//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1:9 - The Woods Witch 
// Story: Camaraderie is Sorcery 
// by FireOfTheNorth 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 1:9 – The Woods Witch
Year 976 of the 4th Age


            The sun was sinking beneath the west horizon, but none were in their homes or sleeping in the tiny village of Providence.  Waves crashed against the shore, causing empty boats to bob in the water with nopony to witness.  The entire village was assembled around two posts in the town square, around which were heaped bundles of wood.  Tied to the tops of these posts were a young zebra couple, who looked at each other with fear in their eyes.  Once again, they were unwelcome.

            They had begun their lives far across the Shimmering Sea, beyond Tyrannus and Saddle Arabia, in a tiny village much like Providence.  The province of Cainhira, like most of the Eastern Continent, was part of the Zebrikaanian Empire, but it was an unimportant part.  Desert and barren rocks covered the far-southern province, and the zebras who dwelled there had few possessions besides the dusty patch of land they lived on.  Resources were so scarce that if it hadn’t been for the underground deposits of dimeritium, the miraculous magic-cancelling metal, the Zebrikaanian Empire would have passed it over and let the region starve.

            From the moment they’d recognized their magical abilities, both of the young zebras had found themselves shunned by those around them.  In the Zebrikaanian Empire, all powerful shamans served the state, a preferable alternative to a slow death by labor in Cainhira’s dimeritium mines, which is what would await them if they refused.  Neither Panid nor Zecor had enough magical ability to be employed by the Empire, but they had too much to keep it a secret either.  This put them in the position of being suspected by everyzebra around them as spies for the Padishah, a common suspicion placed on those of mediocre magical talents.  So, in isolation they’d found each other, fallen in love, and decided to leave Cainhira no matter the price.

            But only more misery awaited them.  They’d travelled to Zebrikaan, the capital of the largest empire in the world, only to find they were no more welcome there than they were at home.  Suspicion fell on them again for their magical abilities, for the rumors of untalented shamans serving as the Padishah’s spies were true in Zebrikaan.  The only work they’d been given was what others turned down, for they were not only unrecognized shamans, but also nekgeler ar-pelleymiz’iy: dirty provincials.

            They decided to go even farther, abandoning the Zebrikaanian Empire entirely and sailing to Equestria.  They’d settled in Providence, a tiny fishing village in the Duchy of Balte-Maer, and everything had gone well at first.  The local ponies frowned at their strange coats, traditions, and inability to learn the land’s tongue perfectly, but they were overall tolerated.  That was before the priest had arrived.

            He was hopping around now in front of the pyres, his red robes glowing in the torchlight.  This priest of the “True Faith,” from the Fiery Isle near Manehattan, had come to this tiny town to tell all the good earth ponies how evil every other race was, and especially how evil magic was.  It wasn’t long before he had the townsponies whipped into a frenzy with the desire to purge Providence of devils such as Panid and Zecor using the True Faith’s preferred method: death by fire.  Over the bobbing torches, Zecor could see through the stained-glass windows of the chapel, the town’s priest of the Church of One.  Horror was in his eyes, yet he stayed locked up in his stone chapel, unwilling to speak out against this madness for fear that he’d be burned next.

            “Zecor’rumaezz-eva, rifea’orezze!” the zebra stallion called out to his wife, telling her to be brave, and she turned to look him in his eyes.  They were glistening with tears.

            Panid’s head snapped back as a staff struck him in the face.  Zecor looked down to see the angry face of Providence’s baker at the end of the staff, a stallion who’d just sold her bread three days earlier, and smiled pleasantly when she’d managed to say “thank you” in Low Equestrian.  All around were the faces of neighbors, who she’d never imagined capable of this.

            “Will we let these heathens, these striped devils bewitch us with their foul words, my kin?” the red priest demanded, becoming even more agitated than before.  The answer was a resounding 'no'.  “Then let us put an end to their sin once and for all and cleanse the world of their filth!  Fire will cleanse!”

            “Fire will cleanse!” the assembled ponies replied as one, and surged forward with their torches.

            Panid’s pyre caught fire first, and the flames blazed up around the zebra.  He gritted his teeth as the fire began to lick at his hooves, and the crowd cheered.  Tears escaped the corners of Zecor’s eyes as he struggled to turn his head toward her.

            “Mun ingi tun iyize, yuntze-eva,” Panid promised his wife while he was still lucid.

            “Oake,” Zecor said softly, shaking her head as she watched the blood running from her husband’s broken nose begin to be hardened by the flames leaping all around him now.

            Panid screamed as the fire consumed his body, babbling broken words of his native tongue, which the priest at the base of the fire mocked as an attempt to overcome the flames with heathen spells.  Flames began to catch at the base of Zecor’s pyre, but the wood was damp and wouldn’t burn well.  She paid no mind anyway, her gaze fixed solely on her husband’s burning body as tears ran down her face.

            “Oake, oake, oake, oake!  Oake!  Oake!  Oake!” Zecor protested desperately, before finally forcing out the word in Low Equestrian, albeit with incorrect intonation, “NO!”

            It was as if a dam within her had burst.  Magical energy flowed through her body, and her braids waved with a life of their own.  Her bonds snapped and the pyre exploded beneath her, sending wood flying in all directions.  The crowd fled, screaming about a demon being unleashed, and the red priest was trampled in the rush.

            Zecor leapt for Panid’s pyre and started shoving the burning wood aside, heedless of the flames singeing her own flesh.  His body was charred all over and he was no longer moving, but she pulled him down anyway.  Everything passed in a blur as she fled Providence, the flames from the pyres spreading to the buildings.  She didn’t stop until she was deep in the woods, the glow from the town lighting the eastern horizon as the sun had lit the western horizon not so long earlier.

            “Panid,” she whispered in a broken voice to the burnt corpse next to her, but the life was long gone from her husband’s body, leaving only this charcoal behind.  “No!” Zecor screamed into the dark, allowing the tears to flow freely.




***



Year 1000 of the 4th Age


            Twilight looked dejectedly at the stack of books destroyed in her fight with the centaur wizard.  She had restored everything in Golden Oak’s laboratory as best she could, but these few rare tomes were beyond saving, and now the knowledge they held was lost forever.  Why did Golden Oak have to collect so many rare books in one place?

