A Bit of Mojo

by StormDancer

09 - Resin: Part 2

Twilight Sparkle, Rarity Belle, Applejack Apple, and the shaman Zecora stole out into the night, the rippling glow of an enchanted lantern causing the forest around them to leap and sway in dizzying patterns. Strange calls and an oppressive humidity seemed to make the night that much more eerie; an experience unpleasant for even the most familiar of their troupe.

Even with the recent thaw, the Everfree forest held its own council when it came to the weather. Where Ponyville was warming up, new shoots and buds beginning to blossom, in the Everfree, a chill wind continued to linger. The result of that chill when mixed with the humidity was a sapping fog that seemed to slide across the skin and soak their coats to a bitter cold.

Applejack marched along quietly, following the sillohette of Twilight in the crawling light of her lantern, never losing sight of her friend as she kept an ear flipped back to make sure she didn't lose Rarity. Stalwartly plodding through the chill damp of a limp bush of some sort, she finally snorted, "Hey Twilight?"

Even though the mare was only a few feet ahead of her, Applejack was left to wonder if she hadn't heard for a few moments before Twilight called back softly while walking, "Yes Applejack?"

"I was just wonderin', now that you got somethin to see those little buggers, what were ya plannin' to go an do?"

Twilight continued on for a few steps before taking a deep breath and stopping. "Honestly, I don't really know." She looked back over her shoulder at her trailing friends, the crawling light of the lantern making her hard to focus on as the forest seemed to dance and sway behind her head. "I mean, we can see them now. We know they're physically capable of being restrained and even injured. We have a means of containment and potentially an avenue of 'curing' a pony who has been 'infected' by one, but beyond that, we're not much better off than we were before."

Twilight and Applejack stood there, quietly thinking for a moment before Rarity softly cleared her throat to gather their attention. "Dears, as much as I find this kind of conversation ~simply fascinating~, might we continue it somewhere a bit less.... " she looked around with half lidded eyes, "dreadful? Oh... and perhaps less damp. Maybe even warm?" She punctuated her last sentence with a smile that was so uniquely artificial Applejack nearly chuckled.

Even so, Twilight frowned. "Rarity, I'd love to be back home right now. I don't like this any more than you..." Twilight paused at Rarity's dour frown, "alright... I dislike this slightly less than you, but we can't just ignore it until the morning. Not only do we have a potential demigod level creature on the loose, an unknown number of perception altering possession ribbon things invading, and a mysterious zebra that simply EVERYpony seems to think is bad news running around, but we need to make sure Applejack's alright from that electrical discharge and we still haven't heard back from Pinkie, Fluttershy, or Rainbow Dash."

Rarity, to her credit, only looked affronted for a moment before tossing her head back and raising an eyebrow. "Really Twilight? You know as well as I do that Rainbow Dash is out looking for them and that Pinkie Pie is as close to invulnerable as anypony can be, short of wearing armor. Fluttershy is the least likely of any of us to be harmed in the Everfree and you are the only one with a lantern that can be used to either see those dreadful little monsters, or just see in general." She flicked her head towards Applejack for a moment, "And besides all that, as you mentioned, Applejack is in need of medical care..." quickly turning to Zecora, "not that I don't believe your salves to be effective, Dear, but unless she can be properly bandaged, traipsing through a chill forest, in the middle of the night, without proper equipment or support seems like a poor choice to hasten recovery."

Applejack frowned, half tempted to argue the point but couldn't quite seem to find a flaw in Rarity's reasoning. Twilight opened her mouth to reply but paused as she turned the situation over in her head, slowly closing her lips and glaring at the ground.

"I don't like the idea of not following up on this Rarity. I really don't. There are a lot of ways this can go very, very wrong." She huffed for a moment before looking back up at them, "But, at the same time, you're not wrong. Applejack is injured and we only have the one lantern. Even if I could whip up another one, I don't know if you could keep it running without me fueling it. I just don't know... we can't just let it, them, him - whatever- get away."

Twilight nearly ground her teeth in frustration as she tried to look at the situation from another standpoint.

"Look Sugarcube, I ain't going to tell you how to do this, but you know we're at our best when we're all together. An' without Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Dash, we're ~not~ together. Can't say much about that magic lamp ya got there other'n it makes my eyes crawl, but I can't but barely see out here right now an' I'm still mighty sore from before." Applejack grimaced, "I don't like it none neither, but Rare's has got a point: we ain't fit to go trompin' through the Everfree as we are right now. Least not without more light or more ponies."

