Jelly told Twilight about the chicks and her suggestion for a solution.
“That’s a good idea. I’m sure that I can spread the word and have any volunteers meet at Fluttershy’s cottage,” Twilight said with an appreciative smile.
Before Jelly could reply, Rarity gaped at her flank, “Why you have your cutie mark!”
“Wow, I’m sorry I didn’t notice it before.” Twilight craned her head to get a better look at Jelly’s flank.
It seemed that her cutie mark was getting as much attention as her blank flank did. “Uh yes, it came in yesterday.”
“A bandaged heart.” Twilight inspected the mark thoughtfully. “It could be assumed that it entails medical care, but there are a lot of cutie marks that are symbolic. Like Cheerilee’s smiling flowers.”
“I’m not really sure what it means.” Jelly shrugged. Then she wondered what Victory’s teardrop represented? Or Winter’s for that matter?
“Pinkie Pie will want to throw you a cute-ceanera when she sees it,” Rarity warned her.
“What? Oh no! There’s no need. It’s not really a big deal.” Jelly blushed as she drew back, wishing that she had worn a skirt to hide her mark.
“No big deal!” Rarity exclaimed bewildered. “Getting a cutie mark is a very important time in a pony’s life and it’s to be celebrated.”
Twilight shot Rarity a hard look which silent the white unicorn. She put a hoof on Jelly’s shoulder and gave her an understanding smile, “It’s alright and we understand. You did get your cutie mark a, uh, bit late. If you want, I’ll talk to Pinkie Pie about it.”
“No, no, I’ll deal with it.” Jelly really wanted to hide her butt in the snow outside. She thought it was bad enough with the attention she was getting because she had no cutie mark, but now it was worse that she received one at such an older age.
“The floor’s clean,” Sweetie Belle announced as she appeared beside Rarity.
“Did you put away the cleaning supplies?” Rarity inquired.
“Yes ma’am,” the small filly replied dutifully.
“And apologized to Spike for making a mess?”
“Uh. . .”
“Then you must go do that right now,” Rarity ordered in a sharp tone that would have made Laotaner proud.
“Alright.” Sweetie Belle laid her ears back and walked away.
The exchange between sisters caused a flutter of homesickness to touch Jelly’s heart. Her grandmother was just as strict about etiquette and manners and more than once the little girl who ran around the windmill farm would roll her eyes and at her grandmother’s insistence on proper mannerisms. Grandma would definitely approve of Rarity.
“Oh, before I forget, I need to give you your ticket to the Winter Ball.” Twilight turned away to a desk where a wooden box with a small unlocked clasp sat. She magically opened the box and two gold tickets with silver snowflakes printed on them were floated over to Jelly. They hovered there while Twilight explained, “The Princess sent tickets for everypony. She also sent one for you and your mother.”
Jelly stared at the offered ticket in disbelief. “Why did she send us tickets?”
“Well, she did invite your mother to substitute for Cheerilee,” Twilight replied.
Oh yeah, that was the believed story. If she refused the tickets, then it would seem suspicious. She took them out of the air with her teeth and tucked them away in her bag, “Thanks. I’m sure mother and I will have a good time.”
“And I’ll have to do something about your dress,” Rarity said thoughtfully as she looked at Jelly while rubbing her chin with a white hoof.
“I thought my dress was ready.”
“Your dress is fine for a small town Winter Dance, but for a Canterlot Winter Ball, changes will have to be made to make it fashionable for the nobility and elite,” Rarity tilted her head and seemed to stare off into a dance floor only she could see.
Jelly glanced at Twilight for answers, but the lavender unicorn offered a just as confusing look and rueful smile. To Rarity, the green unicorn nodded, “Okay, I’ll trust you with the dress. You do what you think is best for it.”
Her words seemed to deeply please Rarity who gave her a joyous smile and strong assurance that her dress will be magnificent for the Winter Ball. She excused herself, stating that she had to return to her boutique to make sure that the dresses were ready for tonight and she also made certain that Jelly knew what time to meet for the spa before she departed.
