It's been a couple days since that heavy downpour and Twilight's first ever slumber party, the ground finally starting to dry up and no collateral damage was done to any of the houses in Ponyville. As fun as it was for Sora to be a part of a slumber party with only girls and keeping it co-ed for his masculinity's sake, he did find Twilight's behavior odd. Every time she looked at him when she wasn't about to have a mental breakdown, her face would turn red, she'd stare off into space, and mumble something that he couldn't hear. That, and the odd questions she had asked him that night. He didn't bother questioning it all that much, though it did make him think about what possibilities would happen if he couldn't leave Equestria for a long while.
While he walked down the streets of the town, unaware of how barren it somehow is at this point in time, he thought really hard about Twilight's questions. He hated how cowardly he was when he tried to tell Kairi how much he really loved her, wishing he just blurted it out at the least and make the scene awkward just for both their sakes. But with how much Equestria needs him here now, a peaceful world of talking ponies being invaded by the Heartless, there's no way they could defend themselves against them. And what if Kairi does find someone else while he's been gone? If that were to happen, he was honest when he discussed it with Twilight; be happy that she's happy.
Deciding to break out of his thoughts on this subject, he finally paid attention to the town, only to find not a single pony out and about. "...Ok. It's quiet...Too quiet." A tumbleweed slowly rolled by him, having no clue how a rolling, dried up weed got in a town filled with plant life. "Where is everyone?"
As Sora walked down to Sugarcube Corner, the moment he walked past the door, a pair of pink hooves grabbed his tail and pulled him inside. Yelping in surprise, he was flung inside of the dimly lit bakery, rolling into the counter, leaning upside down. Shaking out of his daze, he looked at Apple Bloom, surprised to see her after she and Applejack went into town early this morning. Along with the farm mare, the rest of their friends were here too, excluding Twilight, looking out the window in fear of something.
"Hi, Sora," Apple Bloom said, not as terrified as the other mares.
"Hi. What's going on?" Sora asked.
"I see Twilight!" Pinkie zoomed up to the front door of the bakery, ushering Twilight and Spike inside.
"And I am ignored." Twilight soon walked in with Spike on her back, just as confused as he was as to why everyone was hiding.
"We're all hidin' from Zecora," Apple Bloom explained to Sora. "She comes to Ponyville sometimes, and everypony runs and hides when she shows up."
"Who's Zecora?" Sora asked.
"There she is!" Everyone gathered around the window to look outside.
Walking alone in the middle of town was a cloaked figure, the cloak thankfully brown and not black, to Sora's relief. The figure seemed equine, though it was hard to tell what the pony looked like under the cloak except for their hooves. She seemed to be stomping the ground, looking for something, though what it was was beyond them. She looked over at the window, everyone except for Sora, Twilight, Spike, and Apple Bloom hiding away from her gaze.
"That's Zecora," Rainbow said. "She's creepy, sinister, completely mysterious."
"And spoooooooooky!" Pinkie added. "She does everything evily!"
"Oh please," Twilight groaned.
Looking back outside, Sora saw Zecora pull back her cloak's hood, revealing her face. Her coat and mane were black and white, patterned in stripes, her mane styled into a mohawk. She wore golden earrings and several more gold rings around her neck, looking more like it was a tribal fashion than a crazy fad she was trying to start.
"Oh, just look at her fashion sense! Stripes!" Rarity exclaimed.
"She's a zebra," Sora said before Twilight could explain first. "Zebras are born with stripes. And she doesn't look evil. I think she looks pretty cool." Rarity fainted, more at the thought of being born than stripes than anything. "Does she live anywhere in Ponyville?"
"Hay no!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"She lives in the Everfree Forest," Fluttershy said, shivering in fright.
"Zecora is an evil enchantress, and does lots of evil stuff that every evil pony does!" Pinkie said. "Why, she's so evil, I even wrote a song about her!"
"Oh boy," Sora groaned as he began hearing fast paced music and Pinkie dancing out her song about Zecora.
[Pinkie Pie]
She's an evil enchantress
She does evil dances
And if you look deep in her eyes
She'll put you in trances
Then what will she do?
