Episode 9 [Part 1] - Never Assume on Appearance Alone
“Wow, what a gorgeous day! Isn’t it Dusk?”
“Sure is Twilight. Rainbow Dash really did a good job with removing the clouds.”
Several days has passed since Twilight had her first slumber party. Disregarding the usual harmless mishaps that occur in Ponyville, rest of the week was relatively peaceful.
“I bet all of Ponyville is going to be out enjoying the sunshine.”
Twilight said for she, Dusk and Spike were expecting the usual routine that all ponies would do whenever it is sunny outside. However, it wasn’t the case today for they saw the streets to be completely empty.
“What? Where is everypony?”
“Strange... It looks like they are really eager to stay indoors.”
Dusk answered Twilight as he pointed to one of the houses to his right, which a pony quickly closed the upstairs shutters. He then pointed to a house to his left, a unicorn filly was gazing through an open doorway before she was pulled in and the door was slammed shut. At the same time, the stallion also saw a tumbleweed passing through.
“Is it some sort of pony holiday?” Spike asked while riding on Twilight’s back.
“Not that I know of.” The unicorn replied.
“Does my breath stink?” Spike then belched out some fire and smelled the smoke.
“I doubt this has anything to do with you Spike.” Dusk found it absurd that the baby dragon’s breath was why everypony except him and Twilight were staying inside their homes.
“Is it... zombies?!”
‘Really Spike...?’
The stallion found the idea of zombies to be more absurd. Sure he was in a magical world, but it is almost impossible to ever think that any race in Equestria would dare dabble in dark arts like necromancy.
“Uh... not very likely.”
“Not likely... but possible?”
“Spike...”
Twilight, Spike and Dusk then stopped moving when heard something just as they reached Sugarcube Corner.
“Psst!”
Turning their attention to the store, they found Pinkie poking her head out the door for a few seconds repeatedly.
Apparently, she was trying to warn them about something.
“Twilight! Spike! Dusk! Come here!” Pinkie quietly exclaimed as she waved them to come inside. “Come! Here! Hurry! Before she gets you!”
While unsure what Pinkie meant, Twilight and Dusk nevertheless listened to her and quickly went inside just as the door close shut behind them.
However, the two along with Spike quickly found that everything inside was completely dark; all the lights were off and window drapes were closed.
“Why is it so dark here?” Dusk asked before he and Twilight had a flashlight shine in their eyes, forcing the two to cover them.
“Agghh.”
“Who?! The zombie pony?” Spike fearfully asked while clinging to Twilight.
“Z-Z-Zombie pony?!” Pinkie shined the flashlight beneath her face as she spoke, which scared the baby dragon more.
“Spike! There are no zombie ponies.” Twilight assured him before asking her friend. “Pinkie, what are you doing here alone in the dark?”
“I'm not alone in the dark.”
Pinkie then opened one of the drapes to light up the room a bit, which surprised Twilight and Dusk for they saw that the rest of their friends were inside as well; Applejack, Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity.
Dusk notice that there was a filly standing beside Applejack. She has a pale olive coat, a reddish mane and notably, no cutie mark on her frank.
‘Apple Bloom.’
She was Applejack’s little sister and Dusk first met her when he first came to Ponyville. At the time, she thought that the stallion was just an ordinary pony. However, that changed when Dusk revealed himself as a duelist to everypony during the Summer Sun Celebration.
Needless to say that, Apple Bloom was eager to learn about Dusk and his exploits against the Numbers. She even stated her interest in Duel Monsters and wish to learn about the game like her big sister. As of now, the stallion has yet to decide if he should try to get other ponies to partake in this “special “curriculum.
“Okay then, what are you all doing here in the dark?” Twilight asked her friend, wondering why they and the other ponies were hiding in the first place.
“We're hidin' from her!”
Applejack stated as she opened the drapes of one of the windows and pointed to what seems to be a pony wearing a brown cloak and hood. In everyponys’ eyes, she appears to be digging for something before she suddenly turned her eyes to Sugarcube Corner.
‘What?’ Dusk swore that cloaked pony was actually looking at him and his friends straight in the eyes. He also felt a strange and mysterious feeling from her as well.
Almost everypony along with Spike gasped in fear when the cloaked pony looked at their direction. While the rest of their friends move away from the window, Dusk and Twilight merely observed the unknown newcomer to Ponyville.
