Twilight tossed and turned in her bed. Spike was slumbering peacefully across the room from her, but Twilight's entire night had been plagued by nightmares. All of them were somehow related to her Talent at Magic; in the first dream she'd had that night, a ghoul had ripped her Soul out of her body, rendering her utterly unable to cast spells. In another, she had become a vengeful demon of fire while she was at the Olympian Magic Academy, and subsequently tried to burn down everything and everyone there. At that moment, she was dreaming that Zecora had her tied up and was slowly lowering her into a boiling cauldron, fiendishly laughing that Twilight would be the perfect ingredient for finishing her potion to unseal Discord.
In the dream, Twilight tearfully begged Zecora not to dump her in the cauldron. With a cruel smile, Zecora drew a jagged dagger from her belt and swiped at the rope that suspended Twilight above the boiling liquid. Twilight screamed for a fraction of a second as she fell towards the cauldron, and at the moment she hit the surface of the boiling potion she bolted up, awake, panting, and drenched in sweat.
Twilight took several minutes to calm down, and was only able to assuage her fears by reminding herself that Spike was there in the room with her, too. Once Twilight had relaxed somewhat and had a better grip on what reality was, she quietly got up and went to the bathroom.
Twilight splashed some cold water onto her face before grabbing the edges of the sink and taking several deep breaths. She felt strange. She was wondering if she'd gotten sick, as she felt oddly drained and slightly nauseous. She was very tired, but she didn't want to go to sleep again, for fear of her nightmares returning.
Twilight glared into the sink and growled, "Damn my stupid stomachache... this had better just be indigestion. I do not want more than one night like this after tonight...."
Twilight cupped her hand to the faucet, turned it back on, and took a small drink from it. She then took a few more deep breaths, decided she felt a little better, and returned to her bed.
She closed her eyes, but just as she began to feel herself drift back into sleep, the words of Applejack resounded through her mind: Just you wait, Twilight. You'll see that some stories really are true.
Shivering, Twilight's eyes opened again. Was this illness she had caught... a curse? After all, she'd had sicknesses that had given her nightmares before, but never this incessantly.
After a few tense, fearful moments, Twilight's eyes narrowed as she groaned annoyedly and muttered under her breath, "Oh, so now you're buying that superstitious nonsense too, huh, Twi?"
Using a breathing technique Celestia had taught her to meditate, Twilight slowly cleared her mind until it was eased enough to allow her some sleep again.
Twilight had no more nightmares that night, and awoke not entirely well-rested but nonetheless feeling much better the next morning. She was woken by the library's grandfather clock, which was silent throughout the night and began striking the hours at seven in the morning. After blearily opening her eyes, Twilight moaned, sat up, stretched, and called to the curled form in the bed across the room from her, "Get up, Spike. It'll be time for work soon."
Responding with a groan of his own, Spike sat up and yawned as Twilight went to their bathroom. She idly picked up her toothbrush, put some paste on it, and began brushing her teeth before looking up in the mirror. Her hair was an absolute mess, which caused her to sigh. "Well, I wasn't very still last night," she muttered. She picked up her hairbrush and began smoothing her hair back down as she chuckled, "Maybe Zecora cursed my hair."
However, as Twilight combed down her bangs, she saw something that caused her eyes to widen and her brush to slip from her fingers and fall to the floor. Panicking, Twilight turned her hand around to look directly at its back. Indeed, she had seen correctly; there was a rash of green spots over her Mark.
Twilight let out a long, high shriek of terror, to which Spike hurriedly sprinted to the door and burst in, crying, "Twilight! What-?!"
"My hands!" Twilight screamed, worriedly turning them before her face. "What happened to my hands?!"
"What's going-?" began Spike, but Twilight suddenly jerked her head up to face him.
Twilight cried, "S-stay back, Spike!" and rapidly backed away from him.
"Twilight?" Spike said, his eyes wide with worry. "What's going on? Are you alright?"
