16
"Alright, I'm going to pass back last week's test," the teacher said, levitating the stack of papers before her. "Don't leave until you get yours back. Aces High?"
"Right here, teach."
Taboo began packing up her things. It was finally the end of another Friday at school, which meant she had a whole weekend free from responsibility to look forward to. She rapped twice on the wooden surface of her desk, just to be sure her desire for leisure didn't get jinxed somehow. When it came to having a free weekend, it usually ended up being a bit of a day at the races for Taboo.
Her mother and father were always so busy that she usually ended up just looking after Aurora, unless the filly had other plans or Scootaloo was around to look after her. Taboo's parents were pretty clear on their position that if Taboo didn't have anything going on, she could spare a few hours for her sister. Taboo loved her sister, but she spent enough time with her already. She liked to get out of the house every once and a while too. Taboo needed a first line of defense, just in case her parents should ask if she has any plans.
"Hey, Pumpkin!" Taboo turned to the unicorn next to her levitating several unfinished cinnamon rolls into her bag. Pumpkin jumped a little and swiftly shut her bag as if Taboo hadn't already known what she was up to. "You think we could hang out this weekend?"
"Oh, yeah! For sure!" Pumpkin said, smiling brightly from ear to ear. Taboo cheered a little victory inside. Having plans with Pumpkin would give her some leverage when negotiating. "I really need help with my history report!" Turns out this plan came with a stipulation.
"The report? B-but I already finished-"
"I know that, but I really need help with mine!" Pumpkin said. "With your help, I can get it done no problem. Oooh, we can even meet up at the library to do it!"
"The library?" Taboo was not a big fan of the library. Just thinking about it made her eyes itch a little. She adjusted her glasses, unsure of whether or not she was still so opposed to looking after Aurora. "But I was thinking-"
"You and Taboo studying at the library?" Pound asked, interrupting the conversation. "Boy, you two know how to spend a weekend..."
"Pound Cake." The teacher walked by and set a test down on Pound's desk. He looked down at it and instantly made a sour expression.
"... On second thought, a day at the library might not be so bad.
"Pumpkin Cake."
"Hey! I didn't completely fail!" Pumpkin tended to look on the bright side of her grades.
"Taboo."
"Oh, thanks." Taboo looked down at her own test. Looking down at her letter grade, she couldn't get very excited about it. She knew her mother would be, once again, extremely pleased, but that was probably because she never expected to have a smart kid. Taboo smiled and put the test in her bag, comforted by the fact that at least somepony would get a kick out of it.
"So, we doing this library thing tomorrow?" Pound asked in order to confirm. "I think I need to look over my report again too..."
"Yeah, it'll be great!" Pumpkin said. She turned to the pony sitting in the desk just in front of her. "You want to come too?"
"Please, me? Study on a weekend?" The pony levitated her test up for the others to see. Once again, it was a perfect score. "Go ahead without me. I think I'll just relax."
"Sheesh Locusta, you're such a geek."
"Oy, hows about you cram it, Lagan?" Locusta scowled at the earth pony sitting adjacent from her. He payed her no heed himself, opting to stuff his own test into his bag. He really didn't want anypony to see it. Venom, meanwhile, didn't like being ignored. "Why doncha take your attitude back on the boat to Baltimare?"
"Forget her, I'll go with you guys," Lagan said. "I'm more fun than her any day."
"It's a study session, Lagan." Pound's reminder was largely ignored by the colt.
"Okay, the more the merrier!" Pumpkin had basically forgotten the point of the trip as well.
"Huh? You can't be serious!" Locusta retorted. "Alright, fine! I'll go too. Taboo isn't enough to help all three of you morons."
"Hey! That's a bit touchy!" Pound immediately regretted talking back to Locusta as she instantly jumped over his desk and put him in a headlock.
"Wuzzat? You got somethin' to say, huh?"
Taboo supposed it was too late to back out now. Her parents would certainly release her from Aurora duty for a study session, even if it would inevitably dissolve into slacking off before the end of the day. These "study sessions" always ended up that way, but Taboo was just grateful things were lively. It made everyday a little more exciting.
"A study group?" Rainbow Dash shoveled another spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth. "Your rocked that last test, whaddya need a study group for?"
"It's not so much for me as for the others." Taboo did her best to ignore her own mother talking with her mouth full. She didn't understand why she always ate like something was going to sneak up on her and steal her food. Taboo preferred to take it slow, as she waited to complete her sentence before continuing her breakfast.
"Nice of you to help out," Rainbow Dash said before swallowing. "It'll be fine. Your father can stay home with Aurora today."
"Where are you going?" Taboo asked.
"Twilight was worried about something over in the Everfree, or something." Rainbow Dash shoveled more oatmeal into her mouth. "Wasn't really paying attention."
"Yeah, I think I'll be going with you," Thunderhead said, putting down his own breakfast for a moment. "I was paying attention, and it sounds like it'll be dangerous."
"I can take care of myself."
"I'm sure you can, but let me tag along for my own peace of mind."
"But it's your day off, don't you want to spend it with your daughter?" Rainbow Dash gestured to Aurora with a full spoon. The filly had already finished her breakfast, so she sat with a big smile behind an empty bowl just listening to her family talk. They half expected her to chip in at this point, but she just continued looking on. It wasn't clear if she knew that they were talking about her specifically. "Don't you want to spend the day with your dad, Aurora?"
"Yes!" Aurora's answer wasn't at all surprising, but what she said next was. "But mommy can have him so she can be safe."
