Chapter 02: What Makes Me, Me
“I’m stumped! I have no idea how to fix this! I don’t even know what caused it!” Twilight Sparkle tossed the last of a large stack of books into a disorganized pile on the floor. Useless. None of them had anything about an earth pony—or any pony for that matter—suddenly switching species, let alone the… other symptom.
“Ah’m tellin ya Twilight, it’s that zebra’s doin’! She’s cursed me up good with some dark potion brewin’!” Applejack tried making gestures in case that got the truth through the purple mare’s thick skull, but no such luck. The ex-pony ground her teeth. Why was it that this good-for-nothing, never-did-a-day-of-honest-work-in-her-life unicorn wouldn’t listen? The cause was obvious; why didn’t Twilight see it?! Besides, who cared about causes? It was solutions she should be after!
“But there’s no such thing as a curse,” Twilight replied automatically for what seemed like the five hundredth time.
Applejack’s green eyes rolled expressively in her black- and white-marked face. “So, Ah’m dreamin’ this, eh? It’ll all go away?”
“Yes! No. Er… I don’t know.” The purple unicorn sagged, speared by the farmer’s irritated glare.
Spike tapped Twilight on the side with a large, heavy-looking book. “I’m telling you, Twilight, why don’t you check in this book? ‘Super Naturals!’ You haven’t looked at it yet…”
“Spike, I don’t have time to waste on that. ‘Supernatural’ refers to things like ghosts, and spirits, and zombies… which are as make-believe as curses. That book is just a bunch of…” Twilight trailed off as she and Spike stared at Applejack. The former earth pony sat dejectedly on the floor, staring down at the wide-brimmed hat that was resting between her front hooves.
“Well anyway, Applejack,” the purple unicorn continued, “This is going to take a little more time. I know I can find a solution. We just—”
“Ya need time. Ah know. Ah guess Ah’ll just go.” One quick, fluid movement sent Applejack’s hat from the floor rolling up her front legs until it rested precariously on her mohawk. The zebra mare pressed the hat down to make sure it stayed and nodded to both Twilight and Spike.
Applejack was just about to open the door when a ball of sweet-smelling elastic energy bounced into the room, bowling over the former earth pony and nearly crashing into the huge pile of books beside Spike. It was Pinkie Pie. “Twilight! Twiiiiilight! I just heard! Zecora’s brought a friend! It’s a zebra invasion! I-- Ohmygosh there she is now! Save meeeeee!”
With that last plaintive cry, the pink party pony leaped into the air and landed in Spike’s reflexively upheld arms. The young dragon staggered under the sudden weight. Fortunately constantly re-shelving books for Twilight Sparkle, Equestria’s Messiest Librarian, had its perks. After one last wobble, Spike straightened with a grunt and stood firm. Pinkie giggled. “Oooooh, my hero, Spikey!”
“Pinkie Pie… that’s not a zebra. That’s, um…” trailing off, Twilight sighed. “Okay yes, she is a zebra. But it’s Applejack. Calm down.”
As might have been expected, telling Pinkie Pie to be calm had the opposite effect. The earth pony gaped. “You mean a zebra ate Applejack and took her power?!”
“What? No, I don’t think you can do that…” Twilight tried to re-engage her brain, ignoring the temptation to analyze Pinkie Pie’s leaps of illogic as she worked to figure out how to get the conversation back on track.
Pinkie Pie thought for a moment, tapping one hoof under her chin. “Oooooh! Applejack was bitten by a zebra and now she shares their thirst for the blood of living ponies!”
Still on the floor, Applejack facehoofed. Controlling a conversation with Pinkie Pie using reason was like extinguishing a grease fire with water. Rather than go out, the flames of Pinkie’s… Pinkiness simply spread to a new area and burned all the brighter.
Twilight tried again. “I think that’s vampires, actu—Wait, what was I..? No, Pinkie! There’s nothing wrong with her like that, it’s just that—!”
“Look out below!” Rainbow Dash cried, tumbling through a window and crashing into one of the shelves. Books showered down into a pile even larger than the one Twilight had made in her mad research sprint.
Spike dropped Pinkie Pie and groaned, clutching at his head. “I just organized those, Rainbow Dash!”
“Eh, it’s good for you.” Rainbow’s colorful head popped out of the pile of books. She quickly climbed to the top of it and posed dramatically. “We’ll call it… the Rainbow Dash Surprise Workout Plan! Yeah!”
Sweeping the room for signs of any applause, Dash’s rose-colored eyes focused on the dejected-looking zebra who was only now picking herself up off the floor. The pegasus cringed. “Oh no, it’s Zecora! Everypony for herself! Fillies and pegasus ponies first!”
“It’s not Zecora, it’s ‘Zebra’jack!” Spike hastened to explain, chuckling a little at his witticism. “Because, right, it’s Applejack, but…”
“Huh, that’s Applejack?! What did she do, paint on some racing stripes and get carried away?” Rainbow’s shoulders shook with barely contained laughter.
Checking to make sure nothing had permanently damaged her much-abused hat, Applejack pushed the crown back out and rammed the wide-brimmed thing on over her dichromatic mane. Soon, she felt like she would be black and white and red all over—a blush had been rising steadily on her cheeks starting at Pinkie Pie’s unwanted arrival. With Rainbow Dash here, four of her friends had seen her like this. Was everypony going to find out before she could make her escape? That just left…
“H-hello everypony? I was wondering if…” Fluttershy’s voice called quietly from near the library entrance.
