The Fifth Day: Over a River and Through the Woods
You Do (Not) Belong
The Fifth Day: Over a River and Through the Woods
“Hey, Twilight? Where does this one go?”
Twilight Sparkle turned her head to see Connor holding up an inch-thick volume that had no title, its only discernible details being its deep maroon color and a unique design on its surface.
“Oh, I’ll take that,” she answered, recalling the design by memory and instantly knowing its position among the shelves of Golden Oak. With a thought, she directed her magic to grab it out of Connor’s hand and gently glide it over across the room, where it slotted itself neatly between two other books of the same size and color.
Connor let a puff of air escape from his lips as his hand dropped to his side. “You know, it’s really hard to feel helpful when you just do all the work for me,” he remarked sourly.
“Hey, it’s not your fault you don’t know where everything goes,” came a voice from his side, and he looked down to see Spike walking past him, carrying a pile of books almost as tall as he was. Connor watched as, with a dexterity he wouldn’t have expected of the baby dragon, Spike hopped up a ladder set against the bookcases and deftly began filling in the last few remaining blank spots in that section.
“I said it was fine to just let me and Spike put everything away,” Twilight said casually as she patrolled around the floor, looking for any individual books she might have missed. “Just sit back and relax until we’re ready to leave.”
With a shrug of his shoulders, Connor slumped into a seated position on the library’s stairs, propping up his chin in his hands and simply watching the pony and dragon go about finishing up their work.
It’s just as well, I guess. It’s only been like, ten minutes, and they almost have the place cleaned up, he thought, appreciating the way Twilight and her assistant were able to so quickly erase the evidence of their late-night researching binge with a speed and efficiency that was almost mechanical. Especially Spike, who took no time at all after eventually waking up to polish off that morning’s breakfast leftovers before eagerly setting out to work. The little dragon really took his job as Twilight’s assistant seriously.
“Remind me again where this ‘Zecora’ lives?” asked Connor.
“Everfree Forest; a little ways outside of Ponyville,” Twilight told him, which wasn’t really all that informative.
“Okay, how far away is ‘a little ways’?” he asked for clarification.
Twilight was making her way around the center table while nodding to herself. “It shouldn’t take longer than an hour to walk there. I know the safest and quickest route to Zecora’s.”
Something about how Twilight said the word “safest” struck Connor as a little odd and gave him a moment of pause. But the moment passed quickly, as Twilight took one last sweeping look around the room and let out a contented sigh. “A place for everything and everything in its place. With that out of the way, let’s get going!”
“All right! Let’s go!” Spike said eagerly as he bounded over to Twilight and scooted himself up to ride on her back. But his enthusiasm was quickly extinguished as Twilight looked behind herself with a slightly sad expression, and regretfully used her magic to pluck the dragon up and put him back on the ground.
“Sorry, Spike. I need you here to look after the library again today,” she offered consolingly, to which Spike responded by folding his claws together and pouting.
“Aww, come on, really?” he complained as Connor got up from his own seat and started walking past him. “It’s not fair that you guys get to go out and do stuff while I’m stuck here all day.”
“Well, you should’ve considered that before you adopted your own baby phoenix, Spike,” Twilight reminded him. “If you’re not here, who’s going to watch Peewee?”
The dragon waved a claw dismissively. “Eh, he’d be just fine by himself. Isn’t that right, Peewee?”
Spike looked off to his side, obviously expecting the little ball of orange fluff to be present. But when it dawned on him that Peewee wasn’t even in the room -- and hadn’t been for quite a while -- his confidence shrank somewhat.
“You were saying?” Twilight deadpanned, and amused grin on her muzzle. Spike’s only response was to nervously chuckle and smooth back the green fin on his head. “Don’t worry, Spike. I’ll make it up to you later. Maybe I’ll stop by Sugarcube Corner and order one of those gemstone cupcakes you like.”
At the news of this, Spike’s mood instantly brightened as his forked tongue snaked out and licked his lips. “Wow, that’d be great! Thanks, Twi!”
All throughout this little slice-of-life moment, Connor was just content to watch the interplay between the two as he put on his jacket and shoes by the door. And as Spike departed to once again track down the elusive phoenix, Twilight cantered up next to Connor, looking up at him expectantly.
“Ready?” she asked simply.
“Yeah, just one thing.” Connor paused for just a second, waiting until Twilight tilted her head in confusion before following up. “I need to ask you a favor.”
“Um, sure. What do you need?”
Connor took a deep breath as he tried to figure out the best way to say what he wanted to say. Scratching his head, he settled on just coming out and asking. “Is there any way you could maybe... obscure my horn using magic, or something? Just make it so that other ponies can’t see it,” he explained, and before Twilight could ask, he continued to lay out his reasoning. “The reason I ask is because I’d really rather not have to explain why I suddenly have a horn to everyone who knows I didn’t have one two days ago.”
“Oh, I see.” Twilight looked off to the side, seeming as if she was mulling it over. “What about my friends? Or the nurses and the doctors at the hospital? They already know the details.”
“Right. Well, your friends don’t really strike me as the type to go off telling everyone something like that. And I wouldn’t worry about the hospital staff. You know, doctor/patient confidentiality and all that.”
“I suppose...” Twilight trailed off, not sounding all that convinced. Then, she shook her head and smiled. “In any case, it’s no problem at all. If it’ll make things easier, I can hide the horn for you.”
The lavender unicorn closed her eyes, her horn lighting up briefly with a surge of magic. Without warning, a bright beam shot forth from it, aimed right at where Connor’s horn sat on his forehead. He had to shut his eyes out of reflex, but when the light was gone, he opened them again to note that something was different. Now, instead of the pearly white color of his horn, Connor could turn his eyes up to see that the top edge of his vision was completely clear. From his point of view, the horn had completely vanished.
Connor reached up a hand to feel, and despite already having an idea of what had happened, he was still a little disappointed when his hand met the horn’s smooth surface; to an outside observer, it would look like he was touching the open air. Still, even though he could still feel the sensation of its presence, the fact that he at least looked normal again brought him a certain degree of comfort.
“Invisibility spell, huh? That’d do it, thanks,” Connor remarked, nodding to the mare.
“Glad I could help.” Twilight returned the nod, and proceeded to push open the door to the library, admitting the warm light of the midday sun. Connor breathed in a deep lungful of the cool spring air, before following in her wake and shutting the library door behind them.
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With the mid-afternoon sun hanging directly overhead, and not a cloud visible in the sky for miles, it seemed like it was going to be yet another perfectly picturesque day in Ponyville. Even now, there was virtually no evidence of the downpour that took place the previous day except for a few scattered puddles along the roadside.
As Twilight and Connor made their way through the town’s main thoroughfare, the air around them was a buzz of the usual activity. All kinds of ponies milled around on their own business, the sound of their hooves mingling with various tones of conversation, but most of it went unnoticed by the human. He was too busy chatting with his unicorn friend, plying her with questions specifically pertaining to the topic of magic and listening intently to what she had to say.
It was nice not having to have his myriad of troubles front and center, while simply getting to enjoy Twilight’s company. Not to mention he was learning a lot, even though he got the impression that his questions were just barely scratching the surface of this world’s mysteries.
“So, earlier you were talking about all magic being temporary,” Connor said, tackling his next topic of interest while casually cleaning off his glasses with his shirt.
“Yes, what about it?” responded Twilight.
Connor slid his glasses back on. “I thought it was interesting. It just seems like a pretty weird rule, considering how powerful your magic is, and judging by the stuff you’ve been telling me.”
“There’s not a lot to say. It’s just a fact of nature,” the unicorn shrugged it off and gave a short chuckle. “You know, it’s funny. Even though magic is present in every living and nonliving thing on Equis, and in spite of all the research done over the millennia, there's still so much we don't know about it.”
“Yeah. It’s the same way on my world; scientists are always puzzling over the next big mystery of the universe.” Connor scratched at his chin, feeling thoughtful. “How do you think things would be different if you could cast spells that were permanent?”
