Disclaimer: I own only the following: Charles.

Chapter 9: Bridle Gossip

One clear, sunny day...

"Wow, what a gorgeous day!", Twilight Sparkle said as she, Spike (who was on her back), and Charles were walking down a tree-lined road as they made their way to the town square in Ponyville.

"Rainbow Dash must've gotten up early for once and cleared all the clouds away.", Spike guessed.

"I bet all of Ponyville is gonna be out enjoying the sunshine."

"Probably not.", disagreed Charles as he noticed something was wrong; not a single other pony was in sight. The others began to look around as well.

"What? Where is everypony?"

As they looked around, they could see a tumbleweed drift by—even though such plants shouldn't be around in Ponyville. One pony slammed the upstairs shutters closed, while another—an earth pony—yanked her daughter—a unicorn—in off the front step and closed the door. "Is it some sort of pony holiday?"

"Not that I know of."

"Does my breath stink?", Spike asked, then blew out fire and sniffed it.

"Not more than usual."

"Is it…" Spike was frightened now. "…zombies?"

"Uh, not very likely. "

"Not likely…but possible?"

"No.", said Charles. "There'd be news if it was, and the town was bustling yesterday. Hold up."

The two unicorns stopped abruptly and looked ahead at Sugarcube Corner, the top half of its front door open and the lights out. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie stuck her head into view.

"Twilight!" She ducked away again and reappeared. "Spike!" She then repeated the process. "Charles!" She then ducked down again, beckoning with her hoof. "Come here!" The three outside just stood puzzled. "Come here!" She then poked out her head. "Hurry! Before she gets you!" This time, when she pulled her head back, Twilight quickly followed her inside. Charles just sighed and was about to casually walk in when Pinkie somehow stretched her body to grab him and pull him in. He let out a yelp as the door's top half closed behind him.

It was dark inside Sugarcube Corner, but it was quickly banished by a firefly lantern—which was covered up in such a way it operated like a flashlight—illuminating the three new arrivals. Twilight and her bodyguard shielded their eyes from the glare, which passed away from them as Spike spoke up. "Who? The zombie pony?"

Pinkie was holding the lantern and she trained the light on herself as she shuddered mightily. "Zombie pony?"

Spike hunkered down and grabbed hold of Twilight even more tightly than he was doing right now, prompting an irritated glare from her. "Spike, there are no zombie ponies." Spike then got off of her. "Pinkie, what are you doing here alone in the dark?"

"I'm not alone in the dark." The lights came up to reveal the rest of their friends as well as Apple Bloom, whom Twilight, Spike, and Charles have met back on their very first visit to Sweet Apple Acres on the day before the Summer Sun Celebration.

Charles grumbled as he corrected his charge. "Okay, then, what are you all doing here in the dark?"

"We're hidin' from her!", Applejack answered, pointing out of a window. She nudged the curtain open so all can get a closer look, with the exception of Fluttershy. In the middle of the deserted street, a four-legged figure in a hooded cloak pawed at the dirt. The figure seemed to be a zebra, who had one foreleg encircled by several gold hoops. The cloak was brown and covered the rest of the body. As the others stared with fear, Twilight just looked intently while Charles gave a casual gaze.

Suddenly, the figure turned its head towards them exposing its nose and a pair of glowing yellow eyes under the hood. Inside Sugarcube Corner, five ponies and one dragon recoiled away from the mirror with a cry of fear, but Twilight just threw a quizzical look over her shoulder at them while her bodyguard just continued looking, then turned to face the others as Bloom—as Charles came to call the filly—used Spike's head as a hoof-rest to help get her toward eye level with Charles' charge.

"Did you see her, Twilight?", the filly asked. "Did you see…Zecora?"

Applejack leaned down to her. "Apple Bloom! I told you never to say that name!"

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

"Glance evilly this way!", Pinkie corrected.

"—and then a bunch of you flip out for no good reason."

"No good reason?", Applejack cried out as she pulled the yellow filly—who was her younger sister, it turns out—closer. "You call protectin' your kin no good reason?" She then let her go, patting her head. "Why, as soon as my sister saw Zecora ridin' into town, she started shakin' in her little horseshoes!" Applejack shook Bloom on the word "shakin'" to make the point.

"Di-i-id no-o-ot!" Bloom retorted, her voice vibrating. Applejack stopped shaking her and picked her up.

"So I swept her up and brought her here…"

"I walked here myself!"

"…for safekeepin'."

Bloom jumped down. "Applejack, I'm not a baby! I can take care of myself!"

"Not from that creepy Zecora."

"She's mysterious.", Fluttershy said.

"Sinister.", Rainbow Dash added.

"And spooooky!", Pinkie concluded, eyes going wide.

Twilight and Charles, clearly unconvinced, took another look out the window—and promptly found themselves at the bottom of a six-pony-and-one-dragon crush doing likewise. The brown-cloaked figure of Zecora put down her hood, exposing a black/white striped Mohawk-like mane and gold hoops in the ears. These markings and the ones on her coat confirmed Charles' suspicions; Zecora was definitely a zebra. Her face was turned away from the window as everypony save for the sole stallion and his charge gasped.

