The Legend of Rarity: Zecora's Mask

by LittleAngelStocking

Chapter Five

“That instrument brought you back in time you say? Ah, you were not able to get the mask away…” Zecora nodded slowly, watching as Rarity paced back and forth, breathing hard after retelling of the past three days in one big exhale.

“I-I’m sorry, Zecora. What is that mask? Sweetie nearly killed everyone!”

Zecora sighed, “Mask or no, I will change you back to your original size. Against the mask I should have done so immediately, I apologize.”

“Oh, thank you!” Rarity cried. “This body is simply awful! I can’t do anything, and my magic is gone! I…” Rarity paused. “Zecora, where did that mask come from in the first place? I’ve never seen anything like it and the powers it gave my sister…”

Zecora sighed. “That mask… it came from a dark place. A mask I never intended on anyone’s face.

“You made the mask?”

“I did not, little Rarity. I got that mask quite a while ago; you see. It’s an ancient mask, once used for dark deeds. I had hoped to keep it secret and safe, so nopony would wear it and listen to its evil needs.”

Rarity listened intently. “Did it come from the zebra kingdom?”

“No. I know not where it was crafted, but when I first laid my hooves upon it I could feel the evil that it wafted. It was created by a tribe for rituals, but it was sealed away as it brought nothing but evil visuals.”

Rarity nodded. “And this mask – it intends to destroy this land? Well, I know that but…”

Zecora nodded grimly. “No one knows where exactly the mask comes from. But if it is allowed to work a new day will not come.”

“It… it intends to end the world…” Rarity said quietly. “I… I must stop it! And save Sweetie!”

Zecora nodded. “You must set your sister free. And once again you only have until day three.”

“Wait,” Rarity interjected. “Apple Bloom and Scootaloo told me something. They said something about a… mountain, swamp ocean and canyon, I think… Do you happen to know anything about that?”

Zecora looked thoughtful; “Mountain, swamp ocean, canyon. Yes... I understand what must be done. Each area is a region, each supports a dungeon.” Before Rarity could say anything, Zecora continued; “In each region a being is at home, in the farthest reaches of each direction you must roam. I see now, you must go to each place. I am sure that the spirits there will help get the mask off Sweetie’s face.”

Rarity hesitated. This was all too much to take in. But first…

“Before I go you’re going to change me back to my glamorous, adult self, right?”

Zecora nodded. “Of this curse I know the remedy. It just so happens to come in the form of a melody…”

Rarity sighed in relief. “Oh; thank Celestia…” she pulled out her Ocarina.

“Ready your ears and hearing; for this the song of healing,” Zecora said; Rarity closed her eyes and listened as Zecora begun to hum.

Considering her rhyming, it’ a wonder she doesn’t sing, Rarity silently mused. Zecora stopped and looked at Rarity. “Now, use your ocarina and play. It is a magical instrument, as you say.” Rarity nodded, and with a bit of difficulty she played the song Zecora had hummed for her. At least now she had magic to put pressure on the different holes when needed now…

Oh my… she felt strange. It wasn’t at all like the feeling she’d felt when she’d been turned into a filly. No, this was… different. She felt as if she were floating; she was enveloped in a wispy cloud of white. She felt herself changing… it was a soothing feeling. Then, the bright whiteness faded, and Rarity was once again standing in front of Zecora, this time however she was eye-level with the zebra.

“Oh…. I can… I’m tall again! My mane is long again!” she cried joyfully. She concentrated on the ocarina held on her hoof; and with the tiniest bit of difficulty levitated it up in her blue aura of magic. “I can use my magic again!” she smiled widely. She couldn’t remember ever being so happy about something.

Zecora looked at the double-doors leading out into Clock Town. “I suggest you head for the south, I believe is abound. But do not forget to buy supplies from the shops around.”

“Supplies?” Rarity asked.

Zecora nodded. “Yes, I suggest a blade of steel. And perhaps some potions to help you heal.”

“A sword?!” Rarity stared in disbelief. “Why would I need a sword? Do you take me for some sort of ruffian?! I intend to save Sweetie Belle, not harm her!”

Zecora sighed. “This land is nothing like Equestria, Rarity. Very soon you will see.”

