//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14: White With Black Stripes 
// Story: Equestrian 'Hero' 
// by InsaneMan 
//------------------------------//

Me, Twilight, and Spike was walking through Ponyville, thinking it was a gorgeous day. A few days past since the storm and luckily Twilight didn't kick me out. She said that it was just a dare, nothing more. As we walked further through town, we noticed the town was empty.

"Is it some sort of pony holiday?" Asked Spike, sitting on Twilight's back.

"Not that I know of," me and Twilight said simultaneously.

"Does my breath stink?" He asked again before burping loudly.

"I don't think so. Rarity would be impressed," I said teasingly.

"Is it...zombies?!" Spike exclaimed, shaking a bit.

"Uh...not very likely," Twilight said.

"Not likely, but possible," I said smiling.

Twilight shot a glare at me but I just smiled widely.

"Psst! Twilight! Spike! Trystyn! Come here! Come! Here! Hurry! Before she gets you!" We saw Pinkie waving over to us from Sugar Cube Corner.

We walked up to her and was pulled in forcefully. The room was dark and none of us could see anything. A bright shining light entered our eyes, blinding us for the moment. Once our eyes adjusted to the surprise, we saw Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applebloom, and Sarah standing in the dark.

"Okay, who the hell are you afraid of?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"We're hidin' from her!" AJ exclaimed, pointing outside.

Me, Twilight, and Spike looked out the window to see a hooded equine digging up some dirt with her hoof. She suddenly stopped and looked at us. Her eyes were glowing yellow. Everyone, besides me, Sarah, and Twilight gasped and hid.

"Did you see her Twilight? Did you see... Zecora?" Applebloom asked.

"Apple Bloom! I told you never to say that name." Applejack snapped at her.

"Well, she glanced over here." I said, still looking into Zecora's yellow eyes.

"Glance evilly this way," Pinkie said, ominously.

"And then a bunch of you flip out for no good reason." Twilight added.

I ignored the argument as I watch Zecora continue her digging. She seemed to concentrate on that spot, like something was underneath the dirt. 

Zecora stopped for a moment and grabbed her hood, I still can't understand how they can do that. She pulled her hood down revealing black and white stripes on her.

"Just look at those stripes! So garish!" Rarity exclaimed behind me.

"She's a zebra," me and Twilight said at the same time.

"A what!?" The others asked.

"A zebra, she's born with those stripes," Sarah said.

This caused Rarity to faint. I chuckled a bit at her usual self.

"Born where? I've never seen a pony like that in these parts, 'cept... her!" Applejack said, putting pronunciation to 'her.'

"Well, she's probably not from here, and she's not a pony. My books say that zebras come from a faraway land," Twilight said.

I could feel she was about to snap so I took over.

"But we've never seen her in Ponyville. Where does she live?"

"That's just it, she lives in... the Everfree Forest!" Applejack exclaimed.

A loud thunderclap was made. I look to Spike and chuckled while Twilight just scolded him.

The next thing I knew it was like a comedy sketch from an old cartoon.

"The Everfree Forest just ain't natural. The plants grow..." Applejack started.

Then Fluttershy, " Animals care for themselves..."

Then Rainbow, "And the clouds move..."

And finally, all of them, "All on their own!"

Rarity wakes up...then faints again.

I couldn't hold it in, it was to much. I started laughing my ass off. It was just too funny to not laugh. I saw everyone glare at me, but that just made me laugh harder.

"What's so funny Trystyn?" Rainbow asked angrily.

I calmed down for a bit and looked at them, still chuckling.

"Because that sounded like mine and Sarah's world," i said, still giggling.

I then had to explain what I mean by that. Of course twilight was taking notes.

After my story, they just went back into arguing. Pinkie sang a little catchy tune that's sure to get stuck in my head.

"Look, you gals are just paranoid. What does she do when she comes here?" I asked, getting a bit agitated.

"Well... Once a month, she comes into Ponyville," Rainbow said.

Me and Twilight just 'oooooh' dramatically.

"Then, she lurks by the stores," Rarity added.

"Oh, my," we continued, still acting shocked.