“Hmm... That’s a toughie. Hypothetically speaking?” Twilight licked the corner of her lip in concentration as she gave the question some thought. Then, she smirked. “Well, if that were the case, I'd imagine everypony would have a pair of wings, everypony would look like a supermodel, and the Princesses would have a lot of free time on their hooves.” Twilight paused in her walking for just a second before shaking her head and continuing. “Wow, how crazy would that be? Just one spell and the Sun and Moon would be taken care of forever.”
“Yeah, craaaazy,” Connor said sarcastically while rolling his eyes. He could’ve sworn he’d told Twilight about how Earth was like that already, but he didn’t feel like pointing that out now and making her feel foolish. He simply shrugged his shoulders. “You also said that spells need a constant source of magic in order to continue functioning, right?”
“That’s right.”
“So is it possible to, sort of, ‘refresh’ a spell before it fizzles out? Like recharging a battery.”
Twilight looked up at Connor with an approving grin. “You catch on pretty quick. That’s actually a well-known practice in Equestria. It’s called enchanting.” She leaned over to nudge Connor’s jacket with the tip of her horn. “Take that jacket, for example. Some unicorns like Rarity offer to enchant everything from clothes, to tools, even magical charms. And then when the enchantment runs out, the spell itself can stay dormant until it’s renewed by a fresh source of energy.”
“And that kind of thing is common?”
“Not exactly,” Twilight clarified. “You can usually find unicorns willing to enchant things for a certain price, but repeated usage of magic in that fashion gets pretty tiring after awhile, especially if the effect doesn’t last very long. That’s why enchantments are uncommon outside of Canterlot, and even then, it’s usually expensive.”
“Well, I’ll definitely have to thank Rarity again next time I see her,” Connor mentioned, all these new facts and ideas swimming around his head.
The two continued to walk down the road in relative silence, sometimes stopping briefly to say hello to some random pony who would come up to greet them and wish them a nice day. If there was one thing these ponies weren’t, Connor figured, it was “isolated.” Even Twilight, who he’d initially pegged as a bit of a reclusive bookworm, seemed to at least know the names of everyone in town. Which was surprising, given how odd some of these ponies' names were.
Finally, after realizing that nothing more had been said for a couple of minutes, Connor had an idea of how to further their talk about magic.
“Hey, I just thought of something,” he spoke up, getting Twilight’s attention. “You said that there’s magic in every living thing here. Would it be possible to design a spell that continuously pulled magic from the subject to keep itself going?”
Twilight’s hooves stopped short as she breathed in sharply. She stood still, blinking a few times while Connor noticed and stopped too.
“What is it? Did I say something wrong?” he asked cautiously.
“...No. No, it’s not that.” Slowly, Twilight picked up her hooves and continued her pace, trying to shake her head free of whatever was bothering her. “What you just described, it is possible, but it’s also... dangerous.”
“How so?”
“Well, you see... linking a spell to the magical essence of any creature, animal or pony, makes it very difficult to reverse or remove,” she explained uncomfortably, like the topic was taboo. “In cases of more complex spells, it’s sometimes impossible to do without hurting the subject in some way. Or, in extreme cases...” Twilight trailed off, swallowing deeply. “...killing them.”
Connor cringed, mirroring his friend’s obvious discomfort. “Oh, jeez.”
“Yeah. That’s why, no matter what the spell actually does, that kind of magic is called... a curse. And it’s one of the most reprehensible crimes one can commit in Equestria.” In spite of the bright atmosphere and their warm surroundings, Twilight couldn’t suppress a shiver. “The last known recorded instance of a curse being used was over four hundred years ago, but even today, every unicorn knows that if you get caught, the punishment is... severe.”
“Damn... I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Connor apologized, able to tell that the thought truly upset the mare.
“Don’t... worry about it. It was a legitimate question,” she assured him quickly. “Although, if you wouldn’t mind, could we please change the subject?”
“Sure,” Connor agreed. If Twilight’s reaction to this talk about curses was anything to go on, he now found himself decidedly not interested in finding out just what she meant by “severe.”
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From what Connor could gather, Ponyville wasn’t a particularly large town. He was able to tell by how quickly the cobbled roads and streets closer to the center gradually became less fancy and well kept as they travelled. By the time they had reached what appeared to be the very edge of the town itself, the roads gave way to a simple dirt path like the one that had brought him to Applejack’s farm for the party a couple of days back.
The difference between the town and the surrounding countryside was even more apparent at this spot. Looking behind himself, Connor could see pretty much the whole town, spread out along the horizon as a collection of clustered timber and thatch houses, occasionally broken up by a group of colorful tents, or one of Ponyville’s more “unique” edifices. On the flip side, Connor turned back around to see almost nothing but gentle rolling hills of the purest green pastures one could imagine.
There were still a few buildings and townhouses dotting the landscape here and there, with the largest and most obvious being a tall, elegant clock tower standing in the distance, but it was a far cry from the generous amount of activity on display in the town itself. The relative emptiness was jarring, to say the least.
“I’m really liking the view,” Connor commented as they walked along the path. He took in a deep breath, marveling at how the air seemed even more impossibly fresh and clean out in the wide open space.
“It is pretty nice,” Twilight agreed. “I can definitely understand why Fluttershy likes living here.”
That caught Connor’s ear. “Fluttershy lives out here?” He took another long look around while recalling what he could about Twilight’s incredibly timid pegasus friend. “Yeah, I can see that. It sure is peaceful.”
“Say, there’s an idea,” Twilight spoke up, her mood visibly brightening as her ears perked up even more. “How about we go visit Fluttershy for a bit? Her cottage is just off the road on the way to the Everfree.”
Connor was silent as he thought about it for a few seconds. “Sure, I think I’d be up for that. Any reason in particular?”
Twilight gave a slightly condescending snort. “Like I need a reason to want to pay one of my best friends a visit.” Twilight shook her head. “Besides, I’m sure she would appreciate an update on how you’re doing. She’s your friend too, you know.”
“Yeah... I guess she is.”
The next couple of minutes were uneventful, for the most part. Connor and Twilight were alone on the dirt road, not another soul to be seen in either direction. Ordinarily, Connor wouldn’t have minded the solitude, but nonetheless found himself grateful to have somebody, or somepony, to talk to. It also helped that Twilight didn’t mind putting up with his near constant barrage of questions.
“So, what exactly does Fluttershy do?” he asked as the two of them started rounding a turn in the road. “Something to do with butterflies? It is her uh, um...” Connor snapped his fingers as he struggled to remember the words. “Cutie mark! That’s it.”
Twilight chuckled lightly. “Not that specific. It’s kinda hard to explain.” The unicorn mulled it over, trying her best to think of an adequate way of putting things. “Her special talent is communicating with animals on a truly empathetic level. She understands them in ways that go deeper than mere language. So she acts as a caretaker of the local wildlife, tending to their needs and helping them in any way she can.”
“So she’s like a kind of... ‘everything whisperer’?”
“...Maaaaaybe?” said the pony who had obviously never seen Cesar Millan work his magic for troublesome dogs on cable television. “You’ll see what I mean when we get to her cottage. Which should actually be right over...”
Just as Twilight finished talking, her and Connor came into view of what the teenager could only assume served as Fluttershy’s place of residence. For one thing, just like everywhere else Twilight’s friends lived, there was much to set it apart from what stood for a typical house in Ponyville.
Situated across from a smoothly flowing creek, the pegasus’ house was a squat, moss-covered dome of wood and stucco sitting on top of a short hill. Along the path that bridged the water and led right up to its oaken door were short, scruffy bushes and batches of blue and white flowers, bending slightly in the breeze. Another thing that was immediately apparent to Connor were the birdhouses -- birdhouses everywhere. Hanging off multiple branches from the two nearest trees, as well as more than a few built into the outside of the cottage itself. And where there weren’t birdhouses, there were open nests, and from all of them emanated a steady stream of happy trills and chirps from the occupants.
As Connor and Twilight crossed the small bridge to the other side, a few brightly colored birds peeked their heads out of their homes, regarding the two with interest while chirping excitedly, as if out of welcome.
As they came up to the front door of the cottage, Twilight wasted no time in raising a hoof and lightly tapping on the door, producing three thick-sounding knocks. After a few seconds, they could hear the soft voice of Fluttershy coming from the other side.
