"Your logic makes no sense." Twi said sighing looking at the fish again, she only told the half truth to Shy, yes she was looking at the fish and trying to tell what species they were from memory alone, but another part of her was thinking about eating one or two. Shy was right, she was getting tired eating the same meat, it was mostly pork chops, bacon, and ham, those were just a few different cuts of meat from the same pig, and she didn't eat much for chicken or cow because unlike pigs they gave ponies something.
In the very least she got to have eggs, milk, and cheese, but she wanted a little verity in her meat, and ever since she ate that deer and freaked Shy out, she had been very careful about eating any wild animals near town, but any deep inside the forest were free game. "Honestly Shy I'm not the only carnivore out there."
"Yes I know... but your different because you know better and for them it's instinct." Twi simply walked out of the water and the fish quickly swam next to Shy not wanting to be next to a predator.
"Oh it's alright little fishies, my friend Twilight won't hurt you." Shy said tossing more fish food, and Twi simply dried off, 'I guess I'll have seafood another time...' Honestly it was bad enough she was limiting herself to eating only one kind of meat each week, but now she couldn't eat any wild animals near town and she had to go hunting deep inside the forest without anypony or anything seeing her, because any birds might tell Shy about her little hunting trips.
Shy said she understood that I had to eat meat but she just can't get over the fact that I need to eat animals to get meat, Twi simply laid down and started to munch on some gemstones she brought, 'At least I can eat these without much complaint...' When Rarity noticed Twi eating gemstones she looked at her, Twi stared back, "Rarity, I already gave up half of what I can eat for meat, I don't need any more objections about what I can or can not eat, so like it or not I'm eating these gemstones!"
Rarity flinched back a bit, "I'm sorry darling, it was rude of me to stare at you, but I was just wondering where you got those."
"The same place you do, near the mountains in the valley close to town, don't worry I left the rare gems alone, and Spike makes sure to bring you them anyways."
"So that's why you bring me those rare gemstones every week."
"Yep, only the best gemstones for you, Rarity."
Rarity looked back at Twi, "Twi you seem tense, I mean the way you snapped at me..."
Twi sighed again, "I'm sorry Rarity I didn't mean to snap, I'm just sick and tired of being limited on what I can or can not eat."
"Let me guess, Fluttershy?"
"Fluttershy, she says she understands I need to eat meat but then starts to limit the kind of meat I can eat, I bet even you would get tired of eating the same meal prepared differently every day."
Rarity slowly sipped on her drink, "I might be on a diet darling but even I would get tired of eating the same meal every day."
"A little verity is needed to keep things fresh, and having it prepared differently isn't really verity."
Twi gave Spike his gem bowl as she munched on another gem, "I know, but I don't want to go through the whole song and dance with Shy again."
Spike munched on his gems, "Yeah the way she reacted was what I expected but ever since we ate that deer we have been seeing a bird now and again."
Rarity stopped herself from spitting, "I'm sorry you ate a what?" 'Not you too...' Twi thought.
"It was just a normal wild deer, if I left it alone it would have gotten eaten by another wild animal, it's nature."
"And you ate it raw?!"
"My mother is a dragon, raised by dragons, who all eat the same things, she raised us on raw meat, cooked meat, gems, and pony food, so yes I ate it raw."
"Did it taste good?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"I'm just curious darling."
"Raw meat doesn't taste as good as cooked meat, just like how some raw food doesn't taste as good as cooked food." Rarity nodded and left it at that.
Twi finished the gems as she watched Dash and AJ still playing volleyball, "Oh yeah who is awesome, two points more than you."
"I can still win."
Pinkie looked at the scoreboard and Twi was confused, "Wait where did she..."
"Darling."
"Yes?"
"Don't question anything Pinkie does, trust me don't question it."
"But, where did she get that? She didn't have that last time."
"Just accept it, everypony else has accepted that Pinkie is just being Pinkie whenever she does something odd or strange."
Twi simply looked at Pinkie, "Does she have any unicorn parents?"
Rarity thought for a moment, "I'm not sure darling you have to ask her."
Pinkie popped up between them, "Hey I know you two are talking about me because my breathing got glitches." She couched a bit into her hoof, "See, so what exactly are you two saying about me?"
"We were just talking about your... uniqueness."
Rarity said as Twi did a double take, "Wait you were just over there..."
Pinkie giggled, "Of course I was over there and now I'm over here, what else were you saying? Tell me, tell me!" She said as she bounced up and down.
"Do you have any unicorn parents or unicorn family members?" Twi asked keeping a close eye on Pinkie.