Rarity stared at the zebra, and then sighed. “You obviously know this place better than I, but, I won’t be using it!” she harrumphed and turned on her hooves, heading for the doors.

~~~

Rarity was glad she had all her money back, she wanted to buy a pair of saddlebags, and the sword Zecora had suggested. Rarity really didn’t want to, but she felt Zecora knew what she was talking about. So with a sigh, she bought the most inexpensive, littlest sword she could find.

Why did this town even have a weapon store? That alone seemed to prove Zecora’s point of this world being different from Equestria.

I guess that proves I’m not in Equestria any more… Rarity thought. Having made all her purchases, Rarity headed for the southern gate. She noticed one of the little colts from that club, he looked at her. She wondered if he would recognize here – than she realized she’d gone back to day one. Everything that had happened after leaving the clock tower on that first day didn’t happen. Completely erased.

Gone.

A shudder passed through her. She wasn’t sure why. She looked up at the ominous moon sitting high in the blue day-time sky, that eerie look on its face. She wondered if it was actually alive, perhaps it was a deity, like Celestia or Luna. She turned towards the armored pony standing between her and the outside of town. “Excuse me,” she caught his attention, “May I pass?”

He looked her over. “Are you armed?”

She swallowed. He actually asked if she was armed? What the HAY was out there?

“Yes, I have a sword right here;” she turned her flank, allowing him to see the sword sheathed onto her hip.

“Oh. Alright then; go on ahead. Be careful out there, miss.” She thanked him, and with a deep breath headed out. Zecora had said south, so that was exactly where she intended to go.

As Rarity stepped out of the city limits and into the wilderness, she looked around warily as if a horrible beast would come out and snatch her off the second she looked away. A field stretched before her, there were no animals as far as she could see save for a few birds. She recognized this… she’d seen this when she’d stepped outside of the astral observatory for the moons tear. She sighed… the air smelled cleaner than the air in that filthy town.

She was standing on a wooden platform, three large steps leading down to the grass in front of her. She begun forward, this gate lead straight to the south. That was where Zecora suggested first, so with a sigh, Rarity headed forward. She couldn’t help but wonder… the creatures Zecora had mentioned, the beings that could help stop the mask… How would she recognize them? Where would she find them?

Temples… Zecora said temples… Rarity pondered this. This was all so confusing… What was she to find? Where? Why?

This didn’t seem fair. Sure, she and her friends always ended up on crazy adventures, but this was different. This wasn’t eternal night, or a land of chaos, or a land of slavery to love-feeding parasites. This was world annihilation. By the moon, no less.

Granted, it wasn’t a moon Rarity recognized… or even heard of. As far as she knew there was only supposed to be one moon.

She felt tired. Perhaps it was the events leading up to this pressing on her mind, or maybe just the quick transition from filly to mare that was wearing on her limbs. She rubbed her head with a hoof. This was going to be a long three days.

She levitated her little sword out of its sheath and examined it. She was sure she’d never have to use it, so she didn’t waste money on anything really expensive or sturdy. It was short; not dagger short, but short. The handle was a light blue, the same color as her cutie-mark. The pommel was the same color, only a slightly darker shade. The blade itself was shiny, the sunlight glinting off of it. Rarity admired her own reflection for a bit before slipping it back into the ugly, light brown sheath fastened around her flank.

Rarity could see a forest ahead. Oh Celestia I hope that isn’t the swamp.

~~~

It was the swamp. The foul odor gave it away first, and then the sight of the murky black water as she’d headed deeper into the woods. “Oh, why me!” she moaned; pressing a hoof against her nose. Disgusting!

It really wasn’t so bad, it was really just the smell that was getting to her. She sniffed the water.

Yuck!

She looked around. Where Rarity was the trees were tightly clumped together, leaving the pathway as the only way to really get through. Rarity noticed a long deck on the edge of the swampy water, and a boat at the end. Held above it by four thick wooden poles was what looked like a cabin. There were steps leading up to it, although they looked rather steep. Rarity hesitated – she was looking for a temple, could she ask for directions?

She trotted up the steps and read the sign, ‘Swamp Tourist Center’. She tried opening the door, but it didn’t budge. ‘Closed’, she read. With a sigh, she headed back down the steps and begun deeper into the woods, the damp underbrush making icky squishing noises beneath her hooves.

Not even the Everfree Forest could compare. What next, dirty canyons with walking skeletons?

Rarity couldn’t help but giggle at the thought. How ridiculous!

She jumped over a puddle of filthy black water – and landed in mud. She cried out in horror when it all splashed upwards, staining her beautiful snowy white coat.

“Disgusting! Gross! Vile! Filthy!” she repeated over and over; desperately trying to shake the mud off. “When I get my hooves on Zecora, I’ll - I’ll - !”