            It had been difficult, and had taken a significant amount of time and energy, but the laboratory was finally back to normal.  Twilight didn’t have much experience with plant spells, but she’d been able to learn enough from the surviving books to regrow the destroyed parts of the tree.  With some help from Spike, their bedchambers were also restored to their original condition - better, in fact, since they’d had to install new doors.

            The day was bright and beautiful as Twilight and Spike departed the laboratory to run some errands.  After a brief artificial winter, summer had returned.  Twilight regretted that she had not been able to take part in Ponieville’s “winter wrap-up,” but by the time she’d finished repairing Golden Oak’s laboratory, everything was back to normal.  It was a peculiar method the townsponies of Ponieville employed to overcome the White Procession’s winter, doing so entirely without magic, and Twilight hoped to have a chance to observe it someday.

            “Um, Twilight?” Spike interrupted the sorceress’s thoughts from his place on her back, “Where is everypony?”

            The sorceress snapped out of her musings on cleaning up snow without sorcery to observe her surroundings.  She came to a stop as she realized that the streets were empty.  Ponieville was far from a bustling metropolis, but Twilight had never stepped out in the middle of the day and found the muddy paths entirely deserted.

            “Is it a holy day?” Spike asked.

            “No, we would have heard the chapel’s bells,” Twilight said as she resumed her trot through the town, more observantly this time.

            “Did Celestia declare a state holiday?”

            “No, we would have heard the Mayoral Keep’s bells.”

            “A plague?”

            “We would have heard both.”

            “Zombies, perhaps?” Spike asked, looking around at the locked houses.

            “Oh, now you are just being ridiculous,” Twilight scoffed, “You know that necromancy is forbidden and that no rogue sorceress could possibly have the power to raise the dead.”

            “What if they were hiding out in the Everfree Forest, though?” Spike asked, building his conspiracy theory, “It’s impossible to detect magic within it, so a powerful necromancer could be hiding there.”

            “Sure, in theory,” Twilight sighed, “But they would have to stay within the forest forever; the moment they stepped outside, the sorceresses of Cant’r Laht would detect them.”

            “Twilight!” a familiar whisper came urgently from behind the partially open door of Sugar Cube Corner, “Spike!  Hurry and come in!  Hurry!  Before she sees you!”

            Twilight could see no danger, nor anypony on the street, but Pinkamena evidently thought she knew what was going on, so the sorceress hurried into the darkened bakery, hoping for some clue.  The bard/baker’s face was lit by a single candle that gave off little light, but Twilight could see the unease on her face.

            “Who were you afraid would see us, Pinkamena?  A zombie?” Spike asked, and Twilight rolled her eyes.

            “There’s a zombie too?” Pinkamena asked as her eyes grew wider.

            “No, I can assure you that there are no zombies,” Twilight cut in before things got out of control, “What I do not understand is why the streets are deserted and you are hiding here alone in the dark?  What are you hiding from?”

            “Oh, I’m not alone,” Pinkamena replied, not really answering either of the questions Twilight had posed.

            As if to prove that she wasn’t alone, Pinkamena began using her candle to light others around the room.  Within a few minutes, more ponies came into view.  Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, her younger sister Apple Bloom, and even Rainbow Dash were here, as well as Master and Mistress Cake, who owned the bakery/diner.  What could compel all these ponies to hide here?  Unless there really is something frightening out there.  

            “I will rephrase my question,” Twilight said patiently, “What are all eight of you hiding from in the dark?”

            Applejack beckoned Twilight to follow her over to one of Sugar Cube Corner’s windows and the sorceress followed with trepidation.  After moving all candles in the area away, she slowly pulled back the heavy curtain.

            “We’re hidin’ from her,” Applejack said, pointing out the window, and Twilight moved closer to get a better look.

            She could see an individual standing out in the street now, a pony mare wearing a rough cloak over her whole body.  No, I was mistaken; not a pony, a zebra.  Her muzzle was a different shape and the foreleg she was using to hold a worn staff was striped.  What is a zebra doing in the middle of Equestria?  While Twilight was watching, the zebra turned to look directly at Sugar Cube Corner, and Applejack quickly pulled the curtain closed.

            “Madam sorc’ress, did y’see the witch?” Apple Bloom squeaked, looking up at Twilight, “Is she really horr’ble?  Applejack wouldn’t let m’see.”

            “Mind your manners around your elders,” Applejack rebuked her sister, pushing her out of the circle of adults.

            “A witch?” Twilight said skeptically, “Do you realize how ridiculous your accusation sounds after inviting me, a powerful sorceress, into hiding with you?”  I don’t know what is worse: that they mistook that zebra for a mage and are hiding because of it, or that they thought I needed to hide as well.  Even if she does happen to be a mage with evil intent, don’t they have faith that I could defeat her?  

            “She’s nothing like you, Twilight,” a wide-eyed Pinkamena said with her face illuminated eerily by a candle, “She’s a malicious woods witch who casts curses on all ponies who come near!”

            “Please.  Woods witches are just sorceresses with mediocre magical talent and occasionally minor knowledge of herbology,” Twilight said, “I have seen nothing to suggest that she is even a woods witch.  All she did was look toward us, and you panicked for no reason.”

            “I had t’ close the curtain, Twi’,” Applejack explained as if she were the most rational pony around, “Else she might’ve hit you with her bewitching gaze!”

            “There is no such thing as a bewitching gaze!” Twilight said angrily, “Arcano-hypnosuggestion is an incredibly complex spell that requires weeks, sometimes months, of preparation and for the target to already be in a suggestible state!”

            Twilight halted in her tirade when another thought popped into her mind.  I didn’t sense any magical energy from her, but she is a zebra, and zebra magic is (for whatever reason) different from pony magic.  Could it be possible that there is more to this than mere superstition?  Could this zebra really have a bewitching gaze?  We pony sorceresses know so little about zebra magic’s mechanisms and capabilities that it may just be possible.  

            The other ponies watched curiously as Twilight silently went back to the window and pulled the curtain aside.  The zebra was still standing in the middle of the street, a bit farther from Sugar Cube Corner now.  Her staff was stuck in the ground beside her, and she was making strange and stiff motions with her body.  Just what is she doing?

            “She’s putting a c-curse on Ponieville!” Fluttershy fearfully answered Twilight’s unspoken question.

            “I do not think so,” Twilight said, though she was unsure.  It looks like a ritual of some kind, but I don’t detect any magic.  