Rarity’s cultured tones broke in over Fluttershy’s as the two mares surveyed the chaos that had come to Twilight’s home. “My goodness! What a dreadful mess! Fluttershy and I were just coming back from the spa when we—Oh sweet Celestia, it’s Zecora!”
“It’s not Zecora, it’s Applejack!” cried Twilight.
“Is it some kind of curse?” Pinkie guessed. “Or maybe… a DOUBLE curse!”
Rainbow Dash hovered close over the farm zebra. “So the paint washes off, right AJ? How’d you do the tail like that?”
“Get it? ‘Zebra’jack?” Spike grinned, still waiting for laughter that probably wasn’t going to come.
Now everypony was talking at once. The babble of voices grew and grew. The farmer’s friends were talking about Applejack. They were talking to Applejack. They were talking to each other about inane things and swapping jokes. It went on and on.
Applejack found herself grinding her teeth as the cacophony grew. Finally, she could take it so more. She slammed both front hooves on the floor with a resounding bang and shouted, “CONSARN IT! STOP FLAPPIN’ YER STUPID JAWS, AFORE AH STARTS SLAPPIN’ YA SILLY, Y’ALL!”
Blessed silence. Applejack could hear herself think again. Sighing in relief, the zebra sat mutely and considered her next move. After a few moments she looked back up and tried to smile. “Twi, thanks fer tellin’ me all that ya know. But ah know who can solve this… Ah really must go.”
“If Twilight can’t—Gasp! You’re not talking about Zecora, are you?” Pinkie Pie asked, her face a picture of horrified denial.
With a few flaps of her wings Rainbow Dash blocked the exit. She hovered, forelegs crossed, in front of the farm zebra’s face. “That’s suicide! You saw what she did to you just from… Wait, how did she do this to you?”
“Uh… Ah’d like ta say more, Dash who… soars with the birds. But ah find it annoying to rhyme all mah words. Ah’ll fill y’all in proper when Ah’m back good as new after feedin’ Zecora her own evil brew,” Applejack promised.
Dash started to nod hesitantly, but shook it instead when a new thought occurred to her. “I guess that seems—wait. Shouldn’t somepony go with you? I bet with me along it’ll be all, bam! Pow! Ol’ Zecky won’t know what hit her!”
“Ah thank ya, R.D. fer yer loyalty true, but a mare’s gotta do what a mare’s gotta do,” Applejack replied. “Ah’m not bein’ stubborn like Applebuck Season. Ah tell y’all now that Ah’ve got a good reason. Er… If she won’t help then Ah’ll drag her to town so y’all can assist me in holdin’ her down.”
“…So you want us to wait here to ambush somepony who could be completely innocent, Applejack? We don’t even know she has anything to do with your condition,” protested Twilight.
When every eye in the room turned to glare at her, the unicorn shrank in on herself. “Um... Just saying… Shouldn’t you talk to her first? Then if she really is an evil enchantress, you can give us a signal when you bring her to Ponyville…”
Applejack nodded. Twilight was persistent, the farm zebra had to give her that. And maybe the unicorn was right. Hmm… There was an idea. Applejack poked a dark hoof at the wide-brimmed brown Stetson on her head. “All right Twilight, we’ll try it yer way. There’s wisdom in some o’ th’ things that ya say. Ah’ve kept Pa’s old hat, here, fer many a season. Iffen Ah’m not wearin’ it there’s a good reason. So here, Twilight Sparkle, Ah’ll give ya a sign… If Ah don’t have mah hat on… It’s clobberin’ time. ”
* * *
Confronting Zecora and either forcing the zebra to lift the curse on Applejack or leading the witch back to face pony justice made for a good plan. Applejack knew it was a good one, because she’d thought of it. With some help, sure. Nevertheless, what had seemed like an amazing idea in the early stages was now costing the ex-pony a significant amount of both heartache and hoofache.
With Applejack’s new stripe-covered look, getting out of Ponyville without frightening everypony had been a chore and a half. She’d finally resorted to getting Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to stage a diversion while Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy smuggled the former earth pony to the edge of town. The diversion had turned out to be some sort of street poem battle. Applejack didn’t really get the point, but what she did get was a sense of growing annoyance at the thought of such things. Well, what were friends for but to find inventive ways to remind her of a serious magical curse that forced her to talk in rhymes?
“Zecora’s hut. Ah’m here at last. Was thinkin’ Ah had wandered past,” Applejack muttered to herself as she pushed through yet another thicket and finally came into view of the twisted tree house.
Now that Applejack could see it in full daylight the hut looked, if anything, even creepier than it had before. Strange masks adorned the walls, leering at the zebra as she approached. The gnarled branches seemed like monstrous twisting tentacles rather than branches. The farmer could swear that if she looked away from the tree and looked back fast enough, she would catch some of the limbs in slightly different positions. Shuddering, she pressed on and reached the door.
Zecora answered on the second knock. At first, the witch’s blue eyes widened in surprise. Then, her face stretched into a grin. She exclaimed something happily, making a series of sounds completely incomprehensible to the dumfounded Applejack.