"Ha! That's two against one," Thunderhead said, claiming victory for his cause.
"Fine, you can tag along." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and shoved the rest of her oatmeal into her mouth. "But then what are you going to do, Aurora?"
"I don't know!" Aurora was still all smiles. Not even an uncertain future could get her down. Rainbow Dash puzzled for a moment.
"I hate to bother her out of the blue, but maybe Roseluck will let her play with Applerose until we're done." There wasn't much else she could do, considering the rest of her friends were going to be busy helping Twilight too. "I'd hate to leave her here alone."
"I wouldn't be alone," Aurora said. "I'd have Tank!"
"... Let's just swing by Sweet Apple Acres before we head out."
"Alright, so what do you three have so far?" Taboo asked. Pumpkin, Pound, and Lagan rocked in their seats a little, filling the once silent library with just a smidgen of noise. It didn't bode well for the rest of the day. "Do any of you have... anything?"
"You three can't be serious." Venom didn't like having to disguise herself as Locusta on her days off, but she hated that she was friends with three complete idiots even more. "Alright, topics then. What did you all choose for your topics?"
"What did you two choose?" Pumpkin asked, but her question was only answered by Venom slamming the table with her front hooves. "Eeep!"
"You're not copying us!"
"Aww..."
"... But if you really want to know." Venom reeled her temper back in. She reminded herself that she was here to help. "I wrote my report on the Changeling Empire."
"That's a weird topic," Lagan said, but this just earned him an icy glare from Venom. He didn't need any verbal prompting to know he was now on the spot to present a better idea. "Uh... I thought about doing mine on Yakyakistan."
"Pfft, good luck finding sources." Venom turned to Pumpkin next. "How about you?"
"So get this!" No sooner had Pumpkin said this than both Taboo and Venom knew she had not picked a suitable topic. "There's this place that a greedy queen made this genie destroy with a gigantic storm!"
"This is a history paper, not mythology!" Venom paused her complaint for a moment to turn to Taboo. "Genies aren't real, right?"
"Well... I've never seen one." Taboo didn't know for certain either. While Venom mulled it over, Taboo turned to the last pony at the table. "I wrote my paper about Saddle Arabia. What's your topic?"
"I thought I'd just do Ponyville."
"Pfft, that's such a Pound thing to do," Venom said without so much as an attempt to hide her disappointment. "At least Lagan and Pound have workable topics. Taboo, see if you can help Pumpkin find someplace she can write about."
"But it's a real place, it's called-"
"I think Locusta is right, Pumpkin," Taboo said before Pumpkin could embarrass herself further or enrage Venom further. "Let's go check the shelves for something that interests you." Just like that, Taboo found herself wandering the between the shelves of the library. No matter how far she got from Venom and the boys, she could still hear the filly giving the pair an earful at regular intervals. Taboo wished she could make some progress with Pumpkin, who was very resistant to any ideas Taboo presented.
She replaced another book and heaved a sigh. This wasn't how she wanted to spend her Saturday, but she held onto the hope that it would soon dissolve into chaos. Even if she could get Pumpkin to make just a little progress, it was likely Taboo could trigger the group into slacking off. With renewed hope, she set about searching the shelves again.
"Let's see... there should be a book in here about Griffonstone." Taboo looked but did not find it. She even cleaned her glasses and took a second look, but it wasn't to any avail. She had been sure there was at least one on the shelf near here. "Where is it?"
"Sorry, it just got returned this morning." A purple claw reached over Taboo and placed the book in question back onto the shelf. Taboo turned about and looked up at Spike the Dragon. For her, he'd almost always been just about the size of her mother. The dramatic change of his size was lost on her, so she faced the tall drake without fear. Spike was a friend, even if he rarely left the library these days. "Hey Taboo."
"Hey Spike." Taboo winced as she heard Venom yell something less than savory at Lagan and Pound. "Sorry, are we being too loud?"
"It's fine since nopony else is here right now. We don't get many visitors on Saturday," Spike said. "You helping your friends out with some school stuff?"
"Yeah... the library not my idea of a fun Saturday." Taboo decided she would rather not complain about it to Spike. She realized he probably spent every weekend cooped up in here. She turned the conversation elsewhere. "Read any good books lately?"
"I guess so." Spike stared ahead at the shelf for a moment. He didn't look particularly enthralled by this subject. "Nowadays I just pick a book of the shelf and just read it. Being picky about it makes things kinda dull."
"Sounds like something Twilight might do."
"Yeah, I'm a regular bookworm now." Spike smiled a little. "I guess as far as dragon hordes go, knowledge and books is pretty out there... not that I am hoarding... I think." Just the mention of hoarding drained the last bit of joy Spike had appeared to be feeling. His sudden melancholy wasn't lost on Taboo, who struggled to redirect the conversation for a second time.
"H-Hey! What exactly is Twilight up to today?" Taboo asked the first question that popped into her head. "My mom said she asked her to go with her to check out the Everfree, or something."
"Hmm? Oh, that." Spike snapped out of his gloom, attempting to recall what Twilight had been going on about for the last few days. He specifically remembered it being horribly boring, but beyond that it was a bit blurry. "... I think she explained it to me... but I don't think I was listening. You see, there was this dog..."
"Hey! Taboo!" Pumpkin appeared from around the shelves. She scampered right up to Spike and Taboo, not seeming to care whether or not she was interrupting. She slammed a heavy book down in front of Taboo and smiled from ear to ear. "Can I do Zebrica?"