            Apparently finished with whatever ritual she’d been involved in, the zebra retrieved her staff and proceeded to walk farther from Sugar Cube Corner.  It was a warm summer’s day outside, and the cloak was smothering her, so she pulled her hood back, revealing her face to the hidden onlookers.  All but Twilight gasped and drew back at the sight.  And they call us the Brave Companions.

            “What?  What is it now?” the sorceress asked, quickly becoming annoyed.

            “Well, just look at her,” Rarity said, as if the source of their repulsion was obvious, “What dark powers did she invoke to be disfigured so?”

            Twilight took another look, but couldn’t see any real substance to the blacksmith’s accusation.  She appeared to be a typical zebra mare, though her mane was worn in a somewhat atypical fashion.  Dangling from her head were numerous braids with fetishes tied and woven into them.  Wait, didn’t I read somewhere that zebra shamans often tie talismans into their manes to help channel their magic?  That wasn’t something Rarity would’ve recognized as disfigurement, though it did provide some reason as to why she was considered a witch, since Equestrian woods witches were often known to do the same thing for purely decorative or ceremonial purposes.  On closer examination, Twilight realized that there were burn scars on the zebra’s neck and half her face (probably why she wore a cloak with a hood even on a stifling day like this), but that also probably wasn’t what Rarity was remarking upon.  No, more likely it was simply her differentness as a zebra that was seen as horrible disfigurement.

            “She was born like that, Rarity.  She is a zebra,” the sorceress explained to the ponies in the circle of candlelight, and saw only a few sparks of recognition, “Zebras, the residents of the Zebrikaanian Empire on the Eastern Continent across the Shimmering Sea?  The race that crossed the Z’harran Desert on multiple occasions to invade the Holy Maenean Empire prior to the crusade to take Equestria from the pegasi?  Any of this sound familiar?”

            “So that’s what a zebra looks like,” Rainbow Dash whispered as she looked out the window, “At first I thought she might be some kind of demon.”

            “Don’t demons appear as four-winged alicorns with their flesh singed off?”  Master Cake contributed to the conversation.

            “Sister Cheerilee says they c’n also disguise themselves as ponies or possess a dark soul that invites them in,” Apple Bloom replied as she tried to sneak a look out the window, only to have Applejack pull the curtain closed in front of her face.

            “Apple Bloom!  What d’you think you’re doin’?” Applejack demanded.

            “I’ve never seen a zebra before,” the filly said, only to be cut off by her elder sister before she could say any more.

            “The sight’s not fit for a wee foal like you!  Get back from th’ window!” Applejack ordered as Apple Bloom skulked away.

            “Where did she come from?” Twilight asked the rest of the ponies, leaving the Apple family to sort out its own matters.

            “She first showed up around a decade ago,” Rarity explained, “She only comes to Ponieville once in a great while and avoids all contact with ponies while she’s here.  After everypony who ever followed her when she left town was cursed or never returned, we started avoiding her as well.”

            “So, nopony knows where she lives?” Twilight asked.

            “Oh, we know where she lives all right,” Applejack replied, “Her lair is somewhere in th’ Everfree Forest.”

            The Everfree Forest?  Why would anyone choose to live there?  Unless, like the Children of the Night, they were hiding for some reason.  Could this zebra truly be a malicious woods witch?  She could be obscuring her powers now somehow, and when she is in the Everfree Forest, not even Celestia would be likely to detect her.  

            “See, Twilight, that proves that she’s a wicked witch,” Pinkamena said as she produced a lute, “I even wrote a ballad about her evil deeds in the Everfree.”

            “Not again,” Dash groaned.

            “Pinkamena,” Twilight said firmly as she magically removed the instrument from the bard’s possession, “I do not believe the situation calls for musical accompaniment.   This is not a banquet nor a festival.”

            “Are you sure?” Pinkamena said plaintively, “It’s called the ‘Evil Everfree Enchantress’ and has plenty more alliteration in it.”

            “Maybe later,” Twilight said as she returned the lute, thinking of the choice comments the Cant’r Laht Enchanting Guild would have on the song’s name.

            “So, d’you believe us now, Twi’?” Applejack asked.

            “No, there is no evidence.  This situation is, quite ironically, a witch hunt,” Twilight replied, “From what you have told me, nopony has ever seen her cast a spell, nor do you know anything about her other than rumors and hearsay.  You say that ponies who followed her disappeared, but they went into the Everfree Forest, so is that really a surprise?  Also, you say she avoids contact with ponies, but then what reason would she have to come to Ponieville?  I find it more likely that this town has shunned her from the start.  Perhaps somepony ought to talk to her and find out the truth!”

            The rest of the ponies in the room objected, presenting Twilight with ridiculous stories to prove how wicked the mysterious zebra was.  The sorceress rebuffed them all in turn, trying to conceal her own doubts on the subject even as they grew.  She might be a woods witch, after all, but hiding here won’t accomplish anything; don’t they see that?  Only one pony was not spending her time trying to prove to Twilight that she ought to be frightened of the zebra.  After hearing Twilight’s suggestion that speaking to the zebra to ascertain the truth would be the best method, Apple Bloom made the decision to take it upon herself to do so (since she wouldn’t be allowed to do anything here in Sugar Cube Corner) and snuck out the back of the bakery.

            “Sometimes she digs at the ground with her hoof,” Rainbow Dash presented more evidence against the zebra as she pantomimed the action.

            “And just what is so wrong with that?” Twilight asked with exasperation.  Of course, it isn’t normal, but it isn’t exactly malicious either.  

            “What if she’s digging up innocent creatures to mix into her witch’s brews?” Fluttershy asked fearfully.

            “Or burying evil talismans to curse the town!” Rarity suggested.

            “Have you ever found cursed talismans where she has dug?” Twilight asked.

            “Well, no,” Rarity admitted, “But if she were burying them to place a curse on Ponieville, they would vanish before their target could dig them up, wouldn’t they?”

            “Hey!  Where’s Apple Bloom at?” Applejack interrupted before Twilight Sparkle could launch into a lecture on the principles of magically invested objects.

            The other ponies murmured worriedly as they looked around for the little filly, but she was nowhere to be seen.  A search ensued, which revealed nothing other than that the rear door of Sugar Cube Corner was unlatched.

            “That witch stole m’ sister!” Applejack exclaimed as they looked out on an empty street.

            “Calm down; I’m sure she just headed home,” Mistress Cake said, though she didn’t look too convinced.