When more confused babble came out of Zecora’s mouth, Applejack stumbled back and took up a crouched defensive stance. Her tail lashed angrily as she shouted back, “Git back and stop that crazy verse! Ah’m here to make ya lift this curse. Ah’ve got one now. More, Ah don’t need. So stop or on those words ya’ll feed!”
“Oh my! For do my ears deceive? You’re… Applejack, I do believe!” Now the zebra witch was speaking in normal Equestrian. Zecora backed up and waved the newcomer inside. “I wondered how more zebras roamed so far from my Savanah home. Come in! Come in, without such fuss... I think we have much to discuss.”
Not wanting to pile more rhymes into her already overheating brain, Applejack nodded wordlessly and trotted inside. The real zebra motioned her cursed counterpart over to some soft cushions and made the farmer sit down. Pottery clinked as Zecora approached bearing a tray with two cups and a round, lidded container with a short spout.
Zecora poured some hot, steaming liquid into a cup and pushed it over to Applejack. The latter stared at it dubiously. This was… not how she had expected her confrontation with the other zebra to go. Maybe the drink was drugged somehow? …No, Zecora was pouring one for herself now and had just taken a sip. What was going on here?
“Mmm… Tea of my country, a bitter brew… But most relaxing, it is true.” Zecora took another sip of the hot, bitter tea and closed her eyes, sighing happily.
Applejack sat on the cushion, ill at ease. Following a few moments’ hesitation she sipped the tea. It was bitter, like Zecora had said… but also somehow soothing. The farm zebra closed her eyes for a moment, relishing the feeling of contentment. When she opened them, she saw that Zecora was watching her with interest. Probably just amused about how her curse had turned out. Applejack felt her bile start to rise. “Ah thank ya for yer zebra tea. But would ya jest start curin’ me?”
“Your problem’s strange, at any rate… Perhaps you could the facts relate?” Zecora sipped her tea again, but now her calm seemed almost infuriating to the incredulous Applejack.
Was Zecora really saying that she didn’t know how this had happened? Wasn’t she the enchantress who had cursed Applejack in the first place? Applejack set her cup down. Wouldn’t want to break any of the nice zebra mare’s pottery… if nice she truly was.
Applejack leveled one dark hoof at her hostess. “Ah think the one who cast this spell would know th’ details too dern well.”
“A baseless accusation, dear, made out of ignorance and fear.” Zecora put her cup down as well, frowning.
Ignorance and fear? Oh, that was cute. Now the other zebra was starting to sound just like Twilight. Maybe they could get together and compare notes, maybe have some fun preaching at everypony. All right. Enough was enough.
Applejack climbed to her hooves, feeling her blood boiling. If the farmer had ever had an appetite for condescension, she wouldn’t have wanted it served up by the likes of Zecora—not even with a silver platter of spiced apple fritters on the side. The cursed zebra exploded in anger. “Horsefeathers, Zecora, ya crazy mare! Yer friendly talk’s all just hot air! Ah bet you’ll spill what yer about, once Ah mess up that pretty snout!”
“Crazy? Me? No, that is you, to threaten me as now you do!” Zecora stood up as well, stretching and popping her joints as her blue eyes glared at the combative farmer.
The urge to rhyme didn’t seem to interrupt Applejack as she snarled and charged forward. In a jumbled blur, the livid farm zebra suddenly found herself right where she’d intended to be—but without Zecora under her hooves. Where had the witch gone? Applejack turned to find her target across the room and apparently unhurt. How had she..?!
“To fight me here, good sense you lack. Calm down, oh zebra Applejack!” called Zecora from her new position as Applejack squared up for another attempt.
“Oh, Ah think not. Jes’ stand and fight, and Ah’ll show you who’s in the right!” Applejack retorted—and charged again. ‘Zebra Applejack.’ Of all the blasted insulting jokes to make… No zebra witch tricks, this time. The farmer was going to get over there and put these hooves to good use, and then she was going to get Zecora to change her back, and then…
Just as Applejack reached Zecora, hooves pawing at the air, there was another confused moment—and that was all.
A short while later—or perhaps a very long while; it was hard to tell for sure—Applejack opened her eyes. The blurred room came back into focus, and she realized she was lying flat on her back. She had a splitting headache.
When a bowl of some sour-smelling liquid was pushed to Applejack’s muzzle, she gagged and turned her head away. Somepony gently pushed her head back up and urged, “Drink up this draft and stay in bed. Both things will aid your aching head.”
The bed was soft… but there was no way Applejack was going to drink some outlandish brew from the weird zebra enchantress. Growling her annoyance, she pushed the bowl away. “Ah dun want drafts. Ah want a cure that lifts the curse ya cast fer sure.”
“And still you persist. Why on me do you focus? I’m a mixer of salves, not some strange hocus-pocus,” Zecora protested, a bit of real annoyance showing in her tone for the first time. She set down her potion and glared at the farmer.
Trying to get up sent crackling pain through Applejack’s skull. She groaned and settled back into the cushions, returning the witch’s glare with one of her own. What had happened, anyway? The farmer could remember charging, and then… And then what? She couldn’t recall. Had Zecora used some kind of spell to knock out her foe?