He tried stepping towards her, to which Twilight fearfully cried, "Don't, Spike! Stay back! I might be contagious!"
"Contagious?" Spike said confusedly. "Twilight, what are you talking about?"
Twilight answered by holding up her hands, showing Spike their backs. Spike's eyes widened upon seeing the rashes over her Marks. "What's that?" Spike asked.
"I don't know!" Twilight cried. "I don't know what they are...."
Before Spike could reply, however, he and Twilight heard the library's front door slam open, then they heard what must have been Pinkie's voice anxiously, incoherently sputtering something that sounded roughly like, "Ph-li-li! Ph-li! Ph-lom pelp p-e-e-e! Ph-lee-p!"
With a quick glance at each other, Twilight and Spike sprinted down the stairs, where they both gasped at what they found; a pajama-clad Pinkie was standing in the open door with her tongue hanging out of her mouth, swollen and covered in a green rash like the ones on Twilight's hands.
A drop of saliva fell from the tip of Pinkie's tongue to the floor, then she sputtered, "Ph-elp ph-e, Ph-li-li! Thomething'ph wrong wip my ph-ongue!"
"I can see that," Twilight replied, gazing a little fearfully at it.
Pinkie saw Twilight's Marks, then gasped as well."Ph-e phoph you ph-oo!" Pinkie sputtered, spraying Spike with saliva. "Ph-e-pora ph-uph a ph-urph op u-ph!"
"Hey, say it, don't spray it, Pinkie!" Spike annoyedly cried, wiping some of her spit from his face.
There was a dull thud, then they heard Rainbow's voice groan from outside, "Oooww!"
Twilight and Pinkie worriedly looked out of the door, where they found Rainbow sprawled against the ground a few meters away. Rainbow slowly climbed back onto her feet, then slowly walked towards one of the streetlights, which she placed a hand on and leaned against.
Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike immediately ran outside to Rainbow, who they saw had sustained some scrapes on her arms from her fall. Twilight also noticed that Rainbow had a green rash over the Marks on her shoulders, just like the ones Twilight had on her hands.
"What's wrong, Rainbow?" Twilight said worriedly.
Rainbow turned to Twilight, her expression showing a little disorientation. "Yo, Twi," Rainbow said, a small smile spreading over her lips.
"What's going on, Rainbow?" Twilight asked again.
Rainbow replied, "I woke up this morning, and I was dizzy as fuck. I have no idea why, because otherwise I feel fine."
Rainbow turned to Pinkie, then her eyes widened upon seeing her tongue. "Pinkie!" Rainbow cried. "What happened to your tongue?!"
Pinkie shrugged and shook her head, but Twilight held up her right hand, showing Rainbow her Mark. "The same thing that's happened to us, I think," she said.
Rainbow's eyes widened. "What happened to your Mark, Twi?!"
"The same thing that's happened to yours," Twilight said, pointing at her shoulder.
Gasping, Rainbow looked directly at her shoulder. "Oh. My. Gosh!" she cried. "What is this?!"
"I ph-eph iph'ph Ph-ecora'ph ph-urph!" Pinkie cried.
Twilight frowned at Pinkie. "No. This is not a curse!" she shouted. "There's got to be a reasonable explanation for this!"
Before Rainbow or Pinkie could argue, however, they heard Rarity say, "Well! It seems that Fluttershy and I aren't the only ones who have been affected by this!"
Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Spike turned to her, and immediately yelped in fright. Rarity, who was standing beside Fluttershy, looked absolutely awful; her entire face was covered with acne, and her hair was hopelessly matted and tangled, with two hair combs irretrievably lodged in it.
"Rarity!" Twilight exclaimed. "You too?!"
"Ah hate to say Ah told you so, Twilight!" another voice cried, to which the girls turned to find the source to be Applejack, who was waveringly standing with her arm draped over Apple Bloom's shoulders. She angrily cried, "But Ah told you so!"