“Did you see her you two? Did you see... Zecora?” Apple Bloom asked both Dusk and Twilight.
“Apple Bloom!” Applejack scolded her sister. “I told you never to say that name!”
‘Zecora?’ Dusk repeated the name in his head. He wondered why that pony outside is so feared in Ponyville.
“Well, I saw her glance this way...” Twilight said before Pinkie interrupted her.
“Glance evilly this way!”
“And then a bunch of you flip out for no good reason.” The unicorn continued after lightly pushing her friend away.
“No good reason? You call protectin' your kin no good reason?”
Applejack exclaimed as she put a hoof on Apple Bloom’s back.
“Why, as soon as my sister saw Zecora ridin' into town, she started shakin' in her little horseshoes.”
She then shook her sister in manner which Dusk found to be rather forceful.
“D-Did n-not!” Apple Bloom manage to say despite being shaken by her older sister.
“So I swept her up and brought her here.” Applejack then picked her up and put her over her back.
“I walked here myself!”
“For safe keepin'.”
“Applejack, I'm not a baby!” Apple Bloom stated as she climbed off her sister’s back. “I can take care of myself!”
“Not from that creepy Zecora.” Applejack said.
‘Can’t blame Applejack being protective of her little sister.’ Dusk thought as he continues to observe Zecora. He knows very well that the farm pony loves her family dearly.
Soon enough, the rest of the mares then shared their opinions regarding Zecora.
“She's mysterious.”
“Sinister.”
“And spoooooky!”
Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie said respectively. However, Dusk and Twilight were skeptical of their claims and merely went back to the window to observe Zecora.
The two ended up getting squished together when the rest of their friends decided to join them in looking through the window. While Twilight annoyed at first, she ended up having a light blush on her cheeks upon seeing how close Dusk was.
Luckily, everypony was too focused on Zecora to notice her blush. In the meantime, Zecora removed her hood and revealed her dark grey and white mane, which styled like a mohawk and adorned with white stripes.
Dusk also notice that on Zecora’s light grey coat was a number of dark grey stripes. It reminded him of an animal he read up on the Internet back on Earth.
“Wait a minute... That could be...”
He tried to mutter out, but everypony but Twilight made a collective gasp when they saw Zecora’s mane.
“Will you cut that out?” Twilight was not amused of her friends’ overreactive behaviour.
“Just look at those stripes!” Rarity commented on Zecora’s appearance. “So garish!”
“Rarity...” Dusk sighed. “I’m guessing you never seen a zebra before in your life.”
“A what!?” Everypony exclaimed.
Before Dusk could say a word, Twilight came forth and spoke on his behalf.
“A zebra.” The unicorn said before turning her attention on Rarity. “And her stripes aren't a fashion choice Rarity, they're what she was born with.”
Dusk could only shake his head when he watched Rarity dramatically fainting when Twilight finished talking.
“Born where?” Applejack questioned. “I've never seen a pony like that in these parts, 'cept... her!”
“Well, she's probably not from here, and she's not a pony.” Twilight replied. “My books say that zebras come from a faraway land. But I've never seen her in Ponyville. Where does she live?”
“That's just it, she lives in...” Applejack fearfully said. “The Everfree Forest!”
Upon saying that, everypony soon heard the sounds of thunder throughout the building. Dusk was confused at first since it was sunny outside, but Twilight had an explanation.
“Spike!”
“Uh, sorry.”
The baby dragon was apparently getting some snacks from the kitchen, but he ended up knock down some pots and pans in the process.
“The Everfree Forest just ain't natural.” Applejack continued. “The plants grow... “
“Animals care for themselves...” Fluttershy followed up.
“And the clouds move...” So did Rainbow Dash.
“All on their own!”
After the three said out loud in unison, Rarity ended up fainting again in the same manner like before.
Dusk and Twilight only made deadpan expression at the friends.
“And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil... stuff!” Pinkie said. “She's so evil I even wrote a song about her!”
“Here we go...” Dash muttered as Pinkie begun to sing her song about the zebra being an evil enchantress.
“Evil?” Dusk muttered and wasn’t paying much attention to the song. He did feel a mysterious feeling when he first saw Zecora, but it isn’t enough to prove she is indeed evil.
He starting to see that even in the happy and peaceful land of Equestria, there is still some form of racial discrimination.
“Wow... Catchy.” Twilight commented on Pinkie’s song after she finished.
“It is a work in progress.”