She spotted a sign ahead, shaped like an arrow pointing towards a pathway, two large decorative jars stood in front of it. Momentarily forgetting her own filthiness she trotted up to it, reading aloud: “Magical Ponies Potion Shop…”

Rarity hoped to Celestia that they had a bath or something she could borrow. Actually, what kind of shop had a bath?

Okay, she hoped it was the same kind of shop she had, she lived and worked in it.

She headed down the pathway, she could see little insects buzzing around, and they seemed to be attracted to her filthy coat. They kept landing all over her. Grimacing, she rounded a corner – and saw a tree. A tree house, she noticed. Shaped like a giant red teapot.

Rarity wasn’t sure whether to admire the creativity, or criticize the ugly choice in colors.

But what she was more interested in was the whole thing was surrounded by a large pool of clean water. She wasted no time in hurrying in and washing herself to the best of her ability.

She didn’t want to mud to dry and stick to her fur!

She sighed, dipping her mane into the water, yet trying not to let it touch the sandy bottom.

If it was sand under there and not mud, she guessed the pond had been put here by ponies and not nature.

Which was better, she thought. Sand wasn’t as bothersome as mud. She decided to pay the little shop a visit. She didn’t have any potions, she’d forgotten to buy some while in Clock Town.

She headed up the steps, it was good to hear the sound of hooves on wood and not the squish of hooves on mud. She knocked on the door once, then opened it. “Hello?”

The room was tiny, cramped. Boxes were stacked to the ceiling on either side of her. The counter in front of her had a Pegasus pony, fast asleep behind it. She was the ugliest shade of green Rarity had ever seen on a pony, and wore a band around her head with a blue crystal on the forehead.

Rarity was a little surprised it wasn’t a unicorn, she knew there were magical plants that allowed anypony to make working potions, but it was sort of just one of those things you never really thought about.

She stepped up to the counter. “Um – excuse me, miss?” The Pegasus didn’t stir. Rarity cleared her throat, and said a little louder, “Miss, you’re sleeping on the job!”

Rarity would never allow herself to fall asleep on the job, the thought was ludicrous! How anypony could just go and fall asleep while working was beyond her.

“Miss! Wake up!”

Finally the ugly-colored pony blinked awake. She mumbled something, sat up, stretched and yawned, breathing into Rarity’s face a morning breath that would kill a litter of kittens. Rarity coughed, backing away and waving a hoof in her face in disgust.

Rarity would have gone on a verbal rage, but the Pegasus spoke first. “Wha? What is it?

Need something?”

Rarity glared. “Yes, I need something because this is a shop, and ponies buy things from shops. I would like to purchase some healing potions.”

Rarity usually tried not to be rude, even to rude ponies, but she’d been through a lot the past three days and few hours.

Or perhaps it only counted as a few hours. This was confusing.

“Hm? Oh yes! Ah have a large stock of potions… take a look,”

She pointed to the counter next to her, where three pots sat. One red, one green.

Large stock my flank, Rarity thought. “What does the green potion do?”

“The green one replenishes…. Er…. I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Nope. Buy it for only… uh… I don’t know.”

Rarity groaned. “How much does the red one cost? I’m guessing it’s healing potion, right?”

“Sure. Yeah. That’ll be ten bits.”

“I’ll take two.” She said.

“Hm… you got an empty bottle?”

“What?”

“Do you have an empty bottle with you?”

“I… no.”

“Well too bad, then.”

Rarity cocked her head, and blinked. Hopefully since she was no longer a filly she could pull this off. “You wouldn’t happen to have an extra bottle I could take, would you? Please?”

“No.”

“For the love of…“ Rarity mumbled, before turning on her hooves and leaving. “Why does this place work against me?”

Upon trotting down the steps Rarity couldn’t help but notice yet another dirt pathway, leading down deeper into the woods. She decided to head that way, she had no idea where to go from here.

Surely she would recognize a temple when she saw it.

She trotted through the pond and onto the grass, and dried her hooves a bit, and headed down the dirt pathway, but not before reading the wooden sign nailed to a tree.

‘Woods of Mystery’

“Rather… nice name?” she said quietly. Somehow she expected it to be like the Everfree forest.

Come to think of it, this entire land seemed like a sort of Everfree forest. She headed down the dirt path, as she headed further she noticed the trees were tightly clumped together in this area, almost seeming to form rooms. She stopped, finding herself in in a small clearing, the pathway continued onward, yet two more went down both right and left.

She stood there for a second, trying to decide which way to go.

Her entire frame grew ridged when a little hand nudged her leg, she whirled around. “Who goes…” she stopped. A little white monkey sat in front of her, she sighed, straightened, then chuckled. “Forgive me! You scared me, darling.”