"And then, she digs at the ground," Fluttershy said.

I smacked my hand against my face, "You've got to be kidding me." I brought my hand down from my face and just sighed. "That's not scary, she's probably visiting."

"Yeah! Maybe she's just tryin' to be neighborly," Applebloom said.

I put my thumb up, signaling that she's right.

"And maybe she's not lurking by the stores, maybe she's going to them, lurk free, to do some shopping?" Twilight said.

"Yeah! Everypony likes to shop. You know what I think?" Apllebloom started.

But AJ quickly told her to hush, stating that the big ponies are talking.

I felt sorry for AB.She wanted to know what she thought but no one was listening to her.

I turn back to the window and watched as Zecora continued digging. Every once in a while she looked over to us and then went back to digging.

Zecora then stopped her digging and trotted off to The Everfree.

"Look, she's leaving. God you ponies are so fucking paranoid," I said coldly.

'Tell me about it,' Nightmare added.

Everyone sighed in relief, but something was wrong.

"Hey! Where's Apple Bloom?" Applejack said.

We looked around but no Applebloom. We noticed the door was open and put two and two together. I quickly ran outside and towards the Everfree. I wasn't worried about Zecora finding her, but the predators finding her.

We see Applebloom standing in front of a patch of blue flowers and Zecora on the other side.

"Applebloom!!" I exclaimed, happy she's okay.

Applejack quickly scooped her up and started yelling at Zecora.

She was walking deeper in the forest and I wanted to stop her but she said something that made me stop.

"Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!"

She vanished into the forest, leaving us standing there. After that was pure chaos. Everyone, besides me, Twilight, and Sarah was complaining about how she cursed us.

Having enough of all this arguing, I decided to stop it.

"SHUT UP!!!" I yell, causing everyone to shut their mouths. "You guys are so fucking paranoid. There's nothing scary about Zecora, so shut up about it!"

I turned around and stomped towards Ponyville.

'Wow, I never seen you that angry,' Nightmare commented.

"Well, they're scared of her because she's different. It's stupid," I answered.

She said nothing for the entire walk home. I look up at the dark sky, it was already night.

"Those leaves of blue are not a joke." What did she mean by that?' I thought, heading inside to sleep.


I was abruptly woken up by Twilight screaming, making me fall off the couch.

I groaned, "What is it now?"

But when I opened my eyes I saw 2 different colored hooves, 1 black the other white. I tried to move my right arm, only for the white hoof to move.

"This is not fucking happening," I said to myself.

I slowly raised my hoof towards my head. I felt something sharp poke my hoof. It was a horn.

"Great, I'm a unicorn. This can't get anymore weird."

I then heard someone scream, someone younger. I looked up and saw a young girl wearing a dark blue shirt with stars on it, blue jeans, and a pair of black tennis shoes. She had green eyes, skin looking like the midnight sky, and dark blue hair in a ponytail.

I tried standing up, but ponies aren't supposed to stand on 2 legs so I fell on my face, hitting my muzzle. I tried again, this time on all 4s. I wobbled a bit but I didn't fall. I heard hoofsteps coming down and saw Twilight and Spike descending the steps.

But something was different about her, mainly her horn. Instead of pointing up like it's supposed to, it was dropped down and covered in blue dots.

I felt a swift kick to the foreleg from the little girl.

Ow! Hey, what was that fo..r?"

I felt a familiar aura around the girl, one I know too well.

"Nightmare!?!" I yelled in shock.

She nodded, "Yes, Trystyn, it's me."

"Trystyn!?!" Twilight yelled in surprise.

I looked at her and chuckled, "Hello to you too Twi."

I was still taller than Twilight, even though I'm now a unicorn pony. She looked up t me and turned her head away with a blush. My bones still ache so I stretched out to loosen them up. After my stretch, I saw everyone look at me with wide eyes.

"What're you guys staring at?" I asked.

Uh, bro," Spike pointed at my back, "you have wings."

I had to crane my neck to look at my back. Spike was right, a pair of white wings were on my back.

"Cool."

Twilight sighed, "Anyway, can you help me find a cure of some kind?

I nodded and me and Nightmare helped her look for some kind of cure for whatever happened.