“Sorry about that. Rarity is . . . well, our town’s fashionista and she takes that position very seriously.” Twilight magically fashioned a scarf around her neck.
“I thought her tail and mane were burned,” Jelly commented remembering the state of the unicorn’s appearance when they returned from the mite fight.
“Oh, she came by so I can cast a hair growing spell,” Twilight explained.
“Really? You can grow hair with magic?”
“Of course! You can do lots of things with magic. I have been studying magic ever since I was a young filly and I’m still learning.”
Spike appeared by the stairs, “C’mon, Twi, stop being so modest. Just go ahead and tell her you’re the most magical unicorn in Ponyville.”
“Spike!” Twilight glared at him, but Jelly could see the faint blush on her cheeks.
“It’s true!” Spike insisted. “Twilight here used her magic to take care of an Ursa Minor.”
“Spike, stop.” Twilight stomped her hoof, trying to halt the discussion.
“What’s an Ursa Minor?” Jelly was genuinely curious. She had believed that unicorn’s ability was only levitation.
“An Ursa Minor is like a really big bear about the size of a house and Twilight vanquished it just like this!” Spike slapped his hands together as if he was crushing a fly between his palms.
“What Spike means is that I literally took care of it,” Twilight quickly interjected. “An Ursa Minor is really just a baby to an Ursa Major. I only used my magic to rock it to sleep and give it a bottle of milk . . . well, a water tower of milk and put it back in its cave.”
If it wasn’t for the way Twilight kept bashfully averting her eyes, Jelly would have assumed they were having a joke at her expense. “Wow, that is really something.”
“It’s nothing really. The Princess can do so much more than me. She can raise the sun after all.” Twilight coughed and quickly moved the subject onto other topics. “I’ll go gather up volunteers and have them meet at Fluttershy’s. You can go ahead and enjoy the festival.”
“Are you sure that you don’t need me to come too? It’s really no problem.” Jelly followed Twilight to the doorway. She felt as if she should be involved since it was because of her idea of carrying chicks that ponies would gather around Fluttershy’s cottage. Jelly didn’t know Fluttershy for long, but she could tell the pegasus didn’t handle large crowds very well.
“It’s alright. You’ve done a lot already by checking on Fluttershy and coming up with such a great idea.” Twilight patted her on the shoulder. “Go enjoy Winter Welcome.”
Jelly tried not to feel hurt. She understood that Twilight wasn’t turning rejecting her or considered her a bother. In fact she could see how grateful the unicorn was to have her help, but her heart still stung considerably and any acceptance lessen the ache.
“C’mon, Jelly, let’s play some games!” She felt a sharp tug on her tail that sent a sharp pang along her spine. She turned around to see Apple Bloom gripping her blue tail between her teeth and giving her tail another sharp pull again before spatting out the air. “Ya can come with us!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She will never understand how a foal could have more energy in her little body than an adult. And three of them together were nearly impossible to keep up with. They ran her ragged dashing from game to game, and from stall to stall. The only rest she received were when they waited in line for an attraction or stopped to eat a snack or drink. Just as she caught her breath, the fillies would badger her to continue and pull her tail or mane if she took too long to follow.
It finally got to the point that she saw a patch of snow and stretched out in it, thanking god that she had four legs to run around on instead of two and that there was snow for her to roll in to cool her hot body. She didn’t care if she looked like a fool to any pony walking bye. Let them run with three fillies and see if they don’t take a roll in the snow.
“C’mon!” Scootaloo tapped her hooves on the cobble street. “You can’t take a nap here!”
“Watch me,” she replied as she nuzzled her face into the cool whiteness.
Apple Bloom hopped onto her back. “But we’re gonna miss the start of the parade.”
Jelly opened her eyes and batted away the tiny ice crystals from her lashes. “What?”
