The Mystery of a New World

by Fanthrose

A day to remember the past

Chapter 8

AJ and Twilight were standing at the entrance of the Everfree Forest. The forest is one of the biggest in all of Equestria. Everypony in Ponyville is warned about the dangers of the forest from a young age so they know to avoid it at all costs. All sorts of evil monsters inhabit the forest, ready to strike at their next meal. Staring into the depths of the forest, AJ had only one question. “So tell me, what is it exactly that makes this forest so EVIL?” To enhance the word evil, AJ said it in a spooky voice while wiggling his fingers in the direction of the forest.

“Well, in the forest the plants grow on their own, the animals take care of themselves, and the clouds move all by themselves!” Twilight was shaking slightly when she finished the sentence. AJ just stared at Twilight, clearly getting some amusement out of her fears over a simple forest. “There are also a lot of dangerous creatures in the forest that are just waiting to make a pony into their next meal.”

AJ looked in the direction of the forest, then back to Twilight. “So basically, you’re all afraid of this forest because nature is being nature and taking care of itself. Oooooohhhh spoooooookyyyyyyy!” AJ couldn’t help but laugh as Twilight glared at him. “Well, if you’re so afraid of the place, why are you going into it? Wouldn’t it make more sense to, I don’t know, stay away?”

“Well if you must know, a friend of ours named Zecora lives in the forest. I’m out of my favorite tea, and she always has a supply she’s willing to share with me.” Twilight shifted her bags to make them sit more comfortably on her back. “The path to her house is usually safe from any danger.”

“Usually?” AJ asks, cocking his eyebrow.

“Well, there was one time when I was attacked and turned to stone by a cockatrice,” Twilight said as she cringed a bit at the memory. “But thanks to Fluttershy’s intervention, I was turned back.”

AJ smiled as he thought about the kind, butter yellow pegasus. “Seems like she can do just about anything, huh?”

Twilight giggled at the question. “She’s just really good at helping animals and other ponies. Well, let’s get going. Zecora’s going to be expecting us, and I don’t want to keep her waiting.”

“Alright, let’s go.” AJ let Twilight take the lead as he followed her into the forest. “Maybe I’ll see for myself what makes the forest so bad.”

The two of them made it to Zecora’s place with out anything interrupting their trip. Twilight knocked on the door as AJ took in the sights around the hollowed out tree. All the masks, the various bottles that hung from the branches, it made him wonder what kind of person or pony this Zecora was. When the door was opened, he was greeted by the site of a smiling zebra of all things. ‘Can’t say I was expecting that,’ AJ thought.

“Ah, it is good to see you again Twilight. I hope the forest did not put up to much of a fight,” Zecora said.

“Hello again, sorry I’m a bit late,” Twilight said with a sheepish grin. “Zecora, I’d like you to meet somepony.” Twilight stepped to the side to reveal AJ to Zecora. “This is AJ. He will be staying in Ponyville for a while and I thought you might want to meet him."

Zecora smiled and extended her hoof in friendship. “Allow me to take the high road, and welcome you into my humble abode.”

AJ smiled and shook her hoof. “Nice to meet you too. I gotta say, it’s nice to meet another pony who didn’t immediately think something bad when they first saw me. Hell, it’s been a week since Celestia made me a resident of Ponyville and some of the ponies still don’t fully trust me.”

Zecora nodded her head in understanding. “When I first came to Ponyville, all the ponies wished I would not dwell. But please do not take it too hard, for they do mean well.” She turns her head to Twilight. “This visit has filled me with much glee. Now come and let me get you some of your tea.”

Zecora stepped aside and let Twilight and AJ into her home. As Zecora was getting the tea leaves for Twilight, AJ couldn’t help but wonder something. “Hey Zecora, I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but if I may ask, why do you speak in rhymes?”

