`A unicorn filly lay close to a fire that warmed a cauldron cooking a herb and water broth. As she woke up She coughed up a little water
“Oh little filly, you’re awake! I was so scared I had begun to shake!” Zecora said she was stirring the mixture inside the cauldron.
The panicked and wet filly looked at her surroundings. The Zeberician art, masks, and herbs, that hung on the walls confused the filly.
“Where am I?” She asked “Why am I here?”
Zecora took a ladle to serve the broth into a wooden bowl and set it in front of the filly.
“Recover your health and drink this broth, while I tell you how I pulled you from the river, which you faut.” She said
The dark blue filly went and sipped the broth. She and this stranger shared one striking characteristic, The black stripes that adorned their bodies.
“Flooding from the storm must have swept you away.” She said. Happy about the peculiar fillies healthy appetite. “Because when I found you, you were in a watery frey” That certainly explained to the filly why she was soaking wet. But still the filly was confused and a little scared.
“But that is unimportant, tell me your name, so we can find out from where you came” Zecora said
Suddenly confront with the question from the strange pony the filly became a little more nervous.
“S-Shadow is my name ,Miss. B-but I’ve must have be carried far away from home because I never seen a pony like you in my life.”
Zecora was surprised at this. “But, with your appearance, I assumed your breeding had some zebra interference.”
Shadow cocked her head at this statement. “What’s a zebra?”
Now zecora was confused. An obviously half-zebra filly not knowing what a zebra was? How did that make sense? “My dear, a zebra is what I am.” She started “And a zebra must have contributed to how you began.”
This couplet only managed to confuse the filly more.
Zecora’s expression became more frustrated as she tried to think of a way to communicate the message she wanted to get across. “Your or father a zebra must have been.” sh This is what I mean when I say ‘how you began’”
“O...k....” Shadow said still confused. “Do zebras live close to Equestria?”
Zecora smiled and replied. “Dearest foal, Equestria is where you are! So to.”
get you back home you won’t have to go far.”
Shadow was encouraged by this. “So I’ll get to see my mother soon!?” She said.
“Yes, soon you will be from whence you came. But it would help if I knew your mothers name.” Zecora said. A smile grew on her face as she saw the foal excitement
Shadows eyes widened with delight. Knowing that she would feel the embrace of her mother soon. “Her name is Nightmare Moon!” She said not wanting to waste any time.
This made Zecora’s eye’s widen for a different reason. “Nightmare Moon? are your sure?” Shadow nodded the affirmative. “I can definitely say I’ve heard her name before
“So you’ll take me to her?!” Shadow asked expectantly.
“I’m sorry dear child.” Zecora said. “But it appears you imagination has run wild.”
Shadow’s expression turned from one of excitement to one of hurt and confusion. Like a clown had made her the best balloon animal ever, just to pop it with a pin before giving it to her.
“W-what do you mean?” She asked trying to hold back tears “Y-you won’t help me?”
“It is impossible for Nightmare Moon to be your mother.”
Suddenly the know distraught shadow interrupted. “NO, SHE IS MY MOTHER! YOU WON’T TAKE ME TO HER BECAUSE YOU DON’T LIKE ME! YOU’RE PROBABLY A SERVANT OF THAT NASTY CELESTIA” Shadow hid herself under a table in a corner pouting a bit.
Seeing that she upset the foal Zecora sighed and went over to Shadow “But I will believe you if you say they're can be no other.”
Shadow, feeling angry and betrayed, turned her back to Zecora and her rhythmic voice.
Zecora hung her head and said. “I see I have broken your trust. If I help you find your mother will that restore relations between us?
Shadow sniffled a little. “I guess...”
Zercora smiled sadly and gently led shadow onto a bed.
“I have a friend that could help us in town,
but, now you must lie down.” She then pulled the covers over the filly
She sniffled once more and said. “I’m sorry for getting upset. You’ve been so kind to me and I don’t even know who you are.”
Zecora smiled and used her hooves to tuck the blankets in. “My name is Zecora, But now go to sleep. Lie your head on the pillow, that is as soft as a sheep.”
Shadow nodded and got comfortable within her bedding, and slowly her eyes began to be heavy and drooped into sleep.