“Um... Just a minute!” she called out meekly, her words slightly muffled by the door and making it almost impossible to hear. A moment later, there was the click of a latch being turned, and the bottom half of the door slowly slid open a few inches.
But where Connor and Twilight were expecting to see a pink-maned, yellow pegasus, instead, something small, white, furry, and close to the ground peeked its head out past the threshold. Its long, upright ears, pink nose, and whiskers clearly showed it to be some kind of rabbit, and it seemed to have a bit of an annoyed look on its face as it regarded the newcomers. Until it noticed Connor specifically, that is. Upon doing so, it craned its neck upwards, flinching back slightly when it realized he was nearly twenty times its size. Apparently out of instinct, it then fled back behind the door. Soon after, both Connor and Twilight could hear the sound of hooves clopping on wood coming from inside the house.
“Oh, dear. What’s the matter, Angel? Who’s at the door?” came Fluttershy’s voice, addressing what Connor assumed to be the rabbit, before the rest of the door swung open, revealing the pegasus herself with Angel using her legs as a barrier between them. “Oh, hello!” she said with a shocked expression.
“Hi, Fluttershy,” Twilight greeted her friend with a smile. “I hope we haven’t caught you at a bad time.”
The pegasus looked between her and Connor for a few seconds before shaking her head, causing her long pink mane to bounce around. “Oh, no. I’m not busy. I just wasn’t expecting visitors today. Especially not... well...” Fluttershy’s head dipped down, her aquamarine eyes turning demurely in Connor’s direction.
The teen raised his hand and gave a little wave. “Hey, Fluttershy. How are ya?”
“I’m... good... What about you?” she asked in return. “I stopped by the hospital this morning, but, um... you weren’t there... I was a little worried.”
“Yeah, I... left early,” Connor admitted. “But I’m okay. Thanks for asking.”
“That’s good.” Fluttershy nodded. “So, I noticed that your... um... That is to say...”
Connor breathed in and sighed, then turned his head down to look at Twilight. She regarded him for a second, then nodded in understanding. Her horn glowed purple, and just like before, it cast out a bright beam of energy at Connor’s forehead. This time, when the glow dimmed, the illusion was dispelled, revealing what was underneath.
Upon witnessing the horn in its present state, Fluttershy gasped audibly. “Oh, my. It’s...”
“I know what it looks like,” Connor cut her off. “But I’m fine, really.”
“Well... if you say so. I, um...” Fluttershy paused as she felt something tugging on the fur of her hind leg, and she looked back to see Angel, apparently having gotten over his apprehension, as he now had a cross look on his face. He opened his mouth and motioned towards it with his paw, then folded his little arms together and expectantly started tapping his foot on the floor.
“Oh, that’s right! I’m sorry, Angel. I’ll get you your food in a minute.” The yellow mare turned back to face her friends. “Have you two eaten yet? I was just making some lunch for Angel and myself. You’re welcome to come in and have some... If you want to, that is.”
Twilight responded by nodding her head. “We’re not in any hurry. What do you say, Connor?”
“Lunch sounds good, thanks,” Connor agreed.
“Okay. Come on in.” Fluttershy turned and motioned inside with her head before trotting out of the way. Twilight followed after her, then Connor too ducked inside the short entryway and slid the door closed behind him.
The inside of the cottage was a very clean, open space, with large windows along the walls to let in plenty of natural light. In terms of furniture, there was a chaise lounge and an armchair sitting next to a round table off to the side, and a stone hearth against the wall with a plush burgundy rug laid out over the floor in front of it. Other than that, nothing much of note besides a few cabinets and bookshelves, and the surfaces of the walls themselves were decorated with a couple of framed portraits. It was a cozy little home, complete with a staircase to the second floor and two hallways leading deeper into the house; one of which Fluttershy was making her way towards.
“I’ll be right back once I’m finished. Feel free to make yourselves at home,” she said kindly, before she disappeared behind the wall that must have led off to the kitchen.
While Twilight lightly hopped up on the lounge and made herself comfortable, Connor chose to sit down in the armchair, finding that it was large enough for him to fit, if just barely. A flicker of movement brought his attention to the ceiling, and he was interested to find that small sections of wooden pathways had been strung up underneath it. As he watched, a small gray mouse scurried out of a hole in the wall and clambered across the path. It stopped and stared at Connor for a few seconds, its whiskers twitching, before it lost interest and ran all the way across, slipping through another hole that led to the outside.
“Fluttershy just lets all the animals come and go as they please?” he asked Twilight as he continued to point out several other similar accommodations sprinkled around the house.
“Pretty much. It’s actually a lot more crowded most of the time,” the unicorn pointed out with a shrug. “It must be a slow day today.”
“Mmm,” Connor grunted, leaning his back into the soft chair and enjoying being off his feet after walking for a while. He allowed himself to close his eyes and relax for a bit as Twilight did the same.
After a few minutes of simply listening to the chorus of birds present both inside and outside the cottage, Connor was roused when he heard the sound of Fluttershy’s hooves coming towards the room, indicating her return. He opened his eyes to see her walking in with a polished silver tray balanced on her back, using her outstretched wings as support. On that tray sat four steaming bowls, and nestled in the mare’s mane, Angel sat along for the ride.
“Lunch is ready,” she said as she made her way over to where Connor and Twilight were sitting.
“Here, allow me,” Twilight offered, using her magic to levitate the tray off of Fluttershy’s body and down on the table next to their seats.
“Thank you, Twilight.” Fluttershy smiled warmly, before Angel impatiently tugged on her ear. “I know, Angel. I’ll take care of it right away.”
Fluttershy stepped up to the table and took the rim of one of the bowls in her teeth, then she walked over to a small animal bed in the corner and placed it down on the floor. While her head was down, Angel hopped off and onto the bed and began to partake of what was in the bowl just as the pegasus turned and walked back.
“What exactly is this?” Connor asked, picking up one of the bowls and looking inside to see a thick yellowish broth with little bits of orange mixed in.
“Nothing special. Just some vegetable soup, with extra carrots, just the way Angel likes it,” Fluttershy replied, sitting on her haunches next to the table and carefully taking a bowl between her forehooves just as Twilight lifted up her own with magic.
She really bends over backwards for that rabbit, huh? Connor mused, though he elected to keep this thoughts to himself. Then, he raised the bowl to his lips and took a sip of the contents. It was a little too hot still, but it tasted alright. Not bad for just being vegetables. But, man, what I wouldn’t give for a good cheeseburger right about now.
Of course, there wasn’t a chance of that happening so long as he was stuck in Equestria, especially since he suspected the cows themselves could voice their own objections. Connor bemoaned the fact that he hadn’t had any real meat in almost a week, and he had no intention of turning vegetarian. That alone reminded him that he couldn’t go home soon enough -- once the horn issue was dealt with, that is.
While Connor blew on his meal to cool it down some, the two mares in the room got to talking about this and that. Fluttershy went on for a while about a family of ducks whose nest she had helped rebuild after it had been unfortunately washed away by yesterday’s storm, while Twilight talked about how things were going down at the library when the pegasus inquired about how she spent her day inside, out of the rain. Twilight wasn’t shy about describing her all-day book binge, and the two just laughed it off, like that kind of thing was a common occurrence for her.
What surprised Connor was that absolutely no mention was made of what had happened between them at the hospital, or at the library shortly after the horn’s eruption. It didn’t seem at all like Twilight to make that kind of oversight, which made it obvious that she intended to keep those details between just the two of them. Needless to say, Connor was grateful to her for that.
“So, what brings you two all the way out here?” Fluttershy eventually asked, snapping Connor from his private thoughts. “That is, if you don’t mind my asking...”
Twilight had her bowl to her lips at the moment, so she quickly gulped down the remaining contents and placed it back on the tray before answering. “We're actually on our way to the Everfree Forest to visit Zecora. We were going to see if she had any insight into Connor’s... ahem... ‘condition.’”
“The... Everfree?” At this, Fluttershy’s ears lowered, and the pupils of her eyes shrunk somewhat. “I mean, isn’t that... dangerous?”