            “Or she decided to follow the zebra after somepony put the idea in her head that talking to her would be a good idea,” Rainbow Dash said, giving Twilight the stink eye.

            “Even if she did, I am confident no harm will befall her because of it,” Twilight said, “Regardless, we should go look for her.  There are still other things that could hurt her between here and the Everfree Forest.  Spike, you stay here while we search, so that you can let Apple Bloom know where we are if she returns.”

            Without further delay, the six ponies departed Sugar Cube Corner to search for Apple Bloom.  Twilight Sparkle looked at the small, hoof-dug holes in the ground as they passed, wondering if she had missed something vital about this zebra.


***


            Apple Bloom was regretting her decision more and more by the minute as she trudged through the undergrowth of the Everfree Forest.  Strange and sinister noises came from all around her, and she was certain that she’d seen eyes staring at her out of the darkness more than once.  The zebra had been finishing up her meandering tour of Ponieville when she’d passed Sugar Cube Corner and was now trotting briskly back to her home (wherever that was).  Apple Bloom had been closing in on her, but hadn’t yet worked up the courage to approach and speak to her directly, and meanwhile the forest was closing in around her.

            “Apple Bloom!” her elder sister’s voice broke through the forest air, and the zebra was startled by the sudden shout.

            Spying the little filly for the first time, the zebra took off into the forest, and Apple Bloom tried to follow.  She was swiftly overtaken as the Brave Companions galloped around her and Applejack held her in place.  She struggled to get free and follow the zebra while she could still see her, but she had disappeared into the tangled mass of trees.

            “Apple Bloom!  What were y’thinkin’?” Applejack demanded, “You’re lucky we made it here in time afore that witch cooked you in one o’ her brews!”

            “Where is she?  Twilight’s right; it’s about time we take care of this once and for all,” Rainbow Dash said as she glanced at the sword strapped to her side.

            “That was not my intention in the slightest,” the sorceress protested, “I was merely saying that we ought to speak to her before we pass judgement.”

            “There she is!” Fluttershy screamed as she pulled her hood over her head and pointed into the bushes.

            Sure enough, the zebra was moving through the forest not far away.  She stopped and turned to look at the assembled ponies for a moment, her eyes glowing in the dim light.  Pinkamena began to bound through the undergrowth toward her, but stopped short when the zebra’s voice rang out across the distance.

            “Hua issea’rivez, issea’rivez!  Hua ortea’mistir niek azond hua balti!”

            “Do something, Twilight!” Rarity pleaded, “She’s trying to curse us!  Cast your own spells against her!”

            “She is not casting a spell,” Twilight said, “She is speaking Zebrikaanian, though not a dialect I am fluent in.  Something about suffering; she wants us to go back.”

            “Of course she does,” Rainbow Dash said, “I bet we’re close to her lair.  Is she threatening to curse us with suffering?”

            “Shaman!” the zebra addressed Twilight, recognizing her sorceress robes, “Exis’iy toovo’abray!  Hua issea’rivez!”

            “I do not think so, but it is hard to tell,” Twilight said with a frown, “Grazit!  Iedé ritoz’te?  Oré okioz’tor sanz’te!”

            The zebra tilted her head curiously, recognizing the tongue of the empire her homeland resided in.  Unfortunately, she had never learned the fancy capital dialect of Zebrikaanian that Twilight was speaking, and the sorceress’s attempts to bridge the language gap were in vain.

            “You go leave!” the zebra yelled, trying to get through with the little Low Equestrian she understood, “You stay, you will being hurt!”

            “Okay, that was definitely a threat,” Rainbow Dash said before galloping toward the zebra.

            “Stop!” Twilight commanded as she galloped forward with her friends.

            “Oake!  Zen exis’iy!” the zebra shouted before galloping away.

            As the zebra finished speaking, Twilight Sparkle felt a tingle pass through her body.  Did she just curse me?  Was I wrong and this zebra was a witch all along?  But, then, why did I not detect any magic in Ponieville?  Did she conceal it until entering the protection of the Everfree Forest?  How can this be!  

            The others didn’t notice that they had left Twilight behind.  The sorceress stood alone in the undergrowth, trying to determine what had happened, while everypony else tore through the Everfree Forest looking for the zebra.  Everypony except for Apple Bloom, that is, who was still standing where Applejack had left her.

            She could be anywhere,” Rainbow Dash announced as the five ponies stumbled back into view, “Not even I can track her through this forest.  The only reason we got this far was by following Apple Bloom’s trail.”

            “Speaking of which, just what d’you think y’ were doin’?” Applejack demanded of her younger sister as she emerged from the brush, “Who knows what kind o’ curse that witch could’ve put on you!  We’re lucky we scared her off afore she could do anything t’ us.”

            “You mean none of you felt anything?” Twilight asked, awakening from her shock.

            “Did you sense a curse?” Fluttershy asked the sorceress, dreading the response.

            They all think this zebra is a witch.  Even if she is, I have no proof, and there is no need to go spreading panic.  I didn’t sense much anyway, and this is the Everfree Forest so it could have been anything.  

            “No, it was nothing.  I must have imagined it,” Twilight assured the group as well as herself.  Yes, I just imagined it, what with all this talk of curses.  Everything will be fine, I am sure.  


***


            Twilight Sparkle awoke the next morning to a splitting headache.  After returning from the Everfree Forest, she had searched Golden Oak’s laboratory for any information on zebras, but the deceased mage’s collection was sadly lacking on the subject.  The only new thing she had learned had come from the books the sorceress had brought herself from Cant’r Laht.  The zebras of Zebrikaania worshipped the sun, and said their prayers at dawn, noon, and dusk.   It had been midday when the zebra had passed Sugar Cube Corner, which explained what she’d been doing flailing about in the street.  There was nothing on zebra magic, though, and Twilight didn’t feel that the matter was urgent enough to ask Celestia to send books immediately.

            Despite assuring herself that no curse had befallen her, and researching zebras to the best of her ability, Twilight’s sleep was incredibly restless.  She was plagued with dreams of curses, with Pinkamena singing a dreadful ballad the whole while.  Dragging herself out of bed in the morning, the sorceress made her way down to the laboratory’s kitchen.  Flinching as her head throbbed, she began to make herself some willow tea.