“When I came to this country, when I was young, I only knew my native tongue,” Zecora began as she put a mouthful of tea leaves in a pouch before giving it to Twilight. “It was hard to get around not knowing the language. I could not even call to get a carriage. As I traveled I listened to much song. In learning to speak, it helped me along. Hearing the bards as they rhyme; it was very joyous, completely sublime. As I grew, the rhyming stuck. I tried to change, with little luck. For now it is here to stay. Now, is there anything else I can do for you today?”

“No, unfortunately I have a lot of studying to do today,” Twilight said as she placed the pouch of tea leaves in her bags. As she does so, she notices a pink, glitter covered envelope. “Oh that’s right, Pinkie wanted me to invite you to a party she’s throwing tomorrow.”

Zecora took the invitation and read it. “Thank you Twilight. I will see, if time will be so kind to me.” AJ and Twilight said their goodbyes before walking out the door and leaving Zecora to do whatever it is she does.

AJ was taking his time walking back to Ponyville. He wanted to take in the sites of the forest as they walked, much to the annoyance of Twilight. “Would you hurry up, I’d like to get back to Ponyville before something happens. I’d rather not test my luck in this place."

“Oh lighten up Twilight, it’s a nice day. I say we just relax and take in the scenery.” As soon as AJ finished his sentence it started to rain. He just looked up into the sky and laughed, commending it for its timing. As he looked down, he saw Twilight glaring daggers at him, and blowing the hair out of her eyes. “Well I don’t mind. I like the rain. Though I do wish I had some type of rain gear with me. It’s going to be a bitch to dry these clothes. Remind me to commission a water proof cloak or poncho or something like that from Rarity when we get back.”

When they got out of the forest, the two of them were absolutely drenched. Twilight was able to just shake off most of the water on her body, but AJ didn’t have it so lucky. His clothes were soaked down to his underwear and he would have to deal with it until he got back to the farm house. “Looks like I’ll have to wait till later to ask Rarity. I gotta get these clothes dry first. I’ll see ya later Twilight.”

As AJ was about to start heading back to the farm, he stopped when he saw Fluttershy coming down the road. “Hey Fluttershy, what are you doing here?”

“Oh, umm hello, I was just…” Fluttershy stopped as she saw how drenched AJ was. “Oh my, what happened to you? You’re all wet.”

“We got caught in the rain because SOMEpony wanted to take his time,” Twilight said as she glared at AJ once again. He just gave her a sheepish smile.

“Yea, I was just on my way back to the farm so I could dry my clothes.” AJ rung out the bottom of his shirt for emphasis.

“Oh no, you can’t go all the way to the farm with those wet clothes on, you’ll catch a cold,” Fluttershy said, apparently forgetting the reason she was heading into the forest. “Come on. We can dry your clothes at my house. It’s much closer than the farm.”

“That’s alright, I don’t want to impose, and besides, I wouldn’t have anything else to wear,” AJ said, trying to save himself from the embarrassment of the whole situation.

Fluttershy just got behind AJ and started pushing him in the direction of her house. “Oh it’s no trouble at all. I would just feel awful if you got sick because I didn't do anything to help.”

No amount of complaining was going to deter Fluttershy when it came to helping somepony. AJ now knew this, because he tried the entire trip to her house with zero success. She wouldn’t let AJ go around sopping wet without doing something about it. At times, Fluttershy was more stubborn than a mule.

“Now, I drew you a nice warm bath. You get out of those wet clothes and put them in the basket so I can dry them for you,” Fluttershy ordered.

“Umm Fluttershy, do you have…something I could use to cover up?” AJ said as he blushed a little. “I know ponies usually go around naked, but for humans it’s a bit different. It’s a bit…embarrassing to be seen naked.”

Fluttershy thought for a bit before smiling. “I know just the thing. I’ll bring it into the bathroom when I come to get your clothes. Now get into the bath and let me take care of everything.”

