As usual, Zecora was having a good day. Actually, that is not entirely accurate. She was having an especially good day. She had prepared her favorite meal for breakfast, collected all the herbs she needed for the new potion she was going to test out (in theory, it would allow any creature that drank it the ability to spew fire), managed to do her evening meditations without having anyone interrupt her, and, to top it all off, was able to take a quick nap after lunch.
Yup, it seemed that Zecora’s life had gone pretty much uphill since Ponyville stopped ostracizing her. Now she had become a valuable member of the community, and even a close friend of many of the residents. With these happy thoughts in mind, and a content smile splayed on her face, the enchantress left her humble hut, and began making her way to said community.
The Everfree was as foreboding as ever as the zebra trotted between its thick vegetation. The sun was completely blocked by the forest’s canopy, so shadow constantly enveloped the forest floor. The air was alive with the buzzing of dozens of insects and the scurrying of creatures as they climbed one of the many trees. Occasionally, a growl would emanate from the brush, but Zecora would think nothing of it. She was so accustom to the forest, that she hardly ever paid attention to what many would consider to be its ‘creepier’ aspects.
Even now, as she marched to the village that lay at the edge of the tree line, she hardly noticed the hundreds of eyes that were following her every move. Some, particularly the Cutie Mark Crusaders, thought she was very brave for living in what they thought was the most dangerous place in Equestria. And while it was true that there was hardly a thing the zebra was afraid of, courage had nothing to do with it. She was simply used to a wilder living environment.
As Zecora broke through a particularly dense bush and, stumbled into a clearing, her eyes widened in wonder as she caught a glimpse of what it held. Hundreds of ‘bubble flowers’ floated aimlessly through the air, banishing the darkness of the forest with a blue glow. The bubble flower, so aptly named after an extremely thing membrane that surrounded the flower, had a particular chemical which Zecora used as the basis of some of her potions. This chemical also happened to cause the flower to glow brightly in the dark. Hundreds of these lantern-like flowers floated and bumped into each other, each one dancing in the warm, gentle breeze that peeked through the forest’s branches.
The sight filled Zecora with joy, but also with a kind of sadness. It was an utter crime that the ponies where too frightened to appreciate the beauty that the forest had to offer. At times, it was like they were afraid of their own shadow. Who knows, maybe she really was just extraordinarily courageous? She certainly couldn’t think of anything that frightened her off the top of her head. Or maybe the ponies were just a bunch of scaredy-cats.
Zecora chuckled at the thought. She pushed one of the nearby flowers off into the air, and watched it twirl for a few minutes before continuing on her way. The sight of the exotic plants had swelled her heart with joy, and it was looking like she could have a perfect day ahead of her. Yes, there absolutely nothing that could ruin it.
Absolutely. Nothing.
She soon exited the forest and was greeted by the sun’s warm rays. She continued down her path till the first buildings of the quaint village of Ponyville poked over the horizon. From her distance, it seemed like another average day for the town. Yet the closer she got, the more it dawned on Zecora that something was amiss. It wasn’t until she stood in the center of town that it hit her:
Everyone was gone.
The town was utterly, completely, one-hundred percent deserted. Just to illustrate this point, a lone tumble weed bounced beside Zecora before tumbling off into the distance. Zecora hung her head sadly, before lashing out and stomping her hoof in frustration. She had thought the town had finally gotten over their fear of her. But now it seemed that they had chosen to fall back into their ignorant ways. So much for having a perfect day. With a heavy sigh, the witch-doctor turned around, and began making her way back to the solitude of her hut.
That’s when she saw 'it.'
Zecora gasped. There, in the middle of the road, lay one of the most horrible sights she had ever witnessed. Zecora had no idea how she could have missed it on her way into town, but it didn’t really matter at that point. The zebra recoiled in fright, and began shivering uncontrollably. The Zebra had heard stories about them as a child, but to see on in real life…she had to fight the urge to run away screaming. It was horrendous. It was disgusting. It was so…round. Zecora took a deep breath to stop herself from quivering, and steeled her nerves. Then, slowly but surely, she inched her away around the fowl evil in front of her. Hugging the wall of the nearby building, she carefully slid past it, never taking her eyes off the round sphere. Finally, when she was sure the danger had past, she trotted down the road as quickly as she could and released a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.