"Zebrica? Yeah, that'll work!" Taboo was legitimately impressed that Pumpkin had come up with a workable topic all by herself. That feeling of pride went away when Taboo looked down at the book Pumpkin had presented her. "Uh... Pumpkin... this is a dictionary."
"Yeah, it's the only book I could find that talks about it." Pumpkin opened the book up and flipped all the way to the back where the "Z" words were. "See, right here!"
"Zebrica (zee-bruh-kuh) noun: continent southwest of Equestria across the Monstrous Sea." Taboo read it to herself a second time, if only because she really couldn't believe this was all Pumpkin had come up with. She looked up at Spike, but he was already making a face like he had bad news. "There are no books on Zebrica in the library right now?"
"Other fillies and colts in your class might've had the same idea," Spike said, but then he remembered a little tidbit of information. "But, there is somewhere else you might be able to get information."
"Oooh! Do you mean Zecora's?" Pumpkin had never met the Zebra living out in the Everfree, but Pinkie always spoke of her fondly. Even if Pinkie spoke of everypony fondly, it was still encouraging. She even had a song about this particular resident. "Yeah, let's go see her!"
"What about Venom and the boys?"
"What are you? Stupid?! Show me some real writing this time!"
"We'll be back before they know it," Pumpkin said with a smile on her face. "C'mon! If I ask Zecora for help on this, I'm sure to get a good grade! If I get a better grade than Pound, my parents are gonna flip out! Please, oh please can we go? I can't go alone, so please?"
"I'd be glad to go... but..." Taboo looked up at Spike. "Isn't there something going on in the Everfree?"
"Well... maybe?" Spike still couldn't recall what was going on exactly. He just shrugged it off. "It's probably nothing; I wouldn't worry about it."
"Yeah, it's probably just boring adult stuff," Pumpkin said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "I mean, it's not like they ever do anything exciting."
"Take this!"
The massive adder received another technicolor sock across it's enormous jaw. The dizzied reptile did not appreciate being up against such a fast opponent, and it appreciated even less being blasted with magic from either side as it reeled from the impact. It lashed out at its attackers once more, but only managed to sink its fangs into the dirt. Its oppressors scattered quickly, easily avoiding the attack from the very edge of its range. The serpent hissed loudly and recoiled for another strike.
"Yeee-haw!"
Before the creature could lunge again, a rope found its way around its neck. Baffled, it regarded the accessory for a brief moment before a sharp tug brought its massive head crashing down. On the other end, Applejack pulled against the monster with her hooves dug deep into the ground. She was assisted by Pinkie Pie right behind her and assisted to some small extend perhaps by Fluttershy who screamed as she waved the end of the rope around in her hooves.
The serpent regained its senses and began to pull back, overpowering the three ponies. Before it could make too much headway, Twilight and Rarity grabbed the rope with their magic and assisted with the tug-of-war. Slowly yet surely, the snake began to lose ground. For the finishing blow, Rainbow Dash swooped down and took the end of the rope from Fluttershy. She flew a swift circle around the base of a thick tree before tying the rope off in a tight knot. Just like that, the massive snake was subdued.
"Nothin' to it!" Rainbow Dash said, dusting off her hooves.
"Good work girls," Twilight said while keeping a careful eye on their captive. Despite being tethered securely, the back end of the creature was still wreaking havoc several yards away. "Do you think they need our help?"
"It might not be help needed, but I reckon it should be help given," Applejack said. The girls wasted no time, except for maybe Fluttershy, in rushing towards the other end of the snake.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the snake, Soarin' was being tossed around like a rag doll from the clutches of the serpent's opposite head. With Thunderhead flying about the creature's head and Pierce blasting it from below, it was having trouble finding a spare moment to try and swallow its prey. At least it didn't have to worry about Time Turner meekly attempting to tie a rope around the snakes belly.
"Maybe I could go around... no, that won't work... maybe if I... no... this monster wrangling business is tough." Time Turner stared at the rope and the snake, neither party really visibly concerned with the other.
"Hang on, Soarin'!" Thunderhead shouted over the snake's hissing.
"I've got him right where I want him!" Soarin' was beating the snake's lip with his forelegs. Despite his valiant efforts and delusional self confidence, he wasn't doing any damage; however, the slight irritation was enough to make the snake decide to take a gamble by tossing a discombobulated Soarin' into the air. As Soarin' tumbled around, the snake flailed it's head madly to either side. Surprised by the sudden change in behavior, both Thunderhead and Pierce found themselves knocked aside, one into the sky and the other into a tree. Time Turner had managed to tangle himself up in his own rope, so he was effectively out of commission as well. Freed from the distractions, the snake only had to open its mouth skyward as Soarin' came tumbling back down.
Before the snake could clamp down on it's meal, a rope flew from the forest and wrapped itself around the snake's bottom jaw. With one yank, the snake found itself in the dirt and in a fairly uncomfortable position. It tried to rise again, but was immediately knocked unconscious when Soarin' dropped hard onto the top of its head. A bit dazed himself, Soarin' took a second to stand back up and take stock of what had transpired.
"... See, toldja I had him!"
"Yeah, sure you did," Thunderhead said, touching down next to the knocked out head. He looked down to the end of the rope where a blonde stallion was tying up the end of the rope to a tree. "Good job, Meadow Song."
"I thought about letting the snake eat him first," the stallion said. "But as you can see... I had the thought too late."
"Well, act now think later, right?" Pierce said, covered in leaves. "You think the ladies are done?"