Twilight glanced between her two friends, trying to think of some way to make everything work without losing an entire day in the process.

But, after nearly a full minute, she hung her head. "Alright. I'm sorry girls, I didn't want to make this worse for everypony. Let's get you back to town and we can pick this up in the morning."

Swinging the lantern back across her friends, she nearly jumped when she saw a figure seem to materialize out of the dark behind them until she remembered that Zecora had been following along.

"Heh.... ah... sorry about that girls. Which way was town again Zecora?"

With a small smile, their zebra friend gestured off into the darkness and the group turned to start in that direction.

Zecora swung her head slowly as they walked, softly murmuring words in a tongue the others were not familiar with. For her, the night held darker concerns: ones that her pony friends need not worry themselves about.

And farther back still, a carpet of black and red crept across the forest floor, reducing everything it came across to ribbons.

Stepping carefully over the tangled mass of roots and debris, Mojo followed the tunnel through the heart of the ancient tree. The air here was damp and muggy, warm and with the scent of loam and rot. He squinted in the dark, barely making out the floor of the tunnel by the shifting glow of fungi and magic roused by his passage. The walls, if they could be called that, were corded bundles of root and clay, fibrous webs of fungus and spider silk holding patches of loose soil while swaths of burlap and gunny-packed holes where others had simply fallen through.

Mojo did not like it here. He did not enjoy the muggy heat or the rotting matter. He found the dark to be oppressive and uncomfortable under the tree. And yet, here he came, at least once a month, to renew promises and keep obligations. Here, after all, was where he would come to bury the remains and pay his dues.

As he neared the third turn, he slowed and examined a patch of wall where the spiders had torn out their webs.

Dry soil. Nothing he could do about that right now. And with a soft snuffle, he continued on as another series of glyphs flickered into their dim green glow.

He could hear them now, the Deez and Greely, hissing and whispering between themselves, just below what he could understand yet just above what he could ignore. They were there, in the walls and ceiling, in the floors and even in the roots and fungi that composed this underground domain. They were watching, listening... waiting.

Mojo took the forth turn in the tunnel, a faint light ahead telling him that he was nearly there as the warmth became greater. He could feel the sweat beginning to mat his coat and knew that when he left, he would need to dry himself off or face a very real danger of sickness. The forest was still cold from winter, regardless of what season the ponies declared it to be.

Finally, he came to a stop. Before him was the first, and only, door in this place: an old thing, drug below, stained with mold and muck. The wood was mottled with grime and the hinges stiff and thick with corrosion. All around the structure glyphs and symbols shimmered with the glow of magic tied to the tree above, around, and below, siphoning from the very soul of the Everfree.

Mojo closed his eyes, listening to the creeping press of the Deez and Greely, the soft plip of water droplets that leaked from the living roof, the echoing moan of the wind that none but the spirits could feel. And into that murmur, he spoke, "Tje-kadna, san-lwa."

The hiss and creep of the Deez and Greely stopped.

And in the silence, the zebra pulled open the door, stepped through, and descended into the cavern below.

It was some time before Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Zecora neared the edge of the Everfree. The moon shone between claw-like branches as if a decoration hung for Nightmare Night, and yet, breaking through into the open fields near Ponyville felt just as relieving as coming home to a warm bed after their trek through the Everfree.

Applejack was the first to stop as they left the forest behind.

"Girls."

Twilight looked up from her thoughts and looked back towards her three friends while Rarity simply cocked an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't we be tellin' Princess Celestia about this all before it goes and blows up in our faces?"

Twilight opened her mouth to reply, but before she could get a word out, Rarity stepped up alongside Applejack and chimed in. "Oh, dear me, I should hope not. Why, we barely even know what's going on and, while I assume the Princess could handle that ruffian in just a second, she is busy running a nation." Rarity nodded her head firmly before lifting her chin just a touch and looking at Applejack with a slightly pained expression. "And that is completely ignoring the simply dreadful time of night! We would be interrupting her beauty rest!"

Applejack's half lidded deadpan was met with Rarity's own indignant disgust.

"Rarity. How many times're we gunna have to drag you through the mud before you realize that Celestia can't protect against something she don't know is goin' on?" Before Rarity could respond, Applejack turned to fix Twilight with a firm stare as well. "And you, when are you going to remember that you can't do this all on your own? Maybe it's something simple like those diamond dogs, but maybe it's something big like you were thinkin' and Celestia NEEDS to know. You won't be doin' anypony any favors if you go and get yourself caught and Celestia goes on kissin' foals and holdin' court when she could have already fixed the whole thing."