Fluttershy gave AJ a little push to get him into the bathroom before closing the door. AJ looked around the bathroom noting that it was a lot more decorated and welcoming than the bathroom in the farm house. He also took note of the inviting bubble bath that had been drawn for him. Sighing in defeat, AJ striped down and got into the bath pulling the curtain for a bit of privacy.

After about a minute, he heard a knock on the bathroom door before Fluttershy came in. “I have a nice warm quilt here that you can wrap yourself in when you get out. I’ll place it by the sink for you.”

AJ poked his head out of the curtain. “OK, thanks Fluttershy. By the way, this bath feels wonderful.” Fluttershy smiled as she grabbed the clothes basket.

When AJ got out of the bath, he dried himself with the nice fluffy towel that was provided for him. After wrapping himself in the quilt, he walked out of the bathroom and was hit with a wonderful smell wafting through the air coming from the kitchen. As he entered the kitchen, he saw Fluttershy mixing something on the stove. “That smells amazing.”

Hearing this caused Fluttershy to eep and jump into the air, dropping the spoon. After she saw AJ standing there, she calmed down. “Oh, umm, I decided to make some homemade fudge. Would you like some?”

AJ licked his lips. “Sure, I love fudge.”

At that moment, a pink head with a dark pink, cotton candy like mane shot out of the quilt next to AJ’s head, making it look like he had two heads. “Did somepony say fudge? I love fudge!” This caused AJ to scream and start flailing around, getting tangled in the quilt as Pinkie enjoyed the ride. “Weeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! This is fun!”

After extracting Pinkie from the quilt, AJ sat on the couch glaring a hole through the pink pony. “I thought I asked you to stop coming in out of nowhere after you caused me to bury Big Mac in apples.”

Pinkie looked up in thought as she remembered back two days prior. AJ was moving buckets of apples into the barn and stacking them into a precariously big pile. Big Mac was bringing a cart full of more buckets to be stacked. As AJ turned around, Pinkie popped her head out of a barrel of apples just to his right, startling him and causing him to jump into the pile of apple buckets. The buckets tumbled and ended up landing on top of Big Mac, hospitalizing him with a leg injury.

“Hahahahaha, that was funny, and I didn’t come out of nowhere. I came out of the quilt!” Pinkie said with an ear to ear grin on her face. As much as AJ wanted to call Pinkie out on her logic, he knew it was futile and a waste of time.

AJ sighed. “So, what are you here for? You couldn’t have just come for fudge,” AJ asked pinkie as he shifted in the quilt a bit.

“I haven’t given Fluttershy her invitation to the party yet so I was just coming over to deliver it!” Pinkie said as she started bouncing.

Hearing about the party made AJ remember the trip into the forest. “Ah yes, speaking of the party, Zecora said she would come if she had the time.”

With Pinkie bouncing even more erratically, Fluttershy came into the living room with a plate full of fresh fudge in her hooves. “I have some fudge here. That is, if you want some.” AJ managed to get one piece before Pinkie inhaled the rest of the plate.

Wanting to savor what little fudge he got, AJ took a small bite. “Wow…this is amazing.” The compliment caused Fluttershy to blush. As he ate the rest of his fudge, he heard a ding come from upstairs. “What was that?”

“Oh, your clothes must be done. I’ll go get them,” Fluttershy said before she flew upstairs.

AJ was happy to finally have clothes again. He felt so exposed, even wrapped in the quilt. They felt so snuggly and warm. Walking out of the bathroom, he saw Fluttershy reading her invitation. “Hey, could I read that when your done? I never did look at it. Applejack just informed me that there was a party tomorrow.” Smiling Fluttershy handed AJ the invitation. He gave it a quick look over. It all seemed like a normal party. Games, snacks, music, dancing, all for someone named Gummy.

As he got to the bottom of the invitation, something caught his eye. He looked at the date. Wednesday July 18th. His eyes got wide. “What? Is tomorrow really the 18th already?” With everything that had happened, AJ had lost track of the date.

