Bridle Gossip
(Twilight and Spike are walking through an empty town)
Twilight Sparkle: Wow, what a gorgeous day!
Spike: Rainbow Dash must have gotten up early for once and cleared all the clouds away.
Twilight Sparkle: I bet all of Ponyville is going to be out enjoying the sunshine. What? Where is everypony?
Spike: Is it some sort of pony holiday?
Twilight Sparkle: Not that I know of.
Spike: Does my breath stink? [belchs fog]
Twilight Sparkle: Not more than usual.
Spike: Is it... zombies?!
Twilight Sparkle: Uh... not very likely.
Spike: Not likely... but possible?
[Suddenly Pinkie's voice is heard]
Pinkie Pie: Psst! [She peaks her head out of Sugercube Corner] Twilight! Spike! Come here! Come! Here! Hurry! Before she gets you!
Twilight Sparkle: [groans]
Spike: Who?! The zombie pony?
Pinkie Pie: Z-Zombie pony?!
Twilight Sparkle: Spike! There are no zombie ponies. Pinkie, what are you doing here alone in the dark?
Pinkie Pie: I'm not alone in the dark.
Twilight Sparkle: [gasps as she see all her friends in the dark] Okay then, what are you all doing here in the dark?
Applejack: We're hidin' from her![They see someone outside the someone turns their head towards Sugarcube Corner and they all gasp]
[theme song]
Apple Bloom: Did you see her Twilight? Did you see... Zecora?
Applejack: Apple Bloom! I told you never to say that name.
AppleLily: It could attract her to us.
Twilight Sparkle: Well, I saw her glance this way...
Pinkie Pie: Glance evilly this way.
Twilight Sparkle: ... And then a bunch of you flip out for no good reason.
Applejack: No good reason? You call protectin' yer kin no good reason? Why, as soon as my sister saw Zecora ridin' into town, she started shakin' in her lil' horseshoes. [She starts shaking Apple Bloom]
Apple Bloom: [shakily] Did not!
Applejack: So I swept her up and brought her here. Not before I found Lily and dragged her here too.
Apple Bloom: I walked here myself! And so did AppleLily.
Applejack: For safe keepin'.
Apple Bloom: Applejack, I'm not a baby! I can take care of myself!
Applejack: Not from that creepy Zecora.
Fluttershy: She's mysterious.
Rainbow Dash: Sinister.
Pinkie Pie: And spoooooky!
Twilight Sparkle: [groans and looks out the window Zecora's hood falls off revealing stripes]
Everyone but Twilight: [gasps]
Twilight Sparkle: Will you cut that out?
Rarity: Just look at those stripes! So garish!
Twilight Sparkle: She's a zebra.
Everyone but Twilight: A what!?
Twilight Sparkle: A zebra, and her stripes aren't a fashion choice Rarity, they're what she was born with.
Rarity: [faints]
Applejack: Born where? I've never seen a pony like that in these parts, 'cept... her!
Twilight Sparkle: Well, she's probably not from here, and she's not a pony. My books say that zebras come from a faraway land. But I've never seen her in Ponyville. Where does she live?
Applejack: That's just it, she lives in... the Everfree Forest![Crash that sounds like a thunderclap]
Twilight Sparkle: Spike!
Spike: [Covered in pots and pans] Uh, sorry.
Applejack: The Everfree Forest just ain't natural. The plants grow...
Fluttershy: Animals care for themselves...
Rainbow Dash: And the clouds move...
Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash: All on their own!
Rarity: [faints]
Pinkie Pie: And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil... stuff! She's so evil I even wrote a song about her!
Rainbow Dash: Here we go...
AppleLily: Not again, this is the 5th time in the last 20 minutes
[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 Pie: [heavy breathing]
Twilight Sparkle: Wow. Catchy.
Pinkie Pie: It's a work in progress.
Twilight Sparkle: This is all just a lot of gossip and rumors. Now tell me; what exactly have you actually seen Zecora do?
Rainbow Dash: Well... Once a month, she comes into Ponyville.
Twilight Sparkle: [dramatically] Oooooh.
Rarity: Then, she lurks by the stores.
Twilight Sparkle: [dramatically] Oh, my.
Fluttershy: And then, she digs at the ground.
Twilight Sparkle: [dramatically] Good gracious! [normal tone] Okay, I'm sorry. But how is any of this bad? Maybe she comes to town to visit?
Apple Bloom: Yeah! Maybe she's just tryin' to be neighborly.
Twilight Sparkle: And maybe she's not lurking by the stores, maybe she's going to them, lurk free, to do some shopping?