Applejack shook her head before shifting to catch the moonlight on her neck and chest. "And don't think I forgot about this here, Twilight. I know ya didn't mean it, but if Zecora weren't there, don't think a-one of us coulda done a gul-dang thing about you and your magic."

Twilight grimaced at the words but didn't look away. Even in the dark, even with the shifting light of the lantern, she could see the flowery spiderweb of burns glistening with Zecora's medicines.

"I know, girls, I know. I just want to make sure we actually have something to tell her before we get her worried about nothing."

And, from the sudden snort, Twilight realized that maybe her wording could have been a bit more tactful.

"Applejack, I didn't mean—"

"Twilight, nopony ever said I ain't stubborn, least of all ma own family, but you're diggin' a trench that you'll end up drowning us all in if ya don't come up for air." Applejack frowned as she looked at Twilight hard. "Now, you going to let her know... or am I?"

The clouds drifted by in the cool night air, the forest silent, save for the soft murmurings of their zebra friend.

"I'll tell her, Applejack. I'll let her know we can't do this one on our own."

Deep in the dark, running through the heart of the Everfree forest, there were things that Celestia's sun had never touched. Twisting, squirming, writhing and gnashing things. Things that were best left forgotten or, better yet, never discovered in the first place.

And amongst them, a figure plodded with glacial determination. Foot upon foot, hoof after hoof, the being worked its way through the teeming morass of... stuff as it continued along a nearly invisible path.

Every so often, the eerie glow of fungus or some glimmering insect would play across the figure's features, highlighting the cold whites and untouched shadows. Here and there, one of the things from below would pause to examine the visitor, leaning in or reaching out to touch it, only to pull back as if stung.

No, this was not food. This was a predator amongst predators, something even older than they, and they were not in the habit of being hunted. Even so, as the figure passed, its very nature drew a following of the forgotten things.

After all, if one such as that could come and go, why not one amongst their own number.

Why not the rest of them?

But the path was hard and the dust that clung to that road burned.

No. The figure would come and go, but they would remain, for now, as ever.

In the dark.

Dear Princess Celestia,
Hey! Funny story. The girls and I were just out in the middle of the Everfree and...

Twilight frowned and reduced another page to a pinprick in her magic before summoning another roll of parchment and trying, for the eighth time, to pen a letter without Spike's help.

The little guy was all tucked into bed and after all the work he'd done throughout the day, she was loathe to wake him. Then again, she wasn't really all too used to writing her own letters and the end result was that she realized Spike probably made more corrections (and probably a final copy when she wasn't looking) than she actually thought.

Pushing back from her desk, she wandered over to the kitchen to get herself a drink, noting that Rarity and Zecora had taken turns to get cleaned up in her shower. Upstairs the water continued to run as Applejack 'sluiced down.'

Sighing again at the hour, she plopped down alongside her friends and began idly floating the quill across the paper without writing a thing.

Noticing her mood, Rarity leaned over and offered a consoling smile. "You know, dear, it's really not that difficult to let her know. You've written to her countless times before — so why is this time causing you so much, shall we say, heartache?"

Twilight rolled her chin across the table to look at Rarity more clearly. "I don't know. I mean, it's not like there's actually been anything that we couldn't handle yet. I found out about him. I invited him over after I nearly killed him... which in retrospect, was probably an injury he wouldn't even be bothered by if he's a fury. I blasted him when I thought he was a zombie pony... or at least I hope it was him and not an actual zombie pony that we just left to wander around. We got everyone together and went looking for him, only to find out how incredibly outgunned we were when he could have killed Pinkie. Then we found the little ribbon thing Zecora knows about, found out that Pinkie knows Stormdancer and that he can infuse magic into things without any of the telltale signs of magic. Then, let's not forget that I got possessed by one of those little ribbons, turned on Zecora, nearly fried Applejack, and had to be carried out into the Everfree for help."

Twilight tapped the table with a hoof for emphasis.

"Oh, but don't worry, Princess! I managed to make a lamp that spins and makes Applejack sick to be around it, so, we're doing great!" She hung her head. "So please help us?" She sighed before looking back up to a gently smiling Rarity. "doesn't really make for a great letter and..." she gestured, "I'd like for the Princess not to think I can't handle things on my own."