Fluttershy noticed tears starting to form in his eyes. “Um, is everything alright?”

“I-I gotta go. Thanks for everything Fluttershy. Pinkie, I don’t think I’ll be making it to the party tomorrow.” With that, AJ made a quick exit leaving behind a very confused Fluttershy and Pinkie.

AJ quickly made his way through the streets of Ponyville. He knew Applejack would be tending the stand at this time so he made his way there. When he reached the market, he saw a line of customers lined up at Applejacks stand. He needed to ask her a question, but he knew the business was important to Applejack, so he could only wait.

After about ten minutes, the line finally dwindled down and AJ took his chance. “Hey Applejack, can I ask you something?”

Turning her head, Applejack saw AJ standing right behind her. “Sure sugarcube, what do ya need?”

“Do you think I could take tomorrow off?” The sadness in his voice was obvious to anypony who heard him.

“What’s wrong? Are ya still worried about Big McIntosh? Cause if ya are, don’t be. That big lug has had worse injuries than a broken leg.” Applejack started chuckling as she remembered all the injuries the two of them have racked up over the years.

“No, it’s not about Big Mac. Look, c-can I please just have the day off?”

Applejack was starting to get concerned. AJ was usually very blunt when it came to issues. It’s not like him to dance around something. “Sure ya can sugarcube. Ah hope ya feel better.”

“Thanks.” Giving her a weak smile, AJ walked in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

The next day started much like every other morning at Sweet Apple Acres over the past week. The only difference was the absence of one human that had moved in. By the time Big Mac had come in to wake AJ up, he was already gone. On the night stand he had left a note saying he will be gone all day. The only pony who seemed to know anything at all was Applejack. So when breakfast came around, Big Mac knew he had to ask.

“So Applejack, do ya know why AJ was gone this mornin’?” Big Mac asked between bites.

Applejack sighed and looked down at her food. “Ah don’t know. All ah know is when he asked me if he could have th’ day off, he looked down right miserable. He wouldn’t tell me what was wrong.”

“Why don’t we go find him an’ ask?” Apple Bloom asked while chewing a fritter. “Maybe he’ll be more talkative today.”

“Nah, if he doesn’t want ta tell anypony, it must be something personal like. We really shouldn’t pry,” Big Mac said trying to persuade Apple Bloom from doing something she shouldn’t.

“Oh come on, y’all can’t tell me ya aren’t even a little curious about it?” Apple Bloom said trying to win this argument.

“Even if we are, buttin’ inta somepony else’s business just ain’t right. You will not ask him what’s wrong. Do ya understand me Apple Bloom?” Applejack said, putting an end to this conversation.

Apple Bloom knew she was defeated. She knew the punishment for going against her older siblings orders. “OK.”

“Good, now that we got that outa th’ way, why don’t ya go out an’ play today. With th’ extra help were ahead of schedule,” Applejack said as she started cleaning up the table.

Smiling that she had the day off too, Apple Bloom happily trotted out the door. As she got to the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres, a thought came to her. “Wait, Applejack just said ah couldn’t ask him what the problem was. She never said anythin' about followin’im an’ listenin’ ta what he says!” With her plans for the day set, Apple Bloom set off to find AJ.

Apple Bloom had no idea where to find him. She had asked many ponies if they had seen him, but everypony gave her the same answer. “Nope, sorry haven’t seen him.” Apple Bloom was getting desperate. She had looked everywhere in Ponyville to no avail. Dejected, Apple Bloom went to the park and sat down on a bench.

“Hello Apple Bloom. What’s wrong?” came a voice from above her.

Looking up, Apple Bloom saw a pair of amber, off center eyes staring at her. “Oh hi Ditzy Doo. Shouldn’t ya be deliverin’ th’ mail right now?”

