//------------------------------// // Tricky impersonater // Story: Banjo Kazooie: Hooves n' Magic // by Barracuda cyborg //------------------------------// The ride back to Ponyville had been excruciating all the way. Not only from trying to get over the cold, but the fact they spent the time getting more acquainted with each other. "You think we could've done this when we got here in the first place." Bottles said as he cleaned his glasses. "Well when the writers skill is lacking and leaves for nearly four years..." Kazooie retorted, "Things are bound to happen." "So who do we go to so we can figure out this riddle?" Jam-Jars asked as he looked closely at the parchment. Pinkie quickly grabbed the paper and stuffed it into her mane, "Well if there is somepony that we know that talks in riddles and rhymes, it's Zecora!" "Good thinking Pinkie." Twilight said, "She could figure this out." When the train stopped at the Ponyville train station the group started the long trek towards the Everfree Forest a strange feeling began to overtake the group. A looming sense of the unknown and danger was throughout the trees until they came across a rustic looking hut in the shape of a tree. "There it is!" Applejack exclaimed, "After all we've been through... this is a sight for sore eyes." "Let's not waste any time then." Rarity said, "The faster we get this riddle solved, the better." Pinkie didn't need any further instructions as she bolted towards the door. "I think you guys should stay out here." Banjo said, "This should be easy enough." With that The duo and Mumbo began running in Pinkies direction "Pink pony needs to start slowing down." Mumbo said as he tried to catch his breath, but of course Pinkie wasn't listening as she began to knock on the door furiously until the door slowly opened up. "Zecora?" Pinkie asked as the four slowly walked in to only see the zebra witch doctor just staring blankly at the window. "Oh, hello friend." Zecora said, but it didn't sound like her at all. It was all off putting; she didnt really rhyme nor was she brewing any sort of potion or elixir. "Zecora, are you okay?" Pinkie asked, "You don't seem yourself today." "Trust me, I am fine." Zecora said as she wandered towards the large cauldron in the hut, "Come I'll help you on your quest." Before Pinkie could respond Banjo interjected, "Excuse me ma'am, but... we didnt even get to tell ya on what we came here to do." Zecora began to look around crazily before dropping the charade, soon enough Zecora's eyes began to glow eerily red and fired off two lasers towards the four, soon her fur came off and she was quickly revealed to be a Clunky mechanical monstrosity . "Not so dim for a country bumpkin are you bear?" The Robo-cora said, "I wont be much of a heap of scrap metal like back in Cloud Cuckoo Land." "Bring it on junk heap!" Kazooie shouted. Robo-cora began firing more lasers forcing Mumbo to jump into a nearby closet. The remaining three began to run around causing the robotic duplicate to try and chase the more annoying one- Pinkie. It would've seen like she could've went after her IF she wasn't moving slower than frozen molasses in the middle of a snowstorm. This gave Banjo and Kazooie an opportunity to start attacking the robot zebra; causing Robo-cora to start chasing the dynamic duo. Pinkie saw this as an opportunity to return the favor and started to attack the robot, and given her erratic and quick movements the robot was having difficulties even touching them. Eventually after all the fighting, the robot began to short circuit and soon fell apart like a pile of poorly constructed building block statues. "Phew!" Pinkie exclaimed, "That was crazy." "Well be glad we aren't racing a big bird on rail carts." Kazooie said, "Speaking of Cuckoo Land, where the heck is Mumbo?!" A sudden noise came from the nearby closet, soon enough Mumbo fell out along with a zebra covered in rope. "It was getting hot in there." The shaman sighed before the Zebra got up and walked towards Pinkie. "I cannot than you enough, fending off that thing was more than tough." Zecora stated. "Well it's glad to hear you rhyming again Zecora." Pinkie said with a smile, "Say, you wouldn't happen to know to see a jiggy around?" "The order may seem a bit steep..." Zecora replied as she walked towards the scrap pile and saw a golden puzzle piece, "I did found this within that metallic heap." "That's it!" Banjo exclaimed as he quickly grabbed the collectable. Much like the others they found it had a note taped to it. "It says: 'Nice trick knowing my old tactics from the past, but now we'll see in the water if you are fast.' " "What the heck does that supposed to mean?" Kazooie asked. Zecora looked at the note, "I believe the note is trying to say that the next task is with the water, I suggest you get there while the iron becomes hotter." The group though confused got the gist of what the witch doctor was saying and proceeded to get back to the others. "Did you talk to Zecora dears?" Rarity asked, "You seemed to be in there quite a while." "Well we had to fight a robot duplicate of Zecora, and we found the real Zecora stuffed in her closet!" Pinkie said as she started to perform the whole series of events with crudely made sock puppets and confetti. "Point is, zebra told us what next puzzle may be." Mumbo stated, "It somewhere near water, so we should start following river." Twilight began reading the note and saw they were right, "Alright then, we gotta find that river we found with that sea serpent." "It shouldn't be that far from here." Fluttershy said as she began to lead the way, "I know the way over there!" The group started following the timid Pegasus deeper into the woods as the sudden sound of splashing water was echoing.