.........
Princess Luna was looking at some artifacts from the time her evil alter ego terrorised the land. Underneath the old and brittle war documents and the torn and moth eaten banders was a pristine golden chain with a heart shaped locket.
In sober silence, she lifted up the necklace from its thousand years rest. Carefully, she used her magic to open the delicate piece of jewelry. An old ,yet remembered, lullaby was played by the small music box contained within. It hit a few sour notes but it was still recognizible. But what really moved luna to tears was the picture held inside.
It was of a dark blue (although the picture was black and white) filly with zebra stripes. Her main and tail were done into braids.
“Luna where are you!?” Celestia called out. Startled at her sister’s sudden appearance Luna shut the locket and realed around. “Its time to... raise...” Celestia’s eyes wandered to the piece of gold Luna held. “I honestly hoped you wouldn’t find that old thing.”
Tears still fresh on Luna’s checks dropped to the floor.
“Do you miss her?” Celestia asked. “Your daughter, I mean.”
Luna nodded to saddened to speak
Seeing her sister in need of comfort Celestia opened her wings to embrace the younger alicorn. Luna gladly accepted the invitation, tears now flowing in great streams down her cheeks.
Celestia then took the locket in her magic and draped it around her sisters neck. And feeling the chain rest on her, Luna looked up into her sisters face. Celestia gave her a sad sympathetic smile in return, to her sisters tear washed eyes. Luna now unable to hold back her tears buried her face in Celestia’s chest once and let her tears soak into the solar alicorns pure white fur.
Oh how Luna longed for her little Shadow. oh how she missed her, how she missed her.....
Luna took no joy in her nighty dream stroll. The memories of her long forgotten offspring haunted her hoofsteps. She wasn’t proud of the way she was conceived. She and some of her female followers, back in the early days of the rebellion, when they still had a little funding, they had obtained a male zebra.... stud. She wanted to alleviate the stress the war was causing so... she had the mares get a male prostitute. She wasn’t planning to partake in his... services herself. But when the females brought him to camp. He was so...exotic so handsome.... she couldn’t help herself. Well when he was no longer required, the girls let him go. But at that time she was already pregnant with Shadow.
She sighed and walked though a gate of moonlight into a new dream. Suddenly she was greeted by a familiar voice.
“M-mommy” A high voice probably a small filly cried out in panic. “W-where are you?”
Did Luna’s ear deceive her? Was her little one back from a thousand year’s oblivion? Her better judgment told her that she was deceiving herself, because she missed Shadow so much. No matter her maternal insistent told her different. She ran closer to this sound. If this was Shadow, then she was having a nightmare and needed her help.
Shadow herself was in a sunny clearing, which wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t have an irrational fear of sunlight, and was trapped by thorny brambles. “Momma where are you!” She cried out. She then crumpled in fear and teared up. “Momma It’s too bright.”
Luna then took a peaked though a hole in the brambles vines. And when she saw her zebra striped filly she couldn’t help but smile and cry tears of joy. “It’s alright dearest.” Luna said in Nightmare Moon’s voice. “Close your eyes and breath with me. In...” Shadow closed her eyes and, both mother and daughter inhaled. “Out...” The exhaled Luna did this several times with Shadow until she calmed down.
Unfortunately by that time Shadow’s dream was collapsing. “Shadow, I need to depart. But when you ever feel frightened remember what I taught you.” Luna said being blown back by a cyclone whose eye was at the clearing Shadow was in.
“Do you have to go now?” Shadow asked. No answer. “Momma?” Again, no answer. “Momma?” Shadows eyes flicked open and she found herself in Zecora’s hut again.
“Good morning foal so sweet,” Zecora said in her usual rhythmic manner. “I’ve prepared many good things to eat.” Shadow sat up in bed. Zecora set a tray which had an apple, a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of orange juice, onto the bed, near Shadow. All of the flatware and glassware were made of wood.
Shadow had always found oatmeal a little... dispeasling. But, not wanting to hurt her hostesses feeling she at it anyways, closing her eyes when she swallowed to help force the mushy cereal past her gag reflex.
“Mmm..” She said as she put on a false smile.