"Will you cut that out?", Twilight asked.

"Just look at those stripes.", Rarity pointed out. "So garish."

"She's a zebra."

"A what?!", everypony else save for Twilight's bodyguard gasped.

"A zebra. And her stripes aren't a fashion choice, Rarity."

Charles continued, "They're what she was born with." Rarity cried out and fainted as he turned tot he rest. "As for the digging in the ground, from what I know about zebras, she was digging for water, not making a threat display, which I assume you all had in mind."

"Where was she born?", asked Applejack. "I never seen a pony like that in these parts…'cept her!"

"Well, she's isn't from around here, and she's not a pony." He and Twilight turned to the window, where they saw Zecora pawing at the ground once more.

"My books say that zebras come from a faraway land.", his charge said as Spike slipped into the kitchen. "But I've never seen her in Ponyville. Where does she live?"

"That's just it. She lives in…the Everfree Forest!", Applejack answered.

A thunderclap shook the room, scaring the daylights out of her, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Bloom was thrown a bit off balance, but did not freak out. Charles merely jumped in surprise, but nothing more.

Twilight turned angrily to a set of double doors that seemingly led to the kitchen. "Spike!", she called out.

As it turns out, the noise was caused by a couple of pans the baby dragon dropped while getting a snack for himself. "Uh, sorry.", he said.

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

"Animals care for themselves…", Fluttershy added.

"And the clouds move…", Rainbow continued.

"…all on their own!", all three finished simultaneously.

Rarity cried out and fainted again. Charles and Twilight stood unimpressed.

"And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil…stuff!", Pinkie added. "She's so evil, I even wrote a song about her!"

Rainbow groaned wearily, "Here we go."

Now Playing: Evil Enchantress song

Charles turned to the window to look at Zecora as Pinkie sang her song. All the while, he reminisced, as usual in these times, on the time between his arrival and the orders that bound him to Twilight Sparkle.

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

And she'll gobble you up in a big tasty stew

So…watch out!

End Song

Charles then looked back at Pinkie, who was struck the best two-legged menacing pose she could make and heaved for breath while atop a table.

"Wow. Catchy.", Twilight broke the ensuing silence.

Pinkie got down and smiled. "It's a work in progress."

"This is all just a lot of gossip and rumors.", Twilight said as she crossed the room. "Now tell me, what exactly have you actually seen Zecora do?"

"Well…once a month, she comes into Ponyville.", Rainbow put in.

"Ooooh!", Charles and Twilight said sarcastically.

"Then…she lurks by the stores.", Rarity added.

"Oh, my!" Same sarcasm.

"And then, she digs at the ground.", Fluttershy finished.

"Good gracious!" Bloom eyed the apparently only two sane unicorns with slight unease. "Okay, that was the most pathetic 'evil' actions I've ever heard. Of all time."

"I'm sorry, but how is any of this bad?", Twilight asked. "Maybe she comes to town to visit."

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

"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?"

Applejack cut her little sister off, "Apple Bloom! Hush and let the big ponies talk."

"I am a big pony." Bloom then clomped away, discomfited.

"From my experience, children are worth listening to, Applejack.", Charles said. "You shouldn't shoot them down just because they're younger."

"What about digging at the ground?", Rainbow asked Twilight as Bloom crossed to a corner. "You got to admit, that's weird."

"What if she's digging for innocent creatures?", Fluttershy asked as Pinkie started singing a cappella and cavorting around the place as Twilight and Applejack discussed.

"I am sure there's an explanation for everything Zecora does.", Twilight said. "And if anypony here were actually brave enough to approach her, she—or he—" She glanced at Charles at this. "would find out the truth. And I'm certain my bodyguard isn't a superstitious pony."

As she and her friends began to debate, Charles noticed Bloom tossing her head back defiantly and opening the door near her—leading outside.

"Well, I'm brave enough.", she said to herself. "I'm gonna find out myself." Cautious but determined, he saw her step out of the building.

With caution, he followed her until he was just at the door.

Out in the street, the following events from various stealthy vantage points; Zecora had put up her hood again. Bloom was ducking around miscellaneous hiding places, risking looks, and hurrying across the way, emerging closer to Zecora, who was finished with her digging. The stranger then took a quick look over her shoulder before walking off, revealing gold hoops around her neck as well as her foreleg. The watcher got another furtive look at the departing out-of-towner from the alley and some bushes, working their way closer.

Back at Sugarcube Corner, the argument was getting...ridiculous.

"You ponies are being ridiculous!", Twilight said. (See?)

"Well, I heard that Zecora eats hay.", Pinkie replied.

"Excuse me?", retorted Charles as he has rejoined his friends. "We all eat hay, Pinkie Pie."

"Yeah, but I heard it's the evil way she eats hay."

"Now that's just preposterous! Now let me go out there and find out more about her. I know how to deal with zebras, being part of the royal Guard."

"Hey!", Applejack suddenly asked. "Where's Apple Bloom?"

"The door's open!", Fluttershy said, pointing to the open door where Bloom left.

"She went outside!", cried out Rarity.

