"Zecora, let's start a little before you found me in the forest", I said to the mare, who in turn nodded at my suggestion.
~Story! Yay, Lot of Slated Words!~
*P.O.V. Of story, Jeffry's*
I groaned as I clenched my fist. The smell of smoke from burning grass and trees filled my nose. Was something burning? Sliding my arms across the grass, I covered my nose to block out the smell of the smoke as my nose started to hurt from the strong stench of burnt plant life. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw that my hands and arms were covered in some sort of black substance. I then noticed that the grassy floor that I as lying on was also the same color, so was everything in my surroundings. Looking down at myself, I saw that my clothes were covered in ash, from lying down on the burnt, ashy grass. Where was I?... Who was I? I Looked around and noticed that I was in some sort of forest, but why was I here? I walked forward, but stopped as my foot kicked something, causing whatever I had kicked to rattle. Looking down, I stumbled and fell backwards at what I saw.
Bones and pieces of black plating of some sort was in a pile, more piles of the likes were scattered in some sort of pattern that resembled nothing of meaning. I began to panic, was I on some sort of battlefield? Who was attacking? The thoughts of someone attacking me filled my mind with fear as I looked around to see if anything or anyone was coming towards me. As I looked around, I saw that two trees had their trunks snapped off. Leaning slightly to the side, I saw someone. It was a person for sure, but it was wearing a very beat up suit of white armor that had black smudges from the ashes on the grass. The armor he wore was also covered in some sort of green liquid. Something gleamed at his waist... it was a sword! The blade was stained with the same green liquid, he must have killed something or someone! I slowly backed away, not knowing if the person was awake or dead. Not wanting to figure out if he was one of the two possible states, I ran away from the burnt clearing.
Panting as I ran into the forest, I left behind the clearing filled with piles of bones, that person, and that strange white stuff that was at the center of the clearing, close to where I was lying down on. I ran as fast as I could, my body felt as if something had beaten me up over and over. My body was also covered in numerous bruises and cuts, the cuts seemed to be fully healed, but were nothing more than scars.
'How did I get these injuries? Who was that guy, and why was he wearing that stuff on him? His sword was covered in green stuff... did he kill something?' I thought as I ran through the forest.
I suddenly tripped on a tree root, and stumbled over. My body came to a stop as it stopped sliding over the smooth forest grass. I groaned as I pushed myself with one arm, placing my other arm on my chest. It felt as if there was a fire burning within me. My ears twitched as I heard growling, was I hungry?
'Oh shit!' I thought as I watched as a pack of wolves... made of wood, stalk up to me.
They snarled at me as they glared at me with those beady yellow-green eyes of theirs. My hand brushed on something, not caring what it was, I took hold of it in my hand and reeled my arm back, it felt heavy. Whatever I had grabbed, it felt like a rock.
"Back off! Or I'll kill you!" I shouted, panting as sweat beaded down the sides of my face.
The wolves seemed to smile at my taunt, almost as if they were mocking me. One of them leaped forward, but was whacked in the head by some sort of staff with ornaments tied to the bottom of the grayish gem that was on top of the staff.
"Begone, foul beast. For he is no feast", a voice said.
A figure stepped forward, a dark brown cloak shrouded its body, a dark brown hood covered its head. The figure also had a staff in one of its... what was that? I watched as the figure swung the staff back and forth, shooing away the wolves that were made of wood. The wolves snarled at the figure, but slowly backed into the bushes, disappearing in the cover of the bushes. I let out a sigh of relief as my attackers disappeared, but clenched my chest. I clawed at my shirt as I felt my chest throb, it felt as if a glowing red needle had been stuck into my heart. The strange figure turned around and looked down at me. Not knowing if the strange figure was trying to save or kill me, I breathed heavily as I used my feet to push myself away from the figure.
"Do not be afraid, for their territory, you did invade", the figure said, voice had a strong accent on it, and it sounded feminine.
"I-if this is their-Urgh-territory, why shouldn't I be afraid? They'll come back to kill me", I panted as I shut one eye as the pain seared through my body.
