“How about this one?” Spike called, holding a book. The book was what I kindly took from him, reading it.
“Supernaturals?” I read the title. I looked at the dragon, stating, “Spike, supernaturals refer to ghosts and spirits, and zombies, which are as make-believes as curses. This book is just not the right match to what we are looking for.”
“But what if you two are wrong, Dawn?” he asked. “What if this really is a—”
“Ah pfurse!”
I jumped at the sudden appearance of Pinkie Pie, whose tongue was spitting out some saliva as she spoke. I removed the saliva from my face, shaking my head. “No, it’s not that.”
“A purse?” Spike wanted to know. “How could this be a purse?”
“Pinkie? What happened?” Twilight asked worryingly.
“Pee pah Zthecora! Sthe put a cursthe on me!” Pinkie spat saliva out while she was speaking.
“Hey, say it, don’t spray it, Pinkie,” Spike reminded her.
As she continued trying to speak, Spike and I were covered in her saliva. I sighed.
Suddenly, a thud crash was heard from the window. I blinked as Rainbow Dash was the one who was bashing the window. “Ow! Ow! She’s—” she bashed the window again, “—trying to say—” as she continued to bash the window, “—Zecora—oh!” As I was about to go to the door, she smashed it by repeatedly bashing into it. “She slapped us with a—curse!”
“I’m afraid I have to agree,” Rarity spoke, blowing hair out of her face.
Spike, Twilight and I yelled in surprise.
“I hate to say I told ya so, Twilight,” said somepony, “I told ya so.”
I blinked, looking down at where a tiny Applejack was standing on her sister’s back. “Applejack? How did you get small?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” she rolled her eyes with her high pitched voice. “And what happened to ya, Dawn? You look different!”
Pinkie, Rainbow, Apple Bloom and Rarity—who tried to look out of her covering hair—looked stunningly surprised.
“Oh, come on,” I groaned. “Stop staring. You girls should know that I don’t like being stared at for too long with attention.”
“Really?” Applejack’s high pitched voice asked. “It’s a curse, I tell ya!”
“Okay…for once, I have to agree,” I folded my arms. “This is getting into some serious consequences from those leaves we stepped on earlier…”
“You know about them?” Twilight asked.
“Well,” I started, “my mother told me once about a blue leaf called the Poison Joke. If you step on it, you’ll be affected unless a cure is found.”
“So, what does that mean?” Rainbow asked.
“It means we have to find the one thing we need to cure ourselves,” I said. “And by that, it is to find Zecora and have her help us.”
“No way!” Applejack called up from her tiny size. “We ain’t gonna have her cure us for whatever the effect of this ‘poison joke’ is!”
“God, you sure are stubborn,” I rolled my eyes.
“What does that mean?” she demanded.
“Okay you two, stop bickering, we need to find something that can help cure our…afflictions…as you put it, Dawn,” Twilight said. “But to me, Fluttershy seems to be just fine.”
“I don’t think so,” I said.
“Why’s that?”
“Let’s ask her,” I looked at the pegasus. “Is there anything you’d like to say about our situation, Fluttershy?”
“Yes,” Rarity pointed out, “there doesn't seem anything wrong with her.”
“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked gently. “Are you okay? Is there something wrong with you? Would you care to tell us?”
A shake of Fluttershy’s head was what we got.
“So…you’re not going to tell us?” Twilight wanted to know, as a nod was the next answer. “Yes you’re not, or yes you will?”
“Good gravy, girl!” Applejack said, jumping in front of Fluttershy on the table. “What’s wrong with you?!”
Then, what surprised us all, was her sudden deep, male voice, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Spike snorted, then burst out laughing, tears coming into his eyes. “This is hilarious!” he laughed. “Look at all of you! We got: Hairity, Rainbow Crash, Spitty Pie, Apple Teeny, Flutterguy, and…uh, I got nothin’...Twilight Sparkle and Dawn Darkness. I mean seriously, I can’t even work with that.”
I grunted. “And what are you, Spike? Greenie?”
He blinked. “Say what?”
“‘Greenie’...you know, for your green spikes,” I raised a brow.
He chuckled for himself. “I guess…”
“This is no joke, Spike,” Twilight scolded with a sarcastic laugh. “Now start looking for more books so I can find a cure!”
The dragon groaned.
Rainbow groaned as well. “I think we’ll find a cure to this curse at Zecora’s place.”
“It’s not a curse!” Twilight reminded her, then Rainbow crashed into a wall.
“I agree with Dash,” Applejack added. “We’ll go to Zecora’s and force her to remove this hex!”
I shook my head. “You just can’t force her to remove it.”
“Says the human, who is all ‘know-it-all’.”
I glared at the tiny Applejack.
“It’s not a hex, either!” Twilight continued denying our friends.
Everypony, except Apple Bloom and I, shouted at each other all at once. I knelt down to Apple Bloom, whispering, “Think we should let them be?”
“Yeah,” she agreed with a low voice.
“Now where do they think they’re goin’ this time?” Applejack’s voice came as her sister and I left the library.
(Later)
I was with Apple Bloom, as we reached the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. The young filly was, of course, when we came to a stop. I smiled reassuringly at Apple Bloom, speaking. “Don’t worry. I will defend you if necessary, in case we come across some wild creatures.”
“Thanks, Dawn,” she thanked me as we entered the forest.
As we pressed on, moving along the path that might lead us to Zecora’s place, we soon began to see a building in the dark forest. I smiled as Apple Bloom was relieved. “Let’s pay a visit to my friend,” I told the filly.
She nodded and so, we went to the door, with me knocking.
“Are you friends, or are you fiends?” Zecora’s voice came from within.
“We’re friends, Zecora,” I replied. “It’s me, Dawn. I’ve brought along a friend of mine.”
Soon, the zebra opened the door, noticing us. “Ah. Dawn, it’s been a while since we were together with a smile.”
I chuckled, while her rhyming was fun to listen to, I was more to the point. “We’d like to have you to help us, Zecora. Our friends were afflicted with the poison joke.”
Then, her eyes turned serious. “Then we must not waste time, for we’ve got no longtime.”
We entered her house, as she soon explained the cure she was making in the cauldron to us.