Apple Bloom trotted down the darkly lit passage. She thought back to an earlier time, a simpler time. She would have been nervous about galivanting around the Everfree, all by herself. Not that she hadn't done it! She snickered, thinking of how she'd first met Zecora. That had turned out alright, in the end.
Still, she wasn't scared of that forest, or the monsters in it. She wasn't just a filly anymore! Well, technically, she was still a filly. She leaned her head to the left, jostling a bandoleer of potions that hung from her, ready for use. Not that she had as much need to use them as she had during... those times.
That didn't stop her from keeping them ready! "Makes me a super hero," she spoke to herself with a hop and a skip, clopping her hooves together before she hit the ground. She had the power of life in those vials, and other things beside, but she mostly told ponies about the healing potions. They were nice and simple and not a pony objected to her having them. She just had to not mention what the other potions could do...
Ah, the melodic screech of a cockatrice. Apple Bloom inclined her head, straining to pick out the direction and distance. She should be safe... Being turned to stone would be hard to get rid of with a potion. Statues were just awful at drinking things! Maybe one of her friends could break the right potion over her if that happened? Probably better to just avoid those little murder birds.
She slid down an embankment towards a smaller trail, trotting along towards Zecora's house on a shortcut she knew. Their relationship had... changed. Apple Bloom's thoughts on that came to a halt as she heard a new sound. It wasn't the call of a monster, she thought? More of a little noise; a hiss? Not a snake. Oh, there it was again.
She looked towards it and saw a pair of eyes peering out from the bushes. They weren't super large. They weren't scowling. They were a bit lacking in pupils, the whole thing light in color. "Uh, hi?"
"Are you a monster?" asked the little voice, sounding like a colt in tone.
"Nah." She pointed at herself. "Just an earth pony."
"An earth pony! I heard of that." The small form emerged into the light, revealing a pony... of a sorts. Their mane and tail wafted in the air as if they were barely made of anything but the vaugest of whisps, fluttering like a ghost behind them. Their legs were all just... long? They were spindly, but smiling. "Earth-bound. You know how to be safe."
"Reckon ah do." She nodded at the strange little pony. They were both foals, in the end, but she felt more... adult... than the foal before her. "Are you feeling unsafe?"
"I am unsafe," he assured, glancing over both shoulders as if a monster were about to pounce on him. "This world is full of danger."
"Yer kiddin'." Apple Bloom threw a hoof wide, waving away that idea. "This world's pretty safe compared to the other one ah been to."
That got him to stop, gazing at her with... wonder? "You've walked between worlds? You are a foal, like me." He pointed at himself with an emphatic pumping of a hoof. "And already you walk between worlds?!"
"Did it twice s'far." She shrank a little, surprised at the attention. "Look, if yer scared, why don't you come with me? Where yer folks at?" Apple Bloom couldn't see any other ponies in the area, just that lost colt.
"They wait for me to learn to... walk." He rubbed one leg with the end of the other, nervously shuffling. "It's been scary, so scary... You must... You went to worse places? You are... very brave." He bobbed his head and dared a step closer. "I am Dry Whisper."
She noticed something. On the foal's bottom, he had a cutie mark! He had struck her as maybe too young to have one, but there it was. She circled him to get a better look at it. "Ah'm Apple Bloom, nice to meetcha. Stop." She set out a hoof on his shoulder to stop him from turning. "Just getting a look at yer mark."
"Oh, my brand." He then twisted to display it, not embarrassed of it. It seemed like a cloud, with a pair of eyes peeping out of it. "I'm good at hiding."
"How long ya been hidin'?" She continued past him. "C'mon. Gonna see a friend."
"You have a friend?" He quickly twirled and caught up with her, as if he could hide in her shadow if he did it right. "Are they also an earth-bound?"
"Nah, they ain't even a pony." She shook her head, imagining Zecora. "She's a zebra, right nice one too."
The foal looked confused at that. "Zebras are ponies."
"Ah... don't think they are?" It was Apple Bloom's turn to be confused. Zecora was shaped like a pony, and acted mostly like a pony, and... Huh... Were they the same thing? Were Zebras like pegasi to earth ponies, different, but ponies? "Huh..."
Dry burst into airy giggles. "Now I taught you something." Despite being so long-limbed, he practically flowed under Apple Bloom, scooting under her from left to right. "I want to see the zebra. Are they... nice?"
"Super nice!" She bobbed her head in easy agreement. "She taught me the first steps at how ah got good at makin' potions."
His eyes went to her potions, as difficult as it was to be entirely certain where he was looking. "You made those?"
"Every single one of 'em!" Apple Bloom danced as she walked, hopping to pedal her hooves. "Make more every day to keep a fresh supply. No good reachin' fer a spoiled potion."
"A world walker who can make potions..." He sounded like he was struck dumb in awe at the idea. "And you like me?"
She inclined her head at that, her dancing fading away. "Huh? As a friend, sure?" She lifted her shoulders. "As a coltfriend, lesso, sorry. We just barely met!"
