Chapter 21
3rd Person POV
Ghost followed Zecora to her hut, brightly illuminating the surrounding area and keeping her safe from anything threatening to attack her. The Changeling colt followed the zebra into her hut, seeing an assortment of strange concoctions lining each and every shelf on the walls. If it wasn't some strange mixture, it was some sort of strange flower or ingredient. In the center, a large cauldron stood, the liquid forming a strange pink liquid.
Zecora looked over her shoulder towards Ghost, who was still admiring her work. "You do realize little one, that a disguise is not needed in these parts. There are stranger creatures waiting to tear us apart." Zecora commented, causing Ghost to gasp quietly. He turned towards Zecora with a shocked look, who nodded. "When you live around beings such as this, there is very little which you can afford to miss. Although you are hiding your true form, I know that for your kind it is the norm. There is no need to fear disclosing yourself around me."
Ghost let out an uncomfortable sigh, allowing the green flames to consume his form and revealing his true chitinous shell and leathery wings. "I'm losing my touch." He sighed, trying to ease the tension with a joke. "I would hope that it would take at least a few hours to tell what I was."
Zecora shook her head and made for the large cauldron in the center of the room. "I foolishly left my creations and ingredients unattended when young Applebloom came to visit me, thinking she could be trusted with these dangerous brews. Sadly when I returned, I was met with very bad news..."
"What news? Was something stolen?" Ghost asked, looking around and trying to find anything that looked missing. Zecora shook her head and pointed towards the cauldron in the middle of the room.
"I had been concocting a simple healing poultice for a chipped tooth Applebloom had received on her way here. But, while I left her alone, I found a strange mixture which I found was unknown. This liquid to be exact."
Ghost looked at the strange pink brew that Zecora had been describing, staring at his reflection in the pink liquid. "So she made something all by herself to give her 2 cutie marks? That's...... pretty impressive..." Ghost said, knowing for a fact that he wouldn't be able to pull that off. "But I need to find out if what she made is bad for her. What if they hurt her somehow?"
"Well, if we do not know the origin of this strange occurrence, then our chances of finding out if they are harmful are bubkis. I will need your assistance in searching for an answer through these tomes." Zecora stated, pulling out multiple books out of the bottom shelves of her walls and laying them on the ground in front of Ghost. "Hurry, through these books we must comb."
Ghost nodded and opened the first one he saw, flipping through the pages slowly to make sure he didn't miss anything. He found many poxes and illnesses regarding magic, but none involves cutie marks in the first one. He set the book aside and looked up at the rest of the books, seeing that Zecora had laid out a lot more books since he first saw the piles of books. He gave a tired sigh and began flipping through the pages, knowing that he had a long way to go.
Ghost POV
I rubbed my eyes tiredly but kept flipping through the pages, feeling them wanting to drop down and go to sleep. Zecora didn't look the least bit tired, still flipping through pages like a crazed mare. In the time it took me to get through one book, she managed to blast through 5.
"Are you sure you aren't missing anything in those books?" I asked, purposefully trying to take my time and making sure that I didn't miss anything.
"I assure young one, there is nothing in these books that I am straying from. I am scouring them just as thoroughly as you are." Zecora assured me, but that didn't make me any better. I looked out of the window and saw that the sun was now high in the morning sky, the time being around 10 or 11.
"Grr... what if she's having problems now...?" I grunted to myself, looking down at the book I was read in frustration. I felt the anger in my gut slowly bubbling to the surface, and in a fit of rage, I picked the book up with my magic and threw it against the wall, receiving a scowl from Zecora.
"Ghost! I would like it if you treated my belonging with respect. If we do not calm ourselves, then it will be Applebloom you fail to protect." She warned me, making me hang my head a bit.
"I know! It's just... ugh. I'm sorry." I apologized, moving over to the book to pick it up. It was open cover side down, opened on a page with a strange diagram. "Huh? What's this?" I asked, catching the attention of the zebra who was still reading her books crazily. I was about to read what was on the page, but a stinging pain all of a sudden went shooting through my head.
"ARGH!" I choked loudly, falling to the floor and grasping my head with both of my forehooves. I felt Zecora stand over me and rolling me onto my back, but I kept my eyes clenched shut and continued to cry out in pain. I was worrying that I was actually starving, but those pains started in the stomach, not the head. In the back of my head, I felt something else... or more specifically, heard something.
"Ghost! Help!" A voice cried out, making my eyes shoot open and forcing me to my hooves.
"APPLEBLOOM!" I yelled out, immediately crashing through the door and speeding towards Ponyville.I could faintly hear Zecora crying out my name behind me, but I just continued to charge through the forest as fast as I could to get to Applebloom quicker.
I never should have yelled at her before I left. I never should have accused her of getting fake cutie marks. I should've just let her be happy with what she wanted, her very own cutie marks.