She made it.
She did it. She had faced one of the most dreaded foes of her people, and she had ended up unscathed. The experience put the thoughts of Ponyville’s new found fear of her out of her head. Now with her courage proven, there was nothing to stand in her way home…
…except for another one of the foul demons lying in the middle of the road again.
Zecora’s eyes widened. She took a step back in fear. What was happening? How could there be two of these things in the town? She gritted her teeth, and mustered up the courage to examine it more closely. That’s when she noticed that this one was slightly different from the previous one that obstructed her path. This one had…green legs?
Zecora tilted her head in confusion. She was about to take a closer look, when all of the sudden, it let out a deep*ribbit*, and hopped onto her head. Zecora let shrieked as she tried batting the creature off of her. Then the flood gates burst.
Suddenly, the hundreds of them began pouring out of the houses, each one more horrifying that the last. Zecora couldn’t believe her eyes.
Oranges.
Dozens and dozens of oranges, all abandoning houses and heading straight to her. They were massive, about the size of a pony. In fact, Zecora could see that they all had the tails and legs of ponies. Much to her horror, some began descending from the sky, bearing pegasus wings. They all seemed to be screaming at her, but Zecora couldn’t discern what they were saying; she was too preoccupied with cowering in fear. When their tangy scent hit her, Zecora stood up and fled as quickly as her legs could carry her.
The oranges closed in on her, their hooves lifting up tufts as of dirt as they chased after the zebra. It was practically a stampede. Seeing her route was going to be cut off by the demonic fruit-pony hybrids, Zecora weaved to her right and galloped down an alleyway. She was right in the middle of the side street, when the exit was cut off by over a dozen more oranges. She was completely surrounded.
Zecora’s head whipped back and forth, trying desperately to find a way to escape this nightmare. The oranges were closing in, still screaming at her. Whenever they talked, half of their body opened like a mouth, and a strong smell of citrus would come forth. It was an appalling sight.
“Help us.”
“Save us.”
“Please…Zecora.”
Tears of despair formed in the corners of her eyes. Then, the first orange was upon her.
“Stay back evil beast!” screamed the Zebra, her voice conveying more confidence than she felt. “I will not let you make me your feast!” Zecora lashed out wildly at the fruit, and hit it square in the face (at least, if oranges could have faces, that would be the place she hit it).
“Ow!” yelled the orange as it collapsed. Zecora barreled past the fallen fruit and tackled her way through its comrades. She wasn’t out of the woods yet, or, in this case, the orange grove. More and more of the fruits kept appearing from the buildings, and the sky was now swarming with the giant, orange spheres. The zebra knew escape from the demons was impossible, there too many of them. Her only hope would be to barricade herself in one of the buildings. She headed straight for the only structure that the oranges weren’t coming out of.
Ponyville Library.
“Ugh! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!”
A book flew across Twilight’s bedroom and hit the adjacent wall. The purple unicorn sat at her desk, bent over a pile of papers, and grumbling to herself.
“None of this works!” she yelled as she swiped her notes off her desk and onto the floor in frustration.
“Calm down Twilight,” said Spike from nearby the stairs. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Please, I don’t like seeing you like this.”
“I know Spike,” sighed the purple unicorn. “But this whole mess is my fault, and it’s my job to fix it.”
“No one’s blaming you Twilight.”
“Spike, EVERYONE¸ is blaming me,” said Twilight flatly.
“Well…okay, you’re right. But still, it’s not that big a deal.”
“It’s just tha-”
Twilight was cut off by the sound of a door slamming, and the pounding of hooves, from downstairs. “Great, is that the angry mob?” asked the mare sarcastically. “Funny, they’re late. I expected it hours ago.”
Twilight stood from her desk, and made her way downstairs and into the library’s foyer. What she saw was far from what she was expecting.
“Zecora?”
The zebra was sitting against the library’s front door, panting. Her Mohawk was completely disheveled (or as disheveled as a Mohawk could get anyways), and sweat glistened on her coat.