Well, that settled it. Nopony could just turn someone’s lights out like that, not without magic. If Applejack had had any thought that she might have been barking up the wrong tree, this cinched it. But there was no way she was going to be able to take down an enemy with the strength of an ex-earth pony alone, as much as it galled Applejack to admit it. “Ah don’t know how, but ya kicked mah flank. Ya must be an enchantress of first rank.”
Zecora sighed in exasperation. “You persist still in that superstitious belief, yet won’t sample a brew that will give you relief?”
“Th’ relief that I want ain’t from pain but from this! An’ if ya dun like it, go to the abyss!” Applejack blinked and crossed her eyes, staring at her black and white muzzle. The abyss? Where had that one come from? With a grunt of effort the farmer managed to sit up. The headache was bad, but she was sure she’d had worse. She just couldn’t think of when right now…
Applejack swayed for a moment before she steadied herself. Shaking her head, Zecora sighed and offered the bowl of sour, milky fluid once again. “If stubborn and proud you wish to stay, that headache will not go away.”
When Applejack started to push the bowl away again, the foreign zebra sighed and took an exaggerated sip from the potion. She swallowed, making sure the farmer could see her do it. “It isn’t poisoned, little foal. Now, help your head. Drink down this bowl.”
Simply moving her head was maing Applejack woozy. Giving in, she bit into the lip of the bowl and emptied the contents down her throat. The fluid was as terrible on the tongue as it had been to her nose… but to her amazement, it seemed to help almost immediately.
The surprise and relief must have been plain on Applejack’s face. In a moment, Zecora was helping the groaning farm zebra to her hooves. “There. Perhaps I can help, my rude farming friend… If it makes your visit more swiftly to end.”
“Yer help’s what I want; that’s why ah came here—so ya’d help make these black and white stripes disappear.” Finally the conversation was getting somewhere. To underscore her point, Applejack waved a hoof at her transformed body.
“To cry ‘help’ with attacks; making threats to seek aid? That seems an odd custom to me, I’m afraid… But as said before, your affliction seems strange—so for me, dear Applejack, the facts arrange,” Zecora prompted.
Once again, it seemed like Zecora wanted to play Applejack for a foal. How could the zebra witch not know? Or was it some twisted joke to get the victim of the curse to explain the curse to the caster?
Sighing in annoyance, Applejack scratched her head and tried to think. This one-on-one business wasn’t working. She was going to have to bring in the heavies. But if she wanted to get Zecora into Ponyville to get a real answer out of her, this was probably her best bet. “Fine. Ah hope some clues ya find. Sit back. Mah tale Ah will unwind.”
Applejack started from the day prior, explaining everything she could think of. No detail was too trivial as she stumbled haltingly through poorly constructed couplets and strained verses. Rhyming as best she could, the farmer explained about the events leading up to her trip into the Everfree Forest. She related the first encounter with Zecora—bringing a a pained smile to the zebra’s face. And then, partway through the description of Applejack’s discovery of her bizarrely changed body, realization dawned in the listening zebra’s eyes.
Zecora interrupted with a cough. Thank Celestia for that. Applejack slowed to a stop, feeling like her brain was on fire from all the rhyming it had been doing. When the farmer had finished her last couplet, the enchantress asked, “Oh Applejack… Perhaps, tell true—touched you any plants of blue?”
Rubbing hoof to chin, Applejack pondered the question. It was obviously important. Had she seen… Hmm… “Ah walked through some just yesterday, when Ah was coming out this way.”
“Then, hah! I have it, well and true… The Poison Joke did this to you!” Zecora clapped her hooves gleefully, obviously pleased. Leaping up, the enchantress trotted over to a podium with a large green book resting on its polished surface. She flipped through a few pages and turned back, nodding happily.
Applejack looked blank, so Zecora explained, “The azure plant has magic fell… but I’ve a brew to make you well. Just trust in me and very soon you can return to Apple Bloom! Now come, we’ll make a careful list so not one thing we need is missed…”
The list was long… but seeing some of the items on it, Applejack had to fight hard to keep a malicious grin off her muzzle. Zecora expected her to believe that beets and ferns held the cure? Hah. Well, if Zecora was going through with this wild goose chase, she would need to go into town to acquire some of the ingredients. Perfect. Indicating a few entries with her hoof, the farmer commented, “Ah don’t know well the Everfree, but back in town we’ll find these three.”
Zecora hesitated, thinking for a moment. Her voice seemed almost nervous as she suggested, “A division of labor would fit the bill. For me, the woods. You? Ponyville.”
“Ah think together’s just as good. We each know our own neighborhood,” countered Applejack. If the zebra witch thought that AJ was going to let the creepy striped mare out of her sight for one moment, she had another thing coming.
“Hmm...” Golden jewelry clinked as Zecora nodded. “All right, fruit farmer, come with me. We’ll search the forest Everfree. And when we’re done we’ll head to town where you’ll make smiles of pony frowns.”
More like, ‘then AJ’s friends will hold you down’ if Applejack had any say in the matter. Ignoring the faint sense of fear she got from doing so, the farmer unobtrusively laid aside her wide-brimmed hat. It should be safe enough here. She could come back for it, she assured herself. More important even than the hat was getting her earth pony self back. If her parents had left her the Stetson, they had also left her, her. And that wasn’t something Applejack was going to lose to some stripey zebra curse.