"For what reasons, a strange creature of unknown to them, why you came here. For you do not look to be from the forest, or a place that's near", she said.
I pushed myself back as she stepped forward. I turned my head to look behind me as my back touched a tree trunk. Turning back to look at her, I winced as she placed her... hoof? On my chest, electrifying pain flowed through my body as she pressed a little, but soon removed her hoof from my chest and reached into a bag of some sorts that was strapped to her side, beneath her cloak. Reaching into the bag, I was able to see her body, she had four legs! Her skin... no, fur, was black and white, a set of gold rings were stacked on top of each other. Two sets of these gold rings were both around one of her four legs, and around her neck.
"What the hell are you?" I panted as I struggled to keep my eyes open, my vision was beginning to blur.
"My kind is that of the zebra race. Why is ash of black, smeared on your face?" She asked as she pulled out a small bag of some sorts.
Before I could respond, or even try, I blacked out.
~Time Skip: One Hour~
I slowly opened my eyes, dry air filled my nose as I breathed in, but also a slightly pleasant aroma. Groaning as I sat up, a blanket slide forward as it moved off me as I did so. Looking around, I saw that I was in some sort of house... or more of a hut. The room was decorated with masks, walls were lined with shelves that held strange objects, beads of various colors were strung on string, all hanging from the shelves. The sound of liquid bubbling could be heard from somewhere in the room. Groaning some more, I dropped one leg over the side of the bed and then the other. I noticed that I was no longer wearing my shoes... or any of my clothes, but I was now wearing some sort of robe.
"I see you're awake, for you would not stir from storms or quake", the same accent filled voice came from a doorway.
Walking into the room, I saw that the figure was a horse... wait, she said that she was a zebra. What the hell was going on? How is a zebra talking?
"Um, where am I? Who are you?" I asked, sitting down on the bed side, not feeling afraid as I saw that this talking zebra didn't really seem to want to hurt me.
"This place, I call my home. For my name, is Zecora of the zebra race. For what reason, in the forest, do you roam?" She asked, walking towards a giant metal pot, how the hell did I not notice that?
"Uh... I don't know why I was in the forest... I don't even know who I am...", I said as I scratched my head.
She didn't seem to be alerted from what I said, but went about with the cauldron. Using her mouth, she held onto a ladle and scooped up some of the bubbling liquid that was cooking away in the pot. Pouring two scoops of the strange green liquid, she placed the ladle's hooked end on a hanger by the wall. Tipping her head down, she bumped the cup she had poured the liquid, into the air and caught it with her nose and balanced it there as she walked towards me. Seeing that she was offering the cup to me, I reached for the cup and took it in my hold. Looking at the cup, and then back at her, she smiled.
'Hope this stuff isn't toxic', I thought as I returned her smile, but awkwardly.
Taking a sip of the strange liquid, I suddenly lightened up as the taste of the drink touched my tongue, it was delicious. A little bitter, but it had a fruity aftertaste. I downed the rest of the drink in one swift movement, tipping the cup all the way up to get every last drop of the tasty drink. Lowering the cup, I let out a happy sigh as the pain in my body slowly began to be replaced by a warm feeling. It felt as if I was lying in a warm bath of sand that had been warmed by the sun.
"That was delicious", I said with a smile as I placed the cup on a small wooden stool.
"Your compliment, I am grateful. It will prove your body quite useful", she smiled as she scooped up the cup with her hoof and walked over towards the cauldron.
I watched as she placed the cup on a shelf, and then walked back into the room that she had appeared to have come out from. Getting up, I walked towards the door.
'Wow, she wasn't kidding! I feel great', I thought as I walked through the doorway, into the room she had walked into.
I looked in awe as my eyes scanned the room, the room was decorated in the similar décor from the previous room, but it seemed to almost radiate with the feeling of peace... it felt warm. Zecora trotted over to a crate and used her mouth to grab hold of a... crowbar that was on the floor? I rushed over and stopped by her side.
"Want me to help?" I asked, placing my hand just below the crowbar, not wanting to just rip it out from her mouth.