Connor immediately did a double take at Fluttershy’s statement. “Wait, hold on. Dangerous?” He turned to Twilight, expecting some sort of explanation. “This is news to me.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, displaying none of the apprehension that was plainly visible in Fluttershy’s frightened demeanor. “It’s nothing to get so worked up about. I’ve been to Zecora’s dozens of times, and nothing ever happens.”
“But what about that time with the cockatrice?” asked Fluttershy in barely a whisper. “You were petrified... If I hadn’t found you...”
“Cockatrice? Petrified?” That definitely got Connor’s attention. He happened to be familiar with what a cockatrice was, having slain his fair share of the bird/reptile hybrids in the virtual worlds of his video game collection. His mind quickly ran with it, logically assuming that in a world which also contained dragons and griffins, what other nasty beasts could be prowling around along with snake-birds that could turn people to stone?
Fluttershy nodded slowly, her expression still one of tentative fear and worry. “Cockatrices, manticores, hydras... The Everfree is filled with all sorts of mean... scary... threatening...” The pegasus’ words trailed off as the very act of saying them caused her to turtle up and make herself appear smaller. She ended what was left of her description with a tiny “Eep!”
Even accounting for the mare’s predisposition for nervousness, Connor couldn’t discount just how outright terrified she seemed. He directed his gaze back to Twilight. “Twilight, when were you planning on telling me about this?”
Twilight hesitated for a second, then sighed deeply. “Okay, that thing with the cockatrice was just one time. But I learned my lesson. Since then I’ve made countermeasures to prevent something like that from happening again, and they work just fine.”
“But what if--” Fluttershy tried to protest, but she was silenced when Twilight held up a hoof.
“It’ll be fine, Fluttershy,” she assured her timid friend, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Besides, I’ll have Connor with me.”
“Oh, and what am I supposed to do? Play dead when freakin’ Manbearpig jumps out of the bushes and attacks us?” he remarked glibly. “I might have a horn, but you're still the only one who can make with the magic, remember?”
“It won’t...” Twilight stopped, her muzzle scrunching up as she tried, and failed, to imagine the creature Connor had invoked. “It won’t come to that. Nothing is going to bother us on the way to Zecora’s. You have my word.”
Connor regarded her skeptically, but had to concede that she at least sounded convinced of her own argument. “Okay,” he said with a sigh. “So long as you’re sure.”
“I am.” Twilight nodded confidently, getting up on her hooves and stepping down from the lounge. “On that note, we should probably get going.”
“But, wait! Wouldn’t you rather stay? Just for a little while longer?” Fluttershy cast out a hoof just as Connor too rose to his feet as part of a transparent attempt to keep them from leaving.
“It’s been great chatting with you, Fluttershy, and I wish I could, but...” Twilight’s eyes wandered over to Connor. “...this is important. The sooner we talk to Zecora, the sooner... Well, we’ll see.”
Fluttershy, crestfallen, slowly lowered her hoof, along with her ears, in a subconscious gesture of submission. “O...okay. Just promise me you’ll be careful? Promise?” she implored of her two friends.
Twilight sat down and raised a hoof over her chest. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she promised as she went through the proper motions.
Connor gestured to Twilight as she got back up on four legs. “Uh, yeah. What she said.”
“Goodbye, Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she opened the front door with her magic. “We’ll be sure to stop by on our way back to show you that everything’s okay.”
“Bye...” The pegasus raised a hoof in a halfhearted wave. “Please say hello to Zecora for me.”
“Sure thing,” Connor answered, waving back as he ducked through the door. “Thanks again for lunch. It was delicious. See ya.”
Connor grasped the door handle and pulled it shut behind him, then went to catch up to Twilight, who had already started her way down the hill.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Twilight turned to Connor in order to recast her invisibility spell over him. Once that was done, she started walking again. “Next stop, the Everfree Forest,” the unicorn proclaimed boldly, her head held high.
Connor, however, was slightly less enthusiastic about heading into what Fluttershy all but described as a sadistic Dungeon Master’s wet dream.
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That feeling went from slightly uneasy to full-blown “having second thoughts” in no time at all, as the human and the mare found themselves at the edge of what was obviously a forest. But it was unlike any forest Connor had ever seen -- or heard of, for that matter.
The path they had been following all the way from Fluttershy’s house led right up and into a steady line of trees that immediately cut off at some invisible line. The difference was like night and day, with fields of verdant green grass abruptly giving way to a wall of knotted, gnarled wood, draped over in leaves of a sickly olive-colored hue. Bunches of wildflowers became replaced by weeds, fronds, clumps of damp moss, and speckled brown mushrooms. The foliage was so dense, Connor could barely see even a couple of feet past the tree line where the path didn’t cut through. Even the air itself felt heavier, more stifling, and seemed to carry a palpable sense of foreboding.
Canterlot may have been the equivalent of a Disney paradise, but this place was the farthest thing from Bambi’s forest one could possibly get.
“This is not a forest,” Connor stated blankly. “This is a jungle.”
Twilight stopped just short of the Everfree’s edge, turning to peer back at Connor with an eyebrow raised. “Being a bit hyperbolic, don’t you think?”
“I just don’t get how you can be so calm about this place,” said the human, folding his arms together. “From what Fluttershy said, it seems like every other living thing in there spends its time thinking of new and interesting ways to eat my face.”
“Oh, for the love of...” Twilight rolled her eyes and started trotting back towards him. “I already told you we’d be okay. If you’d just wait until I can cast my countermeasure spell, you’d see that we have nothing to worry about from the creatures of the Everfree.”
“Well, go ahead, then. Cast your ‘countermeasure,’” Connor indicated, putting air quotes around the word.
“Okay. But first, just so it doesn’t interfere...” A short burst of light came forth from Twilight’s horn, once again dispelling the veil over Connor’s. Then she took a deep breath and closed her eyes in concentration as her horn started glowing once more. While she worked at it, the light slowly intensified until eventually there was a brief flash of purple, accompanied by a wave of energy that spread outwards from her horn and enveloped Connor’s body. He could feel the hairs on his skin stand on end as a mild tingling sensation washed over him, but as quickly as it came, the feeling was gone, and he felt normal again.
With Twilight appearing to be finished, Connor looked himself over, though nothing seemed to have changed at all at first glance. “Did it work?” he asked curiously. “I don’t look any different.”
“You’re not supposed to,” Twilight answered with an amused expression. “The spell I just cast isn’t meant to affect you directly. It’s supposed to affect anything that might notice you. Specifically, the kinds of predators that live in the Everfree.”
“You mean we’re invisible to them?”
“Not exactly.” Twilight turned around and started off past the tree line, urging Connor to follow as she continued to elaborate. “The spell works by making us seem utterly unimportant to any creatures we might encounter. They can see us just fine, but unless we draw attention to ourselves, they’re likely to just ignore us completely.”
“That sounds familiar,” Connor remarked, sussing through Twilight’s words and piecing together what she meant by them. “So, it’s pretty much a perception filter?”
Twilight tilted her head as she kept walking. “That’s... actually a pretty good way to describe it. Sounds like you get the idea.” She turned to look at him directly. “So, are you satisfied? Do you feel safe now?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Connor reached up to scratch his head as he took another look around. Now a fair ways into the forest itself, the environment just seemed to become even more gloomy and oppressive. Up above, the clear blue sky managed to peer down through gaps in the trees, but he just couldn’t shake the feeling that it had somehow gotten darker. “This place still gives me the creeps, though.”
“To be honest, I don’t blame you. There’s a reason ponies tend to stay far away from here,” said Twilight. “But there’s nothing to be afraid of, just stay close to me. The spell will last for six hours; plenty of time to get to Zecora’s and back, so long as we’re careful.” Then, Twilight spoke up in more of a hushed tone. “We should probably try to keep talking to a minimum. Like I said, the spell only works if we avoid drawing attention to ourselves.”
“Got it. Mum’s the word,” Connor agreed, and the two fell silent as they navigated the narrow passage through the trees.
Now without a conversation to distract him, Connor was finding it hard to focus solely on following his lavender friend through the twisting and turning paths that led deeper into the Everfree. Especially when, in the relative silence, every sound and disturbance in the dense, dim surroundings stood out glaringly. Amidst the clarion calls of wild birds, the sound of loamy dirt crunching under their hooves and feet, and the constant buzzing and chirping of insects, every snapped twig or rustled tree sent Connor rubbernecking for the source, expecting some kind of monster to be peering at him through the underbrush.