"And Zecora's still out there!", Rainbow added.

"That silly little filly!", said Applejack. "I told her to stay put!"

Before the four could begin to charge out, Charles called out to them. "Hold it!" They stopped in their tracks and turned to face him as he closed his eyes.

"What are we waiting for?", Rainbow asked him. "Zecora might've got her by now!"

The sole stallion opened his eyes. "No, she hasn't. Bloom's currently following her as we speak."

"How do you know that?", Rarity asked.

" I heard her. Now follow me, girls."

With that, he led the four out of Sugarcube Corner, hoping their suspicions of Zecora were wrong.

They made it to a path leading to the Everfree Forest, but not the one they used back when they first went off to find the Elements of Harmony. As they ran, they made it to a field of plants with vivid blue leaves. And across them they could see Zecora and—

"Apple Bloom?", Applejack called out. Both zebra and filly looked back to see them, the latter with a startled gasp. "You get back here right now!"

It was then that Zecora began to speak for the first time. It was in a throaty voice of foreign origin as she slowly backed up into a sudden spurt of mist behind her. "Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!"

For some reason, Charles took these words into consideration and started trying to make sense of them as he put a hoof to his chin. As for the rest however, they didn't even bother to listen.

Applejack skid in to get her head underneath Bloom and flip her up onto her back. "You—you keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, you hear?" There were yells of agreement from Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow.

"She'll gobble you up in a big tasty stew—", Pinkie sang.

"Oh, brother.", Twilight grumbled.

"Beware! Beware!", Zecora continued to warn as she disappeared into the mist.

Rainbow was now standing in a patch of the blue-leaved plants as she said, "Yeah, back at you, Zecora! You and your lame curse are the ones who better beware!"

Bloom glared at the pegasus as her sister then did likewise to her and said, "And you! Why couldn't you just listen to your big sister?"

"I…I…"

"Who knows what kinda nasty curse Zecora coulda just put on you?"

"Just like in my song!", Pinkie agreed as she started to sing again while jumping around among the strangely hued vegetation. "Evil enchantress, with the dances, and the trances—"

"You guys, there's no such thing as curses!", Twilight interjected.

Rainbow flew low through the plants. "Well, that's interesting to hear—" She then taped Twilight's horn. "—coming from Miss Magic-Pants herself."

"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."

However, the others were already walking out of the forest through a patch of plants that have seemingly grown to fill most of the open area. Applejack hung back, not noticing that Bloom had climbed down and was nowhere in sight.

"Just you wait, Twilight.", she warned as she walked off. "You're gonna learn that some pony tales really are true."

"I'm gonna have to partially agree with Applejack.", Charles stated as the two began to follow them out of the forest. "Unicorn magic like yours, Rarity's, and mine is just one of many kinds of magic that exist in Equestria. Potion magic and incantation magic are as real as uni—Whoa!" He accidentally tripped and got a face-full of the flowers, but quickly got up in a second. "as real As unicorn magic, just not as well-known or well-accepted. I should know as I've traveled a lot and have seen a lot. Now let's go home and rest. I plan to track down Zecora tomorrow and clear up some matters and see her for what she truly is, not just what others say about her."

Nighttime…

As Charles (and his charge) slept for the night, he was assaulted by strange visions and spoken words.

She's an evil enchantress, she does evil dances— The voice was Pinkie Pie's.

Beware! Beware! Now it was Zecora's.

you look deep in her eyes, she will put you in trances— Pinkie again.

Yeah, was that supposed to scare us? Rainbow Dash.

Wicked, wicked zebra! Rarity.

She's good…with a curse. Fluttershy.

Then what will she do? Pinkie. Again.

Just you wait, Twilight. Some pony tales really are true. Applejack.

Then she'll gobble you up in a big tasty stew, So…watch out! Pinkie Pie yet again.

Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke! Zecora again. Those leaves of blue are not a joke!

...leaves of blue are not a joke!

...not a joke!

As those final words continued to echo in his head, in an instant, Charles opened his eyes in deep realization. "Uh-oh!", he muttered. Before he could do anything else, he quickly dropped off to sleep.

The next morning…

Charles didn't feel so good. It was like his body was somehow…different. He woke up early and put a hoof to his face. He gave a sigh and said, "Darn, I didn't sleep well last night." He didn't realize it sounded…different. He began to flick his tail around, only to find out it was slightly heavier than before.

"What a dream.", he heard his charge say. "Curses, schmurses."

Charles then got up as well, and realized there was hair framing both sides of his head. Wuh…did somepony decide to pull a hair-growing prank on me?

"Whoa!", he heard his charge give a chuckle. Maybe Zecora cursed my hair."

Charles moaned as he got up from bed, and as he landed on the floor felt his body was…different. Just then, his musings of this were cut off by a scream from Twilight. He quickly turned to her; she was in front of a vanity, and she had been brushing her messed-up mane before she 'dropped' the brush in surprise.

"What's wrong?!", Charles asked as he ran to the mirror, then noticed his voice was completely different form his own. Not only was it lighter, it sounded like his sister's. Once he reached the mirror, he saw two strange things. One was that while his charge's bangs have been sorted out, her horn was covered with blue spots and was drooping as though it had been turned to rubber.