Applejack stood straight and headed for the door, resolutely keeping her gaze from drifting back at her abandoned hat. She could come back for it. She was making the right choice. The words echoed and re-echoed in her head like a mantra as the farmer followed Zecora out into the Everfree Forest.
Walking in silence, the two striped mares picked their way through the tangled, twisting paths of the Celestia-forsaken wilderness. Applejack watched Zecora, trailing slightly behind the foreign zebra as the witch looked left and right for the potion ingredients. Zecora seemed oddly at ease despite the unpredictable nature of the environment. Only the slight twisting and flicking of her ears in response to unexpected sounds showed that she was paying attention to more than the ground at her hooves.
After another quarter hour of walking, the two zebras stopped at a clearing. Zecora searched the ground carefully and started to dig, pawing at the earth with one dark hoof.
For her part, Applejack simply watched, shifting uncertainly from hoof to hoof and trying not to burst with nervous energy. She tried glancing at the mysterious flora of the Everfree Forest to distract herself, but it was no use. Eventually the enchantress tugged out an oddly shaped tuber and grunted in satisfaction.
Finally, Applejack could take it no more. She cleared her throat to get the other mare’s attention and asked, “How far from yer country did ya’ll roam? Ya act almost like this here forest’s yer home.”
“My home?” Zecora chuckled as she continued, “this forest’s very strange—and far beyond my normal range. But cures are few and far between, so came I to this forest green.”
Applejack ducked under a branch as the two zebras started back from the clearing looking for the next item on the list. Already the ex-earth pony was regretting leaving her hat as flies buzzed and swarmed around the pair in the late morning heat. Maybe another question would take the farmer’s mind off things. She knew what to ask, too… Cures? For what? Wasn’t Zecora just a witch? “‘Cures are few and far between?’ Zecora, tell just what ya mean.”
“My homeland has no unicorns, with arcane potence in their horns. From nature’s boon we draw our powers—an herbalist, I study flowers,” Zecora explained as her gaze swept the ground for the distinctive, wispy tassels of some Heart’s Frond Fern. This was the right area for it…
Applejack gnawed a bit on her lip as she thought over the strange mare’s words. So Zecora was some sort of medicine maker? And she’d come to the Everfree Forest to find more plants to use for her unholy brews? No, Applejack corrected herself, not for brews, holy or otherwise. For medicines. It seemed strange, but who knew what unusual and maybe useful plants grew in the Everfree Forest? Zecora, for one, it seemed.
Surely there was something more to all this. Zecora couldn’t just live out in the woods, only come in to town to terrify everypony once a month, and accept being feared and loathed by all of Ponyville on suspicion of dark magic… just so that she could learn more about plants. Could she? That didn’t make sense, and Applejack said so. “If yer a pusher of potions an’ not incantations, then why ain’t ya spruced up yer bad reputation? Ya scare folks in Ponyville pretty dern bad. So shouldn’t that make ya a teensy bit sad?”
“Applejack, your words are true. But what can one lone zebra do?” the herbalist sighed. Aha, there was the Heart’s Frond. Bending low, Zecora tugged a few of the delicate ferns off their stems and dropped them into her bag.
Well, that was the last item available in the Everfree Forest… Zecora patted the bulging satchel and nodded to her companion. “The forest’s gifts will serve our need. To Ponyville, please take the lead.”
Nodding, Applejack trotted back to the path and started on the road towards Ponyville. The two zebras walked in silence—Applejack digesting what she’d learned, and Zecora quietly letting her do it. Several times the former earth pony slowed and turned as though about to say something to Zecora. Each time Applejack thought better of it and continued on, leaving the silence unbroken.
Making good time, the zebra pair crossed through the forest and reached the edge of Ponyville by mid afternoon. Applejack could envision almost precisely what was happening in the town this time of day. Some of the town’s colts would be playing hoofball in the park, with a few younger brothers and sisters cheering or booing from the sidelines. Carrot Top would just be wrapping up the last of her sales and packing up to go home—the dratted mare always seemed to sell out before the Apple family’s apple cart did despite AJ’s best efforts. And Pinkie Pie would probably be on her fourth or fifth sugar high of the day, so—Oh no. How could the farmer have let it slip her mind?
Zecora almost ran into Applejack as the farmer screeched to a sudden halt. The herbalist moved alongside and looked in askance at the concerned ex-pony. “A sudden stop, dear Applejack. Should we perhaps be turning back?”
“Ah… don’t think so. C’mon, let’s go.” Applejack started forward again, glancing into alleys and rooftops. The absence of the farmer’s hat preyed on her mind. When she’d left it at Zecora’s hut, AJ had been certain she was making the right call, preparing to give her friends the signal.
But the enchantress—no, the herbalist was helping, now. Wasn’t she? Zecora certainly didn’t seem to be hurting anything. All the zebra had done so far was defend herself and help gather a few ingredients for the potion she claimed would cure Applejack. She had even given painkillers to the mare who’d attacked her.
Nopony had noticed Applejack and Zecora yet. Maybe the two zebras could get into town, get what they needed, and get out again before anyone was the wiser. Maybe cooler heads had prevailed. Twilight could have managed to convince the others not to do anything stupid, right? Applejack scrabbled mentally for comfort, but she knew there was none to be had.