His cheeks darkened, proving his pale form could have some color in it. "Not like that! The first one... You'll protect me?" He leaned in against her a little. "If something attacks us."
Her smile softened. "Ah never had a little... Hey, ya never said where your parents are off ta. Shouldn't they be protectin' ya?"
"Not here." He shied away half a step. "I said, they're waiting for me."
"Waiting for you... but not here?" When he nodded, Apple Bloom sighed. "Not what I'd expect from..." She swallowed her words. Not the first friend she had that she wanted to throttle the parents of! "Well yer safe now. Won't let nothin' happen to you." And she suddenly had a colt pressed up against her side with the biggest grin. A smile she soon returned. It was kinda nice being needed.
She pointed ahead as they rounded a corner. "And there's her house, er, hut, still her home."
Dry Whisper separated from her, peering at the house with undisguised wonder. "You know this one? I've seen this hut before, but strange smells and sounds came from it. I was too scared."
Apple Bloom trotted past Dry. "C'mon. She's super nice, and she loves little foals."
"She does?!" He trailed right along after her. "Now I feel silly, but it is better to be too cautious instead of not cautious enough." He rubbed at his cheek with the flat of a hoof. "I am glad I met you."
"Are those small voices I hear?" The door to Zecora's house opened, revealing the zebra stepping free with a small cauldron's handle in her mouth. "What little foals draw near?"
"Heya, Zecora!" Apple Bloom waved excitedly, then turned that hoof on Dry Whisper. "This here's Dry Whisper. His parents done left him in the Everfree Forest of all places, can ya believe it?"
Zecora set down her cauldron on her fire pit and let go of the handle, running her tongue over her lips before she considered both foals. "This forest is full of danger, Full of beasts both grand and stranger."
Dry pointed at Zecora accusingly. "See, she knows! This world is full of danger. This is why I hid. I hid really well." He looked proud of his ability to remain out of sight. "Hello."
Zecora smiled a little at the strange colt. "Hello there, little colt. There is wisdom in knowing when to hide or bolt." She went back inside, emerging with a bucket full of water. "But around you I feel, something that isn't quite real."
Dry inclined his head left and right sharply before he flopped to his haunches. "You really are a zebra." He clopped his hooves with clear delight. "Do you speak more tongues than I have hairs?"
Zecora inclined her head. "Of the many talents I can claim, that is not a part of my fame." She dumped the water into the cauldron and began adding ingredients to the still cool water, no fire started yet. "Is that a thing you expect? One of the first things you checked."
Apple Bloom shook her head. "Zecora is an alchemist, like me. She makes super great potions!" She threw her hooves wide in either direction. "And she knows the answer to... almost everything. And she's mah teacher!" She bounced ahead and began springing around Zecora, proudly taking claim for having found such a great tutor.
Dry was quit happy enough to clap along. "You found a good teacher. Miss Zecora, hello. I am not an alchemist."
She nodded at that admission, lowering to start the fire beneath the cauldron with strikes of flint and steel strapped to her hooves for the task. With a rush of heat, the fire flared into life. "There we are. Do you know Everglow, distant star?"
Dry's eyes widened. "Zebra really do know everything," he gusted out as if knocked breathless with wonder. He inclined his head, confusion growing. "Aren't we on Everglow?"
Apple Bloom blinked at her new friend, ceasing her bouncing to walk over towards him. "Been to Everglow before, this ain't it. Were ya supposed to be on Everglow?"
He brought up both hooves to press to both cheeks with a startled expression. "Oh no! My mother put me on the wrong world. She won't ever find me! Oh no..." He flopped to the side, his long legs kicking as tears brimmed in his pale eyes. "I'm lost. I'm lost!"
Apple Bloom glanced back at Zecora, but the zebra was working on her brew as if nothing was happening. "Right, on me." Apple Bloom forced a smile back on her face. "It's gonna be okay. Yer not alone." She sat down next to the flopped over colt. "Ya got two friends right here."
"Two friends..." He blinked the tears away and slowly rolled upright. "You're my first friend." He reached out to set a hoof on her chest. "And you'll protect me." His smile was scared, so scared, but hopeful that the filly before him would put things right.
If only Apple bloom knew how. But, still. "Yeah! I won't let no monsters bother you none." She bobbed her head. "Besides, I weren't lyin'. Compared to Everglow, Equestria's darn nice. Mostly filled with ponies that are nice 'nough."
So he was on a new world, the wrong one, and that was bad... But it was nicer... that was... good? "Is it that nice?"
"Super nice," she assured, thumping her chest. "C'mon. I'll show you Ponyville, there's where ah live!" She trotted on past him back onto the trail. "See you later, Zecora! I wanna go over some stuff soon."
They left the wise zebra, weaving their way along the main path that connected Zecora's home to Ponyville. "Maybe this isn't so bad," he whispered with timid uncertainty.
The response did not encourage faith, a great roar washing over them both loud enough to rattle their bones.