            She mumbled an incantation to boil the water faster, but it remained as cold as before.  Grumbling, Twilight struggled through the pain to say each word of the incantation precisely, but she met with no more success than with her first attempt.  Is it my focus?  No, that can’t be it.  This spell is incredibly simple, and I have cast it in just such a situation before.  Could it be . . . ?  

            Twilight Sparkle tried other incantations of varying difficulties, but none even showed a sign of being cast.  She was unable to cast any spell, nor could she even channel the magical energy within her or sense its presence.  I’m without magic!  This has to be a nightmare!

            “Spike!” Twilight called for her page, hoping that he could help establish if this were a dream or reality.

            “Yes, Twilight?” Spike answered, having been up since before sunrise running errands.

            “What is today’s date?”

            “The first day of the third month, Year 1000 of the Fourth Age,” Spike answered, raising a scaly eyebrow quizzically.

            “No, that is no good.  Of course the date would correspond to whatever I perceive it to be,” Twilight spoke to herself, “What question could I ask that I would not have even an expected answer for?”

            “What are you doing?” Spike asked as Twilight scrunched up her face in thoughtfulness.

            “I am trying to determine if this is reality or a dream,” the sorceress answered before going back to trying to think of a question to stump her subconscious.

            “Don’t you have a spell you can use even in a dream to determine reality?”

            “Yes, but that is of no use without the ability to use magic,” Twilight mentioned casually and went back to thinking.

            Spike was aghast.  “Did I misunderstand, or did you just say that you can’t use magic?”

            “Could you get the door, Spike?” Twilight said, realizing that the banging on the laboratory’s door wasn’t just in her head. Or is it?  

            Spike was thrown back as soon as he unlocked the door as Pinkamena let herself in.  She immediately galloped over to where Twilight was still trying to puzzle things out.  Opening her mouth wide, she shoved it in the sorceress’s face, as if inviting her to examine it, and danced about animatedly.

            “What are you doing here, Pinkamena?” Twilight Sparkle said, pushing the mare away, “And how many times must I remind you about personal space?”

            Pinkamena looked plaintively at Twilight, but didn’t voice the reason for her visit.  Instead she tried to pantomime her response, producing a lute from her tail and strumming it while pretending to sing.  Or is she singing and I just cannot hear it?  Is something wrong with my ears too?  No, I can still hear the lute.  

            “Listen, Pinkamena, I do not have time for this,” Twilight said after the pantomiming had gone on for far too long, “I have an important problem I need to take deal with myself.”

            “She’s trying to tell you that—despite your skepticism—that zebra witch cursed us after all,” Rainbow Dash said as she trotted into the laboratory though the still-open door, her wings hanging heavily at her sides, “Of course, she can’t tell you, because the witch stole her voice!”

            Pinkamena nodded her assent, then strummed her lute again.

            “I’m not going to sing your ballad for you,” Rainbow Dash said and Pinkamena’s face sank, “Well, madam sorceress, what do you have to say to this?”

            “What is wrong with your wings?” Twilight asked with trepidation, dread creeping up inside of her.

            “Oh, you noticed, did you?” Rainbow Dash said angrily, “When I woke up this morning, I found that the muscles in my wings had atrophied.  That’s right, I can’t fly.  That witch stole Pinkamena’s voice and my flight.”

            “And my attractiveness,” a new voice sniffled from the doorway.

            The pony standing there was covered in a heavy cloak that must have been stifling in the summer heat.  Any flesh not covered by the cloak was wrapped in rags and scraps of cloth.  Even without being able to see the pony beneath the garments, it was evident that she was horribly deformed.  Twilight could make out signs of a humpback and a twisted spine at the least.

            “Rarity, is that you?” Spike asked, approaching cautiously.

            “Don’t look at me!” Rarity cried as she ran and tried to hide behind a table.

            Her sudden shift in location opened up the doorway for Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Fluttershy to enter the laboratory.  Applejack was sitting on a wheeled pallet, being pushed in by Apple Bloom.  It only took one look at her withered legs for Twilight to realize what had been taken from the farmer.  Fluttershy was less obvious.  In fact, she seemed to be perfectly fine.

            “Well, Twi’, d’you believe us now?” Applejack asked angrily, “That witch has gone an’ put a curse on all o’ us!”

            “Even Fluttershy?” Twilight inquired, having been unable to determine exactly what could have been taken from the druidess.

            Fluttershy shuffled uncomfortably for a few seconds, all eyes on her.  She had arrived with Applejack and Apple Bloom, and they seemed to know what was the matter with her, but didn’t say.  Instead, Applejack motioned for Fluttershy to come out with it, and Apple Bloom cringed.

            “Even I,” Fluttershy said with a grating, guttural voice not so unlike that of the dragon they’d faced a couple weeks earlier, but much darker and with a deeply unsettling undertone.  Had Twilight Sparkle been religious, she would have likened it to the voice one would expect from a demon.

            “The animals in my care all ran away,” the druidess whimpered, deeply disturbing with her voice, “I can’t perform my druidic duties.  It’s dreadful!”

            “Did she curse you too, Twilight?” Rarity asked quietly, trying not to draw attention to herself.

            “She can’t use her magic,” Spike answered before Twilight could.

            “Well, that’s perfect,” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically, “I guess there was no point coming here to get some magical help against that witch.  We’ll just have to take care of her the hard way.”

            “Now see here!” the sorceress put her hoof down before things got out of control, “We do not know for sure that she is a witch.  Tragedy has befallen us, yes, but that is no reason to lash out until we are certain what caused our misfortunes.  Despite all that has happened, I am still not wholly convinced that the zebra is to blame.  I did not sense any magic coming from her yesterday.”

            “And now you can’t use magic at all,” Rainbow Dash snorted, “If she could take away your magic, don’t you think she’d also be able to hide her own from you?”

            Twilight prepared an objection, but stopped short.  What if that truly was what had happened?  Yes, it broke several fundamental arcane rules, but those rules had been discovered and recorded by ponies, not zebras.  What if zebra magic didn’t follow the same fundamental rules?  What if magical potential really could be hidden even from the most powerful spells, and act without giving off any indication that an enchantment was being cast at all?  What if she was wrong, and had missed her only opportunity to stop this yesterday, when she’d still had her magic?

            “We return to the last place we saw her yesterday and scour the Everfree for her lair,” Rainbow Dash was saying, part of a conversation that had gone on while Twilight was lost in her own thoughts, “Once we find it, we force her to reverse her curses.”

            “And if she will not or cannot do so, what then?” Twilight asked.