And yet, true to Twilight’s word, they didn’t encounter a single creature remotely as threatening as Fluttershy had led Connor to believe. Nonetheless, he didn’t let this fact lull him into complacency, and while he wasn’t exactly scared by this place, it was mainly his trust in Twilight knowing what she was doing that kept him from imagining all the things that could possibly go wrong at any moment.
“We should be getting close, now,” Twilight eventually said after a long period of navigating the claustrophobic environment.
“Oh, good,” Connor sighed in relief. “I was starting to think maybe you’d gotten lost.”
Twilight responded with a sarcastic snort. “Please. I know the way to Zecora’s like the back of my hoof. In fact...” The unicorn walked up to an apparent dead end in the path, where the way was obscured by a bunch of thick fronds. Reaching up a hoof, she swept back the obstacle, revealing the open clearing on the other side. “We’re here.”
Connor followed Twilight into the clearing, and right away was greeted with the sight of what was unmistakably their destination. In a parallel of Twilight’s library, Zecora’s residence was located in a giant, hollowed-out tree. What struck Connor right away was how the front of the hut eerily resembled a face, with the mouth being a solid wooden door while two misshapen windows on either side glowed from within with yellow light. Above the door, there hung some kind of carved ceremonial mask, and all along the lowest boughs of the tree were various colored bottles that had been strung up along their lengths. From somewhere around the back of the tree, a small column of wispy smoke curled up and into the forest canopy. Someone was definitely home.
“Wow. I’m really feeling the mysticism vibe, here,” Connor commented as the two of them approached the tree.
“That’s definitely her style,” Twilight agreed, walking up the short steps to knock on the door. The response was instantaneous.
“Oh? Somepony come to visit me?” came a heavy, accented mare’s voice from inside the hut. “If you would be so kind, please reveal your identity.”
“Hello, Zecora! It’s Twilight!” Twilight responded cheerfully. “And I brought someone with me this time.”
“Ah, my unicorn friend, both clever and fair,” said Zecora in turn, and Connor could almost picture the smile represented by the genuine gladness communicated in those words. Words that were starting to form an obvious pattern. “Wait just one moment; I will be right there.”
There was a muffled clinking of glass behind the door, and Connor took the opportunity to voice something that had just occurred to him. “Is she speaking in rhyme?” he whispered to his friend. Then he blinked a few times, his face taking on an incredulous expression. “And yet, somehow, I’m not surprised.”
“That’s Zecora for you. She’s pretty... unique,” Twilight said as the commotion appeared to cease, and a moment later, the door to the hut swung open, revealing a pony that was around Twilight’s size. But after a second to register what he was looking at, Connor realized that, while definitely equine, Zecora was not a pony at all. Zecora was a zebra.
He could tell immediately by her coat colors: a two-toned light and dark gray, arrayed in a pattern of stripes down her legs and along her back. Her muzzle was slightly longer and more angled than a pony’s while her mane was done up in a thin, straight mohawk that matched the pattern of stripes on her face, and her eyes were distinctly slanted, not round. Her cutie mark (if you could call it that) was some kind of spiraling depiction of a sun that reminded Connor of a tribal tattoo, and her thin tail was braided together at its base. Zecora also was wearing the first jewelry he had yet to see in Equestria, consisting of two wide, golden hoop earrings, and even more gold rings lining her neck and one of her forelegs.
As soon as she caught a glimpse of him, Zecora stopped cold, and her piercing dark-blue eyes locked on his. As she studied him, she didn’t seem at all startled, or surprised, or even suspicious. Simply... curious.
“My, my. This is surely something I did not portend.” Zecora’s eyes narrowed playfully, and she turned towards Twilight. “Well? Are you going to introduce me to your tall, furless friend?”
“Oh, of course! This is Connor. We met a couple days ago,” Twilight explained, tilting her head in his direction.
“Yup, that’s me. Nice to meet you, Zecora,” Connor greeted politely, glad that the meeting was already off to a good start.
“And a pleasure to meet you as well, Connor.” The zebra mare bowed her head respectfully. “If I may ask, to what do I owe this honor?”
“Uh, well... You see, we could use your help with something,” said Twilight as she rubbed her mane with one of her hooves. "And it’s kind of a long story. May we come in?”
“Of course, Twilight, my dear. Alone or with friends, you are always welcome here.” With that, Zecora stepped to the side before holding a hoof out in welcome.
When Connor ducked past the frame, he was pleased to find that the ceiling inside was a comfortable distance above his head, despite how small the hut seemed from the outside. In fact, the one-room abode was quite spacious. It was an oval-shaped area, about twenty feet in diameter, and sparsely furnished aside from an empty cauldron sitting over a pit in the center, an oddly shaped furnace against the side, and a simple bed stuck in an alcove. Exotically-shaped bottles, flasks, and casks -- each one no doubt filled with similarly exotic materials -- hung from straps tied to the ceiling as well as lining a large array of shelves scattered along the walls. The area was well lit by a number of candles placed strategically in hidden little nooks, which bathed the room in a warm, comfortable glow.
“I’m sorry to just drop in on you like this, Zecora,” Twilight said apologetically as the zebra moved to close the door behind them. “I’d have let you know ahead of time if I could have.”
“It is no trouble at all; let your fears be allayed.” Zecora smiled as she stepped in front of the two of them. “Now, then, what can I do to assist you this day?”
Connor shared a look with Twilight, as they both knew what was coming next. “I’ll do it,” he offered to the unicorn, and she nodded in response. Then, he turned back to face Zecora and proceeded to sit down on the hut’s floor. “You might wanna make yourself comfortable, Zecora. What I’m about to tell you... well, it’s one heck of a story.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All in all, Connor would say Zecora took everything surprisingly well. She didn’t even bat an eye when Connor prefaced his tale with the fact that he was an alien from another world, nor when he described the fantastical circumstances surrounding his arrival in Equestria. She laughed pleasantly during the parts when he talked about the things he’d done with Twilight and her friends, and paid acute attention when he got to the part about the party and the appearance of the horn.
The zebra’s enigmatic expression was unreadable as Connor went into detail about the previous night’s events, also including the fact that he was still unable to use magic, as well as the disappearance of his debilitating headaches. Not once did she so much as ask a single question until he was finished, listening patiently the entire time.
“...and that’s pretty much where we stand,” he finished, after a long many minutes of telling a story that was becoming routine at this point. “That’s when Twilight suggested we come see you. So, here we are.”
The zebra mare closed her eyes and took a long sip of the strong tea she had taken the opportunity to brew during the middle of the story. She seemed to be meditating on the issue, organizing her thoughts before attempting to speak again.
“A tale such as this, I have never heard,” she said as she lowered the cup in her hooves and placed it in front of where she sat cross-legged in front of her cauldron. “But your eyes show you speak true. I believe every word.”
“Does that mean you can help?” Twilight spoke up.
“For a creature without, to now have a horn. I must confess, I have never seen this before.” Zecora shook her head slowly as she got up to her hooves. “To help your friend, that is the plan. It might not be much, but I will do what I can.”
Zecora opened her eyes and took a few steps forward to where Connor sat. Without a word, she closed them again as she held a hoof out in his direction, inches from his face.
“Uh... What are you doing?” Connor asked hesitantly.
“To better understand, I must give your aura a read,” the zebra replied cryptically as she began sweeping her hoof slightly up and down. “Hush, now. Silence is what I need.”
Aura reading? Does that even work? Connor thought as he watched the shamaness concentrate in total silence. She carried on for a good twenty seconds before she abruptly stopped and lowered her hoof.
Zecora breathed out slowly through her nose. “What I sense is... strange, and foreign to me. A thick cloud of turmoil through which I cannot see.” The mare looked up to meet Connor’s eyes, and he could see a slight tinge of sadness reflected in her deep irises. “It pains me to say that I am baffled by your plight. For the cause or the cure, I have gained little insight.”
Zecora’s declaration came down like a hammer blow on both Connor’s and Twilight’s spirits.
