//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: The Hut 
// Story: Forgotten Bygones 
// by Catpaw616 
//------------------------------//

Trixie followed her friends to Zecora's home in the Everfree Forest. Trixie could not understand how Zecora would call this creepy, dark, and mysterious forest her home. Trixie doesn't really like to go into this forest, unless Starlight kept her company, but even so, she would still not like to go in. But she had no choice now.

Trixie arrived at the area of Zecora's house, and right after she appeared from the bushes, she saw Starlight and Discord were already waiting for her.

"Finally!" Discord exclaimed. "You took forever just to get here. I just assumed you got lost."

"Um, I had to hide a wagon?" Trixie said, exasperated. If she was going to be on the run with Starlight and Discord, she would not be looking forward to Discord's annoying antics along the way.

"We're just glad you're here on time." Starlight told her friend. "And just in time too."

"Just in time for what?"

"To think of a way to meet Zecora." Starlight now whispered.

Trixie looked at Zecora's house, which was like super close, then back at the group. "Can't we just knock?"

"Well, we always can, but we have to take precautions." Starlight explained. "Who knows? Zecora might be infected too."

"Then why in the world did we just go through the forest if we're now suddenly scared of meeting her?" Trixie rolled her eyes.

Just then, the door opened. The three immediately looked in shock. Discord was about to make an attempt to hide in the bushes, but it was too late now. They were now face to face with the zebra.

"What have we here?" Zecora asked the group. "And why are the three of you cowering in fear?"

They still didn't move.

Zecora examined them for a moment, until her expression beamed. "My, my, is that Trixie Lulumoon? I never expected to see you so soon."

Trixie looked at her in surprise. "Uh... you're happy to see me?"

"Is there a reason I shouldn't?"

"Actually, yes." Trixie couldn't believe it. Did they finally found someone that wasn't afraid of them, or hated them?

Zecora looked next to her. "I've seen you've brought your friends." she said, but there was no tint of hostility in her tone.

Starlight cautiously stepped out of the group. "You're not scared of me? Or Discord?"

Zecora chuckled. "Unless you're about to set my house on fire, I am not. But is there a reason why you look distraught?"

Discord looked awkward. "It's a long story."

"Zecora, please," Starlight asked the zebra, with desperation in her eyes. "Can we talk more about this in your home?"

Zecora nodded. "Watch where you step."

The trio both entered her home. Trixie could tell that the rest were creeped out by the rest of the masks that hung around her room. But she tried her best not to look creeped out. She didn't want to anger the only one who wasn't scared of them, after all.

"You must have came to me for a reason." Zecora said after a few moments of silence.

"Uh, yes, we did." Starlight answered. "A pretty big one too."

"I can tell." Zecora now walked up to the lilac unicorn. "And... from the last I saw, didn't you have a new style as well?"

"I did, but, not for a good reason." Starlight lowered her ears.

"Let's get to the point!" Discord butted in. "Our friends are acting like paranoid idiots now."

"How so?" Zecora now sat down with a soup on her lap, now very curious.

Discord cleared his throat. "Well, I went over to have tea with Fluttershy, but she started acting strange. When I asked her why, she kept calling me a villain, and would not stop crying."

Trixie now came into the chat. "For me, I was quickly hated by the ponies of Ponyville, and I got kicked out of my favorite hayburger place!" she exclaimed.

Starlight sighed. "And Twilight kicked me out of the castle, having no memory of me being reformed. And... me and Trixie were caught by her and Celestia. And when we escaped..." Starlight tried holding back a few tears, before finally starting to speak. "I... punched Twilight in the face."

"You punched an alicorn?" Zecora breathed out.

Starlight slowly nodded. "I just didn't know what came over me..."

"Hmmm..." Zecora now had a hoof on her chin. "And when did this start to happen?"

They both looked at each other. Did her friends even know when it happened?

"It happened when I woke up," Starlight said, which Trixie nodded in agreement.

"I don't recall." Discord crossed his arms. "You can't exactly keep track of time in my dimension, but if I have to estimate, I will have to say today."

"Hmmm..." Zecora now got to thinking. She set her soup down near her chair and she looked through the books that she went through in her library, which was not a lot.

"Aha!" Zecora looked through the page, and she quickly grabbed a few remedies from the shelves, and put them onto her burning, bubbling, cauldron. She dropped flowers, flower seeds, and some potions.

"Um, what are you doing?" Trixie asked the zebra.