Apple Bloom: Yeah! Everypony likes to shop. You know what I think?
Applejack: Apple Bloom! Hush and let the big ponies talk.
AppleLily: Please?
Apple Bloom: [under breath] I am a big pony!
Rainbow Dash: W-what about digging at the ground? You've got to admit that's weird.
Fluttershy: What if she's digging for innocent creatures?
[Pinkie Pie sings "Evil Enchantress" in the background]
Twilight Sparkle: 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.
Apple Bloom: Well, I'm brave enough; I'm gonna find out myself. [Leaves and starts sneaking around following Zecora]
Twilight Sparkle: You ponies are being ridiculous!
Pinkie Pie: Well, I heard that Zecora eats hay.
Twilight Sparkle: Pinkie, I eat hay; you eat hay!
Pinkie Pie: Yeah, but I heard it's the evil way she eats hay.
Applejack: Hey! Where's Apple Bloom?
AppleLily: [Scared] She's not here!
Fluttershy: The door's open.
Rarity: She went outside!
Rainbow Dash: And Zecora's still out there.
Applejack: [sigh] That silly lil' filly! I told her to stay put!
Twilight Sparkle: Spike, you stay here in case Apple Bloom comes back.
Spike: Will do!
Apple Bloom: [She follows Zecora into the Everfree Forest and gulps, but dosen't get far before...]
Applejack: Apple Bloom?
Apple Bloom: [gasps and looks behind her seeing both her sisters and their friends in the middle of some blue flowers]
Applejack: You get back here right now!
Zecora: [Fog rolls in as she speaks] Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!
Applejack: Y-you keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, ya hear?
[Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity speak over each other against Zecora]
Twilight Sparkle: [sighs] Oh brother.
Zecora : Beware! Beware! [Disappears into the fog]
Rainbow Dash: Yeah, back at ya, Zecora! You and your lame curse are the ones who better beware!
Applejack: [pulls Apple Bloom onto her back] And you! Why couldn't you just listen to yer big sisters?
Apple Bloom: I...I...
Applejack: Who knows what kind of nasty curse Zecora could have just put on you?
Pinkie Pie: Just like in my song! [Starts singing a shorter version of "Evil Enchantress"]
Twilight Sparkle: You guys, there's no such thing as curses!
Rainbow Dash: Well, that's interesting to hear coming from Miss Magic Pants herself.
Twilight Sparkle: 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.
Applejack: Just you wait, Twilight. You're gonna learn that some pony tales really are true. [Leaves with her two sisters]
[Twilight is now sleeping in her bed as a dream sequence plays]
Pinkie Pie: She's an evil enchantress, she does evil dances!
Zecora: Beware! Beware!
Pinkie Pie: If you look deep in her eyes, she will put you in trances!
Rainbow Dash: Yeah, was that supposed to scare us?!
Rarity: Wicked, wicked zebra!
Fluttershy: ... it's a curse.
Pinkie Pie: Then what will she do?
Applejack: Just you wait, Twilight; some pony tales really are true.
Pinkie Pie: Then she'll gobble you up in a big tasty stew! Soooo... Watch out!
Zecora: [evil laughs]
[A rooster crows signaling another beautiful day under Princess Celestia's sun]
Twilight Sparkle: Ugh... what a dream... Curses, schmurses. Whoa! [chuckles as she looks at her reflection] Maybe Zecora cursed my hair. [Laughs nervously and brushes her hair, only for her hair brush to drop and she gasps] Or she cursed my horn! [Her horn is now spotted and floppy]
Twilight Sparkle: No no no no no! None of these books have a cure! Ugh! There has to be a real reason for this! An illness? An allergy?!
Spike: [reading a book] A curse!
Twilight Sparkle: I said a real reason. Something that points to something real.
Spike: How about this one? [Holds up a book]
Twilight Sparkle: "Supernaturals"? Spike, the word supernatural refers to things like ghosts and spirits and zombies, which are as make-believe as curses. This book is just a bunch of hooey!
Spike: But what if you're wrong, Twilight? What if this really is a-
Pinkie Pie: [With a spotted swollen tounge] Ah pfurse!
Spike: A purse? How could it be a purse?
Twilight Sparkle: Pinkie? What happened?
Pinkie Pie: Pee pah Zthecora! Sthe put a cursthe on me!
Spike: [shaking off Pinkie's spit] Hey, say it, don't spray it, Pinkie!