"Done and done," Rainbow Dash said, whizzing by the stallions before looping back around and landing next to Thunderhead. "So, who's hungry?"
"No food!" Twilight said, marching into the clearing with the rest of her crew in tow. "We've got to figure out a way to get this monster back to where it came from."
"This might just be the laziness talking, but I'd rather have lunch," Pierce said. He slung a foreleg around his wife and magicked the rest of the leaves out of his hair. "How about North Winds? They should still be serving breakfast."
"No! It is not the time for that!"
"She's right," Fluttershy said, her husband nodding alongside her. He was still a bit tied up. "We need to pick up the children from Applejack's. We can't put Roseluck and Big Macintosh out like this."
"They're all probably having a blast!" Pinkie hopped atop the snake's head, where Soarin' was trying to alleviate his own aching head. "Get it? It's 'a blast' because it's so much fun they might explode!"
"That's what I'm worried about," Fluttershy said, but only in a whisper. "We can't just leave them there while we go out."
"And we can't leave this gaint two-headed snake here and go out!" Twilight was surprised she had to remind everypony about this. Still, it didn't look like they cared in the least. "C'mon Applejack, help me out he-aaaand you're too busy making out."
"Mmph, wha?" Applejack separated from Meadow Song long enough to pay Twilight a little attention. "You say somethin'?"
"... No, please, just go about your business! Don't let impending danger distract you all from your business!"
"... Alright?" Applejack exchanged a confused glance with her coltfriend before turning back to Twilight. "Speakin' of danger, are we gonna do anythin' with this snake monster?"
"D-d-did you hear that?!" Pumpkin backed into Taboo, who had also jumped backwards into Pumpkin.
"How could I not?" Taboo's eyes darted around, but the source of the bloodcurdling scream she'd just heard evaded her. "L-let's keep moving. I th-think we're almost there."
"I hope so." Pumpkin and Taboo hurried down the path that allegedly lead to Zecora's hut. The Everfree was frightening enough without the previous scream, especially for two young fillies. Their parents had warned them enough about the dangers of the forest to condition them to be scared out of their wits. Pumpkin's idea was seeming less and less like one of the good ones the deeper they got, but they were more afraid of turning around than continuing on.
Taboo, for her part, didn't understand why she was so afraid. Other than the random scream, she hadn't heard anything else nearby that was worth being worried over; however, the ambiance of the forest didn't sit well with her at all. For whatever reason, she just wanted to be back in town as soon as possible. If she didn't have to stay with Pumpkin, she would've opted just to fly over the forest instead of ever going into it. Her first venture into the forest was upon her despite her reservations, and as a darkened clearing occupied by a singular, exotic hut came into view it became clear that her trip to the Everfree had only just begun.
"You think she's home?" Pumpkin asked, realizing their walk through the forest would've been a complete waste if Zecora had decided to step out for brunch.
"Well, I can see a light in the window," Taboo said. She perked up her ears towards the hut. "... And I can hear somepony talking inside."
"Is she talking in rhyme?" Pumpkin asked, already keen to Zecora's mode of speech.
"... Not she... and no." Taboo could hear a male voice inside the hut, and as the pair of fillies inched closer Taboo realized she recognized the voice. "It sounds like Principal Walnut."
"What?" Pumpkin grabbed Taboo and threw her into a nearby shrub. She jumped in after her friend and grabbed her once more, pressing their noses together. Taboo didn't need her glasses to see the intrigue in Pumpkin's eyes. "Can you hear what they're talking about?"
"Well, kind of?" Taboo stretched up her ears. She didn't understand Pumpkin's interest, but tried her best to pick up on the spine of the conversation. "I'm not sure... but Principal Walnut is laughing."
"He's laughing? He never laughs!" Pumpkin released Taboo so she could think for a moment. "I don't think he even smiles. What else?"
"I think Zecora is laughing too?" Taboo didn't know for sure, seeing as she'd never met Zecora before.
"We've got to get closer," Pumpkin said, hopping right out of the bush in the least stealthy manner Taboo had seen. Taboo followed behind, opting to walk normally seeing as she didn't fear disturbing the peace. She tried to go to the door, but was snatched aside by Pumpkin before she could lift a hoof to knock. She found herself in front of the window, where she could indeed see Principal Walnut talking to a zebra. Taboo had never seen a zebra before, and then she smirked a bit when it occurred to her that no zebra had seen a her before. "Hrrgn, I still can't hear." Pumpkin pressed her ear up to the glass, but all she could hear was warbled gibberish.
"Pumpkin..."
"I'm gonna try the door!" Pumpkin was off towards the front of the cottage without another word, but Taboo wasn't far behind her with a warning.
"Wait! Pumpkin, they're coming out!"
"What makes you think th-" Pumpkin stopped mid-statement as she ran headlong into the suddenly open door. She fell over onto her back and nursed her smarting nose as three ponies moved to stand over her.
"Because I heard them say good-bye." Taboo helped Pumpkin back to her hooves so the pair could face the adults together. It was the first time either of them had seen a zebra in the flesh, and she certainly lived up to her expectations.
"Ah, another visitor, I see. My this has been the eventful day for me." Zecora smiled down at the two fillies, and despite never having seen the pair she could tell who they were just based on what she saw before her.
"H-h-hello!" Taboo couldn't help but shiver a little, given the ambiance of the forest and the gravitas of the ponies before her. "I'm Taboo. It's nice to meet you."