“Twilight, thank goodness you are here!” said Zecora, relief palpable in her voice. “We bring you awful news that is cause of much fear!”
“Twilight, is everything okay down there?” called out Spike from the second floor. The dragon climbed down the stairs to see what the commotion was about.
When Zecora saw the dragon appear from the top of the staircase, she gasped, backed up against the wall, and began trembling in fright.
Standing at the top of the stairs was an orange. This was not a regular orange, as, like with the fruit outside, it was easily five times larger than a regular orange. But unlike it’s compatriots outside, this orange lacked the hooves, bushy tails, or even wings that they had. Instead, this orange stood on two purple legs, had two purple arms hanging from its side, green spikes running down its head (or whatever it is that oranges have for heads), and a stubby, scaly, purple tale protruding from its back.
This was Spike.
“Oh, hey Zecora,” said Spike cheerfully as he waved to the terrified zebra. Zecora didn’t reply. She just began shivering even more violently, and opening and closing her mouth without emitting any sound.
“Zecora, calm down,” said Twilight soothingly, in a futile attempt to calm the enchantress. “It’s just Spike.”
Zecora didn’t listen. She just began to stutter incoherently. “Demon…evil…”
“Spike, go upstairs,” ordered Twilight.
“What, why?”
“Look at her Spike! She’s terrified. Now go, I’ll try to calm her down.”
“Awww man,” moaned the orange as he/it marched back upstairs.
The moment the fruit-dragon hybrid was out of site, Zecora gradually started to calm down.
“There, are you feeling better?” asked Twilight.
“What is h-h-happening T-Twilight?” asked Zecora shakily. “What has b-brought forth these creatures that…that cause me such a fright?”
Twilight rubbed the back of her neck and laughed sheepishly. “You see, the thing is-”
Twilight was, much to her annoyance, ones again cut off by a knocking on the front door. “Twilight!” cried out a voice that was unmistakably Applejack’s. “What’s goin’ on in there? We saw Zecora rush into the library, is everythang alright?”
“Everything’s fine Applejack,” replied Twilight as she opened the door. When she did so, an orange with orange legs, a blond tail, and a trademark Stetson walked in, followed by five more of the giant fruit.
“Have you found a way to fix this, Twi?”
“Not yet Dash. But now that Zecora’s here, I might have a way to solve this mess.”
“Great! So where is she?” asked Dash.
“She’s right here behind…” Twilight trailed off when she noticed that a certain Zebra happened to be absent. "Where the hay did she-?"
Her question was answered when she heard the sound of the bathroom door shut. “Uh…hold on a second.”
Twilight made her way to the bathroom, and gently knocked on the door. “Zecora are you in there?”
Rather than getting a straightforward answer, the Zebra quickly opened the door and yanked the unicorn inside, before slamming it shut again. “Zecora!” cried the lavender mare indignantly. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Can you not see how dangerous it is with those things outside?” asked Zecora harshly. “You should be thanking for saving your hide.”
Twilight rubbed her temples, and gave an irritated sigh. She was much too stressed and much too tired to be dealing with this right now. “Look Zecora. I know it’s a little freaky out there, but let me explain. I was trying to practice a new transformation spell to turn an apple into an orange, when-”
“Wait, are you to say you actually tried to create a…a…one of those things!?” cried out Zecora, horrified that someone would attempt such a thing. “Do you not know what kind of evil even one of them brings?”
Twilight gave Zecora a puzzled look. “Wait, are you talking about oranges in general?”
Zecora cringed at the mention of their name. “Please do not say their name,” she whimpered. “Simply uttering a single syllable makes me feel like my body you maim.”
“Zecora, are you…are you afraid of oranges?”
Zecora cringed again before hanging her head down in shame. “You do not understand, the evil that those…things hold in my land. They are my people’s greatest foes, and have caused my tribe many woes.”
“…oranges?” deadpanned Twilight in disbelief.
“Don’t say that word!” hissed the witch-doctor. “A great fear in my people those things have stirred.” The zebra shuddered. “Because we speak in the old tongue, to try to say their name could leave our thoughts unsung.”
Twilight’s eyes widened in realization. “So because you all speak in rhymes, and ‘orange’ doesn’t rhyme with anything, then if you say the word ‘orange’ you can end up mute?”