She'll mix up an evil brew
Then she'll gobble you up
In a big tasty stew
Soooo, watch out!
Pinkie posed on a table, panting heavily as she finished her song. Sora and Twilight looked at each other, unable to believe someone's that evil, then back at Pinkie.
"So, how exactly do you guys know she's evil?" Sora asked.
"Sora's right," Twilight agreed with the teen. "All of this just sounds like a bunch of rumors. Have you talked with Zecora?"
"Just look at her!" Applejack said as they looked outside again. Zecora was stomping around, scuffing the dirt, almost like she was digging for something. "Every time she comes around, she lurks around the markets and digs around for somethin'."
"And how is that a bad thing?" Twilight asked.
Sora drowned out the mares bickering as Twilight argued with the others about their rumors on the zebra. The stallion backed away, sitting next to Apple Bloom, who was getting as annoyed as Twilight. He was slightly curious about what Zecora was doing, and if she lived in the Everfree Forest, he wondered where she lived and how she managed to survive in a dangerous forest. He leaned over Apple Bloom, slowly picking her up in his foreleg, getting her attention.
"Wanna find out more about Zecora?" he asked the filly.
"Ok." Placing the youngest Apple on his back, Sora snuck away from the group and headed for the back of the bakery.
It was a bit odd that the ponies running the bakery, Carrot Cake and Cup Cake, weren't here. Maybe they were taking a vacation or they went out somewhere. As long as he didn't pilfer any of the baked goods in the display case or stole any of their kitchen utensils, he was sure they wouldn't mind them for going through the kitchen to sneak out the back door.
"Alright. Time for Operation Spy, Apple Bloom. Follow my lead." Sora gently lowered Apple Bloom to the ground and snuck around the bakery.
The filly mimicked his movements as best as she could, both ponies hiding behind buildings and inside bushes as they followed Zecora. She began heading out of the town, walking in the direction of the Everfree Forest. As soon as she walked inside the entrance to the dangerous forest, Apple Bloom poked her head up from a nearby bush, while Sora hung upside down from a branch.
"Oh no. Ah'm not supposed to go in the Everfree Forest," Apple Bloom said.
"Well, you got me around. I'll keep you safe." The teen lifted the filly back on his back. "If anything comes after us, I'll fend them off."
"Ah'll scope out the area from a higher vantage point!" Apple Bloom said, feeling safe with the Keyblade wielder, rearing up on her hind legs as she leaned against Sora's head.
The two walked inside and made their way after the zebra without getting caught. Sora stayed on the path that Zecora walked down, finding it a little easier to navigate without having to cut through the wild foliage. Up ahead, they watched her walk around a field of bright blue flowers. He followed her, unsure if those flowers were poisonous. If she knew about the forest, then maybe she could help explain some of the flora that's dangerous or safe.
"Excuse us, Miss Zecora?" The zebra gasped and turned around, not realizing she had been followed. "Sorry for startling you."
"Why do you follow me?" Zecora asked. "Do you not know the dangers of the Everfree?"
"...Uhh, is it just me, or did she just rhyme?" Sora asked Apple Bloom, who did hear her rhyme as she spoke. "Well, I've heard some...things about you from my friends, but I don't believe any of those rumors. I'd like to get to know the real Zecora. I'm Sora, and this is my annoying little alarm clock that wakes me up in the morning when I sleep in, Apple Bloom!"
"Hey! Ah am not annoyin'!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, leaping off his back and leering at him. "It's your fault ya don't go to bed early sometimes!"
Sora stuck his tongue out at the filly playfully, only to make her do the same to him. "A stallion who acts like a child...Surely a fitting image, matching a mane so wild."
He looked up at Zecora, pulling his tongue back in his mouth. "Wow. You really do speak in rhyme. Must be hard to do that...all the time!"
Zecora chuckled, laughing at his silly personality. "You are unlike the ponies back in town. All they do when I appear is glare and frown."
"They probably don't know you that well because they're afraid you'll curse them with some kind of enchantment or something." Sadly, Zecora nodded, having heard many rumors about her every time she comes to Ponyville. "Don't worry, Zecora. Apple Bloom and I will try to convince everyone that you're not really that bad."
