A special request

by chaos2012

Chapter 20: we meet again

Outside of the inn she walked out of, Applejack noticed the small stall set up that was selling a mixture of medical herbs. Curious, she walked over to it and looked into the glasses lined across the counter. Some of the jars contained powders ranging from light sandy yellow to a deep purple tone. Others were filled with what appeared to be a yellowish colored bundle or roots, the small pieces inside sprouting off in random directions from the thick stems. The more she looked at the items, the more interested she was in finding out what they all did.

Suddenly, an idea popped in her head. "Maybe ah can help look fer the stuff Zecora needs to get fer the medicine!" She happily said to herself. The faster she could get to Applebloom, the faster she could help her get better. Walking up to the counter, she looked around for a worker to help. "Uh, 'xcuse me?" She asked out aloud. "Can y'all help me?"

Standing up from behind the counter, the stallion revealed himself to her. His Mohawk was split into three different sections down his neck. Smiling, he placed a hoof on the counter and leaned her direction. "Hello there. Need help with an ailment?" He casually asked.

"Eeyup, ah do. Well..." Applejack paused for a moment. She didn't want to say it to make it seem like she was desperate, because if she did he may start asking a lot more questions about things, which meant more chances of her giving away her disguise. Choosing the story she wanted , she cleared her throat and began again. "Yeah, mah friend had cured a illness not too long ago and asked if ah could grab more ingredients fer her. Y'all think ya could help me?"

"Sure. What is the illness. That she fixed?"

Well, ah don't know the name of it, but the... Uh, zebra that had it was burning up real bad from heat. She was almost passed out all the time and really pale, but it never got worse than that. They just stayed like that fer a long time and never got better."

The stall owner stared at her for a few moments, his smile fading off his face. "Did she have any symptoms before she got sick? And did any zebra get sick around her?"

"No, none have gotten sick, and she just dropped sick one day."

"That's not a sickness she has then..." He quietly answered, "that's a rare disease called Leumolia."

Just the sound of it sent a chill up Applejacks spine. "Wh-what does that do?"

"It's a rare thing that some develop inside their body. The part of the brain that moderates internal temperature begins fluctuating, causing a very strong fever to develop. While it isn't fatal, unless the disease is removed, the subject won't fully recover." He sighed and looked at the jars he had. "Unfortunately, I don't have anything that cures Leumolia. Only the top potion makers are even qualified to make that kind of thing. Sorry."

Applejack took a deep breath, exhaling through her teeth in defeat. "Thank ya though. Ah appreciate it." Walking away from the stall, she realized Zecora did know what she was doing in searching for the ingredients she needed. Deciding to go on, she saw the resteraunt to the right of the hotel and decided to go grab something to eat.

---

Sitting down in the small diner, Applejack quietly ate the plate of food she had in front of herself. The sandwich was a honeydew bread filled with savannah grass. While the bread was something she was comfortable with, the grass was something far different than she expected. Most grass she would eat back home was very soft and moist. This however was extremely dry and crunchy when she bid down on it. While it didn't taste bad, the texture just gave an odd feeling when chewing.

Once she was done, she drained her glass of water and called the waitress over for a refill. With her new glass, she now slowly dipped at it as she looked around the rest of the resteraunt. It amazed her how similar this place was to her own home back in Equestria. The way the zebras interacted with family members, the way the workers talked to the customers. It all showed her how the only real difference between zebras and ponies were the colors of their coat.

That thought made her frustrated with the news she had learned from Graylin the day before; zebras hated ponies because of what was told to them by the corrupt prince. While she was concerned at first that her new "friend" zebra was lying to her about everything, Applejack had actually asked around to others to see what they thought on the subject.

---

Five minutes earlier

"So, will that be all for your order?" The waitress asked Applejack.

"Yeah. Hey ah had a question..." AJ asked, "the festival tonight is to honor the chief, right?"

"Yes."

"So that means the prince is going to take over?"

The mare suddenly gave a big smile and sighed, "yes, Lord Krelack will take the throne for the month."

Applejack took note of the mares sudden happy thoughts about that zebra. "Ah take it y'all are fond of him?"

"Of course, he is such a strong and powerful zebra. Ever since he came back told how he was attacked by those bandits, every zebra around here knows how brave he is."

"So is that the story all of y'all know?"

"Yes, the prince came back with that horrible scar and explained how two of his guards were killed defending him. Those zebras were all part of his personal squad he had trained with. After that, he is always treated with respect because of his bravery, and ..."the waitress bit her bottom lip and winked, "he is quite generous when he is... Entertained."

Even being a farm pony, Applejack didn't need to think much to pick up on her message. Forcing a fake chuckle, she turned away and let the waitress go back into the kitchen.

---

After talking with the fantasizing waitress, Applejack struck up a small talk conversation with the stallion next to her as well. Swerving the conversation towards Krelack again, she asked him about the scar he had. Like the other zebra, he explained how the prince got it away from the city when they were attacked by ponies. While they all seemed to believe what was told to them, Applejack could sense that there was a stretch to the tale being told. This prince also seemed to have a knack for "services" from the mares around here; making her shudder at the thought she was asked for that yesterday.