"And I'm Pumpkin!" The unicorn was completely unfazed. Maybe her curiosity was getting the better of her fear, but it was also possible she hadn't quite wrapped her head around a reason to be afraid. In either case, she went right up to Zecora and shook her hoof without a second thought.
"Yes, Pumpkin Cake and Taboo. It is very nice to meet you too." Zecora gestured to the still open door of her cottage. "Come inside, will you not? I believe the tea is still hot."
"I beg your pardon, Miss Zecora," Walnut said before anypony could go anywhere. "But as the school's principal I can't simply allow two of my school's students to be wandering around the Everfree by themselves. Especially two students that are so young."
"We weren't wandering!" Pumpkin said in their defense. "We were coming here, to Zecora's!"
"Pumpkin wanted to ask Zecora about her home country for a school assignment," Taboo said. She knew mentioning a school project would surely get the principal on their side. The statement did seem to interest him, but not near as much as it interested Zecora.
"Oh, you want an interview!" There was something less mystical and more giddy about Zecora's smile now. "I can hardly believe it, since I've had so few! Please, please, my little pony come inside. Please ask me anything for I've nothing to hide!" Zecora almost dragged Pumpkin into her hut, if not for Pumpkin's equal eagerness to follow along. Principal Walnut and Taboo were left on Zecora's stoop alone for the moment.
"Do your parents know you're here?" Walnut asked a very poignant question. Taboo decided she should try and change the subject immediately.
"So, what brings you all the way out here?" Taboo realized she'd just accidentally answered the principal's question. She just smiled like nothing was wrong. Principal Walnut, for his part, decided that her foiks would probably figure it out for themselves eventually.
"As the school grows we need more teachers. The teachers we've hired on from Canterlot are doing a fine job, but there are still openings that need to be filled. I believe Miss Zecora would be an excellent edition, since she's so learned in many subjects. I've been working on arrangements with her in preparation for next year."
"That's pretty exciting."
"Not as exciting as wandering through the Everfree on your own."
"Ah, oh! I can hear Pumpkin calling for me!" Taboo exited the conversation through Zecora's open door.
"I don't hear anything..."
"Super hearing!"
"... W-w-w... w-waaaaaaaAAAAAAAAH!" Applerose was in tears mere moments after Finesse had slid the lid of the barrel off. It only followed that she would hide in the barn, seeing as it was the closest building to the farmhouse where her parents were. The unicorn filly had suspected that she was hiding in one of the barrels specifically, so she'd just been levitating the lids off to see if any of them would cry. Sure enough, her plan was a success.
"I found you," Finesse said as the barrel lid slipped from her telekinetic grasp and right onto her head. She winced for a moment, but she held back any other reaction and maintained her cool. Applerose, on the other hoof, redoubled her tears at the sight.
"A-are y-y-y-you okay-ay-ay?"
"... Yes." A single tear escaped from Finesse's eye. "Let's go. I need to find everypony else."
"You mean... I'm the first?" Applerose would've teared up again if her eyes weren't already full of tears. "WaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"
"No, you're third." Finesse gestured to the front door of the barn. Peeking in from outside was Willow and Maple, who had said they were too afraid to go in. Finesse had decided not to waste time prying into exactly what it it was they were afraid of. "We're wasting time here. We have to get to the orchard."
"The... *sniff*... orchard?"
Finesse was already heading out the door. Applerose hopped out of the barrel and followed right behind her with the shy sisters following her lead. It didn't take that long to get to the orchard, but in the dense maze of trees it seemed an impossible task for anypony to find a child; however, Finesse had a plan. She scanned the ground, looking for the telltale signs of her target. Sure enough, on the outer edge of the orchard there were trees with an unusual amount of the fall foliage scattered around their bases. Of course, there were lots of leaves on the ground all over the orchard, but Finesse had one other way of finding out if her target was nearby. She stepped between the trees and cleared her throat.
"I love you."
"Aww." Aurora gently flew out of the canopy. With her hooves wide open, she slowly flew down to Finesse and wrapped her in an aerial hug. "I love you too."
"I found you." Finesse, still in the embrace of the little pegasus, trotted over to the tree Aurora had flown out of. She reared up and bucked it with everything she had, and even though it wasn't much she managed to shake more than just leaves from its limbs.
"Whooaooooaoa!" Surprise landed headfirst on the ground among the leaves. Applerose teared up at the sight, but thankfully Surprise sprang up with a smile before she could begin bawling aloud. "That was fast!"
"I found you."
"Indeedy-doo!" Surprise said, bouncing up and down while flapping her wings. Despite her best efforts, she was still unable to stay airborne. "Boy, and after all that hard work I put in climbing up that tree after Aurora! Almost feels wasted, but falling out was fun! I wanna do it again!" Surprise took a running jump at the tree and began to shimmy back up.
"How did you know they'd be up there?" Applerose asked.
"Aurora can fly, so she'd fly up high," Finesse said. "And Surprise can't fly, so she'd try to hide where Aurora was hiding to throw me off."
"Wow, you're so smart, Finesse," Aurora said, tightening her grip. "That's why I love you."
"Do you know where Soulmerry is?" Applerose asked, curious as to where the final player was hiding. Finesse didn't skip a beat with her answer.
"Cheating, most likely." Finesse didn't explain herself any further. The explanation came right out of thin air.
"Hey! It's not cheating!"
"Shh! You'll give us away!"
"But she said we're cheating!" a little disembodied voice said. "They said the only rule was that we couldn't go far from the farmhouse, and we didn't! We've been right here the whole time!"