Suddenly, a lasso latched itself around Sora's tail, a sharp tug pulling the teen back, landing him in the blue flowers. "Sora! Apple Bloom! Get away from her!" Sora looked up, the others running toward them through the field of flowers he was pulled in, Applejack grabbing her little sister and placing her on her back. "Ya'll stay away from mah friend and mah sister, Zecora!"
"Beware! Beware, you pony folk!" Zecora warned. "Those leaves of blue are not a joke!"
"Back off, Zecora!" Rainbow shouted, about ready to charge at the zebra as she began backing away, disappearing into the mist as she kept saying "Beware".
"Sora, what the hay were ya thinkin' bringin' mah sister in the Everfree Forest!?" Applejack shouted. "And bringin' her to Zecora!?"
"Yeah!" Pinkie said, popping up from the blue flowers that Zecora warned them about. "She could have put a curse on you two, just like my song!"
Pinkie was about to sing more of the annoying chant, only for Sora to shove a hoof in the pink mare's mouth. "Guys, Zecora's not bad! Apple Bloom and I were talking to her, and you scared her off!"
"No, we saved you from getting cursed by that witch!" Rainbow said, floating low to the flowers as her hooves brushed by each petal.
"You don't even know her!" Sora argued, getting annoyed at everyone distrusting Zecora just because of her being a zebra and digging at the ground while wearing a cloak to conceal herself. "And there's no such thing as a curse anyway."
"You don't know that," Rarity said.
"...Ok, then. Tomorrow, I'm going to find Zecora, talk to her, get to know her better, and when I come back to Ponyville, I'll tell you everything about her before you keep making assumptions over somepony you don't know." Sora looked over at Rainbow Dash, leering at her as he recalled her accusing him of being evil when he was around for a week. The cyan pegasus winced, having forgotten about that important lesson. "Now, let's get out of these flowers she was warning us about. If I get a rash all over my body, all of you girls are buying the ointment.
As soon as they had left the Everfree Forest, the group continued on with the rest of their duties as the day wore on. When night fell, Sora had taken off his clothes and took a bath, fearing that the pollen from those flowers might have lingered on him when he was forcefully pulled back into the field. As soon as he got out of the tub, he began feeling a bit woozy and nauseous. Maybe he had some kind of allergic reaction to those flowers, even though he's never had a single allergy problem in his life.
After drying himself off, trying not to collapse under his suddenly weakening limbs, he headed for his room and flopped down on the bed. Sora groaned in pain, his body feeling like jelly and growing hot. He pulled the covers over himself and went to sleep, hoping that whatever illness he had somehow caught would pass in the morning.
The sound of the rooster crowing woke the groggy teen up. The wave of sickness that struck him last night was almost gone, though his limbs felt a little bit weak. He sat himself up and yawned, smacking his lips, his mouth dry. He figured he must have been dehydrated and needed something to drink. The pegasus got out of bed and slowly made his way downstairs, heading for the kitchen. He must have gotten up before the rest of the Apple family, or maybe they were already up and he slept in, knowing he was sick.
He opened up the fridge door, feeling the cold air brush against his face. He swayed his hips as he looked around the beverages, unsure if he should have apple juice or milk to drink. While busy looking for a drink, Big Macintosh walked into the kitchen from the backyard, having been up earlier to prep up some buckets for apple bucking. He spotted Sora rummaging the fridge, only to freeze and stare at the pegasus, his pupils shrinking.
"...Uhhhhh..." Sora's ears perked up, hearing Big Macintosh.
"Morning, Mac," he said, surprised to hear his voice sounded a little higher. He cleared his throat, but it wasn't sore in the slightest. "Oh wow...My voice must be messed up today. What kind of bug did I catch last night?"
Sora finally decided on apple juice, taking the freshly made pitcher and pouring himself a glass. He was unaware of the shocked expression on the red stallion's face, or the blush that was hidden underneath his red fur. The teen drank down the entire glass, sighing in relief as he sated his thirst.
"...S-Sora?" Big Mac asked.
