would have to use to get a chance to talk to the zebra when the fillies moved past her and knocked loudly on the door. After a few seconds had passed, it opened to reveal an individual who could only be Zecora.

“Hiya Zecora!” Apple Bloom waved excitedly.

The zebra mare smiled down at her. “Welcome, welcome, little Apple Bloom. And your friends as well, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo,” she then flicked an ear as she turned to Spliced. “And I see you brought a new friend too.”

Spliced bowed. “Spliced Genome, ma’am. Princess Twilight told me about you, and when I heard there was an herbalist nearby, I just had to come meet her.”

“Come in then, and look around,” Zecora said as she stepped back. “For within my home is much knowledge to be found.”

Spliced and the fillies entered, and while Apple Bloom obviously knew where everything was, judging by the way she immediately went to one of the cabinets, Spliced looked around to see the various bottles and masks that decorated the inside of Zecora’s tree.

“I am curious, I must admit,” Zecora spoke as she went to tend the cauldron in the middle of her floor. “It is clear that this world, you do not quite fit. So how, miss Genome, have you come to this place? Did you, perchance, take a tunnel through space?”

Spliced’s heart skipped a beat. “I… I’m not sure what you’re asking about,” she said nervously.

Zecora smiled. “Rest assured, you’ve no need to fear,” she said. “My kind have met many who did not come from here. We are well aware of the paths through the void, and have kept watch on them for a long time. Most will stay quiet, but now and then, one will open without reason or rhyme. Such visitors, my people know, can help or harm; others just wish to find a home. And most we have met are just passing through, as the various worlds they roam.”

Spliced heaved a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s unexpected,” she said. “The few zebras I ever crossed paths with back home never said anything about this.”

Zecora nodded. “We do keep it quiet, that is true,” she said. “But not to those travelers, who are like you.”

Spliced smiled. “That’s good to know.”

Zecora smiled back. “And now, miss Genome, you wish to learn? To see what my potions can do, I sense you yearn.”

“That’s exactly right,” Spliced told her. “Actually, while we were on our way here, Apple Bloom mentioned one with some… odd effects. I’ll admit, I have a hard time believing it - this ‘poison joke’?”

“Ah, that one.” Zecora nodded. “It’s very true. The plant is well known for its leaves of blue.” She headed for a cupboard and withdrew a glass jar with a blue flower in it. “This plant, you see, does not breed wrath. Instead this plant just wants a laugh. Luckily, I know a cure, and a way to use it in a way that’s secure.” She held it out. “With its leaves I can make a brew to replicate its effect, on one such as you.” She gestured to Sweetie Belle, whose eyes widened.

“Are you sure?” she asked nervously.

Apple Bloom nodded. “You should’ve heard Fluttershy when she was on it. It’s safe, ah promise.”

Spliced glanced between the two. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked Sweetie Belle. “If you don’t want to use it, you don’t have to.”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “If Zecora says it’s safe, it’s safe,” she said. “She knows what she’s talking about.”

Zecora, meanwhile, had begun mixing up the brew, as Spliced watched. Carefully, she listened and memorized as the other mare explained each step, and finally took up a vial.

“Drink carefully, little filly,” she said as she hoofed it over to Sweetie Belle. “And please don’t worry if it makes you sound silly.”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and, taking a deep breath, gulped it down.

After a moment, Apple Bloom looked at her. “Sweetie Belle? You feel alright?”

“I feel-” Sweetie Belle cut herself off and clapped her hooves over her mouth.

“Come on, keep talking!” Scootaloo said with a big grin on her face. “I want to hear it again!”

Sweetie Belle gave her a look. “Really, Scootaloo?”

Except instead of her normal voice, it was a deep, bass one, which reminded Spliced of the tall stallion who’d been one of her old professors from school.

Scootaloo looked like she wanted to roll over and start laughing at the contrast between filly and voice, but she managed to restrain herself. “Yeah! You sound just like Mac, or Fluttershy when she had that same potion!”

