• Published 26th May 2013
  • 3,197 Views, 33 Comments

Little Horn's Story - kwr2k13



A young child's mysterious illness lands him in the hospital, and near death. Within the next 48-72 hours, an even mysterious benefactor will aid the child to his destiny as the young unicorn filly, Little Horn.

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Chapter Two: Zecora's Aid


Small Horn: Chapter 2: Zecora's Aid

One week prior to Discord's attack, Little Horn and her family moved to Ponyville from Canterlot. Big Horn, Small Horn's father, was fed up with how his daughter was being teased at her old school for having such a small horn. Eventually, he ended up at Town Hall and requested an audience with the Mayor. The Mayor of Ponyville welcomed the newest unicorns to the town and showed then three different homes that were available.

The Mayor first showed the family the town house. "This spacious Town House has Four rooms and three baths. It is within walking distance to the Town center, Sugar Cube Corner, the local bakery shop, and the town markets." Mayor Mare commented.

The family took a tour of the home, and decided to take the Town House, after much thought. The other places they visited were a cottage by the river and the Forest house, near Fluttershy's Cottage and the Everfree Forest. "An execellent choice. Let us go back to Town Hall and I'll handle your paperwork." The Mayor headed back to the Town Center and prepared all the paperwork, keys, and the deed to the house. After paying the usual fees, Little Horn and her family moved their possessions into the Town House.

That evening, a knock was heard at the door. Once opened, a pink Mare with a Fuschia mane and tail began her Welcome to Ponyville Song she did with Cranky Doodle Donkey! The welcome wagon shot confetti and a cake popped out of the oven! "Hey, I got it right this time! This cake's for you!" The cake had "Welcome to Ponyville!" in pink letters with white frosting.

Pinkie smiled, "Hiya! I'm Pinkie Pie, and I just saw you move in! You must be new here, because I know everyPony here. So, what are your names?"

Big Horn smiled, "Well, I'm Big Horn and this is my wife, Shimmer. My father, Grand Horn, and my daughter, Little Horn." He looked over at his daughter, "Little Horn, come on out and talk to our new neigh-bor!"

Little Horn laughed at her father's horse-pun joke, "Oh, dad, that was lame." She smiled and saw Pinkie smiling back, holding the welcome cake. "Hi, and Thanks for the wonderful cake...."

Pinkie Pie gasped, "Oh! Oh! You know, since you moved here, I want you to come to Sugar Cube Corner and meet some of my friends, and my employers, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. I work at Sugar Cube Corner and we have the best parties there. There's cupcakes, music, cake and ice cream, sundaes, milkshakes, sugar cubes, saspirilla, and games like pin the tail on the pony!" Pinkie reared up on her hind legs to show her over-excitedness, nearly dropping the delicious cake. She could not contain her excitement of throwing a welcome party for her new friends!

Shimmer and her family took the cake before it could fall over and accepted Pinkie Pie's RSVP, scheduled for the next afternoon. The four unicorns went to Sugar Cube Corner, only to see it dark inside. Little Horn lit up her horn, only to have the lights come on, and party favors blown! "Suprise!" Yelled Pinkie Pie as the other ponies began to mingle and eat snacks, drink punch, and play games.

Little Horn saw three little fillies gathered around a table, and decided to go over to meet them. The yellow Earth Pony had a pink Bow in her red mane, and seemed to be the most vocal of the group. The white unicorn filly with the pastel purple and white mane and tail looked like she was bored, and the orange Pegasi filly with the magenta mane looked over at the newcomer.

Scootaloo, the orange Pegasus mentioned before, bumped Sweetie Belle, her unicorn friend, and said, "Hay, isn't that that new unicorn? You should really go talk to her, Sweetie Belle."

Sweetie Belle pointed to herself, "Why me? Why not Apple Bloom?" She sighed, "Fine, I'll go talk to her." The unicorn filly went over to talk with Little Horn. "Hi, I am Sweetie Belle! What's your name?"

