For the record, she wasn't impressed by the Queen Rap Battle

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

[Look, it's a zebra! Zecora has unrolled a scroll in her home as a thought occurred to her -- an important one, since a cauldron in the back is belching thick green clouds of something she isn't paying attention to.]

Newponies and old alike
A thought strikes me that I dislike.
A curiosity I present to those
Trapped by changelings. This question I pose
Concerns your health and how you fare
In the days since the invasion scare.
Is anypony feeling unwell
In unusual ways, if you can tell?

Comments

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

I'll take the chance that I will dance
It will prove your glockenspiel to be both magic and real!

[der_vogelfanger]

Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you! [Papageno carefully sets his scroll up so it will stay on him hooves-free, then shuffles into the middle of the frame and takes off the box he wears on a strap like a saddlebag, setting it on the floor in front of him and flipping open the lid. Like before, he eschews the little hammers in the case in favor of sitting on his haunches and tapping the bars with his front hooves. A tune emerges, and he starts to sing:]

Zebra, come and dance with me,
Music sweet I offer thee.
Right hoof first,
left hoof then,
round about and back again!

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

[Zecora's right hoof twitches without any conscious control of hers, like a limb jerking just before sleep hits fully. Then it steps forward, followed by her left hoof, and before she knows it the zebra is turning a circle and back, laughing as she does.]

Magic indeed, as around I prance
Unable to keep from joining the danced.
Quite a feat from quite a lute
Your playing clearly bears wild fruit!

[der_vogelfanger]

[Papageno laughs and lets the tune tinkle out into nothing -- he doesn't feel like he can just cut it off in the middle of the melody, but once he's ready to stop it's easy to bring it to a close.] I'm glad it worked! I've only ever tried it in emergencies before.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

[Zecora finishes off her dance with a graceful little spin, then settles down once again, none the worse for wear.]

Did I follow, without choice
The instructions that you gave voice?
If so, what other orders can
You give? Might I have jumped or ran?

[der_vogelfanger]

[Papageno's eyes go wide.] I never tried! It's always only made people dance -- but it did make Monostatos and the changelings dance away.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

Even such control is substantial power
You should test before some new dark hour.

[der_vogelfanger]

[He nods fervently.] All the ladies said was that it would protect me when I needed it -- and that it would make everyone's hearts glad.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

That is a greater magic by far
Than simple control, wherever you are!

[der_vogelfanger]

Tamino's flute does the same -- I think. I've never seen him use it, only heard it when he used it to call to me and Pamina.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

Does it work on only those who can talk
Or could you command a chicken or a manticore to walk?

[der_vogelfanger]

I haven't tried that, either -- but I can normally get birds to do what I want with my panpipe anyway. I'm the birdcatcher to the queen, did I mention?

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

Why did the queen wish her birds to be caught?
Is this normal for your world, while here it is not?

[der_vogelfanger]

...Don't people want birds here? She had a big menagerie...and some of them are good to eat....

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

Some ponies may have a pet bird
But to catch one seems absurd.

[der_vogelfanger]

Well, how else are you supposed to get one?

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

If you wish a bird's sweet song and grace
You'd best visit Fluttershy's place.
Many animals gather there
So she can check on how they fare.
Many are eager to accept
The role of 'pet', and be kept.

[der_vogelfanger]

[Papageno looks put out.]

But I'm the queen's bird catcher -- that's what I've always done. If I don't have that, what do I have? Not a girlfriend, that's for sure. What's this Fluttershy doing taking away my livelihood?

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

And in those days for which you pine
Were you also an equine?
Time moves forward, you advance.
Give your new circumstances a chance.

[der_vogelfanger]

Of course not. I was a man like any other.

[He deflates, casting his gaze at the ground.] There's a bird on my butt, though, don't you think that means something?

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

A cutie mark is not direct.
It might not mean what you expect.
Perhaps you have a knack with birds
Shown not with a net, but rather with words?

[der_vogelfanger]

But how would I catch birds with words? I've always done it with my panpipes and my nets. It's just how it's done!

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

In Equestria, that would be cruel.
You must use a different tool.
Birds are as smart as you or I.
Give talking to them a try.

[der_vogelfanger]

As smart as...?

[Papageno looks faintly horrified. This is the man pony who caught a bird in a net, trapped it in his room, and "tamed" it to give to Nephenee. True, he'd barely had to do anything because the bird had acted weirdly like it wanted to be around him...no. No, it couldn't be true.] Then how come they don't talk, huh?

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

Have you ever heard an animal speak?
That is the difference you seek.

[Well, that and animals are happy to be pets, even ones like otters and seals (which do not fly). But Zecora doesn't realize animals aren't like that on other worlds.]