Zecora nodded. “It is a most horrible fate. Of the members of my tribe that suffer this affliction, there are eight. This is why this fruit is so evil to my people, and why it is forbidden in my land. If even one where to enter into Zebreica, the consequences would be grand.”
Twilight nodded in understanding, and placed a comforting hoof on Zecora’s shoulder. “I’m sorry Zecora, I had no idea.”
The zebra shook her head. “No, you ponies rarely understand my people’s plight. Even one whiff of the ‘demon fruit’s’ odor can send the bravest of our warriors into a fear driven flight.”
“Listen Zecora, I think you can help me fix this mess.”
“I can?”
“Yes. Like I was saying, I was conducting an experiment to turn an apple into an ora…one of those things, but I kept getting distracted. I got so frustrated that I tweaked the frequency of the spell so that I could cast the spell faster, and finish the job before being interrupted again. I may have made a teeny, tiny…huge mistake.” 'That’s an understatement,' thought the unicorn. “Rather than being cast faster, the spell became stronger. It uh…it kinda turned every living thing in Ponyville into an orange.”
Zecora’s right eye twitched and she shuddered violently. “But how I can help, I still do not understand?”
“I’ve been trying to find a spell to fix my mistakes, but so far I haven’t had any luck,” explained Twilight. “At this rate, it’ll take me a week before I can even come close to finding a counter charm. But you can make a transformation potion to turn everyone back, right?”
Zecora pondered the idea for a moment. “I suppose it would be possible. Yes, with the right potion this problem is easily solvable. But all my ingredients are in my home. And in order to get there, through the demon infested streets of Ponyville I would have to roam.”
Twilight gave Zecora an encouraging smile, and the zebra’s eye’s widened.
“Oh,” she muttered.
“What the hay is takin’ them so long?” snorted the Applejack in frustration.
“Calm down Orangejack, I’m sure there gettin’ around to it.”
“Conarnit Dash! If ya’ll say one more pun, or crack one more joke ‘bout me bein’ an orange, Ah’ma gonna buck you to the moon!”
Rainbow Dash, who was flying above her companions, blew a raspberry at Applejack (somewhat disturbing considering she didn’t have a face). I’d like to see you catch me,” she said cockily. The ex-pegasus did a loop-di-loop right under the library’s ceiling. “Fastest orange in Equestria!”
“Stop bickering you two,” chided Rarity. “Be patient Applejack, I’m sure Twilight is trying her best to solve this. Besides, it’s not all that bad. I think the orange compliment’s my purple tale rather nicely.”
“Wow,” uttered Applejack flatly. “You lose a pair uh scissors, and you declare it the end uh Equestria as we know it. You turn into a gosh darned fruit, and you don’t even bat an eye?”
“Silly Applejack,” giggled Pinkie. “Rarity doesn’t have eyes.”
“Thanks for reminding us of that creepy fact Pinkie,” muttered Spike with a shudder.
The group’s discussion was interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door shutting. Shortly after, Twilight walked in looking tired and frustrated. “We have a problem,” she groaned.
“Oh, will Zecora not be able to help us?” murmured Fluttershy.
“No, well, not yet at least. She says she 'can' make the potion.”
“So what’s the problem?” asked Applejack.
“She can’t get to her hut, she’s afraid of oranges.”
“Come again?”
“She is afraid of oranges.”
Silence descended upon the room as the sentient oranges tried to process what Twilight just said.
“What?” deadpanned Dash.
“Look,” said Twilight. “Apparently, because zebra’s speak in rhyme, they can go mute if they say the word orange at the end of a clause. Because of this, oranges have become somewhat of a cultural boogeyman for them.”
“So let me get his straight,” said Spike slowly. “Zebra’s, the most warrior driven race on the planet, the race that considers wrestling manticores to be a rite of passage for their foals, are afraid of a fruit?”
“Yes.”
…
“I say again: What?”
“The point is that she can’t make us the potion okay!” yelled Twilight in frustration.
“Can’t one of us get her ingredients and bring them to her?” questioned Rarity.