"What happened to you, AJ?" Rainbow said.
"Ah'm as weak as a newborn calf!" Applejack said. "Ah can hardly stand without Apple Bloom here to support me!"
"Well, then," Rarity said, her tone unmistakably aggravated, "it seems that all of us have been affliccted by this curse."
"It's not a curse!" Twilight shouted.
"Really?" Rarity said contemptuously. "Well, then! Would you then kindly explain to us, Twilight dear, how each of us has gotten a rash over her Mark, accompanied by an affliction which is uniquely and ironically suited to each of us?! Would you care to tell us how that is nothing more than a specific substance or energy?!"
"You don't know that!" Twilight cried. "I mean, I have a rash, too, but nothing seems to have happened to me!"
"Oh, really?" Rarity said, glowering at Twilight and folding her arms. "So try and cast a spell, then!"
Twilight said confusedly, "Why?"
"Just try!" Rarity shouted.
Twilight glared back at her. "Gladly!" she said, turning to a fist-sized, smooth stone. She lifted her hand up and focused on the rock, willing for its gravitational field to change so that it would float up; however, it remained still and unmoving on the ground.
Twilight held her hand up to her eyes, gazing at it confusedly. "What the-?" she said.
Twilight snapped, attempting to conjure a small fireball. However, all she was able to produce was a tiny, purple spark that disappeared after only a fraction of a second. Eyes widening with worry, Twilight snapped several more times, again trying to conjure some fire, but all she could ever produce were more of the pathetic, short-lived sparks.
"My Magic's not working!" Twilight cried distressedly.
"I knew it," Rarity said, haughtily and smugly.
"But... what about- what about Fluttershy?!" Twilight cried, pointing at Fluttershy. "She seems perfectly fine!"
"Yes, she does seem it," Rarity muttered, to which Fluttershy ashamedly turned away from them.
"Is something wrong, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked concernedly.
Fluttershy nodded.
"What is it?" Twilight said.
Fluttershy closed her eyes and turned away again, refusing to answer.
"So you're not going to tell us?" asked Twilight.
Fluttershy nodded.
"Yes, you will, or yes, you won't?" Twilight said.
As Fluttershy began shaking her head, Applejack cried, "Good gravy, girl, what's wrong with you?!"
Fluttershy looked down. "I don't want to talk about it," she said, though her friends all flinched upon hearing her, as her voice had become very deep and masculine.
Spike fell into a fit of hysterical laughter. "Oh, this is just priceless!" he cried. He gestured at his friends as he said, "Now we've got Spitty Pie, Rainbow Crash, Flutterguy, Hairity, Apple Weeny, and Twilight Fizzle!"
The girls all frowned at Spike as he had another hearty laugh at all of them, and when he had calmed down, Twilight sarcastically said, "Ha, ha." She then turned back to the library's front door, saying, "Come on, Spike. Let's go try and find out what this is...."
"It's a curse, Ah tell ya!" Applejack cried.
"No, it's not!" Twilight shouted. "There's no such thing as curses! Now, if you girls all want to sit down in the library while Spike and I look for what it actually is, you're welcome to. However, you will have to be quiet!"
"You ain't gonna find out what this is," Applejack replied. "There ain't no science books 'bout curses. But Ah'll give ya some quiet while you're doin' your little snipe hunt."
With a spiteful glance at Applejack, Twilight led her friends into the library. After Applejack and Rainbow Dash had been guided to seats by Pinkie and Apple Bloom, Twilight and Spike began browsing through the shelves, opening the books on maladies and afflictions, looking for anything that resembled what had befallen Twilight and the other girls.
After about half an hour, Spike found a passage that caused his face to immediately brake into a wide smile. "Aha!" he cried.
"What is it?" Twilight said as she and the other girls turned expectantly to him.