“This is all just a lot of gossip and rumors.” The unicorn however still doesn’t believe what her friends say about the zebra. “Now tell me; what exactly have you actually seen Zecora do?”
“Well... Once a month, she comes into Ponyville.” Dash stated.
“Oooooh.” Twilight merely said in a sarcastic manner.
“Then, she lurks by the stores.” Rarity followed up.
“Oh my.”
“And then... She digs at the ground.” Fluttershy told her.
“Good gracious!” At this point, Twilight stopped acting sarcastic. “Okay, I'm sorry. But how is any of this bad? Maybe she comes to town to visit?”
“Yeah! Maybe she's just tryin' to be neighborly.” Apple Bloom said.
“And about her lurking near the stores, maybe she wanted to do some shopping?” Dusk added himself in the conversation.
“Yeah! Everypony likes to shop. You know what I think...?” The filly was then stopped by Applejack.
“Apple Bloom! Hush and let the big ponies talk!”
“I am a big pony...” Apple Bloom muttered under her breath as she walked towards the door.
“W-what about digging at the ground? You've got to admit that's weird.”
“What if she's digging for innocent creatures?”
Dash and Fluttershy respectively said while Pinkie begun to sing her song once more. As for Twilight, she was trying to get her friends to see reason.
“I am sure there is an explanation for everything Zecora does. And if anypony here were actually brave enough to approach her, she would find out the truth!”
“This is getting ridiculous...”
Tired that most of his friends viewed Zecora is a wicked enchantress without actual proof, Dusk decided to find out the truth.
He quietly left the building while the mares were focused on bickering with each other. Seeing that Zecora was leaving Ponyville, Dusk decided to tail her back to her place. Even if her home was said to be in the Everfree Forest, he had Number 39 for protection.
The stallion however didn’t realize that Apple Bloom saw him leave Sugarcube Corner and was now secretly following him as he tailed Zecora to the Everfree Forest.
“You ponies are being ridiculous!” Back in Sugarcube Corner, Twilight continue to bicker with her friends.
“Well, I heard that Zecora eats hay.”
“Pinkie, I eat hay! You eat hay!” Twilight refuted at the party pony’s claim.
“Yeah, but I heard it's the evil way she eats hay.”
“Hey, where is Apple Bloom?” Applejack interrupted as she saw her little sister was missing.
“Dusk isn’t here as well.” Fluttershy notice that the stallion isn’t here as well. She soon notice that the door to outside was left ajar. “And the door’s open!”
“They went outside!” Rarity shouted.
“Dusk must have gone out to confront Zecora!” Dash assumed that with Number 39, the stallion could stand up to the so-called evil that the zebra could throw at him.
“And Apple Bloom followed him?” Applejack cried in shock. “That silly lil' filly! I told her to stay put!
All mares soon rush out of the buildings to catch up with Dusk and Apple Bloom. Before she left with her friends, Twilight told Spike to keep an eye out if either two returns back.
As for Dusk, he followed the path that Zecora took, which went straight into the Everfree Forest. While keeping pace with her, he notices several patches of blue flowers in his path.
‘Keep you distance...’
“Utopia?” Dusk whispered as he heard Number 39’s voice in his head.
‘Those are no ordinary flowers...’ The Number warned him.
He was skeptical that these blue flowers could be dangerous, but Dusk nevertheless listened and avoided them.
In the meantime, he still remains unaware of Apple Bloom who was tailing in secret.
‘Why is he avoiding them?’
She found it strange that Dusk was avoiding the blue flowers, but her sister told her that the stallion was unique compared to other ponies. That is disregarding the fact he is from another world.
The filly continue to follow Dusk from a distance until she suddenly heard Applejack shouting from behind.
“Apple Bloom!”
The shout also alerted both Dusk and Zecora; the two turned around to see Applejack with the rest of the mares.
“You get back here right now!”
“Apple Bloom?”
Dusk was very surprised to see that the filly was following him all this time. When he turned his gaze to his friends, he saw that they were standing on the very flowers that Number 39 warned him about.
“Beware! Beware, you pony folk!” Zecora told everypony as she slowly back away into a cloud of mist that slowly appeared. “Those leaves of blue are not a joke!”
Applejack rushed over to Apple Bloom and scooped her onto her head while glaring at the zebra.
“Y-you keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, ya hear?” She shouted. “A-and don’t try anything or Dusk will make you regret it!”
