The five mutated mares made their way to their missing friend Flowershy's animal care cottage. It was a quaint and cozy little place, and much like The Golden Oaks Library, looked more like a plant than a building. The place looked like someone had taken a bush, and added walls and windows to it. A large numbers of birdhouses were built on and around the house, and there were indications of burrows, dens, and other places for animals to live. Including a chicken coop. At the moment, the doors to the house were closed, and all the windows had been shuttered, making it nearly impossible to peak inside.
Walking up to the door, Rarity reached out and gave it a gentle knock.
"GO AWAY!" Flowershy shouted from inside. "NOPONY'S HOME!"
"Flowershy?" Rarity called back gently. "It's us, darling. Your friends."
"Nice to hear from you," Flowershy called out. "Now please go away!"
"May we come in?"
"Sorry, but I'm afraid now's not a good time for visitors!"
"Ugh," Rainbow Burst huffed out, rolling her eyes. "This is taking too long." Walking up to the door, she slammed her hoof on it repeatedly.
"Open up!" she shouted. "We know something weird happened to you! It happened to us as well!"
For a moment, there was silence, followed by the sound of hooves approaching the door.
"Really?" Flowershy asked, her voice now barely audible.
"Really," Rainbow confirmed.
Finally, there was a click as the door was unlocked before it opened. From the crack, a light shined blindingly bright. The five mares were all forced to look away as the door opened, covering their eyes from the brightness.
"Could you please turn that light down?" Rarity asked.
"No," Flowershy answered. "Sorry."
The light then... moved? It was hard to actually see since none could look directly at it, but it did seem to get dimmer. Pinkie was the first to recover, looking up to see the light disappear into the kitchen. Pinkie's eyes went wide in shock, her mouth falling open as she let out the sound of tires screeching on pavement.
The light suddenly grew brighter as it came out from behind the kitchen wall.
"What was that?" Flowershy asked.
"That was Pinkie Pie," Rainbow answered. Her brow furrowed as she squinted, trying to get a good look at the light.
"Hey, Shy? Is... is that light coming from you?"
A squeak came from the light as it pulled back behind the wall, hiding in the kitchen.
"...yes..." she answered.
"Wow," Applejack called out from her spot on Twilight's back. "You're like a mini sun or something."
"Indeed," Rarity agreed. "It is understandable why a pony that does not wish to draw attention would rather hide than allow others to notice such a thing."
"Thank you for understanding," Flowershy replied. "Uhm... can I offer you anything to drink?"
"Ain't no time for that," Applejack shouted. "We need to save Apple Bloom before she gets turned into a stew or somethin'."
Twilight rolled her eyes, letting out a groan.
"Labinnac a si Arocez stroppus taht ecnedive on is ereht! Moolb Ellpa tae ot gniog ton s'ehs!"
Flowershy shot out of hiding, blinding the ponies as she came to stand in front of them, nose to nose with tiny Applejack.
"Did something happen to Apple Bloom?" she asked. Had any of the others been able to see her, they would have seen that her eyes were wide and ears pulled back with worry.
"She disappeared on us at the library," Rarity answered. "We believe that she has run off to The Everfree in order to confront Zecora."
A gasp escaped Flowershy as she tensed, jumping back.
"Wh-what?" she cried out. "But it's dangerous there. She could get hurt, or frighten some of the animals there." Faster than any of them could see, she moved around them. Then with surprising earth pony strength she had never shown, the glowing mare pushed all of her friends from her home and down along the path. Since none of them were reluctant to stay behind, they quickly took to walking there on their own.
Although still worried about Apple Bloom, the group had a moment to calm so they were less so than last time they had come to The Everfree Forest. Now, as they made their way through it once more, they were able to compare it to when they had gone through when Nightmare Moon returned.
It was not as scary as it had been then. Although the canopy was thick, some light did manage to make it through, making it more shady then darkened shadows. Speaking of shadows, the ones that remained disappeared in the bright glow from Flowershy. It almost looked like a normal forest.
Almost.
None could place what it was exactly, but something about it still felt wrong.
The six of them moved quickly, finding and following the trail that they had used yesterday. The group made their way further and further into the strange forest, searching for Apple Bloom and where she may have been taken. Twilight led the way, Applejack on her head and steering with her ears and a shrunken piece of rope (much to Twilight's annoyance). They went past the spot they had caught up with Bloom yesterday, continuing on.
Eventually, the reached... a tree... that was also a house...
Rainbow Burst was starting to think that maybe The Golden Oaks Library was not as unique or strange as she had originally believed. This was the third time she had seen a house made from a plant, and the second from a tree, that she had seen since she had moved to Ponyville. Was it something exclusive to Ponyville? Maybe something that earth ponies did? If they went to the tropics, would there be houses made of palm, coconut, and banana trees? Were ponies living in cacti in the desert?
The new tree house looked short and thick, like it was stunted for some reason or other. Potion bottles were hanging from branches, tied up by vines. Several large, scary looking masks were set around the base, glaring out from around the door.
"Oh yeah," Rainbow called out as she looked around the place. "An evil witch totally lives here."
"There ain't no time to waste!" declared Applejack. With a mighty (and to some, adorable) battle cry, the tiny pegasus launched herself from Twilight's head. She was a screaming orange streak, shooting through the air and right for the door of the tree house. With all her speed and strength, she slammed into it.
