//------------------------------// // Adventures in Ponyville: Brewmaster // Story: Courage // by scion //------------------------------// The Everfree had settled into an uneasy peace after the defeat of the shadow and the Diamond Dog which had been possessed. The animals were more cautious than normal, prepared to bolt at the first sign of trouble. The myriad predators found themselves uneasy as well as they hunted their prey, constantly ready for what trouble may present itself. Some even found their flight instincts had overpowered their fight instincts and were more prepared to bolt than to fight. Zecora felt this unease at all times, as it translated to her as well. She was more alert than normal during her outings into the jungle, her eyes constantly watching, her ears constantly swiveling. Even her sense of smell, a skill neglected by most 'civilized' ponies, got a workout, constantly searching for signs of nervous predators or any hint the shadow may return. The only true place she felt safe these uncertain days were the times when she was in Ponyville, and the times she was in her home, safe from even the most determined of predators. She relaxed as she secured the door behind her, then set her saddlebag down upon the table to begin sorting her latest haul from foraging. A great variety of mushrooms, some poisonous, some not, all handled with care and put into their proper places– some were for dinner, others had more magical properties and were for potions. Berries, fruits, roots, some stems... long experience allowed her to properly sort and put away her latest haul in only a few minutes. Satisfied, she prepared a fire and was just about to start it in the traditional method when a scratching came from the door. Zecora paused. Scratching was not something that typically happened to her door, unless a predator was attempting to get to her. But the predators around here had given up on that many months ago after failing. Any predators stalking her now either awaited in silence or left. And it was not a pony. But there was one non-pony who might be scratching at her door these days. Zecora grabbed her staff and very carefully opened the door. Her suspicions were proven correct. On the other side of the door, a wolf as large as a mare looked back at her. "You are Link, I think?" Link nodded. Zecora looked around quickly, then made her decision. "Come in, with haste. The Everfree is not the safest place." She was careful to shut the door after his tail was well within the door. It would not do to antagonize such a guest. She turned around, and had to lift a hoof to cover a smile. Link sat, waiting patiently, with an empty jar in his mouth. She could guess what he wanted. "I see that you liked my healing brew. But I am sorry to say that there is no more left, for me or for you." His ears wilted at that and he made a small whine. Zecora shook her head. "It would not be difficult, to make some more. But it will require ingredients that I do not have in store. Alicorn's Mane is rare, but can be found here and there. The real challenge will be the final ingredient; finding the root of the gysula tree will be the least expedient. It grows only in a single place, I fear; deep within the forest, here." Zecora pointed with a hoof tip to a spot on an old, weathered, hoof-drawn map of the Everfree. She had made it when she had first come here. The drawing was crude, but it had helped her to memorize the forest, and had served her well in those early days when she had gotten lost or turned around. Her hoof hovered over a crude drawing of a pool of water, deeper into the forest. "With recent events it is too dangerous a journey for me to make. The forest is too unsettled, and I fear my life it would take." Link cocked his head, and she suddenly realized that the jar he had been carrying had disappeared. He padded over and looked at the map, where her hoof was pointing, then at her. She guessed his question. "If you bring back all that I need, then with the potion brewing I will proceed. With one piece of root and one piece of Mane, and enough shall be brewed for both our gain." Link nodded decisively and headed for the door. --- Link did not know if it was normal or not for creatures to appear for a fight every so often, but from the zebra's comments he guessed not. Still, it was not an issue for Link. With Midna's help, he managed to locate some of what the zebra had called Alicorn's Mane. It was hard to get to, hanging from a tree, but he got it. It was a hanging moss that was a white in color, and was so fine that it seemed almost ethereal and billowed in even the slightest of winds. With that found he turned his attention to the final piece: root of the gysula tree. It was near the spirit's spring, a place Link knew well. And he knew the tree she was talking about as well. It wasn't as different as some of the flora he had seen around, but it was unique in that the tree in question only grew along the shores of the spirit spring. He had never seen it anywhere else. A bit of scouting, and he soon found a likely prospect, a tree that was partially blown over, but still alive. Powerful paws dug into the dirt, and powerful jaws found purchase on a piece of root. Link was quickly headed back to the home of the zebra. --- Zecora had not been idle in the time that Link was gone. She kept the ingredients for traditional zebra healing potions close at hand; one only survived the dangers of the Everfree if they were prepared. It was a potion of moderate complexity that required precise attention, but it was not a long recipe, and to a talented shaman of Zecora's caliber, it did not take long at all to make. She kept it simmering in the cauldron in preparation for the enhancements that would turn the liquid from merely a potion useful for speeding recovery into a near instantaneous