A sharp gasp of shock was the first sign either zebra had that something was wrong. Applejack looked up from her inner turmoil just in time to see a dark pink mare jerk a little filly into a house and slam the door as quickly as possible. The unmistakable thud of a bolt being shot home jolted the door and the house went quiet. Farther down the street, somepony screamed a fading cry of, “The horror! The horror!”
More doors slammed. Applejack glanced at her fellow zebra for support. Zecora simply shrugged, but her face had taken on a curiously blank expression and her eyes glinted dangerously. Was this what the herbalist had to face every time she came to town..? What a stupid question. Of course it was. Applejack could clearly remember doing the exact same thing to the mare next to her only the day before.
The streets were completely empty now. Every window was shut and every door probably barred. Looking around the barren town, Applejack felt ill inside. How could the ponies just..? No. No time to worry about that now.
Gritting her teeth, Applejack trotted up to Daisy’s Herb Shop and pounded on the door with one dark hoof. “Aw, open up, Daisy! We ain’t here for scares! Ah’m here fer yer help an’ to sample yer wares!”
“She knows your name, Daisy! You’re doomed!” hissed one horrified voice behind the door.
A second voice shushed the first. “Shut up! They’ll hear us! They’ll hear us, and then they’ll curse us all!”
“The horror! THE HORROR!” groaned a third.
If Applejack’s expression had been any stormier, the local weather ponies might have confused her for a black- and white-striped thunderhead. She banged on the door again. “Horsefeathers, Daisy! Ah ain’t here fer you! Zecora and Ah just need help with a brew!”
The quiet whispers behind the door turned into a panicked babble. Rose reacted first. “Did you hear that?!”
“—Going to eat us in a stew!” Daisy’s voice exclaimed. “With my own herbs as sauce, I bet!”
“The horror! The ho—!” Lilly’s voice suddenly cut off as a hoof was crammed into her mouth.
“Shut up Lilly,” Rose hissed.
Applejack turned her back on the shop, seeing red. Well. There were plenty of other places to get the ingredients they needed. If Daisy didn’t want to do business with zebras, then—oh, who was she kidding. If the foalish mares weren’t going to help her because they were scared stupid, it was time to give them something to be really scared about.
Gathering her strength, the champion applebucker squared with the door and prepared to kick it down—only to feel a calming nudge at her shoulder. Zecora shook her head. “No, Applejack, that’s no way to befriend. I think that our shopping is now at an end.”
The foreign zebra might have been willing to roll over, but Applejack was made of sterner stuff. How could she just trot away? “Zecora, Ah’m tellin’ you, it ain’t right. Can’t be. Ya should not be alone, in the danged Everfr—!”
“NOW!” interrupted an enthusiastic Pinkie Pie. Applejack looked up as a net dropped from the sky, covering the arguing zebras in a thick jumble of rope mesh. Both went down in a tangle of striped limbs as several ponies rapidly added their weight to the edges of the net.
“Stop that, girls!” Applejack cried, struggling to her hooves with the net still clinging to her like kelp to an angry sea monster. “Ah don’t want ta fight, but Ah’ll buck all y’all back to last Thursday night!
“Oh! S-sorry, AJ…” Some of the weight of the net lifted as Fluttershy started to step off her edge.
Pinkie Pie rushed to bolster the yellow pegasus’ flagging confidence. “Wait, Fluttershy! It could be a trick! A zeeeebra trick!”
“Pinkie Pie! I thought we agreed to talk to them!” Twilight Sparkle galloped up to the pony-and-zebra-pile, her ears back and her tail lashing angrily.
The pink earth pony rolled her eyes. “Well, of course, Twilight! We’re talking to them now! What’s the problem, you silly filly?”
Groaning at the sheer… Pinkieness of that, Twilight shook her head to clear it. Her horn glowed and the net—and everypony standing on it—was lifted into the air. “Come on, Applejack. Come on, Zecora. I’m sorry about that…”
“I ask you, are all ponies touched in the head?!” Zecora grumbled as she tried to straighten her disheveled mane. “Changing greetings with beatings… It seems so widespread.”
“Sorry, Zecora, about mah dumb friends… But Ah know th’ attacks are at an end.” As Applejack said it, she glared silent death threats at the ponies clustered around. Even Rainbow Dash had the common decency to look sheepish.
Twilight cleared her throat. “Ahem… So, Applejack. Did Zecora find a way to help you?”
“She surely did, Twilight. We’re makin’ a brew, and then Applejack’s back to y’all good as new! Though Ah acted all surly and started a fight, Zecora’s still helpin’ me set mahself right. She’s no evil enchantress, she just studies cures, and she’s told me of one that’ll help me f’sure.”
Zecora smiled and nodded, patting the bulging herb bag. “With parsley, some cardamom, and root of beet, the list of ingredients will be complete...”
“But we ain’t gonna ever get this potion done—” Applejack started to say.
Pinkie burst in. “—So we’ll curse Ponyville, send it straight to the sun?”
“The horror! Doom! Doo—mph!” exclaimed a quickly hushed voice behind the barred door to Daisy’s shop.
Applejack glared at the earth pony and finished the couplet. “No, ‘cos none of the stores will stay open—not one. Honestly, Pinkie, enough is enough. Just shut it or Ah’m gonna have ta get rough.”