Landing on the bench Ditzy smiled, stood up on her hind legs, and put her hoof to her chest in pride. “I got done extra fast today. It’s a new personal record! Now tell me, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just, Ah’ve been lookin’ for AJ all day. Ah can’t find him, an’ nopony’s seen him either. He left early this mornin’, and Ah wanted to know why,” Apple bloom said pounding her hoof against the bench a bit in frustration.

Ditzy Doo closed her eyes and thought for a minute. “Hmm, I haven’t seen him myself, but what if I help you look for him. Then when we find him, we can ask him what’s wrong.”

“No. Applejack said ah can’t ask him what’s wrong cause it’s probably personal an’ none of mah business, but she never said nothin’ about spyin’ on him,” Apple Bloom said with a smile.

“Well, Dinky’s going to be with Sparkler all day, so I have plenty of time to help you out. Let’s go!”

With Ditzy’s eye in the sky, the two of them were able to find AJ walking back to Ponyville from a field just north from the town. He came walking into Ponyville with his head down, and the hood on his hoodie up. He slowly walked down the street heading to the market place as Ditzy and Apple Bloom followed behind him hiding in bushes, in alley ways, and even on roof tops.

They watched as AJ walked up to a cart owned by Pinkie’s family farm. At the moment, the stand was being run by Pinkie’s older sister Marble Pie. As they started talking, Apple Bloom got worried. What if they were talking about what he was doing? She needed to get closer. Motioning to Ditzy, they dashed into a bush located close enough the stand that they could hear what was going on.

“…good to meet you. Pinkie has told us a lot about you. Mostly that you seem to be afraid of her. Sorry about that. She can be a bit…enthusiastic at times,” Marble said with a sheepish smile on her face.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m starting to get used to it,” AJ said, the sadness in his voice was still obvious.

“That’s good, so what can I get you,” Marble said going into business mode.

After looking around a bit and not finding what he was looking for, he just decided to ask. “Do you have a marble slab? I need one for a…project I’m working on.”

“Hmm, a marble slab huh? Let me go look.” Marble walked over to the cart she kept in the alley way behind her stand and started looking. After a couple of minutes, she returned, smiling with a slab of polished marble in her mouth. “Will this work.”

“That will be just fine. How much do I owe ya?” AJ said as he pulled out a sack of bits he earned from working on the farm.

“Normally it would be 20 bits, but for all the trouble Pinkie has caused you, I’ll give you a discount. 10 bits please.”

Smiling, AJ pulled out 10 bits and placed them on the stand and grabbed the marble slab. “Thanks. Now I have one more question. Do you know of anyone in Ponyville who does inscriptions in stone?” After getting the directions he needed, AJ thanked her again and headed off on his way. Completely unaware of the two sets of eyes peering out of the bush.

“What do ya think he needs that stone fer Ditzy?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I don’t know, but it looks like he’s heading to Sandy’s store. Come on, let’s keep following him.” With that, Ditzy grabbed up Apple Bloom and flew after AJ.

“Darn it, Ah can’t hear anything,” Apple Bloom said as she and Ditzy Doo looked through the window of Sandy’s store. They watched as he handed over the marble slab and started to leave. “Ditzy, Ah’m gonna go an’ ask Sandy if she can tell me what he’s usin’ that slab fer. You keep followin’ him and see if ya can get anymore clues.” With a salute, Ditzy flew after AJ as Apple Bloom went into the store.

Ditzy didn’t have to follow AJ far as he went to the flower trio’s stand. She watched as Daisy dragged Lily inside because she fainted. Rose just shook her head and took control of the store. “Hello, what can I get you?”

“Do you sell vases along with flowers?” AJ asked

“Yup, what kind do you need? We have big, we have small, we have short, and we have tall,” Rose said as she giggled a bit at her rhyme.

“How much would a single long stemmed lily in a tall, white vase be?”

Digging around the stand, Rose produced a long, slender, white vase and placed a single long stemmed lily in it. “That will be 8 bits.”