"Yeah?" Sora turned around, but the farm stallion did not see the same teenager that's been living with his family for the past month and a half. Instead, he was staring at a female version of the pegasus: his mane longer, eyelashes on the lids of his blue eyes, his muzzle more rounded, and his height a little shorter. What really freaked Big Macintosh out was what he saw underneath the teen's swaying hips and tail. "...What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
".........Nope!" Big Macintosh backpedaled out of the kitchen and back outside. "Nopenopenopenopenopenopenope!"
"The heck's his deal? Do I have something on my face?" Sora raised a hoof up to his nose, surprised to feel his muzzle was a bit smaller and more round, unlike how it was supposed to be as a stallion. "What in the world?" He felt around more of his face, feeling the longer eyelashes on his eyes and the longer strands of his spiky mane. "What happened to my face? Did Apple Bloom pull a prank on me???"
Sora quickly headed upstairs, spotting Winona on the couch, who gave him a confused yip as she tilted her head at him. Reaching his room, he looked at himself in the mirror, only to not find him in the reflection, only "her". The teen panicked, moving his hooves around his face as he was now a mare. He couldn't believe this was happening and must be experiencing some kind of hallucination from a fever, or he was dreaming. But he was wide awake.
He gulped, hoping that this really was a dream as he wanted to be one hundred percent sure that what he turned into wasn't real. Sora slowly looked down and between his legs, his pupils shrinking to pin pricks at what he was looking at. A second later, he let out a loud, girlish scream, horrified at the fact that he was now a mare. His scream alerted Apple Bloom, running into his room in a panic.
"Sora!? What's wrong!? Are ya o-" The filly froze as she instead saw a female version of Sora, hyperventilating in panic as he/she stared at him/herself in the mirror. "...Sora?"
"Apple Bloom!?" Sora looked down at the young Apple, his face blushing madly as his tail instinctively covered his rear, feeling the hairs tickling his new anatomy.
A moment of awkward staring later, Apple Bloom burst out laughing, falling on her back as she clutched her sides. Sora's face turned bright red, dying of embarrassment as a filly was laughing at him now transformed as a mare, and he had no idea how it happened.
"Y-Y-You're a-" Apple Bloom could barely talk as she kept laughing at Sora's new look, the filly rolling around and annoying the teen.
"Yes. I'm a girl," Sora growled, almost on the verge of tears. "What the heck happened to me!? Why am I a girl!?"
"Zecora cursed us!" Sora perked up his ears, hearing a squeaky voice over Apple Bloom's uncontrollable giggling. "Whoa...Sora, that you!?"
The pegasus looked down, spotting a speck of orange that was as big as an ant, lowering her head to get a better look at the strangely tiny creature. "...Applejack?"
"Eyup! Ah'm somehow tiny!...And ya'll turned into a mare!" Sora held out his hoof, letting the now shrunken farm mare jump on as he slowly lifted her up to his eye level.
"Applejack, what's happened!? I am so confused!" The pegasus winced, struggling to keep the hairs of his tail from brushing against his hindquarters. "And I don't know how you girls deal with an attached appendage made of hair brushing against there without feeling awkward!"
"It was Zecora! Ah told ya she was no good! She cursed us, and possibly everypony else!" Sora ignored his new feminine body, groaning in annoyance as Zecora was once again accused as the cause of all this.
"Seriously, Applejack!?" he questioned. "Zecora did not curse us! And if she did, I think all of us would have the same curse, and Apple Bloom should also be afflicted with something too!"
Apple Bloom had finally stopped her laughing as she heard Sora's theory. "Hey, he's right. Ah don't feel different or funny...or changed."
It was then that Sora now realized what might have happened to him, Applejack, and possibly the others. "Those blue flowers...They must have done something to us! Zecora warned us about them too late...and you dragged me into them while you all stepped over them!"
"How in the hay do flowers cause a curse!?" Applejack asked.
"We're gonna find out after we get the girls...At least I hope none of them were gender-swapped like me." Sora carefully carried Applejack in his hoof as he and Apple Bloom headed downstairs.
