Never Meant to Be

Chapters

Ch1 I Am Wounded
Ch2 I Am Intrigued…
Ch3 I Am Conflicted
Ch4 I Am a Student
Ch5 I Am Judged...
Ch6 I Am An Enchanter
Ch7 I Am in Love
Ch8 I Am Your Enamy... Right?
Ch9 I... Was...

Ch1 I Am Wounded

Prologue
I Am Changeling

The lone Royal guard made his way through the massive rocky gorge that sat just outside Equestria’s borders. With no expression on his face that could show any signs of emotions, the royal guard stopped in the middle of the gorge and stood still as if he were waiting on something. Almost immediately, a swarm of changelings flew out of hidden holes in the rocky landscape as they swarmed around the lone stallion like bees around a hive. With no expression of concern on the stallion’s face, the royal guard stood still while looking forward, as the swarming changelings began landing one after another until all of them where standing around the lone pony as they watched him and his expressionless stare.

With the sound of buzzing coming to a complete stop, the surrounding changelings and the lone guard shared a brief moment of silence; until Queen Chrysalis, the queen of the changelings flew out from the hole in the cliff side as she landed in front of the guard. Seeing the large changing standing in front of him, the lone guard bowed in respect as she smiled, “Report!”

The guard rose from his bow as he turned into a changeling and replied, “It’s as we expected your majesty. Captain Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amora Cadenza are to be married within the following week.”

Queen Chrysalis smiled as she replied, “Excellent, Have you determined a time and place for us to meet?”

The changeling nodded his head, “Yes, every Sunday at about one in the afternoon, the princess along with two guards likes to take a stroll through the Canterlot garden. I happily volunteered as one of the guards, but I'm afraid my partner in this task will meet with an… unfortunate accident prior to this mission. So I believe this will be the best time to make the switch your majesty, I have also discovered a cave below the castle that can be used as a hiding place for the princess, at least… until after we take the kingdom.”

Queen Chrysalis smiled, “Well done Zeil… I knew you were the best changeling for this task. When Canterlot falls we will have a new home and a new kingdom, filled with ponies who will have no choice but to share their love with us all!”

Zeil nodded his head as he replied, “I never had doubt in you your majesty.”

Queen Chrysalis smiled in a pleased manner as she replied, “Of course you didn’t… You are among the loyalist of my subjects, and soon, your loyalty will pay off. Return to Canterlot and continue posing as a royal guard for just a little while longer. Then once I take the place of that pathetic alicorn princess, I will take over from there.”

Zeil bowed in respect as he replied, “As you command your majesty… I will obey.”

Then, just as he rose from his bow, Zeil transformed back into the pony guard as he turned around and began trotting back to Equestria.

Never Meant to Be
Chapter 1
I Am Wounded

Zeil hovered above Canterlot in his changeling form as he smiled looking into the panicking streets below. Seeing that his task to infiltrate Canterlot had succeeded, Zeil could feel nothing but pride as he watched the changeling army sweep through the city capturing the pony inhabitants. As he smiled with pride, Zeil looked near the city gate as he saw a few changeling worriers fighting a Canterlot royal guard. Though the guard was holding his own against the small number of changelings, it was easy to see that the guard was clearly outmatched as he pushed the changelings away and panted in exhaustion. As the guard tried backing away from his foes, Zeil decided to finish this fight quickly as he dove in from the sky, tackled the guard, and held him against the ground as he spoke to his fellow changelings, “I got this one… go get the rest.”

The changelings nodded their heads in agreement as they flew away to find more ponies to capture.

With the guard now pinned against the ground, he looked up at his enemy as he spoke, “W-why are you doing this?”
Zeil looked down and transformed into his royal guard disguise as he replied, “Like you… I am loyal to my ruler.”

The guard stared in shock at the changeling in his royal guard form as he replied, “C-Corporal Stan?...”

Zeil held his appearance while he smiled wickedly, “Funny isn’t it? To find your own species as your enemy. Well, it’s not like I was lying the whole time… nopony ever asked if I were a changeling now did they?...”

The guard sneered at Zeil as he replied, “You traitorous parasite.”

Zeil smiled as he held the guards spear to his neck as he replied; “Now that’s not a nice thing to say… I won’t deny it, but it’s still not nice.”

Feeling the spear blade on the back of his neck, the guard replied, “The princess will defeat you and your queen. You have no idea what the elements of harmony are capable of.”

Zeil sighed, “Look around you soldier… the city is completely under our control. Seeing the city like this can only mean one thing. Your princess is already defeated. Just like you.”

With that said, Zeil raised the spear up with the intent of bringing it down and into the back of the guard’s neck, but as he started to drop it a bright pink flash of light came from the Canterlot castle as Zeil stopped the spear to look towards it. Zeil could only watch as the pink flash was followed by a magical barrier that started inside the castle and pushed outward in a massive wave taking all the changelings to include Queen Chrysalis with it.

As Zeil saw the wave approach, he quickly raised the spear in his hooves in a blocking manner, but as the barrier hit him, it pushed him off the pinned guard and tossed him into the air like a massive tidal wave. With no control of his actions, the changeling was tossed into the air hitting his back against the top of the city gate before being thrown into the sky flipping and spinning out of control. Though the impact against the city’s gate hurt him incredibly, Zeil still tried all he could to regain his control as he released the spear and opened his wings trying to stop himself. However, with his velocity overpowering the drag of his wings, Zeil could only slow himself down slightly as he veered off course from the rest of the changelings and started to fall short into a forest that sat a number of miles outside Canterlot.

With little control on stopping, Zeil flew through the forest as the branches and limbs of the trees battered, bruised, and cut him as he broke through them like an unstoppable cannonball. However, it wasn’t long before he finally encountered something that he couldn’t break through as he colligated with a massive tree, breaking a few branches and thrown upward before coming down and landing in thorn bushes on the other side of the large obstacle. With his body, completely battered from head to tail, Zeil laid in the thorns with too much pain spanning through his body to notice that he was in thorns to begin with. As he slowly started to regain focus on his surroundings, Zeil slowly rolled over allowing the thorns to cut into his body all the more as he rolled off the bush and onto the ground beside it. As he struggled to pick himself up from the ground, he tried all he could to bear his pain as he felt something roll down his back that was heavier then the blood that was already dripping from all his wounds.

Curious to what he felt, Zeil slowly turned his head to see that what had fallen off his back was his insect like right wing. Though the sight of his wing on the ground concerned him, Zeil decided to pay no mind to it as he started looking at his surroundings with his head still rocking back and forth from his wooziness. As he rocked with his movement, Zeil noticed that he had fallen deep into the Everfree forest. As he looked at the damaged tree that caused his sudden stop, he all of a sudden saw a light emerge from the other side as a shadow appeared inside of it. Knowing that the light was from a doorway and the shadow from a resident inside the tree, Zeil struggled as he pushed his wing under the thorn bush and stumbled behind it so he wouldn’t be seen.

Feeling sleepy from his blood loss, Zeil watched from behind the bush as he saw a zebra trot around from the other side of the unusual home. Though he had never seen a real zebra before, Zeil knew that’s what he was looking at since he had heard that they resemble ponies but with stripes. First, the zebra looked at the damage done to her home, then she looked into the bushes that he was hiding behind as she spoke, “Hello there? Is anypony around? Are you the source of this damage found?”

With the zebra looking in his direction, Zeil knew that it was only a matter of time before she discovered him, and with his injuries, there was no way he could defend himself or flee if he needed to. So thinking fast, Zeil though up a good form to take as he used his natural abilities to change himself into a male Zebra

As the zebra made her way around the bush, Zeil tried all he could to hold himself up as she spoke in shock, “What? A zebra? I… didn’t expect to see… wait… you’re wounded… Please come with me.”

With that said, the zebra quickly rushed to Zeil’s side as she helped him up and started helping him inside, “Please come, lay down, your injuries are quite bad, you’ve been through too much, with no protection or clad. It’s a good thing I was home, for this, I am glad.”

As the zebra helped Zeil into her home, he couldn’t help but feel nervous, for one, He didn’t know this zebra so chances of her liking changelings to begin with was very low. Second, even if she did like changelings, if word of their failed attack on Canterlot were to reach her, he would be in serious trouble. But since he had almost no other choice, all he could do was keep his disguise as he mumbled to her through his fatigue, “Please… h-help me….”

The Zebra smiled peacefully as she replied, “Don’t worry one bit, Zecora’s medicine will work, and knowing much about herbs, is a most helpful perk.”

With Zecora helping him into her home and onto a table, Zeil laid down as she turned to her shelf and spoke, “Though I'm no doctor, I know many ways, to help the wounded who’ve seen better days.”

Zeil with his blood loss starting to take effect felt a little nervous. He knew that a changeling could change everything about himself to include the texture of his skin, and the color of his blood, and he knew he could keep this form even if he were to lose consciousness. It still didn’t make him feel at ease since he didn’t know anything about this mare or her species for that matter.

When Zecora finally found what she was looking for, he saw her pull out a small first aid kit as she opened it up and pulled out a small canister that looked homemade. Curious as to what it was, Zeil watched as Zecora opened the canister and dipped her hoof into the gel substance inside as she showed him and spoke, “This formula will help, but don’t trust what you feel. Just lay very still, for the feelings aren’t real.”

Zeil was entirely confused to what she meant by aren’t real, but since he had almost no choice in the matter, he kept his silence as Zecora rubbed the gel like substance on his forehead then wiped it off of her hoof as she started getting some bandages ready. Within a few minutes, the pain that Zeil felt that covered almost his entire body, seemed to go away leaving the disguised changeling in a state of confusion.

As soon as the pain was completely gone, from his forehead stretching to the rest of his body, the feeling of pain was replaced with a numbing feeling that wasn’t a painful numbing, but an absent feeling that made him feel like he was falling. Worried that he actually was, Zeil raised his head up to look around as Zecora put his head back down and spoke, “Stay calm my friend, I know what you feel. But you must stay calm if want yourself to heal.”

When Zeil laid his head back down, he could see Zecora hard at work as she stitched some of his cuts leaving him to feel nothing from her actions. Even then, he still felt like he was falling from high in the sky. This feeling continued for about twenty more minutes as Zecora cleaned, stitched, and bandaged the many wounds that were all over his body from the cut on his back that removed his wing to the thorns still stuck in his legs and even to his side which he knew probably broke a rib or two. Then after about ten more minutes of endless work on Zecora’s part, Zeil started to feel an intense drowsiness as he fought to keep himself conscious but lost in the end.

He didn’t know how long he was out, but when he awoke, Zeil found himself laying in a bed with bandages covering almost his entire body. Worried, Zeil lifted one of the bandaged high enough to see that he was still in the zebra form as he sighed in relief, “Good she di…”

Thinking that he was still at risk, Zeil silenced himself just in case somepony could hear him, but as he looked around he could easily see that he was completely alone in the one roomed home. Worried that whoever helped him would return soon, Zeil pulled the covers off himself as he climbed out of the bed. However as soon as he put pressure on his hooves, Zeil’s legs gave way to his injuries as he fell to the ground with a pain riddled grunt. With the pain of his wounds returning to his body, Zeil struggled as he tried to pick himself up, but no matter how much strength he could muster, it wasn’t enough to pick himself up from the floor.

As he continued, the front door of the home opened as Zecora entered and trotted to the center table with a bag of herbs. As soon as she laid the bag on the table she looked over at Zeil as she panicked at what she saw, “No! My guest. You mustn’t be standing, you must lay back down, and to this I'm demanding.”

Zecora rushed to Zeil’s side and helped him off the ground, and back into the bed as he replied, “I-I gotta go… I can’t stay here.”

Zecora shook her head, “In your shape, I cannot allow. For your wounds are too fierce, and your muscles won’t endow.”

Zeil laid back in the bed as he replied, “But I… wait… exactly how severe were my injuries?”

Zecora turned around and started pulling her collected herbs from her bag as she replied, “Broken bones, Deep cuts, much worse than ever seen, Well you tried to stand, so you know what I mean.”

Zeil looked at his bandaged hoof as he replied, “Well… I guess it beats dying… but how long will I be like this?”
Zecora replied, “For the next few days, you’ll be in a weary state, but shortly after that you’ll be better than great.”

“A few days... so what should I do till then?”

Zecora smiled, “You can stay here with me, I will not mind one bit, since it never happened, for a zebra to visit.”

Remembering that he was in disguise, Zeil felt nervous as he replied, “Oh… yea… I suppose, we aren’t in many around here are we?”

Zecora smiled, “So far from home, this pony nation reside. But I made it my home, and this I decide. But what about you? Where you forced to disembark? I ask this simply, cuz you have no placement mark.”

Although Zeil was confused at first, he quickly realized what she was talking about as he looked to a small opening on his bandages that sat on his flank. When he looked, he realized one very important thing. Through his pain, he had forgotten to give himself a Cutiemark along with his disguise. Zeil could only feel embarrassed that he had forgotten something so crucial when taking a new form, but since he knew it was too late, he just decided to play along, “Oh… um… yea… That’s why I'm here… um… in Equestria that is.”

Zecora nodded her head as she started mixing the herbs into a bowl and began grinding them up, “I see and understand, traditions all inscribe, Say that all who fail placement will be banished from the tribe. But from which of them did you reside?”

Not knowing anything about the nation Zecora was talking about, Zeil mumbled as he tried thinking of a believable answer, “I… um… well… I guess I would say… the tribe in… um… the center?”

Zecora turned and gave Zeil a curious look as she replied, “A tribe in the center? Of the four tribes in peace? I was not aware of a fifth to say the least.”

Zeil hid his nervousness, as he replied, “Well… not many po… I mean Zebra know of the fifth tribe… especially since… um… they aren’t very liked by the rest.”

Zecora thought to herself as she replied, “Well I can’t say I would know, since I left home long ago. None the less welcome, it not often I see a same. So welcome uh… hmm… might I have your name?”

Feeling caught off guard with the name question Zeil looked around as he tried to think of a fake name to give, “Oh… um… my name is…zzz… zzz…”

As Zeil looked around trying to think of something that she wouldn’t catch, his eyes wondered across a window where he could see vines hanging down from a few branches outside. Therefore, in the stir of the moment he cleared his throat as he continued, “My name… is Zine.”

Giving Zecora a curious look in hopes that his fake name was believable, Zeil looked at Zecora as she smiled, “Well that’s quite the name, and it’s nice to meet you Zine. And as for names, Zecora is mine.”

As Zecora smiled peacefully, Zeil smiled back as he felt lucky that his fake identity was working so far. After the two smiled at each other for a brief moment, Zecora went back to grinding the herbs as she continued, “Well Zine, I’m sorry to say, but how did you crash here? And from where yesterday?”

Zeil tried to think up a good reply, but when none came to mind, he decided to reply with a sarcastic remark, “Um… well, I guess… I was trying to see if my… um talent was flying… but that wasn’t it after all… was it?”

At first, Zecora turned and gave Zeil a blank stare as he smiled in embarrassment at his remark, but then Zecora could only cover her muzzle as she giggled at his reply. Trying to play along while still nervous, Zeil laughed along with Zecora before she replied, “Flying isn’t your talent, that’s easy to see, Niether is landing since you crashed into a tree.”

As Zecora continued laughing at his remark, Zeil nodded his head as he replied, “Yea… a tree… some branches, a few thorn bushes, and then the ground. Maybe I should just stick to trotting… I may live longer.”

As Zeil and Zecora continued laughing at the situation, he was in, Zeil started to feel something coming from Zecora. To a pony, this could easily be missed, but to a changeling, this feeling was all too familiar. She was flirting with him.

Trying to ignore this easy to sense feeling, Zeil tried to change the subject, “So… if flying isn’t my talent… then… what is?”
Zecora finished laughing as she turned back to the herbs, poured a small dab of water into the bowl, and mixed it into a fine paste, “I cannot say, each tribe’s talent depends on their home, but for the fifth tribe, I can’t say its known.”

Zecora then turned back to Zeil and placed the bowl of paste in front of him as she continued, “Now eat this, the taste isn’t the best, but it will heal your wounds faster while you rest.”

Zeil looked at the brown paste as he could only asked, “Um… is it safe to eat?... it looks… kinda gross.”

Zecora could only shrug her shoulders, “Well it isn’t poison, it will heal you quite quick, and prevent all your scars from being permanent. Now please lay down, your bandages need change, and I'll ask that you hold still during this delicate exchange.”

As Zeil laid still, Zecora picked up a bag of bandages as she began removing the ones from his body. As she continued Zeil tasted some of the brown paste that sat in the bowl but when the taste hit him, he could only cringe as the foul tasting paste filled his already aching head with even more pain. Luckily, the feeling was brief as Zecora started giggling at the face he made while trying to stand the bad tasting medicine. As Zecora continued removing his bandages, Zeil tried all he could to hold still as he felt the pain in his healing wounds start to return when exposed to air. Trying to be careful, Zecora continued to clean and rebandage every part of his wounds until she got to the bandage that wrapped around his torso and covered his back. As she removed this bandage revealing a stitched laceration on his back, Zeil looked at the wound and immediately became worried. It wasn’t the number of stitched that he saw, or the length of the cut itself that worried him, but the fact that the stitching on his back wasn’t just closing a simple wound. It was closing the wound left behind when his wing fell off.

Zeil tried to think to himself, he knew that with this wound closed, that chances of reattaching his wing would be zero. Nevertheless, he also knew the risk that he would be taking if he said anything and revealed his true form. So, with a sigh of disappointment, Zeil laid his head down and said nothing as Zecora continued cleaning this wound then rebandage it making the permanent decision to never fly again. When Zecora noticed his sigh, she spoke as she continued, “I understand the pain you undoubtingly feel, for injuries like this, it seems unreal.”

Zeil shook his head as he replied, “Yea… and to think of what it means for me… oh… never mind.”

Feeling sorry for the depressed look on Zeil’s face, Zecora smiled, “You should count your blessings. You’re still in one piece. If I weren’t here, you’d die to say the least.”

Zeil smiled as he looked as Zecora and replied, “You’re right… I completely forgot… Thank you Zecora. I know it won’t mean much coming from a complete stranger… but thanks… for saving my life.”

When Zecora saw the gentle smile on his face, she looked back at his wounds and avoided eye contact as she blushed and replied, “Yes… um well… it’s a pleasure to assist the same of my kind, I wasn’t expecting such a miraculous find. Now you sit back and rest, it’s here that you will stay, until you are healed and go about your merry way.”

When Zeil saw Zecora blush after he thanked her, he started to feel the same thing as before, which confirmed his theory. She had a crush on him… It was very faint and new, but this feeling was definitely a feeling of attraction that she had for him. However for a changeling in his current position, all he could do was play along until he was healed enough to leave on his own. He never had any interest in the affections of others nor would he stick around to antagonize those feelings if he had the choice. Nevertheless, with his injuries too severe to trot, and his identity still concealed behind a clever disguise, he saw no reason to escape when it wasn’t necessary. So, with his disguise in mind, Zeil smiled peacefully as he replied, “Thank you, it’s… been a while since I saw another zebra… like myself, so I'm grateful it was you that I came across.”

Zecora could only smile pleasantly as she continued her work in changing the fake zebra’s bandages.

In the border city of Trottingham, two royal guards dragged a chained changeling into the mayor’s office as one spoke, “Mr. Mayor… Look what we found trying to sneak into the kingdom.”

As the mayor stepped out from behind his desk the changeling replied, “I told you, you got it all wrong! I wasn’t trying to sneak in… I was trying to sneak out!”

The mayor approached the changeling as he asked, “Sneak out… what do you mean?”

The changeling replied, “I landed here after being tossed from Canterlot like a rag doll. I must find my Queen, as her subject I must make sure she is safe.”

One of the guards spoke to the mayor, “It was just yesterday that Queen Chrysalis and her army of changelings were cast out of Canterlot. If

I were to guess I would say that this… creature is one of the changelings that attacked the city.”

The mayor replied, “Yes... but the question remains… is he telling the truth?”

The changeling sighed as he replied, “of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be? Even her majesty knows when she’s beat. And trust me… she was beaten.”
The other guard looked at the changeling and spoke, “I don’t care what you say… why should we believe a changeling who attacked our captain?”
The changeling gave the guard a sarcastic look as he replied, “You’re a guard aren’t you?... You know that you have to follow the orders of royalty…”
With anger, the guard punched the changeling in his stomach as he replied in anger, “Don’t you ever compare me to the likes of you changeling,”
as the changeling gripped his gut gasping for air, the mayor spoke to the guards, “Take him to Canterlot… we should let capta… I mean Prince Armor handle him. Also, increase security in the city. If his story is true… then there are bound to be more changeling’s in Equestria.”
The guards nodded their heads as one replied, “Should we notify Princess Celestia of this news too?”
The mayor nodded his head, “Yes… if changelings still roam Equestria unchecked, then it could mean that the danger isn’t over just yet.”

Ch2 I Am Intrigued…

Using a staff as a crutch, Zeil stood in front of a mirror as he removed the final bandage. Once he saw that this one was healed too, he mumbled to himself, “they are all gone… well, all but the stitched cut on my back. And it was all done by that paste stuff. Two days and I'm almost back to normal. And with this new scar, I finally have a flaw to this form.”

As Zeil looked at the zebra appearance that he chose to take, he started turning himself to get a closer look. When it came to choosing a form, changelings would always focus on a flaw rule. Meaning that no matter their form, there was always a major flaw that could easily identify them as an individual. This way, they would bring less attention to themselves when they were being hunted by others. However, Zeil’s zebra form seemed to hold no flaws other than his cutiemark or as Zecora called it, a placement mark. Since he had never seen a male zebra before he just guessed by throwing characteristics together. A short, black and white mane that draped a little over his face. A short but straight tail wrapped in a simple cloth at its base. Slightly fewer stripes than he could see on Zecora’s face, and just for appeal, green eyes. With this appearance and the alibi he thought up just this morning, he knew he could easily hold out his disguise for at least two more days, which was all he would need to regain the rest of his strength. He could only hope that he didn’t say or do anything to reveal himself too soon.

Just then, Zecora entered her home as she saw Zeil and smiled, “You’re up and standing, and so soon too. The medicine worked, it’s completely healed you.”

Zeil turned to Zecora as he shook his head, “Close, actually all my small wounds are healed. The stitching on my back isn’t completely healed yet. And my bones feel healed, but they are still very sore.”

Zecora smiled as she trotted to a chest and replied, “That paste will help, it is an ancient mix. For all wounds and bone, it will always fix. But the stich on your back… I'm confused to say, with you properly resting… that should have gone away.”

Zeil started thinking to himself, it was possible that the main reason that the stitching isn’t completely healed yet is because his changeling form is missing an appendage from that particular spot, but since Zecora was still unaware of what he was, he only shrugged his shoulders, “Well… maybe it was just too deep. Everypo… Zebra knows that the worse a wound is, the longer it takes to heal. And if that paste stuff speeds up healing it would still play by the same rules wouldn’t it?”

Zecora thought to herself for a second then replied, “The cut wasn’t deep, though wide enough to sew. But the logic you’re stating… I could assume so. Anyways, since you are up and about might I ask? Could you help me with completing a task?”

Zeil gave Zecora a curious look as he used the staff to trot towards her, “A task? What task?”

Zecora continued, “A mighty minotaur, strong and quite stress, has asked for a cure, to help his baldness. The potion is complex, with much in the recipe, but some of the ingredients, I do not have with me. I need to go out, and search the Everfree, but it should be all day… and… I'd like… the um… company…”

After her explanation, Zecora put most of her attention on getting her things together as a ploy to hide her blushing face. Still trying to ignore her flirting, Zeil replied, “Well I have been cooped up here for a few days now, so I would be happy to help you gather what you need. Although, you will have to excuse me if I slow you down. I am still a little sore and this staff is the only thing holding me up.”

Zecora smiled as she secured her saddlebag to her back and opened the door, “Don’t worry Zine, your pace is what we will make, plus no need to rush if there is nothing at stake. The ingredients I need, there are two on my list, a poison joke blossom, and some northern forest mist.”

Zeil had never heard of the ingredients before, but since Zecora seemed to know what she was doing, Zeil just nodded his head as he used the staff to follow Zecora out the door, “Well, if you know where they are, then I'll follow you.”

Just as the two had exited the home and started to trot around it, Zeil stopped and looked over at the thorn bush that he had fallen into a few days ago. He could see a small part of his severed wing sticking out the bottom. Though he was glad to see it was still there, he still couldn’t feel relieved since the wound on his back was closed and half healed. As he stood there Zecora stopped and asked, “Zine what’s wrong? Are you tired already? We can slow down, if you need the path to be steady.”

Zeil shook his head as he replied, “Oh… no it’s nothing, I thought I saw a bunny just now. I guess it’s just my imagination.”

Zecora smiled, “A cute little bunny is very rare to see. They can’t survive well, here in the Everfree. This forest holds dangers, but through my time and experience. I’ve learned to survive through strength and resilience.”

Zeil nodded his head as he trotted to Zecora and began following as the two went up the trail. As the two continued with Zecora leading the way, it wasn’t long before Zecora slowed her pace until the two were side by side as she asked, “I hope it isn’t personal, yet I'm curious you see. As to how long you were traveling since you met me?”

Working on his alibi Zeil replied, “Well I left home after I was banished for not getting my placement mark. So from there I traveled alone for a while till I reached Gryphus and met a family who would take me in. they were nice, but since griffin don’t have placement marks they couldn’t help me, so after about five years, I left on my own and became a nomad. Since then I have been traveling all over both the Griffin Kingdoms and recently arrived here in Equestria. Unfortunately, I am no closer to getting my placement mark. I’ve tried everything I could think of, but the only thing I was good at was defending myself, but even that wasn’t enough. I'm just about out of ideas now.”

Zecora looked down at the trail in disappointment as she replied, “So long with no home, and no placement mark to show. I admire your determination, and your willingness to go. I wish I could help, but my mark you should know, is from the magic I’ve learned, and my spiritual glow.”

Zeil nodded his head in agreement, as he replied, “I can tell. I’ve only been around for a few days, but with the potions you’ve brewed, and your long sessions of meditation. I could only assume you to be wise in your skills. I'm definitely impressed.”

Zecora blushed a little as she continued, “Well, I am skilled, but I wouldn’t say wise. I’ve learned most of my talent through countless tries. But keep at it, for time is all you need. And you’ll have your mark, and all that it’ll heed.”

Zeil smiled a fake smile as he replied, “Sure, I'll do that… thanks.”

As the two continued through the forest, it wasn’t long before they came into a clearing that was completely filled with a bluish glowing flower. As they entered the area, Zeil approached one of the plants as he asked, “What is this? I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Zecora replied, “Take caution my friend, for we stand before a batch, of a mischievously powerful poison Joke patch.”

Zeil started to reach out to the plant as he mumbled, “Poison… joke?”

Before his hoof could make contact, Zecora quickly pulled him back as she spoke with a serious tone, “I said take heed, for this isn’t a joke, that cruel plant is a plague to many folk.”

Zeil gave her a confused look as he asked “Plague?... you mean it’s poisonous?... oh wait… that’s right it is called a poison joke isn’t it…”
Zecora giggled a little as she reached into her saddlebag as she replied, “Poison yes, though it will never kill. This plant uses magic to bear ill will. It will observe and asses, till it finds your quality. Then flip it around, to disturb your harmony.”

Zeil looked at the plant and mumbled very quietly to himself, “Flip around a quality… hmm… I wonder what it would do to a changeling…”

Zecora looked up at him as if she heard him talking to her, but when she did, Zeil looked back and shook his head, “Oh… nothing, just mumbling to myself.”

Nodding her head, Zecora looked back into her saddlebag until she found a small vial filled with a greenish powder. As she poured the powder into her hoof, she pointed it towards the closest poison joke as she blew the powder into the air as it slowly settled, and covered the peddles of the poison joke. Zeil watched in curiosity as the powder that covered the plant slowly absorbed into its surface and caused it to turn a murky gray. Zeil was amazed at what he just saw as he looked at Zecora, “What was that? Why did the poison joke change colors like that?”

Zecora pulled a glass jar from her saddlebag as she replied, “That powder will freeze, the plant in its place, so that it can be pulled from the ground, or even replaced. With time frozen, for this plant at the least, I can use the joke’s ingredient before its magic can be released.”

With that said Zecora pulled the poison joke from the soil as she placed it into the glass jar and closed the lid. Then carefully placing the jar back into her saddlebag she turned back to the trail as she spoke, “Our next ingredient is north. A good ways away, so we better hurry so we aren’t lead astray.”

As Zeil followed Zecora back onto the trail, he spoke, “That powder stuff… the stuff you used to freeze the poison joke… did you make it yourself?”

Zecora smiled as she nodded her head, “My pastes, my potions, my powders and gel, were made by me and each very well.”
Zeil continued, “That’s incredible, you made a gel to numb pain, a paste to heal wounds and a powder to freeze an object in time. To think that a po… Zebra could make such a thing is truly amazing.”

Zecora blushed at the complement as she replied, “It’s not so amazing as you make it to be. It’s just my talent, and what makes me happy.”
When Zeil noticed her blush, he realized that he was complementing her too strongly. So he cleared his throat as he continued, “well… I can’t say it’s something that should be overlooked, but I have to say, I…”

All of a sudden, Zeil silenced himself as he started to hear growling coming from the brush that lined their trail. Both the real and fake zebra stopped on their path as they watched a Timberwolf emerge from a bush and stand between them and their trail. As Zecora looked around to see if the Timberwolf was alone, Zeil braced himself for a fight as he held the staff he was using at the ready, “What in the world is that?... some kind of… log dog thing?”

As Zecora confirmed that the timberwolf was alone she slowly reached into her bag as she kept her eye on the growling timberwolf. “That’s a timberwolf, the canine of the trees, and a monstrous beast, who hunt down ponies.”

Zeil Replied, “Great… so I'm assuming he won’t bypass us since we are zebra… right?”

Zecora pulled another vial of powder from her saddlebag as she replied, “Your assumptions are right, but th…”

Before she could finish, the timberwolf charged at the two with its teeth showing as Zeil held the staff in a manner to fight back. However, before the creature could get close enough, Zecora pushed Zeil out of the way and tossed the small glass vial onto the ground in front of them as the vial shattered against a rock and sent the powdery contents into the air between the them and the attacking timberwolf. Ignoring the small puff of smoke between them, the timberwolf continued its charge until the powdery substance hit the unsuspecting predator’s face causing it to stop immediately. Confused as to what the powder was, the timberwolf started rubbing its paws over its face trying to rub the powder away. However before the creature could remove the powder, the timberwolf backed up as it started to gasp for air. Less than a second later, the timberwolf took one big gasp before sneezing with one massive force that caused the predator to fall apart where he stood.

Completely confused of what he just witnessed, Zeil stood there looking at the pieced of the Timberwolf as Zecora grabbed his hoof, “We must embark; this is only a brief state. He will reassemble, so we better not wait.”

Trying to keep up with Zecora, Zeil hurried past the disassembled timberwolf as the two hastily passed their obstacle and continued through the forest as fast as his sore muscles would allow.

A while later, as the two seemed to reach a safe distance from where they left the timberwolf, Zecora stopped first as she spoke through her exhaustion, “I think… we are safe… at least for a while. We seemed to leave it, at almost half a mile.”

Also winded Zeil replied, “Yea… I didn’t realize he would fall apart like that… ya think a beast like that could learn to pull himself together quicker.”