Shaking her head, she placed a few pieces of silver down onto the table and walked out of the resteraunt to the street. Looking up to the sky at the sun, the former pony could tell it had been less than an hour since she got up. Frowning, she stood still for a moment as she contemplated what to do. Zecora said she was to be gone for several hours, yet didn't say how long exactly. This meant Applejack was stuck waiting for Celestia knows how long. "This is just great. Should ah just sit in the room for now then?" She grunted to herself.

"Hey you."

Applejack flipped around to the deep gruff voice from behind, coming face to... Mask with a large zebra. She stepped back in shock from the large tribal mask it wore over its face. "Uh, ah think ya got me confused with some other zebra."

"Nope, no I didn't." The mystery zebra said

Now Applejack was confused. "Look, ah don't know who ya are, okay?"

"What are you going to forget that drink I got you yesterday?" The masked stallion asked, this time his voice normal and not all raspy and deep.

"Wait..." Applejack stuttered as she watched the zebra lift the mask, revealing a familiar face with a large grin. Seeing who it was, she rolled her eyes with a small chuckle. "Y'all think it was funny messing with me like that, Graylin?"

Graylin laughed at his joke. "Just figured to see your reaction to a stranger."

"With a voice like that, y'all sound like a perve walkin' down the street."
Hehehe. So what y'all doin here again? Y'all followin' me?"

"Actually, I was heading to the palace halls to prepare for the festival this afternoon. I'm part of the guard after all and have to help with it." He noticed how she was just standing here alone. "So what are you doing here?"

"Oh, ah was just wastin' time until mah friend returns." Applejack answered, still unsure how long she was supposed to wait.

Graylin lifted his eyebrow in thought. "Well if you aren't doing anything for a while, why don't you come down with me? You can be my guest at the festival."

In a flash, Applejacks body suddenly became really hot. Mostly it was because of nerves of going to the royal zebra palace, a place that would be crawling with zebras everywhere. While she seemed to get by with her disguise pretty well, she was still nervous about how she acted around others. Another part of her was jumpy because he had just seemingly asked her out to something that seemed similar to the Gala. 'This guy really is tryin' ta ask me out!' She screamed to herself.

While she was usually against the thought of going out, she knew she wasn't going to stay the whole day anyway, which meant her and Zecora would be gone before the festival really started. Happy she would be able to get out and back home, she smiled up to him. Sure, ah'll go with ya."

Comments

[chaos2012]

after a long break, I have a new chapter. And yes, I have more.

along with my previous chapters being uploaded and edited

[Ars Poetica]

...did... did you... what is... is this some kind of pony equivalent to black face?

[JakeFourLeaf]

Most intriguing...most intriguing indeed. Mark this under "Read Later".

[PinkPearl]

yay!!!!! more!!!

[FamilyWing]

Capitalize the goddamn non-articles in your goddamn title, please.

Other than that, I have good feelings starting off here.

[nighters]

think there be fan art for the story?

[Lag Incarnate]

Awesome, I wonder if AJ will get the straight truth out of this guy.

[chaos2012]

3315893 uh. Who?

3316708 what do you mean?

3317239 hmm, we shall see then

[nighters]

3317369 picture for the characters like picture's of the zebra's and other things oc character reference's in the story to show what they look like kind of thing i just thought it would be neat to see~!

[chaos2012]

3317791 hmm, that would be really nice. I'll try to ask around and see if I could get that. If you know anyone that would be nice too. Unfortunately I can't pay at the moment

[Boss_Hoss1]

derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/10/11/446425__safe_twilight+sparkle_rainbow+dash_pinkie+pie_fluttershy_rarity_applejack_princess+celestia_text_image+macro_lyra_screencap_mane+six_bon+bon_reaction+image_love+heart_berry+punch_l.png

[Death The Kid]

I'm so glad I found this again! About the time when this story only had a few chapters, I didn't yet have a FIMfiction account. So, of course, I couldn't favorite it. I thought about this story a few months ago, but I didn't remember the name. But, I found it now!

[Alcher Shinz]

You didn't send this my way before you put it up. I saw you had a new chapter after and got curious. Going good and can't wait to read more.

[chaos2012]

3747251 yeah kinda been in weird times last few months. Am actually planning on new chapters next few weeks. I had to put it on hold to rethink the future story since I realized I had several big plot holes to fix

[Alcher Shinz]

3747469 I don't doubt what you are saying about a crazy schedule. I've been writing off and on myself for about three months and only have the intro completed... Don't worry about it, I was just trying to screw with you anyways.

[Sky Hooves]

I cant wait for the next Chapter! This Story is AWESOME so far

[Black-Briar Memery]

UPDATE

[MythAndShadow]

YUSH!

[Aatxe360]

Ever think of continuing?

[The Ohvist]

How long until the next chapter???