"Yes, so be quiet and just wait!"
"I am waiting!"
"They're looking at us..."
"They can't be looking at us!" the voice said as the group approached the source of the noise. "We are invisible!"
"I found you," Finesse said, pointing an accusing hoof at thin air.
"No! No you didn't!"
"You too, Mister Discord." Finesse reached out her hoof until it poked something solid.
"How many times have I said it?" Discord snapped his fingers, causing him and a little earth pony to suddenly appear before the group. The filly with him instantly jumped behind his legs and ducked in cover, not ready to give up. "It's just Discord, kiddos. None of this 'Mister Discord' stuff. Do your parents make you call me that?"
"Oh, Mister Discord! I didn't see you there." Aurora, who had been too busy hugging Finesse to notice what had been going on, released the unicorn and flew up to Discord. She gave him a big hug around the neck. "I love you."
"Y-yes, hello Aurora, but it's just Discord. No mister, okay?"
"I love you."
"I found you, Soulmerry," Finesse said to the pony hiding behind Discord. "Stop hiding. I can see you."
"No you can't!" Soulmerry shouted back.
"Soulmerry, you got found," Willow said from behind Finesse, not wanting to get too close to Discord.
"Yeah, play fair." Maple followed in suite, keeping behind her sister since she didn't want to get too close to Finesse.
"Shh! You can't see me!" Soulmerry yelled at her sisters, causing them both to jump back.
"... Discord, could you move a little?" Finesse asked.
"Well, since you dropped the mister." Discord levitated two feet straight into the air, but without flapping his wings or moving his legs. For some reason his ascension was accompanied by a squeaking sound. Soulmerry was clearly visible now, which she was quick to realize.
"Huh? Wait! Traitor!" Soulmerry looked around, scrapped for options. She hopped up and down, trying to get high enough to be out of sight again. "A-Aurora! Lift me up so I'm behind Discord!"
"Hm? Oh! Soulmerry!" Aurora released Discord and started down to where Soulmerry was.
"No! Wait!" Despite the filly's protests, it was too late. Aurora wrapped her up in a big warm hug, trapping her in plain sight.
"I love you."
"Girls! Your parents are here!" Roseluck shouted from the farmhouse.
"Thanks for all your help, Ms. Zecora," said Pumpkin.
"Oh, it was no trouble at all. Truly, I am just thankful you paid a call." Zecora returned her photo album to the shelf. "And I just hope that all my aid will see you rewarded with a good grade."
"I just hope I pass!" Pumpkin was an optimist, but she was also still keen to the reality of her writing ability. At the very least, her paper would be the the best researched single paragraph of run on sentences ever written. The prospect excited her. "Even if I fail, it was really fun hearing about where you come from."
"It was a lot of fun." Taboo felt a little better about deciding to spend her Saturday this way. "And don't worry, I'll make sure that Pumpkin doesn't slouch on her writing."
"You mean you're gonna write it for me?"
"No." Taboo let out a sigh and shook her head. Zecora giggled a little, making Taboo feel a little like she was being mocked. After spending the last hour or so with Zecora, she was finding the zebra wasn't really all that mysterious. She was actually quite liberal with the dispensation of her true thoughts and feelings.
"It seems you have your hooves full. Being a good friend can be a hard pull."
"Well, I got her this far," Taboo said. "She wanted to write her paper about some myth... something about an island or a storm?"
"There was a genie!" Pumpkin reminded everypony of the real important details.
"Oh, this sounds much like the story of Saxumtactūs," Zecora said. There weren't many other stories that included those elements. "A cautionary tale of power and it's abuse. I believe I have it here in this book, if you are interested in taking a look." Zecora lifted up a book of old fables next to her and opened it up. She presented it to the fillies with the page open to the story in question.
"Oh, so it's some kind of fairytale?" Taboo asked.
"Although the story itself is untrue, it has a tinge of truth as these things tend to." Zecora got up and headed towards her kitchen. "Why don't you read the story for yourself while I go mix up a brew for our health?"
"Sounds good!" Pumpkin said as Zecora disappeared behind the corner.
"Well, we might as well..." Taboo looked down at the page and began to read aloud.
Saxumtactūs was a prosperous, fair paradise sitting on the blue, blue ocean. It was inhabited solely by pegasi, who were able to traverse the sea via flying to arrive at the tropical wonderland. All year around, these lax pegasi celebrated the sun and never let summer slip away. Every once and a while, they would gather their cumulative clouds to bring down a fearsome rainstorm all across the island. The plants grew wild and free, providing the islanders with a rainbow of delicacies to dine on. Beautiful flowers covered every inch of the island, making it one of the most breathtaking places on the ocean. The citizens of Saxumtactūs had it easy.
Equestria, the sovereign nation of ponykind everywhere, did not have the sway to pull the island into itself; however, the they wished to foster warm relations with the sunny islanders anyway. In response to this, a wealthy Canterlot family arranged to have their eldest daughter wed the King of Saxumtactūs. The King was a quiet young stallion preoccupied by the duties of his position, but his bride to be, although very beautiful, was conceited and spoiled. The pegasi of the island were happy to welcome their unicorn newcomer, who they dubbed the Ivory Queen.
It wasn’t just the citizens who were enamored with the Ivory Queen, for the King too found he had a soft spot for the fair unicorn whom he was now wed to. He used his wealth and power to impress her however he could, bringing her fair trinkets from every inch of the globe. The Queen was never satisfied with what she was brought, turning her nose up at every last valuable that was presented to her. The King persisted in order to prove his love until he finally found the gift that was sure to top all gifts: a Genie’s Lamp.