With Zeil’s pun in her mind, Zecora started laugh at his words as Zeil joined in on the laughter, not just at the pun, but at the thought that they escaped with little to no danger involved. As the two laughed it off, Zeil looked ahead and slowed his laughter to a stop as he could see another clearing ahead. As his curiosity peaked, Zeil slowly started trotting towards the clearing as Zecora slowly followed while smiling at her friend’s curiosity.

As Zeil entered the clearing, he could see a cliff that overlooked a large portion of the Everfree Forest. As he looked into the distance, he could also see Canterlot on the horizon as Zecora trotted behind him and spoke, “Of the places in the forest, this one is my favorite. So I thought it’d be nice, for you to come see it.”

As Zeil looked over the forest, he could see the sun setting as the area around him started to become dark with the twilight dusk. As the area became dark, Zeil looked back at Zecora and spoke, “It’s nice and all… but why is this your favorite? It seems no different from climbing to the top of a tree or something like that.”

Zecora trotted past Zeil, approached the edge of the cliff, and picked up a small pebble as she replied, “That’s because, there is more to show. For what makes this place special, will come from below.”

Waiting a few more seconds for the sun to set further over the horizon, Zecora stood still as Zeil trotted towards her and stood beside her as he looked over the cliff, “Below… ok I see a small pond… and a few trees… but not much else.”

Zecora smiled, “With the light of the day, that is all you will find, but come to the dusk, and more will come to mind.”

Zeil gave Zecora a confused look as she tossed the pebble over the edge and watched it as it fell to the ground, and hit a tree with a wooden knock. Shortly after that, the tree immediately lit up with bright small lights as thousands of fireflies flew out of the tree and swarmed the area below, lighting up everything on the ground. As the fireflies flew below, Zeil stood in awe as he watched the ground below light up as if it were city lights being viewed from a tall tower. With each firefly, making its own actions below, one particular fly flew up to the edge of the cliff and started flying around Zecora as if it knew she was responsible for waking them. As Zeil watched this firefly dance around Zecora, his focus went from the firefly, to the soft peaceful smile that Zecora gave as she watched the firefly circle her once before returning to the rest below.

Zecora watched as the fireflies continued dancing in the light of the rising moon. As she did, Zeil couldn’t help but smile at the peaceful expression on her face. Something about the way she looked with the soft shade of the fireflies light captivated him. He didn’t know how to describe it, but seeing her at peace like this made him feel at peace too. It was as if all of his worries, his injuries, his wing, Queen Chrysalis, and even the fact that he was in a kingdom that now despised his kind, had just, melted away with the sunset leaving only he and Zecora in its place. As Zeil continued looking at Zecora with a peace filled smile, Zecora looked back and noticed him watching her. Feeling awkward, both Zecora and Zeil looked away from each other and blushed as Zeil tried to break the awkwardness of the moment, “Beautiful… the sight I mean… I'm not… um… well…”

Trying to find the words, Zeil cleared his throat as Zecora tried to do her part in killing the awkward moment, “My Favorite place…I told you so… well… I um… perhaps… we should go…”

Rubbing the back of his head and still blushing Zeil replied, “Yea… you’re right… um… what was next on the list?”

Zecora cleared her throat as she opened her saddlebag and pulled out a list, “Next will be, the northern mist, Then we should be finished with this list.”

Hopeful that he wasn’t blushing anymore, Zeil turned back to Zecora and replied, “Okay… so where do we get this mist?”

Trying to forget the awkward moment they shared, Zecora replied, “Not too far, just beyond the next tree. But watch your step, as you follow me.”

With a slightly uncomfortable look on her face, Zecora turned and trotted off the trail they just arrived from as she moved bushes aside to continue in the direction she needed to go. Zeil followed closely, however his mind wasn’t on where they were going, but on the moment they had just a few second ago. He didn’t know what it was, but the feeling felt very familiar, but as he thought about what it felt like, Zeil could only shake his head as he mumbled to himself, “That’s impossible… there is no way in Chrysalis’ domain that this feeling could be my own.”

A few seconds later Zecora emerged from the brush as she stopped at the edge of a clearing. As Zecora held her ground, Zeil emerged from the brush too as he looked into the empty landscape which was clouded in so much mist that they couldn’t see the ground beneath their hooves. As he looked through the mists, Zeil continued trotting as he spoke, “So this is the northern mists? It’s so thick you could cut it with a kni…”

Before Zeil could continue, Zecora held out her hoof in front of him as she spoke, “Step lightly Zine, for this mists bears no trust. And the actions it plays are all unjust.”

As Zeil looked at Zecora with the intent to ask what she was talking about, Zeil noticed something odd about the ground in front of him. As he took a closer look at where his next step would have been, Zeil was surprised that his next step would have ended him up at the bottom of a thousand foot drop. As Zeil took a step back in surprise, he spoke, “And just as I thought I had this place figured out… the Everfree forest surprises me yet again.”

Zecora nodded her head as she reached into her saddlebag, “Yes this forest is full of numerous danger, and no matter how long I'm here, they continue to get stranger.”

Zeil looked at Zecora as she pulled two flasks from her saddlebag. The first flask was completely empty while the second had a cerulean blue liquid inside. Next, she pulled a dropper out and placed it into the flask with the liquid. Curious as to what mystical potion she pulled out this time, Zeil watched closely as Zecora filled the dropper with the blue liquid then held it just slightly over the second flask as she carefully placed one drop of the potion into the empty flask. As the drop hit the bottom of the flask, it immediately started bubbling as if it were boiling inside of a metal pan. Shocked and curious, Zeil watched as the bubbling liquid started to evaporate before creating an unusual vacuum inside the flask as Zecora held it out and watched some of the surrounding mist as it was pulled into the flask and settled where the drop of potion used to sit.

Confused and amazed at the same time, Zeil watched as Zecora waved the flask around allowing the miniature vacuum to pull in a suitable amount of mist until the empty flask was completely full of the moisture from the very air around them. When the flask was filled, the vacuum stopped sucking in mist as Zecora put a small cork into the flask to seal it shut. Then she looked through the flask as she shook it around and spoke, “This should be all we’ll use, and tomorrow we’ll attain more if we choose.”

Still shocked at what he saw Zeil asked, “What was that stuff you put into that flask first? And how did it create the suction?”

Zecora smiled, “It was a complicated mix, made from wind and dew, it will create a vacuum and pull all items through. However, it’s strong and won’t easily stop. That’s why I limit it, why I used one drop.”

As Zecora held out the flask, Zeil looked at the liquid as he spoke in curiosity, “That’s incredible… you really are something you know that Zecora. I never knew somep- Zebra like you was capable of so many marvels of nature.”

Zecora blushed slightly as she replied, “What can I say, it is my skill. To mix, max, and brew, any potion at will. Any ailment, any hope, any worries can be fixed, with most of the brews, and potions I mixed.”

As Zecora and Zeil turned back to their trail and began trotting back to her home, Zeil hesitated as he asked, “Um… Zecora… I was wondering… I know you created a paste that can heal wounds… but would you happen to have anything that could… um… reattach limbs?”

Zecora gave Zeil a confused look as she replied, “That is a strange question that you ask of me, especially since you have none missing, or none that I see.”

Zeil quickly tried to explain, “Well um… ya see, there is a pegasus I know who lost a wing a while back, and I was wondering if there was a way it could be reattached… or possibly grown back?”

Zecora though to herself as she replied, “To regrow a wing… I don’t think it to be true. I’m sorry Zine… but I can’t help you.”
Zeil sighed in disappointment as he replied, “Oh… alright… thanks anyway.”

Feeling a little nervous about asking, Zecora looked at the ground and spoke, “I'm… might I ask, this friend that you wish to assist, would it happen to be a mare friend?... Somepony you miss?”

Zeil blushed as he replied, “Oh…. Um… no… ya see… it is… um… a friend from the griffin Kingdoms… he um… lost his wing in battle and, um… I wanted to see if there was a way I could help him. You know… cuz flying was his life… or something like that.”

Although she tried to keep it as unnoticeable as possible, Zecora sighed in relief as she replied, “He must be some friend, for you to try and fix. But nothing I know will help. No potions nor mix.”

Zeil smiled as he replied, “Well, let’s just say, he and I are practically the same. Nevertheless, I appreciate y…”

All of a sudden, Zeil was interrupted by the howl of a timberwolf as one stood on the trail ahead of them. Assuming it was the same one from before Zeil readied the staff as he sighed, “Great… this thing again... you got any more of your sneezing stuff?”

Zecora nodded her head as she tried to reach into her saddlebag without bringing attention to herself. However as she did, something in the brush beside them caught Zeil’s eye as he turned his head to get a closer look. When he realized what he saw, Zeil yelled “LOOK OUT!!!”

At that moment, a second timberwolf jumped out of the nearby bush as he sprinted towards Zecora in hopes that he could get her before she could use her powder. However as the timberwolf closed the distance and lunged at his unsuspecting prey, Zeil pushed Zecora out of the way as they both fell down and out of the timberwolf’s area of attack. As Zecora and Zine hit the ground, Zecora dropped the flask of powder causing it to shatter as it hit a rock and spread onto the ground without floating into the air. As the two picked themselves up, Zeil cringed with pain as Zecora looked at the broken flask, “That’s not good, that’s all we had. With nothing to fight with… this situation is bad.”

Ignoring his soreness, Zeil stood up and held the staff at the ready as he spoke, “Stay back… I can handle them.”

Zecora looked at Zeil and spoke in worry, “Zine don’t! We must find a way to flee. We need a safe route back to my tree.”

As the two timberwolves circled, their trapped prey, Zeil thought up a plan as he looked out the corner of his eye at Zecora and spoke, “Zecora…close your eyes…”

Thinking she heard wrong, Zecora quickly turned back to Zeil with a surprised stare as he explained, “I can fight them…, but I need you to close your eyes… I'm um… I can’t fight when I'm being watched… I know it sounds weird… but it’s just a critical flaw I have.”

Zecora tried to reply, “Is this a joke, I'm i…”

“Zecora please this is no joke! This is serious! I know it’s strange, and I know a time like this isn’t the best time to close your eyes, but I'm asking you… if you have any amount of faith or trust in me, then you will do as I asked and close your eyes…”

As Zecora looked at Zeil, he turned completely to her and stared her in the eye as he continued, “Zecora… Please… Trust me.”

Seeing the Seriousness in his eyes, Zecora nodded her head as she replied in worry, “I do trust you, and I’ll so as you ask, but take need to the danger you bask.”

With that said Zecora turned around, put her hoof over her muzzle and covered both eyes. Seeing that Zecora did what he asked, Zeil turned back to one of the Timberwolves as he replied, “Thank you Zecora… now remember, don’t look until I say… no matter what you hear.”

With Zecora covering both her eyes, Zeil stepped between her and the first timberwolf as he laid the staff on the ground and smiled menacingly, “You timberwolves chose the wrong zebra to mess with.”

As the Timberwolves continued circling the two, Zeil braced his hooves as his body slowly began changing in front of the Timberwolves. First Zeil’s irises on his eyes changed from green to red as two horns started growing from his head. Then Zeil reared up onto his hind hooved as his front hooves slowly changed into hands, triceps, and biceps. As this happened, both timberwolves stopped circling and watched in confusion, as Zeil’s light and dark gray stripes slowly changed into a dark blue as his muzzle became less narrow and his height quickly rose to nearly ten feet. Before they knew it, the Timberwolves watched in intimidation as what they assumed to be a zebra slowly transformed into a Minotaur. Feeling uneasy and worried about what they just saw, the Timberwolves stood still as Zeil smiled and spoke, “Now… Who’s first?…”

The Timberwolves looked at each other in confusion, and then as they looked back, the timberwolf behind Zeil charged as he set his sights on Zecora. However, as the timberwolf lunged forward and opened his mouth to dig his fangs into her torso. Zeil quickly lowered his arm between the two as the timberwolf bit down and locked his jaw into the tricep of the muscular Minotaur doppelganger. With his jaw locked onto Zeil’s arm, the timberwolf looked Zeil in the eye as Zeil momentarily cringed in pain, then with a confident smile, Zeil spoke, as he looked the Timberwolf in the eye, “My turn!”

Using the timberwolf’s locked jaw against him, Zeil picked up the timberwolf with the arm that was in his mouth, then flung the canine over his head as he slammed the beast into the ground causing the predator to shatter into pieced with the impact. As Zeil looked at the disassembled Timberwolf that was at his feet, he pulled the broken timberwolf’s fangs from his arm and smiled at the one remaining timberwolf, “You think you can do better… let’s just see your try.”

The last remaining timberwolf stared at his foe in fear as he quickly turned back to the forest and fled to safety. As the remaining timberwolf vanished into the darkness of the forest, Zeil looked at the blood running down his tricep as he quickly transformed back into a zebra. Luckily, since his minotaur tricep was much larger than his zebra hoof, the wound greatly shrunk as he turned back to Zecora and spoke, “Zecora… you can look now.”

As Zecora opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the pieced of the timberwolf on the ground beneath them. Then when she saw his hoof, she spoke, “They seem to be beaten, but your hoof, it looks hurt. We must wrap it up now, before it’s exposed to any dirt.”

Zeil looked at his wound as he replied, “Don’t worry Zecora… it’s just a little nibble. Its fine… we better head back before the other one returns with friends.”

Trying to act as if the bite was no big deal Zeil tried to continue without his staff, down the trail and passed Zecora, however as he put pressure on that very hoof, he let out a pain riddled grunt as Zeil fell to the ground cringing. Quickly rushing to his staff then back to him, Zecora picked Zeil up and spoke, “Tough as you act, you would be great to lead, but your ignorance to your safety, that’s what could greatly impede. We will get you back, and fix you up fast. Luckily your wounds are shallow, and will not last.”

Zeil smiled as he took back the staff and replied, “Yea… good thing I'm better than I thought… Anyways… thanks for trusting me and closing your eyes… I know that was a little hard to do given the situation… and I know that it’s sad that I can’t fight while being watched… but it means a lot that you trusted me.”

Zecora helped him trot alongside her as she looked away and blushed, “I… believe in you… I can’t say I know why… but something in your eyes, said that you wouldn’t’ let me die. I know it sounds silly, but I feel happy when near… I mean… with you… I have nothing to fear…”
As Zecora tried averting her eyes and blushed, Zeil could feel her feelings yet again, only this time, they were much stronger then before… and for some unknown reason… this didn’t make him feel uneasy like it used to. instead, he could only feel continent in her feeling for him. He didn’t know why… he just could.

Miles away Just outside the Canterlot Castle, Shining Armor trotted past a formation of Royal guards as one of his soldiers rushed to his side, “Your majesty! A convoy arrived from Hallow Shade. And with them, four changeling captives.”

Prince Armor put his hoof on his chin as he mumbled to himself, “More changelings… just how many are still in Equestria?”

The guard asked, “What shall we do with them your majesty?”

Prince Armor replied, “Throw them in the dungeon with the rest. Then notify Princess Luna. We need to do something before these parasites attempt a second attack on Canterlot.”

Sensing tension in his voice, the guard asked, “Um… your majesty?... are you alright? You seem a little… angry.”

Shining Armor turned back to the formation as he replied, “Sorry, let’s just say that forgiving the changelings for what they did is impossible for me.”

“Shining Armor!”

Shining Armor looked in the direction the familiar voice came from as he smiled “Twily! I wasn’t expecting you back anytime soon. Did you just get here?... It’s the middle of the night.”

As his younger sister Twilight Sparkle approached she replied, “Well Spike didn’t tell me that I received a letter until later today so I left as soon as I could.”

Shining Armor gave her a concerned look as he replied, “I see… the princess wrote you a note?... what did she tell you?”

Twilight replied, “She told me about the changelings that where captured in Equestria, and asked me to help get rid of them. So… how many have been found so far?”

Shining Armor sighed in disappointment as he replied, “Ten… one in Trottingham, Two in Manehattan, one in Las Pegasus, Two in New Foalraines, and four in Hallow Shades.”

Twilight thought to herself, “Hallow Shades… so more were found in the town closest to Canterlot… this isn’t good.”

Shining Armor looked at his sister as he replied, “I didn’t want you and your friends to get involved with this one… why would you come here?”

Feeling a little offended Twilight replied, “Um… first off, my friends aren’t involved… it’s just me. And secondly, I came because I was told that my brother might be too emotionally involved with this. Princess Celestia asked me to come so that I can help you while keeping you from doing anything too drastic.”

Shinning Armor turned back to his soldiers and replied with an annoyed tone, “I'll be fine… I don’t need my baby sister watching over me. I can handle them without help.”

Twilight recognized his annoyed tone as she replied, “Shining Armor, I know that what she did to you was bad… but that’s no rea…”

Shining Armor turned to Twilight and replied in anger, “Bad?... BAD!?! She manipulated me and used me to get into Canterlot! That changeling made me responsible for nearly losing the kingdom! Princess Celestia is still weak from the attack and it’s all her fault! Queen Chrysalis and her changeling parasites deserve a punishment far worse than anything I could ever do!”

With an anger-filled expression, Shining Armor turned back to his troops as his expression made them feel slightly intimidated. Seeing his frustration made Twilight sigh as she replied, “I know you still feel guilty, but if it wasn’t for you and Cadence, she and her changelings would still be in control of Equestria. You should be grateful that your love was strong enough to defeat her.”

Shining Armor looked at the ground in anger as he replied, “It’s still not enough… I want to see them pay for what they did.”

Twilight put her hoof on his shoulder as she continued, “And that is one of the reasons I'm here. You’re letting your anger get the best of you. Listen, Spike and I have been doing research and I think we found out where the changelings kingdom used to sit. It’s an old kingdom that sits almost on the complete opposite side of the planet. It’s called the land of the black sand. It isn’t much but I think the best thing we should do to get rid of the changelings is by sending them there through a magic portal. Its fast, it’s safe, it gets them out of Equestria and it’s probably where Queen Chrysalis went to after she was casted out of Canterlot.”

Shining Armor looked back at his sister as he asked, “And this will work?”

Twilight nodded her head, “It should, I’ve already learned a spell to open a portal to this place. All we have to do is put them in and then they will be out of our hair."

Shining Armor thought to himself, He didn’t like the idea of sending the changelings home without any form of punishment first, although, the idea of sending them as far as they could possibly go didn’t seem like a bad idea. So, he could only look at his sister and smile, “Ya know Twily, that sounds like a good idea. Let’s go tell Princess Luna this plan, then we can test it out on the changelings we have in the dungeon. The sooner they are gone the better.”

As Shining Armor and Twilight started trotting into the castle as Twilight replied, “Sounds good, so where is my new sister-in-law? Is she asleep?”

Shining Armor shook his head, “No, she went to Cloudsdale to speak to a few witnesses who claim they saw where the changelings fell after the attack on Canterlot. Princess Celestia on the other hoof went to see The Griffin King about a particular artifact that they found.”

Twilight looked at her brother in curiosity, “An artifact?... what does it do?”

Shining Armor smiled, “It disables the changeling’s ability to transform. If we can get ahold of this artifact, then it will make our search that much easier. Then we can find and capture every changelings still in Equestria… no matter where they hide.”

Ch3 I Am Conflicted

The peaceful sound of the trees rustling in the wind was the only thing she could hear, as Zecora balanced upside-down on an unsupported staff suspending her a few feet over a shallow pond. As she continued keeping her balance, Zecora tried to clear her mind as she began slipping into a deep meditative state. However, it wasn’t one full minute before her thoughts became clouded with concern, as her balance was broken, causing her to fall from the staff and into the water below.

With the water being less than two feet deep, Zecora stood up and rubbed her head as she looked into the water below her just as the settling waters revealed her reflection to her. As Zecora looked at her reflection, she shook her head in disappointment. She knew what really broke her concentration, and she knew that it went far beyond something as simple as balance. What was really breaking her focus and preventing her from clearing her thoughts, was the thought that within the next twenty-four hours the one zebra she has seen since she left home was about to leave.

Trying to overlook her concern, Zecora trotted out of the shallow waters and onto the shore as she rubbed her head in irritation. She always knew that his visit was only temporary, and she knew that as soon as his strength was back that he would leave, but even with these truths circling in her mind, Zecora couldn’t help but feel distressed at the thought of never seeing him again. This thought concerned her so much that Zecora decided to forget about meditating for today as she left the staff floating in the pond and began trotting back to her home.

Back at Zecora’s tree, Zeil was sitting in the bed as he started removing the bandages on his hoof from the temberwolf attack the night before. Though it had only been twelve hours ago, the wound on his hoof was already healed leaving behind small bald spotting where each temberwolf tooth broke the skin. Zeil knew that if this wound would heal like the rest, then the fur on his coat would grow back within the day and leave no scars just like the many cuts before which now seemed nonexistent. That is, all but the stitching on his back, which still wasn’t completely gone, but did resemble a closed and healing wound. As Zeil looked over his hoof one last time, he shimmied himself to the edge of the bed as he climbed out and stood straight with no soreness or need of assistance.

Feeling that his strength had completely returned, Zeil took a number of steps around the room to make sure he was completely fine. As he did, he started trotting with high steps, jumping and even shifting his stance to test every part of his muscles. Nevertheless, with every action, he couldn’t feel a single hint of his pain that he had felt for the past few days, which meant only one thing… It was time to go. Though he felt completely fine, Zeil trotted to the mirror and looked into it as he examined every part of his zebra disguised body for any sign of injury, even though he knew that he was really just stalling his departure.

As he looked into the mirror, Zeil finished looking over his body as he sighed in disappointment, “Looks like… I'm completely fine… I guess…”

With a deep and concerning thought, Zeil sat down in front of the mirror as he started to think about what he felt last night. He started to think about the sight of Zecora as she stood on the edge of the cliff with the lone firefly circling her as the soft shade of light cascading from below lit up the area. He started thinking about the peace she was feeling, and the peace he started to feel at the exact same time. He tried to remember the emotions that radiated from the sight as he mumbled to himself, “it… it wasn’t her feelings… but mine… and… and it felt like… like lo…”

All of a sudden, the door to the house opened as Zecora trotted in with an unhappy expression on her damped face. Trying to forget about what he was thinking Zeil turned to Zecora as he blushed slightly, “Oh… um… Good morning… I um… wait… are you all right Zecora? You look a little… wet.”

Zecora tried to hide her concern as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, “yes, quite… an accident it would seem. The rocks were a little slick as I crossed the stream.”

Zeil smiled a little as he reached for a towel and gave it to her, “Well, not all mornings can go flawless.”
As Zecora took the cloth and dried herself off, she hesitated as she spoke, “your bite mark… it’s healed, as much as I see. I suppose it won’t interfere much with the rest of your journey.”

When Zecora mentioned his bite, Zeil started rubbing the area where he was bitten as he replied, “oh… yea, it wasn’t as bad as my soreness anyways so I wasn’t worried about it one bit… although the stiches on my back are still healing.”

Zecora approached Zeil as she took a closer look, “Come to me, and let me see…”

Zeil could only watch as Zecora approached him and looked at the healing wound on his back. Looking at the wound from just a few inches away, she could tell that it was healing, but much slower than the rest of his wounds so she nodded her head as she started to turn to his face, “the wound is fine from as much as I can te…”

When the Zecora looked at Zeil from as close as she was, she found herself looking into his eyes from point blank. As the two’s eyes made contact, both she and him froze for a split second until Zeil realized what was going on and looked away as he blushed and cleared his throat, “so… um… it’s still healing?...”

When Zecora realize what was happening she too looked away and blushed as she tried to break the awkwardness, “Um… yes… from what I can tell. It’s healing very slowly, but its healing quite well. With a few more days, and some proper care, the wound will vanish, and with no scar to bear.”

While looking away from her to break the awkwardness, Zeil began trotting back towards the bed he was using as he replied, “Well… if that’s the case then… I should be fine to get ready to leave… I still have… places to go.”

Zecora gave Zeil a fake smile as she replied, “yes your mark, to find who you are. But I wish to give you something for all your help thus far.”
Zeil looked at Zecora in curiosity as she trotted to her cauldron and picked up a saddlebag sitting beside it.

After picking up the saddlebag Zecora trotted back to Zeil and smiled pleasantly as she held it out to him, “Take this for help, it will assist, you see. Some food and provisions to help in your journey. Just take the main trail, and turn right when it splits. And that’s all you need to do, it doesn’t take much wits.”

Zeil looked at the bag as Zecora held it in front of him. He had no idea how to react, it was one thing for her to bring him in and heal his wounds when he was injured, but to give him previsions to aid in his travels, he had never been shown such kindness in his life, not even from his queen. As Zeil reached out and grabbed the saddlebag, he looked at Zecora with a confused look as he tried to speak, “I… I don’t know what to say… but… um… thanks?...”

Zecora smiled as Zeil put on the saddlebag, “To thank me for this, I see no need. To help a friend is a most pleasing deed.”

With a pleasant smile on their faces, Zeil and Zecora trotted side by side to the door of her home as they both exited and stopped in front of the trail leading away from her tree. As Zeil looked down the trail and into the forest, he turned to Zecora and hesitated as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, “well Zecora… I… um… guess this… is good bye…”

Also stalling Zecora looked away as she rubbed the side of her hoof and replied, “I know it is… and I'll say this too… May good fortune smile upon you.”

Zeil stood there for a few more seconds as he replied, “good fortune… well as long as I refrain from flying… I guess I'll always have it.”
Though it was an uneasy chuckle, both Zeil and Zecora shared in a brief laugh before Zeil raised his hoof towards her as he stalled for a few more seconds, “Well… Zecora I… um…”

Zeil sighed in hopelessness as he patted her on the shoulder and replied, “Thanks for everything… if I… ever find myself in this area…. I'll um… stop by for a visit.”

Zecora could only sigh in disappointment at his actions as she looked him in the eye and smiled pleasantly, “I can’t wait till then, though I know that I must. For your friendship Zine, I will always trust.”

Zeil smiled as he nodded his head and turned towards the trail, “Well… good bye… Zecora…”

Trying not to look back, and greatly disappointed that he only left her with a pat on her shoulder, Zeil began trotting down the trail as he started making his way down the trail towards the tree line. As Zeil reached the edge of the tree line, right before traveling out of Zecora’s sight, He paused and turned back to her as he smiled and gave her a friendly nod-saying goodbye. Zecora responded by waving to him as they locked eyes from a distance for what they could only assume to be the last time, as Zeil turned back to the trail, trotted into the tree line and vanished from her sight. Once he was gone, Zecora sighed one last time as she turned back to her home, trotted inside, and closed the door behind her.

As soon as Zecora was back inside her home, Zeil who was only hiding behind the tree line, made his way around Zecora’s tree and to the bush that housed his severed wing. Looking around to see that he was alone, Zeil reached under the bush and pulled out his wing as he started to examine it closely. Though there was dried blood on it, he felt relieved to see that there was no decomposition since the thin insect like wing fell off with no flesh attached. However, the thin transparent film, which gave the wing its shape and appearance, was deeply scared and damaged to a point that would have permanently grounded him if it were still attached. Even though this almost made him give up on any hope of flying again, Zeil felt that taking it with him might become beneficial later in case he were to find a way to reattach it. So, with hope in his thoughts, Zeil placed the wing into the saddlebag that Zecora had given him as he turned back to his trail and continued on his journey, out of the Everfree forest.

As Zeil traveled, his mind started going through many thoughts, however, none of them had anything to do with the changelings, Queen Chrysalis, or even where he was going. The only thing on his mind, was the thought of what he had felt with Zecora the night before, what he should have said or done when he said good bye to her for the last time, and why he was feeling disappointed to leave. With these thoughts going through his mind, Zeil mumbled to himself, “ why am I feeling this way… sure she had feelings for me… and I kinda feel bad to ignore them like this… but… am I feeling… no. no its impossible.” Laughing in his denial, Zeil mumbled to himself, “To think a changelings like me… falling in love… it’s ridiculous. I mean, even if I could, why would it be with a zebra of all things.”

With his mind clouded by denial of his own feelings, Zeil continued on his path and completely missed his turn that he was supposed to turn on to get out of the Everfree Forest. Instead, he found himself taking the turn after that, which didn’t lead him out of the forest, but deeper into it. Soon, the Changeling still disguised as a Zebra had traveled for almost three hours before realizing that he was completely and utterly lost. With his thoughts now focused on his situation, Zeil looked into the sky and mumbled to himself, “great… less than an hour till sunset and I can’t even find my way out of this forest. I couldn’t even find my way back to Zecora’s to ask for directions.”

As Zeil looked back onto the unfamiliar trail, he could hear growling from the tree line as he looked to see a lone temberwolf watching him from a safe distance. Seeing the cautious creature, Zeil smiled as he turned to the beast and spoke, “You wanna play again?”

Hearing the threatening sound of his voice, the temberwolf turned around and vanished into the forest, as Zeil smiled, “I didn’t think so. Darn, one I can handle, but if night comes along with more timberwolves, I'll become lumber-chow. I better find shelter, and fast.”

Hastening his steps, Zeil continued traveling down the trail as he desperately tried to find a place to take shelter. Not long into his hastened search, the mists started to roll in with the twilight as they covered his trail and slowed his travel. With careful steps, Zeil followed the trail as best as he could until the thickening mists became too much and overshadowed even the trail below his hooves. As Zeil tried to look around he mumbled, “great… this crap again. I gotta be careful; Zecora isn’t here to stop me from trotting off a cliff this time.”

With each step, Zeil grew even more worried since the sun was almost gone and he wouldn’t be able to defend himself if he were attacked in this mist at night.

Zeil continued on the trail as he made sure that every step he was about to take was going to be on the trail below him. However, when his next step sounded like a knock on a wooden surface, Zeil paused. Thinking that the knocking sound could have been his imagination, Zeil took the step a second time then scraped his hoof along the ground to find that under the dirt was a wooden plank. Then when he looked at his next step, he found that it also was wood, but was much easier to see then the previous step. As Zeil looked further ahead, at what the mist would reveal, He could see that wooden planks below were the start of a long rope bridge in front of him. With no way to identify how long the bridge was or even what was on the other side, Zeil looked to his side to see the support stakes that held the rope railing in place. Zeil reached up and grabbed the rope as he shook it back and forth trying to test its durability. So when the rope proved to be sturdy enough to support him, Zeil mumbled to himself as he started across, “Well, it’s not like I have many options. Here goes nothing.”

Zeil then trotted out onto the bridge and began crossing with extreme caution on each step. It wasn’t long before for the thick mist covered not only where the bridge led, but where the bridge started as well, not to mention the ground that was an unknown distance below him. Knowing that there was much at stake, the fake zebra took a deep breath as he continued on his current goal of reaching the other side of the long rope bridge. Finally he was able to sigh in relief as the ground on the other side of the rope bridge emerged from the mist as he trotted onto the cliff and looked back to the long bridge he just crossed, “whoa, I'm glad that that is over with… but where am…”

As Zeil looked ahead of him, the mist started to thin out as he saw a massive shadowy structure just ahead of him. With an increasing curiosity, Zeil slowly approached the massive stone structure, as what seemed to be a gigantic shadow, emerged from the mist as old ruins of an abandoned castle.

When Zeil looked at the emblems on the castle gate, he could only mumble to himself, “The symbol of the royal alicorn sisters… but, this isn’t Canterlot. I wonder wha…”

Before he could finish, Zeil turned and looked into the mists behind him as he heard the loud howling of timberwolves from across the rope bridge. So with a somewhat relived thought of finding shelter, Zeil pushed the massive doors open as he entered the old palace corridor. With each passing step, Zeil ventured deeper and deeper into the castle until he reached the doors of the old palace throne room. However as he entered the room, He could only pause in shock as he looked into a room that was nearly demolished by war. Deep scars from battle could be seen on the floor and walls. The ceiling above had holes that were blasted open by magical beams, and even scorch marks from some kind of spell could be seen on the floor. Zeil had no idea what to make of this particular room, however, now this room was nothing more than an abandoned ruin, with no sign of life anywhere.