Little Horn muttered, "Small Horn, why do you want to know?" She seemed kind of down for somepony to be invited to a Pinkie Pie - Welcome to Ponyville Party!

Sweetie Belle put a hoof over Little Horn's shoulder, "Oh, you are a unicorn, like me! Well, let's meet my friends, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo! We have this really cool clubhouse. Maybe you can come check it out!"

Little Horn smiled a bit. Sweetie Belle seemed like a good friend to cheer you up when you felt down. Small Horn arrived and then the questions began, such as if she could do magic. Little Horn said she could do basic spells her mom taught her, but she would like to learn more about magic. She also admitted her cousin, Harmony, was also teaching her magic after school.

Apple Bloom suggested the Crusaders would visit the Books and Branches library, home of Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Dragon to earn their Cutie Marks in Library Magic Researchers. Small Horn decided to check out the library and the day after the party, in the afternoon, the girls went to visit Twilight Sparkle. The lavender unicorn levitated several basic spell books in front of Small Horn to read. Small Horn took the first book that piqued her interest, and began to read at the table Twilight offered. "Let me know if you want another magic book, I have several more, and I'll get Spike to get you a library card so you can check out the books you want." Twilight smiled as Small Horn continued to read her book, turning the page by magic. Twilight could see a little of Small Horn in her, and the thought about writing Princess Celestia concerning Small Horn's quest for magic studies was on her mental checklist.

After reading the magic book about the dreamscape realm, Small Horn asked Twilight about it. Twilight was not familiar with the dreamscape realm, because all she knew about it came from Zecora, Princess Luna, or Princess Celestia.

Small Horn seemed interested in the Zecora character. "So, Twilight, who is Zecora, and why do you suggest I go ask her about the Dreamscape Realm?"

Twilight began her lecture about Zecora... " Well, Small Horn, Zecora is a Zebra who lives out in the Everfree Forest and knows a lot about herbal remedies. Just stay on the path from Fluttershy's cottage and avoid the Poison Joke. Trust me, my friends and I had a bad experience with that blue plant."

Just then, Spike was eating his ice cream and heard about the Poison Joke story, "Oh, yeah, that was hilarious! There was Appletini, Spitty Pie, Hairity, Flutterguy, Rainbow Crash, and..."He stifiled a laugh, "I still have nothing on that floppy horn, Twilight!" The Little dragon held his sides and continued to remember the misfortunes his friends had.

Twilight sighed as she rolled her eyes at Spike's antics, "Anyway, Zecora may be scary to some ponies because she has her own ways. She's very helpful when it comes to herbal remedies and may be able to help you with your dreamscape problem."

Small Horn decided to try for Zecora's and see what the Zebra could do about her horn and this dreamscape thing the third day of her arriving in Ponyville. Along the way to the path Twilight suggested, she encountered the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy.

Fluttershy was tending to her animals and saw the filly take the path. "Oh, my, please don't go in there! There's all kinds of terrible creatures. Manticores, Cockatrices, and others! I should go with you, if you don't mind. Just need to tell Angel Bunny to watch the other animals, okay?" Small Horn waited as Fluttershy timidly approached her, "I'm Fluttershy. I heard from Twilight you needed to see Zecora?"

Small Horn nodded, " I want to know about this dreamscape and if can use my magic. I also want to make my horn bigger." Small Horn said, feeling more confident as Fluttershy escorted her to Zecora's Hut. The zebra was home at the time of the visit, and invited them in. Three cups of tea were brought out, and they discussed the purpose of Small Horn's first visit to the Everfree Forest.

Small Horn spoke up after drinking her first cup of tea. "I would like to know about the Dreamscape realm. Sounds pretty interesting. Ms. Twilight suggested you may know about it, Ms. Zecora?"