The King was well aware of the power of the Genie, so he summoned him forth and offered up the wishes to his bride. The King was certain that she would wish for the people of their island to live in peace and happiness, but he did not know his Queen at all. He was shocked to hear her first two wishes…
“I wish to possess an ocean of treasures.”
“I wish that nopony could ever come near my bounty.”
The King had not forseen this turn of events. He knew he had to stop her before making the third wish, so he did the one thing he could think of and made the third wish himself.
"I wish you were freed from your prison.”
The Genie, outraged by this display of pure avarice, became a vile and twisted being of darkness. Despite his newly gained freedom, he used it to enact an unfair justice upon the Queen. Unbound by his contract of magic, he was free to grant the first to wishes however he saw fit. For the first wish, he dropped the island deep into the ocean and sank it and all of it's inhabitants forevermore. For the second wish, he placed a raging storm where the island used to be in order to keep anypony else from coming near the sunken island.
The Genie's cruel magic worked swiftly, and in the end only one pony was able to escape his wrath: The King. Whether by luck or due to his kindness, only he lived to tell the tragic story of these wishes gone awry.
To this day The Storm still rages, maintained by the ever spiteful Genie of the Lamp. Where the creature dwells now is impossible to know, but some say he has turned the sunken kingdom into his home and intends to punish anypony foolhardy enough to seek it out.
"Wow, that's a lot more depressing than I remember it being." The story did not seem to sit well with Pumpkin. She was starting to think she was remembering it wrong. It was a lot more uplifting in her mind, and the genie hadn't been quite so mean. There was a slight chance she was half asleep when she heard it the first time. It would explain why she thought it was history; she always slept through history. "What did you think?"
"Seems kind of hokey." Taboo wasn't impressed. "I mean... what's the moral here? Careful what you wish for? Don't judge a book by its cover? The author wasn't very clear about what they were trying to get across."
"Perhaps the only meaning is to tell a story worth repeating," Zecora said, reentering the room. She was joined by a rather off-putting aroma, emanating from the three cups she carried on her back. Neither Pumpkin nor Taboo mentioned it out of courtesy. "Perhaps this story is no literary mystery, but a true piece of history."
"That seems unlikely." Taboo moved to give the book back to Zecora, but she put her hoof up and stopped her.
"I've read that book a thousand times, perhaps it could do some good in the possession of younger minds." Zecora omitted the part where she had two. "Now, you must try my latest brew! It is called Aruthspar-Elec'dru." Zecora shoved the tray of odd beverages at her guests, who found that the cups smelled a lot more rancid up close. The two fillies only had to exchange a single glance before looking back at their gracious host and saying the same thing.
"We should get going!"
"And that's when you came!"
"Yes, sunshine. Please let go of daddy's neck now." Thunderhead tried to reason with his youngest daughter, but she wasn't having it. "Maybe you should fly on your own."
"But then we'd be apart!" Aurora smiled and hugged him tighter.
"Ooof." Thunderhead dipped beneath the clouds for a second. Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes and waited for the two of them to emerge. Sure enough, they rose back up. Thunderhead was straining, but he managed somehow. "I guess all this is payback for being the baby of the family myself..."
"Oh, right! Your mythical older sister," Rainbow Dash said with a roll of her eyes. "Cirrus, right?"
"If you're keen on meeting her, I've got good news." Thunderhead pried Aurora off and set her into the air next to him. "My folks say she might try and make it down here during Hearth's Warming."
"Hmm... I'm skeptical."
"What?"
"You've definitely had enough time to hire some mare to pretend to be your sister by this point." After she'd failed to appear at several family gatherings, Rainbow Dash wasn't totally sold on her even existing. "I bet she's not even going to look anything like you or your folks."
"Well... no, she won't."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's a joke." Rainbow Dash waved her comment off with her hoof, but one pony picked it back up.
"I don't get it," Aurora said. Beyond never seeing her aunt, she had also never heard anything about her before. The fact that she had a relative that she'd never hugged before was somewhat distressing. "Why wouldn't she look like grandma and grandpa?"
Rainbow Dash and Thunderhead looked at each other, realizing this was one of those weird parenting moments that they forgot they would need to tackle. They felt a lot like just skipping the explanation for now, but they could tell even from their peripherals that Aurora was giving them the doe eyes. It was hard to say no to her adorable face.
"Well sunshine, my sister is adopted."
"Adopted?" Aurora didn't know what that was.
"Grandma and grandpa didn't actually give birth to her, you see," Thunderhead said without revealing some of the other technical bits. "But they decided to be her parents anyway."
"Oh... okay." Aurora still didn't look satisfied with the answer. "But then were are the ponies who gave birth to her?"
"Uh... w-who knows?" Thunderhead grinned and shrugged. He didn't really have a concrete or even savory answer for that question. Cirrus had been given up to an orphanage by her mother when she was a foal and never heard from her again. When she was five Thunderhead's parent's adopted her since they were having trouble conceiving their own child, but they evidently had some success with that later down the road.
"Hmm... okay!" This time Aurora accepted the answer. "I guess if anypony knew where they were she wouldn't need grandma and grandpa to be her mommy and daddy!"
Rainbow Dash and Thunderhead looked at each other again, but this time for a completely different reason.
"And that's how Zebrica was made!" Pumpkin smiled and waited for her peers seated before her to give their feedback.