            “We persuade her t’ change her mind, isn’t that right?” Applejack said, looking at Rainbow, who nodded and shifted her sword belt.

            “Are you going to kill her?  How will that solve anything?” the sorceress objected.

            “Don’t kill her until after she’s reversed the curse!” Rarity pleaded, “We can’t live like this.  I can’t live like this!”

            “Where did Apple Bloom go?” Fluttershy asked, and looked stunned when the room instantly became silent, “Sorry, I’m used to ponies just talking over me.”  

            “Where is Apple Bloom?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking around the room.

            “She wandered off again!” Applejack said frantically, “I knew I should’ve sent her back t’ th’ farm when we met Fluttershy, afore she got th’ idea in her head again t’ go look for that witch!”

            “Well, let’s get moving!” Rainbow Dash said, making for the door, “The witch didn’t curse her yesterday; maybe she’ll be able to lead us to her lair!”

            “Spike, I have to go and make sure they don’t do anything foolish,” Twilight told her page, “I want you to research what may have caused all our afflictions, besides a curse.  Contact Celestia if you think it will help.  Just try to do something to help.”

            The rest of the ponies had taken off after Rainbow Dash, except for Applejack, who was trying to wheel herself out of the laboratory.  Twilight took the job of pushing the farmer upon herself and followed after the group.


***


            Nothing looked familiar anymore to Apple Bloom.  It hadn’t been difficult at first to retrace her steps from the day before; the undergrowth that had been trampled underhoof had yet to recover on the fringes of the Everfree Forest.  Deeper in, though, the strange forces present here had already regenerated the foliage, and the filly was soon lost.  The Everfree Forest was closing in on her again, and this time she didn’t have the sight of the zebra to use as a reference point.

            “Faust, Ekkele’r Sietir, eirie Noya othel Ye nof olithel Ye’ker briett,” Apple Bloom quietly recited what Sister Cheerilee had taught her.

            Just when she was about to give up hope and try to return to Golden Oak’s laboratory or the Apples’ farm, she caught a glimpse of movement through the trees.  A pony-shaped figure moved through the foliage, brambles tugging at the heavy cloak wrapped around her.  Praying that it wasn’t a foul demon or cultist of the Children of the Night, Apple Bloom carefully moved forward.

            It turned out to be the zebra from the day before, who she’d been looking for this whole time.  She was searching the forest undergrowth, uprooting plants and examining them before either approving and tucking them into the satchel at her side or disapproving and throwing them away.  As she worked, she mumbled to herself in a sing-songy tone in her native language.

            Apple Bloom moved slowly closer, trying to remain inconspicuous.  She had ventured into the Everfree Forest to speak to this zebra, but now needed to work up the courage to actually do so.  The fears of her elder sister and her friends were beginning to worry her more now, as she would have nothing to protect herself from a curse if this zebra truly was a witch.  But, she also remembered Madam Twilight Sparkle’s absolute rejection of those fears, and Twilight was an important and learned sorceress from Cant’r Laht.  Not to mention what Sister Cheerilee had taught her, that Faust’s love was to be shown to everyone, even non-ponies.  After all, the goddess was the Ekkele’r Sietir: Mother to All.  As the zebra began to walk away, she made her move.

            “Excuse me?” the filly’s voice squeaked, and the zebra spun around in surprise, wielding her walking stick as a weapon until she realized it was just a foal confronting her, “You’re not a witch, are y’?”

            The zebra’s brow furrowed at the word “witch,” but the meaning of the rest of the sentence wasn’t entirely understood by her.

            “Mun negirifo’ahir-exis,” the zebra said firmly, though she knew the filly standing before her probably couldn’t understand a word of it.

            “Are y’saying you’re not a witch?” Apple Bloom asked, “I don’t think y’ are.”

            “Me … not is witch,” the zebra said, trying to recall the Low Equestrian she’d learned all those years earlier and piece the words together into something sensible.

            “Oh good, I didn’t think so,” Apple Bloom sighed, “Th’ others were cursed an’ they think y’ were th’ one who did it.  They’re probably out here lookin’ for y’ by now.”

            “Others,” the zebra said, thinking back to the ponies who’d tried to attack her yesterday, and the shaman who’d tried to hold them back, “Cursed is ... exis?  Hum, bad magic?”

            “Yes!” Apple Bloom said, overjoyed that they were able to communicate, “Exis.  Y’were yellin’ that yesterday.  Y’ didn’t curse ‘em, did y’?”

            “No,” the zebra said, shaking her head to emphasize the point, “Me not did cursed.”

            “D’you know how it happened?” Apple Bloom asked, and the zebra looked puzzled, “Why they’re cursed?”

            “Hum, yes,” the zebra said after translating the question.

            “D’you know how t’ fix it?  Can y’ undo th’ curse?”

            “Yes, me can … hum, heal cursed,” the zebra said and started walking away, “Need going to home of I.”

            “Oh, good, m’sister will be glad t’ get her strength back, an’-” Apple Bloom chatted up the zebra as she followed through the undergrowth beside her, but ceased her prattle when the zebra suddenly grabbed her and pulled the filly towards her.

            “Stay … close,” the zebra ordered sternly, “Cursed is here.”

            Applebloom looked at the foliage around her.  Cursed is here.  Glancing nervously around, the filly followed the zebra, careful to stay close and in her hoofsteps.


***


            “The trail leads deeper in,” Rainbow Dash announced some time later, rising up from examining the hoofprints hidden beneath the displaced undergrowth, “Apple Bloom was here not long ago, and she wasn’t the only one.”

            “Did she find th’ witch?” Applejack asked anxiously, knowing what the answer would probably be.

            The farmer’s pallet hadn’t made it very far into the dense Everfree Forest before it would roll no further, so Applejack was now draped over Fluttershy’s back.  The druidess didn’t protest, though the farmer had to be a serious burden to her.  The little grunts of exertion she gave every so often were deeply disturbing in her demonic voice, though.

            “She left tracks we can follow this time,” Rainbow Dash replied as she advanced through the forest, leading the others along a trail only she could recognize, “Bad news is, it looks like Apple Bloom was following her.”

            “Why ever would she do so alone?” Rarity inquired, cringing when the others looked her way and only continuing her thought once they averted their eyes, “She left before we’d laid out our plan, and she has no method of fighting that witch.”