“Nope. She says that she put an enchantment on her cupboard so that only she can access her rarest ingredients.”
“Why don’t you just teleport her to her hut then?” asked Pinkie.
Twilight groaned and massaged her horn gently. “I’ve been trying to find a counter charm for this mess for the past sixteen hours. I’m too exhausted to conduct a spell that complex. And my horn pretty much burnt out, so it’ll take a few days for me to even try.”
“Ah know!” declared Applejack. “Why don’t you ask her how tah make it and then you do it?” Applejack deflated when Twilight shook her head again.
“I have no idea how to make potions,” lamented Twilight. “And I don’t want to risk screwing up and poisoning everyone.”
“But ah thought ya’ll were a magical genius?”
“That’s not how magic works Applejack. Comparing alchemy with spell casting is like comparing apples and oranges.”
At this, Rainbow Dash fell from the ceiling in a fit of laughter. Tears (in the form of orange juice) streamed down her face(?), and she continued to roar until she was bucked by Applejack.
“Ow!” she cried. “Oh come on Applejack! You have to admit that was freaking hilarious.”
Applejack didn’t answer, and instead chose to buck her companion a second time. Twilight was about to scold them for their childish behavior, when another knock came from the front entrance. 'Seriously, again?' she thought.
Twilight opened the entrance to reveal over a hundred oranges ‘standing’ outside. One of the oranges stepped out of the crowd. It had dark beige colored legs, and a gray mane. It didn’t take long for Twilight to discern that this was Mayor Mare. Despite not having any eyes, the public official still wore her signature glasses.
“Excuse me, Miss Sparkle,” began the Mayor. “But we were wondering if you had yet to procure a cure for our condi-”
“When are you gonna fix us!” cried out a furious voice from the crowd. This sparked a wave a discontent that spread through the crowd, and before long, Twilight was barraged by angry jeers and accusations.
“SHUT UP!!!” screeched the Mayor. As if someone had flicked an off switch, the crowd fell silent. If oranges could glare, then the Mayor would have been subjecting the instigator with the most heart-stopinglly powerful glare in the history of ever. “AS. I. Was. Saying. We were simply wondering if you found a way to turn us back into ponies.”
“Uh…not…exactly,” murmured the purple unicorn cautiously. Various groans and moan emanated from the crowd.
“How much longer ‘till you can fix us!?” cried out another voice.
“I don’t know Mr. Cake,” admitted Twilight.
“I’m Thunderlane!”
Twilight groaned in exasperation. “Fine. Thunderlane. Whatever. You all look the same!”
“Racist!” accused a second voice.
“Wha…I...Oranges aren’t a race!” shouted Twilight.
“Not yet we’re not,” muttered the slanderous pony. “But you’ll see…you’ll all see…our moment shall come.” The pony began laughing hysterically. Most of the other town’s residents decided to take a nervous step away from the manic ex-stallion.
“Ooookaaay,” stated Twilight for lack of anything better to say. “Anyways, no, I don’t know when I’ll be able to fix this mess.”
“So we’re gonna be stuck like this forever?”
“No Lyra, I-“
“Oh come one! You didn’t even get my gender right that time!”
“Sorry Thunderlane,” said Twilight with a roll of her eyes. “Don’t worry everpony. You won’t have to stay like this forever.” She gave them a confident grin. “I have a plan.”
“Okay Zecora, are you ready?”
“No,” moaned the zebra. “Twilight, why must you torture me so?”
“Because it’s good for you,” said Twilight cheerily.
Twilight, Spike, and the girls were all standing around Ponyville Library’s bathroom door. A pile of oranges (the regular ones) was resting next to them, and the door was opened just a crack. Spike, who was sitting on the stairwell, snorted.
“This is stupid.”
“Shush Spike,” scolded Twilight. “It’s not stupid. Besides, do you have a better idea?”
“Yeah,” said Rainbow. “I’ll just grab her and take her back to her hut by force.”
“And traumatize her for life?” pointed out Rarity.
“She’ll get over it.”
“No Dash, Rarity’s right. The only way is to help Zecora get over her fear of oranges, and get her to make it back to her hut on her own.”