“There’s nothing you can do?” Twilight asked softly, voicing the exact same thing that was on Connor’s mind.
Unexpectedly, the question brought forth a small smile to Zecora’s lips. “Now that, I did not say. Do not lose hope. There might still be a way.” With newfound determination, the zebra got up and walked over to a nearby shelf, using a hoof to poke around its contents. “If, as I suspect, magic is the thing behind this, then a brew to remove harmful magics might just serve as its egress.”
“You’re going to make me a potion that dispels magic?” Connor opined, intrigued by the idea. “Are you sure that’ll work?”
Several colored bottles now slung around her neck, Zecora made her way to the big cauldron in the center of the room. “If I said I was sure, I would be telling a lie,” she said, before flashing Connor and Twilight a hopeful grin. “But if there is even a chance, we might as well try.”
“I admit my potion-making skills aren’t nearly as good as yours, but is there anything I can do to help?” Twilight asked, stepping forwards as Zecora began uncorking some of the bottles.
“Yes, your assistance would be most welcome, my friend,” she replied as she lifted a bottle to her nose and took a long sniff. “You can start by fetching that jug for me, the one with the bend.”
Zecora lifted a hoof to point in the direction of a large, clear container with a crooked nozzle, appearing to be filled with just plain water. While Twilight did as she was told, Connor got up to examine the cauldron, where Zecora was hard at work mixing together a combination of spices and strangely colored fluids.
“What about me?” he asked, leaning over to peer inside just as Zecora added a thin, oily mixture to the solution. The moment it was put in, it produced a thick cloud of noxious green vapor, the scent of which was cloying enough to send Connor reeling to the side in a coughing fit as soon as it reached his nose.
“Perhaps it would be best if you left this to us,” Zecora said, suppressing a snicker as she regarded him with amusement. “You would be fine with waiting outside, I trust?”
Snorting loudly to clear his sinuses, Connor managed to nod. “That’s probably a good idea,” he managed between coughs.
And so, while Twilight and Zecora got to work brewing their potion, Connor excused himself from the hut, eager to get a breath of fresh air. He breathed out a sigh as the door behind him closed, once again by himself and with nothing to do but wait. Connor got up and walked around the base of the tree, settling down beneath one of the windows and sitting with his back to the trunk. Above him, he could hear the sound of a fire being started, soon to be joined by a constant bubbling noise that served to drown out any conversation he might have had a chance of overhearing. He was alone with himself, and as he usually did when this was the case, he got to thinking.
Despite the high spirits of his mysterious new acquaintance, Connor found that he was decidedly less enthusiastic.
Talk about a long shot, he thought, finding it dubious that one simple potion was the miracle cure for whatever was affecting him. He couldn’t help but feel like his prospects for getting rid of the horn were growing more and more distant by the hour.
If the potion didn’t work, and magic wasn’t the solution, what was left? Surgery? Were they even equipped to deal with something like this in Equestria? What if he eventually did get home, horn and all, and his only chance of living a normal life would come at the end of a bone saw?
Connor instantly grimaced and grit his teeth, his imagination flooded with a lance of excruciating pain and an earsplitting grinding sound as he thought of the possibility. He forced those thoughts from his mind, while instinctively, his hand went to the horn, once again tracing a finger along the spiral pattern and feeling its eerie presence. It was strange: the very thought of having a horn sticking out of his head was abhorrent to him, but at the same time, he felt like he could no sooner sever it directly than he could one of his own limbs.
Feeling like experimenting a bit, Connor gently grasped the upper half of the horn and pulled down with a fair amount of force. It hurt -- unsurprisingly -- like he was pulling at something that had been cemented to his skull.
Hell, for all I know, it’s connected to my brain, he figured, and the idea of just cutting it off set his stomach to turning once more. No. That’s not an option. Which leaves...
“...nothing,” Connor muttered in a low voice.
This was the end of the line, for now. They had no more plans for finding a way to fix this, short of maybe asking the Princesses themselves for a literal Deus Ex Machina. And even then, there was still no word from them on whether or not they could send him back to Earth in the first place, so he doubted that boded well for an easy solution to his transformation. Perhaps in the matter of his return home, no news was good news, but it was hard to feel optimistic when the stakes were so high.
Man, I gotta stop thinking about this. Connor recognized that he was starting to slip away into depression, and he forced himself to think about the words Princess Luna had said to him on his very first night in Equestria. About not giving up hope, so long as there was always tomorrow.
Resolved to find a distraction, Connor looked at the forest around him and found little to serve in that regard among the dreary greens and browns of the Everfree. Then, his hand absently went inside his pocket as he fished around for his iPod and took it out. He clicked it on and slid his finger to unlock it, and he instantly was reminded of the last app he had open when the image of Twilight’s sleeping form graced the front of the device.
He stopped and stared hard at the screen, taking in the details of Twilight’s image in all its adorable charm. He was unable to explain it, but simply seeing her like that again made him immediately glad he’d decided to snap that picture, and a small smile formed on his lips as he could feel his spirits lifting just a little.
Connor knew that when his iPod was turned on, every second of battery life was precious. But, for now, just sitting there looking at that photo, he was left with the feeling that it was nothing but time well spent.
How much time, exactly, he couldn’t be sure, because he was snapped out of his daze when he could no longer hear the sounds of potion-making coming from the window above his head. Shortly after, he could hear hooves moving towards the door, and Connor quickly exited the camera and clicked off his iPod, causing the image of Twilight to vanish before he stuffed it back in his pocket. Just then, the door to Zecora’s hut swung inwards, and out stepped the two mares, one of them holding a simple clay cup in her magic grip.
“All finished!” Twilight declared triumphantly as Connor got up to his feet.
“A perfect session, if I do say so myself,” said Zecora, contented at having performed yet another flawless potion brew. “Now all that is left is to drink to good health.”
With that, Twilight levitated the cup over to Connor, which he took. Inside it was a thick, bright pink mixture that looked suspiciously like Pepto Bismol.
“So... I just drink it? That’s it?” Connor eyed the concoction dubiously. “What’s supposed to happen?”
“I cannot say for sure until you drink the drought,” the zebra admitted. “In any case, we shall soon find out.”
Connor gave the potion a wary sniff to find that it was completely odorless, giving no indication of how it tasted. He looked between the unicorn and the zebra, both of whom were watching with rapt attention, and he decided that, like most situations involving medicine, it would be best to get it over with quickly.
“Well, bottoms up...” Just in case, Connor plugged his nose. Then he brought the cup to his lips, tilted back, and started drinking the syrupy fluid.
Even with his nose plugged, the potion going down felt like an all-out assault on his tongue. It was bitter. It was sour. It was a whole bunch of different tastes Connor failed to find a name for. It took a supreme effort not to gag as he persevered in emptying the cup, and when the final drop went down his gullet, he immediately began coughing and gasping for breath.
Connor handed the cup over to Twilight as he fought to keep the potion down while smacking his lips to try and remove the offensive taste. “Oh, God! What was in that stuff!?”
“True, most of my remedies aren’t known for their taste,” Zecora admitted, blushing slightly. “Still, I am glad that none of it went to waste.”
“Is it working? Can you feel anything?” Twilight asked, leaning forwards and eager to hear about the results.
“Oooohh, I feel something alright,” Connor groaned, his hand moving to his stomach as it received the magical brew. His midsection felt like it was doing cartwheels, accompanied by an audible gurgling while his body processed the potion. Then, he felt it: a kind of warm pressure, welling up in his core. “Wait... Hold on, something’s happening.”
Connor managed to stand up straight, one hand to his stomach as he held up a finger with the other in pause. As he felt the sensation building even further, he braced himself for whatever might happen, even though he had no idea how to prepare for the effects of any kind of zebra potion. For all it felt like, he had a suspicion that Zecora was about to have a bright pink puddle on the ground outside her hut; with extra carrots, just the way Angel likes it.
Suddenly, the pressure moved from his gut to his chest, then up into his throat, and then...
“Uuuuuuuuuurp,” came a loud, deep, and very forceful belch that forced its way past Connor’s lips, accompanied by a billowing cloud of glittering fuchsia smoke. As soon as it ended, he started coughing again as the gas carried with it that same horrendous taste from before.