The zebra looked puzzled, "Young child, why do you seek the realm of dreams; when in the daytime, you can now see?" Zecora thought about the filly's question more, and began to mix up some brew. "Small Horn, I have just the thing; your empty cup, to Zecora you must bring."

The filly saw her cup was empty, so she tenatively brought her cup to Zecora. "So, I just drink this tea and I'll be able to enter the dreamscape, Ms. Zecora?"

The Zebra mixed the herbs within Small Horn's tea; placed two sugar cubes in it for taste, and offered it to her. "Indeed, my new friend, drink this all down; tonight when you sleep, in the dreamscape you will be found. Zecora will be there to lend you aid, if you feel anxious, saddened, or afraid." The potion was consumed, and Small Horn and Fluttershy left Zecora's hut. Small Horn did not feel the effects of the potion until the fateful day, when Discord showed up, and banished her and her family to a realm unfamilar to her.

While Sam was being taken to the hospital for the severe food poisoning, cramps, and the greyish skin, hair, as well as the blue blotches over his body, the potion's effects kicked in response to Sam's anxiety and fears of dying. When Sam opened his eyes, he was not in the hospital emergency room, but in a strange forest. Was he here before? The path led from a cottage with animal homes decorating the outside yard to deeper into the forest, past the strange ble flowers. Sam heard a familar feminine voice warning of the plants, "Beware, Beware, You Pony Folk! Those blue plants, They are no Joke!"

Sam recognized the voice from a past memory. It sounded like Zecora, the zebra character introduced in the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episode, Bridle Gossip. It was the exact same line the zebra warned Twilight Sparkle and her friends about the Poison Joke plants. The other ponies were pursuing young Apple Bloom through the Everfree Forest in an attempt to keep her out of trouble, since they did not trust the zebra at first. The lesson learned was that you should not judge others based on their physical appearance. Zecora's knowledge of herbal remedies and sage wisdom earned her the gratitude of the town. Zecora would late be able to travel into Ponyville to visit with the other ponies and share her knowledge or aid those in need of her advice and counsel.

Sam stammered, "Z-zecora? Is that you?" The zebra had her cloak up over her head, as she somehow sensed this person needed help. Sam followed as best he could until he reached the path and then made his way to the hut where the Zebra resided.


Dreamscape: Everfree Forest - Exterior: Zecora's Hut

Following the path through the forest, Sam Horner's struggle for life continued. Shaking, feverish, and covered with light blue splotches on his skin and grey all over, the young man stumbled across a hut. There was a calm about this place; something drew him here, and the African mask motifs surrounding the exterior of the hut and its wooden door looked vaguely familiar to Sam. Was he here before?

Sam tentatively approached the hut's main door, and thought about knocking. Who would be inside? He decided to gamble a chance and knocked weakly. Soon, the door opened to reveal a strange creature, covered with a brown cloak pulled over its head. The creature had four hooves, and its grey/white fur on its legs had black stripes. Piercing yellow eyes gave way to deep blue as the creature stepped to the threshold to get a better look at the visitor. The creature in question was a zebra, complete with a Mohawk-style mane, beautiful, calm, piercing eyes. The zebra also had gold jewelry on its foreleg, neck and some earrings, completing the look of an African tribeswoman.

The Zebra spoke as Sam approached her home, "Hello, friend I am called Zecora and this is my home, now why in the Everfree do you roam?" The zebra, known now as Zecora, asked as she spoke in rhyme.

Sam saw the Zebra and leaned against the doorpost, "Miss Zecora, I am Sam Horner. I have not been feeling well as of late. My body lies in a hospital bed and the doctors don't know what is wrong. I ache all over, I have lost a lot of weight...my hair and skin are grey and I'm warm to the touch." He continued his list of symptoms to Zecora as he spoke of the strange blue flowers he saw in his sandwich. "Just think, this all started out with a nice family dinner and a really bad sandwich."