Continuing passed the throne room and into a large lobby, Zeil approached the master staircase as he called out, “Hello!?!... Is anypo… Ze… is anyone there!?!...”

When he received no reply, he called again, “I need a place to stay for the night!... is it alright for me to take refuge here!?!...”

Once again, his call was only answered by silence so he shrugged his shoulders as he started up the stairs, “Well… I didn’t hear any objections. Looks like I found a place to sleep.”

With slight curiosity, Zeil began searching the castle for anything he could use. With his search, Zeil found a library, a kitchen with no food and ended his search when he reached the top of a tall tower and found a large bedroom with tarps covering the furniture.

Sitting his Saddlebag on a covered table, Zeil looked around as he looked at the condition of the room, “this should work, a little dusty, but all in all I’ve slept in worse.”

While trotting past a tall partially covered piece of furniture, something caught Zeil’s eye as he approached the large object and lifted the tarp slightly. When he saw an eye staring back, Zeil pulled the tarp down as he found himself staring at his own reflection in a tall full body mirror. As he looked at his reflection, Zeil noticed that ever since he left Zecora’s home, he kept his Zebra appearance without even the thought of changing back to himself or into something else. So with his attention on his reflection, Zeil transformed back into his changeling appearance as he looked at himself, no irises or pupils in his green eyes, a curved horn bearing the same black coloring as his normal body, and now, only one wing. As he looked at his appearance that he was born with, Zeil could only sigh as he turned away from the mirror and look towards the bed that sat right next to it.

As he approached the tarp-covered bed, Zeil put pressure on it to see how comfortable it was. The bed creaked with the sound of the now rusted metal springs but it still seemed usable even though it seemed as if it hasn’t been touched in decades. After feeling the bed, Zeil began looking around the room more until he saw a light shine through the glass on the balcony doors. Wondering what the light was, Zeil trotted to the glass doors as he pushed them open as saw the light of the full moon as it shined down and lit up the landscape below. As Zeil trotted onto the balcony of the lone tower, He was surprised to see that the mist had cleared as he looked into the forest that surrounded the abandon castle ruins. From here, he could see a large portion of the Everfree Forest, almost as much as he could see from the cliff that Zecora had shown him the night before. In fact, as his eyes skimmed through the forest below, he started to see a small cluster of lights in the distance as they appeared and began flying over the top of the trees at the far edge of the horizon. As Zeil saw this, he sat down and smiled as he started thinking about the only thing he could guess it to be.

As he looked at the lights as they danced just barely in his sights, he started to think about the night before, and the zebra that was with him when he saw these lights up close. He started to think about where she could be, and if she were at that cliff, would the fireflies be circling her as that one did last night? Zeil started to feel a little at peace as he thought about this sight the soft glow which made her stripes more visible and her the blue in her eyes resemble a darkened night sky. The thought gave him a peaceful smile that is until he realized what he was thinking.

With denial clouding his mind, Zeil could only sigh as he put his hoof on his head and mumbled to himself, “What am I doing… thinking thoughts like this… if the queen or the other changelings saw me like this, they would cast me out… call me a traitor or something like that.”

While mumbling, Zeil opened his eyes and could see through the holes on his changeling hoof as he sighed and removed his hoof from his head. Then he looked back into the distance and tried to ignore the lights as he looked at the other sights that the tower’s vantage point had to offer. In the distance, he could see a small clearing with a lone tree and an unusual bluish glow. Then he looked closer and could see the Poison joke fields where he and Zecora gathered the poison joke the night before. Then as he continued looking around, He paused as he caught sight of a tree with light glowing in its center.

As Zeil looked at the tree, he immediately recognized it as he nodded his head, “Zecora’s home… I can see it from here… and…”
Trying to shake her from his mind, Zeil trotted back inside, and began pacing back and forth as he mumbled to himself, “Why do I feel so bad… what is it that makes me want to go there… I… I'm going to bed… “

As he stopped pacing, Zeil immediately turned to the bed and began trotting towards it, however, as he trotted past the mirror, he slowed his pace as he looked at his changelings appearance, before turning his head away as he approached the bed, climbed in and tried to fall asleep. Although, with many thoughts weighing on his mind, Zeil laid there for almost two hours before he finally fell asleep.

The next morning, Zeil awoke to the sun shining down on his face through a small hole in the ceiling as he sat himself up and looked around the room. Though it took him a second or two, Zeil slowly remembered where he was as he climbed out of the bed and trotted to his saddlebag that he left on a table in the middle of the room. As he did, he trotted past the mirror in the room and paused in confusion. He didn’t know when, but some time while he was asleep, he had changed himself into his Zebra form without even noticing. Feeling a little confused, Zeil turned back into a changelings as he rubbed his head, “I must have had a dream or something, it’s not like me to sleep-change.”

Continuing to avoid the topic, Zeil turned away from the mirror and picked up the saddlebag that he left on the table the night before. A little curious as to what Zecora had given him, Zeil looked through the saddlebag as he mumbled to himself, “ok, some extra bandaged, a flask of water, some hey… like I need it… some apples, Well at least these aren’t bad. And… what’s this?”

As Zeil looked through the bag, he found a small slip of paper that was folded and placed in the very bottom of the bag. Curious as to what it was, Zeil looked at the writing on the outside, “For your great and noble journey, wherever it may roam. Keep this close, so you will find your way home.”

Zeil could only smile as he mumbled, “Even in writing she rhymes…”

Then he unfolded the paper before placing his hoof on his forehead in annoyance, “A map… she gave me a map to lead me out of the forest…”

With his hoof in his head, he began laughing at the irony as he continued, “I was lost in the Everfree forest for hours yesterday… and I’ve had a map on me the whole time? That’s just my luck isn’t it, and to think that she would give me a map after all that she has already done fo…”

Just then, Zeil froze; He couldn’t help but think to himself. Why she gave him a map? After everything she had to go through with him being there, why would she put up the extra effort? Not to mention this map was hoof drawn, meaning that she made it herself. So, did she give him her only map? Or even worse, did she make a second one just for him? With a curious and precise stare, Zeil looked at the map and noticed that this map not only had every trail and landmark that the Everfree forest had to offer, but it even had Zecora’s home marked on in. When he saw it, Zeil could only think to himself, “Is… is she trying to… tell me how to return if I wanted to?...”

As Zeil saw her home on the map, he started looking through it as he followed the trail from the ruins that he was at to the home of the Zebra who had given him this map. After finding out how to return to her home, Zeil shook his head as he put it down and started pacing through the room, “What is wrong with me… Why am…”

Sighing in disappointment, Zeil sat down as he looked at the mirror that sat in the room. Then with a heavy heart, he approached the mirror and looked at his changeling appearance, “fine… fine… I admit it… I enjoyed being around her. I liked her company. She was interesting in many ways and I hate to leave when we both would prefer that I stay. But…”

Zeil looked at the mirror and changed back into his zebra form as he continued, “This isn’t who I am… I'm not a zebra I'm a changeling. I'm a servant to my queen and I must do as I'm told… although… My queen is nowhere to be found, and I'm stuck in this forest. So…”

With that, Zeil placed his hoof on his face and continued mumbling to himself, “What am I saying?... I can’t just go back; I mean… what reason would I have? It would seem suspicious if I had just shown up and for no reason asked to stay. It would put me and my race in danger. Even if she likes me… if she knew the truth, she would cast me aside just like the rest of Equestria… unless.”

Zeil removed his hoof as he looked at his zebra appearance, “if I have a good reason for staying, something that I needed but could only get from her, it would make me seem less suspicious, and it would also help me out more… but what?”

Hoping to think of something, Zeil stood up and turned himself around as he observed his appearance, “The scar on my back it almost completely healed, but going back to remove the stiches would seem kinda pointless since any doctor could do that. I have no other injuries so first aid would be even worse to ask for… what could I…”

As Zeil looked at his flank, he couldn’t help but smile, “That’s it… That’s my alibi!”

With hope in his thoughts, Zeil turned to the map, picked it up, and quickly studied the trail. Then he dropped it on the floor as he turned to the door, and sprinted out of the room. With no hesitation, Zeil sprinted down the stairs as he went through the main lobby, pasted the throne room, out of the castle gate, and crossed the bridge as he went down the trail and began sprinting as fast as his hooved could take him.

With every step getting him closer and closer to his destination, Zeil mumbled to himself, “This has to work; I know I shouldn’t do this, but I'm sure this will please the queen if I explain how much this could benefit the swarm.”

With a hastened sprint, Zeil reached every fork in the trail and took the direction that he had burned into his mind as he made his way to Zecora’s house. Finally Zeil Stopped himself immediately as he reached the tree line just outside the Enchantress’ home. Breathing heavily from his long rang sprint, Zeil slowly exited the tree line as he approached the home and stood just outside the door. Raising his hoof to knock, Zeil Hesitated, “Wait… What if… she says no?... what if, she turns me away?”

Still trying to catch his breath, Zeil slowly lowered his hoof as he stood in front of her door and continued mumbling, “Maybe… I rushed here too quickly… or, not quickly enough… What if… she has already forgotten me?” Zeil shook his head, “No… I'm already here so I might as well ask. Besides, she isn’t that kind of mare. She is too kind hearted for that… isn’t she?...”

With his heavy breathing starting to slow, Zeil took a deep breath to ready himself as he raised his hoof to knock, “Here we go…”

Zeil drew his hoof back to knock, however before his hoof could make contact with the door, it began to open as Zecora started to exit. As soon as she saw him, Zecora froze as her eyes widened, leaving her expression of surprise all too recognizable for them both. Feeling a little awkward, Zeil hesitated before speaking, “oh… I… um… H-hi… I came to… well; I wanted to ask you something… if… it’s alright with you?”

Blushing a little, Zecora replied, “oh… I see, you’re return is a little soon, but if you have a question, then now is most opportune.”

Zeil hesitated as he began blushing, “Well… you see, I still don’t have a talent, and I was wondering that… Zecora you’re amazing when it comes to magic, and you achieved this without a horn and everything… well what I'm trying to ask is… Zecora, Will you teach me how to do magic? You’re the only one I know who can, and I think it would be an honor to learn from the best… that is… if you will teach me.”

Still blushing Zecora looked away as she hesitated with her answer, “you want to learn magic, and you want me to teach? I can’t say I am certain, it will be within your reach.”

Trying to convince her, Zeil stepped closer, “Please Zecora, I'll work as hard as you need me to. I'm sure that with you as a teacher, I can get my cu… Placement mark without any problems.”

Looking back as Zeil Zecora replied, “If you are quite sure, then I'll teach you all I can. Although I hope you excuse me, for I have no lesson plan.”

With a relieved smile on his face, Zeil replied, “Thank you Zecora I promise I'll do everything I can to make it easy for you. So from now on, would I refer to you as teacher, or sensei or something like that?”

Zecora could only giggle as she replied, “no tittle is needed, Zecora is fine, for that is my name just as yours is Zine.”

Feeling like he had just gotten punched in the gut with the last comment, Zeil held his expression of joy as he replied, “Yes… Zine… that’s me all right… just… Zine…”

Although he felt terrible about continuing to keep his identity hidden, Zeil couldn’t help but feel happy knowing that Zecora seemed pleased with the task, as he felt content knowing that he had a legitimate reason to stay. Although he knew that one day, he would have to tell her the truth, and when he did, he wondered just how she would react to it.

Back in Canterlot, Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle, and Shining Armor were standing in the Castle courtyard as Princess Celestia’s carriage flew over the walls and landed in front of them. As Princess Celestia stepped off the carriage, Princess Luna spoke, “Welcome home sister. How did your Journey fare?”

Princess Celestia smiled, “Surprisingly, it went as planned. King Talan wishes to lend his full support as well as increase the defense on his borders to prevent any changelings from crossing.”

Shining armor replied, “And, the relic your majesty?”

Princess Celestia nodded her head as she looked to her carriage as a few guards pulled a chest from the back, “I have it here. It’s called an Everstone, and as expected, it will neutralize the magic that Changelings use to change their appearance. However, the effects are temporary and the stone has to make contact with the targets skin. Also, the stone will affect Unicorn magic as well as changeling. So if you touch the stone, then you won’t be able to use any spells.”

Twilight stepped forward as she asked, “What about something like levitation? Could we use a spell to press the stone against a changeling?”

Princess Celestia shook her head, “Also impossible, since the stone will absorb magic from anypony it touches, it’s only natural that any spell used on it will also be absorbed.”

Princess Luna asked, “So… how long will this Everstone disable magic?”

Princess Celestia replied, “The king said it depends on the Changeling’s abilities, but from their tests, they concluded it to work for at least an hour.”

as the guards laid the chest in front of the group, Shining Armor opened it as he looked at the odd, Yellowish stone that sat inside, “one hour hmm… That’s plenty of time. Guard? Take this to the local Blacksmith and have him use this to make weapons. I want spears, swords, arrows, picks, and axes. Then gather all pegasi and earth pony guards. I want to begin arming each squad with at least one of these weapons. To include myself.”

The guard saluted Shining Armor as he replied, “Yes your majesty, Right away.”

As the guard closed the chest and carried it away, Twilight spoke, “But if you carry one, wouldn’t your magic be disabled too?”

Shining Armor smiled with confidence, “Don’t worry sis, I don’t need magic to beat something as wimpy as a changeling. Besides, it’s you who needs her magic, as long as your there to use your transporting spell then we shouldn’t have any problems.”

Twilight though to herself as she replied, “well… I guess so.”

Princess Celestia spoke, as she gave shining armor a skeptic look, “I wouldn’t judge them so lightly prince armor, Remember that changelings aren’t as dimwitted as they seem. I would suggest treating each and every one the same as if they were Queen Chrysalis herself. However, I still highly recommend nonlethal force. At this point, I can only assume that each one is worried about their own personal safety right now. We may be angered at their actions, but we must still prove ourselves merciful. I would like to avoid any fatalities, from both sides.”

Shining armor nodded his head as he turned to follow the guard carrying the Everstone, “I understand your majesty, I'll try not to kill any.”
As Shining Armor continued out of earshot, Princess Celestia looked at Twilight and spoke, “Twilight, what was this plan your brother mentioned? Something about transporting the Changelings away?”

Twilight nodded her head, “Yes your majesty, I know where they came from so we put together a strategy that will allow us to transport them back to their original kingdom.”

Princess Celestia nodded her head, “good, then I'll leave that part up to you. Please don’t take offence, but I worry that if I gave that task to your brother, he would transport them to a dangerous place. I worry that his feeling in this matter will overpower his judgment.”

Twilight nodded her head, “I understand your majesty, but are you sure he would do anything juristic?”

Princess Celestia nodded her head, “Yes… As a soldier, Shining Armor is trained to hide his anger so that he can keep a clear mind when the situation calls for it. But like all ponies, anger can get the best of them when hiding it becomes hard. I trust that he will be able to hold back his temper, but he will need support, otherwise it could be more dangerous to himself, than those around him.”

Ch4 I Am a Student

Zeil sat silently with his hind legs crossed and his front hooves together as he tried to clear his mind. Though there were no sounds coming from the calm meadow that he and Zecora sat in, Zeil still found it difficult to keep his focus and clear his thoughts. Seeing if Zecora was still meditating next to him, Zeil slowly opened one eye and looked beside him as he saw Zecora still sitting silently beside him. With a simple sigh, Zecora spoke, “Though difficult it is, and hard as it may be, you will never clear your thoughts, if those thoughts are on me.”

Wondering how she could know he was watching her while both her eyes were closed, Zeil replied, “Can I ask you something? exactly how will meditation help me with magic?”
Zecora continued holding her meditative appearance as she replied, “Magic is all around, in all that we see, but you must clear your mind, to find its quality. Everything that crawls, grows, and breaths, have their own form of magic, even the plants that wreath.”
Zeil turned to look at Zecora, “You’re saying everything has magic in it?”

Zecora replied still holding her stance, “We all hold magic, though special in its own way. To discover that magic, is your goal for the day. But to discover that magic, you must first suppress your own, or you will distort the magic, and never hone.”
Feeling a little nervous, Zeil replied, “M-magic?... what magic? Isn’t that what I'm here to learn from you?”
Zecora smiled as she stood up from her meditative position and trotted to a nearby bush, “What gives a flower, its color that’s seen? Why are its petals red, but its stem green?”
Zeil stood up as he followed her to the bush, “Doesn’t that have something to do with its texture or something inside the flower?”

Zecora replied as she lifted the branch of the bush to reveal a small red flower beneath it, “Correct, but that texture holds magic you see, and bears truth to the flowers harmony. When you learn to master what lies within, then that magic can be controlled, to almost any end. How else could a magic, cruel as a poison joke, bear happiness and heir to simple bald folk.”
Zecora reached for the flower and cradled its blooming pedals, “When you understand magic and all that it brings, then you can mix and match to create many things.”

While Zecora cradled the flower with her hoof, she smiled peacefully as Zeil stared at her with an amazed expression. There was nothing he could say to disagree with her words however, if he were to find a means to disable what he knew to be his true magic, then not only would he reveal his true form, but he would put himself in a dangerous situation. Never the less, Zeil trotted back to the small grassy patch that he was meditating on, sat down with his hind hooves crossed and his front hooves against each other as he continued trying to meditate.

With Zeil trying a second time to concentrate, Zecora trotted away from the flower and sat back down beside him. However, from the expressions that Zeil showed on his face, she could tell that not only was he trying too hard to clear his thoughts, but he wasn’t even close to what he needed to set his mind at ease. When she saw the determination that Zeil placed in trying to meditate, Zecora smiled as she spoke, “I guess for a beginner, it’s much too hard to see, so I will teach you, just as experience taught me. Let us depart, to a place that few see. One of the most dangerous, here in the Everfree.”

A little disappointed that he didn’t have time to get meditation right, Zeil stood up and followed Zecora to another part of the forest until they came across a thin river and a massive waterfall. Zecora then led him down stream towards the cliffs where the riverbank began to rise high above the water. Then just before reaching the falls, Zeil could see a number of thin bamboo posts sticking out of the water that reached the ten-foot bank and connected both sides of the riverbank like metal bars on the entrance of a dungeon.

As Zeil looked at the thin staffs in confusion, Zecora smiled as she casually began trotting across them with no concern for the rushing waters below, or the massive falls that sat just a few feet away from where the pole bridge stood. Zeil could only stare in shock, as the enchantress continued stepping on each staff that was thinner than her petit hooves with no worry or even attempts of balance as she crossed. As soon as Zecora reached the other side, she turned around and spoke, “With balance in body comes balance in mind, and with this balance, your magic you will find. So cross the stream, but fear not the fall, for fear breaks balance, and balance controls all.”

When Zecora explained what he had to do, Zeil slowly approached the edge of the riverbank and looked into the water that sat almost ten feet below. As he looked into the water, he became even more nervous. the rushing water that ran through the staffs made foam appear on its surface so it was impossible to predict just how deep it was, and if that didn’t make it nerve wracking enough, the thick spray, the massive waterfall, and the thin staffs which were about a quarter of his hoof’s size, made him even more nervous.

With a cautious step, Zeil reached out and placed his hoof on the first staff, but as soon as he applied pressure, his hoof sporadically began rocking back and forth with no signs of proper balance. Out of fear, Zeil quickly jumped back onto the riverbank and backed up as he spoke, “Are you crazy? This can’t be possible! My hooves are much thicker than yours; if I step out there I'm a goner.”
Zecora tried to reassure him, “Zine stay calm, for your fear will create walls. Do not worry about the balance, the water, or the falls. Just clear your mind, or focus on something you feel, whether it be your dream, your goal, or something less real. With a calming thought, true balance will be gained, and your journey across will be easily attained.”

Still feeling a little doubt, Zeil approached the riverbank as he once again tried to look into the water to see just how deep it was. But like before, the foam on the surface made the bottom of the stream impossible to predict, so he looked at the thickness of the first bamboo staff that he had to step on, as he mumbled to himself, “Alright… what to think about… the queen… no too troubling. Maybe the fact that I'm alive?... No, I'm not out of danger just yet… darn… I wish this could be easier to do.”
Still hesitating, Zeil focused on the first staff as he reached out, stepped onto it, and tried his hardest to keep the thin staff centered under his hoof. Like before, when Zeil applied pressure to his step, his hoof began rocking back and forth, but this time, Zeil managed to gain his center of gravity as he attained control over his balance and stopped his hoof’s rocking.

When Zeil felt confident enough to start taking his second step from the riverbank, he looked at the next staff and slowly started reaching his other front hoof for the next staff. When he planted his second front hoof on the next staff, Zeil looked up to see a confident smile on Zecora’s face, as she nodded her head in support of his actions. Seeing that his teacher had confidence in him made Zeil fell a little better, so while focusing on her expression, Zeil slowly continued moving forward. Very carefully, Zeil stepped his hind hooves onto the staff closest to him, first the right, then the left until he was completely off the riverbank and using the bamboo in the center of the river to support his entire body. Though Zeil knew he was now at the mercy of the bamboo that he was standing on, he tried all he could to pay it no mind as he continued focusing on only two thing, Zecora and her expression of confidence, and of course the next staff he needed to step on to continue across the river.

Zecora could only stand there and smile as she watched her student cross the river with careful yet determined steps. With the disguised changeling’s full focus on Zecora, Zeil continued trotting across the bamboo staffs until he finally took his first step onto the stable riverbank that sat on the other side. As Zeil took his rear hooved off the final pole, Zeil turned stopped and looked back at the river in surprise, “I… I did it… but… how was it possible?”
Zecora smiled as she placed her hoof on his shoulder, “With full focus you attained your poise, all you had to do, was ignore all the noise. You did exceptional, much better then I knew, now with this simple lesson, you can start challenges anew, and figure your goal and what next you must do.”

Zeil thought to himself as he asked, “But… did I really need to learn balance to gain this lesson? Couldn’t you just show me what I need to learn and explain it to me without this task?”
Zecora shook her head as she turned her back to him and looked into the forest, “With balance in mind, and a peace in your heart, you can remove certain events as soon as they start. But enough on balance, for the next you must know, is respect for nature, and what it will show. So follow closely Zine, for dangerous trails… we must go.”
With a serious expression on her face, Zecora began trotting through the forest away from the waterfall. As Zeil couldn’t help but question the meaning of her most recent rhyme.

With the two venturing deeper and deeper into the forest, Zeil couldn’t help but feel something in the air. Trying not to act alarmed, Zeil began looking around as he followed closely behind Zecora as he tried to spot what it was that made him feel uneasy. Though he wasn’t certain, Zeil couldn’t help but feel like both he and Zecora were in great danger. Wondering if Zecora felt the same feeling, Zeil caught up to her as he saw the serious expression on her face which proved his theory about them being in danger, but also showed that she knew exactly what she was doing. With him being close enough for her to hear, Zeil whispered to his guide as he continued following, “Zecora?... what’s wrong?... why are we feeling this… nervous?”

Zecora held her serious face as she replied, “So you sense the danger? Great attention you must pay. And from this point on, do exactly as I say. Every gesture, every action, everything that I do. If you mimic it wisely, then a safe passage… we’ll be led through. For if we show respect, then respect we’ll be shown too.”
Zeil couldn’t help but look at the serious mare in confusion as he asked, “A safe passage? But through wha…”
All of a sudden, Zecora stopped trotting as she held her ground and stared into the brush that lied just ahead of the two. Following his teachers guidance, Zeil stopped trotting as he looked into the brush and tried to see what she was looking at.

As Zeil tried to identify whatever was in the brush, his attempts were interrupted when he heard sound of movement in the brush all around him. Nervous as to what it could be, Zeil looked in every angle that the sounds came from, but all he could see where shadows of whatever was surrounding them. When Zeil saw these shadows, he not only felt nervous, he started to feel scared. The shadows where too concealed to identify, but what he could tell was that whatever it was, it was too big to be a temberwolf and much more ferocious. With an almost overwhelming fear, Zeil looked back at Zecora as he spoke, “Z-Zecora?... what is?...”
“Shhh…”
When Zecora shushed him, Zeil couldn’t help but feel confused as Zecora continued standing in her place with nothing more than an expression of seriousness and no hint of fear on her entire body.

Just then, a large number of monstrous Manticore slowly trotted out of the trees brush that surrounded the two as Zeil now knew where they were. They were smack dab in the middle of Manticore territory, a place so dangerous, that entire squads of Royal guards have been lost to this forbidden ground. Knowing that they were in danger, Zeil tried keeping calm as he looked around for an escape route, but no matter where he looked, he knew it was hopeless. First off, they were surrounded, so even if he tried, there was no getting passed them. Second, there numbers where too great, even if he changed into the strongest creature he could think of, they would easily tear him apart without even trying. Third, this was their territory, and manticores where known to be the most ferocious hunters that Equestria had to offer, so for a zebra and a flightless changeling, there was no escape.

Still trying to think of a way out, Zeil looked at Zecora as she continued holding both her stance, and her expression. Before Zeil could say anything, one more manticore, one that towered above even the rest slowly emerged from the brush that Zecora was staring into as it slowly made its way towards them. Seeing the larger manticore approach, Zeil tried to speak, “Zecora?...”
“Shhh…”
Hearing her shush him a second time, Zeil nervously stood beside Zecora as the massive manticore stopped about five feet away from the two as it began snarling in anger.

With the alpha manticore growling at the intruders, the surrounding manticore began doing the same as Zeil looked around and tried all he could to prevent himself from fleeing in fear. With the surrounding creatures growling at their pray, Zecora held her expression as she raised her head as high as she could causing all the Manticore to silence themselves in curiosity. When this happened, Zeil also looked at Zecora in curiosity as she slowly bowed her head down as if she were standing before a king. When she did this, the alpha manticore raised its held high and nodded his head in reply; before looking at Zeil and snarled as it did before. Remembering Zecora’s warning, Zeil did exactly as she did as he raised his head up high with a serious expression, then bringing it back down in a respectful bow.

When the alpha manticore saw this, he nodded a second time as he took a step back and bowed in response to the visiting zebra and changeling. Therefore, as the Alpha manticore rose from his bow, he turned and began walking back to the forest as the surrounding Manticore did the same. As soon as the creatures disappeared into the surrounding brush, Zecora rose from her bow as she spoke, “The gesture is done, and we have permission to move, now onto the cave, of the reflective truth.”
As they continued Zeil asked, “Reflective truth? What’s that? Some kind of sacred ground?”
Zecora nodded her head as she smiled, “Sacred…. Maybe, but it’s the water that is seen, it will show what clouds you, or what your fate will truly mean.”

Zeil gave Zecora a confused look, “Clouded? You mean it will show me what thoughts are preventing me from meditating properly?”
Zecora nodded her head, but before she could say anything, the two emerged into a vast clearing in the forest that revealed a large number of Manticore, but not just the hunters, but the females and cubs as well. As Zeil looked into the large herd of what he always viewed as ferocious beasts, Zecora continued trotting casually as she entered the herd with no hesitation in her steps. Trying to keep up with his guide, Zeil followed closely as he and Zecora began trotting through the vast heard of what seemed to be a hundred manticore.

As the two continued, the males in the herd looked at the two and watched them as they passed by, however they only watched for that brief time before turning back to their families and continuing with little concern in their company. When Zeil saw this, he could only assume that they all knew that he and Zecora where given permission to pass, however it didn’t ease his mind any since he still knew the extent of danger that they could be in if something were to go wrong. As they trotted on, Zeil stopped suddenly when a manticore cub chassed a butterfly as fast as it could before colliding with Zeil and knocking him to the ground by accident.

Quickly reacting as if he were attacked by the playful cub, Zeil shuffled to his hooves and braced his stance as the cub picked himself up from the ground, shook the dust from his body, and looked at Zeil with a curious and cute tilt to his head. When Zeil realized that the cub hit him by accident, he quickly removed his stance of defense as he stood up and chuckled at the slight misunderstanding. However shortly after that, Zeil froze in fear, as the cub’s mother walked up behind the cub as she growled in an anger-filled warning to the small disguised changeling. As Zeil stood frozen in fear, the cub mother continued growling as she started sneering at him leaving him to believe that no matter what he did, she was going to rip him apart with her next action.

Feeling nervous, Zeil stood frozen as he started shifting his eyes to look around him. Witnessing the event, all the manticore males in the area where staring straight at him with expressions of anger as Zecora stopped and turned to her surrounded student. With no manticore paying attention to Zecora, Zeil looked at her as she smiled and nodded her head with an expression that said, “You know what to do next.” Remembering what happened prior to their arrival; Zeil decided what he should do as he straitened his stance and held his head up high. Then with every manticore looking at him, Zeil slowly bowed in respect to the mother manticore. After seeing his action, the female manticore stopped growling as she raised her head up high, nodded her head in acceptance, then bowed to him sealing his forgiveness as every manticore in the area that was watching went back to their own business.

Shortly after bowing, the mother manticore rose from her bow as she sat down where she was and continued watching Zeil with no more sighs of anger or warning towards him. When he saw this, Zeil smiled as he mumbled to himself from his bowing position, “Wow… that’s cool… I di…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the young cub who was completely oblivious to the whole scene, jumped into the air as he wrapped his paws around Zeil’s head and pulled him to the ground like a kitten playing with its siblings. With the playful cub griping him tightly, Zeil struggled all he could to free himself from the powerful cub’s paws. When he finally did, Zeil picked himself up and looked around in confusion, as Zecora couldn’t help but giggle at the mess his mane was left in after the struggle with the baby beast.

Zeil looked at the cubs mother who watched over him like any concerned mother would, then he looked back at Zecora as he blushed and began fixing his mane, “Playful little scamp ain’t he?”
When the playful cub noticed Zecora’s giggling, it approached her and sat down as she reached out and pet it, “A creature too innocent, too young to understand. He does not know yet of dangers in this land. To him in this time, all he knows is to play, and the protective parents, who watch over him each day.”
With that said, the mother manticore turned away from the group as she began walking to another part of the meadow. When the cub noticed its mother’s actions, it quickly turned away from Zecora as it rushed to catch up with her.

As Zeil watched the manticore mother and cub walking away he could only mumble to himself, “She’s right… these beasts are so feared by all creatures that nopony has ever seen a cub up close before. Especially with its mother right beside it.”
Hearing his words Zecora replied, “When you respect the creatures that live in this land, then you respect their ideals and all that they demand. To strengthen your magic, you must form a strong hem, to understand nature and magic’s bond with them.”
Zeil looked back at Zecora as she smiled peacefully, he knew she was wise when it came to magic, but hearing her talk like this made her seem beautiful. It was as if she had connected with nature in a way that nopony ever could; a way that only a zebra can.

Then before anything else could be said, Zecora turned back to their path as she continued leading him to their destination. Feeling a little like a cub himself, Zeil rushed to Zecora as he began following her back to their quest. Before long, the zebra and her zebra disguised companion reached a cave that sat at the very end of the meadow. As Zecora entered the cave with no signs of hesitation, Zeil paused for a second as he looked at the entrance with distrust. It was one thing to wonder into Manticore territory, but to enter a cave that sat at the end of said territory seemed like a bad idea. Never the less, Zeil continued inside as he trotted fast to catch up with his teacher.