I looked in the mirror to see I was a black and white alicorn (white on the right and black on the left). Black spiky mane and tail with white streaks. I also had different colored eyes. My right eye was light blue and my left eye was dark red. My horn was a solid black. I could see I didn't have a cutie mark on my flank.

After my little look in the mirror, I continued my search for a cure.

"No no no no no! None of these books have a cure! Ugh! There has to be a real reason for this! An illness? An allergy?!" Twilight yelled getting frustrated.

"A curse!?!" Spike said.

"I said a real reason. Something that points to something real," Twilight answered, getting tired of this curse crap.

Spike then showed her a green book with a weird symbol on it, "How about this one?"

Twilight rolled her eyes as she sighed, "Supernaturals"? Spike, the word supernatural refers to things like ghosts and spirits and zombies, which are as make-believe as curses. This book is just a bunch of hooey!"

"Why does everyone think that this is-"

"Ah pfurse!" Someone said behind me.

I turn to see Pinkie pie, but her tongue was swollen and blue dots was on it.

"What the hell happened to you?" I asked.

"Pee pah Zthecora! Sthe put a cursthe on me!" She said, spraying spit everywhere.

I look at Nightmare, "Did you understand that?"

She shook her head, "Not a clue."

Rainbow came through the front door, smacking into everything in the library.

"Ow! Oh! She's...trying to say-ow!- Zecora-oh!-she slapped us all with a-ow- curse!"

She then tumbled onto me, causing me to fall.

"Owww, what did I hit?" She said, rubbing her head.

"Me", I said in pain.

"I'm afraid I have to agree," I hear Rarity say.

I turn to the door and see that she had long hair covering her body. I saw a tiny Applejack and chuckled at her squeaky voice.

"I hate to say I told ya so, Twilight, but I told ya so!"

I look at Fluttershy, nothing seemed off with her. That is until we heard her voice. Instead of the kind and soft voice she usually has, she had a deep manly voice.

"So all of us are having a bad day," I said causing everyone to look at me.

"Trystyn?" Sarah voice said.

I tracked it to see a pink pegasus with blue mane and tail and she seem to wobble as she walked.

"Sarah?" I said, surprised.

She smiled, "Guess I wasn't the only one."

I shook my head and chuckled. I see Applebloom standing next to her sister as she complains about us being cursed.

Spike then starts laughing and pointing at them, "This is hilarious! Look at all of you! We got: Hairity, Rainbow Crash, Spitty Pie, Apple Teeny, Flutterguy, and... uh... I got nothin'... Twilight Sparkle. I mean seriously, I can't even work with that."

Twilight sarcastically laughs and sends Spike to look for more books to fix this.

I roll my eyes and walked over to Sarah. But, I accidentally tripped and face plant on the ground in front of her.

I sat up and shook my head. Everyone, but Spike, Twilight, and Nightmare, started staring at me in shock.

I quickly explained how I got turned into an alicorn, which calmed everyone down.

After that was just a mess. I see the girls scream at each other about how this is a curse while Twilight says it's not.

"This is all my fault. If I hadn't followed Zecora in the first place, none of this would have happened. I just gotta fix this," I hear Applebloom say.

I see her go out the door and AJ jump in her mane. I look at the others fighting and quickly snuck away.

I felt something on my back and saw Nightmare smiling at me. I rolled my eyes and galloped to catch up to her.

Some of the ponies looked at me in shock, terror, or confusion as I ran by, Night waving happily to them.

I ran through the forest, dodging low hanging trees and jumping over stumps while making sure Night doesn't fall off.

I wasn't really worried about Zecora finding Applebloom, but the predators that are in the forest finding her.

After jumping through a bush, I see Applebloom knocking on a door belonging to a weird looking hut.

The door open and Zecora poked her head out. She smiled when she saw Applebloom.

"Applebloom, what a surprise to see you. This is something new," Zecora said.

"Well, um...you see Zecora...I," Applebloom struggled to say.

"I think she's trying to say is she wants to help us," I said, getting their attention.

"Trystyn? What're you doing here?" Applebloom asked.