Everypony except Twilight and Fluttershy agreed with the farm pony as their shouting were overlapping with each other. Pinkie was even singing her song again while standing on her hind legs.
“Oh brother.” Twilight sighed at how her friends were acting today. It relieved her though that Dusk was the only one that was being reasonable regarding Zecora.
“Beware! Beware!”
Those were the last words that Zecora said before she vanishes into the mist.
“Yeah, back at ya, Zecora!” Dash shouted. “You and your lame curse are the ones who better beware!”
“Oh come on...”
Dusk muttered to himself before he then recalled Number 39’s prior warning. Looking at the mares, he could see they still alright despite being in direct contact with the blue flowers.
Still, he chose to trust the Number and kept away from the patch that the mares were standing in.
“And you! Why couldn't you just listen to yer big sister?”
He watched as Applejack scolded Apple Bloom. Dusk couldn’t blame her since he never expected the filly to actually follow him into the Everfree Forest.
“I... I...”
“Why in tarnation did you follow Dusk when he was going to confront Zecora? You could have been hit by a stray curse if they started fighting!”
“Uh Applejack, I wasn’t going to confront...”
“Just like in my song!”
Thanks to Pinkie interrupting him with her ridiculous song, Dusk wasn’t able to say that he intended to learn about Zecora in person.
“You guys, there's no such thing as curses!” Twilight exclaimed to her friends, which was ironic since she uses magic herself.
“Well, that's interesting to hear coming from Miss Magic Pants herself.” Dash flew up to the unicorn and tapped her horn.
“My magic, real magic, comes from within. It's a skill you're born with. Curses are artificial, fake magic. It's conjured with potions and incantations; all smoke and mirrors meant to scare. But curses have no real power, they're just an old pony tale.”
After Twilight explained in her view why magic and curses are different, she saw that almost everypony were now going back home; having no interest in listening to what she said.
The only ponies left with her was Applejack and Dusk.
“Just you wait, Twilight. You're gonna learn that some pony tales really are true.”
With that, Applejack turned around and started to walk back to Ponyville.
“Dusk, were you actually going to...”
“Confront Zecora? No, I just wanted to ask her some questions.” Dusk both finished and answered Twilight’s question.
He then pointed to the blue flowers that the unicorn was standing on.
“Uh Twilight? You may want to step out of that patch of flowers right about now.”
“Huh?”
Twilight turned her attention to Dusk and saw he been keeping his distance from the blue flowers all this time.
“Why? These are just flowers.” The unicorn found it strange that the stallion was staying away from something that is relatively harmless.
“Well when I was following Zecora, Utopia suddenly told me to stay away from those flowers.”
“What?” Twilight approached Dusk, getting out of the patch of flowers in the process. “But why?”
“I’m not sure. All Utopia told me is that they are not ordinary.” He said. “I know you and the others were in contact with them, but I didn’t see anything unusual happen.”
Despite what Dusk said, Twilight was skeptical since she and the rest of the mares are quite well. In the end, the two begun to walk back to Ponyville while thinking about Zecora.
Dusk still wanted to know the truth about the zebra and was going to get it one way or another. He thought about going into the Everfree Forest alone tomorrow and try to find her home. Even if his friends didn’t like the idea, he wasn’t going to let them stop him.
As for the rest of the day, everything was again peaceful as all the ponies finally left their homes and were now doing their usual activities. When it was finally nighttime, everypony drifted into sleep.
As Dusk dozed off on his bed, he would never expect that a change is starting to occur within the bodies of his friends.
Number 39’s warning may have merit after all...
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nice work
8409856
Hey, it's been 4 weeks since your last message. That means 2 more weeks than you mentioned. Am I asking to soon if the next chapter is almost up?
8466849
Sorry for the long wait. When I returned back from my trip, I ended up having Writer's Block and lost interest in writing. It was only a week ago that I finally regained my interest in writing again and I been trying to make up for the time wasted. If you must know, the next chapter would be the longest one I written yet.
I aim to get the next chapter up by Saturday. That is a promise.
8470622
Yay. Though on a side note, how many more chapters until Half Coin makes a return?
8470740
Well, I was thinking about Half Coin making a reappearing in Episode 11. If there is a certain episode that you want him to appear in instead, feel free to tell me.
8470758
No, just curios. On another side note, will the next chapter have a duel in it?
8470801
Yes, I plan to include a duel on the next episode.