Spliced’s ears twitched as she tried to imagine such a deep voice coming out of the gentle mare she’d been having tea with earlier and had to suppress a snort of laughter. “That’s… quite the effect,” she managed.

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom nodded. “Of course, most of the effects we’ve seen aren’t as useful, but that one that shrank mah sister could come in handy sometimes.”

Spliced gave it some thought, and conceded that the little Earth pony had a point. If she’d been able to shrink and make her way into the walls of her former prison, maybe she could have figured out how to shut off the cameras or disconnect all the death traps that had been in there.

She didn’t say this aloud, of course. Instead, she turned to Apple Bloom. “Well, you’ve convinced me,” she said. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“It’s okay.” Apple Bloom ducked her head and smiled. “But now that you’ve seen it… or heard it, in this case, Ah think Sweetie Belle wants her normal voice back.”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and ducked into the other room, Zecora following to give her the antidote. After a few minutes, both had returned.

“You are lucky, little one, that I’ve improved my mix,” she said. “No longer is a bath needed to cure, just another potion for a fix.”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “I remember what happened the last time Rarity had some of this,” she said in her normal voice. “Though I don’t think she minded the spa treatment too much…”

Zecora smiled. “And thanks to that day, I made quite a good deal, selling brews to the spa ponies that met their appeal.”

Spliced looked between them. “The thing I want to know now is, just where did this stuff come from? I can’t imagine something like it evolving naturally…”

“Well, we don’t know for sure,” Apple Bloom replied. “But we’ve got a hunch that Discord made it during his reign, either on purpose or just through spreadin’ his chaos magic around Equestria. There’s still traces of his magic around, and we know he did make some weird plants once that made all kinds of trouble, so…” she shrugged. “It’s the best guess we’ve got.”

Spliced looked contemplative. “Hmm… that is a logical explanation for it,” she said. “Thank you, Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom beamed at the praise.

“So what else is here?” Spliced asked, examining some black looking plants in some vials on another shelf.

“Ah, that one, you should be wary. Plunder-vines running loose can be quite scary.” Zecora gestured to the vials. “Such plants went rampant many moons ago, and brought with them much fear. Luckily, after their behavior’s cause was found, these ones are now safe in here.”

“And… what caused that wild behavior?” Spliced asked.

“Discord,” three fillies chorused.

“Oh.” Spliced blinked and turned to look around the other collected flora. “Is there anything else here that is a product from him?”

“Eenope.” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Oh, here’s something that’s not!” She snagged a jar. “Ah remember this stuff! It’s what you helped Fluttershy get for her animal sanctuary!”

“Ah yes, the Crisscross Moss,” Zecora replied. “A useful plant, in many ways. Both as food and for medicine, to ease your days. Though there was another kind that grew quite close to it, and that may have also been from his spree. I am just very glad Fluttershy found the cure for its pollen in time; I would not have enjoyed being trapped as a tree.”

Spliced’s eyebrows rose very high. “A plant that pollinates you and turns you into a tree…” she said faintly. Although it was a fascinating concept, the notion that it could be used against her outweighed the research potential it had. “Okay. That is downright scary.”

Zecora nodded somberly. “‘Tis true, I fear, but Fluttershy found the cure. And thanks to it, I safely endure.”

Apple Bloom gave one of her legs a gentle hug, and Zecora smiled down at her.

“So, my friend, what else is here of which you wish to learn?” Zecora nodded at Spliced. “Come now, don’t hold back. There is much knowledge, I sense, for which you yearn.”

Spliced nodded back, and began pointing at something else.

In the Crystal Empire Royal Palace, Cadance made her way through the medical wing once again to visit their latest guest. On one hoof, she was very pleased that her citizens had brought him into be treated and not outright killed him due to the danger he posed to everypony in the Empire. On the other hoof; however, due to what he was, they needed to keep him secluded within a shield as not to expose him to everypony in the city, and the doctors that were treating him were being very careful in what they were doing to help him get better.