"Twilight was right, girls," Spike said, placing his finger under one of the lines. "What you guys've got isn't a curse. Your Souls have been poisoned."
The girls' eyes all widened as Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie stood up. "Our Souls have been poisoned?!" Rarity gasped disbelievingly.
Spike nodded. "Yep. There's nothing else it could be."
Twilight took the book from Spike, then read aloud,
"Soul poisoning is a rare affliction that can be caused only by supernatural means. Little is currently known about it, except that there are several forms of it, of which it is uncertain how many there are, or even where they originate from. It is undetectable by medical means; the only empirical evidence that there is anything wrong with the afflicted at all is a rash that forms over their Mark; this can be accompanied by any other affliction, which will be incurable, even if it seems ordinary. Only an antidote synthesized for the specific poison can neutralize its effects, which will otherwise be permanent. Some known Soul poisons, their sources, and their antidotes include: basilisk venom, found in basilisks, and curable only by phoenix tears; nightmare toxin, found in some streams and springs of the Everfree Forest, and curable only with the Peach Rot Potion; fiendish buttercup seed extract, found in fiendish buttercups (Serialus Murdererus), and curable only by an Etherial caramel spiced lamb pastry-"
"See?! Zecora cursed us!" interrupted Applejack.
Twilight glared at Applejack. "This isn't a curse!" she shouted. "Weren't you listening?! This is a Soul poison!"
Applejack shrugged. "Fine. So she poisoned us. Far as I figure, it all amounts to the same thing."
Twilight furiously slammed the book shut and stood up. "You. Don't. KNOW THAT!!" she bellowed. "You're just throwing around wild accusations without any shred of evidence!"
Applejack pointed at the green rash-covered Mark on her thigh. "How's this for evidence?!" she countered. "How come Apple Bloom don't have it, but all the rest of us do?! Didn't that Zecora say that great danger would come upon us? And then she started shoutin' somethin' weird!"
"I agree," Rarity said. "I believe that after we defied her commands, she performed a ritual that synthesized the soul poison within our very veins." She then frowned at Twilight as she added, "Is that explanation an unreasonable one, Twilight?"
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but she was silent and closed it again after a moment. She looked down, and slowly began to realize: that was a rather good explanation.
Applejack sniffed. "See?! Ah told ya it was that wicked Zecora's fault!"
Twilight sighed, then said, "Okay, Zecora might have done this to us. But... she might have been at least somewhat justified if she did."
Twilight's friends' eyes all widened with shock. "Justified?!" Rarity cried disbelievingly.
Twilight nodded. "Yes. After all, we were trespassing on her property, and the Soul poison that's inflicted us doesn't seem terribly dangerous."
Rarity replied, "I don't think it was justified. We were just trying to keep Apple Bloom safe."
Twilight nodded. "Yes, but Zecora still isn't the one who did the first wrong; if none of us had gone and bothered her, then this wouldn't have happened to us."
Apple Bloom trembled as she looked down at her hands, which were laying across her lap. So this was all her fault?
"Alright," Rainbow said. "So we've just got to find a cure for this thing, right?"
"That's the problem," Spike, who had been continuing to read the book as the girls argued, interjected. "I can't find the antidote for this thing anywhere. We might not be able to find it at all; this book says that scientists expect that we know only a fraction of all Soul poisons and their antidotes."
"So I'm going to be stuck looking like this forever?!" Rarity cried.
Tears welled in Apple Bloom's eyes. She was feeling more guilty every second. Her sister and friends might have been doomed to be cursed forever, all because of her....
"Not necessarily," Twilight said with a small, hopeful smile. "After all, if Zecora did do this to us, she might know how to purge it."
"Well, Ah'm not goin' anywhere near Zecora!" Applejack said. "Ya'll've seen what happens to anyone who goes after her! Who knows what she'll do if we go after her!"
"Yeah!" Pinkie cried. "'Cauph ph-e'ph am...."