Rainbow Dash: [thud] Ow! [thud] Oh! She's [thud] trying to say-ow!-Zecora [thud]-oh!-[crash] she slapped us all with a-ow!-curse! [Crashes into a ladder revealing that her wings are inverted]
Rarity: I'm afraid I have to agree. [Blows hair out of her face]
[Spike and Twilight yell in surprise]
Applejack: [high pitched voice] I hate to say I told ya so, Twilight, but I told ya so! [She's revealed to be tiny and being carried on Apple Bloom's back, the latter holding a rope in her hair, the other end being held in AppleLily's mouth]
[Spike and Twilight gasp]
Applejack: It's a curse, I tells ya!
AppleLily: Why is your voice so squeaky A.J.
[AppleLily's Eyes are misted over, her tail is out of its usual braid and both her tail and mane are a mess, as if she didn't run a manebrush through them, and on her front hooves are the petals of some buttercup flowers]
Applejack: Oh for apple's sake.
Twilight Sparkle: But Fluttershy... seems just fine!
Rarity: Yes, there doesn't seem to be a thing wrong with her.
Twilight Sparkle: Fluttershy? Are you okay? Is there something wrong with you? Would you care to tell us? So... you're not going to tell us? Yes you're not, or yes you will?
Applejack: [runs across the table over to the yellow pegasi] Good gravy, girl! What's wrong with you?!
Fluttershy: [deep male voice] I don't want to talk about it.
[Spike snorts, then bursts out laughing]
Spike: This is hilarious! [laughs] Look at all of you! We got: Hairity, Rainbow Crash, Spitty Pie, Apple Teeny, Apple Blind, Flutterguy, and... uh... I got nothin'... Twilight Sparkle. I mean seriously, I can't even work with that.
Twilight Sparkle: [sarcastic laughter] This is no joke, Spike. Now start looking for more books so I can find a cure!
Spike: [groans and walks off]
Rainbow Dash: [groans and tries to free herself from the ladder] I think we'll find a cure to this curse at Zecora's place!
Twilight Sparkle: It's not a curse! [The scream sends Rainbow into a bookshelf] Applejack: I agree with Dash! We'll go to Zecora's and force her to remove this hex!
Twilight Sparkle: It's not a hex either![Everyone but Apple Bloom and Spike shouting at once]
Apple Bloom: This is all my fault. If I hadn't followed Zecora in the first place, none of this would have happened. I just gotta fix this. [Starts to walk out]
Applejack: Now where does she think she's goin' this time? [Runs across the table and jumps in her youngest sister's tail]
Rainbow Dash: I don't care what you say, Twilight. It's time to pony up and confront Zecora. Come on, girls. Are you with me?
Pinkie Pie: Ah am-pft!
Rarity: And I as well.
AppleLily: Adventures await us ahead! [Trips over her tail and crashes into a bookshelf] Oof!
Fluttershy: Uh, I don't know. Seems awfully dangerous.
Spike: [giggles]
Rainbow Dash: How about you, Applejack? Applejack? [Everypony looks at the library's table but the orange mare isnt there]
Pinkie Pie: Pf-she's gone-pft!
Rarity: Aah! Or somepony stepped on her!
[Everypony checks their hooves, Fluttershy checks AppleLily's]
Twilight Sparkle: ... or sat on her?
[Everypony checks to make sure the orange mare wasn't sat on]
Rainbow Dash: Rarity's hair!
Rarity: [Pinkie checks her friends hair] Oh! OH! Pinkie, what are you doing? Ah, really. Aah! You ever hear of personal space?
Pinkie Pie: Nopthe.
Twilight Sparkle: Apple Bloom is gone too!
AppleLily: [Panicking] WHAT?!?
Rainbow Dash: I bet they went after Zecora.
Twilight Sparkle: Well we better go find them. Come on girls, let's go.
Rarity: [Pinkie is standing on her hair as she grunts] Oh dear. Oh, this is so unseemly. Auuuaah!
Rainbow Dash: [moving across the floor] Hey, a little help here?
Fluttershy: Oopsie! Sorry.
Rainbow Dash: [crashes into the wall] OW!
Fluttershy: Uh... Spike? Are you coming? [She helps AppleLily out the door]
Spike: Nope! Uh... gotta stay here and look for a cure. [gasps] Twilight Flopple!
[Apple Bloom is running through the Everfree Forest when she hears a squeaky but familiar voice]
Applejack: Stop right there! Turn around right now, missy!
Apple Bloom: No.
Applejack: [shocked] No?! You can't ignore a direct order from your big sister!