"Getting the information that you need. And soon you will all start to see." Zecora said, as she picked off a few berries and placed them in the cauldron. 

She looked down, and lifted a hoof, signaling them to look too. When they did, all they saw was black.

"It's nothing." Discord said flatly.

"Just like yesterday, but you will notice a little... delay." she said. When she pointed again, they all looked down and saw silhouettes of themselves, with them being the colors of their coats, and for Discord, his head. And next to them was white silhouettes that represented the citizens. But then a flash of blue came, and the citizens turned the color red, and instantly launched at them, as if they were about to battle them.

"That was them... hating us." Discord breathed.

"But what was that blue?" Starlight asked Zecora. "When it flashed, they all turned red."

"It represented magic." Zecora said. "A spell that leads to tragic."

But they noticed something in the cauldron. After the ponies attacked them, the three slowly started to turn dark red.

"What does this mean?" Trixie asked, amazed at what she was seeing.

"It means that as memories start to fade away, the good in you will start to decay." Zecora said gravely, then gave a hard look at the three. "You must have noticed that you were not yourselves, with Starlight being the easiest to tell."

"So that's why my old bang is back? And why I have these thoughts?" Starlight looked shocked.

"As memories continues to blur, the rest will start to feel the same as her." Zecora warned the two. Discord and Trixie looked insanely nervous.

"But it doesn't make sense! What is this weird blue thing that affected the rest of Ponyville and Canterlot? Can it affect us? Did it affect everyone outside of those two regions? And how come you were not infected?" Trixie stammered.

"The blue magic is called Goodness Forgetness. And it only happens when someone accidently casts the spell. But who? It does not tell." Zecora shook her head.

"Wait so all of these is happening because someone accidentally cast it?!" Discord was engraged. "How stupid is that?"

"Magic works in mysterious ways." she answered simply. "But this is one of the kinds that one must astray."

"So, how do we revert this stupid spell?" Trixie muttered.

"The answer is clear." Zecora sighed. "You have to hurt the ones that you love so dear. Most specifically the head. If the memory will jog, when you reconcile, it won't be long."

"Oh, no." Discord raised his lion paw. "I am not hurting Fluttershy anymore. Even the thought of it kills me."

"And so will your good side." Trixie stated. "Guys, it must be hard, but if Zecora says this is the only way..."

"You'll never know." Discord snarled. "I can't think of any pony that you love so dear besides Starlight."

"I guess that's true." Trixie rubbed the back of her neck. But then realization hit her. "Oh no."

She immediately looked at Zecora. "You meant we have to hurt everyone that used to forgive us?"

She nodded.

"WHAT?!" Trixie was shocked. "No. No way."

"I'm sorry, but it is true." the zebra said sadly. "But if it's the only way for you to get out of the blue..."

"No, this is stupid." Trixie got up. "This entire thing is stupid. Right Starlight?" she turned to her best friend, but she saw her look down at the cauldron still.

"I hate hurting anyone." Starlight said when she looked up at Zecora, and then they looked back at the two. "But if this is the only way we can get their memories back, we have to do it."

"You're so easily committed to this?" Discord gasped. "And I thought I knew you better."

She looked aghast. "Would you rather live your life as a villain forever, and be stuck as one too?"

Discord was about to say something, but he shrugged. "Fair."

Starlight turned her gaze to Zecora. "You better not be lying to us."

"Why would you assume that?" she tilted her head.

"Because if we do hurt our loved ones, and it doesn't make things go back to normal, as you say, I will find you." she said threateningly.

What the... Trixie was startled by the threat. And... was that a death threat?

But Zecora was unfazed, much to Trixie's surprise. "The evil is slowly beginning. So, I suggest you hurry, before it gets too overwhelming."

But Starlight was already out the door, and with a nod from Discord, he followed her.

"Thank you for the answers, Zecora." Trixie said. "But I must ask again, how did you not got infected?"

Zecora chuckled and messed with the masks on her walls. "The Everfree Forest is very strange, and magical. And maybe it didn't affect it because its special. And I was not out in Ponyville that night. So, I was safe from its might."

"Oh." Trixie shrugged. "Makes sense. Thanks again!"

With that, she dashed out and quickly met with the others that were waiting for her.

Discord rolled his eyes. "You took your sweet time."

"Well, I wanted to know why Zecora wasn't hit by the magic." Trixie answered sharply.

"I don't want to hear the two of your bickering again." Starlight called from the front. And for some reason, she lowered her voice. "We now have an objective."