At her normal size, Applejack would have hit the door with enough energy to force it open, allowing her to make a dramatic and heroic entrance.
As it was, she just ended up flattened against the wood, creating a singular knock.
"I shall be right there," a deep, smooth, feminine voice called out.
The door opened to reveal a zebra mare.
"Now, what brings you --"
Applejack wrapped her entire body around the zebra's nose, leaning in to glare at her.
"Where's Apple Bloom?"
The zebra raised an eyebrow.
"You are here for Apple Bloom?" she asked. "Then you must be Applejack, and her friends, I presume."
"You're Zecora?" Rainbow Burst asked.
Zecora turned to her and smiled, giving a nod.
"That is indeed me. It is nice to be called by name, instead of 'witch of The Everfree.'"
Rainbow let out a disappointed sigh, her ears and tails drooping as she looked down.
Pushing the door open further, Zecora stepped aside and motioned into her hut.
"Please come in and find a place to sit," she stated, "Apple Bloom should be back in just a bit."
"Ah-ha!" Applejack cried out. Flying up, she pointed a hoof at the zebra's nose. "You have seen Apple Bloom!" Bolting past her, she flew into the hut. "Where is she?" She flew over to a cauldron, filled with bubbling green liquid. Applejack let out a gasp, eyes wide. "Did you turn her into a stew?!"
"She not a stew," Rainbow stated as she walked inside. "And Twilight's right. Zecora didn't curse us."
Pinkie's eyes went wide as she opened her mouth, playing a dramatic stinger.
"SEY!" Twilight Comet cried out, wings flaring out as she threw up her forelegs. "UOY DLOT I! UOY FO LLA DLOT I! Oohoow! Tghir. Saw. I!" She then proceeded to do a little victory dance.
"Would you care to elaborate?" Rarity asked.
With a sigh, Rainbow turned and pointed at Zecora, who was shutting the door now that all six of the mares had come inside.
"She's a zebra," Rainbow pointed out. "They use nature magic, often with potions and powders." She let out another sigh.
"They don't cast curses, and they don't eat ponies. Whoever did this, it wasn't her."
"Hm," Zecora said, tapping her chin. "Perhaps I should have taken more care, when warning you that you should beware. The flowers of blue that you walked through, I tried to warn, is what did this to you."
"The flowers?" Rarity asked, stepping forward. "Do you mean those lovely blue ones we passed through while.. Uhm... chasing... you..." She shifted, looking away with a slight blush of embarrassment.
"Zecora?" Apple Bloom called out as she pushed the door open. "I'm back. And I..."
The pegasus filly stopped, noticing all adult mares that had arrived, including her older sister. As they all took notice of her, Apple Bloom gave a nervous grin, pulling down and in on herself. Saddle bags rested on her back, filled to the brim with flowers and leaves.
The nervousness suddenly vanished as her excitement turned more genuine.
"This is perfect," she declared, hopping up and fluttering her wings as she did. "Now we don't need to go lookin' for y'all when Zecora's got the antidote ready. Y'all'll be back to normal in no time."
"Great!"
"Wonderful."
"That's great to hear."
"Yllanif."
Pinkie opened her mouth, letting out a fanfare of horns.
"Now wait just an apple-buckin' minute," Applejack cried out. She turned to her little sister, pointing a hoof at her. "Don't think for one moment that you're not in trouble, young lady. Even if she ain't the one that did that to us, that's no excuse for you runnin' off into The Everfree again."
Apple Bloom moved closer to her older (and currently smaller) sister, her own brow furrowing in anger and wings spreading out a her side.
"I only did it 'cause I figured Zecora would be able to fix things," she snapped. "Which she could." She took a step forward. "'sides, none of this'd happened if you and the others had listened to me and Twilight."
"Em and Thgiliwt," Twilight said automatically.
Applejack opened her mouth and closed it. Her eyes narrowed as she took a step forward, pointing a tiny hoof.
"Don't take that tone with me," said Applejack, not really able to argue the rest of it.
"Great," Rainbow called out. "So Apple Bloom is safe, and we have what we need for the antidote. Now all we need is for Zecora to cure us and we can get back to normal."
"Hold on there," Zecora stated, holding up a hoof. "It's not so easy, I fear. While The Everfree grows much for what the cure you desire, it does not have everything which I require."
"What do you mean?" Rarity cried out.
Walking over to a table, Zecora picked up a book. She made her way back over to the group, holding it out in front of them to read.
"With this list, it can easily be seen. All of the ingredients can be easily be found, but here they do not grow, nor in this forest be found."
Rarity looked into the zebra's blue eyes a moment, then let her gaze drift to the book being held out in front of her. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned through the ingredients, taking note of each one and where they could get them.
A smile formed.
"Well, from what I see, we should have no problem," stated Rarity. "All of these are all... sold... in...." Her smiled faltered as she looked away. "Ponyville... oh dear."
Zecora simply gave a nod.
The others let out a groan of frustration.
"You mean the town that closes every time Zecora shows up?" Rainbow asked.
"Indeed so, my chromatic friend," Zecora confirmed. "I have noticed such a trend."
"But we need that stuff to get back to normal," Flowershy whimpered out. It was impossible for any of the others to see due to her shining like a miniature sun, but she was pulled in on herself, hunching down and hiding behind what would normally be her pink colored mane.
"What are we going to do?" she asked, her voice having a small whimper to it.