"Pumpkin, you've been writing for an hour! How is that all you have so far?" Taboo said, shocked that Pumpkin had literally written half a sentence since they'd gotten back from Zecora's. Both Pound and Lagan had made considerable strides on their papers thanks to the unblinking and unforgiving supervision of Venom. "And after Zecora gave you such good information to go off of..."
"But Tabooooooo!" Pumpkin groaned and slumped onto the floor. "I did aaaaall that research today, so I'll write it all tomorrow!"
"Well... if you say so..."
"You're too soft, Taboo," Venom said. "You gotta crack down hard! They won't learn if you don't jostle them around!"
"I am very jostled, yes," Lagan said. Pound just nodded in agreement. "But I am glad that I don't have to write the whole thing tomorrow. As terrible as it was, I guess it was worth it."
"Pfft, for you maybe." Venom did not want to admit she actually kind of enjoyed helping out today.
"Well, I'm gonna head home then." Lagan got up and gathered his things. "My folks said I should be home before dinner, and I'm pretty sure its dinner right now."
"I guess it is about that time," said Taboo. The rest of the group also started to gather up their things, but Lagan was packed up and heading out before anypony else.
"Thanks for the help!" Lagan said, opening up the door to the library. He turned back and waved. "See you all Monday!" He trotted off, closing the door behind him.
"Aaah, finally! All safe," Venom said as she shifted form back into her regular changeling self. "Can't believe I spent my whole Saturday in disguise."
"Don't you still have to fly home?" Pound asked.
"Let me have my moment of freedom!" Venom kicked Pound right in his flank, which he took without any complaint. This made her angry as well, so she kicked him a second time right in the same spot.
"I don't know why we can't just tell Lagan," Pumpkin said. "He's trustworthy."
"Well, 'the less ponies who know, the better,'" Pound said in his best Principal Walnut impression. "I wouldn't mind telling him either since I think he'd probably just go with the flow."
"What do you think Venom?" Taboo asked.
"Big whup." Nopony else was sure what to make of that answer.
Eventually everypony had said there goodbyes and they all parted ways with Taboo flying off back to her home. It was an ordinary flight back to her house and when she got inside there was a very normal scene before her. Her mother was reading her usual novels and her father was looking at some scroll that probably had something to do with work. Tank had almost made it into the middle of the den since he left the kitchen this morning after breakfast. Rainbow Dash always said that the slower he moved the better he was feeling.
"Well, look who's back," Thunderhead said while Taboo closed the front door behind her. "Anything exciting happen during your study session?"
"Uh... no! We just studied." Taboo glanced up at the ceiling for a moment after stammering out her answer. "Anything exciting happen with Twilight?"
"Er... not really," Rainbow Dash said looking up from her book. "Just... uh... stuff."
"Pretty uneventful," Thunderhead added.
"Yep. Uneventful day all around," Taboo said. She started on up the stairs to her room, her ears already picking up the sound of Aurora fluttering around nearby. Sure enough, Aurora was waiting for her with big expectant eyes when she walked into her room. "Hey Aurora."
"I missed you!" Aurora said, giving Taboo one of her trademarked hugs.
"Well, did you at least have fun?" Taboo asked as she squeezed her back.
"We played hide-and-seek and Soulmerry cheated but Finesse found her anyway!"
"Well, Finesse is pretty good at hide-and-seek."
"But not as good as you!" Aurora said, zooming up into the air in order to demonstrate the height of Taboo's skill. "Nopony has ever found you!"
"Yeah, I've got skill." Taboo smirked to herself.
"Oh, and guess what!" Aurora said as she returned to the floor. "Did you know daddy has a sister?"
"You mean aunt Cirrus?" Taboo had only ever heard of her, but had never seen her. She was apparently very busy. "I knew about her."
"Oh... you did?" Having her breaking news be old news vexed Aurora, but she stayed determined. "But did you know she's adopted?"
"She... is?" Unlike Aurora, Taboo was familiar with the concept; although, she had never known anypony personally who was adopted. "How do you know?"
"Daddy said that she doesn't look anything like grandma or grandpa or daddy," Aurora said. "Nopony knows where the ponies who gave birth to her are, so grandma and grandpa decided to be her parents instead!"
"They told you all of that, huh?"
"Yeah!" Aurora beamed ear to ear. "It's neat!"
Taboo looked down at Aurora's smiling face. She bore an unmistakable resemblance to Rainbow Dash who in turn resembled Palette. It was almost like they carried a set of genes that were impossible to get away from; however, Taboo had managed it. From the bottoms of her hooves to the tips of her wings, she didn't reflect her mother one bit. She always thought she bore a stronger resemblance to her father, but not near as strongly has he resembles his cousins.
"Taboo?"
"Hmm?" Taboo snapped back to the present. Aurora was looking up at her with concerned eyes.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked, but Taboo just shook her head.
"It's nothing. I'm just tired is all."
"Okay!" Aurora was all smiles again, trusting that Taboo wouldn't hide anything from her. "I'm gonna go put Tank in the kitchen so he's ready for breakfast tomorrow!" With that, Aurora scampered off and left Taboo alone. Taboo was free to return to her previous train of thought, but instead she tried to do the exact opposite. It was too heavy to dwell on, so she wanted to think about anything else. She opened up her saddlebags and took out the book that Zecora had given her. She brought it over to her bed and flopped down on her stomach, flipping through the pages. Quietly, she began to read to herself.
"Saxumtactūs was a prosperous, fair paradise sitting on the blue, blue ocean..."