Before leaving, the teen grabbed his clothes, clean and dried, and put them on. They were a bit bigger for him in this new body of his, but he didn't care at the moment, wishing he also had his shorts that appeared with him when he crashed to Equestria. He then placed Applejack in one of his front pockets, making sure she doesn't get crushed or get flung off. It was a really embarrassing walk to the Golden Oak Library as he passed by a few stallions in Ponyville, all of them giving him a perverted look as they kept staring at his flanks. He really wished he had his shorts right now.
As they finally made it to the library, they heard some commotion going on inside, mostly the sound of something smacking into the walls and shelves. Opening the door, Sora, Apple Bloom, and Applejack stared at the others, having sought Twilight for some advice on what had happened to them. Pinkie Pie's tongue was bloated and coated with blue spots, keeping her from speaking normally and spitting profusely. Rarity's coat and mane grew out into long strands, almost like she glued streamers matching her hair colors all over her. Rainbow Dash was flapping all over the place, her wings upside down and on her stomach, crashing into everything. Fluttershy doesn't look changed, but she's been really quiet, either fully mute or something else.
"Oh-" Apple Bloom said.
"Sweet-" Sora continued.
"Celestia." Applejack finished.
The other girls noticed them walk in, all of them staring in shock at Sora's new body. "Sora?"
The teen blanched when he heard a deep masculine voice, and it came from Fluttershy. "Oh come on! Fluttershy's voice changes but the rest of her doesn't!?"
"Sora's here!?" Twilight asked as she headed downstairs with Spike, carrying several books from the shelves in her room. As soon as she saw him, her jaw dropped, along with the pile of books she carried on her back and not with her magic. "...Oh my..."
Twilight had also been affected by the blue flowers' curse, but what had happened to her, Sora couldn't stop staring. The unicorn's horn was coated in the same blue spots that were on Pinkie's tongue, but instead of the appendage being a solid appendage, it was flopping around limply. It was so awkward and disgusting, Sora having no clue whether to laugh uproariously, cover his eyes as if it seemed indecent, or flee in fear at catching whatever was causing her horn to turn flaccid.
"Oh my eyes!" Sora finally shouted. "That is so disturbing!"
"Sora, are you really a mare!?" Twilight exclaimed.
"Yes, but...I don't-" Sora couldn't help but keep staring at Twilight's horn as she kept making it flop around with every movement she made with her head. "STOP FLOPPING THAT THING AROUND! IT'S SO WEIRD!"
"I can't believe Zecora cursed you too! I can't find any way to fix this!" Twilight panicked as she was forced to use her hooves to look through the books with her hooves, her magic useless like her floppy horn.
"I think I found something!" Spike said, holding out a green book with an herb on the cover, titled "Supernaturals".
"Spike, that book is nothing but a bunch of nonsense!" Twilight exclaimed. "Like spirits, ghosts, and zombies, curses are nothing but make-believe!"
"Bth ith iths uh crthhss!" Pinkie said, or more likely sprayed, spitting all over Sora as she appeared next to him.
"Eww! Pinkie, please don't talk!" Sora said, wiping off the splattered saliva on his face. "And it isn't a curse! Look, Zecora knows a thing or two about those flowers, those plants being the actual cause of our...abnormalities..."
"How exactly are flowers the root cause of my hair grown out like this!?" Rarity complained, blowing some of her mane our of her face.
"Because if all of us, including Apple Bloom were cursed, then she would have suffered from some kind of change too." The others looked at the filly, completely normal. "Zecora warned us about those blue flowers when you girls scared her off, and when Apple Bloom and I followed her, she avoided that small field. Because we stepped in those flowers, or dragged into them in my case-" Sora looked down at Applejack, the tiny earth pony looking down as she got him transformed when trying to "save" him. "-they did something to us, and Apple Bloom didn't touch a single one."
"Nope," Apple Bloom confirmed. "Applejack carried me on her back over them flowers."
"Right. So, we're going to find where Zecora lives, NOT attack her, and ask her to help us. Got it?" Everyone nodded, the teen, unfortunately, unable to stop staring at Twilight's flopping horn. "Ugh...We need to find something to cover that flopping horn of yours, Twilight!"
"Then stop looking at it!" she shouted.