The monkey cocked his head, “Follow me,” he said simply, then without waiting for an answer he took off down the left dirt path.

“What? Hey! Wait a second!” she galloped after him.

They ran through the forest, although it seemed more like a maze made out of trees, each path brought them to a clearing. He’d go left, then right, right again, forward, left…

Rarity had no idea what she was following him for, but in Equestria when random ponies came up to you and said ‘follow me’, you didn’t really need to worry about it being a trap.

It was really just a sort of ‘auto-pilot’ to follow this monkey. When a pony comes up to you and says ‘follow me’, they either have something for you, need help, or if it’s Pinkie Pie, it means there’s a party.

Rarity found herself wondering why she was even following him. What did he need?

As if he had read her mind, he headed into another clearing before stopping. Rarity noticed something, and then with a cry she forced her hooves to the ground, skidding to a stop, her hooves sending up dirt into the face of a collapsed pony.

She noticed immediately that it looked almost exactly like the pony that ran the potion shop – only the gem sitting on the headband was red, and not blue.

She was breathing hard, it sounded raspy. “Oh my!” Rarity took a step back, and then leaned down a bit. “Miss? Are you alright?”

The ugly green pony opened her eyes, cherry red ones. “Ah! I – that filly!”

Silence.

“What filly?” Rarity felt she already knew the answer.

“She… she was white! Ugh, she had a hideous mask on! She ambushed me while I was-“ the pony interrupted herself with a mild coughing fit, before continuing in a wheezy voice: “-picking mushrooms! I… you wouldn’t happen to have a- a potion on you?”

Rarity facehooved. “No. No, I don’t.”

“Sister… runs potion shop… in the woods. You can’t miss it!”

“I’ll be back,” Rarity stated, then turned on her hooves and galloped through the forest. She sort of remembered the pathway the monkey took her.

It was… that way?

She stopped. Again.

She looked around. “Hello? Sir Monkey? I could use your assistance!”

Nothing. “Blast it! I don’t have time for this!” she stomped forward, and hoped to come across something she recognized. “Oh! Why not just follow my hoofprints?” satisfied, she searched the dirt for her prints, but the ground was covered with so much… forest stuff, it was impossible.

With a frustrated grunt, she headed forward, and much to her surprise and relief found herself back at the potion shop. “Thank Celestia! That was easier than I ever could have expected!”

Rarity wasted no time in heading up the steps and into the shop, where the ugly green Pegasus had fallen asleep.

What is with these ponies?

Frustrated, Rarity turned around, and bucked the counter hard. THWAK!

“Ah!” the Pegasus jerked awake. “What the! Who do you think you are? I’m napping!”

“Yes, on the job I might add, and I need a potion, now!”

“I already said no.”

“I don’t think your sister will be very happy if she hears that…”

“What are you getting at?”

“Your sister,” Rarity twitched an ear. “She’s injured in the swamp, and needs healing.”

“What?! What happened?”

“No time, just give me a potion!” Rarity said irritably.

“Okay, okay – you better not be just trying to get one free,” she muttered dipping a jar into the red liquid and sealing the lid.

I thought you said you didn’t have an extra… Rarity thought as she took it and galloped out of the store.

The monkey was waiting for her in the woods of mystery, when he saw her coming he motioned for her to follow, leading her back to the Pegasus. Rarity trotted up to her and set the potion down in front of her. “Here you are, miss,” the Pegasus snatched it away and downed it in a second, and Rarity watched as she slowly got to her hooves stretched her wings and leapt into the air.

“Yes! I feel much better!”

“You’re welcome,” Rarity muttered. These ponies lack of manners was unbelievable.

“Of course, thank you! Hey, um.” The Pegasus turned to her. “My names Koume, I run the boat cruise at the Swamp Tourist center, you can have a discount!”

And with that she shot off into the air without another word. Rarity blinked.

“I suppose I’d take the boat, I can’t stand these woods for another second! I hope they’ll give me a ride to the temple…”

Author's Note:

Sorry for such a long wait, this chapter was very hard to do for some reason. I re-wrote it about five times, and I feel this is as satisfied as I can possibly be with it for now. Once again, sorry if it feels rushed. This is one of those chapters you just wanna get over with so you can move on to the next. I tried not to rush it, but after re-writing it several times it just sort of came out that way. (Zecora's blasted rhyming...)

Comments

[EveningStar]

This is great! Can't wait for more!!

[Cellin]

Needs a wee bit of work.
Overall this story is turning out quite nicely so far.