While he continued hacking away, the sparkling cloud floated upwards and slowly dissipated, carrying Twilight and Zecora’s eyes along with it as they watched. The corner of Twilight’s mouth twitched, and a second later, her hoof shot to her muzzle as she stifled a bout of snickering laughter. Even Zecora herself found it hard to ignore the absurdity of the situation, as she forced herself to look away with a smile of her own.
“Oh, sure. Laugh it up, why don'tcha?” Connor managed to say after clearing his throat. “I’m just glad that’s over. Did it work, or not?”
After taking a moment to collect herself, Twilight forced her expression to turn more neutral, but found that it wouldn’t be that hard to do so upon witnessing what had happened. Or, rather, what had not.
“It’s... still there,” she said reluctantly, causing Connor to reach up and confirm that what she was saying was true. The potion hadn’t worked. And just like that, all of the day’s efforts went up in so much pink smoke.
“Damn,” Connor muttered, not exactly surprised, but disappointed all the same.
“So, that’s it, then. Back to square one,” Twilight said sadly, scuffing a hoof in the dirt.
“The potion was perfect, of that I am sure,” Zecora asserted, though her voice also carried the bitter tone of defeat. “But I am deeply sorry, for it seems not the cure.”
“Well... you can’t blame yourself. It was a shot in the dark,” Connor tried to reason, himself feeling bad about all her efforts having been for naught. “I appreciate the help. I really do.”
Zecora nodded, silent for a moment, before managing a smile. “It gladdens me that you bear no ill will.” She then turned to face Twilight. “Tell me, my friends, will you soon return to Ponyville?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Twilight responded. “We should probably head back before it starts getting late.”
“Then I suppose this is where we should say our goodbyes.” Zecora nodded to Twilight, then Connor, then started walking back to her hut. “Time spent with good friends; oh, how it flies,” she sighed, shaking her head.
“Thanks again for everything. It was nice meeting you,” Connor said, waving goodbye to the zebra.
Zecora turned to look over her back at them. “And the same to you, my lost human friend. It is my greatest hope that your story has a happy end.” With one hoof, she nudged open her door and stepped inside.
“So long, Zecora. I’ll be sure to visit again sometime soon,” Twilight called out to her.
“Very well, Twilight Sparkle. Until then, take care,” Zecora bid as she edged the door closed. “For now, rest is what’s needed of this tired old mare.”
With that, she was gone, and with no more reason to stay, Twilight and Connor departed too, leaving the same way they came.
“So, what happens now?” Connor asked Twilight as Zecora’s hut receded into the distance behind them.
“Now?” Twilight paused as her eyes darted back and forth, searching for an answer. “Now... I have absolutely no idea.”
The silence between them was heavy with disappointment as they trudged through the brush.
“I guess the only option left is to let Celestia know, huh?” Connor suggested. “I mean, it’s probably the best chance we have at this point.”
Twilight sighed deeply. “I know... I was hoping we could solve this without the Princess’ help, but we don’t have a choice now. I’ll write her a letter as soon as we get back to Ponyville.”
“Sounds good,” Connor agreed, before he felt a slight twinge in his stomach just as it decided to let out a muted gurgle. He stopped walking and rubbed his belly, trying to soothe what must have been a remnant of the potion’s effects.
“What was that noise?” Twilight also stopped, looking at him with a worried expression.
“It’s nothing,” Connor replied quickly, hoping the sensation would pass soon as his middle continued to make various growling sounds. “I’m just still feeling a little sick from whatever it is you two cooked up back there.”
“Do you need to rest for a bit?”
“I said I’m fine. Let’s just keep going.”
The unicorn regarded him with concern for a moment more, before shrugging it off and continuing down the path. The next couple of minutes passed by uneventfully, until the peace was interrupted by yet another low, rumbling growl, this time louder than the last.
“Are you sure you’re okay? That last one didn’t sound too good,” Twilight stopped to say, looking back again. To her surprise, Connor wasn’t clutching his stomach, but was instead looking right at her with a serious expression.
“Twilight... that wasn’t me,” he said grimly.
“What do you mean, it wasn’t you?” she asked, an edge of worry starting to creep into her voice.
“It means just what I said,” Connor reiterated, his eyes shifting around to look at their surroundings. All at once, those horrible things he’d tried not to imagine were at the forefront of his mind.
“But if that wasn’t you, then... who...?” Twilight likewise started turning in a circle, her ears as low as they could go as she too started formulating conclusions.
In all the time they had spent focused on traveling, neither of them noticed when the birds and insects fell silent around them. All they could hear now as they each held their breath was the subtle creaking of wood... and a low, ever-present growling.
“Twilight...” Connor whispered, his mouth going dry. “When Zecora mentioned that her potion removes magical effects... you don’t suppose...”
Connor let his words hang in the air, and the implication hit Twilight like a ton of bricks. She had been so confident in the security of her magical ability, bolstered by countless successful field tests, and secure in the knowledge that she knew what she was doing. It was just one tiny thing that she hadn’t accounted for. One small detail that slipped right under her nose. A detail that, had she caught it, would have been easily remedied.
But she didn’t catch it. Her mind reeled with the notion that she didn’t catch it. And only now that she realized the depth of her mistake and the pitfalls of her own confidence did she realize how well and truly in danger they were.
“Uh... Heh heh,” Twilight managed weakly, her lips curling up in a humorless smile. “Oops?”
Connor’s eyes went wide and his face fell into a grimace as the very thing he’d feared would come to pass was confirmed. Not good, he thought, barely managing to beat back the threat of hysteria. Not good, not good, not good!
Twilight and Connor edged closer to each other, back to back as the growling became more pronounced. And it came as no comfort at all when he realized that was because the sound was coming from all directions at once.
Then his eyes registered movement, and just as the sweat started to come off his skin, Connor could see lights, shifting and flowing throughout the underbrush. Green lights. Moving in pairs.
All around them, like ghastly apparitions, were pairs of glowing, green eyes.
They were surrounded.
They were trapped.
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Thats just evil, Thats all I can say about this chapters cliff hanger.
Cliffhangers!
Every author seems to be ending their chapters with cliffhangers of late!
anyone else have the feeling he will be growing wings soon...
2777865
I do.
Well, shit
How will our favorite human get out of this one?
Running?
Advancing in a different direction?
Magic?
Stopped at this point to make a prediction, since I can FEEL both Murphy and Fate bristling at this comment and moving in to scheme disasters.
More like a 'SEP' field generator. (Somebody Else's Problem')
Totally called that ending.
Yay update!
Good job with your writing. Look forward to the next chapter! (Dang cliffhangers)
Perception filter? Mmmmh, so Connor is a Doctor Who fan eh? Then, I say to you, ALLON-SY!
“Right... Well, you’re friends don’t really strike me as the type to go off telling everyone something like that.
You have committed one of the cardinal sins of writers everywhere; getting your and you're mixed up. Twilight is very angry...
Fluttershy went on for a while about a family of ducks she had helped rebuild their nest after it had been unfortunately washed away by yesterday’s storm
this is awkward as all get out, it should be "a family of ducks whose nest she had helped rebuild after"
2778209
Thank you for pointing that out.
DAMN YOU CLIFFHANGER MAN!
Doctor Who, South Park, D&D! I am loving all these references!
Quick question though, When did Twilight start believing in curses let alone find one!?
Then again it is your story, and I might just be nitpicking...
Maybe Twilight can use telekinesis to throw him like a spear at the... I'm guessing Timbre Wolves. He's got the spearhead now, after all.
Oh man, how this line made me laugh. XD
Green eyes? I'm trying to think what kind of creature it would be, but nothing's coming to mind. Timberwolves, maybe?
It's official, Twilight is a time lord.
Oooh, dark magics in Equestria!!! Now as for the Timber wolves....they're made of wood.
Light a match.
And how damn hard is to write for Zecora? Stupid rhyming zebra......
Wouldn't it be hilarious if what's affecting Connor is actually what's keeping him human, and dispelling it turns him full pony?
2778119 Oi that may still be British (hitchhikers guide to the galaxy) but he said perception filter!
Clearly, someone has never had genuine homemade vegetable soup before. It's delicious. Or at least, the way my mum makes it is.