"Or she cursed my horn!", she said.

The second strange thing was that he himself has taken a completely different appearance. His mane was now smooth, and longer with two bangs flanking his face, his tail was longer, and his muzzle was more curved. He gulped at what he guessed has happened; he has turned into a mare.

Twilight, and Charles were at the library's reading room with Spike, searching the whole place for a clue to their condition. So far, they had little success.

"No, no, no, no, no!", Twilight complained. "None of these books have a cure!"

"This place really needs a card catalog.", Charles also complained, the paused for a moment. "It's still strange hearing this voice come out of my mouth."

"There has to be a real reason for this! An illness? An allergy?"

"A curse!", Spike suggested, having pulled down a green-bound book with a plant on its cover and was perusing it closely.

"I said a real reason. Something that points to something real."

"How about this one?" Spike showed her the cover.

"Supernaturals? Spike, the word 'supernatural' refers to things like ghosts and spirits and zombies—" Twilight then shoved the book away. "—which are as make-believe as curses. This book is just a bunch of hooey!"

"Judging a book by its cover?", Charles snarked, and somehow it sounded more so with a girl's voice. "You have got to be kidding me…" He then turned to Spike. "Let me see that." He then 'took' the book from Spike's hands and started looking into it.

"But what if you're wrong, Twilight?", Spike asked. "What if this really is a—"

They were cut off by Pinkie Pie, who has entered the library. Her tongue was covered with the same blue spots as those on Twilight's horn and has swollen so badly that it protruded from her mouth. As a result, her speech was nearly unintelligible and accompanied by frequent sprays of saliva that collected in a pool before her.

"A curse!", the pink earth pony said through her swollen tongue.

"A purse?", Spike asked. "How could it be a purse?"

"Pinkie! What happened?", Twilight asked.

"It was Zecora!", Pinkie accused as she drenched Spike with spit. "She put a curse on us!"

"Hey, say it, don't spray it, Pinkie!", Spike said.

"It's not a curse.", said Charles as he looked up from the book. "I'm sure those flowers we've brushed at in the forest—" He was cut off by something thumping against the building hard enough to shake it.

"Ow!", they heard Rainbow Dash from outside. They turned to the window next to the door and there she was, ramming against the glass in a display of poor flight control that was unusual even for her. A close look reveals that her wings have been turned upside down.

"She's…trying to say, ow…Zecora…", she said between thuds, with occasional grunts. The next thud missed the window but hit the wall hard enough to crack it. The following thud knocked the door off its hinges by a lunge that sends Rainbow hurtling upside down across the room. "…she slapped us all with a…" She then crashed onto the shelves and tangled herself up in the ladder propped against them. "…ow! Curse!"

"Rainbow, would you please just walk?", Charles pleaded before returning to reading the book.

"I'm afraid I have to agree.", came Rarity's voice as she walked in. Her mane, tail, and coat have grown and matted into thick dreadlock-like strands that gave her a distinct resemblance to either a sheepdog or a walking mop. She blew uselessly at the purple hair hanging in her face, prompting cries of shock from Twilight and Spike. While Charles just rolled his eyes and continued to read the book Twilight vehemently refused to even consider looking into, Rainbow dragged herself and the ladder over to the others.

"As I was saying, I think the flowers are the—", Charles said before being cut off again.

"I hate to say I told you so, Twilight, but I told you so!", came Applejack's voice, but she sounded like she had been inhaling helium.

Charles then turned to look at Applejack, only to raise his eyebrows in surprise as he saw her—shrunken—standing on Apple Bloom's back. Fluttershy was right behind them and she walked up next to Rarity.

There came a gasp from Twilight and Spike. ""It's a curse, I tells you!"

"But…Fluttershy seems just fine!", said Charles, noting that she seemed to be a bit upset. "And Apple Bloom too.", he added under his breath.

"Yes.", Rarity agreed. "There doesn't seem to be a thing wrong with her."

"Fluttershy? Are you okay?", asked Twilight. Fluttershy just turned her face away. "Is there something wrong with you?"A nod. "Would you care to tell us?" Eyebrows lower. "So…you're not gonna tell us." A nod. "'Yes, you're not?' or 'yes, you will'?" A head shake.

Applejack rushed across the table in the center of the room. "Good gravy, girl!", she asked the pegasus. "What's wrong with you?"

There followed a full two seconds of total silence, after which Fluttershy spoke—in a slow, deep, gravelly male voice. "I don't want to talk about it."

For some reason, this got Charles more than merely being elated as he promptly 'let go' of his book, dropping it to the floor, and turned to face Fluttershy, seemingly charmed, and hearts floating up from him, just like with Spike upon first seeing Rarity. He began to stare into her eyes, as if pleading for her to speak again, which he was. A few seconds later, as he then noticed the others staring at him, he then began to shake his head vigorously, snapping out of his 'spell', and slam it onto a wall as the hearts popped away. "Can't! Must! Resist! Urge! To! Arrgh!"