After entering the cave, Zeil became more and more curious as he looked around at the caves appearance. There were no markings, drawings, or decoration of any kind that made this cave seem any different from others. However, as the daylight from the mouth of the cave started to fade in the distance, a new light could be seen as it lit the tunnel ahead and made their destination seem more obvious. It wasn’t long before Zecora lead Zeil into a massive chamber as he stopped at the entrance to observe his surroundings. The chamber seemed to be about one hundred feet in diameter, with a series of stalagmites and stalactite on both the ceiling and the ground, but what caught his eye the most was the mystical glowing pond that sat in the center with a tall stalagmite towering over the center. As Zeil looked around, Zecora approached the water and sat down as she looked into it with a peace-filled smile as if she was oddly admiring her own reflection.

When Zeil looked at her from where he was standing, he could only pause at the beauty of her smile. He had seen her smile peacefully before, but for some reason he had never seen her smile like this, it was as if she was seeing something in the water that entranced her. Luckily, he came to his senses before her as he cleared his throat and approached, “Zecora?”
When he approached, Zecora snapped out of it as she looked at him and blushed, “Oh… I'm sorry; I was in a slight trance. Twas a good reflection that crossed my glance.”
Out of curiosity, Zeil looked into the water at what she was talking about, but when he did, he could only pause in concern. He couldn’t understand it, but Zecora’s reflection was nowhere to be seen.

Zeil felt a little confused as he sat down and looked at his reflection, but when he looked at himself, he could only pause in fear. His reflection was there, but it wasn’t his zebra form that he saw, but his changeling form. As Zeil looked closer at his reflection, Zecora could see the concern on his face, but rather than asking if he was all right, Zecora continue to observe him as he continue watching. Soon Zeil’s fear began to skyrocket as he saw another reflection enter his view, only this time, it was Queen Chrysalises as she trotted in from the side.

Out of fear, Zeil jumped back from the water and quickly looked at both himself and his surrounding as he spoke, “W-what? What is?....”
Seeing his fear Zecora approached, “Zine calm down, for what you saw was not real. That was merely your troubles, or worries you feel.”
When Zeil saw that he and Zecora were alone and he was in his zebra form, he sighed in relief as he replied, “That… that wasn’t real… then I… wait… did you see that too?”
Zecora shook her head, “I did not, this basin will only show, to the observer its visions below. It looks into your heart, and copies its thought, showing true hope, or visions of raught.”

Zeil thought to himself, he wasn’t entirely sure what Zecora meant when she said the pond showed visions of the heart, but he did understand that everything he saw was only seen by him, which made him feel somewhat relieved. As he thought about that, Zecora turned back to the stream and spoke, “This is your task, for true piece you must find. You must break yourself of the trouble, and the vision on your mind. This pond has revealed what troubles you deeply, but you must now conquer it, and conquer completely. Then and only then will you attain true peace, and with that, you can learn magic, to say the least.”

Zeil couldn’t quite understand it, he knew what he had to do was to forget about his worries of being a changeling, but what confused him was the fact that he already assumed that all his worries weren’t bothering him. A little nervous Zeil approached the water a second time, only this time, his reflection revealed his changeling form, Queen Chrysalises, and the rest of his swarm behind him as each and every one of his changeling brethren stared at him in anger.

Trying to clear his mind, Zeil closed his eyes and shook his head as he mumbled to himself, “It’s not real… this is not here, it’s just a vision.”
When he opened his eyes again, he found that the vision did change, however what he was now looking at was the attack on Canterlot that he observed a few days ago. Seeing the proud smile on his face during the attack made Zeil mumble again, “No… it’s not real… this isn’t what my heart holds… not anymore…”
as Zecora witnessed the distress on his face, she spoke softly, “The visions are false, and your heart won’t remove. But it can be replaced, with a vision that sooths. Focus Zine, and its place you can fill, but you must prove it false, and prove it at will.”

When he heard Zecora’s advice, Zeil closed his eyes as he tried to focus, “Replace it… ok… something clear? Something soothing? or maybe…”
with a curious thought, Zeil slowly opened his eyes and looked into the water, but when he did, the vision was gone. Instead, Zeil could only see an endless black abyss in the water as if he were looking into a bottomless pit. With a now confused expression, Zeil started to speak, “What the?... did you do something Ze…”
Before he could finish his question, a small light appeared in the darkness that the water revealed. Out of curiosity, Zeil watched the small light as it moved back and forth inside the darkness that was shown. Soon the small light was accompanied by a second, then a third, then a forth. Zeil couldn’t help but feel memorized by the number of lights that where in the water, until finally the brightness of the lights began to reveal a hidden shadow standing in the darkness of the image.

Trying to identify the shadow, Zeil watched closely as the lights hovering around the shadowy silhouette started to get brighter. It wasn’t long before the dark and shady character in the water was lit enough to know that what he was looking at was a Male Zebra standing too far in the darkness to identify. As Zeil watched the zebra with only his stripes and expression visible, the unknown zebra looked into the lights as a peaceful smile slowly appeared on his still shady face. Zeil tried all he could to see the hidden stallion’s face but before he could Zecora also appeared amongst the lights as she approached the zebra and sat down next to him with a smile.

Feeling somewhat curious, Zeil watched the two as Zecora slowly leaned against the zebra as she looked at him with a pleasant stare. But when the stallion looked back with the same expression Zeil could see his face clearly as he stared in shock, “It’s… it’s me… me and Zec…”
as Zeil started to remember that only he could see the illusion, he slowly turned his head to Zecora as he blushed slightly, “I… I mean… what does it mean if… the image changes?”
Zecora looked into the water as she replied, “If the image changed, then one of two took place, either your peace overcame, or your troubles changed face. Was the new vision pleasant, even unusually so, then you bypassed your troubles, your fears, and woe.”

Zeil looked back at the image as he blushed slightly, “Well… I admit I'd enjoy what I'm seeing… at least… a little.”
Though she could see him blushing Zecora ignored it as she replied, “Then you changed your thoughts, that your heart did fear, though we aren’t finished, you can’t leave here. Before we go you first must face, one final task before leaving this place.”
Zeil gave Zecora a curious look, “One more?”
Zecora looked at the stalagmite that sat in the center of the pool as she replied, “Climb atop the center stack, I know you can with no strength you lack. Use your lessons that you learned, and meditate there without concern. Balance there, and with little fuss, you can clear your mind, and truly focus.”

Feeling a little worried, Zeil began trotting around the pond as he observed the tall stalactite that towered almost seven feet over the water’s surface. Its peak was a little under half a foot in diameter making it seem more like a plateau then a cone, while its steep walls seemed to create an illusion that it’s much taller than it actually is. As Zeil circled his task, he noticed a number of naturally formed ripples that were embedded in the side as he nodded his head, “There… if I get a running start, I can make it… but the water…”
With curiosity, Zeil looked at the water and ignored the sight of Zecora and him as he tried to see how deep it was. While looking through the water Zeil was relieved to see that even though the water revealed deep holes under its surface there was still a faint trail of shallow spots that if timed correctly, would allow him enough momentum to sprint up the side of the stalactite.

As Zeil took a good look at his needed footing, he turned and trotted a number of feet away as he turned back and started sprinting towards the tower as fast as he could. However, when his first step hit the water, it was in a hole as the water resistance immediately overpowered him and caused him to flip forward into the water before even getting close to the stalactite. When Zeil picked himself up, the expression of annoyance and his soaked mane made Zecora giggle as he shook himself off and trotted back to his start point to try again. On his second attempt, Zeil managed to miss the holes on his first step; however, his second still caught the edge of a hole as it slid inside, and caused the water to repeat the first attempts results. Frustrated, Zeil picked himself out of the water and returned to the star point as he took a deep breath and tried to focus. However, on his third attempt, Zeil managed to rush past the first second and third steps into the shallow spots of the water, but on his forth, he hesitated and mist the shallow spot as he stepped into a hole and was tossed forward, this time hitting his back against the side of the stalactite.

Cringing at the sight of his impact, Zecora watched with a concerned expression as Zeil picked himself up from the water and made his way back to his starting point. It was now clear that his frustration was starting to overpower his focus as Zecora spoke, “Be patient Zine, and you will be fine. Do not let this towered stack, break your spirit… or your back. Use what you know, to beat this foe.”
Zeil sat down as he started mumbling to himself, “Use what I know… ok today I learned balance, respecting nature and clearing bad thoughts… well balance will be used at the peak, and clearing bad thoughts will allow me to focus better… but what about the other thing? How will respecting nature help me?...”
As Zeil sat there thinking about the second lesson he learned, a strange thought crossed his mind as he mumbled to himself, “… it… it can’t be as easy as that?... can it?...”

With a curious and awkward expression on his face, Zeil looked at Zecora as he asked, “Um… Zecora?... Could you help me get up there?... I don’t know… maybe give me a boost or something?”
Zecora smiled as she nodded her head, “Since you respectfully asked, I'll gladly assist, for your simple curtesy won’t go unmissed.”
Zeil couldn’t help but put his hoof on his head in amazement, “I can’t believe it was that easy… you mean all I had to do was ask for help?”
Zecora giggle as she trotted through the shallow water towards the stalactite, “A respecting friend is just like creature, we’ll help in return, it’s just our nature. Sometimes to complete a complex task, one must see a friend and simply ask”
After she arrived at the stalactite, Zecora turned towards Zeil, held both her front hooves out and nodded her head saying she was ready. Seeing the action, Zeil approached Zecora as he placed his front hooves on the stalactite, and one of his rear hooves in her front hooves. With a preparatory nod, Zecora threw her hooves up as Zeil was boosted into the air.

Using the ripples on the stalactite’s sides, Zeil pulled himself up high enough to plant both his front hooves on the peak of the miniature plateau before lifting himself high enough to climb onto the top. However, with the edges of the stalactite being too small for him to stand with all four hooves, Zeil was only able to stand with three hooves on the dais. Now that Zeil was atop the stalactite, he knew that the next thing that could help him was his lesson on balance, so using only one of his hind hooves to stand; Zeil reared himself up as he placed both his front hooves together and attained his perfect balance on the pedestal.

Now, all he had left to do was begin his meditation, so with a readying sigh, Zeil closed his eyes and began to concentrate. However, it wasn’t long before his mind became cluttered with troubling thoughts as he cringed his face in irritation. As Zecora watched his troubled expression she called to him, “A troubled mind you do not need. Your lesson and teaching you should heed. From here I can’t say where to go, but you passed your teachings so you should know.”
Hearing Zecora’s words reminded Zeil about changing the thoughts in his heart, so with a relaxing sigh; Zeil began concentrating on changing his hearts vision as his troubled thoughts subsided as his mind started to focus.

Seconds later, Zeil’s troubled expression vanished from his face as Zecora watched with a pleased smile. Meanwhile, Zeil lost all touch with everything around him as he started to slip into a deep meditative trance. From here, Zeil started to feel as if the world around him had vanished into thin air, and with it, all the troubles that followed. Then, he began to hear the most unusual sound that he had ever heard before. He could hear a drop of water falling from a stalagmite as it fell from the ceiling and hit the ground a number of feet from where he was positioned. And with that sound, a vision appeared in his mind as everything around him began to appear as if it were a wave spreading from the very sound of the single drop of water.

With his eyes closed, Zeil could see everything in the cave around him as more sounds began to appear. The faint whistle of the wind that entered and exited the cave, The small screeching and flapping of bats that flew further into the cavern, even the faint sound of Zecora’s actions as she sat down and watched her student achieve his goal. It was as if the world had given him the ability to see more than his eyes ever could. Then, something else appeared in his vision of the cave. He didn’t understand it, but Zeil could see a proud Zebra warrior standing right behind Zecora as he stood wearing green armor and wielding a tall spear.

Still seeing everything around him, Zeil watched as the unknown zebra stood behind Zecora as if he were protecting her. As the warrior stood saying nothing, his expression clearly said that he needed to warn Zeil of something. With his mind started to wonder if the vision was real or not, Zeil opened his eyes as he completely broke his trance, and lost his balance. With almost no time at all, Zeil looked behind Zecora for the warrior, but saw nothing as he fell from the stalactite and into the water below.

With a little concern, Zecora rushed to Zeil’s side as she helped him up and spoke, “My student Zine, you did better than fine. You found the focus to clear your mind.”
Zeil rubbed his head as he replied, “I… I did… Didn’t I?... But… what was that? I… I could see everything… how?”
Zecora replied, “When you clear your thought, you can truly see, the appearance of magic, here in the Everfree. With proper sight, and magic of all, you can seek any spell, no matter how small.”
Zeil could only smile at Zecora as he replied, “Its true… I could see everything… and not just in front of me… but all around me. Although… I thought I saw…”

Worried, Zeil looked around in all directions for the Zebra Warrior as Zecora asked, “What is it zine? Your expression seems less than benign.”
Seeing that they were completely alone, Zeil turned back to Zecora as he replied, “I'm fine… I just… thought I heard something is all… well… shall we get back?”
Zecora nodded her head as she replied, “Of course we shall, since this day is done. Your training for day was most certainly outdone.”
As the two started to leave the massive chamber, Zeil couldn’t help but look back at the pond as he started to wonder about the vision he saw. Who was that stallion, and if he was truly giving a warning, then what was it, and who was it too?...

Ch5 I Am Judged...

Placement Mark: Zebrican Equivalent to a cutiemark; Zebra use this mark to identify their role in the tribe of their birth.
Placement Trial: A ritual in which young zebra earn their placement marks. At the age of twelve, Each Zebrican foal must take place in a series of tests that usually point out a young zebra’s qualities and helps them earn their placement mark. However if a zebra fails to attain their mark by the time they reach the age of fifteen, they are then banished from their tribe until they attain their mark elsewhere.

Zeil sat the encyclopedia down as he thought to himself, “So that’s what Zecora meant when she asked if I was banished… this is a really helpful book.”
Zeil sat the book down on a dusty table as he began looking through the old bookshelves for more information. Since Zecora was gathering supplies from Ponyville, Zeil decided to take this day to do research in the library of the old castle ruins that he was staying in. Although, as far as Zecora knew, he was taking a break since he had been training nonstop for ten days straight.
As Zeil looked through the book, he found another book that was about Zebrican history, so hoping to find a map of the foreign land, Zeil opened the book and began looking through the pages. While flipping through the pages, a subject caught his eye as he paused on a specific page and began reading the words:

“Zebrica is known by its four main Tribes, the North, South, East, and Western Tribes which hold most of the country’s population and sit at the corners of the nation.”
Zeil continued looking through the book, but from there the book went to discuss actions of the nation’s economy and exports, which only bored him. So with no interest in the nation’s economy, Zeil turned to the back of the book where a map of the nation sat. Looking through the map of Zebrica only worried him as he mumbled to himself, “Great… there is no tribes in the center of the nation. Just a desert. I guess I'll have to stick to my story… unless I can find a time to change it so that it doesn’t seem like I'm deceiving her. I'd rather Zecora still think I'm a zebra for just a little while longer.”
Getting tired of looking through this book, Zeil placed it back on the shelf as he continued looking through the books for other information. As he continued looking, a thought remained in his mind. Zeil could only wonder what his Placement mark would be. Naturally, he would make it resemble magic, but how would he attain it? He had been training with Zecora for a week and a half now, and since the first day, he had made excellent progress. He even made a potion to cure hiccups, although it seemed almost useless.

With the thought of magic crossing his mind, Zeil could only mumble to himself, “If I'm going to stay here any longer, I'll need to get a placement mark… hmm… is there anything on Zebrican magic in here?”
With that thought, the disguised changeling started skimming along the books as he searched for anything that could help him in his search. As he looked, Zeil finally found something as he pulled the book from the shelf and read the title, “Zebrican Mystics: Ancient Magic of a faraway land. This looks interesting.”
Zeil then opened the book as he looked through the table of contents and mumbled the title of each chapter to himself, “Potions, Powders, Natural, Unnatural, and Forbidden. Hmm… better avoid the forbidden; let’s just to keep it simple.”
From there Zeil began flipping through each page of the book as he looked at each spell closely. Some spells seemed familiar, but many of them seemed either too complex, or had ingredients that couldn’t be found in the Everfree forest. Nevertheless, since Zeil knew that this was the only tool he had to help him in this task, he continued skimming through each page with determination.

Before he knew it, Zeil found that he had flipped through every single page in the book and had reached the title page of the forbidden section. As Zeil sat there looking at the words, “Forbidden Spells” Zeil started to reach for the page until he stopped himself, “What am I doing?... not only is this literally forbidden, but if Zecora had caught me even considering any of these spells, then she wouldn’t speak to me ever again… no matter what form I took. There had to be a better spell in here somewhere.”
Trying to find another Zebrican magic book, Zeil looked through the entire library in the castle but the only spell books he could find where Unicorn, or alicorn books. So, disappointed by his failed attempts Zeil sat down and mumbled to himself, “There has to be something… Dust of dawn? No that’s a curse that blinds its victim. Hmm, Fire Breathing Powder… no, where would I get a dragon scale around here…”

All of a sudden, Zeil thought he saw a shadow out the corner of his eye, so out of surprise Zeil looked into the direction that he saw the figure appear. However as Zeil looked into the corner of the empty library, he could only assume that whatever it was, was in his mind. Feeling a little silly, Zeil picked up the Zebrican spell book and trotted back to a table as he sat it down and mumbled, “Guess I just need to clear my mind. Hmm… maybe I should meditate for a while. If I'm lucky a spell will come to me somehow.”
Picking up the book and taking it with him, Zeil began leaving the library as he made his way into the room that he was sleeping in. After entering the room, Zeil trotted to the bedroom table as he sat the book down, and pulled onto of the chairs into the middle of the room, “I'll use this for balance.”
Using the techniques thought to him by his teacher, Zeil climbed onto the chair and began balancing on one of his front hooves as he raised the rest of his hooves in the air to keep his balance. Before, this would be something that would take two or three tries, but thanks to Zecora and her teachings, Zeil was able to attain his balance almost immediately as he closed his eyes and slipped into a deep meditative trance.

As he began his meditation, Zeil’s senses kicked in as he began feeling and hearing the wind as it whistled through the cracks in the balcony window. Then as the wind circled back with the airflow in the room, it blew against Zeil’s face as it started creating the mental image of his surroundings just like it did every time he meditated. As Zeil began seeing everything around him, he began his deepened focus as all that he could see at this time began fading from his mind. However, his trance was soon broken when an unexpected and unfamiliar voice spoke. “Meditation can’t be used to learn a spell… especially if you don’t know what the spell is to begin with.”
Out of surprise, Zeil quickly opened his eyes, but when he did, Instead of being balanced on the chair, as he was when he began his meditation, Zeil found himself standing in open grassy plans. Confused as to where he was, Zeil looked around and could barely see both the Everfree forest at one end of the plains, and the main road leading strait into Canterlot on the other side. Standing there looking at the vast empty field, Zeil sat down and rubbed his head, “What the?... where?...”

At that moment, the Zebra warrior stepped out from behind him as he spoke, “Beautiful isn’t it? What vastness the forest holds that soothes Zecora’s mind bears no harmony that this place bears. However, be a peaceful sight as is. This ground holds no such tranquility, for its past is one of great despair.”
Not expecting the zebra to appear out of nowhere, Zeil jumped back he spoke in shock, “Y-you… I mean… you’re the zebra from the other day, aren’t you?... the one from the cave.”
The unknown stallion smiled as he replied, “Yes, and you are one of an unusual sorts… for when most hold one identity, you hold many. But what is your name, and what your mask?”
Zeil couldn’t help but feel intimidated, the warrior was about the same height as him, but his spear towered over a foot above both their heads. The unknown zebra wore green armor, which covered only a small amount of his body, but left plenty of room for mobility and attacks. Unlike equestrian armor, this seemed to be much thinner without the need for a neck piece or even a helmet. As for the spear, the blade seemed to be a sharpened grey piece of metal that was tied to a long staff that had exotic markings all up and down the shaft. At the point where the blade was connected to the shaft, also hung two phoenix feathers. As for the zebra himself, his colors weren’t like Zecora or Zeil’s shades of grey. He was strait black and white, which made him seem more like a ghost then a zebra.

With the zebra’s appearance completely intimidating Zeil, the stallion noticed the silence so he spoke, “Forgive my rudeness, it would seem unusual for me to ask of your name when I myself haven’t given you mine. My name is Jumb Rafi. At one time, Zebras knew me as Chief Jumb Rafi of the Western Tribe of Zebrica. Although, the title of chief has far escaped me now a days.”
With the stallion seeming less intimidating then before, Zeil replied, “Um… m-my name is Zine…”
The chief chuckled at the name as he replied, “Yes… it most certainly is… although, I feel it better for you to present your real name. You know, the one your changeling mother gave you. I would feel most honored to know you by that name instead, wouldn’t you agree?”
Knowing that his cover was blown, Zeil stood up as he changed into his changeling form and replied, “Oh… well… my name… is… um Zeil.”
The warrior gave Zeil an intrigued look as he began trotting around him looking with curious eyes at the creature in front of him, “Hmm… interesting, I in my youth have never come across such a remarkable one. Then again, Equestria was one of very few nations I traveled to in my life. Tell me if I'm not mistaken, But your name Zeil… would it be spelled, Z, E, I, L?”

Feeling a little uncomfortable about being marveled at by a Zebrican chief, Zeil replied, “Um… yea… it is… why do you ask?”
Chief Rafi smiled, “I just think it funny, that your name spelled backwards is liez. That’s all.”
Feeling a little insulted, Zeil gave the chief an annoyed look, “Gee… thanks…”
Chief Rafi shook his head, “Apologies, I did not mean to offend. I understand that a creature such as yourself must lie in order to survive. However, you seem to be different from the rumors your species has left behind for my brethren to tell. Watching you and your actions with my youngest sister makes me wonder. Why do you act differently from the rest? What… do you seek?”
Feeling a little embarrassed to say, Zeil tried to change the subject, “you’re… Zecora’s older brother?”
Chief Rafi chuckled as he replied, “Sorry, I understand it may seem strange to hear us refer to our fellow tribe zebra as brothers and sisters. But I assure you, Zecora and I are related, although… it’s more of a… distant relation. Nevertheless, you failed to answer my question. Exactly, why is it that a creature who feeds on emotion, would seek to learn magic? And furthermore, why would he seek a spell to attain a placement mark when he so foolishly knows that he merely needs to create one to attain it?”

Zeil continued to try to stall his answer, “I… um… well you see… I need… um…”
Chief Rafi smiled sarcastically as he began trotting past Zeil and replied, “such a foolish action, to seek what can merely be attained with no effort… unless… it isn’t a placement mark you seek… is it? Perhaps, you seek something more. Something that can’t be attained through a simple spell… something… personal.”
Zeil turned around and looked at the clever chief as he replied, “Well, I um… magic can be a useful skill for a changeling… I mea…”
Chief Rafi interrupted, “Yes… it can… although it’s not magic that you seek… you already have that. But… perhaps what you wish for, is… approval…” Rafi turned and looked at Zeil, “The approval… of a mare…”
Zeil blushed as he tried to avert his eyes, “well… I… um…”
“Do not feel modest friend. You’re not the first to fall for the charms of a Zebrican mare. Trust me, the stories I could tell… well that’s beside the point. At any rate, I cannot over look this without concern. You see, Zecora is the last of my family. When her time is done, there will no longer be reason for me to roam this world. You see, Zecora is very strong, however when she first arrived in this kingdom, she was as vulnerable and naive as you. Yet my guidance and protection allowed her to become strong, both physically, mentally, and spiritually.”

Zeil thought to himself for a second before replying, “So… you’re her spiritual guide or something?... but what does that have to do with me? Why are you here? And… this place… is it real?”
Chief Rafi looked away with a serious expression as he replied, “So serious… I'd rather be better acquainted before getting to the point, but… I suppose this day and age allows for impatience. I'm here to both judge you… and perhaps, help.”
Zeil felt confused, “What?... what do you mean?”
Rafi looked across the field at the distant view of Canterlot as he replied, “Changelings are known for deception… but from your actions, I have not seen anything to prove that rumor. From the moment I saw you, I knew there was more to you then what crossed my eyes. The same goes for Zecora. And this was proven when you saw me in that cave.”
“What?”
Rafi smiled as he continued looking at Canterlot, “For a zebra to meditate, is common, but for one to see far beyond is rare. So rare, that some train for years before every laying eyes upon a guiding spirit. Even Zecora meditated for a decade before I was finally revealed to her. You see, only one who is pure and intoned with the will of nature could ever accomplish so much in a short amount of time. Zecora saw it, and I did too. Therefore, my hope is to aid you in your endeavor.”

Feeling unsure, Zeil rubbed his head as he replied, “Endeavor? What endeavor?”
Rafi could only chuckle at the clueless changeling as he turned to Zeil and replied, “Your spell…. I want to show you the spell that at will both test you and… impress Zecora.”
Zeil cold only give Chief Rafi a strange look, “You want to show me a spell… but why?”
Chief Rafi smiled, “Because this task will test both skill… and devotion. To succeed, will mean sacrificing something of value. But do not fear my friend; this sacrifice won’t threaten your life in the least.”
Zeil thought to himself as he replied, “And… is it harmless? I mean will anychan… I mean Zebra get hurt over it?”
Chief Rafi nodded his head as he replied, “Not only will no harm come of this spell, but it will be a spell that bears no regret. Of this, you have my word.”
Zeil thought to himself, he didn’t know if he could trust Rafi, or even if this so-called sacrifice would have any consequences. Nevertheless, he knew it wouldn’t hurt to know what the spell was first, so with a curious nod, Zeil replied, “As long as it’s safe, I can give it a try… what is the spell?”

Chief Rafi smiled peacefully as he looked Zeil in the eye and replied, “Three pages.”
Zeil was confused yet again, “… Wait… what?...”
Rafi repeated himself, “Three pages… the spell book you were reading, turn to the final page, then flip three pages forward. This is the spell you should use. Not only is it harmless, but its effects are more noble then pointless.”
Zeil thought to himself before realizing something important, “Wait… the last chapter of that book were all forbidden spells… you want me to perform a spell that’s forbidden? N-no! No, there is no way in Chrysalis’ domain that I would ever attempt something forbidden! I mean, what would happen if Zecora found out? She would never speak to me again!”
Chief Rafi chuckled as he replied, “You see, that’s the nobility I was admiring. Loyal and dependable, I could ask for no better student for Zecora… or suitor.”
Trying to ignore what could easily be described as flattery, Zeil replied, “Suitor or not, I know what a curse is capable of. And even if it’s to impress Zecora, I will have no part of it.”
Chief Rafi nodded his head, “And you shall have no part of a curse, however this spell is no curse. In fact, if that book were up to date this spell wouldn’t even be considered forbidden.”
Zeil gave the now untrusted stallion a suspicious look, “Not forbidden?... what do you mean?”

Chief Rafi looked into the sky as a flock of phoenix flew overhead, “Tell me Zeil… what is it that makes a spell forbidden?... of Zecora’s teachings, what is it that defines a curse?”
As Zeil looked at the phoenix above he replied, “Well, it’s a spell that bods any kind of harm towards others. Whether it be physical, mental, or intellectual. Any spell that harms another is considered a curse and should never be used unintentionally even if it’s to save one’s self.”
Chief Rafi smiled, “Very good, any spell used to harm others is bad and usually bears ill will to both the victim, and the user… though it isn’t all that classified a curse, oh no, in years long passed, a curse was a spell at which the action, creation, or ingredients would harm the user, or others around him. Therefore, many spells of the past that were forbidden are now just unsuggested.”
Zeil looked back at Chief Rafi as he replied, “Unsuggested?... explain.”
Rafi turned back to Zeil as he replied, “Absolutely. First, I should ask, what are simple ingredients for brewing spells? What ingredients are used most often?”
Zeil thought to himself, “Well there is pollen from most plants. Herbs, feathers are often used…”

Rafi nodded his head as he interrupted, “Yes, plants produce pollen, Herbs are grown, and birds continuously grow feathers. Therefore, using such items in spells are harmless when used in few, but there are some spells that require ingredients that aren’t as easy to come by. For example, the beak of a cockatrices. To receive this, you must first kill the creature, which in our culture is forbidden. So spells that require such things were also considered Forbidden. Even spells that could cure deadly illnesses. To harm another is unjust and unnecessary; this is what I taught to my tribe, and what I managed to teach to the entire nation of Zebrica.”
Zeil gave Chief Rafi a sceptic look, “So… this spell you want me to use… its ingredients are what made it forbidden?”
Chief Rafi nodded his head, “Yes… the spell’s effects aren’t in any way harmful.”
Zeil thought to himself, as he replied, “And… I can do it? It isn’t complex in any way?”
Chief Rafi nodded his head, “If you can bear the cost… then yes.”
Zeil still seemed skeptic, “You say there is a cost… what is it?”
Chief Rafi smiled, “To discover what thrives in the forest, you must first seek it out. In other words, that is something you should discover on your own. Just remember, the choice to do this spell is yours and yours alone. There is no consequence to deny it, although finding another spell will prove to be a challenge in itself. The choice is yours my friend.”
Zeil nodded his head, “Then, I guess I could take a look. It wouldn’t hurt to check first right?”
Chief Rafi smiled, “Then I'll leave that decision to you, and… I wish you luck… Zine.”

With those words, Chief Rafi turned to leave as Zeil stopped him, “Wait…” Rafi paused and looked back as Zeil continued, “If you’re trying to help me, then you already judged me and I apparently passed… right?”
Chief Rafi smiled, “It would appear so.”
Zeil had to asked, “But… why?... you know I’ve been lying from the very start, so why trust me?”
Chief Rafi smiled as he looked over the field and replied, “Centuries ago, there was a great war in this land. And on this very ground, the blood of zebra, griffin, and pony proved too much for any of this grass to grow and thrive. It was on this very soil, that I met a stallion of both great power, and great nobility. Some go entire lifetimes without meeting such noble spirits. You carry the same strength as he. Determined to prove yourself for the one you love. It is this quality that will decide whether you will succeed or fall. Nevertheless, I judged him fairly, just as I judge you. I only hope your story ends better than his.”
Zeil couldn’t help but understand that Chief Rafi knew what was going to happen as he asked, “My story… can I ask?... how will it end? What will happen to Zecora and I?”
Chief Rafi shook his head as he replied, “Nozebra, not even a changeling, should ever know his fate. But I pray that good fortune will smile upon you, and lead you to a prosperous future.”

With those words said, the vision of Chief Rafi vanished as Zeil opened his eyes to find himself laying on the floor of the decrepit bedchambers in his zebra form. As Zeil looked around, he could tell that his balance was broken at some point, but he had no idea how long he was in his trance or even how long ago it was that he fell from his balanced position on the chair. Nevertheless, Zeil wasted no time in putting that matter aside as he rushed to the spell book and flipped to the very back page, before flipping three pages into the back of the forbidden chapter and reading what was on the page. “Hmm… golden Joke? It says that by using qualitied found in its main ingredient, the golden joke will take aspects to the ingredient and attain the same such abilities as the ingredients origin. With it, the poison joke will change colors from its royal blue to a glistening gold. With this, the powers of the poison joke will be neutralized as the plant judges its host and chooses whether or not to yield its magic. In doing so, this plant will gain immortality only till the hosts proves unworthy and ceases the emotion that the plant must sustain to live.”
Smiling at the obvious term, “Judge” Zeil continued reading down to the plants ingredients, “Ok, pollen of a sunflower, silk fibers, rotting wood mold and the main ingredient… W-what?...”