“I can’t tell what’s sadder,” muttered Spike. “That are only savior is afraid of a fruit, or that this is the best solution we could come up with.”
“Neither,” replied Applejack. “The saddest part is that this ain’t even the weirdest thang tah happen tah this town since ya’ll got here.”
Twilight waved her hoof back and forth to silence her companions. “Okay Zecora, I am passing the orange through the door, brace yourself.” The unicorn gently opened the door slightly more, and slowly rolled an orange through the threshold. Before the fruit even entered the bathroom completely, a loud, high-pitched shriek came from within, causing Twilight to pull back the fruit with haste, and the others to facehoof.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” groaned Spike.
“This… this is going to take some time,” pointed out Rarity unhelpfully.
“We just need to be patient,” assured Twilight. She replaced the whole orange with a smaller slice she had cut out earlier, and inched it towards the door. “Zecora, I’m going to push a small slice through the door. Try not to scream this time.” The lavender mare once again began driving the fruit into the bathroom, this time even slower than before. The slice actually made it past the doorway, and for a moment it seemed that Zecora may have gotten over her fear. But these hopes were quickly dispelled by another, louder scream from the Zebra.
“Oh come on!” cried out Dash. She marched right up to the bathroom door and began yelling at it. “This is taking too long. Listen Zecora, you need to stop being such a namby-pamby cry baby!” She picked up once of the oranges from the pile, and glared at it. “You gotta walk up to one of these stupid oranges and say: ‘Hey, orange! You think you’re so cool what with your citrus and vitamin C? Well buck you, you stupid fruit!’” Just for emphasis, Dash took a violent bite out of the defenseless fruit.
“Aaaaaah! Dashie’s a cannibal!!!” screeched Pinkie Pie before cowering away from her cyan legged companion.
“W-what…I…bu-…I’m not a cannibal, Pinkie!” asserted Dash as she spit out the chewed orange. Pinkie didn’t listen. She continued to cower away from Rainbow Dash in fear that she too would be eaten. “Guys, tell her!” pleaded Dash.
The others took a nervous step back from the pegasus. “Ah don’t know Dash,” muttered Applejack uncertainly. “You did kinda eat that poor orange pretty…uh…violently. If’n it’s all the same tah you, ah ain’t takin’ any chances.”
“Oh come on!” cried out the pegasus in disbelief.
“She’s right darling,” gulped Rarity. “That put some rather violent images in my head. I would rather not risk getting eaten thank you very much.”
“Um…if you want… you could eat me, Dash…I’d rather you didn’t…but I don’t want to be rude,” murmured Fluttershy uncertainly.
“GIRLS!!!” shouted Twilight. Everyone turned to the unicorn, who was glaring back at them. “We don’t have time for this! We need to get Zecora over her fear, and the longer we waste time, the longer it’ll take us to fix you. So let’s try to focus here. We are not leaving until we get Zecora out of this room.” Twilight sat firmly of her rump, and narrowed her eyes in determination. “No matter how long it takes…”
Twelve hours later…
“Okay!” shouted a disheveled Twilight. Her right eye was twitching violently, her mane was an utter mess, her pupils were the size of pinpricks, and she wore that psychotic smile she got whenever she experienced one of her ‘episodes.’ “It’s been eleven and a half hours! But I REALLY think this time it’ll work!” She began laughing manically, and her eye twitched even more.
Meanwhile, her companions, who had chosen to give her as much space as possible, glanced anxiously at each other.
“Twilight,” whispered Spike with concern. “You’ve been saying that for the last fourteen tries.”
“He’s right sugarcube. Maybe ya’ll should…uh…take a break.”
Twilight’s smile widened even more, further unnerving the group. “But I REALLY feel it this time,” she seethed.
“You said that the past thirteen times,” muttered Spike.
Twilight didn’t listen, she just grabbed another orange. “Okay, here we go Zecora. Take number one thirty-nine.” She pushed the fruit through the door, and everyone cringed in anticipation for the ear wrenching scream. But none came. Twilight stared at the door in disbelief, unable to process what was going on. She looked back to her friends, who looked just s perplexed as her (or at least she thought they did).