“So we can cure you if we help with the brew, and that will let us turn you back into y—Oh Celestia, if this keeps up I’m going to end up rhyming everything t—as well,” Twilight sighed.
The purple unicorn trotted up to the door to Daisy’s shop and gave the wood a quick rap. “Daisy! Daisy, it’s me, Twilight Sparkle. We need to talk…”
* * *
Applejack sighed and leaned back in the tub, sloshing the strange-smelling mixture onto the tiled floor in Twilight’s bathroom. She raised one hoof and stared up at it. Orange. When she was younger, the earth pony had sometime wished for a more traditional apple-like hue like Granny Smith or Big Macintosh… but now, her old familiar tint had never looked so good. She glanced over to the smiling Zecora and grinned right back as she climbed out of the water. “Though mah black-n’-white days are at an end, at least Ah—”
The farmer chuckled and grinned ruefully, drying out her mane. “That’s right, Ah don’t need to rhyme anymore, do Ah? Well then. Ah’m glad Ah met you, Zecora. It wasn’t too great bein’ made somethin’ other than what Ah was… but if that hadn’t happened Ah might not have found a new friend.”
“I thank you, kind mare, for your warm, friendly words. So long I’ve been lonely away from the herds,” Zecora sighed. “So though this adventure may be at an end, I’m well pleased to know that you call me a friend.”
“Ah know when we met Ah made a real mule outta mahself. If there’s anything Ah can do…” Applejack brightened as a thought occurred to her. “Hey wait, ya still needed to do some shoppin’, didn’t ya? Ah could help ya carry yer groceries home.”
Zecora shrugged. “Perhaps. But only if you’ve time to spare. The load will be light enough for one mare.”
“Of course Ah have time. And Ah want to keep an eye on some o’ th’ merchants around here… make sure they treat ya right like Twilight said. She’s a good mare, but some ponies only really get it when ya smack it into their head a few times with a good, hard hoof…” Applejack examined her orange hooves carefully, as if checking for any remaining black areas left from the Poison Joke.
“I see your taste for blood remains… Combat must flow in pony veins,” joked the herbalist as she trotted towards the door. “But tell me now, or I’ll leave alone, what thing you dropped inside my home? You’re eager to escort me back. Pray tell, why’s that, dear Applejack?”
Applejack quickly put her hoof back on the ground and tried to look contrite. “Am Ah that transparent..?”
Zecora simply gave her earth pony friend a look. Applejack sighed deeply. “Ah figured. All right. Part of the reason mah friends grabbed us was, Ah left my hat at yer house. That was th’ signal that you was bad and that they was to nab ya so we could force a cure out of ya… Ah didn’t realize until after Ah’d left it how wrong Ah was about ya. Ah’m sorry.”
“Oh, Applejack. It’s only that? Then come with me. We’ll get your hat.” Motioning the earth pony forward, Zecora left the library.
Silence stretched out between the two mares as they trotted briskly down the street. Applejack set her jaw. It was now or never. She had to ask. “Zecora? Ah know Ah was doin’ it too while Ah was a zebra… but why do y’all rhyme like that? It was intrestin’ enough, but Ah don’t think Ah could have stood it fer much longer ‘n Ah did…”
Zecora trotted on a few more steps, then smirked. A few more paces and the smirk became a wide grin. A few more, and she burst out laughing. “That’s too bad, Friend Applejack. You were doing so well at it, too…”
“What the-- That… That didn’t rhyme at all!” Applejack protested. She couldn’t have been more shocked if Zecora had suddenly grown fangs and giant bat wings. This didn’t make any sense!
Looking into Applejack’s eyes, Zecora reined in her mirth long enough to explain. “Applejack, the way you spoke was forced on you by Poison Joke. My speech I rhyme by conscious choice… to draw the focus to my voice.”
Zecora started to move forward again, heading for Daisy’s Herb Store. She reached the door and turned. Applejack was still standing in the middle of the street, staring after the zebra in befuddlement. Zecora sighed. Applejack was a nice pony, but she seemed a bit slow on the uptake sometimes. Perhaps further clarification was needed. “It’s not the colors that you see… It’s words and deeds that make me, me.”
The bell jangled as Zecora went inside the store. Applejack stood on the street for a few moments longer until—“The horror! The horror!”
…Perhaps Applejack should be there to help smooth the transition after all. Shaking off the last of her confusion, the earth pony trotted through the shop’s door after her new friend.
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Hmm. Good art and zebra characters? You sir have my full and undivided attention....oh look shiny thing.
I like it (good stuff, you think those ponies would learn racism is bad (Especially sense that brought the windigo to there ancestor and nearly turn there world to a eternal ice hell.)
I LOVE IT! (I want to see more) btw heres some stuff to see
http://adcoon.deviantart.com/art/Applecora-274056243
http://iopichio.deviantart.com/art/Zecora-271424488
http://zomashu.deviantart.com/art/With-Some-Pie-241396805
Great story, I really liked it. Would've been funny if Applejack had become a Zebra in the TV show
Wait. Incomplete means more chapters. YAY!
Favorited!
89263
Actually it means that I fail at ensuring I clicked the correct button when submitting a story. Sorry, that's all she wrote.