She then stopped and looked down, frowning frustratedly. She then laid herself prone at Fluttershy's feet, holding onto her skirt and gazing imploringly up at her.
Fluttershy sighed, then grudgingly began singing in a Blues style while Pinkie Pie slowly danced beside her,
"She's an evil enchantress
And she does evil dances
And if you look deep into her eyes
She'll put you in trances"
Spike began smilingly snapping along to the beat as Fluttershy finished,
"Then what will she do?
She'll mix up an evil brew
And she'll gobble you up
In a big, tasty stew,
So... watch out"
Twilight groaned, then said, "Fine. But if we don't ask Zecora for help, we might never be able to reverse this poison's effects."
"We'll Ah ain't gonna!" Applejack replied. "Ain't no way Ah'm gonna go after Zecora again!"
"We'll, then you might have to live with being as weak as a worm forever!" Twilight shouted back.
As Applejack began arguing over the top of Twilight, the other girls soon joined in, as well, except for Apple Bloom, who was silently thinking. She decided that it was her fault that this had happened to Applejack and the other girls, and that it was therefore her duty to reverse it. Apple Bloom silently stood up and crept to the library's front door, ensuring that Spike and the older girls didn't hear her; she had decided that nobody would stop her, and if Zecora decided to poison her, as well, so be it; this was all her fault anyway.
After Apple Bloom had exited the library, she immediately began walking back to the Everfree Forest.
Twilight kept arguing with her friends for a while, which grew gradually louder and louder, and culminated with Applejack roaring, "... SHOULD GET THE GUARD TO CAPTURE THAT WITCH, THEN WE'LL MAKE HER CURE US!!"
"DON'T CALL HER A WITCH!!" Twilight screamed back. "HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I CALLED SOME HUMAN A 'MONKEY'?!"
"IF YA'LL FIND A HUMAN AS WICKED AS ZECORA, BE MAH GUEST!!"
Twilight screamed frustratedly into her hands, then said, "Fine! I will go ask Zecora for an antidote, and if she gives one to us, then you all owe her an apology!"
"Ah ain't apologizing for nothin'," Applejack replied, sniffing. "It's her that owes us an apology."
Twilight glared at Applejack for a moment, then said stiffly, "Alright. Well, I'm going to apologize to her, and if you all don't want to, that's fine. But I'm not going to let you all try to keep antagonizing her."
Twilight stood up, then said, "I'm going to go to the Everfree Forest to see Zecora now. You can all come with me, if you'll promise to be civil."
"Ya'll can go, but Ah ain't," Applejack said. She turned to where her sister had been, saying, "Come on, Apple B-" but her eyes widened when she saw that Apple Bloom wasn't there anymore.
"Apple Bloom?" Applejack worriedly said, looking around. "Where'd ya go, Sis?"
Applejack flinched, then she and her friends all stared blankly at each other for a few silent moments.
Spike and all the girls except for Applejack immediately stood up. "Damn it, Apple Bloom!" Applejack shouted. "She's gone to the forest again! If Ah can get to her before she gets killed, Ah'm gonna ground her for at least a year!"
Rarity helped Applejack get to her feet, then she draped Applejack's arm over her shoulders while Pinkie did the same with Rainbow. The girls all ran out of the library, with Spike grabbing an Everfree-East Dragon Imperial dictionary from one of the shelves before sprinting after them.
Apple Bloom swiftly ran through the forest, far less disturbed by its unsettling atmosphere than when she first came. She knew that she needed only to follow the path to reach Zecora's house, so in only a few minutes she arrived at it.
Apple Bloom hadn't been able to clearly see what Zecora's abode was like before, and she gasped surprisedly when she beheld it; it was a twisted, ancient hollowed tree, like the Golden Oak Library was. The tree was grim, frightening, and forbidding, with only dimly glowing orange lights pouring out from its windows. There were strange charms hanging from the tree's branches, many of which were in the likeness of Beings' faces or shaped as animals. The door was painted with a simple, jagged geometrical pattern, and from within Apple Bloom could hear the sounds of crackling fire and boiling liquid. Apple Bloom could also hear Zecora's voice, chanting something foreign and frightening-sounding within the tree.