"How can I not when it keeps moving!? It's so distracting and looks gross! I want to laugh, but I'm too upset about turning into a girl to joke around!" Sora panted, the others girls and Spike staring at the female stallion in shock. "...Oh gosh. Am I getting mood swings or something? I've never been this angry before..." He tried to regain his composure, but being a girl right now was not helping matters, especially after getting ogled by other stallions like he was a piece of meat to a pack of wolves. "...Let's get going and get this solved. Fast."
Sora lead the way as they headed down the safe pathway in the Everfree Forest. They saw the blue flowers, Apple Bloom making sure she doesn't touch them, not wanting to have herself get affected by whatever those plants did that made them look ridiculous. A little bit further ahead, they caught sight of where Zecora lived as they saw lights on inside of a crooked tree, hollowed out and made into a home.
"This must be where she lives." The group peeked in through the window, spotting the zebra cooking some kind of liquid in a large black cauldron.
She poured in some herbs, stirring whatever she was making with a wooden spoon, humming some kind of song. Ironically, it almost sounded like Pinkie's song about her, except slower and in some language none of them could understand.
"Sthe shthle muh sthnng!" Pinkie sprayed, getting Sora drenched with her saliva.
"Oh for goodness sake," he muttered. "And what do you mean she 'stole your song'?"
The pink mare was about to perform her little song, but with her swollen, blue-spotted tongue, she could barely talk without constantly blowing raspberries. She looked over at Fluttershy and begged her to sing for her, when the timid pegasus's shy and high-pitched voice was now deep and baritone. She gave in to Pinkie's whining, letting out an annoyed sigh.
[Flutterguy]
She's an evil enchantress
She does evil dances
And if you look deep in her eyes
She'll put you in trances
Then what will she do?
She'll mix up an evil brew
Then she'll gobble you up
In a big tasty stew
Soooo...watch out.
With Fluttershy doing the singing, Pinkie had done the dance, which to Sora's surprise, was a lot better than when Pinkie sang it. "...Well, as good as that was, Zecora's not some kind of enchantress, Pinkie."
Sora stepped up to the front door to the zebra's home and knocked. The others hid, except for Apple Bloom, who stood next to the gender-swapped stallion. Zecora opened her door, surprised to see guests.
"...This is a shock for me to see," she said. "Ponies crazy enough to enter the Everfree."
"Yeah. Crazy," Sora said. "By any chance, you don't happen to recognize me, do you, Zecora?"
The zebra squinted at him, to get a better look, opening them wide in surprise as she recognized his clothing. "Oh my goodness. Is that you, Sora?" She soon laughed at the stallion's sudden change, making the teen groan. "Seems like you got tricked by the blue flora."
"Yeah! He turned into a mare!" Apple Bloom giggled, Sora ruffling her mane with a wing.
"Yeah, and, unlike my friends, who are currently hiding from you for no reason-" He looked over at the other girls, calling them over, slowly stepping into view of the zebra as he pulled out Applejack from his jacket pocket. "-I knew it was those flowers you warned us a bit too late about that did this to us. What exactly were those?"
After seeing just how ridiculous the rest of the afflicted ponies were, Zecora couldn't hold back her laughter. "Oh, how unfortunate for you pony folk. All seven of you have been affected by Poison Joke."
"Poison Joke?" Sora asked, the others also staring at the zebra in confusion as they had never heard of such a plant.
"Do not be dismayed by the look of this blue flower. It may look innocent, but it has incredible power," Zecora explained, still rhyming. "It is kind of like poison oak, though instead of a rash, it pulls off a joke."
"Prankster flowers?" Sora groaned. "Darn it! The Three Goofballs have been foiled by a harmless looking plant!"
"I believe I can make the cure to fix this mess. Please, come inside, my new guests." Zecora allowed them inside as she approached a bookshelf, looking through the many different books she has stored.
Inside the zebra's tree hut, it looked like something from a tribal land Sora believed could have been borrowed by the monkey sage, Rafiki, in the Pride Lands. Some creepy looking tribal masks were hung on the walls, flasks and glass bottles filled with different herbs and spices hung around the ceiling, several other ingredients in jars rested on the several tables and shelves in her home, along with some memorabilia from Zecora's native homeland. The Keyblade wielder was a bit curious about this world's equivalent of the Pride Lands. He looked over at the bubbling cauldron, a green liquid boiling above the fire in the black pot.