[Apple Bloom tosses her sister in the air, catches her in her mouth, and puts her on a tree branch]
Apple Bloom: Hehehe. Sorry, Applejack, but I'm the big sister now. [Walks off]
Applejack: Apple Bloom, you come back here right this instant! I'm gonna tell Big McIntosh on you! [Notices her predicament] Aw, pony feathers.
Twilight Sparkle: C'mon girls. We've got to get to Zecora's. Hurry!
Rarity: Ooh... Ahaha. Easier said than done.
Rainbow Dash: Hey, wait for me!
[screaming and owing and crashes into a thorn bush. Suddenly something pushes out of her mouth revealing her now tiny friend]
Applejack: Rainbow! Thank Celestia! There's no time to lose! I need to get to Zecora's pronto! Giddy-up pony! [As she talks she make a bit and reins and shoves the bit in her friends mouth]
Rainbow Dash: Ex-CUSE me?
Applejack: YEEE-HAW! [Kicks her friend sending her back into the sky]
Rainbow Dash: What the...
Applejack: No, Rainbow Dash. Other way!
[The other ponies are near by they all pop out of a bush, Rarity is covered in sticks and leaves]
Rarity: Oh. I look horrible!
Pinkie Pie: Plis place plooks horrible!
Rarity: Oh my. That place really does look horrible.... Nice decorations, if you like creepy!
[Zecora looks through the window and the Ponies gasp as Rarity pulls AppleLily out of view]
Zecora: [speaking in native language]
Pinkie Pie: Sthe sthtole my sthong! Shthe shtole mm mm!
Rarity: She stole your song?
Twilight Sparkle: Oh Pinkie. Doesn't sound anything like your song.
AppleLily: It really dosen't Pinkie.
Pinkie Pie: Ah. Hmm... Pbth! [She grabs Fluttershys front hooves and whimpers]
[Fluttershy sings as Pinkie does the movements from the previous day]
Fluttershy: [sighs]She's an evil enchantress
And she does evil dances
And if you look deep in her eyes
She will put you in trances
Then what would she do?
She'll mix up an evil brew
Then she'll gobble you up
In a big tasty stew
Soooo... Watch out.
Rarity: You saw those terrible things. Now do you believe us Twilight?
Twilight Sparkle: Scary looking masks, confusing incantations, and a great big bubbling cauldron? [sighs] Everything is pointing to Zecora being... bad. Or... what if Zecora is just making soup?
Zecora: Mmm! The perfect temperature for ponies, I presume. Now, where is that little Apple Bloom?
Twilight Sparkle: Or... what if she's making Apple Bloom soup?!
Twilight Sparkle: What if she's making Apple Bloom soup?!
Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, AppleLily and Fluttershy: [screams]
[As they scream Applejack comes in flying on Rainbow]
Applejack: I'm comin' for ya, Apple Bloom!
Rainbow Dash: Aaah!
[The two friends crash into Zecora's Hut running into things]
Zecora: [native language]
Applejack: Whoa there. Easy, Rainbow Crash.
Zecora: Oh. [native language]
Rainbow Dash: [screams]
Zecora: [native language]
Twilight Sparkle: What have you done with Apple Bloom?
Zecora: No! No! [native language]
Applejack: [lassoes Zecora's ear and jumps onto the Zebra, messing with said ear with collective grunts]
Rainbow Dash: Ahh!
Zecora: Ponies! What is this you...
Rainbow Dash: [screams and knocks over Zecora's couldren]
Zecora: No! You know not what you do! You've gone and spilled my precious brew!
Twilight Sparkle: We're onto you Zecora. I didn't want to believe that you cursed us, but the evidence is overwhelming!
Rarity: You made me look ridiculous.
Fluttershy: You made me sound ridiculous!
Pinkie Pie: [incoherent] You made me speak ridiculous!
AppleLily: I can't see a thing!
Twilight Sparkle: You ruined my horn!
Zecora: How dare you! You destroy my home, destroy my work, then rudely accuse me of being a jerk?
Rainbow Dash: You put this curse on us, now you're gonna uncurse us.
Zecora: It is unwise to venture down this road. Your actions will make my anger explode!
Twilight Sparkle: Where is Apple Bloom!?
Apple Bloom: Zecora! I think I found all the things ya asked for. What in Ponyville is goin' on here?
Applejack: [gasps] Apple Bloom! You're okay!
AppleLily: Oh thank Celestia!
Apple Bloom: Why wouldn't I be?
Twilight Sparkle: [Jumps in front of Apple Bloom] Because Zecora is an evil enchantress who cursed us and was gonna cook you up into soup!
Zecora and Apple Bloom: [laughs]
Apple Bloom: Oh Twilight. Did those silly fillies finally get in yer head? You know there's no such thing as a curse.