Trembling a little, Apple Bloom swallowed and slowly walked to the door. She gently knocked upon it, to which she heard Zecora suddenly grow silent and approach the door. The door was opened, and Apple Bloom found herself a little intimidated at what she saw:
Zecora wore a simple top and long skirt with geometric patterns similar to the ones painted on her door. She was rather tall, with lean, muscular limbs and velvety dark skin that was shining with sweat. Her feet were bare, and Apple Bloom could see two gold anklets around her right leg, as well as some gold bracelets around her left wrist. Because Zecora was no longer wearing her rough, brown hood, Apple Bloom could now also see that she had a striped mohawk and a pair of large golden hoop earrings. The Mark on the backs of her hands was a white spiral surrounded by tiny, white triangles. But the most striking thing about Zecora was her bright blue eyes, which stood out starkly against her black face. The whites and piercingly blue irises of Zecora's eyes were so overpowering that Apple Bloom shrunk a little under her gaze.
With a small, nervous smile, Apple Bloom said, "H-hey, Zecora."
"What are you doing here?" Zecora asked. "You shouldn't be here."
"Ah know," Apple Bloom replied. "But, um... Ah wanted to apologize for trespassin' on your territory. Ah also came to ask for help. See, my sister and her friends have all been poisoned, and, uh...."
Zecora blinked. "And so you wish for me to cure them."
Apple Bloom quietly nodded.
After a few moments, Zecora laughed, startling Apple Bloom. Zecora's laughter was strange, as well as a little disturbing.
"Come, child," Zecora said, gesturing into her home. "I am preparing something for you."
Twilight and her friends weren't able to move as quickly as they would have liked, as Rarity and Pinkie were supporting Rainbow and Applejack, who were unable to walk on their own. However, they moved as quickly as they could, and soon enough they arrived at Zecora's hut.
Zecora had resumed her chanting, and Spike and the girls crept quietly towards the tree, attempting to remain silent as they approached it.
Twilight whispered, "I'm going to knock, then I'm going to ask her where Apple Bloom is, alright?"
Applejack hissed, "No! What if she tries to poison ya'll again?!"
Twilight groaned angrily, then said, "Fine. We'll wait here and see what she's brewing, and if it isn't poison, then we'll politely ask to come in, alright?"
The others silently nodded, then Twilight took the dictionary from Spike, which she rapidly flipped through as she attempted to match the words Zecora were saying to its entries.
Twilight muttered under her breath as she poured through the pages for a few moments, occasionally saying something along the lines of, "That word meant 'tug'.... Uh, I think another one is 'channel...' come on, where's the word for 'poison'?"
Twilight continued flipping through the book until she found the entry on "poison," which translated into Everfree as "sumu." She then placed her finger over it as she began silently listening to Zecora continue to chant her incantations. After a few seconds, Twilight did indeed hear Zecora utter the word.
Twilight gasped, then the other girls anxiously asked, "What is it?"
"She is brewing a poison," Twilight whispered.
Spike and the other girls began to shift as they started standing up, but Twilight quickly said, "But that doesn't mean the poison's for us!"
They then fell silent as they heard Zecora stop chanting in Everfree and listened as she spoke in East Dragon Imperial, "Ah, yes, it's almost complete. Now, where's that little Apple Bloom girl?"
Twilight and her friends all gasped in shock, then Applejack screamed, "Ain't no witch gonna use mah sister as an ingredient for one of her wicked potions!"
Applejack ran around and burst into Zecora's hut through the front door, to which Zecora turned in shock to her. There were several sinister-looking masks hanging on the walls, and in the circular room's center was a massive, iron cauldron sitting over a blazing fire pit. Zecora stood away from her cauldron as she astonishedly began, "What is-?"