As he looked at the final ingredient that would make up the qualities of the joke itself, Zeil couldn’t believe his eyes. This ingredient was the only reason that this spell was forbidden, and even then, there was no possible way to attain such a thing in the Everfree forest. Zeil closed the book as he thought to himself, “I can’t believe it… this can’t be a simple coincidence…. Could it? If I use it, then I will be making a decision that will change my life forever… but… do I need it anymore?”
Feeling a little troubled with his decision, Zeil turned to the mirror in the room as he trotted to it and sat down while looking at his zebra appearance. Then, Zeil turned sideways as he looked at the stitching on his right side. The wound is now healed, and the stitching was now ready to be removed. However, Zeil couldn’t help but think about his decision as he transformed into his changeling form and observed the scar in this form as well. Both his changeling and zebra form revealed the same thing. A closed scar with stitching still in place. Considering his options, Zeil ran his hoof along the scarred tissue as he mumbled to himself, “There isn’t any need for it anymore… and… if I'm going to stay with Zecora… I'm going to need to get rid of it anyway. I-I'll do it for Zecora.”

With this said, Zeil transformed back into his zebra form as he trotted to his saddlebag and put it on as he trotted out the door, and into the ruins of the castles courtyard. First, he gathered pollen from a few sunflowers that grew what was left of the old castle garden. Then he proceeded to scrape wood mold from a rotting carriage into a small flask. Finally, he approached the silk tapestries of the old castle and began taking a small number of fraying fibers as he placed them into a flask and returned to the master bedchambers. With all ingredients gathered, he opened the book and looked over the instructions, “Ok… first I have to grind all the ingredients up while mixing water in it. Then when it turns into a paste I need to let it dry, then grind it into a fine powder. But first, I need to cut out small sections and add it to the bowl…”
A little hesitant, Zeil reached into his saddlebag as he pulled out a small cutting blade and his severed wing. Then as he spread the thin insect like wing on the table, he mumbled to himself, “Well, this settles it… I will never fly again. But… as long as I'm here. I don’t need to.”
With his mind made up, Zeil griped the blade as tightly as he could as he ran it across his wing and began cutting it into small pieces before placing them into the mixing bowl.

Shining Armor and Twilight sparkle were making their way through Trottingham as two Royal Guards dragged a struggling Blue unicorn to them as the pony yelled, “Let me go! I was doing anything wrong! If jaywalking is that big a crime then I'll pay the ticket just let me go!”
As the three approached Shining Armor, he spoke, “Is this him?”
One of the guards replied, “Yes your majesty, locals are saying that he traveled into town just last week. He had a doctor patch his unexplained wounds then began gathering supplied to head north.”
Shining Armor looked at the struggling unicorn as the captive spoke, “I'm just passing through! I got injured the other day when I got caught in a rock slide and now I need to get home to my wife and foals!”
Shining Armor replied with a sceptic tone, “Really? Where are you from?”
Without missing a beat, the unicorn replied, “Kestrel… in the Griffin Kingdoms.”
Shining Armor spoke again, “You said you have a wife and foal, what are their names?”
The unicorn replied with no hesitation, “Rose Marry, and my fillies name is Cinnamon.”

Shining Armor then nodded his head as he replied, “Ya don’t say… so, what is your name then?”
The unicorn replied, “My name is Oregano….”
Shining Armor looked at the unicorn’s cutiemark, which was a mixing bowl, then looked back as he replied, “So… I'm guessing you’re a baker aren’t you?”
The unicorn gave him a funny look as he replied, “A chef… actually…”
Shining Armor gave a fake smiled as he replied, “Alright then… it would seem you check out… guards. Let him go.”
Feeling a little confused, the two guards looked at each other then released the unicorn as he stood up straight and wiped the dust from his coat as he replied, “Thank you your majesty… I'm glad to see that at least one Royal Guard still has common since.”
Shining Armor held his fake smiled as he reached into a pocket under his armor and replied, “Don’t mention it, anyway I have to ask, that rock slide the other day, was it this kind of rock that hit you?”

With that asked Shining Armor pulled out a small shard of an everstone as he handed it to the unicorn and gave him a few seconds to look at it. Confused as to what type of stone he was carrying Oregano looked at the stone and replied, “I… I don’t think so… but then again I didn’t get a good look a…”
Before Oregano could finish his sentence, the yellowish stone in his hoof began glowing with a bright intensity as the unicorns hoof started changing colors. First, the hoof turned from its bluish tint, to a jet black. Then holes started to appear on the hoof as the transformation started spreading from his hoof in a wave fashion until every part of the pony’s body had turned back into its original changeling form. Shocked at what happened the discovered changeling dropped the stone and looked at Shining Armor “W-What is?... How?”
Shining Armor’s smile went from fake to sinister as he replied, “You said foals at first… I only asked for the name of your foal… no self-respecting father would say he had two foals, but only named off one. Attention to detail changeling. Guards, arrest him!”
Almost immediately, the two guards who released the changeling mere seconds ago, grabbed him and pinned him to the ground as the changeling struggled, “You… you tricked me! That wasn’t very pony like!”
Shining Armor replied, “To catch a changeling, you sometimes have to act like one. Twily? Can you please open the portal?”

Though this was a side of her brother that she didn’t want to see, Twilight nodded her head as she used her magic to open a portal right beside her. As twilight stepped away from the portal Shining Armor, the guards and their captive moved closer to the portal as the changeling looked into the portal and spoke, “What’s that!?! What’s going on! Why did you open a portal!?! What do you plan to do with me!?!”
Shining Armor looked at the changeling and replied, “We are sending you back where you came from… as far away from Equestria as possible. The Land of the Black sand!”
The changeling looked into the portal and could see the endless black desert that awaited on the other side, “What!?! N-NO! No, you can’t! Please No!”
The changeling tried struggling to get free as Shining Armor grabbed the changeling by his horn and looked him into the eye with an angry expression as he whispered, “Really?... and what makes you think I'm going to stop now?”
With no need to shout the changeling replied, “The Land of the Black Sand is a death trap… you might as well execute me now. It will save me the suffering.”

Intrigued Shining Armor asked, “Really? And why is that?”
Still keeping his voice down the changeling replied, “Nothing can survives out there… there is no food, no water, no life of any kind. And when the sun comes out, it’s like standing in an oven. The temperature can easily reach two hundred degrees. If given the choice, I'd rather go to Tartarus.”
With that heard, Shining Armor smiled sinisterly as he replied, “Then I’ll sleep like a baby tonight.”
Looking at the evil look on Shining Armor’s eye, the changeling could see a kind of greenish color in his pupil as he replied, “What?... no… it can’t be… you still…”
Before the changeling could finish, Shining Armor backed away as he spoke to his guards, “Throw him in! Make sure he doesn’t escape!”
With that said, Shining Armor turned and trotted away from the struggling changeling and towards his sister as the changeling spoke, “NO! NO DON’T PLEASE!!! I BEG YOU!”
When Shining Armor approached his sister, he stopped and turned back to his guards and watched the two Royal guards dragged the changeling to the base of the portal as they both reared back and tossed the helpless creature through it and watched him hit the ground on the other side.

Trying to act quickly, the changeling shuffled to his hooves and sprinted towards the portal only to have it close, before he could reach it. With the portal vanishing on their side, Twilight looked at Shining Armor as she asked, “So what was it you said when you got close to him? I couldn’t hear.”
Shining Armor smiled as he replied, “I asked him if he knew where his queen was… that’s all.”
Twilight gave him a look of anticipation as she replied, “And?...”
Shining Armor turned away as he replied, “He said that he didn’t know, but they would probably go to the Land of the Black sand to regroup.”
Twilight seemed a little skeptic about Shining Armor’s answer, although she trusted her brother so she only nodded her head as she slowly followed behind him as they began leaving the area. As Shining Armor continued trotting, a faint green appeared in his pupil as he thought to himself, “If the Land of the Black Sand truly is a death trap, then I'll sent them there… I'll send them all there.”

Ch6 I Am An Enchanter

“OW!!!”
Zecora giggles as she continued removing the stiches and replied, “Don’t be a foal Zine, the pain will soon end, you whined a lot less, when these stiches went in.”
Zeil Cringed as Zecora pulled the next thread out, then he replied, “Well you numbed me up pretty good with that past stuff so I didn’t feel it, now it feels like I can feel every fiber of thread as you pull them ouoOOWWE!...”
Laughing at his pain changed word, Zecora placed the small piece of thread into a bowl as she wiped the blood from his wound, “It’s quite alright Zine, I can say you’ve had worse. You’re just lucky that I make a good nurse.”

With the final stich now removed from his wound, Zeil turned and placed a wet rag against the wound as Zecora turned away, “No longer is this wound revealed, and now from that accident, all wounds are healed.”
Zeil nodded his head as he replied, “yea… but… there is… no… never mind.”
Though Zeil changed his words without bringing suspicion to himself, he still felt a little guilty that Zecora didn’t know why he was injured to begin with. Nevertheless, Zeil remembered something as he looked at Zecora and spoke, “hey Zecora? Can you give me my saddlebag? I left it over by the door.”
Zecora nodded her head as she trotted to the bag, picked it up and returned it to Zeil as he opened it and looked inside.

As soon as he confirmed what was inside, Zeil looked back at Zecora and spoke, “Zecora? I know we are supposed to have another lesson on magic today, but I was wondering. If it’s alright with you, I think today we should just skip the lessons. Mainly because… I… um… I want to show you something.”
Zecora gave Zeil a curious look as she asked, “Skip a lesson, I don’t quite mind, but some knowledge still I'd hope to find. No lessons yesterday, and today to add, if we play hooky too often, then it could prove bad.”
Zeil nodded his head as he replied, “well, it isn’t like what I have to show you doesn’t involve what you have been teaching me, but… well, you’ll have to see for yourself when we get there.”
Zecora was confused, “there?... Where?”
Zeil smiled, “It’s a surprise, but one that will be beneficial. Just follow me and I'll explain when we arrive.

With that said Zeil put the saddlebag on as he trotted to the door and pushed it open in an inviting manor. Curious as to what he was up to, Zecora followed as they both left her home and began trotting up the trail. As they trotted town the trail towards their destination, Zeil decided to make small talk as they continued, “So um… how was your trip to Ponyville yesterday?”
Zecora smiled as she replied, “So pleasant was my visit to town. I always enjoy it when I go down.”
Zeil nodded his head as he replied, “yea… well I'm glad. I'll admit that thing were dull here while you were gone. Without your lessons, i had a hard time finding ways to kill my time.”
Zecora smiled, “you are my best student, and proven quite keen. A day’s rest was deserved, according to what I’ve seen.”

Zeil smiled as he replied to the complement, “well I'm your only student, so, basically you’re saying that I won first place in a race against myself... I guess that makes sense. I'd be sad if I got third wouldn’t it?”
Giggling at his joke Zecora replied, “You may not be a wizard, but you are quite good. I bet in time, you’ll be better than most should.”
Zeil turned to his trail as he replied with a complementing tone, “Well… I have the best teacher I could ask for.”
Blushing slightly at his words, Zeil continued looking away as Zecora smiled and replied, “It’s because of you, that this statement is true.”

Without looking at each other, Zeil and Zecora both blushed slightly as the two made it to the end of the trail which lead them directly to a clearing where a large patch of Poison Joke grew. As the two looked across the large field of Blue glowing plants, Zecora stopped and watched as Zeil took a few extra steps and turned to her as he spoke, “Um… Z-Zecora… I have a bit of a confession to make.” Zecora’s Expression grew anxious as Zeil continued, “well… I have been studying hard on every lesson you have given me, from meditation to simple mixture, even complex step like how to track down certain plants for ingredients. Well, what I'm trying to say is. Yesterday I continued studying without your guidance, and I think I have what it takes to complete my first complex spell.”

After hearing Zeil’s so called Confession, Zecora gave a simple and somewhat disappointed sigh as she replied, “an action unwasted, for practice makes perfect. You skill can be disposed, if you decide to neglect.”
Zeil nodded his head, as he replied, “I agree, and as I said, I discovered a spell yesterday that will prove that your training is paying off. Last night I gathered the ingredients and mixed them together, completing the preparation phase. But… I wanted you to be here when I complete this spell. That way, you will be able to whiteness my first real spell. All I ask, is that you stand aside and let me do this myself.”
Zecora smiled as she nodded her head, “Since this spell is yours, then I'll stay uninvolved, plus I'm interested to see, how your talent evolved. Continue with the spell, and I will stand back. I'm quite excited to see what comes of this pact.”

Zeil smiled at the trust Zecora showed as he nodded his head and replied, “Thanks Zecora. I appreciate it.”
With that said, Zeil looked back at the field as he took off his saddlebag, sat it on the ground and reached inside. When he found what he was looking for, Zeil pulled out the small vial of a strange yellowish powder as he closed the flap on his saddlebag, and looked back at the field with a hopeful sigh, “well, here goes…”
Zeil then approached a poison joke that seemed to grow just a few feet from the rest of the patch. As he approached, Zeil looked at the poison joke as he started to take mental notes of the plant. Like most poison jokes, the blooming part of the plant grew only a foot from the soil below with four large blue leaves on the outside surrounded four smaller leaves on the inside all of which resembled pedals on a flower.

Standing before the Mysterious magical plant, Zeil pulled the small cork form the top of the veil in his hooves as he poured the powdery substance into one hoof and looked down at it. With yet another bracing sigh, Zeil looked back at the poison joke as he flung the powder over the plant as the dusty powder slowly settled on each leaf of the small mischievous plant. Then with a little worry on his mind, Zeil took a step back and started waiting for something to happen. As he stood there watching what he hoped would be his first real spell, Zecora trotted up beside him as she sat down and watched with anticipation. However, it was almost a full minute of inactivity before Zeil sighed as he began to speak, “Darn… I knew it seemed too easy. I guess this just proves that I'm not very lu…”
Before Zeil could finish, The small blue plant’s leaves started to shack as they made a very faint rustling sound..

Curious as to what was happening; both Zeil and Zecora stepped closer to the poison joke as they watched the blue plant’s leaves begin to wither as if the plant was dying. However, as the leaves shriveled to their smallest point, they slowly began changing colors from their mischievous blue, to a plant like green, then to a golden yellow. With a curious stare, the two watched as the now golden plant began springing back to life, as its leaves began redeveloping to their normal shape. Until the now golden joke looked as if it were full of life. Zeil and Zecora both smiled at the golden glow that the plant gave off, noticing that it looked almost exactly like a normal poison joke, with only the color making a difference.

As they marveled at the transformed plant, Zeil smiled as he spoke, “I-it it worked… the Poison Joke… is now gold.”
Zecora started to speak, “I never though in my day, that a beauty like this co…”
Before Zecora could finish something caught their eyes as the closest poison joke to them, began shaking as the lone golden joke did just seconds ago. As the two started to look around, they noticed that now all the poison jokes that were around them began shaking as the first one began withering just like the one they observed before. Then one by one, as if it were a wave of transformation, the poison jokes around them began shriveling up before turning gold and reviving in a golden glow that changed the entire atmosphere of the field, leaving behind no hint of a blue in its wake.

With Zecora looking at the surrounding sight in awe, Zeil looked back at the first golden joke that completed its transformation as he raised his hoof to cradle the joke’s leaves and whispered, “Alright… now I just need to be accepted. Ok, I know you don’t owe me anything but I'll ask you… Please, accept me.”
As Zeil’s hoof touched the bottom of the Golden jokes leaves, he could feel an unusual tingling feeling in his hoof as his zebra like hoof began slowly turning to a black color as a hole began appearing on it, exposing its true form just slightly. Worried that Zecora could see, Zeil turned to look at her and realized that she was too focused on the surroundings to see what was happening so he turned back to the plant and continued whispering, “Please… I'm not asking because I think I'm worthy… I'm asking, for her sake. I want you to accept us… because… I care about her. And, I ask that you accept me… for Zecora… please.”

With a begging expression on his face, Zeil cradled the Golden Jokes Bloom as a short hesitation took place before the joke began changing his hoof back to its zebra form in a manner that showed that his request was accepted. With a relieved smiled as he replied, “thank you…”
then with an unusual sizzling sound, the base of the poison Jokes stem began melting away as the flower separated its stem from its roots and fell entirely into Zeil’s hoof. Confused as to what the golden joke did, Zeil looked at it as he began hearing a strange and faint voice as if somezebra were whispering into his ear, “… for… her… gift…”
Feeling as if there was another presence in the area, Zeil looked around in confusion, but when he saw that Zecora was still marveling at the changed environment, and that nothing else was in the area, he looked back at the poison joke and spoke, “Are… Are you talking to me?”
Feeling like he may have lost his mind, Zeil looked back at the golden joke as the voice replied, “Gift… gift for… her…”

When Zeil herd the voice a second time, he realized what it meant as he turned to Zecora who was still looking at the change in their surroundings. Without saying anything Zeil approached Zecora as Zecora looked at him and smiled with excitement, “Your spell is amazing, I have to agree, it’s nothing expected, nor enchanted by me.”
Zeil smiled as he replied, “Here…”
With curiosity, Zecora held still as Zeil reached up and tucked the Golden joke behind her ear so that the golden Plant could be seen by anyzebra who looked at her. Then Zeil took a few steps back and looked at the flowerlike plant as he spoke, “Zecora, I want you to have this. Consider it thanks, for everything. You saved my life when we first met; you gave me supplied to travel home. You agreed to teach me magic. You showed me a world that I never would have realized, Timberwolves, Manticore, meditation, harmony amongst all living things. And… you showed me more kindness then my tribe ever did. Zecora… I…” Zeil Hesitated a few seconds, “Just… Thanks…”
Blushing slightly Zecora placed her hoof on one of the Golden Joke’s leaves, as she replied, “no need to thank me, from what I can see. You’re much more unique then what’s in the Everfree. You neutralized the joke, or its magic to know. It isn’t mischievous at all, and has a beautiful glow.”

Zeil smiled with pride as he replied, “The poison joke, is now a Golden Joke. Rather than gaining its nutrients through the soil, it gains it from a host, but not like a leech or anything. It feeds off of feeling. Anger, frustration, joy, and… even love.”
At that moment Zeil looked away in embarrassment as Zecora’s face began turning red, “L-lo…”
Zeil interrupted, “because of this, the golden joke will no longer use its magic as a way to torment others. Instead, it harness the emotions of the host and grants itself immortality until the host stops feeling the emotion it chooses to live through.”
When she heard this, Zecora smiled at what Zeil accomplished, “Amazing and still, a spell to change will. So keen the magic of the central tribe. So, mysterious, yet hard to describe.”

After hearing that remark, Zeil’s Expression went from proud to disappoint as he replied, “Oh… yea… Central tribe… right.”
With his change in enthusiasm completely visible, Zecora gave him a concerned look as she spoke, “Zine?... what’s wrong? It seems well known; you don’t act yourself, when I talk of your home.”
Zine tried to think of an excuse, “Well… I um… ya see…”
Zecora sighed as she continued, “Zine… I know… there is no central tribe. I only played along, since you barely survived.”
Zeil looked at Zecora in shock as his heart skipped a beat, “Wh-what?... y-you know I'm not…”
Zecora raised her hoof to silence him, “Worry not Zine. I know you have grounds, to hide your origin from other towns. You see when I arrived, in Equestria I mean. All the ponies would flee as soon as I’m seen. I tried to convince them, to no avail in the end. But then something changed… I made a good friend. No, matter my face, my look or my glance. He treated me as normal, he gave me a chance. it’s because of this lesson, that I value this friend. And though he isn’t here, I know in the end. For zebra like us, those with a different face. We must stick together, or no chance will be given to this place. Your reason for the fib, I do not need to know. But you have my trust. And that’s less then what I owe.”

As Zecora gave him a pleasant smile, Zeil stood speechless. He could tell that Zecora still thought he was a zebra since she only mentioned that part about the central tribe, but all the rest that she said made him wonder. If Zecora had problems fitting into a pony kingdom, then he and she were more alike than he realized. And to make it worse, after calling him out on his lie, she could only stand there giving him a cute smile with no worries of the truth or even a question about his real past. As he stood speechless, Zecora felt a little awkward about his silence so she looked at the sky and started turning towards the nearest path, “It looks like it’s getting late we better re…”
Before she could turn completely away, Zecora paused and Zeil reached out and place his hoof on her shoulder stopping her in both her actions and her statement. When Zecora looked back, Zeil sighed as he looked her in the eye and spoke, “Zecora… it’s true… I'm not from the central tribes of Zebrica… in fact, I'm not from Zebrica at all. I came from a kingdom far beyond Zebrica… or… it used to be a Kingdome. Now, it’s a wasteland.”

Feeling Zecora’s curious gaze on him, Zeil took his hoof from her shoulder as he looked into the field of surrounding Golden Jokes and continued, “The place where I came from, used to be called the Marble Oasis. But… that was befor, my swa… Tribe arrived. You see, my tribe has no real name, but we were despised no matter where we went. And when we arrived at the Marble Oasis, it was the same story. That place was a city of camels. They worked hard and managed to turn what seemed to be a black sand desert into a livable oasis with everything needed for survival. Water, food, anything that could stand the desert heat was available for all. Well… almost all. When we arrived they tried to send us away. They said that we were a desolate species that would bring doom upon them all. So being devoted in saving our tribe, our que… I mean Chieftess sought to use her dark magic to take hold of the Camels minds and have them give us food by force. Unfortunately,… it ended badly. She was able to manipulate their minds, but after her magic wore off, it…”
“It effected them harshly, for a spell on the mind, will unravel its values, and disturb its lines.”
Zeil gave Zecora a curious look as he asked, “Y-yea… but how?...”

Zecora looked at Zine and replied, “A spell on any mind, is also a curse. Forbidden to all, for its effects are much worse. We must avoid this magic, at any and all cost. For those who use and are used, will surely be lost.”
Zeil nodded his head, “that’s exactly what happened. Nevertheless, this effected their emotions. Simple feelings such as joy and sorrow were overzealous and caused the camels to lose control. Simple irritation turned to full-blown and destructive rage. Laughter would cause the camels to lose their sanity. And sorrow… well, let’s just say it ties in with suicide. Before we knew it, the entire kingdom was at each other’s throats… and soon, those throats began cutting one another.”
Zeil looked at the ground in shame as Zecora put her hoof over her mouth in disbelief. With his tone telling the rest, Zeil continued, “one by one… the camels began killing one another, then before we knew it, the rest filled with sorrow, ended their own lives, leaving no survivors. With no knowledge of preserving the paradise that they created, the Oasis dried up. the plants died, the wells were dry, and with nothing living out there, we too started to suffer. It was only a matter of time that we had no choice but to leave that desolate place. Now there is nothing out there. No food, no water, no life of any kind. Just emptiness… and death.”
Zecora sat down in disbelief as she started to speak, “I… I didn’t think… I mean I didn’t know. Your tribe’s dark past, it couldn’t be so…”

Continuing to look away, Zeil sighed as he replied to Zecora’s disbelief, “It’s true… and we tried to change our ways. The Cheiftess said that in order to prevent this from happening again, she would only take control of one mind instead of many… but… I know that, that’s not the point. She shouldn’t use magic to control others. Now that I know magic myself, I know that it should never be used like that. And… that’s why I’m never going back. What we did was unforgivable… and it took somezebra like you to show me that. Zecora… I want to stay here in Equestria. I don’t want to leave. If… if I'm going to make up for the wrong my tribe did… it can only be done here.”
As Zeil looked away Zecora could see tears gathering in his eyes as she trotted up and placed her hoof on his shoulder, “It’s not what you did, or how you lived your past, but its what you intend to do, and how long it will last. So long that you’re determined, then I'm willing to assist, and make up for your pain and the sins on your list. If you so truly plea, to stay here in the Everfree. Then I won’t mind, if you stay here with m…”
As Zecora stopped herself in mid-sentence, she realized what she was about to say as she blushed slightly and rephrased, “I mean… well um… from what I can tell. There is no need, for you to say farewell.”

As Zeil liked at Zecora in curiosity, he couldn’t help but know what she was about to say as he smiled and replied, “Zecora… I… um… Thanks… again. I think I owe you even more now.”
Zecora placed her hoof on the Golden Joke that was behind here ear as she replied, “no need for more. This spell is surely enough. I'll cherish it always, even if I'm not into this stuff. With a spell like this, your future looks bright, now we must begin our return. Cuz it will soon be night.”
Zeil looked at the sky above as he realized that Zecora was right so he nodded his head as he replied, “Sure… I'll trot you home. It would be my way of thanking you yet again for everything you’ve done for me.”
With a smile on their face, the two began trotting side by side as they began their trot back to Zecora’s house. On their trail back, Zecora told Zeil of her time in the northern tribes of Zebrica, even though her ancestors were from the Western Tribes. And even though Zeil never once mentioned the fact that he was a changeling or even created his cutiemark like he intended on doing, he and Zecora enjoyed their conversation as the two continued back to her home.

When the two finally arrived, Zecora stopped at her front door as she turned to Zeil and spoke, “well, here we are, it didn’t seem that far. But I had a good time… well good night Zine.”
Zeil smiled as he replied, “I'll um… see you tomorrow for another lesson then. Sorry I took up today with getting my stiches removed and my slightly depressing past. I hope I can make it up to you somehow.”
Zecora shook her head, “no, its fine. This day was quite fun, and with your spell, it was second to none. In fact, for your lessons, we should take a quick breather. And meet up tomorrow, to enjoy a little leisure.”
Basically understanding that they would just be taking time away from his lessons, Zeil smiled as he replied, “that sound fine with me. I know I need to get better at my magic, but if you think a few days without is fine, then who am I to question my teacher. Well… um… Good night Zecora.”
Giving a gracious smile, Zecora nodded her head as she slowly opened the door and stepped inside. Then she gently closed the door behind her as she turned to the center of her home, and placed her hoof on the golden joke that was behind her ear. Then with a smile that said, “I'm in love” Zecora continued trotting into her home to prepare for the night.

Outside her door, Zeil stood there feeling every bit of emotion radiating from Zecora as he turned away from her door and mumbled to himself, “She… she accepts me… even after I lied, she doesn’t mind me being here with her. And… she really does have feelings for me. but…
Zeil looked at his flank as he mumbled, “darn I forgot to make my placement mark like I intended on doing tonight… no matter. I'll meet her with one tomorrow. Maybe she won’t notice. But what should I create… a spell book? A glass veil?... wait, I know the perfect shape.”
With very little concentration, Zeil focused on his flank as small lined that resembled his striped started to appear and slowly shape themselves until they took the form of an outlined Golden Joke. Then with this new pictograph on his flank Zeil smiled, “There, now at least until I tell her the truth… I am an official Enchanter. I just wonder how much longer I can keep this up… I'm getting in too deep. If I continue this… it could be bad. I'll just hold out a little while longer… three days. After that… I'll tell her the truth… or, I’ll leave…”

Back in Canterlot, Shining Armor was training with his soldier in the castle courtyard as Princess Celestia stood on the balcony watching from high above. As she stood there watching Shining Armor yell at his soldiers, Princess Cadence and Twilight entered the room, “Um Princess Celestia? Might we have a word?”
Princess Celestia turned to the two ponies’ as she smiled “Of course; I always have time for my fellow princesses and my most faithful student. What is it you want to talk about?”
As the two trotted closer, Twilight spoke, “it’s about Shining Armor.”
All of a sudden, Princess Celestia’s expression became serious as she looked over the balcony and replied, “I see, then you’ve noticed it too.”
Princess Cadence continued, “It’s hard to miss it, Ever since the wedding Shining Armor has been acting differently than normal.”
Twilight spoke next, “I agree, since the wedding he’s been over reacting to almost everything. Yesterday a guard was late on his usual report and Shining Armor nearly screamed his head off with rage. I’ve never seen him so furious at the smallest thing.”
Princess Cadence added, “not only that, he has been so caught up in this changeling hunt that he hasn’t even given me time to ask about our honeymoon. In fact lately it seems like he is avoiding me altogether.”

Princess Celestia nodded her head as she replied, “I agree, I told him to take a few days off this week, but no matter what I do, he seems to show up every day as if our conversation never happened. It’s common for him to get obsessed with his job, but not enough to overlook his life outside of work.”
Twilight asked, “Do you think it might have something to do with what happened at the wedding?”
Princess Celestia shook her head, “no, whatever it is, it’s digging far deeper than his hatred towards changelings. For now, I'm going to call off the changeling search. It will make him angry, but I need to minimize his duties for a while to confirm what’s wrong with him. Maybe, I'll give him a special task. Something to keep him occupied until he has had time to relax.”
Princess Cadence nodded her head, “we will help too, as his wife and sister, we need to support him however way we can.”
Princess Celestia nodded her head, “alright, I'll leave his care in your hooves. Try to keep a close eye on him so that he won’t force his mind back on this subject. Twilight, I'll leave discovery of the problem in your hooves. If this is something deeper than a thirst for revenge, then I will leave its discovery and the solution to you.”
Twilight nodded her head, “I'll do what I can your majesty.”

As princess Celestia looked down at Shining Armor as the angry soldier was standing there yelling at the top of his lungs at his soldier, “YOU CALL THAT A BLOCK!!! I’VE SEEN ROAD KILL MOVE FASTER THEN THAT!!!”
Seeing the terrified look on the soldiers face Princess Celestia sighed, “I better step in before he gives that poor guard post-traumatic stress.”
With an annoyed sigh, Princess Celestia stepped off the balcony and began gliding down into the courtyard as Twilight looked at cadence and spoke, “I'm going to the library, I'll start my search at sporadic mood swings and work my way from there, what about you?”
Princess Cadence nodded her head, “I'll work with the princess, and see if I can establish some sort of special training for the guards. As long as I prevent him from killing them, it should be a good way to distract Shining Armor form this changeling mess. If I discover anything I'll let you know.”
Twilight nodded her head, “thanks I hope we can find this problem before it gets out of hoof.”

Ch7 I Am in Love

The sky was in complete overcast as both Zeil and Zecora balanced themselves on staffs high above a calm shallow stream. With them both trapped in a meditative trance, the area was quiet, as the only sounds that could be heard was the gentle flow of the stream below them. As they meditated, both Zeil and Zecora could see the flow of everything around them, however, as Zeil focused, he started to see something that Zecora couldn’t. A familiar vision began stepping out of the trees around them as he made his way to the water’s edge. Recognizing the figure as soon as he saw it, Zeil watched as Chief Rafi approached the edge of the water wielding his spear. With a mischievous smile on his face, Chief Rafi steped out onto the water and began walking across it as if the water was a solid surface. As Chief Rafi approached the meditating enchanters, he raised his spear up with one hoof and spun it around rearing back before holding parallel to the water’s surface. Then with one final glance at Zeil, Rafi’s smirk got slightly bigger, before he swung the spear with all his might, in an attempt to knock the staff out from under Zeil’s body.

Out of reflex, Zeil opened his eyes and tried to react, however Chief Rafi’s spear didn’t actually touch the staff at all, it was Zeil’s reflex and break in concentration that caused the unbalanced zebra to fall from his staff and into the water below. After the loud splash, Zeil picked himself out of the water as he shook his head off and rubbed it in irritation, “Rafi… you jerk…”
All of a sudden as he was looking into the water, Zeil could hear giggling as he looked up at Zecora who was trying her hardest to hold back, both her smile, and her laughing expression.