As he then began to clutch his head, banishing all perverted and romantic thoughts out of his mind, which he attributed to…whatever was making him feel this way, Rainbow's wings flapped randomly, causing her to tumble to the floor, and turning everyone else's faces away from the stallion-turned-mare. Spike laughed uproariously, completely ignoring the angry look Twilight aimed at him.

"This is hilarious! Look at all of you! We got…" He turned to each victim in turn and indicated them. "…Hairity, Rainbow Crash, Spittie Pie, Apple Teeny, Charlotte(1), Flutterguy, " He then turned to Twilight. "…and…uh…I got nothin'." He then gave an aside glance, pointing at her. "Twilight Sparkle. I mean, seriously, I can't even work with that."

"Aha, aha, aha.", Twilight chuckled sarcastically "This is no joke, Spike.", Twilight said. "Now start looking for more books so I can find a cure!"

However, her assistant's eyes have been drawn to her overly flexible horn, prompting him to bite back a fresh laugh. Getting it under control, he went to the bookshelves and grumbled.

Meanwhile, Rainbow managed to pull loose from the ladder and hovered unsteadily. "I think we'll find a cure to this curse at Zecora's place!", she suggested.

"It's not a curse!", Twilight countered as Rainbow rocketed backward, resulting in a loud crash.

"I agree with Dash.", Applejack said as Rainbow kept veering around crazily. "We'll go to Zecora's and force her to remove this hex."

"It's not a hex either!"

As the mares launched into a six-way argument, Charles tried to speak up. "Girls?!" But they weren't paying attention at all. He then groaned to himself. He—for some reason—snuck his way out of the library. His plan was to go to the Everfree Forest to confront Zecora. While he doesn't think she is to blame for what's happened to him and his friends, he hopes that she has the cure for their affliction.

"This is all my fault. If I hadn't followed Zecora in the first place, none of this would have happened. I just gotta fix this." Applebloom said with determination and made her way out the library. Applejack however did not lose her sight on her literally bigger sister this time.

"Now where does she think she's goin' this time?" Applejack said hopped her way into Applebloom's tail and hid in their just before they went out the door to find out what she's up to.

"I don't care what you say, Twilight; it's time to pony up and confront Zecora. Come on, girls; are you with me?" Dash said with a commanding tone.

"Ah am-pft!" Pinkie meaning to say 'I'm in'.

"And I as well." agreed Rarity.

"Uh, I don't know. Seems awfully dangerous." Fluttershy said in her deep voice. Spike couldn't help but release a giggle.

"How about you, Applejack?" Dash asked but didn't get an answer.

"Applejack?" Dash called again and looked at the table she was at.

"Pf-she's gone-pft!" Pinkie through her tounge spitting.

"Aah! Or somepony stepped on her!" Rarity fearly theorized and everyone around the room started looking under their hooves.

"...Or sat on her?" Twilight made another thought and looked at her rump along with everyone else.

"Rarity's hair!" Dash said and Pinkie started searching through Rarity's overgrown forest of hair.

"Oh! OH! Pinkie, what are you doing? Ah, really. Aah! You ever hear of personal space?" Rarity said uncomfortably.

"Nopthe." Pinkie said as she shook her head.

"Apple Bloom and Charles is gone too!" Twilight noticed.

"I bet they went after Zecora." Dash assumed.

"Well we better go find them." Twilight began walking out. " Come on girls, let's go. "Oh dear. This is so unseemly." Rarity complained unable to move. Pinkie then noticed she was standing on one of Rarity's overgrown hairs and quickly removed it making Rarity almost fall.

"Hey, a little help here?" Dash said as she drags upside down on the ground.

"Oopsie! Sorry." Fluttershy apologized and came over to help Dash up along with Pinkie. As they got her up Dash tried another flight attempt but crashes again just above the doorway making a yell in pain. As she gets off the wall she leaves an imprint of the upside down crash position she was in with her tongue sticking out and made a sheepish smile as she was able to get herself out.

"Uh... Spike? Are you coming?" Fluttershy asked.

"Nope! Uh... gotta stay her and look for a cure." Spike excused as he looks through each book again with the two leaving.

"Twilight Flopple!" Spike said as he finally came up with a name to Twilight.

Later at the Everfree Forest…

As Charles made his way to the path Zecora took to the Everfree Forest, he heard galloping from behind and turned to see Apple Bloom headed the same way he was going.

"Apple Bloom!", he called. "Where're you headed?"

"It's all my fault.", she explained as she stopped. "If I hadn't followed Zecora in the first place, none of this woulda happened."

"I kinda have to agree with you there."

"I gotta fix this. I just gotta."

"Well, you're welcome to join me.", the stallion-turned-mare gladly offered. "I was headed to Zecora's too."

Just before they could resume their walk, they heard a squeaky voice. "Stop right there!" It came from Bloom's mane and Applejack popped out from there. "You two turn around right now!"

Instead of doing as she is told, Bloom aimed a mischievous smile up toward the top of her head. "No.", the filly replied.

"You're not the boss of me.", said Charles.

"No?! You can't ignore a direct order from your big sister!"