            “She’s probably going t’ try t’ talk t’ her,” Applejack said, glaring at Twilight.

            “Is there any way to tell how far behind the zebra Apple Bloom was following?” the sorceress asked Rainbow Dash, outwardly ignoring Applejack’s concerns but inwardly worried that she had pushed her friend’s younger sibling into a dangerous (and potentially deadly) situation.

            “Judging by the tracks, they were close, though I’m not sure exactly how close,” the Hunter answered, checking the trail again before moving on.

            “So, it is possible that Apple Bloom has already spoken to her, and judging by the tracks, nothing bad came of it,” Twilight said, assuring herself that that was the case.

            “Or she was bewitched into following the zebra!” Rarity panicked.

            “Is she going to eat Apple Bloom?” Fluttershy exclaimed.

            “Calm down, everypony,” Twilight ordered, “Now that is truly an old mares’ tale.  Even if this zebra does turn out to be a woods witch, no woods witch has ever eaten other ponies.”  Twilight was incorrect in saying that, but it wouldn’t have helped her peace of mind nor that of the ponies she was trying to calm down if she’d known the truth.  As she’d told Spike, most legends had some grain of truth, and witches luring foals away to cook in a stew was not nearly as uncommon as the sorceress believed.

            The Brave Companions (not appearing to live up to their name in the least) weren’t very convinced, and still looked around nervously as they trudged through the Everfree Forest.  After all, most of them were suspicious of Twilight’s claims the day before about the zebra, now that they were all suffering from apparently magical afflictions.  Given how wrong the sorceress appeared to have been about things before, they weren’t inclined to believe her assurances now.

            “The witch’s lair!” Rarity exclaimed, hiding behind a tree, as the ponies entered a small clearing several minutes later.

            “It does not appear to be a lair.  It looks more like a cottage,” Twilight observed.

            “A rather queer cottage, if y’ ask me,” Applejack announced.

            Twilight had to admit that she had a point.  It was clearly a dwelling built by an equine, but the structure was not quite the same as the homes in the Ponieville countryside.  If the sorceress had seen zebra architecture before, she would have realized this as a fusion of it and contemporary pony dwellings, but none of the books on zebras she’d been able to get her hooves on had illustrations or descriptions of zebra villages, so the home appeared just as Applejack had described it: queer.  The wood it was made from was also strange, though that was easily explained.  Never in the lifetime of anypony living, apart from Celestia and Luna, had the Everfree Forest been logged, for ponies feared the wild woods, not entirely without cause.  It wasn’t just the monsters and the strange disruption of magic that drove ponies away, but the sinister forces that dwelt here in the ground and air and plants themselves.

            Around the cottage was a small garden.  Twilight recognized many of the plants growing there as common ingredients used to make potions and poisons.  Perhaps the zebra was an alchemist, but who would she sell her concoctions to? That was when Twilight noticed the bones, about the same time as Fluttershy, judging by screech that rang out.  Rainbow Dash clapped her hooves over the druidess’s mouth to silence her, hopefully before the zebra heard, if she was home.  The sorceress crept forward to better examine what had given her such a start.  Next to the cottage was a scorched pile of pony bones mixed with scraps of burnt clothing.  How could I have been so wrong?!  Apple Bloom!

            “Rainbow Dash,” the sorceress beckoned for the Hunter’s attention.

            “You believe us now, don’t you?” the pegasus said, her face set in a hard expression as she drew her sword and advanced toward the cottage.

            Twilight peered in through a window, confirming that the zebra was home.  The cottage only had one room, and the zebra was standing in the middle of it, next to a cauldron whose rim came up to her chest.  The sorceress inhaled suddenly when she saw that Apple Bloom was dangling over the cauldron, the back of her tunic held in the zebra’s teeth.

            The door flew open as Rainbow Dash kicked it in, sword poised and ready.  She tripped over her wings and faceplanted almost immediately after entering the cottage, but it was still enough to shock the zebra and she released her grip on Apple Bloom, dropping her into the cauldron.

            “Oake!” the zebra proclaimed, looking at the thick liquid the foal was submerged in.

            “Not okay!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she regained her hooves .

            Taking up her sword again, the Hunter charged the zebra, who grabbed a long spoon in her teeth to fend off the attack.  Rainbow Dash anticipated the zebra’s moves, and thrust her own weapon under the block.  She was stunned when her blade struck the spoon’s handle.  The zebra had not moved as she’d expected, and was retreating from the Hunter.  Then, she moved swiftly forward, and with a swing of her spoon, knocked the Hunter’s legs out from under her.

            The zebra swung her spoon at the cauldron, rocking as Apple Bloom tried to get free, but it was knocked from her grasp before it made contact.  Pinkamena swung her lute at her like a weapon, but the zebra managed to grab her walking stick to fend off further attacks.  The lute’s strings twanged discordantly as it met the zebra’s staff.  Finally managing to knock the lute from Pinkamena’s grasp with a strike of her hoof, she struck the bard over the head with her walking stick, dropping her to the ground.  Realeasing the walking stick, the zebra spun around and struck out with her hooves at the cauldron.  Her legs were wrapped up by a bolas thrown by Rainbow Dash before they could hit the pot, and she was thrown across the room.

            “Oake!” she cried out, “Appa’Bloem!”

            Twilight entered the cottage just in time to see a magical aura materialize around the zebra.  The beads in her mane vibrated as she released the sorcery into the floor in front of her.  Ice sprouted up in a line before her, narrowly missing Rainbow Dash as she sidestepped the attack.  The channel of ice ended beneath the cauldron, where it extinguished the fire and thrust upward, overturning the cooking pot.  The brew spilled across the floor, and a drenched Apple Bloom emerged, coughing potion out of her lungs.

            The zebra freed herself from the bolas and searched for something to defend herself, but nothing was within her reach.  Rainbow Dash advanced, avoiding the fading magical frost, and staying attentive in case the zebra tried to surprise her again.

            “Oake!  Tun iekea!  Tun nuko’foret niek tun runta!”

            “We’ll not have you casting any more curses!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed as she raised her sword to strike.

            “Stop!” Apple Bloom cried as she placed herself between the Hunter’s sword and the zebra, “She didn’t do nothin’!”

            “Apple Bloom!” Applejack exclaimed, shocked by her younger sister’s forwardness, “How can y’ say that lookin’ at what’s happened t’ all of us!”