When he saw this, Zeil felt a little embarrassed, but then as he looked into the water, he smiled when he noticed that the staff he was balancing on was floating and pressed against Zecora’s. Acting casual, Zeil reached for his staff as if he were going to try to reclaim his meditating position, however as soon as he gripped it, Zeil pressed it against Zecora’s. Before she knew it, Zecora’s staff began leaning until it fell out from under her causing the enchantress to fall into the water with the same humorous splash as her pupil before her. After hitting the water, Zecora quickly surfaced as she coughed a few times from her unexpected fall. Then with her soaked mane draped over her face, Zecora gave Zeil an incredibly annoyed stare as he covered his mouth trying to hold in his laughter at the humorous sight. Sadly, he could only hold it for a mere moment, before Zeil exploded in a fit of laughter that easily broke the silence in the atmosphere around them. Though she managed to keep her agitation through the first few seconds of his laughter, Zecora couldn’t help but to start chuckling herself as her annoyed expression faded and she too began laughing at the situation they just went through.

Before long through his laughter, Zeil looked down at the water as he saw something floating by, “oh… don’t want to lose this.”
With his laughter fading into a satisfied smile, Zeil reached into the water and picked up a golden joke as he held it towards Zecora and spoke, “Here, you almost lost this.”
When she saw what Zeil was holding she reached up and touched her ear realizing that it was gone as she replied, “Oh, the joke, I would not have seen. I'm glad you saw it before it drifted down stream.”
With a node, Zeil replied, “well I did give it to you; it would be a shame if you lost it the very next day right?”
Zecora nodded her head as she reached up to take the Golden joke from Zeil, but as she did, her hoof touched his as the two made eye contact and paused. It could have been the fact that they had feelings for one another and tried to hide them, or it could have been a side effect from both their contact with the golden joke. Nevertheless, for a brief moment, the two stared into each other’s eyes without a word, until the moment was broken as a random drop of rain fell from the sky and hit Zecora on her muzzle causing her to flinch.

With the moment broken, both Zecora and Zeil looked to the sky as the overcast clouds above began dropping light rain onto the area. With the rain making little difference to their already soaked mane and coat, the two looked back at each other as Zeil spoke, “well… I guess we should head back.”
Zecora nodded her head as she took the Golden joke from Zeil, and tucked it back behind her ear where it was sitting prior to her fall. Then both Zeil and Zecora trotted out of the stream and began trotting back to Zecora’s hut.

As the two continued on their path, the sprinkling rain started to let up almost completely as Zeil looked up and spoke, “ya know, if I didn’t know any better, I'd say the weather pegasi are playing tricks on us. Don’t they usually warn those in the area about incoming rain?”
Zecora shook her head, “No pegasi trick, none that you’d see. Since no pegasi work here in the Everfree.”
Zeil gave Zecora a confused look, “really? Then… how is it raining?”
Zecora smiled, “This forest holds wonders, far stranger than most. This land moves naturally, with no need for a host. I think it’s that reason why I enjoy this forest most.”
Zeil gave Zecora a curious look as he asked, “So… that’s why you live out here? All by yourself?”
Zecora nodded her head, “this forest holds peace, in its natural wood walls. From the simple woods, to the crushing falls. It moves on its own, with no need for you or me… that my dear Zine is why it’s called Ever-free.”

Zeil nodded his head but he was still concerned, “It makes a lot of sense… but aren’t you lonely here?”
Zecora shook her head, “I travel to town, and sometimes they to me, so very few days go by with nopony to see. I'd think with your mark, that you would know the magic here, and see through the emptiness that most others fear.”
Zeil looked back at his placement mark as he replied, “you mean… being alone. I guess my mark is still a little fresh so I didn’t see what you’re talking about right away… but… still… I… I just think it isn’t right. You being out here alone like this.”
Zecora smiled, “I appreciate your concern, though, from what I believe, I'm not alone right now… unless… you intent to leave?”
Zeil chuckled a little as he continued, “well, I'm not going anywhere any time soon… but.. Still… I… um…”
Zecora looked down the trail with a pleased sigh as she replied, “thank you Zine, but I'm find to say the least, and I…”

Suddenly Zecora was interrupted as the lit drizzle of sprinkling rain suddenly started falling with more vigor as the trail ahead started to become hazy with the mist falling from the rains impact with the treetops above. With the trail becoming harder and harder to see, Zeil looked around and yelled through the sound of the surrounding rain, “It’s no use! I can’t see the trail anymore! We need to find shelter! We can wait it out then try later!”
Zecora nodded her head as she looked right off the trail and pointed, “There Zine! That should be fine!”
Zeil looked of the trail at a cave entrance as he replied, “That should do! Let’s get inside fast!”
Without wasting a second, Zeil and Zecora rushed to the small cave as the thickening rain continued to fall around them. As the two entered the cave, Zecora shook herself off as Zeil looked at the cave’s appearance, like the one in the manticore territories; the cave seemed completely natural with stalagmites and stalactites on both the ground and ceiling.

After looking at the cave, the sound of the intensifying white noise made by the rain outside drew his eyes to the caves entrance as everything outside seemed to vanish amongst the increasing rain and mist. When he saw this, Zeil sighed as he spoke, “well… looks like we are stuck here for a while. This rain isn’t going to let up anytime soon is it?”
Zecora smiled as she replied, “be patient Zine, it’s common to say, think of it as water washing problems away.”
Zeil trotted to Zecora and sat down beside her as he replied, “well… I guess when you put it that way… then again, the storm is still bad out there, and it will be dark soon… not to mention, how soaked we are.”

Zecora placed her hoof on her dripping mane that was draped across the side of her face as she replied, “As soaked as we are, I do not see it a curse. As you know very well, things could be much worse.”
At that moment, Zeil looked at Zecora who was running her hoof through her wet mane as he started to see an appeal in her current appearance. Her glistening wet coat, along with her mane draped across one side of her face with the Golden joke exposed on the other side gave out an attraction that made Zeil feel somewhat awkward. Trying to prevent bad thoughts from crossing his mind, Zeil looked out the cave entrance into the rain as he cleared his throat and replied, “Yea… I… um… I guess you’re right…”
With his blushing face far too noticeable, Zecora could only give him a hopeless smirk as she also turned her attention to the falling rain without the need for a reply.

As the two looked into the falling mist and rain of the outside storm, Zeil couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. Not only was Zecora more appealing to him at this very moment, but another thought was pressing on his mind; a thought that this moment was the perfect time to tell her the truth. As he sat beside her, Zeil felt at conflict with himself as he held an argument against his own mind. “I need to tell her…” “No, wait for the perfect time” “This is the perfect time” “But what if she hates me for it?” “What if she finds out another way and hates me even more?”
With these conflicting thoughts on his mind, Zeil could only place his hoof on his head as he tried to come to a decision. When he did this, Zecora could see his action out the corner of her eye, however she merely assumed his conflicting thoughts were on another topic so she just sat quietly and looked into the storm as she waited patiently for his decision.

However, as the seconds flew by, so did a cold wind as it came from the inner depths of the cave, flew by the two, and exited into the storm. With her coat still damp, Zecora had a sudden chill from the passing wind as Zeil noticed this and stepped closer to her as he pressed his body against hers and spoke, “It’s… um… it’s a little cold in here… I um… I wouldn’t want you to get sick cuz… w-well… y-you know...”
Though she felt a little awkward about it, Zecora still smiled peacefully as she leaned against him and played along, “Thank you Zine for your charitable act. I know too well how a sickness could impact.”
as Zecora leaned against him, Zine could feel his heart begin to race with anxiety, not only did this seem a little unusual, but his mind was still in a conflict about whether or not he should tell her about his changeling heritage. Though she could feel his heart race, Zecora ignored it as she continued waiting for him to say what was truly on his mind.

It took him a few more second of silence before Zeil finally came to a decision as he sighed to brace himself before speaking to Zecora, “Um… Z-Zecora?” Zecora looked at him while hiding her anxiousness, as he continued, “well… i… um… I uh… I want to tell you something… something… something important. But…”
Zecora stopped leaning against him as she look into his eyes and spoke, “But?... what?...”
As Zecora looked into his eyes, Zeil could see her deep blue eyes as she anxiously waited for him to continue, “But… b-but I'm afraid… I'm… I'm afraid of how you will respond. Of… of how you will look at me when I do… I… I think the way we are now... I mean our relationship with each other is good and all… b-but I'm afraid what I will tell you could jeopardize it… or… break it apart.”
With her eye contact making it harder for him to tell her the truth, Zeil looked down at the ground between them as he continued, “Zecora… I… I mean… I’m a….”
with his hesitation preventing him from finishing, Zecora reached over and placed her hoof under his chin as she raised his head up to look her in the eye, then she smiled peacefully as she spoke, “Zine… don’t talk… for I feel it too. For many days, my mind has been solely on you. I can think of no other, no friend, or no foe. It’s hard to explain, but I feel for you so. I know it’s quite odd, for me to say it first… but … I'm falling for you Zine… For better or for worst.”

With that said, Tears started to build up in Zecora’s beautiful blue eyes, as Zeil stood speechless. He knew that this wasn’t what he was going to confess to her… but it was something that he wanted to say at some point. And with this already the subject that filled the air, Zeil could only smile as he wiped the tears from her eyes and replied, “Yea… that’s exactly what I was going to say… Zecora… I think I love you. for days now, I’ve been here learning magic from you, and even though I did learn magic… that wasn’t the reason I’ve stayed. I… I know we are from different places, but… if you will accept me… then I'll gladly do anything and everything I can to make you happy. Zecora… I love you.”
Zecora smiled as she started to lean closer to him, “and I you too.”
Slowly both Zecora and Zeil tilted their heads slightly as they learned in and closed their eyes to kiss. However as they did, A drop of water from the stalactite above fell strait down hitting Zeil on his muzzle as the miniature splash hit Zecora and caused them both to flinch. After that, they both opened their eyes as Zeil looked up and sighed, “Really?... sorry Zecora it seems we can’t get a moments pea…”
As Zeil began looking back down at Zecora, he was caught off guard as Zecora leaned completely in and unexpectedly kissed the disguised changeling. As he slowly realized what happened and closed his eyes to kiss her back.

Back in Canterlot, Shining Armor stood surrounded by his soldiers as he nodded his head and drew his sword, “Begin!”
With that order, a guard charged him from behind as Shining Armor turned around, blocked the incoming blade, and parried it to the side before bringing his hind hooves around and kicking the unsuspecting guard in his jaw. As the first guard hit the ground, a second guard charged forward wielding a battle-axe as Shining Armor dodged the swing of the massive weapon before bringing his sword up and cutting through the wooden shaft of the axe, causing the heavy blade to fall to the ground. Stunned by the unexpected attack, the guard looked at his now destroyed weapon as Shining Armor spun around and bashed the side of his sword’s blade against the guards face knocking him to the ground with one blow. When the guard hit the ground, Shining Armor looked at one of the ready soldiers as he called, “NEXT! COME ON!!!”

Though the next guard seemed nervous, he charged at Shining Armor with his blade drawn as he swung it with a vertical attack at Shining Armor’s head. Seeing the attack coming, Shining Armor raised his sword up and parried the guard’s blade as he brought the hilt of his sword up and bashed the guard against his face knocking him into the air before letting him fall to the ground unconscious. With his weapon still ready, Shining Armor looked at a nearby pike pony as he called, “NEXT! LET’S GO!”
The nervous pike pony hesitated as he looked at the three defeated ponies before him and then liked back at Shining Armor with a hesitant rocking in his stance. Getting impatient, Shining Armor yelled, “NEXT! MOVE NOW!!! COME AT ME!!!”
Still too afraid to move the guard stood there with his pike pointed at Shining Armor as he shook his head with worry. Shining Armor started to get even more angry as he continued “I SAID MOVE!!!”

With fear and worry holding the guard in place, Shining Armor couldn’t take it anymore, “If you won’t come at me… THEN I'll GO TO YOU!!!”
Shining Armor held his sword out as he sprinted towards the frozen guard leaving his blade to scrape along the ground with every step. The angry prince approached the guard as he reared his blade out to swing horizontally as the guard flinched. With anger controlling the power of his swing, Shining Armor bashed his blade against the guards pike as the metal on metal clash caused the pike to fly free of the guards hooves and hit the ground a number of feet away. Before the guard could react to the attack, Shining Armor punched him in the face as hard as he could as the guard fell to the ground. Then with rage still searing through his body, Shining Armor raised his sword in the air with the blade exposed and tried to bring it down on the defeated pony as the guard raised his hooved up in a reflex driven attempt to protect his face.

With that attack, everything went silent at the blade stopped just inches from hitting and killing its target. With a curious fear, the guard looked up at his attacker as a pink aura of magic could be seen hovering around the sword’s blade. Still trying to bring the blade down, Shining Armor cringed in anger as a voice called out, “Shining Armor! Stop this right now!”
With an angry expression, Shining Armor turned his head and narrowed his eyes to his wife as he spoke, “Cadence… We are in the middle of a training session. You shouldn’t get involved when the guards are training!”
Princess Cadence shook her head, “training? Looks to me like they are being bullied.”
Shining Armor released his sword and left it hovering in the air by her magic as he replied, “If they want to be strong enough to defeat changelings then it’s necessary for me to be a little rough! It’s the only way they will be able to protect themselves!”
Princess Cadence replied “From who?... you? If I had allowed you to finish your swing then that soldier would be dead right now! Just look at him! With you like this he knew he didn’t stand a chance and still you continued to show no mercy!”

Shining Armor looked at his wife in anger as he yelled, “I'm DOING THIS FOR YOU! Without me those… THINGS… would still be swarming through the streets freely! Would you rather just hand the kingdom over on a silver platter!!!”
“PRINCE ARMOR! THAT IS ENOUGH!!!”
Shining Armor turned to the training hall entrance as Princess Celestia entered, “Princess Celestia, surely you know th…”
Princess Celestia raised her hoof to silence Shining Armor as she interrupted, “What I know is that this situation has escalated out of control. Prince Armor, I want you go home and get some rest. Clearly you’re not in the right state of mind to continue training safely.”
Shining Armor tried to argue, “But princess! I was try…”
“That’s an order!...”

Seeing that this was an argument that he could not win Shining Armor reached and grabbed his hovering sword as Princess Cadence released the blade allowing him to sheath it. Then with an annoyed expression he began trotting towards the doors that Princess Celestia was standing beside. As he reached for the door handle, Princess Celestia spoke, “I apologize… I know you mean well… but surely, you noticed that you have been acting too aggressive to be thinking clearly. As princess I must make sure you and your soldiers are both physically and mentally rested for whatever challenges await.”
Shining Armor looked at Princess Celestia with a look of total disgust as he replied, “if I was too aggressive… then we might as well give the changelings the kingdom now and save them the trouble.”
With those words said with a disrespectful tone, Shining Armor opened the doors as he left the room and closed it behind him.

With the prince now gone, Princess Cadence approached the guards and spoke, “You ponies take the rest of the day off… and speak to nopony of the prince’s behavior. It is best that this remained hidden from the general public.” Cadence then looked at the guard she saved as she continued, “as for you… take the week off.”
The guards stood at attention as they all replied, “Yes your majesty!”
With that said, the guards picked up their fallen friends as they trotted out of the room. After leaving Twilight entered the room as she spoke, “um… should I be worried that Shining Armor is tearing apart a suit of armor in the hall? … He seems a little… irritated.”
Princess Celestia sighed, “Well at least the armor is empty… nevertheless, the situation is getting worse. I don’t know how much more the guards or I for that matter can take. His anger is getting too far out of control. If this continues, I'm going to have to exile him to another location to keep the peace.”

Princess Cadence nodded her head as she agreed, “and it’s not just his anger, I gave him a book to read yesterday to calm him down, and the first half of the book, he was laughing like crazy pony while the end, he was balling like a school filly. At first the crying was kinda sweet, but then it got creepy really fast.”
Twilight gave cadence a curious look, “What book was it?”
“The Colt who cried Timberwolf.”
Princess Celestia looked at Twilight as she asked, “Did you discover anything about his actions?”
Twilight shook her head, “no… I looked through every medical book and magical tome I could find… but there wasn’t anything on his condition in them.”

Princess Cadence sighed, “So… we are back at square one aren’t we?”
Twilight shook her head again, “Actually, there is one more thing I can try. I can always ask a good friend for help.”
Princess Celestia asked, “a friend?... you know a friend who is familiar with this sort of thing?”
Twilight replied, “I don’t know if she is familiar with it, but if anything she knows more about magic than anypony I know. She’s a zebra in the Everfree forest named Zecora. if anypony… or zebra knows anything about what’s going on, I would be her.”
Princess Celestia nodded her head as she replied, “very well, first thing tomorrow morning I want you to take the royal carriage and speak with her personally. Princess Cadence and I shall keep things peaceful on this end.”
Twilight nodded her head, “understood your majesty, If I know Zecora, she would be more than happy to help us with this problem.”

Later that night, Zeil entered the room of the old castle he was staying in as he smiled with pride, “well this has been a good day… despite Rafi’s little trick at the start.”
As Zeil laid his saddlebag on the table, he stood there looking at it as he mumbled to himself, “So… this is love. I’ve tasted it a thousand times before. But feeling it myself… no wonder ponies hate us for feeding off it. This feeling… it’s a thousand times better than the taste. And… I want to keep it. Not for food, just for Zecora.”
As Zeil turned from the table to trot to the bed, he all of a sudden froze, as his eyes narrowed on the rooms standing mirror. Though it was odd that his focus centered on the mirror when he intended on bypassing it, Zeil still disregarded the unusual notion as he slowly trotted towards the large piece of furniture. As he approached it, Zeil looked at his zebra form, the same form he had held continuously for the last few days as he sighed with only one though in mind, “… tomorrow… I have to tell Zecora the truth tomorrow, first thing in the morning. If I dig myself any deeper… then I have no doubt that when she discovers the truth… I can kiss this feeling goodbye. I can kiss her… goodbye.”

Ch8 I Am Your Enamy... Right?

With a saddlebag on his back, Zeil Trotted as fast as he could down the trail. He was determined to get to Zecora’s and tell her who he was. Even if he felt a little nervous about her reaction, he knew that if he waited any longer then he had to, his chances of forgiveness would decrease. So the determined changeling continued on his path as he mumbled the words to himself, “Zecora… I love you… and I know you love me too… so I have to be completely honest with you. I need to tell you. I'm a changeling… I’ve been one this whole time, but… I was afraid that if you knew the real me, that you would reject me and cast me aside like all the other species of this world. But then… I fell in love. And I knew that the only way I could ever be happy is by staying here with you, and giving up my old life… that is… if you will accept me.”

As Zeil finished the statement to himself, he reached the edge of the trail where he could see Zecora’s hut from as he sighed to brace himself, “Well… I was convinced… I hope she will be too. Chrysalis give me strength.”
With unenthusiastic steps, Zeil trotted towards Zecora’s hut until he found himself standing at the front door. With one more sight of preparation, Zeil raised his hoof and knocked on the door as he waited for the owner to answer. After a few brief seconds, Zeil could hear the latch to the door unlock, but as the door opened, the huts resident wasn’t behind it.

Feeling a little confused, Zeil trotted inside and looked behind the door to see a purplish haze surrounding the door knob as a voice, spoke, “Oh… hello. You must be here to see Zecora too.”
As Zeil looked towards the voice, he froze in shock. Sitting at the table with Zecora, was Twilight Sparkle, the sole reason that Queen Chrysalis’ attack on Canterlot failed, and the one pony who could bring his entire world crashing down around him. As Zeil gave Twilight a nervous stare, she spoke, “Nice to meet you, my name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm a good friend of Zecora’s, are you one of her friends from Zebrica?”

Zeil stood speechless, not only did he not know how to react, but also at this moment, his entire mind drew a total blank. As he stood there, he tried to speak, “I… uh… well…”
Seeing that he was at a loss for words, Zecora smiled as she answered for him, “I hope you’ll excuse, he’s quite shy you see, he’s a close personal friend, who travelled to the Everfree. In hopes of learning magic from me.
Twilight looked at Zecora as she replied, “Really? He’s a student of yours?”
Zeil spoke up before Zecora could reply, “Uh… yes… my name is Zine. Sorry if I seems a little nervous… I just wasn’t expecting to see any ponies here. That’s all.”

Although he wasn’t a real zebra, Twilight still understood the situation as she replied, “Oh, I see. Don’t worry though. I’m sure you were treated the same as Zecora was when we first met her. But we in Ponyville don’t judge a book by its cover anymore. So any friend of Zecora be that a pony or zebra is a friend of ours.”
Feeling a since of irony in the term judge a book by its cover, Zeil could only nod his head as he replied, “Um… thanks…”
Returning to their previous subject, Zecora spoke, “So what was that problem, from which you came to see? Some sort of sibling caused calamity?”
Twilight looked back at Zecora as she replied, “Oh, yea, I was saying that Shining Armor is acting strange. Since his run in with the changeling during his wedding, he has seemed to have a problem controlling his emotions. One second he could be happy as a foal at play, but the next he could be ready to kill somepony at the drop of a hat.”

Zecora nodded her head, “Marriage is a challenge, and one we must succeed. With new responsibilities and seeing to a spouse’s need.”
Twilight continued, “I know it’s a big step, but I don’t think it’s as simple at that, see he nearly killed one of his own soldiers out of anger. He has never come that close before, not in all the years I’ve known him.”
as Zeil listened to the situation, he already knew what was wrong as he spoke without thinking, “Mind control…”
without realizing he said that, both Zecora and Twilight looked at Zeil as Twilight asked, “What?... Mind control?”
As soon as he realized what he said, Zeil immediately felt nervous as he tried to think up an excuse for his unexpected conclusion, “I… um… I mean… d-did he have anything happen to him during the changeling thing you mentioned before?”

Without seeing his outburst as suspicious, Twilight thought to herself as she replied, “Well… he did have Queen Chrysalis trying to control his mind during the wedding… but I don’t see that a-“
Zeil smiled as he looked at Zecora, “There you go! Mind control, it’s exactly what we talked about a few days ago right Zecora?”
Zecora smiled, “Good catch Zine, and fast one to see, it seems that his control had disturbed his harmony.”
Feeling as if she missed something Twilight asked, “Um what are you two talking about?”
Zeil explained, “Well I would assume that you being a unicorn understand the concept of a curse right?”
Twilight nodded her head, “I do, it’s an enchantment that usually causes bad things to happen to its victim. Although they usually come at a cost to the user right?”

Zeil nodded his head as he replied, “It does, although this particular curse instead has a second effect on the victim instead of the user. It toys with the victims emotions and starts to cause them to unravel like fraying rope.”
Twilight asked, “So… it was a curse from Queen Chrysalis? And you said he is unraveling… you mean he is going to continue to get worse?”
Zeil nodded his head as he replied, “Yes… and like a fraying rope, he will eventually snap.”
Twilight looked a little nervous as she asked, “Is… is there anything we can do? Some kind of cure or something?”
Zecora nodded her head as she approached her small bookshelf of spell books, “A cure for this, I’d like to say so, though I’ve never attempted it, so I honestly don’t know.”
As Zecora started looking through her books, every fiber of Zeil’s changeling heritage told him to keep quiet, although he ignored it as he cleared his throat and spoke, “I know the cure.”

Once again, Zeil became the center of attention in the room as both Zecora and Twilight looked at him as he explained, “The other night after we talked about this, I decided to look it up myself that way I could prevent it from happening again. Yes there is a cure, although it will take a while to make.”
Twilight asked, “Really? How long?”
Zeil replied, “Five hours. To make this we will need living moss, the sap from a zap apple tree, and a small segment from a moon weed. Once we gather these together, we need to boil them in a pot for five hours to make a firm past, then smear it onto the subject’s forehead. From there the potion will seep into the skin and work its magic on the mind.”
Zecora could help but smile with pride as she replied, “Bravo Zine, I should have guess you would show, just how much you are willing to know. The ingredients have, although one still in in need. The moss and sap are here, what I lack is moon weed. Since you know where it’s found, could I ask you to retrieve, though its poison to touch, so extra magic you will need.”

With that said, Zecora looked at Twilight as she replied, “I know a thing or two about moon weeds, so I don’t mind lending a helping hoof.”
With a smile, Zecora trotted to her caldron as she placed a small amount of a magical dust onto the firewood that sat under it as the wood burst into flame and started heating up the large cast iron pot, “Then make haste, for we’ve no time to waste.”
With that, Twilight looked at Zeil and spoke, “Alright, Zine was it? Lead the way.”
Though he felt a little awkward about being alone with the one responsible for his baggiest failure, Zeil tried to ignore it as he nodded his head, and trotted towards the door. However before he could reach it, Zecora stopped him, “And don’t forget, for it make me worry, the moon weeds poison could kill in a hurry.”
Zeil turned to Zecora and smiled as he replied, “Done worry Zecora, we’ll be careful. Just make sure the rest is ready by the time we get back and there won’t be any worries.”
With a trusting smile, Zecora nodded her head as she watched both Twilight and Zeil leave her hut

As the two made their way through down the trail, there couldn’t have been a more awkward silence then the one the two shared at this moment. Twilight felt awkward since she knew nothing about who she was with or where they were going while Zeil used every bit of strength he had to avoid bringing suspicion to himself. It wasn’t long before Twilight finally broke the silence by asking, “So… Zine right?” Zeil looked at her and nodded his head as she continued, “So um… were you and Zecora friends in Zebrica?”
Zeil shook his head, as he replied, “No, actually we just met not too long ago here in the Everfree forest.”
Twilight was curious, “Really? How long ago was it?”
Trying to make it seem like it was before the changeling attack, Zeil replied, “About um… three months now.”
Twilight felt confused, “Really?... I don’t remember seeing you during the Cutie Pox incident, nor has Zecora ever mentioned you before.”
Zeil hid his anxiety as he replied, “Well… um… I’ve been in and out of the Everfree forest since we met, and Zecora knows that I don’t like attention very much, so she was kind enough to keep me secret from others. It’s just… being different like I am… ponies don’t like to see a lot of me around. And cuz of that, I don’t like to see a lot of ponies either.”

As they talked, the surrounding area started to get somewhat hazy with mist as Twilight replied, “So… is that why you seemed so nervous back there?”
Zeil nodded his head, “Yea… sorry if I seemed rude… it’s just, I’ve had a bad history with ponies so I have mixed feelings about being around them.”
Twilight replied, “It’s okay, if I remember right Zecora had the same problem. I can see how being treated differently because of how you look can make you feel antisocial after a while.”
Feeling the irony in the topic, Zeil continued, “I can only imagine how changelings feel.”
Twilight felt a little uneasy when she heard that statement, “W-what?”
Zeil continued, “Well… changelings have no choice but to hide who they are because of how the world looks at them.”
Twilight gave Zeil a stern look as she replied, “Changelings attack ponies, and try to feed off our love. That’s why we look at them the way we do.”
Zeil argued, “And that’s their fault? Do you blame a bear for eating a fish, or blame a bird for eating a worm?”

Twilight tried to continue her argument as they continue trotting into thicker and thicker mists, “Bears and birds both can eat berries if they want?”
“But changelings can’t… they have no choice but to feed off emotions while the rest of the world sees them as a parasite. We zebra work with nature, but in the end, the reason I'm so distant with ponies because they look at my um… stripes and refuse to accept me for what I am, and what I can’t change about myself.”
Seeing a little logic in his argument Twilight replied, “Well I guess you have a point, but the means don’t justify the actions. Changeling attacked our home and are making my brother act crazy. So unless they do something to make up for that, I don’t think I can ever trust a changeling.”
Before Zeil could say anything in his defense, he realized that he was placing too much on the topic and could arouse suspicion so rather than continuing the argument he just sighed, “I apologies… it’s um… in our nature to defend all living things when there is hope… but I guess there is no defending those creatures is there?”
Not realizing the suspicious argument Twilight sighed, “Well it’s not that they are all bad, and I know their queen is more to blame then them personally, but it’s just hard to trust one so… so…:”
“Different?...”

When he finished her statement, Twilight looked at the disguised changeling as she replied, “Yea… different. You took the word out of my mouth.”
Zeil sighed, “Well, I guess we are all different in our own way. Sometimes I wish others would stop seeing that though.”
As the mist thickened, the conversation was forgotten as Twilight tried to look ahead as she spoke, “Are we going the right way? I can’t see the trail anymore.”
Zeil stopped in his tracks as he reached out, stopped Twilight, and replied, “That’s because there is no trail.”
As Twilight was stopped by Zeil’s hoof, she looked down at her hooves to see that her next step would have been off a cliff; however, the mist was too thick to see the bottom so it was impossible to say how far her drop would have been. As she looked around, she replied, “Thanks… but is this the place? I still can’t see.”
Zeil looked around as he replied, “The moon weed grows just on the other side of this ravine, but we will have to cross to get there… how is your balance by the way?”
Twilight asked, “Um… okay I guess… why?”
Zeil pointed through the mist to an area with pillar like hoodoos that connected both sides of the ravine as he spoke, ‘Cuz we will have to cross that.”
As Zeil began trotting towards the small cone like pillars, Twilight followed closely behind with a little concern in what they were going to do.

When Zeil approached the first hoodoo, he reached out and planted his hoof onto it measuring with his mind as he spoke, “It looks like they are all at least a foot in diameter. This should be simple even for a foal… although, they don’t seem to steady.”
Twilight looked into the distance and tried to see the other side of the ravine as she spoke, “If I could see the other side, I could teleport us there… but this fog is too thick… I can’t see anything”
Trying to prevent himself from getting an idea to push her, Zeil spoke, “We should take it slow. Here I'll go first. Once I'm a number of steps out then you can follow, alright?”
Twilight nodded her head as Zeil looked at the stepping stone like trail that he had to follow, then with a mind clearing sigh, Zeil stepped out and began crossing with Twilight crossing just slightly behind.

Though they were closer than expected, Zeil continued slowly as he felt the stability of each hoodoo he stepped on as he mumbled, “Ok… so far so good. Let’s just take this nice and sl… oh…”
Zeil paused as he felt one of the pillars shift slightly, however, when he stopped, the feeling went away leaving him to believe that it could have been just in his head, so just to be sure, Zeil turned to Twilight and spoke, “Be careful, there is no telling how sturdy these things are.”
Twilight nodded her head as she replied, “Got it, thanks.”
With his changeling side kicking himself for warning her, Zeil continued, as he stayed focused on each step he needed to take.

It wasn’t long before Zeil could see that his next step was the other side of the ravine as he planted the last step and smiled, “There… peace of ca…
All of a sudden, a loud cracking sound could be heard behind him as Zeil quickly turned around just in time to see the pillar that Twilight’s hind hooves were standing on collapse from under her. Quick to react, Twilight placed both of her front hooved on the next pillar she had to stand on as the back end of her body fell leaving her to dangle from the only support she had to hold onto. When he saw this Zeil called out, “Twilight!”
Twilight didn’t reply as her hooves began sliding from atop the pillar until they were at the very edge. Acting quickly, Zeil removed his saddlebag, tossed it onto the other end of the ravine, and turned his body towards Twilight as he lunged forward and grabbed her hooves just as they lost grip with the hoodoo. With his chest completely against the top of the pillar, Zeil used his hind hooves to grip the structure’s side as his front hooves remained the only thing keeping Twilight from falling into the abyss below.

Surprised that Zeil was able to hold her from the awkward position his body was in, Twilight looked around, “Zine! Are you alright?!”
Zeil spoke through his strain, “I… I'm fine! I should ask you the same question!”
Twilight continued looking around as she replied, “I'm fine too… I guess… can… can you pull me up?”
Still holding onto Twilights hooves, Zeil looked around at the pedestal that he was laying across as he replied, “Um… no… no I can’t… but.”
Twilight gave him a nervous and curious look, “But?...”
Zeil looked behind him at the ledge that he was on before looking back at Twilight and continuing, “I can see the other side of the ravine. If I swing you around and throw you, you should be able to make it there without falling… although… I can’t guarantee you’ll make it.”
Twilight sighed as she replied, “Well that’s comforting… to we have any other options?”
Zeil sighed, “Yea… I can drop you and save myself, or keep holding you till I loose grip and we both fall.”