Applejack suddenly found herself covered in a brown aura and she was lifted up. Charles was the culprit as he 'placed' her on a convenient branch.

Bloom gave a laugh and said, "Sorry, Applejack, but I'm the big sister now."

"I think 'elder sister' is the more correct term, given your current size.", corrected the orange unicorn.

"You two come back here right this instant! I'm gonna tell Big Macintosh on you!"

"You're not my sister!", Charles said as Bloom began to run off. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll have to make sure your younger sis remains unharmed." With that, he caught up with the filly and they vanished from Applejack's sight.

With her out of the way, both filly and stallion-turned-mare continued running down the forest path until they located a house built into a tree. They could see a totem-like animal carving in front of the tree-house, whose limbs and roots have contorted with extreme age. Several bottles hung on strings from the branches, and set into the trunk were a couple of windows and a door with a leafy mask mounted above it.

"Ya think this is the place?", asked Bloom.

"Only one way to find out."

Together, the two ponies approached the window and peered through it. The walls were covered with thatched-reed mats, making the place resemble a hut more than a typical house. Littering the place were candles, jugs, more masks on the walls, and bottles strung from the ceiling.

"Creepy…", was all Bloom could say before noticing the place's inhabitant.

Inside the house was Zecora, no longer wearing her cloak, who seemed to be adding ingredients into a black cauldron. As Bloom just watched the zebra pick up bottles with her teeth and tip their contents, Charles took a closer look at the zebra's dark blue-green eyes, trying to read her expression (and noting her simplistic spiral sunburst cutie mark) as she spoke in some foreign language. As far as he could tell, there was no malicious intent in them, which his friends (save Twilight, at least for now) all seemed to attribute Zecora with.

"What do you suggest we do, Bloom?", Charles asked.

The filly was surprised at his question. "You askin' me?"

"I learned that kids sometimes have bright ideas when the adults are being useless at the time."

"I'm not a kid, I'm a filly."

"Whoops. I usually call those about your age or maturity—pony or not—kids."

"Oh. Umm…I think we should go talk to her."

"…If you say so." Again, Bloom was surprised that Charles agreed with her so easily. "Just remember that should anything go wrong I'm getting us out of here." Together, they went to the door, and Bloom rapped at it. A few seconds later, the door was opened by Zecora and the two expected the worst.

"Wow. I still can't believe Zecora's actually a nice pony.", Apple Bloom said.

"She's a zebra.", Charles corrected. "And zebras aren't part of the pony species that consist of the pegasus, earth pony, and unicorn subspecies."

The two of them were walking down a path in the Everfree Forest, wearing saddlebags on their backs filled with all kinds of plants. Just as they passed some blue flowers (but not the ones from yesterday), Charles stopped to check them out. There were red stripes on these flowers. The petals were shaped like a twelve-pointed mostly-blue star, with red lines running from the tips of the petals down the stem. They also smelled like dandelions.

Noting that, he 'took out' a small leather-bound book—Zecora's plant book—and started 'flipping' its pages. Bloom noticed her companion stop and walked back and asked what was keeping him.

"Aha. The uchawi maua. Also known as the ether flower.", he read as he skipped the description. "Okay. The stem is very toxic, but the petals aren't. They grow low to the ground and feed on magic. Their seeds only grow in the Everfree Forest. Comsuming the petals, along with some grass, will restore magic power and cure overchanneling."Overchannelin'?", Bloom asked, interrupting his thoughts. "What's that?"

"Do you know the exhaustion you feel after running a marathon?" Bloom nodded. "Well, overchanneling is like that, but with magic instead of stamina."

"Oh. …We already got everythin' Zecora needed, and I don't remember ether flowers bein' in her list."

"Well, perhaps after all this, I plan to ask her if she can make some ethers with these flowers." Charles then 'returned' Zecora's plant book in the saddlebag. "Help me pick up some, would you?"

Together, the two ponies plucked petals, careful not to touch the stems, and put them in the saddlebags. Now that that was over with, they resumed their was back to Zecora's hut when they heard a faint crash. And it seemed to be coming from the hut. Bloom didn't notice it, but Charles did.

"I got a bad feeling about this.", he said to himself as he picked up the pace. Bloom followed suit after noticing her companion was moving faster.

As they did so, it was becoming more and more apparent that the commotion was indeed coming from Zecora's hut. "What's happenin'?", Bloom asked.

"If I were to guess, my friends and your sister have found Zecora's hut and are—" There came another crash. "—storming it."

"Stormin' it?"

"In any case—" Another crash. "—we got to hurry."

And hurried they did. In less than a minute, they reached the hut, where they found Twilight and company confronting Zecora, and definitely not in a good way, with Applejack twisting the zebra's left ear. His charge was currently butting heads with Zecora.

"Girls!", Charles cried out, and everyone inside the hut turned to face them. "What in Ponyville is going on here?" He then turned to Zecora. "Anyway, Zecora, we found all the things you asked for."

"Apple Bloom!", Applejack called out. "You're okay!"

"Charles!", Twilight called in unison with Applejack. "You're safe!"