However, Applejack ran towards her and roared, "Don't you touch mah sister, you warlock!!"
Applejack swung a fist at Zecora, which Zecora easily dodged by stepping aside. With a frightened yelp, Applejack fell to the ground, where she laid still for a moment before groaning, "Ow...."
Applejack's friends then ran into the hut and spread out, all glaring at Zecora. "What did you do with Apple Bloom, Zecora?!" Twilight shouted.
"What are you-?" Zecora began.
However, Rainbow shouted over her, "Don't play dumb with us, witch! Give us Apple Bloom back, and get rid of this curse you put on us, or I'm gonna shove your head right into your cauldron!"
After a moment of wide-eyed shock, Zecora glared back at them. "What are you attacking me for?!" she shouted. "I haven't-!"
"Save your breath," Spike said, stepping forward. He held his right hand up, with his fingers positioned for a snap. "Tell us where Apple Bloom is, or I'm gonna turn you into ashes!"
Zecora shouted back, "Get out of my home, or I shall force you out myself!"
"You asked for it," Spike muttered. Zecora lifted up her hands, preparing to conjure up a shield to defend herself against the imminent torrent of flame, but instead of igniting a spark Spike conjured an etherial aura around Applejack and telekinetically pulled her away before suddenly kicking the cauldron, overturning it towards Zecora.
With a horrified scream, a yellow flash engulfed Zecora as she disappeared just an instant before the green, boiling, airborne liquid could make contact with her. She reappeared several meters behind where she had teleported, well out of the path of the spilt potion.
"What are you doing?!" Zecora cried distressedly. "You've spilt my potion!"
"Where's Apple Bloom?!" Spike shouted, positioning his hand to cast another spell.
Before Zecora could respond, however, they all heard the voice of Apple Bloom call in from the door, "Hey, Zecora!" before adding a surprised, "Oh, hey girls! Hey, Spike!"
Everyone turned to the door, where they found Apple Bloom, who was cheerfully standing in the doorframe with a small, leather satchel draped over her shoulder.
"Apple Bloom!" Applejack cried, having struggled back to her feet. "Thank Celestia you're safe! C'mon, we've gotta-!"
"Ah've got your ingredients, Zecora!" Apple Bloom said, holding up the satchel. She then looked down, however, and saw the overturned cauldron. She gasped, "What happened?"
"They've ruined my brew!" Zecora shouted, glaring at them. "They also tried to kill me!"
"Only because ya'll kidnapped my little sister!" Applejack shouted back.
"But Applejack, Zecora didn't kidnap me!" Apple Bloom shouted. "Ah came here myself!"
The other girls stared astonishedly at Apple Bloom for a moment before Applejack said, "But... but Zecora was gonna use you to brew a poison-!"
"What you've spilt," Zecora said, angrily pointing at the green, still-bubbling liquid spreading across the floor, "was not a poison. It was an antidote, for all of you!"
"But we heard you chant that it was a poison!" Rainbow shouted.
Zecora was silent for a moment. Then, to the others' great surprise, she burst into laughter. "Yes, I did say 'poison' in my native tongue, but you did not hear all I said; if you were listening, you would have heard that the whole thing I said was 'counter-poison'!"
With another laugh, Zecora said, "I understand now, my friends. You thought that I was brewing a poison, and was intending to use the Apple Bloom girl as an ingredient! Ah, now I can see why you wished to kill me and save her!"
Zecora laughed again, and Apple Bloom laughed along with her. "But... ya'll poisoned us!" Applejack cried.
"No she didn't," Apple Bloom said, stepping forward with her eyes closed and a small smile over her face. "She was tryin' to keep ya'll from gettin' poisoned!"
"But- h-how...?" Rarity stuttered.