Hearing the sarcastic remark mad Twilight smile a little, “Well at least we have three… although I'd prefer the one where we both live.”
Zeil nodded his head, “My thought exactly. Alright hold on tight I got to get you in the right angle.”
Carefully moving, Zeil started to shift his body around and move Twilight from the front of the pillar to its side. After getting her in position, Zeil spoke, “Alright Twilight, I'm going to start swinging you, no matter what happens, do not let go until I say alright?”
Twilight took one last look into the misty abyss below as she replied, “Got it, I won’t let go until you tell me to.”
Zeil nodded his head as he replied, “Alright get ready.”
After saying that, Zeil began swinging Twilight back and forth along the side of the hoodoo as Twilight did what she could to help her swing higher.

Not long after they put the plan into motion, Twilight found herself swinging high enough that her body was almost parallel to Zeil’s at the highest point of the swing. With one last power filled swing, Zeil called out, “Alright Twilight! Ready!... NOW!!!”
Using his own momentum, Zeil rolled his body with the last swing to give Twilight a little more lift as he released the fast moving unicorn and sent her flying into the air. However, as he rolled his body, he found himself rolling off the platform he was on as he quickly continued his roll and grabbed onto the top of the hoodoo before he could fall far enough to miss it. In the air, Twilight frantically looked for the ledge she was supposed to grab, however the ledge wasn’t ahead of her, instead it was below her as the nervous unicorn hit the ground on the other side of the ravine and rolled a few feet before picking herself up and rubbing her head with relief. As for Zeil, he was able to grip the hoodoo on a place that allowed him to pull himself up as he also felt relief in the plan’s success.

Grateful for his help, Twilight looked at Zeil who was still on the pillar as she called, “Zine?! Are you okay?!”
Zeil smiled relief as he waved and replied, “Yea… nothing I hadn’t ha…”
All of a sudden, the pillar he was sitting on like a barstool began to shake as the center of it started to crumble beneath him. When she saw this, Twilight called out, “ZINE!”
Trying to react, Zeil tried to stand quickly and make his way towards the closest pillar to him, however, before that could happen, the pillar started leaning the opposite way as Zeil failed to reach the next step to his safety. With no way of saving himself Zeil was tossed from the falling pillar as he and the stone hoodoo began falling into the mists below. Although he knew it was no use, Zeil tried reaching for the next pillar to stop his fall however, just as he thought the pillar was too far to reach and there was nothing else for him to catch himself on.

Assuming this was the end, Zeil continued his fall as his expression became one of disappointment. However just as he lost sight with Twilight, Zeil saw a great flash of light engulf his body as Zeil vanished into thin air leaving nothing but the pillar to fall into the misty void below. Immediately following the changeling’s disappearance, a second flash of light appeared right behind Twilight as her teleportation spell transported the disguised creature to the cliff that she was standing on. As soon as he appeared, Zeil fell the almost a foot to the ground before realizing what happened, as Twilight rushed to his side, “You ok Zine? I'm glad I caught you when I did, one more second then I would have lost you to the fog.”
Zeil laid on the ground for a second before picking himself up and rubbing his head, “I… I'm alive… you… you caught me. You actually saved my life?... but… why?...”
Twilight gave him a funny look as she replied, “Why not? You are a friend, of Zecora’s, and any friend of Zecora is a friend of mine.”
Zeil shook his head as he gave her a look of shock, “But… you barely know me… I mean… why help some zebra you barely know?”

Twilight shook her head in disbelief, “Just because I don’t know you doesn’t mean I won’t help you when you’re falling. Besides, you saved me first. Remember?”
When Twilight mentioned it, Zeil put his hoof on his head as he replied, “I did… but… wait… why?... why did I do that?”
Twilight smiled, “Because you’re a good stallion Zine. There isn’t any other explanation. Even a loner like you will lend a helping hoof when somepony is in danger.”
Still trying to wrap his mind around the thought of saving his enemy, Zeil nodded his head, “I… I guess you right…”
Twilight nodded her head, “I know I'm right. Zecora has a tendency to see the good in everypony even a zebra, that’s why she likes you.”
Although Zeil still didn’t agree with what he did by saving her, he did feel a little flattered that Twilight was complementing him, so rather than dwelling on his action, Zeil just smiled as he replied. “Well… you're right about that.”

Trying to let the conversation die, Zeil continued as he looked around, “Well seeing that our path is now gone, it looks like we will be taking the long way back.”
Twilight looked around as she replied, “Long way? Exactly how much longer will it be?”
Zeil replied, “Not much… about ten minutes or so. Never the less now that we are here we need to keep an eye out for a…”
“A bluish vine with thorns?”
Zeil gave Twilight a curious look as she explained, “Oh, I did a little research on the moon weed a few weeks ago. I also know that the moon weed is highly poisonous and the poison is potent enough to kill even a dragon… wait… are you sure this is an ingredient that will help Shining Armor?”
Zeil nodded his head as he replied, “Yes… the poison is harmful when absorbed through an open wound, but when it’s mixed with zap apple sap, the toxin is neutralized while making it safe to the patient.”
Twilight nodded her head, “Hmm I think I also read that bat ponies like to drink the poison too. I hear it’s a famous drink in the Equestrian caverns.”

Zeil couldn’t help but give Twilight an impressed look as he replied, “You know your stuff. That’s impressive.”
Twilight smiled, “Just because I have a horn doesn’t mean I don’t need to read to learn magic. Zebra seem to have a deeper connection with nature, that’s the reason you and Zecora know more about this sort of thing then I do.”
Just then, Zeil started to see something growing on the edge of the cliff as he started to reply, “Well Zecora knows more about it… if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t know anything. Anyways it looks like I see what we came here to gather.”
Without giving Twilight a chance to reply, Zeil trotted towards the edge of the cliff and pointed out a long vine as he spoke, “This is it, the moon weed. Twilight can you help me gather it by pulling it from the Cliffside?”

Zeil sat down and started reaching into his saddlebag as Twilight trotted towards the vine and examined it, “So this is it?... it doesn’t seem any different than a normal vine.”
Zeil pulled a jar from his saddlebag as he opened the lid and replied, “Don’t judge it by the way it looks, its much more dangerous then it seems. Here, use your magic to pull it from the soil and place it in here, we only need a foot of it.”
Knowing what she was doing, Twilight used her magic as she tore a foot long piece of the mood weed from the rest and mad it hover in place as Zeil sat the jar down and waited for Twilight to place the weed inside. With the moon weed now safely in the jar, Zeil closed the lid as Twilight smiled at their accomplishment, “There… now we can head back and make that cure.”
As Zeil tightened the jar’s lid, he paused for a moment after hearing Twilights comment, then continued as he replied, “Yea… we will be able to cure Shining Armor with this… no doubt.”

Not catching Zeil’s hesitation, Twilight smiled as he placed the jar into his saddlebag and began traveling along the ravine to find their way back to the trail. Once the trail was found, both Zeil and Twilight continued back as the awkward silence that started their trip seemed to make a triumphant return. By the time the silence ended, the two seemed to find their way back to the previous side of the ravine as Twilight decided to break the silence with a question that has been on her mind since she met the curious zebra, “So um… Zine? Can I ask you something… personal?”

Feeling a little uneasy about what this Personal question could be, Zeil replied, “I… um… I guess so.”
Twilight tried to think of the right words as she spoke, “Well… it’s about you… and… Zecora. You two wouldn’t happen to be… together would you… I mean… together together. Well… you know what I mean. Right?”
Hearing the question that was in fact very personal, Zeil blushed a little as he replied, “Well… um… I would say that… um… we are… I mean… we would agree that we are… um… together that is.”
Twilight smiled, “So… it is true. Well I mean, Zecora seemed much more pleasant than normal… not saying she isn’t, but she seemed like her spirits were higher than usual. Especially when she’s around you. It’s just too noticeable.”
Zeil gave Twilight a curious look as he replied, “She does? I… I didn’t notice.”

Looking past his modesty, Twilight continued, “Well I have. Zecora has always been a friend who I can count on for help with any problem, but when I saw her this morning, she seemed even more enthusiastic then normal. Like… she was in a good mood or something. At first I thought it might have something to do with that gold poison joke that’s tucked behind her ear, but when I saw her smile when you knocked on the door this morning, I knew that whoever she assumed to be behind it was somezebra very important to her.”
Zeil tried to his hid smile as he replied, “That makes me a little relieved to hear… since she is important to me too.”
Twilight gave Zeil a smug smile as she replied, “Good, then you’ll be happy to know that I approve”
Zeil gave her a confused look, “Approve? Approve of what?”
Twilight continued with her smile, “Well everypony knows that if a colt want to impress a mare, he must first impress her friends. And even though the dark loner vibe you gave off this morning seemed to feed my doubt, I feel confident that you are perfect for Zecora since I know the real you now.”

A part of Zeil wanted to reply with, a comment about her knowing the real him, but in order to prevent suspicion Zeil just nodded his head as he replied with a fake and joking smile, “Well I can feel comfortable knowing that I got that off my to-do list.”
Twilight replied with a much more real smile as she replied, “Good, cuz that was a big step to make. Anyways, I want to thank you again for this Zine… I know it seems odd helping somepony you just met, but saving me back there, and going through all this to help my brother… you’re a good friend Zine. And I bet that you and Zecora are perfect for each other.”
Zeil had mixed feelings about the comment Twilight made, but rather then showing the negative parts of it, he just smiled his fake smile as he replied, “Thanks Twilight… I hope we are too.”
Though Twilight did hear him say the word hope in his sentence, she assumed he didn’t mean to as the two continued back to Zecora’s hut with nothing more to say on the subject.

Later as the two returned to Zecora’s hut, they entered the front door as Zeil saw Zecora and spoke, “Hey Zecora, we’re back, and we got what we needed for the cure, how are things on your end?”
Zecora looked as Zeil as she trotted around a boiling caldron and replied, “The mix is ready, and prepped for the brew, the only thing needed is the ingredient from you.”
Zeil pulled the jar from his saddlebag as he held it out to Zecora and replied, “Right here.”
Smiling Zecora took the jar from Zeil as she approached the boiling brew, opened the jar, and dumped its content into the mixture. Almost immediately, the boiling murky brown mix, quickly turned lime green as it began glowing with a hue that reminded Zeil of Queen Chrysalis. Trying to throw the thought from his mind, Zeil turned away as he spoke, “I'm um… I'm going to step out and get some air; we need time for the mix to take full effect anyways.”
Twilight nodded her head as she replied, “Good idea, since we need it to boil for a number of hours, why don’t we go to Ponyville? I bet you could use the supplies right Zecora?”
Zecora smiled as she replied, “A good use of time, and one which I know, would be a good experience for Zine, if he wishes to go?”

At that moment both Zecora and Twilight looked at Zeil as they both waited patiently for an answer, but as Zeil looked at the two mares, he could only think about what he was as he replied, “I'll pass… um… I need to do something first… but I will be back this evening so, I'll see you then?”
A little disappointed in his reply, Zecora and Twilight looked at each other as Twilight asked, “Are you sure? This would be a good chance to earn the trust of Ponyville. If you’re worried they will be afraid of you then you really shou…”
“Sorry Twilight… but… I don’t think I ready yet. If… you can, then I would like to wait longer before becoming acquainted with more ponies. It’s just better this way.”
Both Zecora and Twilight looked at each other with concern as the two looked back at Zeil as Twilight replied, “Are you sure?”
Zeil smiled, “Don’t worry about me, I'll just meditate until your finished, then I'll meet you here when the cure is finished.”
Zeil followed the two mares outside as Zecora replied, “Will if that’s your choice, then I won’t argue. We shall return once we are through.”
Zeil smiled as he replied, “sound good, you two have fun.”

As the two mares left the home, Zeil sat outside watching them as they both trotted into the distance and vanished into the forest. Shortly after, Zeil placed his hoof on his face as he mumbled to himself, “If the queen could see me now… she’d kill me for even considering this idea. I mean… curing Shining Armor?... the one responsible for this whole mess in the first place? I'd rather just watch him burn the kingdom to the ground… but… I'm not that changeling anymore… I'm not that monster anymore. Hopefully Rafi can help me with this problem.”
With that said Zeil found a small patch of grass to sit on as he crossed his hind hooves and began meditating on the spot. However, even though he was able to slip into a deepened meditative state, he never once saw the ancient chief during the entire session of meditation. Hours later, just after sunset the cure inside was ready as Zeil trotted inside and began draining the water as he used a spoon to gather the settled past at the bottom of the cauldron. Afterwards, he placed a small amount of past into containers as both Twilight and Zecora entered the hut.

Seeing the two mares return, Zeil smiled, “There you are, I was beginning to worry.”
Zecora smiled, “Fear not of us, for we merely lost track, of the time we had before coming back.”
Twilight spoke next, “So is it ready?”
Zeil replied, “Yep, place this past on his forehead and he will be better in no time. Although we made a little more than expected so I'm going to take a little for myself, just in case.”
Zecora smiled, “Some for yourself, that’s fine with me, to be ready for anything is something to agree.”
With that, Zeil took a small container of the past and placed it inside his saddlebag as Twilight trotted to the second and took It with her, “Thanks again Zecora, Zine, I appreciate everything you’re doing for us.”
Zecora smiled, “A friend in need is a friend indeed.”
Zeil smiled, “That’s right; we all need a little help once in a while, and what better zebra to help than friends.”

Twilight nodded her head as she smiled “Well that’s always good to hear. Anyways, I'm going back to Ponyville for the night. Canterlot is too fare to travel at night and I don’t want to push the carriage drivers too hard since they have been patient all day.”
Zecora nodded her head as she replied, “Then good night to you, my unicorn friend, this cure for your brother, I hope it will mend.”
Twilight nodded her head, “Thanks, I hope it will too. Well goodnight Zecora, goodnight Zine. It was nice meeting you.”
as Twilight left though the front door Zeil trotted behind her as he spoke, “Take care Twilight… tell your brother I said hi… not… um… that he would know who I am or anything like that.”
Twilight smiled at what she thought was a sarcastic comment, “Thanks Zine, I will.”

With that, Twilight left the home as both Zecora and Zeil watched her leave from the doorstep of Zecora’s hut. As Twilight trotted away, Zecora gave Zeil a charming smile as she spoke, “She told me you know, of your journey and all. How you saved her from a most dangerous fall.”
When she said that Zeil blushed slightly as he rubbed the back of his head, “Oh… um… she told you that hmm… well I um…”
Zecora chuckled before kissing his cheek as she replied, “Do not feel modest, I'm grateful for your act. You helped my friend, when danger attacked. To help one you just met, is the noblest of deeds, and I'm proud to know you and where your heart leads.”
Zeil smiled as he replied, “Well, I couldn’t just let her fall… anyways… it’s um… a little late, and I um… I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Zecora gave Zeil a curious look as he cleared his throat and tried to speak, “Well… um… it’s about… me… and um… about how we met. When I fell from the sky.”

Trying to stall for a little longer, Zeil looked down as he scraped his hoof on the ground, and sighed a few times while trying to find the words to say. Never the less, it was too easy to see that what he wanted to say weighed heavily on his mind, so in an effort to help him with this confession, Zecora decided to stall for him as she gave a fake yawn and spoke, “Perhaps in the morn, for today seemed too stressed. Maybe we can continue this, when you have had better rest.”
Understanding her point Zeil continued to look at the ground as he replied, “Oh… well… maybe tomorrow then, how… um… how about tomorrow evening at sunset. Let’s just say, at the place where I first fell for you. The place with the fireflies and the cliff. It’s something rather important, so I want the moment to be better for the both of us.”
Zecora smiled as she raised his head up and replied, “Then tomorrow at dusk, where the fireflies dance. Will be a better time, and a much better chance.”
As Zeil looked into Zecora’s eyes, he could only smile as he leaned in and kissed her. After their kiss, Zeil replied, “Thanks Zecora, I know it’s sad that I can’t even say it… but tomorrow you will know the truth. So till then… I love you.”

With a heartfelt smile, Zecora nodded her head as she replied, “To those words, and you know it true, Zine… I love you too.”
Zeil smiled as he turned away, and began trotting from Zecora’s hut as she watched him from her front door, until he was out of her sight. Later as Zeil entered the room at the castle ruins, he trotted to the table and sat down his saddlebag as he mumbled, “Tomorrow night…”
Feeling a little annoyed Zeil sat down in the chare as he repeated the words, “Tomorrow night…”
annoyed at his actions, Zeil started rubbing his eyes as he repeated, “Tomorrow night at dusk… where the fireflies dance.”
After rubbing his eyes, Zeil sat back in the chair as he looked at the still open spell book that sat on the table. When he saw it, he moved the book closer to him and looked at the image of the Golden joke along with its ingredients and instructions to create it. While looking at the image of the golden joke, and uncontrollable rage filled his mind and he quickly stood up and yelled “TOMORROW NIGHT!?!”
In his anger, Zeil threw the book as hard as he could as the airborne piece of literature flew across the room and shattered the standing mirror as both the book and the mirror shards fell to the ground.

Angry with himself, Zeil ignored the crash as he placed his hooves back on his face and mumbled, “Why am I such a coward… I told her how I felt, I learned spells, I even made friend with Twilight the one mare who should be my worst enemy… but… I can’t even tell Zecora, the mare that I love who I am… Rafi… I need your advice more the ever now… I… I don’t even know who I am anymore… am I a zebra who wishes to stay in Equestria with the mare I love? Or, am I a changeling bent on draining love from others by force…”
With tears starting to build up in his eyes, Zeil lowered his hooves as he looked across the room at what was once a standing glass mirror. Then he stood up and trotted to the destroyed piece of furniture as he looked at the shards of mirror on the floor that where still reflecting an image. As he approached the pieces of glass, Zeil looked down into his reflection as he changed from his Zebra appearance to his changeling. Looking at the image that everypony in Equestria despised, Zeil mumbled to himself, “This isn’t me… if it was… then I wouldn’t have helped Twilight. I wouldn’t have saved her life, nor would I have helped her gather ingredients to save her brother. I may be a changeling in appearance… but I'm no doubt, a zebr…”
All of a sudden, a small piece of wood fell from the decomposing rafters above as Zeil quickly turned around and looked towards the hole in the ceiling, which revealed the night sky above. Though the falling piece of wood startled him, Zeil still didn’t see anything so he just sighed with relief, “Must be a rat or something… anyways… tomorrow is my last chance. If I want this happiness to continue, then I have to tell her the truth.”
With that, Zeil trotted towards the bed as he changed back into a zebra and went to sleep.

Back in Canterlot, Shining Armor made his way down the street with a few of his personal guards nervously following behind. Without warning Shining Armor stopped, he looked to the sky, “Hey…”
The guards flinched in anxiety as shining armor turned to them and spoke, “I think I saw a shooting star… did any of you see it?”
The guards nervously shook their heads no, as Shining Armor gave them a curious look, “You guys ok? You seem a little on edge is something wrong?”
The guards quickly shook their heads no, as Shining Armor saw through their lie, “You know, if you guys are afraid of the dark… then you can just tell me. I don’t need a guard when I'm just trotting home.”
The guards nervously looked at each other as the highest-ranking stood strait, “S-sir… I-I mean your majesty… P-Princess Cadence gave us explicit orders to watch over you until you are safely home. N-no disrespect or anything, b-but I wouldn’t dare to disobey her orders! S-sir.”
Still clueless as to why the guard was nervous, Shining Armor replied, “Wow I didn’t think Cadence was so demanding of her troops… but I guess she has to be since she is a princess and all. You can relax soldier, you are following your orders so you don’t have to worry about any punishment from her.”

Knowing that Shining Armor didn’t understand why they were nervous, the guards stood at attention as they all replied, “Yes sir! Thank you sir!”
With that Shining Armor turned back to his path as he spoke, “I love the way my wife worries about me so… reminds me of why I love her so much. She’s just s…”
“PRINCE ARMOR! PRINCE ARMOR!!!”
At that moment, a pegasus flew in from above as he lost controls of his speed and crashed to the ground rolling towards Shining Armor before picking himself up, “Y-your majesty! I-I saw!...”
before the pegasus could continue the guards standing beside Shining Armor stepped in front of him as they pointed their spears at the unknown pegasus. When he saw the spears, the pegasus stepped back as Shining Armor spoke up, “Stand down, let’s hear what our winded friend has to say.”
Breathing heavily from his fast flying, the pegasus spoke up, “P-Prince Armor!... in- in the Everfree Forest! I… I saw!”
Shining Armor spoke softly, “Calm down, just tell me what you saw.”
The pegasus continued his deep breathing as he replied, “A… a… A CHANGELING!!!”

As soon as he hear that word, a rage filled expression appeared on his face as Shining Armor used his magic to pull the pegasus closer as he spoke, “WHAT?! WHERE?! WHEN?! Explain yourself now!”
The now nervous pegasus tried to explain, “W-well I was gathering the remains of the rogue storm that hit the Everfree Forest, and I decided to take a break so I landed on the top of one of the towers at the castle of the royal pony sisters. But when I landed there I heard a crash inside so I found a hole on the roof and saw a zebra inside.”
Shining Armor sighed with an annoyed expression, “Yea yea, everypony knows about the enchantress of the Everfree Forest. So get to the point!”
The pegasus continued, “B-but it wasn’t an enchantress… this was a stallion.”
“A stallion? You mean a male zebra?”
“Y-yes… w-well no… I- I mean”
“GET TO THE POINT! Did you, or did you not see a changeling in the Everfree forest!”
The nervous pegasus replied, “The zebra IS the changeling…”

As soon as he heard this, Shining Armor tossed the pegasus aside as he looked at his guards and spoke, “You four come with me! We’re going to the Everfree forest!”
One guard stepped forward, “But sir... I mean your majesty; your sister Twilight Sparkle has the royal carriage.”
Shining Armor replied, “Then we will travel by hoof! We will need to gather more guards at the city gate anyways.”
The same guard replied, “Shouldn’t we warn the princess first?”
Shining Armor shook his head, “We will… After we stop this changeling.”
The guard continued, “But sir, wha…”
Shining Armor glared at the royal guard and replied, “IF YOU’RE GOING TO ARGUE WITH ORDERS! THEN CONSIDER YOURSELF COURT MARSHALED! I will not allow you to question me any further! Give me your Spear and go to the castle and clear the barracks! Your life as a guard is over! The rest of you follow me! If we leave now we can make it by morning, MOVE OUT!”

With that order Shining Armor used his magic to pull the guards spear from his hooves as he and the rest of his guards marched off while the recently fired guard helped the pegasus up as the pegasus asked, “W-what’s going on?... that doesn’t seem like the same Captain Armor we all come to respect.”
The guard replied, “That’s because he isn’t… the princess warned us about this. I just can’t believe the rest of my comrades followed him.”
The pegasus asked, “So… what do we do?”
The guard replied, “You’re coming with me. We are going to report this to the princess whether he likes it or not. By the way, did the changeling see you?”
The pegasus shook his head, ‘I don’t think so, as soon as he transformed I flew off as fast as I could.”
The guard replied, “Then… both of them are in danger. We better tell the princess and fast.”

With the spear in hoof, Shining Armor looked at one of his Unicorn guards as he asked, “You… do you know any teleportation spells?”
The unicorn nodded his head, “Yes your majesty, I do.”
Shining Armor continued, “Do you think you could teleport a changeling to the other side of the planet?”
The unicorn hesitated, “I… um… I don’t know, a spell like that is very difficult.”
Shining Armor looked forward again, as he replied, “Well then I hope you figure it out. Cuz if we face the changeling and you can’t send him there, then I'll have to execute him instead.”

Ch9 I... Was...

Zeil opened his eyes only to find himself standing in the middle of the most horrifying sight he had ever seen. Zeil looked around as he found himself standing on a hill in the middle of what was once a terrible and bloody battlefield. Far as the eye could see, was a stretch of pony, griffin, and zebra corpses that covered the landscape making it almost impossible to see the trampled and dead grass below them. And if the sight wasn’t bad enough, the reddish glow that was stretched across everything in sight from an overhead eclipse made even the grass that could be seen look as if blood had rained down from the heavens above. Seeing the stretch of dead soldiers, weapons, and blood made Zeil cover his mouth and close his eyes as he tried to remove this vision of horror from his mind. But as he tried to bear the sight, a voice came from behind him, “terrible… isn’t it?... so many lost, all because of what the heart desires most in this world… but then again, how are you supposed to react, when your heart demands something from you?”
Recognizing the voice, Zeil turned around and looked at the sitting zebra as he asked, “Rafi?... where… where are we?... what is this place?”

The wise chief stood up and trotted past Zeil as he replied, “Don’t you recognize it?... it’s the same field we met in before… this is Equestria…”
Zeil looked around at the sight as he replied, “No… that’s impossible. Equestria hasn’t had a war in over a millennium. How could this be… wait…”
Zeil looked at the armor of a fallen zebra on the ground, then he looked back at Chief Rafi’s armor and replied, “these… these where your soldiers… weren’t they?”
Chief Rafi nodded his head, “Do you recall the stallion I mentioned before… well a thousand years ago, I came to this place in hopes of stopping a war, but found myself fighting in it instead. Not because I wanted to, but because when I met that stallion, I knew that he wasn’t fighting for orders, or even for glory… he was fighting for love.”
Zeil gave Rafi a curious look, “Love?... all of this for love?”
Rafi smiled, “He was given a choice… his love… or the lives of those around him. His first answer led to the horror you see before you… while his second… led to his endless regret. But what he doesn’t know is that with his second choice, even though it will take a long time… he will find his love… and his happiness.”

Zeil stepped closer to Chief Rafi as he gave him a skeptic look, “So… your saying that I'll have to make the same kind a choice… wont I?”
Rafi nodded his head as he replied with an expressionless stare, “You will.”
Zeil continued, “What choice will I have to make?”
Chief Rafi looked away, “You will have to choose, whether they see you as what you are… or who you are. But I will warn you… they are coming. And if you don’t make this choice soon… then you and Zecora will never be.”
Zeil had to ask, “Who is coming? And what do you mean what or who I am?
Chief Rafi ignored the questions as he turned to Zeil and looked him in the eye, “Zeil… it’s time to choose… will you fight a war for your love? Or give it up without a fight? Temporary torment?… or Endless Regret?... this is your choice, your path, and in this case… your future.”
Zeil thought to himself as he tried to understand what he was supposed to choose. Nevertheless, Zeil looked back at Chief Rafi and replied with a serious expression, “I love Zecora… and I'll do whatever it take for us to be together.”
Chief Rafi smiled as he placed his hoof on Zeil’s shoulder and replied, “I am proud to know you as one of my brothers… and I know, that despite your species reputation, you will make the right choice and show them what you are capable of… and all the while, earn their acceptance… even if… never mind. It is not my journey to make… but yours. I will leave you now. Farewell, Brother Zine.”
With that said, Chief Rafi looked at the bright red eclipse above, as it got brighter and brighter until Zeil had to cover his eyes to shield them from the light. When he moved his hoof to see what was making the eclipse so bright, Zeil found himself looking at the sunlight that shined through the hole in the ceiling of the old tower that he was sleeping in. Blocking the light of the sun from entering his freshly woken eyes, Zeil sat up as he mumbled to himself, “Rafi… what were you talking about. I’ve never seen him this serious before. And… who’s coming?”
“Spread out!”

When Zeil heard that faint voice echoing through the doorway, he quickly jumped out of the bed as he made his way downstairs and entered the second floor of the castles main lobby. As soon as he entered the lobby, Zeil kept his head down as he eased his way to the indoor balcony that overlooked the center of the room. As he took cover behind the marble railing, Zeil looked down onto the first floor to see Shining Armor and a number of royal guards as they creped across the bottom floor like a pack of hunting wolves. As Zeil listened closely, he could hear Shining Armor as he gave his orders, “Alright! You know the drill, you two take the east wing, you two, the west. You four start searching upstairs and the rest of you will be search down here. If you see any pony, zebra or changeling, arrest them on sight… but if they put up a fight, do what you have to, to make sure they don’t escape. Understood?”
The guards stood at attention as they replied, “Yes your majesty!”

With that, the guards started separating into their groups as four of them began trotting up the main lobby stairs. Knowing that they were headed his way, Zeil quickly and quietly backed up before turning around and rushing to the bedchambers as fast and as stealthily as he could. After returning to the room, Zeil closed and locked the door as he reached for his saddlebag, “Great… Shining Armor came to me… I wonder how they knew I was here. No matter, I got to get to Zecora and fast.”
As Zeil put on his saddlebag, he quickly made his way to the balcony as he looked down and spoke, “Alright let’s do this.”
with that said, Zeil changed from his zebra form to his changeling as he opened his wing In preparation to fly, but as he felt the wind blow against his only wing, Zeil quickly looked at where his other used to sit as he sighed, “That’s right… I can’t fly anymore… Crap how am I…”
All of a sudden banging could be hard against the door as the royal guards on the other side yelled, “Who’s in there? Open this door now! By order of Princess Celestia open this door!”
As the banging could be heard against the door, Zeil quickly looked around as he tried to think of a way to get out. Then with a hopeless sigh, Zeil looked at the bed linen as he spoke, “I guess there is only one way to do this… it’s a little cliché’, but it’s the only think I can think of.”
With that, Zeil quickly rushed to the bed linen and began tying the corners of the sheets together before tying the comforter, the pillowcases, and any other fabric he could find. Then with his newfound rope made, Zeil tied it to the balcony rail as he tossed it over and started climbing down.

With each carefully gripped knot, Zeil felt like this whole situation was just going to get worse until his thoughts were finally confirmed. As Zeil reached the very bottom of his sheet made rope, he looked down and realized that he still had almost fifteen feet to go, until he was to a tree that sat just below him. As Zeil looked at the tree with hesitation he mumbled to himself, “alright looks like I'm jumping… one… two… three.”
With that, Zeil released the sheet rope as he fell the fifteen feet and into the tree as he landed using the branches and leaves as a painful and stiff cushion. After landing in the tree, Zeil looked around to see if the coast was clear as he changed into one of the royal guards he had seen in the lobby and climbed down to the ground.

Now that Zeil was finally on the ground, he looked up to see if anypony watched from above as he mumbled to himself, “That was harder than expected, oh well now to get to Zeco…”
“HEY!”
Feeling a cold chill of worry, Zeil turned to the voice as he saw Shining Armor approach him. Knowing that he looked like a royal guard, Zeil stood at attention and spoke “Yes your majesty!”
Shining Armor glared at the disguised guard, “What are you doing out here! I told you to check the west wing!”
Thinking quickly, Zeil replied, “Yes your majesty, you did, but when I was on my way there, I spotted this so I decided to investigate.”
With that said, Zeil pointed at the fabric rope that hung overhead as Shining Armor looked up and replied, “Really?... and?...”
Zeil continued, “I spotted a few broken branches in this tree here, but no changeling sir.”

Shining Armor looked at the tree and confirmed the branches as he looked back at Zeil and replied, “And, your partner?”
Zeil continued, “I told him to continue to the west wing while I investigated. Since there is nothing here I'll proceed that way, unless… you have further orders for me your majesty?”
Shining Armor gave Zeil a skeptic look, as he replied, “No… I don’t. Precede to the west wing and if you see anything suspicious. Don’t hesitate to act, am I clear?”
Zeil stood at attention, “Yes your majesty!”
With that said, Zeil turned away as he started trotting away in the direction of the castles west wing. However, before he was out of sight, Shining Armor spoke, “Oh… and Star Bolt?”
Zeil stopped, “Yes your majesty?”