"Who me? Nopey dopey, all my family are earth ponies." Pinkie slid behind a tree then appeared again by Dash and AJ, she pulled out a cannon and pulled the string to make confetti pop out, "Yeah, Dash wins!"
"Of course I won I'm awesome."
"I want a rematch."
Twi got up and looked at the tree Pinkie slid behind, then walked around it two times, "How..."
"Like I said darling, just accept it and don't question it." Rarity said starting to put away the volleyball net.
"Hey, we are playing here."
"Don't you think we should head home soon? The sun is starting to set." Dash grumbled as she helped put the net away.
"Next time Rainbow, I'm gotta beat you," AJ said as simply grabbed the bag to put it all in.
"Oh yeah well I didn't lose by two points."
"Girls please don't start, we should really be heading back home before it get's late." Twi said gathering all of the pillows and beach towels.
"Yeah... I really don't want to be out... in the dark... at night..." Shy said getting quieter and shaking.
"Oh really? I thought you wouldn't mind seeing all the nocturnal animals, like bats or firefly's." Pinkie said as she kept hopping in place.
"Oh... well, I wouldn't mind seeing nocturnal animals."
"There you go, always look at the brighter side of things." Once they all packed up they said their goodbyes, Twi carried Spike on her back as he started to doze off and mumble a bit in his dreams, she heard something about him being a brave knight fighting off the scary ponies for princess Rarity.
Twi tucked him in as she giggled, "You're a strange baby dragon, but your still my little brother." She gave him a small kiss goodnight before going to read any left over letters from her mother or princess Celestia.
A few days later Twi was walking through town with Spike on her back, "Wow, what a gorgeous day!" She said looking at the sky.
"Dash must have gotten up early for once and cleared all the clouds away."
"I bet all of Ponyville is going to be out enjoying the sunshine." She looked around, "What? Where is everypony?" The town as empty, ponies were hiding in their homes.
"Is it some sort of pony holiday?"
"Not that I know of."
"Does my breath stink?" Spike belched then sniffed his breath.
"Not more than usual."
"Is it... zombies?!"
"Uh... not very likely."
"Not likely... but possible?"
They heard a psst and looked over at sugarcube corner, Pinkie looked out at them, "Twilight! Spike! Come here! Come! Here! Hurry! Before she gets you!"
Twi hopped inside and Pinkie closed the door, they were in the dark and Pinkie used a flashlight as Spike hugged Twi, "Who?! The zombie pony?"
Pinkie held it under her face while asking, "Z-Zombie pony?!"
Spike hugged Twi harder. "Spike! There are no zombie ponies. Pinkie, what are you doing here alone in the dark?"
"I'm not alone in the dark." Pinkie said opening the curtain a bit to show all her other friends.
"Okay then, what are you all doing here in the dark?"
"We're hidin' from her!" AJ said pulling back the curtain more to show a zebra wearing a cape with her hood up outside digging at the ground, she turned her head towards them her eyes glowing a bit, and everypony except Twi hid from her gaze.
"Did you see her Twilight? Did you see... Zecora?"
"Apple Bloom! I told you never to say that name." AJ said.
"Well, I saw her glance this way..."
"Glance evilly this way."
Pinkie added in and Twi pushed her back, "... And then a bunch of you flip out for no good reason."
"No good reason? You call protectin' yer kin no good reason? Why, as soon as my sister saw Zecora ridin' into town, she started shakin' in her lil' horseshoes." AJ said shaking Bloom.
"Did not!" Bloom said shakingly.
"So I swept her up and brought her here." AJ put Bloom on her back.
"I walked here myself!"
"For safe keepin'."
Bloom got off her back, "Applejack, I'm not a baby! I can take care of myself!"
"Not from that creepy Zecora."
"She's mysterious." Shy said.
"Sinister." Dash added.
"And spooky!" Pinkie finished.
Twi simply rolled her eyes and looked out the window, all her friends joined her and they watched Zecora take off her hood gasping, "Will you cut that out?" Twi asked.
"Just look at those stripes! So garish!" Rarity said.
"She's a zebra." Twi stated.
"A what!?" Everyone asked.
"A zebra and her stripes aren't a fashion choice Rarity, they're what she was born with." Rarity fainted at this.
"Born where? I've never seen a pony like that in these parts, 'cept... her!" AJ said pointing to the window.
"Well, she's probably not from here, and she's not a pony. My books say that zebras come from a faraway land." Spike took this chance to sneak into the kitchen as Twi talked.
"But I've never seen her in Ponyville. Where does she live?"