Twilight Sparkle: Apple Bloom, sweetie. You can't just stand there and tell me this isn't a curse.
Apple Bloom: This isn't a curse.
Zecora: If you will remember back, the words I spoke were quite exact. [flashback] Beware, beware you pony folk. Those leaves of blue are not a joke.
Apple Bloom: It was a warnin'. About that blue plant. It's called Poison Joke.
Zecora: That plant is much like poison oak. But its results are like a joke.
Applejack: What in the hay does that mean?
Zecora: It means this plant does not breed wrath. Instead this plant just wants a laugh.
Applejack: Will somepony please talk normal?
[AppleLily snorts at her twins confusion]
Twilight Sparkle: I think what she's saying is that when we ran in to save Apple Bloom, we ran into the poison joke. All our problems are just little jokes it played on us.
Applejack: Little jokes?! Very funny.
[Another snort is heard from the blind earth pony]
Rainbow Dash: Okay, fine. But what about the cauldron?
Fluttershy: And the chanting?
Rarity: And the creepy décor?
Zecora: Treasures of the native land where I am from. [Points to two masks] This one speaks 'hello', and this 'welcome'.
Rarity: [Looking at another] Not welcoming at all, if you ask me.
Zecora: The words I chanted were from olden times. Something you call a nursery rhyme.
Twilight Sparkle: But the cauldron... The Apple Bloom soup?
Apple Bloom: Lookie here Twilight. That pot of water wasn't for me, it was for all these herbal ingredients. The cure for poison joke is a simple old-natural remedy. [Holds up Applejack] You just gotta take a bubble bath!
Twilight Sparkle: But I tried to find a cure in all my books and couldn't find anything. What book has this natural remedy?
Zecora: Here is the book, you see? [She closes the book and shows the book Spike had showed her earlier] Sad that you lack it in your library.
Twilight Sparkle: Actually, I do have this book, but I didn't look inside because the title was so... Weird. [Zecora flips to the title page] Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-alls That Are Simply Super. I...I... I'm so sorry, Zecora. I had the answer the whole time, if only I had bothered to look inside.
Zecora: [chuckles] Maybe next time you will take a second look, and not judge the cover of the book.
Apple Bloom: Hahaha.
Twilight Sparkle: Zecora? Would you be kind enough to mix up another batch of the herbal bath?
Zecora: Mix it up I certainly will. Yet I am missing an herb from Ponyville.
Apple Bloom: But whenever Zecora comes to town, all the shops are mysteriously closed.
Twilight Sparkle: Oh, well... I think we can help you with that.
[The eight ponies and the zebra friends walk into town and the townsfolk start to panic]
Daisy: Look Rose! How awful!
Rose: The wicked enchantress has cursed them all.
Lily Valley: The horror, the horror!
[The Ponies panic and run into their houses]
Daisy: Run, ponies! Run!
Twilight Sparkle: [knocks on Daisy's door] Daisy, we need to talk.
[At the day spa the girls are enjoying their remedy cure bubble bath, with Fluttershy and Rarity laughing about their recent situation, Pinkie and Twilight relieved that it's over, AppleLily taking in her surroundings for the first time that day, and Rainbow finally joining them after pouring in the last of the remedy ingredients and sighing as she can finally fly without crashing into things]
Twilight Sparkle: Dear Princess Celestia,My friends and I all learned an important lesson this week: Never judge a book by its cover. Someone may look unusual, or funny, or scary. But you have to look past that and learn who they are inside. Real friends don't care what your "cover" is; it's the "contents" of a pony that count. And a good friend, like a good book, is something that will last forever.Your faithful student,Twilight Sparkle
Lotus Blossom: Miss Zecora, I would love to get the recipe for this bath. It's simply luxurious!
[Zecora is about to tell her but somepony right next to her interrupts]
Apple Bloom: Applejack! Hey, where's Applejack?!
Ponies: [gasps and starts thrashing around in the spa tub trying to find the farmpony]
Applejack: [normal voice] I'm right here, little sis. I ain't tiny no more! [Shes right, she's not tiny anymore infact she was in a separate bucket but it was starting to get too small for her now that she's returning to her normal size]
Rarity: Oh! I have never felt so lovely in all my life!
Pinkie Pie: Oh, my gosh! I never realized how horrible it is not to be able to talk. I mean, I love talking so much, and when I couldn't talk anymore, my tongue was all 'ehhhh'! It was the worst! Don't you agree, Fluttershy?
Fluttershy: [normal voice] ... Yes.
Everyone: [laughs]