“The parade is gonna start soon.” Sweetie Belle put her face against Jelly’s ribs and pushed in an attempt to get her to stand. “We gotta find a place to sit!”
“Oh! Oh!” Jelly rose and nearly slipped in her haste. Apple Bloom swayed, but managed to keep her balance on the green unicorn’s back. “Quick, I got to go make sure they have what they need.”
She trotted along with Apple Bloom riding her back while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle scampered ahead. At she threaded through a dense crowd, her eyes caught Smokey standing on the other side of the street. He was with a yellow earth mare with mane and tail of two shades of orange. On her back sat Ember peeking through her mane at the ponies around. Jelly paused to watch them.
Why did she suddenly feel a pang of jealousy? No, no, it was wrong of her to feel this way. She pushed Smokey to June Bug because she didn’t want him. For her to feel any sense of jealousy was selfish and shallow. She started forward, but then her eyes landed on another couple.
Winter was standing nearly pressed side to side with a green unicorn with lime color hair with a white streak. He had a black wing drape across her back give her warmth. He was whispering into her ear and the unicorn giggled with a faint blush on her cheeks.
If Jelly didn’t know any better, it could be assumed that he liked her. But the unicorn wasn’t a human in the guise of a unicorn, that mare there was an actual pony. Not human. Wasn’t Winter aware of that? And if he had to flirt with anyone, why didn’t he want to flirt with her?
Her ears lowered as her demeanor wilted. Was there something wrong with her that made it more appealing to be with a pony?
Or made her mother not want her?
“What’s wrong, Jelly?” a sweet accented voice spoke into her ear. She craned her head to see Apple Bloom staring curiously at her.
“I’m fine. Just had some snow go up my nose.” She snorted to give support to her small lie. “Let’s go.”
The parade participates were gathered behind the City Hall building and the multitude of pastel ponies made it difficult to see Fluttershy at all. She had to duck under swung ladder carried clumsily by a dark brown pony and weave through the ponies carrying musical instruments all the while keeping Sweet Belle and Scootaloo in eyesight.
Finally, the soft chiming of beeps touched her ears and she turned her head toward the source. There were nearly a dozen ponies with chicks clinging to their backs with tiny claws. Fluttershy was carefully placing chicks onto a grey pegasus with bubbles for a cutie mark. Jelly admired the way she moved slowly and carefully so as not to disturb each check she set atop of the pegasus.
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I’ll be careful. I won’t drop any because I am always careful around babies!” the pegasus promised all the way her fluttering wings threatened to dislodge several chicks from her back.
Jelly recognized gray pony as the one that the mites kidnapped the other night. She discreetly shifted the chicks back into a safe position on Derpy’s with a hoof, “Do you need any more volunteers?”
“Oh, no. After these, they all have ponies to carry them.” Fluttershy stroked the head of a green chick with the tip of her hoof. “And I’m going to fly ahead to where the parade ends and I’ll take them home.”
“Will you need help getting the chicks home?” Jelly offered. She still felt pangs of guilt at how her mother nearly drowned a batch of chicks when they first met.
Fluttershy’s face glowed as a captivating smile bloomed across her face. Jelly would often think that if it was possible to bottle of the warmth and cheer that came from that smile, it could cure clinical depression. “It’s alright. I have a wagon waiting at the end and I can fly them all back with no problem.”
“Hi, Jelly, here to help out?” Twilight Sparkle walked up followed by an adult zebra wearing a thick robe.
Jelly tried not to stare, but she found the zebra fascinating. She had the pony shape, but not the details that she had become used to seeing. Her muzzle was squared off as a male pony, but her femininity glowed through her eyes and face. She also wore impossibly large gold hoops in her ears with a stack of gold loops around her neck. The zebra tilted her head fixing her a steady gaze from her exotic eyes.
“Yes, I wanted to make sure that you had everything you needed.” Jelly tore her eyes from the zebra.