She smiled at my offer, gently placing the crowbar in my hand, she trotted off to do something else that I didn't know of. Turning towards the crate, I jammed the hook of the crowbar into the crack of the lid. As I pressed down on one end of the crowbar, I began to wonder.
'This crowbar doesn't fit with the looks of this place, oh well, every home needs tools, right?' I asked myself .
Shrugging it off, I pressed down harder. Finally, the wooden lip popped off as the nails could no longer keep the lid secured from the force of my prying. Looking inside, I saw that it as filled with cotton, was she some sort of doll maker? Zecora popped out of nowhere and placed her fore-hooves into the cotton filled crate and rummaged through it. She smiled as I heard something clunk against the side of the crate. Pulling something out, I noticed that it was a bow.
"What's that for?" I asked.
"This, my strange friend. Is to start fires for warmth and light, my family from my homelands, they send", she said as she smiled dreamily at the present that her family had sent to her.
She placed the bow in my hands and butted her head against the side of the crate, pushing it towards the wall. I watched as she walked back and grabbed the lid and tossed it towards the crate, landing perfectly on the top of the open crate, sealing the cotton within. Looking down at the bow, I suddenly saw a flash of images quickly switch from one to another in my mind.
'What was that? … I saw... myself, and that strange person in the forest as well... Was that me doing all that?' I thought.
One of the images that flashed through my mind was an image that showed me and that person wearing somewhat similar armor, but of different colors. We were both fighting some weird bird... lion creatures? I had a black bow in my hands, he had a rifle of some sort in his, the thing was shining a white light. Another image showed me that I was firing some sort of weird looking black orbs at him, but we were somewhere else. We both had... wings. We were flying over what looked like to be a war of some sorts. I looked down at my hands, I remember seeing myself in one of those images, snapping my fingers and something came out. Shrugging, I leaned the bow on my leg and raised my hands up to my face. Snapping my fingers, I watched as black sparks came from my hands.
'Now that's pretty weird...', I thought as I reached down and grabbed the bow and walked into the other room that Zecora had walked into.
"Hey, Zecora. Where do you want me to put this?" I called out to her.
~Time Skip: 11 pm~
Throughout the remainder of the day, I had helped Zecora with every little thing I could around her hut, which was actually a hollow tree. There was even a ladder in the very small second floor of the hut, that led to the roof of the hut. I was lying down on one of the branches on the tree. I was wondering what I was... who I was. Why couldn't I remember who I was? All I know was that I was some sort of fighter or soldier, from what those images were showing me. I didn't know anything else, but my memories had several large chunks that were missing from the whole of my memory. I toyed with the fastening of the robe as I thought over the last few hours, Zecora said she took my clothes off to clean them. She didn't want to dirty her bed... she took of my clothes... which means she saw me naked, great, just great.
Zecora came out of the little hatch and placed my clothes at the edge of the opening.
"Thanks, Zecora", I said, smiling down at her as I looked over my side.
"Thank you, kind sir. For you helped with my chores, so quickly that you were a blur", she smiled as she climbed back down the ladder.
Snapping my fingers, I teleported my clothes onto myself as I teleported the robe off of me. Over the past few hours of helping Zecora, I had more memories pop up in my mind from time to time, I even decided to try out what I was doing in one of them. It was well worth it, I learned that I could use magic, which Zecora said was quite odd, seeing as I wasn't a unicorn. Only then did I really think I was on drugs or something, talking zebras, unicorns? Being on drugs was the only possibly, until she said that there were also talking ponies and pegasi out t here as well, now I was sure that I was in a coma or something.
I closed my eyes as I exhaled. I still didn't understand, what am I? Who am I? Those were the questions I want answered, Asking Zecora would be pointless, seeing as she just found me in the forest, before I was about to be killed by those weird wooden wolves. I yawned loudly, I was really tired after helping Zecora for the past few hours.
'Guess I'll sleep out here, it's pretty warm out too', I thought as I folded my arms behind me head.
I'll figure out all of this tomorrow.