            “She had nothin’ t’ do with it,” Apple Bloom defended the zebra behind her, “The curses were already out in th’ woods, an’ she tried t’ warn you.”

            “Apple Bloom, spells do not just appear out of thin air,” Twilight Sparkle lectured, though the last day had severely shaken her certainty in what she knew about magic, but she was fairly positive that this point was infallible, “Somepony had to have placed them there.”

            “Bad ponies.  Ponies with hoods did cursed there,” the zebra spoke up, and Apple Bloom moved aside to let them see she was demonstrating with her own hood in case her words were incorrect, then switched to pantomiming praying and pointing at the sky as she continued to force the words out, “Ponies did worship night.  Me did stop ponies.”

            After too long a span of uncertainty and blurriness, everything suddenly snapped into focus for Twilight Sparkle.  There were spells in the forest where we found Apple Bloom, placed there by somepony else as a trap.  I couldn’t sense them until they were activated because the Everfree was interfering with my magical abilities.  She tried to warn us?  Orders to stay back, warnings about suffering.  That had to have been it, only we misunderstood the source of the suffering.  Exis, she said that several times.  Could it be another word for Yíx, Zebrikaanian for hex, an enchantment placed on an object or area triggered by certain conditions?  

            “The Children of the Night,” Twilight said aloud.

            “Yes,” the zebra nodded, recognizing the name of the cult hiding out in the Everfree Forest too, “Did cursed land, take thing … hum, dear to you.”

            The hexes took what was most dear to us.  I lost my magic, Pinkamena her voice, Fluttershy her ability to communicate with animals, Rainbow Dash her flight, Applejack her strength, and Rarity her beauty.  The Children of the Night are to blame, and this zebra tried to stop them.  So, the burned bones and scorched midnight-blue cloth were from them.  This zebra is no evil witch.  She is a woods witch, but not harmful at all, in fact taking the fight to the Children of the Night where no decent pony would dare to venture.  I was right all along!  

            Of course, Twilight realized that being right didn’t matter so much since in the end she’d been swayed to the others’ way of thought. I was ready to kill her just as much as anypony else!  Fear does strange things to a pony’s mind.  One can be logical and intelligent, but it doesn’t take much to tip you over the edge and join in mob mentality.  I should have recognized all these things earlier, but I was blind.  Still, that’s no excuse.  

            “Please, forgive us,” Twilight said, stretching her forelegs before her and bowing her head in a gesture of apology (finally, something she’d learned from the books the night before that she could use.)

            The zebra was shocked to see this from the sorceress, as were the other ponies.

            “What’re y’ doin’ Twi’?” Applejack asked, befuddled, and Twilight explained what she had realized to them.  Soon the other Brave Companions were mimicking the sorceress and expressing regret for their actions.

            “See, there’s no reason t’ be afeared o’ Zecora,” Apple Bloom said.

            “Zecora, is that your name?” Rarity asked.

            “Mun coolo Li’Panid Zecor’ah-Hizzarah rei’Zasr” replied Li’Panid Zecor’ah-Hizzarah rei’Zasr.

            Since nopony (not even Twilight) understood the structure of zebra names, they decided that she was confirming Apple Bloom’s understanding, that she went by Zecor’ah, even though her given name was truly only Zecor .

            “Hold it,” Applejack said to Apple Bloom, “Why were y’ hangin’ over that cauldron?”

            “I wanted t’ take a look,” the filly said innocently, “It was fine ‘til somepony broke down the door.”

            “Yeah, sorry about that,” Rainbow Dash said sheepishly, before realizing that her sword was still unsheathed and hurriedly sheathing it.

            “Zecora was tryin’ t’ make a potion t’ reverse your curses,” Apple Bloom said, looking at the pool of brew seeping through the cottage’s floorboards.

            “Oh dear, we ruined it,” said Fluttershy, looking longingly at the cure for their afflictions slowly vanishing into the soil beneath the home.

            “Once again, I beseech you to accept our apology,” Twilight Sparkle said, hoping her tone was overly apologetic enough to get her point across without prostrating herself again, “Could we trouble you to make another batch of the potion, or to give me the formula?”

            “Yes, more lier-maniz … hum, potion,” Zecor said after squinting for several seconds and trying to determine the sorceress’s intention, “I must make.  Needs magic.  Better magic is at Ponieville.”

            Better magic?  There were rumors that zebras could tap into wells of magical energy buried in the earth, but no pony sorceress had been able to accomplish such a feat, so they were dismissed as rumors.  Could this be why Zecora was digging at the ground in town?

            “You want to go to Ponieville?” Twilight asked, pointing in the direction of the village, and Zecor nodded.

            “The townsponies will never stand for it,” Rarity interjected, “You saw how fearful we were yesterday, and we weren’t the only ones.  The town guards have shut the gates to keep her out of Ponieville more than once.”

            “They will not accept her right away, no, but I believe the word of the Brave Companions will go a long way toward helping things,” Twilight said before addressing Zecor directly, “We want you to be welcome in Ponieville any time.”

            Zecor gave a slight smile at Twilight’s invitation, but behind that smile was still uncertainty.  These ponies certainly seemed earnest in their apparent invitation of welcome, but they had been trying to kill her just minutes earlier, believing her to be a witch.  It was so alike to Providence, and she would not let herself become vulnerable again.  The burn scars that covered her body and the bones of her husband buried behind the cottage would never allow her to forget the terribly cruelty ponies were capable of against one that looked different than themselves.  She would remain here, in the Everfree Forest, where no pony would go without the desire to harm her, but perhaps it would not be out of the question to venture in to Ponieville for more than just to search for herbs and wells of magic.  Perhaps, and time would tell if the ponies here were any different.


***


My dearest mentor, Celestia,

            I am writing to you to request that you send all books on zebra culture, customs, and magic from the Cant’r Laht archives with the next trade caravan to Ponieville.  I would also request any information you can provide on the dialect of Zebrikaanian spoken in the province Cainhira.  I know you are in contact with the Zebrikaanian Padishah and hoped it would not be too much of an imposition to ask you to speak with him about acquiring such materials if they are not available.  In addition to the resources listed above, I would also ask for any books on learning High and Low Equestrian written with speakers of Zebrikaanian in mind.  To avoid allowing this letter to stretch longer than necessary, expect context on these requests to be explained in my weekly report.  



Your faithful apprentice,

Twilight Sparkle



Twilight Sparkle



Dictated to Spike the Dragon