//------------------------------//
// Chapter six: An Alicorn meets a Zebra 
// Story: Stop Patronizing the Sun! 
// by Foal Star 
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The following day, Celestia wandered into the Everfree forest with her fellow crusaders, and they walked through the forest. It's been years since Celestia has been in the Everfree Forest and didn't realize how scary and disturbing the forest was. The princess of the sun slowly walked through the woods with cutie mark crusaders. The filly was shaking nervously. She looked above her at the scraggly trees and freaking out over the random noises coming from the woods. Apple Bloom noticed as she nudged her. "Hey, ya dun have to worry about anything scary Zecora doesn't live that deep in the forest."

"Ok, um...I heard of Zecora from Twilight's letters, but who is she? What is she like?" the filly asked as she was rather curious about the zebra and also wanted to take her mind off the creepy woods. 

Apple Bloom continued to explain. "I don't know much about her. Our first meeting with her wasn't great...basically, my sister and her friends accused her of being a witch and wrecked her hut."

"Oh yes, Twilight explained everything…" Celestia whispered, feeling a bit perturbed on how the ponies of Ponyville treated Zecora. 

"Well, after that fiasco, I learned how to help Zecora find a cure for Poison Joke and got interested in making potions and cures with her. She's like a friend now...though she still has issues with the Ponies of Ponyville." Apple Bloom mumbled under her breath. 

Celestia nodded that she could imagine most ponies don't realize many more sentient species exist in the world and her subjects should be more educated on the subject. But the princess shook her head; that'll be an issue she tackled after she turned back into an adult. However, they eventually came to Zecora's hut, and Apple Bloom was the first to burst through the front door shouting, "hey Zercora!"

There they saw the zebra mare brewing a potion in the middle with a cauldron with sweat pouring from her brow. She looked across the hut at the fillies with a smile. "Ah, hello Apple Bloom, I thought it would be a while before we saw each other again, I assume."

The farm filly gave a sheepish smile at the zebra as she explained. "Sorry, I've been busy studyin' for a big math test and been trying to help Celestia find her cutie mark." 

Zeecora bowed before the alicorn filly and proclaimed, "it's an honor to host you, princess sun butt; it's about time you came to visit my hut!"

"You were waiting for me?" Celestia responded, quite surprised, not even thinking about how Zecora called her princess Sun Butt.

"Of course! Ever since I heard about your regression, I have been busy making a remedy before it gets worse," Zecora explained as she continued to stir some herbs in her cauldron.

The filly alicorn was getting rather excited as she exclaimed, "thank you! Thank you! Thank you! How can I ever repay you!?"

Zecora paused as she stopped midway in her stirring and tapped a hoof to her chin. " princess Luna has already paid your fee; maybe instead you can revisit the zebras, it would fill them with glee."

Celestia paused as she gave a nod in agreement. "Yeah, it's been way too long since I visited Zebracornia."

Zecora then scooped some of the potion and poured it into a vial. She then gives it to the filly. "Now let me explain; I realized that everypony treats you like a foal, which must be quite a pain."

Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom rolled their eyes, thinking about how the adults were treating Celestia. The princess of the sun gave an annoyed sigh. "Yeah, you have no idea."

The filly paused before she continued, "why do you think that is? And you don't seem to be affected."

Zecora tapped a hoof to her chin once more, thinking the question over before answering. "Ah yes, Discord's curse seems to affect the mind; I am not a pony, so maybe I'm not confined."

"Oh!" all the foals exclaimed out loud.

Sweetie Belle tapped a hoof to her chin and replied, "so it only affects mature ponies because my friends and I don't think she's a little filly. We know she's really an adult just regressed in age."

The zebra ruffled Sweetie Belle's mane and applauded her. "That is true; it must mean the curse does not affect the minds of foals too."

She then turned her attention to Celestia and  continued to explain, "as I was saying before, the curse has something to do with how you're perceived; this potion at night shall reveal how they're being deceived."

Celestia frowned at this seeing the potion won't age her back to an adult, and snapped, "I thought this was a cure for my regression!"

Zecora sighed, rubbing a hoof over her mane. "Chaos magic is beyond my knowledge to cure; however, this brew will make you be seen as more mature."

Celestia was still quite bitter about this realization, but Apple Bloom came over and tapped her friend on the shoulder. "Hey, it's not a cure, but if it stops ponies from treatin' ya like a baby, then it's better than nothin'."

"Alright, it's worth a shot." Celestia sighed, still being quite disappointed but seeing the discontented zebra, she didn't want her to feel bad for not finding an actual cure. The filly ran over and hugged Zecora close with her hooves and squealed, "but thank you for helping! I couldn't even imagine how much work you put into making a potion like this."

"It was not a big deal, I assure you; after you drink my brew, merely let me know if it helps you," Zecora replied; the princess looked upwards to see the zebra now smiling. 

Zecora looked over the fillies and asked, "now, how about I escort you four back home? The Everfree Forest is quite dangerous for foals to roam."

The other three wanted to protest, but Celestia was feeling somewhat scared of walking through the Everfree Forest, stammered, "ye...y...yes...the...that sounds fine to me."

The other fillies looked over at their friend and decided not to say anything. Zecora then led the crusaders out of the forest and back to Ponyville. It was relatively quiet except for Zecora and Apple Bloom chatting. However, Celestia was deep in thought; she couldn't help but wonder about what's going to happen to her when she drinks this potion.