~Time Skip: Four am~
I woke up as I felt my face get hit by something. Quickly pushing myself up, I saw that it was the floor, I had rolled off of the tree branch and fallen no the roof of Zecora hut. Groaning as I rubbed my face, I flipped onto my back and looked up at the sky. Several black objects zipped through the air, buzzing as they past over head.
~End of Story?~
"And after that, I ate breakfast with Zecora and later heard loud explosions nearby, so I went over there and saw that John was at the bottom of that giant crater, I still didn't know who he was then but still I shot the Changelings", I said.
"Wait, that doesn't explain how you're back from the dead", John said, scowling at me as he rubbed his chin.
"Oh, that. Well, Zecora later told me that she followed me when I ran from the clearing. She was picking herbs from nearby bushes when she heard and saw black lighting strike down. She watched as you were blown away from the force, she she wasn't, since she said she was taking cover from behind a tree.. right?" I asked, looking over at the zebra mare.
She nodded.
"Well, she said that after you were blown away, she watched as the armor slowly began to grow gray as a black glow emitted from my armor. It suddenly dropped to the floor as the energy that escaped from the armor began to gather above the pile of my armor. The black energy slowly began to mold itself and form my body... and the other parts of that... neither of use can explain that", I shrugged as I lacked the information to tell them.
"I see! This makes sense now!" Princess Celestia said, we all turned to her.
"How?" I asked.
"Magic is the life of every unicorn and Alicorn. Your armor, and all of the other things you created and made permanent with your magic, is filled with a concentrated source of your magic, each containing a piece of your own life force", she said.
"Wait, that's sort of weird to me. When John and I were touching the Soul Sapping Gems, when we were in the Gryphon Kingdom, it didn't have the same effect as it did on Shining Armor", I said, looking over at John and Shining Armor.
"Or so we thought? John and yourself have far more magic than any unicorn I've ever seen, it could be that your magic continued to replace the magic that was being sapped from your body", she said.
"Oh... so memories are a part of our life force?" I asked.
"Well, seeing as you didn't remember anything when you returned, other than basic things, it's fairly obvious as to what the reason is. Your armor had the most largest concentration of your magic, being the largest object you made permanent with your magic, it only contained a large amount of your magic, but not the entirety of your magic. Thankfully, only your memories weren't copied into your armor as magical power, or you could have been missing something else", she said, that sent a chill down my spine.
"Wow... can't believe I understood all of that", John said.
"I'm surprised you even understood part of it", I laughed at him.
I quickly ducked as he threw a white dagger that he made with his magic. Everyone began to laugh at John's annoyance for being referred to as an idiot, even the Changeling.
"So, Twilight. Want to catch up on lost time?" I asked, wrapping my arm around Twilight's neck.
"I would love too, but I made a promise to Chipper. We can be together while we help him change his life... in Ponyville?" She said.
"Sounds great. As long as we're together, I don't mind", I said as I brought her closer to myself.
"Alright, to Ponyville?" John said.
"Yeah, to Ponyville", I said s I stood up.
"Zecora, if you would like, I could teleport you back to your home in the Everfree Forest", Celestia offered.
The zebra accepted the offer, seeing as it's a long way back to the forest by hoof. We watched as she disappeared.
"Okay, let's get to Ponyville then", I said.
Chipper, Rainbow Dash, and John followed us out of the room and onto the balcony. Just as I was about to snap my fingers, John spoke.
"Hey, Chipper. You hurt my friends, I'll kill you myself", John said, glaring at the Changeling.
"I got it. Don't worry, I want to change my life", he said, smiling at John.
Guess John still didn't like him... not like I did either, but Celestia did say that he was telling the truth.
Chapter 10! :D And this fanfic has almost hit 1k views :P. Surprised the very few lines of dialogue I gave Zecora didn't take up more than a few hours of thinking... I had writing rhymes that need to make sense, or at least a little sense in my case. None the less! Zecora, you will always be one of my favorite ponies :D. Thank Celestia, I finally finished this large portion of fighting, time for some peaceful writing. Don't worry, the rest of this fanfic isn't going to be just peaceful writing, wait for the future parts :D
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