Rarity nodded again with a smile and gestured to the table before her.

Twilight looked down and saw a beautifully penned letter, in Rarity's horn-writing, detailing the days events.

"I thought you might be better able to express yourself without distractions, Dear." Rarity reached over and hugged her friend. "Sometimes we all just need a bit of time to vent... and you never know when the muse will strike."

Twilight sighed into the hug before nodding. "Thanks Rarity."

From across the table, Zecora looked on with a smile. And from the top of the stairs, Applejack gave a wry snort as she stuck her hat back on her slightly damp mane. "'bout time, ya silly egghead."

The night had finally gone quiet, something that the pair could appreciate. With everything that had been happening the last few hours, a little respite was just what they all needed. Still, with everyone gone from Ponyville, it was a bit of a haunted silence that met them as they left Twilight to get some rest.

"Rarity, I don't rightly like how this whole thing is goin'," Applejack said in a quiet tone as they wandered back towards the Carousel Boutique.

Eyeing the slim number of lit streetlamps, Rarity was forced to agree. Between the dark, the lingering chill of the Everfree, the number of scares they'd had in the last few hours and the knowledge that whatever started the whole thing was still out there... well, it certainly put a damper on her own mood.

Quietly, the pair wandered the streets, the hollow echo of their hooves the only sound save for the muffled murmur of the streetlamps.

"Nor I, Applejack. Nor I. And yet, here we are, once again, running off into some great, unknown, adventure." Rarity huffed. "And, once more, on an otherwise lovely day that we could have been enjoying."

The farm mare smirked at that, shaking her head just slightly. "As I remember it, there was a pretty ugly storm, but I know what'cha mean, Rares. But you know them creepy crawlies ain't gunna just roll over and play nice on account of some sunshine. Nope... some of 'em need a firm hoof or maybe a good swift buck or two to get themselves in order. Not like we ain't done so before."

Turning the corner, the pair continued on.

"Yes yes... some of those things will certainly only respond to the physical, of course, but I just wish they could pick a miserable day once in a while. You know? Perhaps a day when we're all inside, bemoaning the waste of an otherwise lovely week with nothing to do."

Rarity paused and then scowled.

"I take it back. I wish they'd just stop causing problems period. At this point, we've beaten Nightmare Moon, Discord, the Changelings, Discord again, and those are just the big problems. You'd think that they'd have heard of all that by now and figured they'd be better served with getting a day job. I mean seriously!" Rarity stomped a hoof, twitching at the echo as it bounced around the empty town. "Erm.... well, I suppose that's all rather obvious in retrospect."

Applejack chuckled softly and nodded. "A'yep. Not much out there to really spook us no more. Then again, them little ribbon monsters ain't really somethin' I want to tangle with again. Shame though that we gotta call it quits for the night."

Rarity frowned and looked to her friend. "Applejack, don't you start now. You're one of the best reasons TO stop for the evening. Even if you COULD keep going on, which I'm sure you can, the rest of us certainly can't do overmuch if we're exhausted. And don't forget that you're not at your best right now either. While I'm sure Zecora's creams and whatnot are helping, you said it yourself; it won't do to come down with something when we need to be at our best."

The two came to a stop outside of Rarity's home and business. All around them, the night continued on in its uncomfortable silence.

"Well, here we are Rares. I suppose I'll be seeing you bright an' early tomorrow if Twilight has anything to say about it."

"Most likely. Do be careful on the way back Applejack. I don't like the look of the night."

Applejack smirked. "Don't let Luna hear you be sayin' that."

"Perish the thought."

And with a nod, Applejack turned on a hoof and started the long trek back to the Acres. Rarity watched her go, a thin frown on her face.

The night had not gone well at all and they still hadn't heard back from Fluttershy, Pinkie, or Rainbow Dash.

With a soft blue glow, Rarity opened her door, stepped inside, and locked it for the first time in many, many years.

Twilight and Zecora sat across from one another, an iodine bottle between them, as Twilight gently dripped drops of the fluid onto Zecora's recently uncovered hoof.

To say that the zebra was taking the sting of the medicine stoically would be a noble thing. In reality, the moment their friends had left, Zecora had lifted her hoof from the ground and promptly asked for assistance. Apparently, even Zecora felt the need to save face once in a while.

Twilight hadn't said a word, after all Zecora had saved her that very evening, and had simply pulled out the medical kit she kept in the kitchen to start patching things up.

