//------------------------------// // Chapter XV: Fire // Story: Azure Memories // by Silvak //------------------------------// After the 'workout' at the farm, Rarity and her friends decided to have Sapphire spend at least one day per week with one of them, helping them out if she can. Hence five days later, Sapphire was helping Fluttershy take care of her animals, though both she and Angel kept glaring at each other throughout the entire day. Two days after that, a rain storm came in, which caused Rarity to stay over at Twilight's place for the night.hough that left Sapphire curious about where she was, she held confidence that Rarity would be fine due to hearing the story of the Elements defeating Nightmare Moon. Though, she was surprised that Rarity didn't think of asking Twilight for an umbrella. Eight days afterwards, Sapphire paid a trip to Pinkie's, where Rarity thought Pinkie's behavior would serve as a means to keep Sapphire around. Instead, that day Pinkie wanted to try some new recipes, with Sapphire not only helping with the baking but serving as a taste tester. However, it only lasted a couple hours when Pinkie tried a cupcake only to end up getting sick, though Sapphire tried the same batch and just commented on the bad taste. This led to Twilight theorizing that it might be a clue to Sapphire coming from a wild background, due to her possibly building up a tolerance to food that may normally make other ponies ill. Throughout it all, Sapphire diligently kept up with her studies. That is until three days after the incident with Pinkie where Sapphire was on her way to the library for another book run when something strange happened. "Where is everypony? I didn't hear a monster roaring earlier..." Sapphire said, looking about for any signs of life in the empty streets. According to her past experiences in the town, the residents of Ponyville would be screaming and running about in a blind panic whenever something bad happens. Instead, the eerie silence put Sapphire on edge as she wondered if this could be related to one of Pinkie's parties or if an epidemic had struck the town. The only response was the sound of some doors slamming shut, though it sounded like it was from the other side of town, causing Sapphire's head to turn towards the origin of the noise only to see nothing. Staring for a moment, Sapphire returned to her trek to the library, hoping that Twilight would have some answers to what was going on. Arriving at the library, she knocked on the door, only to receive silence. "...Twilight? Spike? Is anypony home?" Sapphire asked, knocking harder on the door. After receiving no response of any kind, Sapphire let out a sigh as she began to make her way back to the Boutique. However, on her way back, she spotted a mysterious figure in a brown cloak exiting town. As she was about to cry out to get the ponies attention, Sapphire spotted Apple Bloom following the stranger, causing her to pause as she tilted her head at the sight. Before she could call out to Apple Bloom though, she heard Applejack's voice calling out for her sister. Jeez, is everypony going to start showing up no—what the buck? Sapphire thought to herself as she saw all the Elements running by, where Applejack spotted Sapphire. "Sapphire! Have you seen Apple Bloom?" Applejack asked as the group came up to her. "Yeah? She was flowing some kind of pony in a cloak that went... that a way..." Sapphire answered as she pointed in said direction, only to realize that she was pointing at the Everfree Forest. "Oh buck..." Her eyes widening in terror, Applejack made a mad dash towards the forest with the rest of the elements following. Sapphire hesitated at first, memories of the timberwolf attack that she survived flashing back to her before she shook her head clear of it. A filly's out there Sapphire, you have to follow your friends and do what you can to help, Sapphire thought to herself before following the group. It wasn't long before they entered the forest. Sticking behind the group as they searched for Apple Bloom, Sapphire asked, "Umm... why was Apple Bloom following that pony, and who was that pony?" Suddenly, Pinkie came to Sapphire, her muzzle right next to Sapphire's as she replied, "You don't know about Zecora‽" only for Sapphire to give her a flat stare in response. "Opps, sorry," Pinkie said with an awkward expression. "Zecora is an enchantress that lives in the Everfree Forest! I even wrote a song abo—" before Rainbow shoved a hoof into her mouth. "Yeah, I think Sapphire doesn't need to hear it. Long story short, she's a zebra that curses other ponies," Rainbow explained, as Twilight let out a groan. "There's no such thing as a curse!" Twilight exclaimed as Sapphire tilted her head in confusion. "Wait, I'm confused now. Does she curse other ponies or not?" "She doesn't, everypony is just panicking about a zebra that comes to town once a month without even getting to know her," Twilight replied. "Oh..." Sapphire responded, before noticing that they were going through a field of blue flowers. "Wow... I’ve never seen this kind of flower before," Sapphire said, her curiosity getting the better of her as she leaned down to try one of the flowers. "Sapphire dear, you shouldn't try eating something from the Everfree forest," Rarity chastised, causing Sapphire to frown before pulling head back up to say something till Applejack spoke up first. "Apple Bloom?" Applejack exclaimed, causing Sapphire to turn her head to see the filly not far off, with the cloaked zebra a short distance away. "You get back here right now!" This drew the attention of the zebra to the group, as she cried out, "Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!" causing Sapphire's eyes to widen as she looked at all the blue flowers around her. "Y-you keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, ya hear?" Applejack cried back as she got underneath Apple Bloom to force her onto her back, before the rest of the Elements started to yell various things at the zebra, with the exception of Twilight. "Oh brother," Twilight muttered to herself. "Beware, beware!" the zebra cried out as fog rolled in to obscure her. "Yeah, back at ya, Zecora! You and your lame curse are the ones who better beware!" Rainbow hollered out. "I don't think she was saying a curse Rainbow, but... I