“Once you finish your breakfast.” Zecora said serving herself some food, “We’ll see what we can dig up about your past.”
Still forcing on a smile shadow ate the rest of the hot cereal, then downed the glass of OJ to get the taste out of her mouth. Zecora was still eating, so Shadow turned her attention to her shiny, red, apple.
Apples where a special treat for Shadow. She remembered that her mother and her mother's servants, was always moving around and never had much to eat. Sure they could graze to keep the pains away, but only for a while, and wasn’t very filling. So when they came across a tree with ripe apples, mouths water uncontrollably. But Nightmare Moon new if she let her underlings loose on the harvest of fruit, her daughter might not get even a bite. So Nightmare Made sure no pony ate until Shadow had eaten her apple first. Even when she was still an infant everypony was restrained until and apple was crushed into a puree and fed to Shadow.
Slowly she took the apple in both of her forehooves and brought it to her lips. She only moved it millimeters a second, wanting to enjoy the red shine and smell a little longer. Then, unable to take the tension anymore, she bite into the apple with a tremendous crunch, closing her eyes to enjoy it more. The juice running over her tongue, the sweet pulp being ground beneath her teeth, it was a sensory experience almost too much for the little filly to bear.
Her eyes flicked open as she remembered the other pony in the room. Sure enough, there was Zecora, smiling at her with teasing look. Quickly Shadow whipped the saliva and apple juice off her chin. She felt rather embarrassed that Zecora saw her drool over an apple like that.
“Are you ready to go child?” She said with a smirk “Or is your hunger for that apple too wild?”
Shadow blushed furiously. “I’ll eat it on the way.” She said.
Zecora chuckled and got ready to leave as shadow took another bite. Holding the apple in her mouth, Shadow followed Zecora out of the hut.
Zecora and the filly both made sure to keep track of each other as they walked through the wilds of The Everfree Forest. Shadow was amazed at the shady woodlands vast array of flora and fauna. The air was filled with birdsong, and the air was made sweet by the spring blossoms. Absentmindedly listening to the birds, Shadow walked straight into Zecora’s hindquarters. Apparently the zebra had stopped dead for some unknown reason.
“Listen to me now and avoid the leaves of blue.” Zecora said in a harsh warning town. “Or they're liable to play a joke on you.”
Peering around the black and white hindquarters, Shadow spied a large area of the forest floor littered with tiny blue plants that gave a strange, but not unpleasant, odor
Zecora grabbed the little filly and out her on her back. Shadow, now surprised and dazed watched as the zebra stepped thought the flowers. Shadow didn’t see the peril these simple plants. But when she reached down to touch them, Zecora bucked up her hips to move her hoof away.This made Shadow quite put out. Zecora was touching, even trotting on the blue plants, so why couldn’t she touch them? But soon the rhythmic rising and falling of Zecora’s hips as she trotted along started to lull the filly asleep.
.........
Luna was giddily trotting about The Canterlot Castle like a school filly. When she bounced by Celestia she made her older sister giggle in delight.
“Whoa now!” Celestia said as she grabbed Luna by the tail with magic, to halt her sisters moments. “You seem happy today.”
“She’s back Celestia!” Luna said as she pressed her locket close to her chest.
“Who?” Celestia said as she frowned. She little worried about her sisters. “Who has come back?”
“My daughter, Celestia!” Luna said. She was still absolutely ecstatic. “I walked with her in a dream.”
A sudden bone splitting pain, sent Luna sprawling on the palace floor. “She is not your your daughter!” A dark and familiar voice hissed from Luna.
“L-Luna?” Celestia carefully trotted over to her collapsed sister and gently lifted her head up with a gentle hoof.
The solar princess gasped at what she saw. One of her sisters eyes had changed so that is was grey with a serpentlike pupil, unlike the others normal purple hue with round pupil.
“Did you miss me Celestia?” The darker voice said before breaking out into mad laughter.
.........
Shadow started to stir when Zecora neered the edge of the forest. Suddenly, as Zecora stepped into the suns rays, Shadow leaped off her back. Zecora was surprised at the fillies sudden disembarkment. She then turned herself around to view the filly, now cowering in the bushes.