Three books on Zebra anatomy, first aid, and hoof injuries floated beside the pair as Twilight worked. And while Zecora assured her that it was not a very bad injury, Twilight reminded her that she lived in the Everfree forest and that infection could be insidious and quite the challenge to combat in such conditions.

Zecora's response had been to point to a book entitled Super-Naturals before chuckling at Twilight's embarrassment over having dismissed the book some years back over assuming its contents based solely upon its title. That little lesson had led to their friendship — that and Zecora's nearly encyclopedic knowledge of the various plants and medicines that the scientific community had yet to document.

Either way, once the hoof had been exposed, the true horror of her injury became clear. Dozens of razor thin cuts had punched through the hoof to the quick below. Where the cuts intersected, needle thin slices of hoof hung on, acting more like free standing blades than a proper method to remain upright. Blood had clotted all over the mess and yet the simple act of removing the bandages had destroyed what little good had started. Blood had begun to leak almost immediately.

Twilight had, understandably, suggested the hospital before Zecora's firm negative had settled them to cleaning, reconstructing, and binding the whole thing.

By the time Twilight had begun applying the iodine, they had cleaned it out, patched the hoof back together with resin and silk fiber, ratcheted it down with a thin glass rod for tensioning, and packed the remaining holes with alcohol soaked gauze.

It was not a bit of first aid Twilight was proud of. In fact, she was pretty certain that leaving gauze in the wounds, particularly with alcohol, was a bad idea, but Zecora's unwavering instruction kept her complaints at bay.

Finally taking the time to paint a coat of enamel over the top layer of the hoof, Twilight glanced up and addressed the parasprite in the room. "You know, Zecora, I'm no medical pony, but even I can tell this isn't a great solution. You really should get this handled professionally."

Sipping from a small cup of tea with her other hoof, Zecora turned her injured limb slowly to help Twilight's application some. "While our time is limited, in fact unknown, the healing they offer, I can perform at home. We are better served to do this now than be overcome and wonder how."

Twilight frowned at the implication. "Well, yes. I know we can't delay all that long, but the girls are already going home for the night and it's not like we'll be hunting at the moment anyway." She nodded towards Zecora's hoof, "But if we do this wrong, not only will it slow you down, but you could be hobbled until we get a chance to treat it properly."

Zecora's raised eyebrow prompted Twilight to continue.

"... Okay okay... aaaaand I'm not really great at this medical stuff and I'm worried it'll hurt you or," Twilight paled a tiny bit, "or.... split open or something."

Zecora nodded slowly before sipping her tea again. "Twilight Sparkle, as you can see, " she looked over her freshly coated hoof, the rough and split sections catching the light as she turned it back and forth, " this hoof you worry about is attached to me."

"Yes but-"

"But nothing, my little unicorn. I do not fuss over your horn."

Twilight flinched back. While true, Zecora's rebuke was enough of a reminder that she was a grown mare that Twilight felt more than a little embarrassed.

"I know, Zecora, but I'm worried about you. What if we need to run and you stumble? What if you have to defend yourself? What if-"

Zecora's patched up hoof found Twilight's mouth as the zebra silenced her. "What if the moon falls or the winds stall? What if the rain slows or the Angel Bunny grows? These things, Twilight Sparkle, we cannot know, but our goals we cannot slow. Either we travel shortly, as we are, or I stay behind, and leave you to roam afar."

With a slow nod, Zecora pulled her reassembled hoof from Twilight and began to wrap it in a strip of the remaining silk bandages. While Twilight watched, the zebra expertly folded, wrapped, and secured the bandages before slipping the rod from earlier back in to twist them tighter. Moving with the grace of one familiar with treating herself, Zecora swiftly put Twilight's earlier work to shame without seeming effort.

It was enough that Twilight made a mental note to practice her first aid in her spare time. The Crusaders might actually have more practical experience than her in that regard, which left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Well, we have a busy day tomorrow, so you're welcome to use the spare bed upstairs. I'll pull some blankets out and get things ready if there's nothing else you need."

Zecora looked up with a warm smile. "No, my friend, there's nothing left for me to do, but accept your hospitality and follow you."

And with that, the pair ambled up the steps, one with a spritely bounce, the other with an off-balanced trod, and turned in for the night. If any were to have remained behind, they may have born witness to a very distressing scene in which a thin ribbon of bandage seemed to pull itself from the clotted mess in the trash and squirm across the floor and down the stairs into the basement.

Of course, neither was, which meant that the act went completely unnoticed.