It was a warm night, like every night actually. But that was how she liked it. This was her home, the plains of Manezania. Zecora and her clan were running on the plains. Just running, nothing special. It was her fate, her wish, to forever run the plains of Manezania, just like every other zebra. Since her father, Jango, ruled the clan, the peace lasted forever. He was a firm ruler, but he wasn’t nearly as bad as the tyrants they had before. And he was her father, so she lived the good life. Water was plentiful, grass grew everywhere, and predators were few. It was truly a good life. But some things were about to change. Drastically.
Zecora had an important task, she was responsible for the water supplies. She had to dig up water, something what could take weeks, just to find a good place. It was a rough task, but it was rewarding. She had many friends, just because of her work. Not the best way to earn friends, but she didn’t care. She was loved, and when her father died, she would likely get the place of chief. The alpha. But some zebras didn’t agree with that. Especially Kato. Kato was Jango’s younger brother. The elders didn’t deem him fit to lead, even though he was a lot stronger than Jango. But the tribe didn’t need a strong leader, according to the elders, they needed a smart leader. And that enraged Kato even more. He withdrew himself to a nearby cave, sealed away from every zebra. He grew cold hearted, dark. Or, as the Shamans have said, the spirit of Kong have settled down on earth again.
Zecora and her best friend, or actually her only friend who didn’t become her ‘friend’ because of her water and her benefits with her father, Matscha, were running side by side. It was the day of the trek, a massive migration of the zebras to the northern lands, where it would be better during the summer-months. “How are you holding up?”,Matscha asked.
“Pfff, I’m fine. Let’s race!”, Zecora panted. The sweat was dripping from her manes,and the wind was blowing in her face.
This was by far her most favourite day of the year. The adrenaline, the rush, it must’ve looked beautiful from above. All the Zebras running in the most amazing formations.
“Haha, I bet you can’t beat me!”
“Okay, first one to that tree over there!”
“Oh you’re on!” Matscha was probably the only zebra able to beat Zecora, but she was in good shape today, and she wouldn’t let him win. They were head to head the entire race, safe for Zecora’s mane, which gave her a lead. But then the entire pack stopped. Just suddenly. Kato. He was out for vengeance. He believed Jango to be responsible for his exile. And he wanted the role of chief, as always. And as usual, he challenged Jango for a duel. But that wouldn’t work out very well this time. The zebras were tired, and Jango was in no way in shape to fight. But he had to. For his family.
The duel lasted long, and they both were fit fighters. But then the worst thing imaginable happened. Kato was a dirty fighter. He kicked Jango in his groin, and the Alpha nearly puked on the ground. Kato had him exactly where he wanted to. Under his hooves. Zecora looked away, she didn’t want to see this. She was horrified. Kato won. And there was no one who could stop him, he was of course the strongest zebra. Anyone who would dare challenge him, will get killed. Or worse, banished. For banishment would surely mean a long, slow and painful death. And Zecora wasn’t exactly on the right hoof with Kato, for she was the only rightful heir.
The pack continued running, as if nothing had ever happened. Zecora and Matscha had moved themselves to the back of the pack. “Oh god, what must we do?”, Zecora was nearly crying when she said it. “We HAVE to find a way to escape!”
“But that’s suicide, we’re in the middle of the desert! He’ll find us in a matter of days!”
“Hmmm, you’re right. But should we just tolerate him? I sure as hay won’t!”
“Yes you will,Matscha. I don’t want you to be one of the victims of his insanity. Just... Just keep on running. We’ll figure something out.”
After a long and quite travel to the Baklung oasis in the northern valley, every zebra was thirsty. So, as every year, the final sprint to the pool began. But not now. Kato was too selfish to even care about the pack. He ran to the pool, and made sure nobody came even close. So the zebras went thirsty this day. And that wasn’t even the worst. Zecora was denounced by Kato, and as a result, all the zebras avoid her.
Weeks later, Zecora was searching for water again, obsessively digging her hooves in the ground, searching for water. But there was no water. The steppe-gods cursed her clan, and its leader Kato. The steppes were dry once more, and many zebra went to sleep hungry. “Matscha, there is something very wrong going on here.”