Also, is Conner adjusting his diet to make up for the lack of protein he isn't getting as a result of a no-meat diet? Lots of nuts, beans and peas, eggs, that sort of thing.
The creatures of Everfree may have taken an interest in Conner because most, if not all, of them never seen a creature like him before.
With all those eyes, are they truly outnumbered? Twilight is going to need crank her reflexes up to eleven.
Hrm, I guess I don't have anything deeper and more analytical to say this time. It happens.
2778849 nope... those matchsticks have yellow eyes
2777865 Me
2778853
A pony...or worse.
What if magic has some... unexpected effects on humans, like turning them into mismatched body horrors, with absurd magical reservoirs and minds shattered because both circunstances? what if there was another human who arrived Equestria in the past and discovered that the hard way; someone like:
fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/092/1/0/discord_by_bronyb34r-d4upxmc.png
I´m sure I´m not the only one who has thought in that possibility.
Dang cliffhanger! Always when it's good!
2777865
If it was a pack of timberwolves just salivating over the idea of ripping me to shreds... I'd grow a pair of frickin' rockets to get out of there.
However, what I suspect will happen, going by past HiE stories, is Twilight will panic and become useless leaving Connor to save the day. And, like any human hero who has no magic or tech or even a sharp stick...
Well, that or the sudden injection of adrenaline will jump start his horn and finally tap into that delightfully human potential free of all those silly notions of compromise and negotiation with the enemy...
2780116
nice double python reference
but what if he attacks them with a banana?
2779652
Yes, but the description written in is closer to the SEP field. The perception filter changes how one perceives you, for instance, in Torchwood there is a perception field that makes one invisible even if you shout at the person nearest you. That would have certainly broken both Twilight's spell and the SEP field.
A perception filter could also change one's appearance.
And that´s what I call a Chekhov's Gun.
2780348 Just like the Injector Doe story.
2777865 I sure as hell hope not!
So an enchantment that sustains itself on life energy is a curse, then what about what happened to Princess Luna? Was Nightmare Moon just an incredibly powerful enchantment or did it feed off of her life?
2780338
I'd use an avocado, no one knows how to disarm an attacker with an avocado. Just don't show it off in Canterlot, they still consider avocados against the Gryphnieva conference's ban on Cruel and Unusual Weapons. In fact, bananas are also highly restricted... restricted to Celestia's palace!
2780417 I agree that this might explain Connor's predicament. In that I wouldn't be surprised if he did end up full pony.
2777939
Tune in for the next episode of Cliffhangers galore to find out!
2782328
He'll probably impale (insert enemy here) on his
flaccidsmall hornHEY! AUTHOR! OVER HERE! IN THE COMMENTS! THIS ONE! HELLO!
I HAVE A VERY WELL THOUGHT OUT QUESTION!
SO! The leylines are constantly self-renewing sources of Natural Magick Energy, yes? What would happen if a very talented unicorn or an Alicorn were to draw power from the leylines and cast an extremely over-powered spell and kind of... Removed themselves from the equation? Like, removing the middleman? The Unicorn draws power from the leylines, casts the spell, and then, while still casting the spell, carefully removes anything pertaining to their personal magick wellspring, making the colored aura disappear while establishing a direct link from the leylines to the subject of the insanely powerful spell.
2781745
I know how to defend against an avocado! Right, here's an avocado! *hands you an avocado*
Now attack me!
You: AIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!*runs at me, avocado in hand*
*bang*
Me: Next, I eat the avacado, rendering you 'armless.
You: You SHOT me?! Do you know how much this hurts? And it was in the shoulder too! You, you bastard!
Me: And now I need to find some chips and salsa, get a guacamole flavor in my mouth!
Actually, a literal Deus ex Machina would be the opposite. God from the machine. /nitpick
2784970
It's since explained it in the latest chapter by having Connor ask himself the obvious and conclude that he simply cannot consider it. He's a pussy who cannot commit to removing it. We know he is going to keep it. We know he is probably going to stop worrying and love the pone and stay in Equestria. He's scared of doing it, but that is enough of an explanation to satisfy me given his characterization.
> Id rather keep [...] the ability to impale stuff
Given that he can barely stand to touch it, he doesn't have that ability.
> than having a saw cut it off in front of my eyes.
... it's established that hospitals and surgeries exist. Read: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/human-biology/amputation.htm for baby's first overview of amputation.
> Who knows maybe the horn has developed some sort of nervous attachment to his nervous system already like a tooth.
There is no reason to think a horn is going to be part of the CNS just because it is sensitive to touch. Given that the horn should simply have nerves connecting it to the CNS like a tooth or eye or pressure receptor on a finger, there is also no reason why amputation should be impossible. (Although a scene with an MRI to show Conner's brain puffing out to enter the horn would be funny and would justify amputation being impossible.)
However, Connor keeping the horn and learning to use it (as seems to be heavily implied) would also be an interesting development. We know this is what is going to happen. Giving up Earth and loving the pone happens in 9/10 HiEs.
>>>“The last known recorded instance of a curse being used was over four hundred years ago, but even today, every unicorn knows that if you get caught, the punishment is... severe.”>>>
The guilty pony is forced to star in an Uwe Boll movie.
I consider than cruel and unusual punishment, though. Being beheaded and roasted for visiting griffon nobles to feast upon is much kinder.
>>>What if he eventually did get home, horn and all, and his only chance of living a normal life would come at the end of a bone saw?>>>
Local anesthesia, most likely. If the horn is normal bone, it'd actually be a quick cosmetic surgery with the edges of the skin pulled together over the gap. The questions it'd cause would be more of an issue than the surgery.
Skull remodelling surgery ain't as tough as it used to be.
2786147 Well, that depends. If only a little grey matter is entering the horn, it would only be impossible if that portion was part of an important region. Small pieces of brain can be removed with little overall damage. Such resections are done commonly for certain seizure disorders. And given that the horn would be over the prefrontal cortex, no critical functional areas reside there. That is the 'seat of the soul' as it's called in the old vernacular, where impulse and rational critical-thinking and control regions operate. Damaging it severely does not result in death, but can cause a drastic change in behavior. Particular areas damaged can result in violent, aggressive, impulsive changes; while the ablation of large portions (prefrontal lobotomies) can almost eradicate personality altogether.
Given the small size of the horn, and a horn's general thickness, only a tiny amount of gray matter would be able to squeeze inside, insignificant most likely. It'd be a more difficult surgery, indeed, but far from impossible. Deep brain surgeries happen all the time (such as the multiple surgeries Tara Strong's young friend Kiki underwent to attempt to remove the large tumor), and survival rates from the operations themselves are very high. This would be a peripheral brain surgery. And, if the brain segment could be slid from inside the horn with the dura intact, it could even be tucked carefully back inside the skull.
(neurodevelopmental biologists ruin everything)
I really love how you handled Zecora's character. I've seen a lot of iffy Zecora dialogue with bad rhyming, but you did it just right.
The whole 'aura-reading' ability seemed a bit odd, but I guess there's a lot left to be known when it comes to Zecora, so taking some creative liberties is understandable.
Eager to see what happens next!
Before I even begin reading this I need to say one thing. I'm not big on HiE or the like. It was the name of this fic that drew me in, and I plan of giving it a fair shot.
I really like the whole Evangelion feel of the title.
Allons-y!
Who do you call when Timber-wolves are on the prowl?
The guy with the flamethrower, of course!
2786147
I admit Connor is kinda whiny (even if I admit I would be the first who would panic if suddenly
? He has lef clear he still wants to go home with his family and friends, but it´s unlikely that is going to happen soon.
my head grew a horn) but, honestly, aren´t we always complaining about the typical badass protagonist who uses to kill a few timberwolves and rescue one of the mare six, Lyra or the CMC in the process to prove his manliness?
Besides, removing the horn may not be agood idea without knowing why he grows one on the first place or if he is gonna experiment more changes aka "magical puberty".
And who are we to blame Connor for loving the ponies
If a horn on the forehead gets cut off, I wonder if cerebral fluid comes spilling out of a little hole on the forehead.
2796496
Gross.
RUN! It's Manbearpig! The situation just got super serial.