“Why are frozen in fear? It’s nice and sunny over here.” Zecora rhymed.
Shadow’s eyes were wide with fear. “I-I can’t go into the sunlight.” She said as she backed away from Zecora.
“Of course can, my dear. Come with me and I’ll show you that there’s nothing to fear” Zecora said in a coaxing tone.
Shadow took several deep breaths and closed her eyes before running in a frenzied panic towards Zecora. When she reached the kind mare she hugged her back leg. Zecora sighed at the sight of this terrified filly. Shadow was nearly hyperventilating out of panic.
“Stand in my shadow, if you think alleviate your fear. Because if you need something, I’m always here.”
A panicked and shaky, smile eeks across her face as she crawls into the zebra’s personal shade. She was still terrified but the shadow gave her a little comfort. Shadow also pressed close to Zecora, because she found the zebra herself calming.
As the duo walked into town, some ponies said things like: “I didn’t know Zecora had a foal. Or a stallionfriend for that matter.”or “Awn! What little zebra filly! She must be Zecora’s cousin or something.” or some really uninformed ponies said. “Oh, look a zebra and her foal.” But no pony was even close to guessing the fillies true origin.
Soon they came to a shop, which had a hour glass on the sign that hung over the door. As Zecora opened the door, a bell rang, notifying the shop owner there were ponies that were in his shop. A chestnut colored stallion came out from the back of the shop.
“Ah, Zecora what can I do for you.” The stallions thick trottenhamian accent was impossible to ignore. Well unless you're a small filly that is easily distracted, that’s in a room of interesting and unique clocks. Clocks where somthing Shadow have never seen before so she tried to hop up on the counter so she could get a closer look.
Zecora pulled the curious filly back as she said. “Turner of Time, I have a problem without reason or rhyme. This filly here, Shadow is her name, has a mother that comes from centuries old fame.” As Zecora spoke, Shadow escaped her gasp and made her way over to a clock that hung low on the wall. “A filly of Nightmare Moon, she claims to be. But how that is, I can not see.”
Shadow winched as a cuckoo clock, whose hands she had been playing with, sprang into a sudden frenzy. Time Turner took out a small silver device, and pointed it at the clock. As the device gave a light buzz, the clock rewound itself and set it to the correct time.
As Shadow looked at the clock in a daze, Time Turner said calmly. “It’s not all that fantastic really. It’s not hard to imagine a mare of Nightmare Moon's power sending a loved one into the future, to save them from a troubling time.”
Shadow was once again seized by Zecora before the zebra said. “But new complications are stirred. But while the filly is around, I’d rather they go unheard.”
“What do you mean Zecora?” A now confused Shadow said.
Zecora bent down to Shadow’s level “Later I tell you what’s wrong. But remember your mom is still your mom.”
“Why would she be any different?” Shadow asked. A sad frown, full of bottom lip, graced the face of the small filly. It would be enough to cause any elderly gentleman to have a heart attack.
Zecora sighed and hung her head, she didn’t know what to tell the filly. If she told her that her mother had transformed into a completely different pony, Shadow would be utterly distraught, and there was no telling what she was liable to in that state, run off perhaps? She didn’t want to do that to her. The filly had only been with her a day, but she had definitely captured the zebra’s heart.
Seeing the stress she was causing that kind zebra, Shadow nuzzled her and said. “I’m sorry Zecora. I can wait till later.”
“It is fine little filly.” Zecora said as she lifted her head up and smiled at Shadow. “I guess I’m just a little silly.”
Both mare and filly giggled. As Zecora lifted her head, Shadow wrapped her forelimbs onto the bridge of the adults muzzles and was lifted up on to Zecora’s head. Time Turner chuckled as Shadow tried to crawl up the mares face, pushing one of her back hoof into Zecora's lip. After she had ascend the Zebra’s face she slid down her neck and perched on herself on Zecora’s back.
“I will discus this Twilight. But I will show this filly round town tonight.” Zecora said as she turned to leave the shop. Time Turner just smiled and went back into his shop. Ponyville went on like normal, turning from gentle day to soft night, blissfully unaware of the dramatic events now unfolding in Canterlot.