"This is some weird looking soup you're cooking, Zecora," Sora commented, taking a whiff of the scent coming from the cauldron. "Huh. Almost smells like my healing potions.
"It is a new potion I began to mix in my brew," Zecora said as she found the book she was looking for. "A healing liquid that revitalizes, too. As for the cure to end the flowers' spell, inside this book, "Supernaturals", has a recipe that can tell."
She held out the same book Spike had pulled out back at the library, the same green cover with an herb on it that Twilight dismissed. "...The cure's in there?" Zecora opened it up to the page the cure was on, and surprise surprise, Poison Joke was in there, along with the remedy. The lavender unicorn chuckled nervously, now regretting dismissing a book just by its title alone. "Uhh...I do have this book...but I didn't look at it because...well, the title said it all."
"Next time, before you take a look," Sora said, mimicking Zecora's speech. "Never judge the cover of a book. Right, Zecora?"
"Indeed, my pegasus friend, more wise than I know. Lessons you all should hear and follow," Zecora said to the six mares, while Sora wrapped a hoof around the zebra's neck. "I can mix up the cure for you, I will, but I am missing some herbs that are from Ponyville."
"That explains why she was diggin' around the ground in town," Apple Bloom said. "'Cause everypony's so afraid of her, they close their shops and hide from her."
"Well, let's change everyone's perspective on the 'evil enchantress' and get ourselves cured!" Sora exclaimed. "I want to go back to being a boy!"
As the group headed back into town, the mares, Apple Bloom, and Sora managed to convince the hiding ponies that Zecora was not as evil as they thought she was. They managed to gather all of the ingredients the zebra needed, the cure not a potion to drink, but an herbal bath. They headed over to Ponyville's spa, where the hot tub was a perfect size to fit all of the pranked ponies to be healed of their hiliarious ailments. Applejack, however, needed a smaller tub since she was as small as a bug, otherwise she might tread water in the massive ocean that was the hot tub, at least for her size.
The spa employees, a pair of twins named Aloe and Lotus, earth pony mares where one had a pink coat and a blue mane while her sister had a blue coat and a pink mane, helped Zecora stir the ingredients in the warm water. With the remedy all set, the mares quickly filed in and dunked themselves completely under the water. When they resurfaced, the jokes placed on them were gone: Twilight's horn was no longer distractingly floppy, Rainbow's wings were back where they belonged, Rarity's hair was back to the way it was, Pinkie's tongue was no longer swollen, and Fluttershy obviously has her timid voice back. Sora heard the smaller tub meant for Applejack break as she grew back to her full size.
Sora took off his clothes, not wanting to get them soaked, stepping into the tub with the rest of the girls. As awkward as it was to be bathing with several ponies of the opposite gender, he didn't care as he dunked his entire body under the herbal bath. A few seconds later, he resurfaced, his face back to normal as he was back to being a stallion again.
"Thank goodness I'm back to normal!...Wait, hold on." Sora dunked his head in the water and got a better look at himself, poking his head back up and shook the water out of his shorter mane. "Oh yeah. I'm definitely a boy again." When he looked back at all the girls around him, they give him a mischievous grin. "...What?"
"You know, Sora, if we ever have a girls day out, we can rub some Poison Joke on you so you can be a part of the group." The teen's eyes widened, not wanting to touch those flowers again.
"Ohhhh no! No no no no no! Heck no!" Sora shook his head rapidly. "I've spent far too long as the opposite gender! I'm staying as a boy! Forever!"
The mares all laughed while the teen grumbled, sinking his head back down in the water. He was never going to live this down, and after Big Macintosh was the first to see him as a mare, it was going to be very awkward few weeks between them before they would forget about what happened this morning. At least Zecora isn't feared by the town anymore, provided no one else spreads any rumors about her again. He might come and visit her if she ever finishes making those potions, wondering how well they can be useful compared to his own hidden away in his limitless, magical pouch.