//------------------------------// // Zecora's Curse // Story: Castle Ponyvania // by Truro //------------------------------// Chapter 5 "What should we call ourselves?" "Call ourselves?" "Call ourselves!" "Pinkie, what the heck are you talking about?" "Our team name, silly! The elements of harmony turn us into superheroes, so we need a superhero team name! How about Chibi Sentai Umaranger!" The others just looked at her blankly, as they trekked through the dark forest. "Chubby what…?" "Chibi Sentai Umaranger! It means Little Task Force: Horse Rangers!" Rainbow thought about it. "Nah. Too much of a mouthful." She was then struck by an idea, "I got it! The Fellowship of the Horseshoe!" "Ooh! Ooh! Even better! The Fillyship of the Horseshoe!" "How about the H-Ponies?" Fluttershy offered "H, for, you know, harmony?" "Oh good heavens no!" cried Rarity "Do you have any idea of how many obscene suggestions we'd get from dirty-minded teenagers, with their own interpretations of what the H would stand for?" "Like Horror!" Pinkie added, oblivious to words such as Hentai, "The Horror Movie Ponies! Actually that has a nice ring to it!" "I got it!" said Rainbow "Power Rangers Mystic Horse!" "Or the Big Sister Ponies!" Apple Jack kept walking along at the front and remained silent. Twilight was worried that a fight was going to kick-off. Apple Jack's brother had just been injured in a terrible brawl and her sister was in the clutches of three dangerously creepy vampire ponies. When family is in trouble, a girl like Apple Jack is a stack of dynamite and Pinkie was comparable to a lit match. Twilight trotted a bit faster and brought herself alongside the earth pony. "Apple Jack, is their conversation bothering you? I know, this is no time for jokes, so if you like, I'll tell Pinkie to stop." Whenever the six bearers of the elements went on any kind of mission, Twilight was usually the default leader, which meant that as well as leading the way and giving the orders, she also held the positions of map-reader, counsellor, diplomat, body-language interpreter and raffle-number caller. Much to Twilight's surprise, Apple Jack didn't seem mad at all. "Actually, it's kind of reassuring." "But what about Apple Bloom? Who knows what those monsters are doing to her?" "Exactly." Said Apple Jack, earnestly, "It don't bare thinking about. At least Pinkie's monologues help to keep my mind off it." Twilight was always the first one to admit that Apple Jack was pretty amazing; Sometimes, losing her temper at the silliest things, like the offer of help pronouncing a difficult word and yet other times she displayed the patience of a Saint. There was no middle ground for Apple Jack's emotions. It was either one extreme or the other. *-*-* Zecora was at work mixing a special brew in her hut. Wooden masks watched with interest and she poured in more ingredients. Behind her, the door opened and there stood the ever pretentious Fallen Angle. The zebra grinned. "Pompous creature of the night. Have you come for little bite? A word of caution to your plight. Be gone at once or it will be you who gets a fright." "Is that something you prepared or did you just rhyme that many times in a row by accident?" The Pegasus vampony stepped towards Zecora, eyes blazing and teeth glistening from the glow of the cauldron fire. "Can't have any goody-goody witch-doctors interfering." Zecora turned around to show off an amulet she wore around her neck. It began to glow, with an eerie white light. Fallen Jumped back in horror. Her eyes seemed to flash. They pierced the very core of his being. As she stalked menacingly towards him he backed away. The door slammed behind him. He was trapped. He began to tremble. The tables had turned and it scared the Pegasus shitless. "And now, you pathetic excuse for a foal, I return to you your Equine soul!" Fallen's scream echoed for miles around, drowning out Zecora's maniacal laughter. Twilight and the others (who still hadn't agreed on their team name) approached the hut and heard a blood curdling scream. They ran towards the terrible cry and saw Fallen take off, in a fit of terror. Zecora stood in her doorway, looking at the fleeing Pegasus with an air of very smug malevolence. "Zecora, are you alright?" The zebra turned to them. Her sadistic grin faded to a genuine kindly smile at the sight of those familiar friendly faces. "Of course. That fool will now be less of a threat, because he will soon learn the true meaning of regret." Our heroes explained the situation to their zebra friend. Wait; shouldn't that be heroines, instead of heroes? The word heroes can be used for both sexes. But none of them are male. Does it matter? Whatever word better fits, they told Zecora what had happened and she led them inside. They gathered around her cauldron as she scooped the liquid up with a clay bottle. "Take a bottle of this brew on your campaign. It purifies, so that you won't get bats on the brain." She furnished the six ponies with a flask containing the purifier and then filled a bottle for her own bag. "I will go and administer this to your brother. You must go and save Apple Bloom with the other." Zecora had a soft spot for Apple Bloom. She was the zebra's first real friend, even though it was an unusual intergenerational friendship. Pony folk used to avoid Zecora, suspecting her of wickedness. But that ended when a small yellow pony walked up to her and just asked her what she was doing. "Are you sure you'll be safe getting to sweet apple acres?" Twilight asked. "With this amulet, I will be fine. Now we must all hurry. We are short of time." After a while of walking, talking and still not being able to agree on a team name, the six brave fillies finally arrived at the ruins of the castle of the two princesses. "Here we are." Said Twilight, "My friends, this will be our greatest challenge to date. I can't promise you victory. I can't promise you good times. But what I can promise you is that there is a frightened little filly in that castle that needs our help. We may not come out of there alive, but those who do, will remember the heroic scarifies made by the ones less fortunate. If we stand together, we may…" Then she realised that she was speaking to thin air. She saw the last part of Fluttershy's tail disappear into the castle. She popped her head back out. "Are you coming, Twilight?" Twilight just signed and galloped after her friends.