I heard the growls of many creatures that were following me, trying to chase me down and attack me. I knew that I couldn't just let them hinder my progress towards Ponyville, so I gathered all of the negative emotions that I had in my gut and unleashed it in one big burst, sending a wave of green magic flying in all directions.
"Now back off!" I screamed, hearing the panicked cries of animals in the forest running off in all directions. I gave one last grunt before shooting off once again, seeing Sweet Apple Acres ahead of me as I continued towards it. I passed by it was if it were nothing but a red blur, feeling the painful feeling closer towards Ponyville Square.
I arrived in Ponyville Square, seeing a large crowd all looking at something in the center. A loud yell brought me back to my senses, hearing exactly what I had heard in my head back at Zecora's hut.
"Ghost!" Applebloom cried out, her yells strained and frightened. Not having the ability to break through this crowd of ponies, I immediately put on my disguise, this time changing myself to have Pegasus wings instead of a unicorn horn, and flew right over them. Once I reached my apex of flight, I disguised myself to have a unicorn horn again and landed on the ground, rolling as I did so.
I saw her, covered from head to hooves in cutie marks, tears streaking down her face as she was being forced to perform each and every talent being expressed on her body. "Applebloom! I'm here!" I cried out, seeing her hooves moving against her will as she tap danced and spun plates on her head while doing the same with a hoop around her tail.
Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed her with my magic and pulled her towards me, wrapping my hooves around her and trying to keep her from moving around. She struggled as she tried to move around to perform more talents, but I wouldn't let her. "Applebloom I'm here! Stay focused on me!" I cried, seeing her nod her head up and down with tears still streaming down her face.
"O-Ok!" She managed to stammer out, still pushing and pulling against my grasp. Since she was an Earth Pony, she had a lot more strength than one would believe, and it was getting difficult to keep her still. But I wasn't going to let her go, no matter how hard she fought.
"Ghost! Where in the name of Celestia have ya been! Applebloom has been cryin' our for ya since the middle of the night!" Applejack cried out, making the guilt of leaving Applebloom right after our fight a bit stronger.
"Zecora should have been following me! Is she coming?" I yelled, wincing as Applebloom began to actually throw blows at me.
I saw Twilight look in the same direction I had come from, seeing her gasp in excitement. "Zecora! Apple Bloom has cutie pox! do you know anything about it?" She asked frantically, to which Zecora nodded in response. I saw her holding up a book, flipped open to the same page I had seen the book opened to when I threw it.
"A cutie pox cure I have forsooth, for healing power is in the Seeds of Truth." Zecora announced, pulling the seeds out of a small pouch she had on her side. "It is lucky that Ghost came to me when he did, or else the pox would have spread so widely any cure it would forbid."
Applejack apparently didn't hear that last part, immediately making for the seeds. "Well, well then give 'em to her! Quick!" She yelled, but Zecora shook her head.
"These seeds must be planted in the ground. With the truth, they'll grow, and the cure is found."
Applejack nodded and took the seeds, quickly taking the seeds and planting them into the ground. "Alright, they're planted, now somepony tell the truth!"
I looked towards Applebloom, who was still had tears streaming down her face, but was now no longer uncontrollably sobbing. "Applebloom! Tell the truth about your cutie marks!" I told her, knowing it would be the quickest way to get the seeds to grow. She nodded quickly and cried out.
"It's me! I admit it! I didn't earn my cutie mark! They're all fake! I figured the Heart's Desire would help me get what I wanted most! So when Zecora left her hut, I mixed up a special potion and put the rest of the Heart's Desire in it!"
With that, the seeds sprouted into a large flower, making all of the ponies in the crowd sigh in amazement. Not wasting another second, I grabbed the flower with my magic and held it up to Applebloom's mouth. With a loud crunch, she ate the entire flower, leaving her gasping and sighing in relief.
Slowly but surely, her movements and struggling slowed, and all of the cutie marks dotting her body began to poof away. I sighed and relaxed a bit, but didn't let her go. I simply held her to myself lightly, as the last of her weak sobs began to descend into low gasps and hiccups.
"Applebloom!" I heard Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle cry out, rushing to our side. I sat upright as I cradled Applebloom in my forelegs, as she opened her eyes and looked at her friends.
"H-Hey you two..." She stammered, the results of her sobbing still apparent in her voice.
"Are you okay?" Scootaloo asked, receiving a nod from Applebloom.
"I'll... I'll be okay..." She responded, her eyelids beginning to droop down tiredly. I knew after this entire ordeal, she would definitely be tired.
"Guys, let her relax for a bit. I'm going to take her back to her house to let her sleep." I said, putting her onto my back and allowing her to settle in. I felt her nuzzle her head into the back of my neck, making me blush just a little bit at the feeling.
"Thank ya Ghost..." She muttered, before I felt the slow breaths of sleep puffing on the back of my neck.
"Your welcome..."