Shining Armor reached into one of his pockets as he pulled out the everstone and replied, “When we arrived here, I think I saw you drop this. Is it your?”
With that said, Shining Armor tossed the everstone through the air as Zeil caught it out of reflex. When he did, Zeil looked over the stone, as he replied, “No… I don’t think I dropped this. You think any of the others co…”
Before he could finish his lie, the Stone began glowing very bright as Zeil’s hoof slowly turned black as his entire body began changing back into his changeling form. Shocked by his unexpected transformation, Zeil dropped the everstone as he took a few steps back and looked at himself, “But… h-how… wha…”
Shining Armor smiled in a gloating way as he pointed the spear at him and spoke, “Your name wasn’t Star Bolt… that is the name of a criminal we are hunting. So you gave yourself away… you should have known that no changeling can fool me.”
Zeil sneered at the angry unicorn as he replied, “Well you shouldn’t blame me for trying… so what are you going to do now? Arrest me?”

Shining Armor shook his head, as he replied, “No… I got you all to myself!”
With that answer, Shining Armor charged at Zeil as he swung the blade of his spear in an attempt to kill him. Luckily, Zeil was too fast as he dodged the attack and backed away, “Before you do you need to know! I'm not your enemy!”
Shining Armor replied, “Yea right like I'll believe YOU!”
Shining Armor lunged forward in an attempt to scour Zeil as the quick changeling dodged the second attack and replied, “No… I'm serious! I even helped your sister when she…”
“DON’T TALK ABOUT MY SISTER!!!”
With his rage, building up Shining Armor started swinging his spear repeatedly trying to hit Zeil, however the quick changeling managed to dodge each and every attack with ease, even more so then he himself expected.

Finally Shining Armor’s rage got the better of him as he swung the spear vertically, missed his mark, and embedded the blade into the soil as Zeil placed his hoof against it and held it down, “Prince Armor listen to me!... you’re not okay… Queen Chrysalis still has a slight hold on your emotions! She can’t control them, but neither can you! If you stop I can help yo…”
“SHUT UP!!!”
With all of his strength Shining Armor pulled the blade from under Zeil’s hoof as he quickly raised it up and lunged forward trying to dig it into his chest. Luckily Zeil managed to side step and avoid the attack yet again only this time, he placed three of his hooves on the shaft as he pushed the blade down into the soil and tried again. “Please Armor I'm only trying to he…”
“ENOUGH!!!”
With his rage controlling his actions Shining armor channeled his strength into his hooves as he griped the spear and started flinging the determined changeling over his head as Zeil was tossed through the air and landed almost ten feet from where he was tossed.

Zeil picked himself as he looked at Shining Armor who’s eyes were now glowing green as the angry prince spoke, “Your kind are a parasite! You bear no value towards the world around you while hurting those that do! Your queen and the rest of your kind deserve to rot in Tartarus for all I care! And that’s where I intend to send you… EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!!!”
With a rage-filled throw, Shining Armor tossed the spear at Zeil and watched in hop of killing his foe. When Zeil saw the spear coming at him, something unexpected took hold. It was as if the spear started slowing down in his sight as Zeil stepped out of the side, caught the airborne projectile before spinning it completely around and embedding the blade into the ground in front of him. Zeil stood shocked, He didn’t know what exactly it was that helped him do this, but he slowly realized that it was possible that Zecora’s teachings of patience, balance, and focus lead to this improbable action.

As Zeil looked up at Shining Armor, he felt as if he was looking into the eyes of a raging bull since now, even his pupils were whited out by the green glow of his curse. With a little more confidence now, Zeil pointed the spear at Shining Armor as he spoke, “Alright… if you want a fight… then let’s fight.”
With his actions controlled by anger, Shining Armor charged at Zeil as he drew his swords and started swinging mercilessly at the ready changeling. One after another, Shining Armor swung his swords as Zeil used the spear to block each and every attack as sparks from the impacts where thrown into the air with little distractions for either fighters. The sound of metal on metal echoed through the area as Zeil blocked each attack as Shining Armor yelled through his strikes, “You think because you can take the form of a simple creature means you can live amongst us! You’re fooling yourself! Creatures like you can’t live like us! Creatures like you who have no conscious, no soul, no heart, and no decency! Creatures that can feel guilt! Remorse! Creatures that can’t even feel LOVE!!!”

At that moment, Shining Armor’s words hit a soft spot, as Zeil blocked the last attack, parried the blade and swung back, hitting Shining Armor in the side of his face with the staff of his spear. Stunned but not down Shining Armor took a few steps back as he put his hoof on his head and stumbled. With that, Zeil glared at the unicorn as he reached into his saddlebag and spoke, “Can’t feel love… what do you know unicorn… you think that a creature like us has much of a choice. You shun us every time we trot by. You treat us like monsters, and chase us away anytime we want to say something… you think we have a choice in this matter?... you’re dead wrong!… We can feel love, just like you… but you know what… right now, at this exact moment… you’re the one acting like a changeling!”
Zeil slowly pulled out a glass vial from his saddlebag as Shining Armor’s rage took hold again, “DON’T EVER COMPARE ME TO A FREAK LIKE YOU!!!”
With that, Shining Armor began a second charge as Zeil quickly tossed the vial at the charging unicorn before raising his spear in defense.

As the small glass vial flew through the air, Shining Armor swung his swords as the blade shattered the vial and sent the powdery contents into his face as he continued his charge without concern. With the spear at the ready, Zeil blocked the enraged unicorn’s strike as Shining Armor looked into his eyes and spoke, “I am not like you…”
Zeil smiled as he replied, “You’re right… I'm better.”
With that said Zeil jumped back as Shining Armor stood there in anger, “Better! I'll show you BE… w-what?...”
Trying to charge for the third time, Shining Armor tried to lung forward, but when he did, his hooves failed to move. Confused, the angry prince tried moving his body to compensate for his motionless hooves, but no matter what he tried, his hooves were frozen in place as he looked down, “What?! What did you do to me!? Why can’t I move!?”
Trying to us all of his strength to lift his hooves, Shining Armor continued to jerk his body left and right but no matter what, his hooves remained stationary as they started turning grey as the color started spreading up his body and freezing everything as it spread. With an angered look Shining Armor looked at Zeil as the clever changeling spoke, “It’s apparent that your little rock neutralizes internal magic… but it does nothing to external magic. That simple mix I learned will prevent you from doing anything else. Luckily it’s non-lethal… but then again I’m not.”

Shining Armor sneered at Zeil as the grey color ran up his neck, “You changeling piece of…”
As the grey color engulfed his head and silenced his swear, Zeil smiled as he approached the prince, “There’s no need for that kind of language… it will all be over soon anyways, now I'll show you who’s incapable of love.”
With that said Zeil raised the spear and readied himself to drop the blade on the frozen unicorn. However as he looked into Shining Armor’s eyes, Zeil could only sigh as he lowered the blade and spoke, “You know, killing you would be so easy right now… it would make me feel better too. But… I’m not who I was a few weeks ago. I changed for the better… and you… you’re just not worth it.”
Shaking his head, Zeil took off his saddlebag, sat it on the ground, and looked through it. Then Zeil pulled out a small container as he opened it and spoke, “You know, if all goes well, you and I may even call each other friend someday… but I doubt it.”

Zeil opened the top of the container and dipped his hoof into the past substance as he smeared it onto Shining Armor’s forehead. Then as he finished, Zeil wiped the remaining past on the ground as he spoke, “There… you don’t know it yet, but your cured of the curse. By the time the freezing powder wears off, you will be in a much better state of mind… even if I like you better frozen.”
All of a sudden, a few royal guards emerged from the castle as they called out, “This way, I think I heard swords clashing! Prince Armor Are you out here?”
With no way of disguising himself, Zeil took the spear with him and began fleeing the scene, leaving his saddlebag where it sat.
Later after crossing the bridge, Zeil chose a concealed spot as he sat down and tried to change back into his zebra form but no matter how hard he tried, no part of his body changed in any way. Trying to figure it out, Zeil mumbled, “That stone… it completely removed my ability to transform… why?... I better keep moving. I must tell Zecora the truth… even if I look like this. She deserves to know.”
With that said, Zeil continued into the forest carrying the spear as he made his way towards Zecora’s hut.

Not fare from her hut, Zecora, Twilight and a royal guard messenger trotted through the forest as Twilight spoke, “And he said he was going to The Palace of The Royal Pony Sisters?”
The messenger replied, “Yes… the princess has informed me to deliver this message to you personally. To prevent unessisary risk.”
Zecora spoke next, “A cursed brother, versus a creature of deceit. With two darkness’s clashed, who knows who will taste defeat.”
Twilight looked at Zecora and asked, “You’re sure you don’t know where Zine lives? It’s never even come up in conversation?”
Zecora shook her head, “Not once did he say where he leaves for the day. I never did ask, for to know wasn’t a must. Since in my heart like his, we always had trust”
Twilight smiled, “That’s sweet and all, but we could use his help in this too. I only hope we cross paths before this is through… wait… I just rhymed.”
Zecora could only chuckle at her friend’s accidental rhyme as the three entered the clearing where all the Golden jokes grew.

As they entered, Twilight looked around in awe, “So this is where you got the golden poison joke you have? They’re everywhere.”
Zecora replied as they continued, “This is where Zine and his magic he spoke came to create the golden jo…”
Before Zecora could finish her sentence Zeil still in his changeling form, emerged from the forest on the other side of the clearing as he paused as soon as he saw the three, “Z-Zecora?”
Too far for the three to hear him, Zecora Twilight and the messenger braced themselves for a fight as the guard drew his sword and yelled, “YOU THERE HALT!”
Still annoyed with Shining Armor’s actions Zeil didn’t reply as he started trotting slowly towards them. The guard took a few steps closer as he yelled again, “Didn’t you hear me? I SAID YIELD!!!”
Zeil yelled back as he continued trotting, “No… I will not yield to anypony!”
The Royal guard was now annoyed as he replied, “THEN ON YOUR GUARD!!!”

With that said the guard charged forward with his sword ready as he approach Zeil and swung horizontally. With the attack obvious to him, Zeil turned his spear around and stuck the blade into the ground as the shaft blocked the incoming slash. Then before the guard could react, Zeil used the buried blade as an anchor as he swung around the staff kicking the guard in the side of his face as the guard fell to the ground unconscious. As soon as they saw what happened, both Twilight and Zecora readied themselves for a fight as Twilight spoke, “Stay back! Don’t come any closer!”
As Zeil looked at the angry expressions on both their faces, He replied, “I'm not here to hurt you.”
Twilight replied, “really?,,, what about him?”
As Twilight gestured towards the unconscious messenger, Zeil looked at him and replied, “He… is an exception. He tried to attack me, so I merely defended myself. Just like I did with Shining Armor.”
“WHAT!?! What did you do with him! What did you do to my brother?”

Knowing that Twilight was now worried, Zeil looked back at her as he tried to calm her down, “Your brother is fine… I promise I didn’t hur…”
“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!”
At that moment a number of royal guards rushed from the forest and stepped between the changeling and the mares he was talking to as one spoke, “Twilight, thank Celestia your unharmed. We found Prince Armor a few minutes ago… I don’t know what he did, but… the prince is frozen.”
Twilight stared in shock at the guard as she replied, “W-what?! I-is he alright?”
The guard shook his head, “I'm sorry… but we don’t know.”
In shock, Twilight looked down as Zeil tried to speak, “I did what I had to do to prevent him fro…”
Twilight glared back at Zeil as she interrupted him, “Guards… Surround and arrest the changeling!”

At that moment, the guards quickly surrounded Zeil as he sighed, “Really?… I gotta face you guys too.”
With that said, Zeil held his spear at the ready as he waited for the guards to attack. Then, the first guard charged him as Zeil easily blocked, parried, and pushed the guard aside just in time to block the attack from the next guard. One by one, each royal guard tried all they could to land at least one stunning blow on the changeling, but no matter how hard they tried, the well-trained changeling proved too much for his pony attackers. As Zeil and the royal guards continued their endless cycle of attack, block, parry, push away, and attack again, Twilight looked at Zecora as she whispered to her zebra friend, “Zecora, I'm going to need your help to send this changeling back to his nation.”
Zecora nodded her head as she replied, “I will do what I must, though this isn’t tranquil. This will be a tough task, for this creature has skill.”
Twilight gave Zecora a curious look, “What?... why do you say that?”

Zecora gave the fighting changeling a curious look as she replied, “This creature’s strength, so familiar yet poise. His movement, his balance. Like silence amongst noise. I don’t understand, why familiar it does seem. So peaceful yet strong… like a fast moving stream. But we must stop him still, for your brother we will redeem.”
As the two mares started formulating a plan, Zeil continued fighting off the royal guards as he started getting pushed back further and further with each guards attack. Finally, as Zeil started feeling weak from fighting off the guards, he was saved as Twilight stepped forward and called out, “Guards wait! Stop attacking him!”
With that order, the royal guards stopped their attacks as they looked at each other and backed away from the now winded changeling. As Zeil planted the spear and used it to brace himself while he caught his breath, Twilight started trotting towards him as she spoke, “You said you’re not our enemy right?... well do you have any proof? Anything you can show us that proves you’re not planning anything against Equestria?”
Zeil continued breathing heavily as he replied, “I… I um…”
As Twilight stopped and waited for a response, Zeil tried everything he could to change into his zebra form, but not only was the everstone’s magic still in effect, but he was now too weak to focus on his transformation.

With his attempted transformations going unnoticed by the surrounding ponies, Twilight continued, “No proof? Nothing to say in your defense?”
When she said that, Zeil looked at the hostile expression on Zecora’s face then back at Twilight as he replied, “I… I… I can’t say…”
Twilight spoke up, “You can’t?... or you won’t?...”
Zeil didn’t reply, instead he gave Twilight an annoyed look as she continued, “I see… then I have no choice. Guards! Step away and be ready!”
Confused, the guards stepped away from the changeling as they stood by and watched what was about to take place. As they did, Twilight changed her stance to an offensive one as Zeil shook his head, “No… I’m not going to fight you Twilight.”
Without catching the fact that he knew her name, Twilight replied, “You have no choice… Zecora now!”
With that command, Zeil quickly looked at Zecora as she pulled a small glass vial from her saddlebag and tossed it at the unsuspecting changing.

As the airborne potion flew towards him, Zeil expected it to be the same powder he used on Shining Armor, so rather than destroying the easy target like his unicorn counterpart did, Zeil used his spear to hook and fling the glass projectile over him as it hit the side of a tree and shattered, leaving the liquid contents to run down the trees stump. After that, Twilight tried to shoot a magical beam at Zeil as he quickly turned back and deflected the beam with the spear. After the beam was neutralized, Twilight started stepping back from the defensive changeling as he repeated himself, “Like I said before… I'm not going to fight y…”
Before he could fully repeat his previous statement, Zeil was silenced when he heard a familiar sizzling sound as if something was boiling behind him. Nervously turning his head, Zeil slowly looked towards the tree that was covered with the potion, as he saw the surface of the damped tree sizzling as if the potion was boiling against its surface. Knowing what it was, Zeil spoke quietly “No… the vacuum potion…”
With that, the determined changing flipped the spear upside down, as he buried the blade into the ground as deep as he could to anchor himself.

As the changeling took that precaution, Twilight called to everypony else, “Zecora! Guards! Quickly come close to me!”
With that call, the guards quickly surrounded Twilight as Zecora looked at Zeil in shock, “He knows… but how can that be, is this his first time here in the e…”
“Zecora!”
Reacting to Twilights warning, Zecora rushed to her unicorn friend’s side as the purple mare created a magical bubble around her that enclosed Zecora and the rest of the gathering guards. Seeing this, only confirmed Zeil’s fears as the sizzling liquid quickly evaporated as a powerful wind was created pulling anything and everything towards where the liquid was splashed. Even the tree’s very limbs were snapped off as they were pulled against its own trunk. As the wind started pulling against Zeil’s body, he held onto the spear with all his might as the ready changeling managed to keep himself from being pulled towards the tree. Knowing this was a part of their plan, Twilight used a spell as a magic portal appeared between the source of the powerful vacuum, and the anchored changeling.

When Zeil saw the portal appear, he could only assume that where ever it led wasn’t good. So in an effort to hold out until the vacuum wore off, Zeil griped the spear as tightly as he could as he looked at the pony party that watched him. With grass, golden jokes, and everything else in the area getting pulled into the portal, Zeil could only continue holding on as the wind behind him started getting stronger. Then while trying to keep his focus, Zeil saw a sword get picked up from in front of him as it flew by, nicked his shoulder, entered the portal, and vanished. Confused as to where the sword came from, Zeil looked at the ground ahead as he spotted the unconscious messenger laying on the ground. As soon as he saw the guard, Zeil noticed that the wind started sliding him across the ground as the messenger was pulled towards Zeil and the portal behind him. Seeing the guard being pulled towards the portal by the powerful vacuum, Twilight called out, “NO!!!”
All of a sudden, as the guard’s body flew by Zeil, the determined changeling reached out and grabbed him as he pulled the guard close and placed him in front of the spear, away from the portal. Seeing the action, Twilight, Zecora, and the rest of the royal guards could only watch in shock as they witnessed a changeling, the greatest enemy to pony kind, save a pony soldier.

After placing the unconscious guard in front of the spear where he couldn’t be moved, Zeil sighed as he continued holding on, “I must really be crazy… to save y…”
Before he could finish, Zeil could see that with both their weight combined, the spear was starting to lean as it was being pulled from the solid ground below. As he saw this, Zeil knew that if something weren’t done, then it would eventually be pulled from the ground leaving both he and the royal messenger at the portal’s mercy. As Zeil pondered his options, he started feeling the winds against the spear get even stronger, so much in fact, that it took all of his strength to keep his hind hooves on the ground. As he thought about his options, the words that started his day started echoing through his mind as he mumbled to himself, “Wait… Show them what I am… or…” Zeil looked at Zecora from the distance, “Who I am.”
With a heavy heart, Zeil looked through the pony party who stood protected in the magical barrier. From here, he could see a look of concern on everypony’s face. The royal guards, Twilight Sparkle… and even Zecora. As he looked into Zecora’s eyes from the distance, he started to think about everything he’s done since he arrived in the Everfree Forest. He started to think of the flirting she did when she was treating his wounds, the sights she showed while they trotted through the forest. The magic he learned when he became her student. The wisdom he earned with each meditation session. But more than all the rest, he started to think about the golden joke, the stormy cave, and their first kiss.

With all these thoughts in mind and with his decision now made, Zeil could only smile peacefully at the pony party that watched him. When they all saw this, the ponies were even more surprised than before, but what came next completely stunned them. With his peaceful smile, Zeil spoke “Zecora… Good bye.”
Though his voice was too low for any in the magical barrier to hear, Zecora somehow knew exactly what he said, as Zeil released the spear, and was pulled through the air, before flying into the magical portal, and vanishing from everyponys’ sight. Less than a few seconds later, the portal closed as the wind died down until everything seemed calm as it did before. With that, Twilight stopped using her spell as the protective barrier around them vanished leaving the group to spread out as they trotted through the field in wonder. As they trotted, the guards quickly surrounded the unconscious messenger as they checked him. Then one spoke up, “Twilight Sparkle, this guard is fine, he is still out cold but he is unharmed.”
Slightly ignoring the guard, Twilight looked at Zecora as she spoke, “He… he gave himself… for that soldier… but why?”
Zecora shook her head as she looked at Twilight with concern, “I know not his reason, nor why h…”
Before Zecora could finish her sentence; everypony in the area went silent as the golden joke closest to where the magical portal once sat, began changing colors from their goldish hue to a lime green then to a darkened blue.

After the first few golden joke changed back into their previous Poison joke color, the rest started to follow in a wave motion as the entire field of gold, slowly turned green, then blue. Everypony to include the zebra enchantress was speechless, they didn’t know why the field changed color like this, but it was easy to see that it had something to do with the departure of their changeling counterpart. With worry, Zecora reached behind her ear and brought her golden joke down so she could see it as she watched for this particular plant to make the same change. However, as Zecora watched the gift from the stallion she loved, no changes took place as she continued looking at it. Then as Twilight looked at Zecora she asked with concern, “Zecora?... what wrong?... are you okay?”
Without realizing it herself, a tear slowly started rolling down her face as Zecora wiped it away and replied, “I'm fine my friend… I know not why I feel… I feel uneasy… like this shouldn’t be real…”
Twilight asked, “I'll admit that I'm unsure whether sending that changeling away was the right thing to do… but its already done… we can’t really change that now.”
Zecora couldn’t tell if what she was feeling had anything to do with the unknown changeling’s departure, but never the less, she felt a deepened sadness that she couldn’t understand. So without concern for the unexplained feeling Zecora replied, “I’m sorry my friend, I don’t know why. This sudden tear fell from my eye. I guess it the jokes, the blue that surround. With the return or their color, their mischief abound.”

Twilight could tell that Zecora wasn’t being honest, but with absolutely no speculation as to why her eye teared up, Twilight just played along as she continued, “I guess so… wait… Shining Armor!” Twilight looked at one of the guards, “Hey! Can you take me to where Prince Armor is?”
The guard stood at attention as he replied, “of course! This way!”
As the guard turned to leave, the other guards followed as Twilight looked at Zecora, “Zecora… since this mess with the changeling is settled I think I'll be fine from here. I'm going to go check on Shining Armor. So if I need you, I'll come find you alright?”
Zecora gave Twilight a curious look, “You have no worry, of your frozen bro? I can assist if you need me so?”

Twilight shook her head, “Before I would gladly have you come with me… but that changeling… seeing him sacrifice himself for a guard that has no benefit to him… it just make me think that what he said about not hurting Shining Armor is true. I'll check him first then if his condition is the same, I'll return for your help. I don’t want to bother you any further. Especially since I dragged you away from time that could be spent with Zine.”
Zecora nodded her head as she replied, “Then I’ll bid adieu to you.”
Nodding her head, Twilight, and the royal guards started trotting down the trail towards the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters as Zecora broke off and went the other way. However right before she left the refurbished poison Joke patch, she paused and looked at the embedded spear that was now leaning in the ground as she mumbled, “If he truly said to me, good bye… then what would provoke him… or better yet why?”
With that thought in her mind, Zecora turned and left the area, as the only thing left in the field of now Poison joke was the leaning metal spear that was sticking out of the ground.

Later that evening right before sunset, Zecora arrived at the sight where they agreed to meet, as she sat on the cliffs edge stared into the distance, and waited. She waited, as the sun completely set over the horizon, as the moon rose to take its place. She waited, as the fireflies awoke on their own, and started their dance to greet the silence of the night, and although the fireflies were the reason she loved this place so much, Zecora paid them no mind as she continued her wait. As the night progressed, Zecora sat looking over the cliffs edge at the rest of the forest below, but occasionally, she would turn to the tree line behind her in hopes of seeing the stallion she loved approach. Sadly, each time she did, no zebra was there, as she sighed in disappointment, before turning back to her cliffside view. With time going by even the dancing fireflies grew restless as they started returning to the tree that they dwelled in, and rested for the night. Not long after, the stars began to fade, the moon began to set as the sun started rising on the horizon. As Zecora sat watching the rising sun, tears started building up in her eyes as she continued looking into the distance with an unhappy sigh.

Then finally, with the rising sun came the sound of hoof steps behind her as Zecora quickly turned with excitement, only to find, that the one approaching wasn’t Zine the zebra, but Twilight instead. Disappointed with her raised hopes, Zecora turned back to the cliff as Twilight spoke, “The guards said they saw you here… actually they said it was last night that they saw you… were… you here all night?”
Zecora didn’t reply, instead she looked into the distance as she nodded her head. Twilight continued, “Where… you planning on meeting somepony here?... or better yet… some zebra?”
Zecora continued nodding her head without a word as Twilight sighed before speaking, “Zecora… there’s… something you need to see. It’s about what we found at the Castle of the Pony Sisters… well… we found a saddlebag that we think belonged to the changeling… only… I’ve seen that very same bag before. Well… I think it would be better if you came and saw it for yourself.”
Having already pieced together the puzzle, Zecora sighed as she replied, “Very well, I'll go… since… I think it so. The only way I'll accept it… is if I truly know.”

With that said Zecora reached behind her ear, took the golden joke that was there, as she brought it down, and looked into its gold colored leaves. At first, she wanted to toss the plant from the cliffs Edge, but when she remembered something Zeil said about why the plant will never wilt when it’s near, she could only smile as she mumbled, “So it’s true… I do love you… so you must truly love me too.”
With tears rolling down her face and falling onto its golden leaves, Zecora used her hoof to dig a small hole in the ground as she placed the stem of the golden joke in, and planted the mystic plant. Then with a content smile, Zecora looked into the distance as the tears continued to fall, “Maybe someday, he could find the Everfree. And when he does… our love will truly be.”
With that said Zecora wiped the tear from her eyes as she and Twilight left the cliff’s edge and went to investigate where the mysterious changeling slept.

Epilogue
I Am Home

All was silent as Zecora and her young alicorn student balanced over the stream on staves. As they balanced the young fillies, expression became troubled as Zecora sensed her aggravation and spoke, “To master your fears, you must first remove all fuss that is how one attains focus.”
The young alicorn tried to focus as her troubled thought left her leaving her to return to a deep and focused meditative state. Then as they continued their session, Zecora could sense a presence in the forest as she spoke, “With deep connection, to the world around, you can seek all even what’s not found. Such as the guard, who is roaming around.”
Completely breaking her concentration the little filly opened her eyes as she spoke, “Guard?”
Before the filly could say anymore, the young alicorn fell from atop the staff and into the stream below. With no trouble at all Zecora opened her eyes and lowered herself from the top of her staff as she stepped onto the ground and spoke, “All distractions must be deterred, even if just a simple word.”
As the filly picked herself up from the water, she hung her head in shame as she spoke, “Sorry teacher, I tried, I really did… but I'm just no good at this magic stuff.”

Zecora patted the young princess on her back as she replied; “Now, now, dear Umbra, your lessons are still fresh, for once you master my teaching, you will be a great princess.”
The young filly looked at her teacher and smiled as a group of royal guards stepped out of the tree line as one spoke, “Ms. Zecora! Princess Umbra’s lessons are over for the day. I am here to escort her back to Canterlot.”
Zecora looked at the guard and smiled, “Her lesson is done, but much more when will learn, so tomorrow we’ll continue, so long as you return.”
Princess Umbra smiled as she replied, “Ok then I'll see you tomorrow morning for the next lesson. Don’t worry teacher, I'll become strong just like daddy.”
With that, Princess Umbra turned back to the guards as they both left the area towards Canterlot. Once the princess and her guards were out of site, Zecora secured both staves that were being used for balance as she leaned them against a tree and began trotting into the forest. Not long into her travels, Zecora met with a trail and began trotting up it towards her destination.

As Zecora continued, she reached a small clearing where she could see poison jokes growing amongst the clearing. But in the center of it all, stood a leaning and rusty spear, that hasn’t moved in almost a decade. As she trotted past this clearing, Zecora smiled slightly at the spear, before continued on her path towards the place she wanted to see. Continuing on her path, Zecora saw a random golden joke as it grew on the side of the trail glowing with its golden leaves. A few steps later, Zecora pasted a second golden joke that sat on the opposite side of the trail as the first. Soon, almost every other step revealed yet another golden joke as the mystic plant could be seen growing along both sides of the trail, though despite this sight, Zecora continued as she paid them no mind. Finally, as Zecora neared the end of her trail she stopped on the edge of a cliff as she looked down at the same glowing golden joke that she herself had planted so many years ago. As she looked at the golden joke that was once the last of its kind, she cradled the golden leaves as she smiled at what the magical plant once represented.

Zecora could only smile as she started tearing up at the memories that began flooding her thoughts. Though it was so long ago, Zecora couldn’t forget the happiness she felt, the joy she experienced… then… the sorrow that followed. Even now, after nine years eleven months and six-teen days, the pain still felt fresh. As she continued looking into the golden plant’s leaves, her heart skipped a beat, as a familiar voice came from behind. “Zecora?...”
When she heard it, Zecora paused as she slowly turned her head to look at the direction it came from. Nevertheless, when she saw who it was, she couldn’t believe her eyes. There at the tree line, almost twenty feet away, stood Zeil in his full zebra form as he stood wearing a brown cloak with rings and accessories that could only be described as Zebrican. As she stood starting at the stallion she loves, Zecora could only stare in shock as she started trotting towards him and spoke “C-could it be?... I-is it he?...”
As Zecora trotted closer, Zeil put his hoof out to stop her, “Zecora wait!...” Zecora stopped as he continued, “Before you come closer… I have to tell you something… No… better yet, I'll show you.”

With that said, Zeil sighed as his entire body, minus the cloak and assessorial, changed form to reveal himself as a changeling. When she saw this, Zecora didn’t react, instead, she just gave him an emotionless stare as he confessed, “Zecora… I'm a changeling. I'm… the same changeling that you and Twilight defeated almost ten years ago. My real name is Zeil. And, I’ve been deceiving you the entire time. But, let me explain… yes, I was one of the changelings involved with the attack on Canterlot. And yes, I specifically lied just so you would save my life. But… that’s why I couldn’t tell you the truth in the end. I lied about who I was, but… I really did come from a Kingdom that my Queen destroyed. And did I really fall in love with you?... Absolutely! Zecora, when I fell for you I wanted nothing more than to be with you. I wanted to share your joy during the good, comfort you during the bad, I wanted to make every day with you the happiest I could. I loved you so much… the thought of losing you terrified me. Even more than the thought of being punished for betraying my queen. Zecora… I love you… and I spent the last ten years traveling from nation to nation Zebrica the Highlands, even Prance just so I could be back with you. But… if you’re upset with me, or… if you never want to see me again… I completely understand. Just know that through all the lies, there is but one absolute, one hundred percent truth… I love you.”

Zecora stared at the changeling that stood before her with almost no emotion in her expression. Though she was surprised by everything, he said Zecora didn’t show it as she turned to look at the golden joke that grew on the edge of the cliff behind her. Then she turned back to Zeil as she gave him a look that was a combination of serious, and angry. With this look, Zecora started trotting towards Zeil, slow at first, but then faster and faster, until she was moving at a less then jogging pace. Seeing the anger in her expression lead Zeil to believe that she was going to hit him when she got to him, so accepting whatever came next, Zeil held his ground as he sighed with disappointment. However, when Zecora finally reached the truthful changeling, she didn’t hit him at all. Instead, she threw her hooves around him, and kissed him harder then she had ever kissed him before. Standing there, more stunned and confused than anything, Zeil didn’t move as Zecora finished her kiss and spoke with tears rolling down her face, “I waited so long, for you to return. Even after, the origin that I learn. I do not care of the shape you take, the stripes you bear, or the lies you make. It was not your tail, your mane, or the color of your eyes. But the heart, the personality, hidden under the disguise. I loved you for you, and no matter how long the roam. I'm happy you’re here… I'm happy… you’re home.”
With tears running down her face, and her hooves already around him Zecora hugged him as tightly as she could. Feeling this, made Zeil tear up himself, Zecora has always remained calm, cool, and collected no matter the situation. However, seeing her this fragile only proved just how deep her feelings were for him as he hugged her back, “It’s okay Zecora, I'm here. And whatever happens from here… I won’t ever leave you again. And that is no lie.”