"Why wouldn't I be?", Bloom and Charles asked, the former with an upbeat tone and the latter with confusion as Twilight moved to guard them.

"Because Zecora is an evil enchantress who cursed us and was gonna cook you both up into soup!", she spoke in rapidfire.

To everyone's confusion, both filly and zebra managed a smile, then laughed as if it was a joke. Charles just groaned and smacked himself in the face.

"You seriously think she can bring me down?", the bodyguard grumbled as he indicated Zecora. "You saw me hold my own against…" He paused, careful not to mention Nightmare Moon to the zebra. "…her."

"Oh, Twilight…", said Bloom. "…did those silly fillies finally get in your head? You know there's no such thing as a curse. "

"Apple Bloom, sweetie, you can't just stand there and tell me this isn't a curse." Twilight pointed at the other afflicted on "this."

"This isn't a curse.", Bloom said as she crossed to Zecora.

"Yeah.", agreed Charles. "It's an affliction caused by those blue flowers we stumbled into yesterday when following Apple Bloom."

"If you will remember back, The words I spoke were quite exact.", Zecora added.

"'Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!'", the bodyguard quoted word-for-word.

"It was a warnin', about that blue plant. It's called 'poison joke'.", Bloom explained.

"That plant is much like poison oak," Zecora then chuckled. "But its results are like a joke."

Applejack poked out of the zebra's mane. "What in the hay does that mean?"

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

"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.", Twilight clarified. "All of our problems are just little jokes it played on us."

"Little jokes?!" Applejack was not impressed. "Very funny."

"To be exact, it takes whatever its victim take pride on, desires, or some other personal strength and inverts it somehow, like some kind of cruel joke.", Charles said as he turned to each of his friends and addressed them in turn. "Twilight, you take pride in your magic, hence your floppy horn. Applejack, you were acting the overprotective 'big sister' at the time, hence your diminutive size. Pinkie, you kept rambling all those bad things about Zecora, hence your swollen tongue. Rainbow, you take pride in your flying skills, hence your inverted wings. Rarity, ever so prideful of your appearance, I think the 'joke' on you is obvious. Fluttershy, your voice is so soothing and feminine, hence the manly voice. As for me, I get mistaken for a mare at first all the time, so…"

Rainbow then stepped forward and asked. "Okay, fine. But…what about the cauldron?"

"And the chanting?", asked Fluttershy, and Charles found himself charmed again, a few hearts floating from his head, and began slamming Zecora's plant book on his face over and over, trying to resist any more inappropriate thoughts.

"And the creepy décor?", added Rarity.

Zecora eyed a couple of masks that have wound up on the floor thanks to Rainbow Dash. While Charles and Bloom were on their way back, Rainbow had slammed them to the floor. "Treasures of the native land where I am from. This one speaks 'hello,' and this, 'welcome.'"

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

"Each culture has their own methods in things that outsiders don't understand or appreciate.", explained Charles as he rubbed his head after he was done smacking himself. "It helps to keep an open mind."

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

"But—the cauldron!", Twilight asked. "The Charles and Apple Bloom soup?"

"Looky here, Twilight.", the filly said. "That pot of water wasn't for us, it was for all these herbal ingredients."

"Although I picked up a couple other stuff as we did our errand, Zecora.", Twilight's charge added. "A couple of uchawi maua petals. I was wondering if you could make some ethers out of them." The zebra put a hoof to her chin for a second, then nodded.

Twilight noticed an open book, different from the one Charles had with him, on a table and walked over to skim it. "The cure for poison joke is a simple all-natural remedy." Bloom then lifted her elder sister on one hoof. "You just gotta take a bubble bath. "

"And we're lucky it can be made this time of year. If there is no brew available, poison joke can also be cured by really, really powerful magic. If that is also unavailable, it at least wears off in a couple weeks."

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

"Actually, we have that book.", Charles stated as he closed the book, showing that it was Supernaturals. "Supernaturals. Natural Remedies and Cure-Alls That Are Simply Super. To think that you'd judge a book by its cover…shame on you, Twilight, shame on you. We had the answer the whole time, if only you bothered to check it out."

Zecora chuckled, looking over the group. "Maybe next time, you will take a second look, and not judge the cover of the book." Bloom laughed at the end of this.

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

"Mix it up, I certainly will, yet I am missing an herb from Ponyville.", agreed the zebra.

"But whenever Zecora comes to town, all the shops are mysteriously closed.", said Bloom.

"Oh! Well…" Twilight gave a smile. "…I think we can help you with that."

As they began to make their way out, with Charles in the lead, he suddenly paused. "Hold on a second." He then turned back to the others, particularly the ones who said all those ill things about Zecora. "If you all had been scared even to look at Zecora, let alone speak to her, how did you even so much as figure out her name in the first place?!"

His friends, sans his charge, looked at each other, not knowing how to answer his question. he then turned to the only filly.

"And Bloom, didn't you walk into the poison joke as well? How is it you look—and sound—" He glanced at Fluttershy at this word. "—Perfectly fine?" He then turned to Zecora. "Do foals have an immunity to the poison joke that goes away upon maturity, or does she somehow have no definitive trait for the flower to twist?"