Coming up to Dr. Hale, the head doctor of the palace, Cadance was about to ask him how their patient was doing when Dr. Hale shook his head. “He’s stable for the moment, Empress,” they said, with Cadance doing her best not to wrinkle her nose at the usage of her title. She was getting more used to being called by it but at times, it still bothered her. “But we simply do not know enough how to treat the patient properly.”

“I see,” Cadance frowned as she peered into the room, their guest still in a medically induced sleep. Shaking her head as time was running out, she knew that she had to contact Celestia for help. Quickly departing from the room and making her way to her study, she summoned a scroll and inkwell so she could write the letter.

As she contemplated what exactly to say, she couldn’t help but wonder what had led this… being to where they’d been found, and if, perhaps, a certain piece of recent history was about to repeat itself and if she was strong enough to do what it was needed to protect her ponies.

A short while later she had a reply that Celestia was sending an expert of sorts on this matter and then a much more detailed letter on this expert, with her eyes widening.

Shaking her head, she went to find her husband to prepare for another possibly dangerous creature entering her realm.

“Oh there you are Spliced,” Twilight said as the four of them finally got out of the forest a few hours later, having had a rather productive time. “And… you girls are here, why are you here? Spliced, why are they here with you?”

“They said they could be out there,” Spliced said, looking at the now sheepish looking fillies.

“And you let them be out in the Everfree Forest‽”

“They told me that they could be there!” Spliced turned to look at them. “Why did you tell me you could be there?”

“Well, Applejack did say Ah could go visit Zecora and Ah thought the girls would like to visit her too.”

“Then why didn’t you stick to the path,” Spliced asked with the fillies facehoofing for some reason - Oh, she was supposed to be quiet about that.

Twilight glared at all of them before snorting and shaking her head. “Your sisters and aunts will talk to you later about this,” she said sharply with them whining and moving off to the village. She then turn her attention to Spliced, holding up a piece of paper. “As I was saying, you got a letter from Celestia this afternoon labeled urgent.”

“Oh?” Spliced tilted her to the side as she picked up the letter with her thaumatics and opened it up, reading the message inside. “Huh, it seems that I am being called to a place called the Crystal Empire to aid them with a subject they found.”

“Really?” Twilight said as she took the letter from her; the other alicorn’s eyes widening as she read it. “This is serious, Spliced.”

“Yes it is,” Spliced hissed as she took her letter back from her and went to finish reading it before frowning and hoofing it back. “I am supposed to give this to you.”

“Sorry about that, Spliced; it is just that my sister in-law,” Twilight began before Spliced cut her off.

“The other alicorn, correct?” Spliced asked with a raised eyebrow. “The one that isn’t an infant, right?”

“Yes,” Twilight said, aware that she shouldn’t jump at this baiting as it was clear Spliced wanted a chance to fight back. “Well, according to this letter, we should get moving as soon as possible; although I think it would be best to have Spike and Starlight with us.”

“And why is that?”

“Spike is an excellent note taker, which can be a boon if you get too busy to write things down,” Twilight said with Spliced nodding her head in agreement. “And I believe Starlight would like to visit her friend Sunburst.”

Spliced rolled her eyes at this but shook her head. “It’s fine, I suppose, as long as she does not get in the way of my work,” she said as she made her way back to the castle.

Twilight nodded let out a sigh; it was better than what was normal for those two but it was still a long way away from those two actually being friends.

Shaking her head, she went into the castle herself; a trip like this meant it was time to pack.

Then Spliced popped her head back out of the hall. “Oh, and I will need to ask Princess Celestia if she can have a changeling that can endure harsher emotions sent out to the Empire with us.”

Twilight blinked and realized why Spliced would make such a request. “I can send a letter to Thorax to see what can be done.”

“Thank you.” With that, Spliced headed off to her room.