After taking the vase, Ditzy watched AJ sulk around Ponyville for awhile. ‘He must be wasting time till that slab is finished,’ she thought. He ended up in Ponyville Park and sat down on a bench in front of the fountain.

As Ditzy hid in the bushes, she failed to notice Pinkie Pie sitting right next to her. “Hi Ditzy, whatcha doing?”

After making sure her heart didn’t stop, Ditzy shoved her hoof into Pinkie’s mouth to silence her. “Shhhhhh. Pinkie, what are you doing?”

When she saw that Pinkie was mumbling something through her hoof, she pulled it out of her mouth. “I saw you following AJ and thought, ‘hey, she must be playing a game.’ So I started following you. Why are you following him anyway?”

Before answering, Ditzy made sure AJ was still sitting on the bench. “Apple Bloom and I are trying to find out what he’s doing today, and we can’t let him know were following him.”

“Oh, spying. I like spying. But I gotta get back to the party for Gummy. Since he won’t make it, could you give these to AJ?” Reaching back into her tail, Pinkie pulled out a pink box packed full of cupcakes and muffins. “Thanks bye!” Without waiting for an answer Pinkie was gone leaving Ditzy to hold a box full of fresh baked goodness.

After sitting there with the box for a few seconds, something hit Ditzy. “Oh crap, I forgot about the party!” Completely forgetting about her mission, she flew out of her hiding place and over to where he was. “Hi AJ, Pinkie wanted me to give you these.”

AJ really wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment, but he liked Ditzy and didn’t want to just turn her away. “Hey Ditzy, what’s in the box?”

“Since your not going to make it to the party, Pinkie wanted you to have some cupcakes and muffins. I’m sorry I can’t stay longer, but I have to go or I’ll be late for it. You know how Pinkie gets when somepony can’t come to her parties.” With that Ditzy bolted away in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. That is, until she tumbled and crashed face first into a tree. AJ could hear her cursing her clumsiness before flying off .

A bit confused, AJ opened the box and sure enough, it was packed full of baked goods. This brightened his mood a bit as he hadn’t eaten all day. He pulled out one of the cupcakes and munched on it, savoring the sweetness of the frosting, and the moist cake as he got up to go retrieve the slab from Sandy’s store.

Apple Bloom sighed in defeat. Sandy wouldn’t give out the information she had wanted saying AJ wanted it kept a secret. She also ran into Ditzy who said she was 'giving up' as Apple Bloom put it to go to the party. If that wasn’t bad enough, when she saw AJ walking into Sandy’s store again, Applejack crossed her path and dragged her along to said party. Things were just not going her way today. She knew if she tried to leave the party, Applejack would get suspicious of her. Defeated, Apple Bloom decided to just enjoy the party.

The party was over now. Apple Bloom did enjoy the party despite all that had happened and ended up falling asleep. Applejack had her on her back as she walked back to the farm house. As she was walking through the streets, she saw AJ coming around the corner a little ways ahead of her. “Hey there sugarcube, how was yer day? Feelin’ better now.”

“Huh, oh hey. Yea, the day off was just the thing I needed,” he said giving Applejack a smile.

“Good ta hear sugarcube. What’s in the box?” Applejack asked pointing at the pink box in AJ’s hand.

Looking down at the box, AJ smiled again. “Party favors. Pinkie wanted me to have something since I wasn’t going to be at the party, so she gave me some cupcakes and muffins to eat.”

“That’s Pinkie fer ya. Now let’s go, it’s gettin’ late an’ we have an early day tomorrow,” Applejack said as she continued down the path.

“Yes mam,” AJ said as he gave Applejack a mock salute, laughing as he followed.

In a field just north of Ponyville, there was a new addition to the landscape. Under a tree, on top of a hill, there lay an inscribed marble slab, dug into the ground a bit. Next to it sat a vase with a single lily.

(Its official, I hate writing for Zecora.)

My little pony © Hasbro
Friendship is magic © Lauren Faust