Twilight slowly opened the bathroom door. Inside, on the other side, was a very tired looking Zecora. She was staring at the orange nervously but she wasn’t outright panicking. The purple unicorn picked up the fruit in front of her, and began approaching the zebra. Zecora leaned back apprehensively, but held her ground. Twilight eventually got right in front of the enchantress, and brought the fruit up to her face. Zecora stared at the orange with trepidation, but shakily extended her hoof forward. Twilight dropped the fruit into her hoof, and watched with anticipation. The zebra stared at it for a few minutes, before bringing it up to her muzzle and taking a huge bite out of it. She chewed hesitantly ad eventually swallowed. Zecora looked up at Twilight and gave her a small, shaky grin.
Twilight broke out into a massive (non-psychotic) smile. “You’re ready.”
“Alright everyone, she’s coming out!”
The door of Ponyville Library opened, and two figures stepped out: Zecora and Twilight, with the latter being present for support. The zebra glanced around the town uneasily. It was completely deserted, and the only movement came from the tumbleweed from earlier. Still, Zecora knew they were there. She could smell them.
“Come on, everything’s going to be fine,” whispered Twilight as the two took their first steps.
Zecora began taking deep breaths. As they passed through the town, not a sound could be heard except for the gravel crunching under their hooves. Her eyes shifted from side to side, examining the area for one of the dreaded ‘Demon Fruit.’ Then, she saw them. They weren’t out in the open like she would have expected. They were in alleyways and side-streets, behind the windows of the town’s houses, or hiding in the shadows. Still, they were there, and when Zecora saw them she gasped and stopped in her tracks.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” cooed Twilight. “I’m here. They’re not going to hurt you. They’re just fruit.”
Zecora nodded weakly. Taking another deep breath, the couple resumed the journey. Zecora’s fur stood on its end. Even though she kept her gaze straight ahead, she could still feel their presence. The zebra glanced to her right, and saw one of them hiding in the alley. The sight made her shudder. Their smooth surface, their citrusy odor, their bright orange color! Oh the humanity!
Everything about them was SICKENING.
What kind of cesspool could such a foul creation have wrought? Only the depths of Tartarus could have the ability to spawn something as revolting and malevolent as an orange! Zecora tried to push these thoughts out of her mind, but found it impossible. Their smell; that nauseating aroma permeated throughout every facet of the town, and threatened to suffocate her. Zecora gritted her teeth to keep from gaging. How long would she have to endure in this hell?
Twilight meanwhile, was kind of bored. She looked over at a clock hanging from a nearby store, and rolled her eyes.
Every step was utter torture for Zecora, but finally, after what felt like an eternity for both mares (but for entirely different reasons), they made it out of the town. But they were not out of the woods yet. Dozens of oranges with bunny tails and frogs legs scampered about the fields of Ponyville. Fortunately though, the rest of the journey went without much incident.
They were right at the edge of the woods, when suddenly, an orange with blue wings landed on the road, right in front of the mares. Zecora reared back in fright, and tried to run away, but Twilight held her in place. “Calm down Zecora!”
“Let me be!” pleaded the witch doctor. “Can you not see its evil? I must flee!”
“No!” cried Twilight with a stomp of her hoof. “We’re too close to turn back now. Now turn around, and face that fruit!”
Twilight made a mental note that that was probably the strangest thing she had ever said. This was not entirely accurate. In fact, that was the strangest thing 'anyone' has ever said.
Zecora reluctantly turned around, and faced the winged orange before her. She cringed at the site, but held her ground. Shutting her eyes, the zebra began thinking of all her friends that the fruit had hurt. Of her loving uncle, who had become mute because of the sinister spheres. The thought of her poor uncle, and the fact that he would never speak again, filled her with a kind of rage she had never felt before. This fury pumped through her veins, and filled her body till it was ready to burst. Snapping her eyes open, the zebra let out a blood-curdling war-cry, and lunged at the fruit. Before the orange could escape, Zecora stomped it with her hooves as hard as she could, and began beating it to a pulp (pun intended). Juice splattered all over her coat, and she continued to stomp it in a rage fueled frenzy until it was nothing but orange mush.