89113
Hmm, thanks. I'll take another gander at it regarding the accent
89200
Woo, thanks! : D
If I may say, you could leave it at that. A nice ending, it definitively had.
Ah buck it! I liked it, please make more! 
This could have been an ending, of truth and friendship. Yet keep them coming, and...
-Glassed
A story of zebras I must see this.
And what's this, featured as well?
Thid is a story no one should miss,
All I can say is, aw, what the hell.
I love this story to it's entirety,
Please make more for the sake of society!
I implore you, good sir, don't be shy to make more.
These escapades written we do so adore.
But if that's all there is, and this story is shelved,
I'll simply make do, and just write more, myself.
wow dude. amazing story!
89642
Awwwww
YAY!! RACISM!!!
Great story but I have to wonder, if Applejack is this much of a bigot with zebras why did she give Twilight and Spike such a warm welcome? Are Zebras more deadly than dragons now?
And if she was this angry at Zecora she might have murdered Gilda. O.o
I have to say that this is the first fic where I've wanted to sock Applejack in the jaw.
That being said, it's an interesting idea, well written, and the characters, including Applejack, are depicted in a believable manner
4.5 stars
It is over
Cool story bro.
We're surprised to have seen such racism
from creatures every color of the spectrum.
It's something that you wouldn't expect
like that allegorical episode of the oldest Star Trek.
In every episode of MLP we see
three pony races living in harmony.
The issues the writers seemed to have ducked
is that the Earth Ponies are throughly screwed.
dang raciest ponies
im going to track this it a new perspective
Also great use of the poison joke i think you could even do the same to pinky
also who sort of caught on during the episode
Ah good story with a good plot. I enjoyed it.
-Fin
Epic what if
scenario story
plz write more what if stories
I for one feel this story was too short,
and for this I will leave a small retort.
It was a short read,
but ended with a good deed.
Applejack had an unjust attitude,
But Zecora was very shrewd.
She saw through this ponies hate,
and they ended up friends, if just a bit late.
nice, good, interesting solid story. Rhyming is awesome. Apple-rasist is very funny to read. Overall, I was happy
This looks to be a story of good pedigree.
90785 Or silver, if they tried to do that they'd probably panic.
I think they should make that a joke on the show...
Love the description and the story! :D
Cool story bro.
89642 I wouldn't be too sure about that.
I smell something roundabout, for romance hides about.
Just an idea to go on. But it certainly would be an interesting shipping to be sure.
Nopony has done it yet either.
Now my headcanon is that Applejack's "Zebra sense remark to Zecora in "The Cutie Pox" was actually an inside joke between the two.
Goooooooooood...
Very good story! I like the way you've explored Applejack's stubbornness and conservative attitude while also exploring the reasons for her prejudice in quite a reasonable fashion. The rhyming was very well written, and quite hilarious when Applejack had to do it.
90492 this could have turned into full on friend/romance-shipping, and i would have supported it all the way.
This was extremely good There isn't enough Zecora in this fandom.
Also I feel bad that you had to deal with all the Rhyming.
(It also makes me realize we are missing Zecora smileys!)
90785
Actually, orange does have rhymes. Strange, Mange, Range, those are but a few that we've used many times.
91122 Silver, Sliver, River. You need not ryhme all of the word. You can ryhme just about half of it, so long as you have a reasonable amount of letters left, like the above Orange and Strange, and Silver and Sliver. Hell, they don't even need to be spelled the same. They just have to sound the same.
An amazing fic.
Truly unique in its scope.
Five stars all around.
(Poetry buffs, count syllables.
)
Applejack just seems way too out of character in this.
Dem zebras I tell ya what
Nah I'm joking, I'm not racist, although I think Applejack might be.
Reading this tale was good and fun, I hope you write another one.
Created Potion of Cure Poison Joke. Alchemy increased to 35.
Now that the Skyrim reference is out of the way, I can tell you that this story is awesome. Usually I would follow praise with some sort of critique, but I really couldn't find anything wrong. Very, very well done.
Oh, wait. Just thought of something. I'm not much of a fan of Macintosh's portrayal as fairly thick-witted. In his few scraps of dialogue, I detected a subtle wit that hints at a fairly intellectual state of mind. Mind you, that's just my interpretation.
This is great my dear friend,
but can you keep going until its end?
I'd like to see how you direct this fic,
Then again I guess I'm just being a dick.
Or am I?
I cannot lie.
I love this work and you too bro,
And with that I suppose I'll go.
Lates
P.S. should we pester the creator into creating a zebra emote?
Silly Applejack jumping to conclusions
With these images of witchcraft, what silly illusions
Zecora made friends, without them, a terrible loss
So without further ado, your story was
chzbronies.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-brony-pinkie-always-get-her-way.jpg
Fucking Daisy.
Very intresting. Maybe a bit out of charicter for Aj at first but then again it fits. i liked it.
That was a very interesting story indeed! Please do more like this.
GAWD DAMMIT LILY!
Other than that, Awesome story man.
TAKE A MILLION STARS!, TAKE MY WARP STAR!, AND TAKE MY DRAGOON STAR!
That was really powerful. Excellent.
I can picture a world where MLP:FIM is made for an older audience; this would have been an actual episode there.