"I think we can ask all that another time.", Twilight cut him off. "The sooner we get ourselves cured, the better."

"Fine."

Later…

Together, the nine equines (Zecora decided to put her cloak on) entered the town. And naturally, the whole town was in a panic and had proceeded to hide in their homes as the group approached a herb/flower shop which was tended to by three earth pony mares. The first was named Lily, who had a bright fuchsia-colored coat, light yellow eyes, long creamy blond hair, and a lily blossom tucked behind one ear, and three of those flowers as her cutie mark. The second was named Rose, who had two-tone burgundy-and-pink hair, deep green eyes, an off-white cream-colored coat, and a rose cutie mark. The third was named Daisy, who had a vivid pink coat, curly light green hair, jade eyes, and a cutie mark of two daisies.

"Look, Rose!", said Daisy as she noticed the group come over. "How awful!

"The wicked enchantress has cursed them all!", cried out Rose.

"The horror!", yelled Lily as she put her fore-hooves to her face. "The horror!"

She then bailed out to the accompaniment of panicked screams. Rose bolted into her house, slamming the door. The other two took cover in the shop, where Twilight knocked its door a few seconds later. Daisy opened it a crack and peeked out.

"Daisy, we need to talk.", she said.

After the matter was cleared up…

Everyone was now gathered at the spa. A hot tub was ordered for everyone to dunk into. Charles was a bit uncomfortable with this as even though he was a mare now, he was still a stallion at mind and heart and would soon be so in body after taking the bath. However, he was assured that while almost no stallions go to the spa, it was perfectly okay to do so alongside mares.

He was now in front of the tub on a semicircular platform in between a potted plant and a bucket filled with bottles of bath additives sitting with a rack of towels, still deciding on how to get in. Zecora and Bloom were standing on the other side of the platform close to the set of steps leading up to it from the floor while Rainbow hovered above him with her wings back on straight. Fluttershy and Rarity were already in the bath, the latter restored to normal appearance.

Twilight was in the tub as well, off to the side opposite Charles' position. As she then dunked her head in, Pinkie jumped from the ceiling (how she got there no one knew) and came down on the pool for a belly flop. There was a huge splash and the two who descended into the water surfaced, healed of their ailments, and laughed as Rainbow, Bloom, and Zecora poured more herbs into the water. As Zecora and Bloom smiled at each other, Rainbow lowered herself into the water with a relaxed sigh.

Just then, an earth pony mare joined Zecora and Bloom on the platform. Her coat was light blue, her mane and tail pink and glossy, and her eyes dark blue. The mane was held back with a white headband, and she sported a necklace in the same color and a lotus-blossom cutie mark. It was Lotus, who works at the spa.

"Miss Zecora, I would love to get the recipe for this bath.", she said. "It's simply luxurious!"

The zebra smiled at the remark, but was cut off sharply as Bloom gasped. "Applejack! Hey! Where's Applejack?"

As the five bathing ponies looked frantically around themselves in the water, Charles just rolled his eyes and pointed down to the floor level below.

"She's over there.", he said, indicating Applejack—back to normal size—sitting with her rump wedged into a wooden teacup. Apparently, she got her own small bath and had quickly felt its effects.

"That's right…little sis.", the farmpony said. "I ain't tiny no more."

"Oh, I have never felt so lovely in all my life!", said Rarity.

Pinkie popped up next to her and started yakking at full speed—and, for good or ill, completely intelligibly. "Oh my gosh! I never realized how horrible it is, not to be able to talk!" Rainbow covered her ears with a groan. "I mean, I love talking so much, and when I couldn't talk anymore, my tongue was all 'bleech'." She stuck her tongue out on this word. "It was the worst! Don't you agree, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy turned this over for a moment or three, then opened her mouth and spoke. "Yes." That one word, in her normal sweet voice, confirmed the effectiveness of Zecora's remedy on all six mares.

"Oh, thank goodness!", Charles gave a sigh of relief.

Then, in all of a sudden, Pinkie surfaced and grabbed him by the forelegs. "Come on, Charles!" She then pulled him in and on impact with the water, he could feel his body change from within as he pushed the pink earth pony off of him. As he surfaced, he could feel his tail return to its normal length and his friends could see his mane resume its usual shape.

"Don't to that, Pinkie!", he complained, then caught himself upon realizing that his voice was back to normal as well, then noticed all of his (female) friends looking at him. He then did something he would never hear the end of; blush profusely with a bashful smile. After all, he was in a bathtub with girls and they were all without clothes (not that they wear any anyway normally). This resulted in a laugh from everypony else, Zecora included.

"Dear Princess Celestia: My friends and I (save Charles, who already knew) all learned an important lesson this week. Never judge a book by its cover. Someone may look unusual or funny or scary, but you have to look past that and learn who they are inside. Real friends don't care what your cover is. It's the contents of a pony that count. And a good friend, like a good book, is something that will last forever. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

(1) Charlotte is a feminine form of the male given name Charles.

Next Chapter: Chapter 10: Swarm of the Century Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 27 Minutes