Zecora stood over the remains of the fruit; her brow was caked with orange peel, and her breath was hoarse and heavy. Twilight walked over to her stripped companion, and brought her into a hug. “I’m proud of you Zecora.”
“Thank you Twilight,” rasped the zebra. “Although I wouldn’t say it was a fair fight.”
“Come on,” chuckled Twilight. “Let’s get you to your hut so we can fix this mess.” The two walked down the road and into the forest with huge smiles on their faces…
…completely oblivious to the fact that Zecora had just up and killed an innocent bird.
But the moral ambiguity of Zecora’s actions aside, the two quickly made it to her hut. They walked in, and she immediately went to her cabinet. Muttering a soft incantation, the lock on the cupboard door glowed briefly before unlocking with a *click*. The enchantress began pulling out bottles and herbs, and throwing them all inside a cauldron. Before long, the brew inside turned emerald green, and started to swirl.
“There, it is almost done,” said Zecora.
“That’s a relief,” sighed Twilight happily.
“Yes, of the remaining ingredients, there is only one.” Zecora rummaged through her ingredient cabinet and pulled out a small vile containing a glowing blue liquid. “Behold, the nectar of the bubble flower this vile holds. It is a most rare and exotic ingredient. The fact that I still have some is most convenient.”
“How rare is it?” asked Twilight as she stared at the vile with wonder.
“Very,” answered Zecora knowingly. “If we were to lose this vile right now, the results would not be merry.”
As if by some hilarious twist of fate, as Zecora approached the cauldron, she tripped, and the vile flew out of her hooves. The vile shattered on the floor of the hut; its contents quickly seeping into the ground. Both Twilight and Zecora stared at the broken vile with unhinged jaws. After a few minutes of silence, Twilight’s eye started twitching again.
“You have got to be BUCKING KIDDING ME!!!”
They were not ‘bucking kidding her.’
Fortunately though, Zecora happened to remember the clearing from earlier before Twilight burst into flames, and was able to extract more nectar from the bubble flowers in a relatively short time. By the end of the day, the entire town was turned back to normal just in time for Pinkie’s ‘Hurray, We’re Not All Fruit Anymore!!!’ party. The celebration was held in the town square, and by the end of the night it had become a veritable feast, featuring all sorts of fruits and vegetables.
Not surprisingly, the only things absent from the meal were oranges.
Zecora sat at the head of the table, along with Twilight and the girls. The zebra was positively glowing, and received numerous ‘thank you’(s) from the villagers. At around midnight, the Mayor tapped her spoon against her glass to silence the crowd.
“*Ahem* I would just like to say that, despite the problems you may have caused us today, there are no hard feelings, Twilight.” The crowd all chuckled happily, and Twilight blushed slightly in embarrassment. “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank a very special person, without whom I would still be an orange. Zecora, I think I speak for everyone when I say: Thank you for saving our sorry flanks.
Crowd erupted into applause and cheers, with many of the ponies smacking the tables in approval. “Speech! Speech!” shouted Rainbow Dash. Soon the crowd took up the chant, and Zecora was forced to stand up and wave her hoof to silence the ruckus. Wearing a rueful smile, the zebra shook her head.
“Thank you everybody very much. With these kind words, my heart you touch. But please, the thanks should be given to Twilight, without whom I never would have overcome my fright with such ease.”
While everyone cheered again, and patted Twilight on the back, one thought ran through the unicorn’s head: 'EASE!? It took twelve hours to get you out of the freaking bathroom!' But she chose not to voice her thoughts, and instead just smiled and waved.
Zecora gave a deep chuckle. “In retrospect, I suppose my fear was quite silly. I mean, it only took a fruit to leave me screaming like a filly.”
Everyone in the crowd laughed, while Spike shook his head in disbelief. 'Seriously,' he thought. 'She was afraid of a fruit.'
Zecora snorted. “And to think, my fear was all because I was afraid to say the word ‘orange.’” Zecora froze in realization as her pupils shrank. Everyone gasped and stared at her. Twilight and her friends all had their mouths agape, and, like everyone, gazed at the zebra, who was standing perfectly still. Nobody moved or made a sound. Through it all, Zecora could only think one thing:
'Uh Oh.'
~Fin