"That's just it, she lives in... the Everfree Forest!"
As soon as AJ said that a sound that sounded like a thunderclap came and Twi looked at the kitchen, "Spike!"
"Uh, sorry." Spike said holding some treats.
"The Everfree Forest just ain't natural. The plants grow..." AJ started.
"Animals care for themselves..." Shy added.
"And the clouds move..." Dash said.
"All on their own!" All three finished and Rarity fainted again.
"And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil... stuff! She's so evil I even wrote a song about her!"
Dash rolled her eyes, "Here we go..."
Music played as Pinkie started to sing, "She's an evil enchantress, she does evil dances, and if you look deep in her eyes, she'll put you in trances, then what will she do? She'll mix up an evil brew, then she'll gobble you up, in a big tasty stew, soooo... watch out!" When she finished Twi simply looked at her, "Wow, catchy."
"It's a work in progress."
"This is all just a lot of gossip and rumors, and what happened to, 'We apples don't judge others on appearance'?" AJ looked down in shame, Twi huffed at that, 'Good she should feel guilty, in fact, they should all feel guilty about this...' "And the rest of you, how could you accept me and not her? It seems you all keep forgetting I'm not a pony." Twi said looking at the rest of her friends who each looked away in shame when her dragon eyes landed on them.
"Now tell me; what exactly have you actually seen Zecora do?"
"Well... Once a month, she comes into Ponyville." Dash said.
"Oooooh." Twi said dramatically.
"Then, she lurks by the stores." Rarity added.
"Oh, my." Twi said dramatically again.
"And then, she digs at the ground." Shy finished.
"Good gracious!" Twi said still being dramatic, Bloom came to stand next to her as Twi switched to her normal voice, "Okay, I'm sorry. But how is any of this bad? Maybe she comes to town to visit?"
"Yeah! Maybe she's just tryin' to be neighborly." Bloom said.
"And maybe she's not lurking by the stores, maybe she's going to them, lurk free, to do some shopping?"
"Yeah! Everypony likes to shop. You know what I think?"
"Bloom! Hush and let the big ponies talk."
Twi heard Bloom mutter, "I am a big pony!"
"W-what about digging at the ground? You've got to admit that's weird." Dash said.
"What if she's digging for innocent creatures?" Shy asked looking at Dash.
Pinkie starts to sing her song again as Twi rolled her eyes, "I am sure there is an explanation for everything Zecora does. And if anypony here were actually brave enough to approach her, she would find out the truth."
Bloom opened the door, "Well, I'm brave enough; I'm gonna find out myself."
Bloom went outside and started to follow Zecora, Twi didn't hear Bloom leave because she was still talking to her friends, "You ponies are being ridiculous!"
"Well, I heard that Zecora eats hay."
"Pinkie, I eat hay; you eat hay!"
"Yeah, but I heard it's the evil way she eats hay."
"Hey! Where's Bloom?" AJ asked looking around.
"The door's open, she went outside, and Zecora is still out there!"
"That silly lil' filly! I told her to stay put!"
They all rushed outside as Twi rolled her eyes again, "Spike, you stay here in case Bloom comes back."
"Will do."
"I got to go and talk some sense into my friends... again." She said following after them, they all run into the forest and into a path of blue flowers.
"Bloom!" AJ shouted making Zecora look behind her and Bloom gasped looking at them as well. "You get back here right now!"
"Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!" Zecora said backing off into the mist.
AJ scooped Bloom up on her head, "Y-you keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, ya hear?"
All of Twi's friends talked over each other and she sighed, "Oh brother."
"Beware! Beware!" Zecora said before she vanished.
"Yeah, back at ya, Zecora! You and your lame curse are the ones who better beware!"
"And you! Why couldn't you just listen to yer big sister?"
"I...I..."
"Who knows what kind of nasty curse Zecora could have just put on you?"
"Just like in my song..."
Twi cut her off, "You guys, there's no such thing as curses!"
"Well, that's interesting to hear coming from miss magic hybrid herself."
"My magic, real magic, comes from within, it's a skill you're born with, hybrid or not, curses are artificial, fake magic."
"It's conjured with potions and incantations; all smoke and mirrors meant to scare. But curses have no real power, they're just an old pony tale."
All her friends started to leave and AJ said, "Just you wait, Twilight. You're gonna learn that some pony tales really are true." Twi walked out after them, why couldn't they see they were being ridiculous? She picked up Spike and headed home, she tucked him in with her magic and went to bed herself, but soon she started to twitch when her dream turned into a nightmare.