“I know, it just doesn’t feel right, we haven’t found any water for days.” Matscha wasn’t just Zecora’s friend, they were water-seekers together. They have been travelling the desert for at least two weeks, and even they were starting to go thirsty.
But then, after days of searching, they found something.
“Water?”
“It looks like it,” Zecora tasted a bit, “It also tastes like it, but something’s wrong...”
“Well, lets just get the pack here, it’s better to have some water than no water. Even if it’s a bit strange.”
“Yeah, yeah, let’s just do that.” Little did they know that Kato already knew about this water source. He poisoned it. Just so that Zecora would get the blame, and he could get rid of her.
The pack feasted on the water source, which was seemingly unending. But the effects kicked in quickly. It was only a matter of days until the first zebras became sick. Stomach aches, dizziness and many other symptoms spread like wildfire. Kato took this chance to blame Zecora. “She brought us here, she knew the water was poisoned.” He was provoking the crowd, and they bought it. “She will be judged by the elders and the spirits of the steppe. She must be put on trial.” And not a single zebra resisted. They didn’t even think of it. And so she was put on trial.
“Did you, Zecora Waterseeker, discover this source?”, the eldest of the elders shouted.
"Yes, I accept full responsibility.”
“What!?” Matscha yelled, “What are you doing?”
“Trust me”, said Zecora, even though she doubted her own words.
“Do you, Zecora Waterseeker, know the punishment for this treason?”
“Yes”, she replied calmly.
“Then I hereby banish you, Zecora Waterseeker. You are to never return to the clan again. If you will, you shall be killed. The spirits of the steppe have spoken.”
Zecora walked away, with a tear in her eye. Matscha ran after her, yelling “Stop Zecora! Wait for me.”But she didn’t. She wanted to took the blame on herself. Plus, this was the moment to escape Kato’s iron grasp. Even though she would face endless deserts, probably without any food or water. But she’ll succeed, she always had and always will.
She will take on a journey to the east, to Cape Hay, to find her luck. Even though she’ll have to travel through many a desert, with slim chances of finding any water in the Summer-months. But it’s a journey she must take, if she’s going to have any chance to survive.
The desert has long, hot days. Too hot, even for a zebra. During the following days, she had only found one source. One. She knew it won’t last her for long, but she accepted it as a gift from the spirits. Little did she know that THAT wasn’t the biggest surprise.
She kept walking for miles, suddenly feeling quite light in the head. “Oh no” she said to herself, and she began stumbling down slowly. She wasn’t going to make it to Cape Hay. Then, she fainted.
When she woke up again, a bright, shiny light appeared in front of her. It looked like the sun was falling down on her, but it wasn’t hot at all... She could barely recognize a pair of wings through her half-closed eyelids. “What... What are you?”
“I am princess Celestia”, the stranger replied, “I have followed you for quite some time, and I must say, I haven’t seen many creatures as strong as you!”
“What are you going to do to me?” Zecora stuttered. “I’m going to offer you a home, in Equestria.” Then Zecora fainted again...
She woke up in the middle of a grass field, her unknown benefactor was nowhere to be seen. She tried to stand up, which went surprisingly well for a zebra who just walked a couple of weeks through a desert. “Wow, I feel as good as knew. But... Where am I?” She walked around a couple of times, trying to find some living creatures. Nothing but a bunch of strange birds, she never saw those where she came from. These were so small!
Finally she caught a glimpse of a village. Her instinct told her to walk right to it, but she hesitated. “What if they don’t want me? They probably don’t have any zebras over there.”
But she decided to take a quick look, and then continue her travel to Cape Hay. As she walked through the village, she noticed that it was completely empty. “Perhaps they’re hiding from me... I knew they didn’t want me!” Zecora ran off again. She didn’t know where to, but she wanted to get away as fast as possible. Then she suddenly ended up at the boundaries of a forest. “The Everfree Forest” the sign read. Suddenly Zecora realised she wasn’t in Manezania anymore. She was far from her homeland, probably overseas. She walked in to the forest, as she had never seen such a thing before.
She knew she had nowhere to go, so she’d probably try to make this her home, since the creatures, whatever lived in that village, probably didn’t want her. So she ventured in the forest, and found a nice spot to build a home. A temporary home, for she was destined to meet her homeland, and her friend Matscha again.