I walked up to Zecora and raised my hoof, "Name's Trystyn." I let her see Nightmare as she waved happily at her. "And that's Nightmare."

I then explained what happened to us and if she can help.

She nodded, "For you see, I have the antidote to help thee."

She gestured for us to go inside and we obliged. Inside the hut we saw many herbs, potions, and more masks on the walls.

"Weird," we all said.

I honestly wanted to ask her about why she had these items on the walls but decided against it, I didn't want to be rude.

She explained to us that something called Poison Joke is the reason this happened to us.

We all saw a black cauldron in the middle of the room that had green liquid bubbling inside.

"So, you said you have the antidote for us?" I asked her.

"Yes I do tall one, but there is one problem," she answered.

She took out the book that seemed really familiar to me.

"Supernatural?"

She smiled and explained to us, in rhyme I might add, that she needs a special ingredient to finish the potion. Applebloom and Nightmare went out to search for the ingredient while I stood in the hut with Zecora.

"You said you're name is Trystyn? Correct," Zecora asked.

I nod in response, but then realize something was off.

"You didn't rhyme," I said.

She smiled, "That is because I don't rhyme to the son of a hero," she said.

She walked up to a makeshift desk and picked up a ring. She tied a rope around it and handed the ring to me, don't ask me how she did that with hooves cause I have no idea.

"It is too early to explain this to you in your youth, but in time you will know the truth," she said giving me the ring.

The ring was silver and it had my name on the side. I put the ring around my neck and started helping Zecora make the potion.

It took us a while but we finally finished. Zecora put a dead root in and tasted it.

"Mmm! The perfect temperature for ponies, I presume. Now, where is that little Apple Bloom?" She said.

I could've sworn I heard screaming from outside, but shrugged it off.

"I hope Nightmare and Apple Bloom are alright," I said, stretching out my wings a bit.

Rainbow then comes crashing into the hut with little Apple Jack on her stomach. While that happens, Zecora is yelling in some kind of foreign language. Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Sarah both bust in the door demanding where Apple Bloom was. Apple Jack then jumps off Rainbow and starts attacking Zecora's ear.

Rainbow than crashes into the cauldron, spilling the contents inside.

"Really Rainbow," I said, looking at her crumpled form.

Zecora just yelled at the girls in anger. "No! You know not what you do! You've gone and spilled my precious brew!"

Twilight glared at her, "We're onto you Zecora. I didn't want to believe that you cursed us, but the evidence is overwhelming!"

"You made me look ridiculous." Rarity said.

"You made me sound ridiculous!" Fluttershy said.

"You made me speak ridiculous!" Pinkie said incoherently.

"You ruined my horn!" Twilight screamed.

"WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PONIES!!!" I yell, causing them to stop. I walk in front of Zecora. "You blame her over something we did. She didn't curse us. And before you say something stupid like, 'Zecora got you under control,' because the answer is NO!! She is trying to help us but you decided to listen to you're paranoia. Apple Bloom is collecting an ingredient to help cure this."

Everyone was silent. They all looked at me in shock.

"Zecora! I think I found all the things ya asked for. What in Ponyville is goin' on here?" Apple Bloom's voice broke the silence.

Everyone was happy to know she was okay. I look down at Nightmare and smiled.

"That was fun," she said.

After everyone was done hugging and telling Zecora sorry, we headed to the spa.

I was relaxing as I moved my fingers, happy to be human again. I look in front of me and got a full view of Sarah's tits.

I looked away and blushed. The girls laughed at me and went back to talking. I look at Night, who instead of being back in my head she was a unicorn filly of herself.

I closed my eyes and smiled, "This was one weird day."

"Uh, Trystyn...you're eyes are...different," Rarity said, giving me a little mirror.

My eyes were indeed different. My right eye was still light blue and my left eye was still dark red.

"And we need to figure out why that ring has your name on it," Twilight said.

"Maybe tomorrow. For now, we just need to relax," I said, sinking further in the bath.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw Fluttershy blushing.

"Um, is...that your...private area?" She asked pointing to my little friend.

I quickly covered it up and blushed, "This is not how I want to remember this trip."