“I think we have everything. This is Zecora by the way. She’s our resident zebra,” Twilight introduced the zebra.
“Hello, Zecora,” Jelly greeted suddenly feeling shy.
“Hey, Zecora, are ya cold?” Apple Bloom hopped off Jelly’s back to stand next to Zecora.
“Oh, yes, Apple Bloom, you must know that I am not use to all this snow,” the zebra replied in an accented rhyme. “I am wearing this thick coat to keep myself from becoming sick.”
Was she rhyming? Jelly tilted her head curiously, hoping she would say something else.
“Zecora, are you gonna go t’ the Winter Dance?” Apple Bloom asked.
“No, it’s been told that zebras sicken easily when the night is cold.”
There, she did it again! Was she rhyming on purpose was this just her speech pattern?
“Jel-Lii!” Jelly felt a too familiar tug at her tail. She turned her head to see Sweetie Belle giving her a scowl while Scootaloo held her tail in her mouth. “We gotta get good places to watch the parade!”
“Ah, yes, sorry, I got to go,” Jelly apologized with a small head bob. “It was nice meeting you, Zecora. Fluttershy, the chicks look great. Twilight, find me if you need any help.”
As she spoke, she was literally being towed away by the grip Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had on her tail and with Apple Bloom’s added assistance, the green unicorn was whisked away.
“Where does your friend come from?” Zecora asked flicking an ear making her ear hoop swing.
“Oh, she’s from north. Her mother, Victory Jam, is the substitute teacher until Cheerilee comes back. They are from the north, near the Crystal Mountains, I think.”
“She is . . . quite different.” Zecora murmured thoughtfully.
“Well, she is kinda like you. She comes from a faraway place.” Surely Zecora can understand what it’s like to be so far away from home.
“Twilight Sparkle, you wanted to speak with me? Is there something I must see?” Zecora shrugged her robe more securely on her shoulders.
“Oh, yes. It’s private . . .” Twilight glanced and was relieved to see that Fluttershy was out of earshot. She drew close to the older zebra and whispered, “What do you know about visions?”
“Visions? Dreams and Premonitions?” Zecora’s eyes widen surprised by the inquiry.
“Yes, I’ve had two experiences. The first was when magic recoiled back on me and when Discord reawakened. They are likely nothing but . . .both frightened me.” Twilight felt her ears laid back at the memory of the first horrifying nightmare.
“But they are making you awake with a worry that you cannot shake?” Zecora nodded understanding.
“Yes, I . . .logically, I know that there is very little I should worry about, but I have this feeling that something terrible is going to happen. The red comet, Apple Bloom going missing and losing her memory, and Discord . . . and the visions are all connected. The visions are a warning, but of what, I don’t know.” Twilight wanted . . . no, needed Zecora to take her seriously. Not brush off her concerns as paranoia and try to placate her soothing words.
Zecora was silent for nearly a minute. Her large wise eyes stayed on Twilight’s face and just as the lavender unicorn feared the zebra wouldn’t believe her, Zecora said, “My tribe takes any vision very seriously. Most are just dreams, but visions not heeded bring misery. Forgive me, but fortunetelling is not a skill I have, but I have one trick that might fulfill.”
The zebra tucked her head into her robe and drew out a small beaded pouch with her teeth. The beads were shades of blue and were arranged in zebratic fashion. Zecora held out the pouch going her. Twilight accepted the pouch, taking it with her magic and as it hovered before her, she listened to Zecora’s words. “Take this pouch and tomorrow put an untouched egg inside with a lock of your hair. This pouch, you must wear for one day. Keep the charm safe, do not crack the egg nor remove the pouch. After one day, come to my hut with the egg and we shall see if there is anything that would bring harm.”
Twilight closed her eyes and gave thanks to Celestia and Luna both for letting her have such a dear, dear, friend. “Thank you. Zecora. You have no idea how grateful I am for this and I promise, I will follow your instructions.”