miracle healing draft. The key was, of course, the two ingredients she had found in the forest. When she had first come to the Everfree Forest, she had set about gathering as many samples as she could, from all areas of the forest. For months she had slaved away, carefully testing, examining each ingredient and attempting to discern the hidden qualities held within. She had discovered things that, had she wished it, would have no doubt made the most deadly poison to been seen on the face of the world. She had discovered things that would remove all pain; that would liberate the spirit from the body; concoctions that would incinerate with great light and noise when lit by a match; but her greatest discovery, the one which she was still attempting to understand, was the root of what she had named the gysula tree. She had not thought much of it at the time. It was a new flora, and so she named it the first name that popped into her mind. But her investigations had proven there was so much more to this than met the eye; the root seemed to act as a magical infuser. Alicorn's Mane, while well known for its healing properties in the past, was never an ingredient in the healing potion of any nation because, when simply added, the gains were insignificant. Patients would only truly recover perhaps a few hours sooner than a normal healing potion; the Mane simply did not give up its magical properties, imparting little benefit for the enormous trouble of finding it. The root seemed to change that; it was almost as though it let the magical properties of the two materials combine, much like heating and stirring would do to the physical components. Potions with the root added to them could benefit greatly, as she had found by mixing her healing potion with the root and the Mane. Though she had to be careful; physical properties and magical properties of an ingredient were not always aligned, as she had discovered early on when a plant which would normally take away pain caused her brew to harden into a useless, foul tasting mass. Scratching came from the door. Zecora opened it carefully, then all the way once she had determined that it was merely Link. "Am I to guess that the ingredients you now possess?" she asked as she let him in. He simply set a small, worn satchel upon the table. A leather satchel, but Zecora had encountered such things before and merely opened it. It was there, a root of good size and the Mane, which billowed as she opened the bag. Zecora took them carefully from the bag and set them upon the wooden alchemy table– A yellow feather fluttered to the ground. A large, yellow feather. One that would no doubt belong on a pegasus. She stooped to pick it up when a thought occurred to her. What would happen if... "The draft I can make, and little time will it take. But there is a question I wish to ask of you. Will you allow me to add this feather too?" Link cocked his head. "In truth, I do not know what it will do, but I believe that the magic of the pegasi would come through. Control of the clouds, lightning, weather and rain; these properties I believe the new potion would attain. You have brought me the ingredients for a potion to create; the decision, then, is yours to dictate." The great wolf hesitated for a moment. Then, there was a decisive nod. "Your faith in me is humbling, my friend. Come, let us see what new brew awaits us when these ingredients we blend!" Quick work with a knife reduced all three ingredients into nothing more than chopped bits. She carefully set aside the root pile for now before mixing the pegasi feather with the Mane. She then dumped the mixture from the bowl into the simmering cauldron and stirred until the ingredients were well mixed in. Taking the cutting board, she dumped the root pieces into a bowl and proceeded to grind the root until it was little more than a powder. With stirring stick in one hoof and the bowl in the other, she began gently adding the powdered root into the cauldron. There was a flash of light where the powder contacted potion, and smoke as well. Part of the potion turned a rich yellow. The other part turned black. Zecora pulled the bowl back just slightly, enough to reduce the flow of powder over the edge. It was a balance on the knife edge, this potion. The black was part of the potion that had been magically drained, nothing more than useless waste now. No matter what she did, she could not seem to get rid of it– she had accepted for now that it was a necessary part of using the root. However, if used in the wrong quantity, it would create more waste. If she stopped the flow of powder once it started, it would be even worse; the whole cauldron would congeal into useless black. It was a careful balancing act, giving the potion enough to keep it going while simultaneously limiting it based upon how much potion it was producing. A few cautious minutes later, and the powder ran out just as the last of the potion turned yellow. It was time to see what she had made. She dipped her hoof in and licked the tiniest drop, tasting the new potion. It tasted almost the same, but now there was an undercurrent like... butter? Warm and soft and rich, but otherwise it was the same as before. Satisfied that the potion was not poisonous, she took a jar and scooped as much of it out as she could. She came away with a mostly full jar, but it contained some of the black waste as well. She siphoned the yellow liquid off, filling a single jar, then did the same with all the remaining liquid she could scrape up. It was just enough to fill Link's jar. She offered it to him. "I do not know where it is that you go, but I shall always be here if you wish to say hello. I wish you luck upon your journey, my canine friend, and hope that you do not need to use this potion, before the end." Link nodded, took the jar, and quietly left.