Zecora frowned, "You say that you ate Poison Joke? Come with me, for a herbal remedy you must Soak!" She began to prepare her journey to Ponyville's Day Spa, mixing up a batch of the Poison Joke antidote. Zecora even mixed a batch of potions to soothe aching stomachs and bring vitality to her patient.

Sam coughed a bit as Zecora finished her antidotes, "That would be good for the skin, but what about my appetite? I haven't eaten or drank anything since I came to the hospital? And, what is this place? Why do you look so familiar?" The greyed Sam shook his head as he was led by Zecora back to town.

Zecora spoke, again in rhyme, "My dear Sam, your in Ponyville; now, come and Zecora will fix what makes you ill. Our first stop is the Day Spa, run by Aloe and Lotus; they will fix your mane so no one will notice!"

Sam looked at his brown hair, or as Zecora mentioned, his mane. "My mane?" He looked puzzled, "Aloe, Lotus?" He thought about the pink and light blue Earth pony twins who ran the Day Spa Zecora mentioned. "Zecora, I'm not really one of you..."

Zecora turned to stare into Sam's blue eyes, "Behind this face, lies a filly; Come now, Small Horn, do not be silly!" Zecora then entered the spa area and Sam followed inside. Aloe and Lotus, the Blossom twins, saw the human and listened to Zecora's explanation of their new client.

Aloe spoke up first, "Miss Zecora, We have never performed our spa treatments on a human before...but this isn't a human?" The Pink mare with the light blue mane looked over to Sam, quizzically.

Lotus interjected, "But sister, we must help that poor filly! She must look her best when she finds her true self, ja?" Somehow, Aloe and Lotus saw the filly behind the facade. "Oh, imagine if every mare and filly came to our spa for a mother-daughter Spa Day!" Lotus exclaimed. Ideas for ways to increase sales for their spa floated through the twins' minds.

The Spa Twins decided to help, as they had no customers that day within the dreamscape, but it was so real! The smell of the herbal remedy Zecora brewed up, as well as the stomach ailment treatment made Sam feel more at ease as he relaxed. They went to work, pouring the bath. Sam was lowered in and Zecora grabbed a brush in her mouth, as the soothing herbs cleared all the Poison Joke splotches away from Sam's body, leaving him with a light tan hue to his skin, as well as his long brown hair. The faint outline of Small Horn's Cutie Mark was seen as the Spa Ponies took turns rinsing, lathering, and repeating the process of shampooing Sam's mane. Zecora offered her stomachache remedy to Sam, and bade him to drink. Sam complied and his stomach stopped hurting. The Spa Twins then filed his nails, much like they would if they had a pony client. Once the herbal treatments were successful, Sam felt cleam and refreshed. He was wrapped in a white robe and led to another room to talk with Zecora about the next part of his journey to unlocking his inner filly.

Back in the real world - Earth

Sam lay in his hospital bed as the nurses checked on his vitals. He was still unconscious, but the nurses saw his skin and hair had the appearance of someone had taken a bath or partaken in a day spa treatment. he was devoid of any blue splotches, and his skin and hair looked pristine. She called for the doctor, and she arrived to examine Sam.

The female doctor then began her report, "Sam Horner, age, 25, brought in yesterday with probable severe case of food poisoning. Skin, nails, and hair look clean, as if the staff bathed the patient. Nursing staff deny any sponge baths of this type. " She checked on the hair, nails, and skin closer. "Faint "Birthmark" of light blue heart with strange horn symbols on either side of patient's outer thighs. Noted from last night's examination. Unexplained muscle loss due to lack of nutrition. Continue to give nutrients intravenously." She examined and felt the silky brown hair, "Mr. Horner's hair appears to be long and full, with a silky texture. Will take samples to confirm DNA." The nurses trimmed some of Sam's hair to test for any foreign substances or drugs. "Something is not right about this." The nurse muttered to herself, as Sam's vitals were taken, "So, just who are you and why aren't your parents here?" She asked Sam quietly.