//------------------------------// // Ponyville, Arise // Story: Trading Pains // by DJSaltine //------------------------------// Twilight was happy to see Rarity open the door, instead of her helpful sister. “Rarity! It’s great to see you up and well.” “Same to you, darling,” Rarity replied, swirling her hair behind her head. “It feels so great to be up and about again.” She stepped back, allowing Twilight to enter. “I can get back to my work.” Twilight gave a glowing smile. “I won’t stay long; I just wanted to see how you were doing.” She walked in. “Where’s Sweetie Belle? She was taking care of you, wasn’t she?” “Poor dear was sleeping when that one pony healed me,” Rarity replied as she went to her clothes. “I let her sleep in my bed.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “’One pony?’” “You know,” Rarity looked up from her stitching, “that zebra. Zibby? Zek?.” “Zeke?” “Zeke, that’s it!” Rarity looked back to Twilight. “How did you know?” “He helped me.” Twilight stared as Rarity went back to stitching. “I didn’t know he helped any other pony after.” She looked to the door, half-expecting a certain one of her other friends to come bouncing in. “You’re fine, right Rarity?” Rarity stopped stitching and looked over to Twilight. “Of course, dear. I feel better than I have in a while.” She smiled reassuringly to Twilight. “That’s good to hear, Rarity,” Twilight began, starting to back away and walk out of the door. “I’ll check up on the others. I’ll see you at Pinkie’s ‘Everyponies Up and Walking’ party, or whatever Pinkie will call it.” Rarity giggled a bit. “Pinkie Pie being Pinkie.” Twilight smiled as she closed the door behind her, facing the seemingly dead town that should wake up any time today.” * * * * * * * * Pinkie Pie had just finished her shift of attending to Mrs. Cake, letting Pinkie go outside and see her friends, and was hopping down the street as she usually did. The biggest difference was that her eyes were nearly shut and her hops were so much lower, hardly gaining any height to her jump. She looked like she was sleep-hopping to some ponies staring out their windows before turning around and seeing if their friends needed anything. She stopped at Twilight’s house and prepared her hoof to knock. Unfortunately, her hoof stopped halfway as her head tilted back, eyes shut, a line of drool slid down her chin, and she snored loudly. She stood there for several minutes before Twilight walked by. She looked at Pinkie and looked away before doing a double-take. “Pinkie?” Almost instantly, Pinkie Pie’s drool snapped and her head jolted upright, eyes wide and at sudden alert. She turned left and right, looking for Twilight for whom the voice belonged to. After a few seconds, she found the body for the voice and bounced over to Twilight in the slow and less giddy hops. “Hiya Twilight, feeling better?” Pinkie said in a less-than-normal happy. “I’m fine, but how are you,” Twilight began, her face screwed up in concern. “You don’t seem like you today.” “I’m just a little tired,” Pinkie replied, her face still smiling. “It’s like the time I decided to stay up all night so I could make more cupcakes, but didn’t have enough ingredients, so I…” Pinkie rambled on. “Pinkie,” Twilight began, hoping to stop Pinkie Pie’s train of thought and allow Twilight to talk. “…went to the basement, but got locked downstairs and had to…” “Pinkie,” Twilight started to lose patience. “…dig my way out with spoons. It was fun, but very mess…” “PINKIE!” she shouted, rumbling the ground beneath them. “What is it, Twilight?” Pinkie stated as if nothing was different. “I was going to ask you if the Cakes were okay.” “Mrs. Cake is sick with the thing you got, but Mr. Cake is taking care of her right now.” “Do you need me to help take care of her?” Twilight asked. “If you want to,” Pinkie replied. “The more the merrier.” She bounced her head a bit. “Well,” Twilight began. “Let’s go see what we can do.” “Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie began hopping off, her eyes happy, but bounces lower again low to the ground. Twilight took note of this and followed the strange-acting Pinkie Pie. * * * * * * * * “Sis! Sis!” Apple