have to say that it was a bit creepy in the way she left us," Sapphire replied, causing Rainbow to roll her eyes at her in response while Applejack turned her head towards Apple Bloom. "And you! Why couldn't you just listen to yer big sister?" "I... I..." Apple Bloom just stuttered out before Applejack pressed on. "Who knows what kind of nasty curse Zecora could have just put on you?" "Just like in my song!" Pinkie exclaimed, before shouting out a short song about Zecora being an evil enchantress that Sapphire just lowered her eyes to before starting to walk towards Ponyville as Twilight began to argue with the rest of the Elements. Sometimes I wonder if irrationality is a common trait for anypony that lives in Ponyville... I just hope I don’t end up being irrational too from living here too long... Sapphire thought to herself as she let out a groan of irritation. After the incident with Zecora, Sapphire opted to just return to the Boutique for the rest of the day, practicing her magic before Rarity arrived. Rarity soon asked Sapphire if she was alright since she was the first to leave. She simply responded that she thought the entire matter was just a silly situation and that she didn't want to talk about that matter for the day, to which Rarity decided to oblige to her request. Hence, Sapphire was left to her own devices till the morning of the next day, where a scream of horror woke her up. "Gah! Monster attack!" Sapphire cried out, jumping out of her bed before scrambling to get underneath it, eyeing the door in terror. It wasn't long before her fears came true when the door open to reveal a furry beast. However, instead of letting out a shriek, Sapphire covered her mouth with her hooves, hoping the monster didn't notice her. "Sapphire! Where are you‽" the creature shrieked out, its familiar voice causing Sapphire's fear to be replaced with utter confusion. "Rarity, is that you?" Sapphire asked as she crawled out from beneath her bed. "Dear... why were you underneath your bed?" Rarity asked, her voice full of her own confusion. "Well, it was the safest place I could think of in a hurry. Why are you so... hairy?" Sapphire countered. "It's simple darling, it was Zecora! She placed a curse on us!" Rarity exclaimed, causing Sapphire to simply raised an eyebrow at her. "Us? Did any of the others show up already?" "...Dear, didn't you notice your horn?" Rarity tentatively asked. This caused Sapphire to blink before replying, "Um... I just woke up... what's wrong with my horn?" "Dear, it's covered in blue spots!" Rarity answered, to which Sapphire rushed into the bathroom with Rarity in tow, where upon looking in the mirror she saw that her horn was indeed covered in blue spots, though it was a bit tough to tell due to her natural coloration. "What in the world?" Sapphire said, before using her magic to grab a nearby washcloth in the hopes that she could clean the spots off her horn. However, instead of lifting into the washcloth into the air, it instead caught on fire, causing both mares to shriek in shock before Rarity used her magic to toss the cloth into the sink before turning on the facet. "My magic! What happened to my magic‽ I never set anything on fire with it before!" "I told you dear, we were cursed by that dreadful zebra! Why, I'm going to Twilight this instant, she must have the means the break the curse," Rarity replied before she started to head downstairs, only to pause when she noticed that Sapphire wasn't tagging along. "Sapphire dear, aren't you coming?" "...I think it may be best if I stay here..." Sapphire answered, tapping the spots on her horn with her hoof as she stared at her reflection. "But don't you want to have that curse lifted?" "I do... but if I'm setting things on fire... I rather stay somewhere safe where I can remain calm instead of going into a library where I may freak out and set it ablaze by accident. Or accidentally set somepony's house on fire," Sapphire responded in a fearful tone. "You have a good point dear, I'll be back as soon as possible with Twilight once we find a way to break the curse," Rarity replied before leaving the boutique, leaving Sapphire alone. She opted to stay in the bathroom where there was a ready source of water in case she used her magic by mistake. Though, she did throw out all the flammable stuff in the bathroom before shutting herself in for safety's sake. "Sapphire dear, I said I was sorry." "Yeah, I heard the first time." "But why are you still giving me that look?" "Cause I'm not going to be able to shake off the fact that I stayed in the bathroom all day long till you finally returned since I didn't want to burn your place down," Sapphire shot back before letting her muzzle sink into the water she was currently in. It wasn't till evening when Rarity returned, restored to her normal appearance. However, in light of all the events that occurred that day, she had forgotten Sapphire's own predicament, which led to her to apologizing to Sapphire for leaving her alone for so long before taking her to the spa to be cured of her own ailment. "I was a nervous wreck the entire time you were gone, so please forgive me for being a bit testy at being forgotten. Just give me some time to cool off." "Alright dear, though it was a shame that you couldn't properly met Zecora," Rarity replied. On their way back to the spa, Rarity informed Sapphire of the day's events, including how friendly the zebra was along with the fact that the blue flowers were the source of their 'curse'. "Though, now that I think about it, you should also thankful that I prevented you from eating that horrible flower. I can't imagine what that could do to you." Thinking about what Rarity said, Sapphire imagined that if the flower called poison joke could caused her magic to set anything it touches on fire, then eating the flower would instead set herself on fire. This caused her to shiver at the thought as she pulled her muzzle out of the water to say, "Yeah... I think it’s best to never imagine what the poison joke could do to us if one of us ate it." "You mean if you ate it. I don't think anypony else would be willing to try anything from the Everfree on a whim like you would," Rarity countered, causing Sapphire to sink back into the tub in response since she knew that Rarity was probably right about that.