"Remember those blue leaves you girls ran through yesterday?" Apple Bloom said, gazing cheerfully up at them. "That was 'Poison Joke.' It's like Poison Oak, except it plays jokes on you!"
"I stopped Apple Bloom from getting poisoned, as well," Zecora added. "I warned you not to come closer, as danger would fall upon you. You did not heed my warning, so I came back inside my hut to find a potion that would banish the soul toxin before it reached your souls. But you left before I could return, and so I was now preparing a potion to cleanse it from your souls."
Twilight stared down at the spilled liquid, silent for a few moments. Zecora didn't at all sound malicious, and every word she spoke seemed to be said sincerely. Twilight opened her mouth, but was silent for a moment before saying, "I... I...."
Twilight looked away ashamedly as she said, "I... I'm sorry, Zecora... I... I made assumptions and judgements about you, before I even knew you...."
"I understand," Zecora replied gently. "You feared for the young girl's life; your intentions were noble."
The other girls and Spike also regretfully apologized many times to Zecora; especially Applejack, who was blushing intensely as she muttered, "... and... and for calling you a 'witch,' and for lashing out when ya'll saved my sister, and-"
"I accept your apologies, friends," Zecora said, grinning. "In return, I will forgive you for spilling my potion. I will brew another pot, but I ask but one thing in return: tell your neighbors that they do not need to fear me."
Twilight nodded. "Yeah," she said, smiling. "I guess we judged a book by its cover too quickly, huh?"
"By the way," Rarity said, "speaking of books, would you mind writing down this potion's recipe for us, Zecora? We actually don't have it in our own medicine...."
"Of course," Zecora said as she telekinetically lifted her cauldron back into place. As she began levitating the spilled potion into the air and burning it away, she added, "Poison Joke is very rare, and few know of its cure. I am happy to share my wisdom with you."
Once the spilled potion was cleaned up, Zecora began moving around her hut, placing new ingredients in the cauldron. "With your permission, Applejack," she said as she did so, "may I have Apple Bloom assist me in completing this potion, then escort her to Avalon with a bottle of it for you girls?"
After a moment, Applejack smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Much obliged, Zecora," she said, tipping her hat. "Thank ya'll for protecting my sister, and for helpin' us, even though we were so rotten to ya'll...."
Zecora chuckled again, then said, "What was that your friend said? 'Judge the cover of the book'? Perhaps you will not be so hasty to do that next time."
Spike and the girls laughed, then they waved goodbye to Zecora and Apple Bloom as they returned to Avalon.
Apple Bloom was with Zecora for several hours, during which time Twilight and her friends went around Avalon, telling as many Beings as they could to not fear Zecora. Though most listened to them, a handful did not. Nonetheless, Spike and the girls decided that it was still a vast improvement over the intolerance Zecora faced before.
They regrouped at the library, where Apple Bloom soon entered with a small bottle of the green antidote potion. "Here it is!" Apple Bloom said happily as she held it up.
"Great!" Twilight said. "So, how do we use it?"
"Zecora says you need to share a bath and pour this in," Apple Bloom replied.
Applejack flinched, then threw a quick glance at Rainbow, who was smirking at her.
Rarity stood up, then said, "Let's go to the spa! I'll have Aloe and Lotus draw a bath for us there!"
The others immediately agreed, except for Applejack, who silently continued to frown at Rainbow. "What about you, Applejack?" Fluttershy said quietly.
After glaring at the still-smirking Rainbow for a few moments, Applejack sighed and said, "Fine. But if you lay a finger on me, Rainbow...."
Rainbow shrugged as she said, "Don't worry, AJ; lookin' will be enough."
Applejack threw Rainbow another spiteful look, then she allowed Rarity to help her up again. As the girls walked out of the library together, Twilight turned to Spike and asked, "What are you going to do while we're gone?"
With an enormous grin, Spike jabbed his thumb towards the stairs and said, "I'll be in my room."
Rolling her eyes, Twilight followed her friends to the spa.