Bloom yelled as she ran through the yard to get to her family’s farmhouse. “Yer never gonna believe this!” She crashed through the door. “Zecora made a…” She stopped when she realized that Applejack wasn’t there, but instead Granny Smith was sleeping in the chair. “Applejack?” “Howdy, Apple Bloom,” Applejack stated from behind. “How was your trip to Zecora’s?” “Applejack! Yer up!” Apple Bloom was in awe. “Sure am. Some pony came in and helped cure me.” “How?” “He put a strange leaf on the ground and it made me fall asleep,” Applejack replied, rubbing the back of her head with her front, left hoof. “I don’t remember what happened afterwards, but I felt instantly better after.” “Did ja drink anything?” Apple Bloom asked, knowing what Zecora said how her potion would work. “I don’t think so…” Applejack responded, turning her head to the ground a bit. “I didn’t have any strange flavoring in my mouth.” “Then you ain’t cured!” Apple Bloom accused, raising a hoof and pointing at Applejack. “’Ain’t’ isn’t a word, Apple Bloom. ‘Aren’t’ is what you meant.” Applejack informed. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “You ‘aren’t’ cured.” She looked back to Applejack. “Zecora said you’d have to drink the potion to get better.” “It’s okay now, Apple Bloom. I’m not sick anymore.” Applejack looked out to the field. “Let’s go help yer brother.” She walked away. Apple Bloom sighed and looked to where she came from. “Maybe Zecora had the wrong potion brewing.” * * * * * * * * Zeke was just finishing off taking care of Lyra as she was excitedly thanking him. He smiled fatherly and continued on. He saw Rarity’s boutique and slowly walked towards it. Inside, he could hear Rarity’s sewing machine buzzing. He knocked on the door and listened as the buzzing stopped. Patiently, he waited as she opened up. “Hello?” Rarity welcomed before even realizing who it was standing outside. “Oh, Zeke, darling! Welcome!” She backed up and allowed him to enter. “Oh, I just want to show my appreciation for your service.” She ran into a closet and began looking through outfits. “It is good to see you well, I assume the treatment worked, but I’ve come to ask a question that leaves me rather irked.” Rarity came out of the closet holding a personally made colt’s suit with her magic. “Ever since you cured my illness, I went straight to work to make you a nice outfit.” She looked up at his satchel. Studying his body size, she looked over her outfit a bit closer. She realized it may be too small, so she brought it to her sewing press. “Now what was the question, dear?” “I’m searching for a friend. She’s living somewhere near.” He looked to the suit she was fixing up. “She’s become something dangerous; something we must fear.” Rarity stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. “What do you mean?” “Zecora’s her name, and she most definitely means trouble. While you sit home and relax, her evil potions bubble." “Zecora?” Rarity cut off her magic, letting the suit fall limp on the table. “What’s this about her being trouble?” “She’s wishing to do something rash. I need to know where she stays, if I don’t get to where she is, she’ll send a smoke of deathly haze.” His eyes were worried. "Only I can stop her from unleashing such a great power. Quick, I must know, she grows stronger by the hour!" Looking back to the suit, Rarity thought for a while as she began to sew again. “She lives in the Everfree Forest.” She never took her eyes off the suit. “I never thought she’d be plotting against us.” Zeke looked away, eyes closed and his face showing hurt. “I’m sorry for your pain, but only I can make her stop. Thank you for your help." He opened his eyes and, more to himself, continued, "now to drain away every drop.” He left quietly, his eyes down to the ground. He shut the door from behind. Rarity looked up from her work. “There, all done!” She turned around and noticed he was gone. “Why, he left without his suit.” Zeke looked depressed as he left Ponyville, but quickly changed his head to an upright position as he entered the Everfree Forest. “A nice pony, mane nicely groomed.” He looked back and glared evilly. “Our pain shall be lifted, and this town, doomed.”