The Path Of A Zebra

A blast of cold wind brought Sokhor back to reality. The smell of burning filled the air as houses went up in flames, the zebras that were hiding inside screamed as loud as they could as they slowly died in their own fiery hell. He wanted to look away but everywhere he looked, zebras were burning or getting cut down by his fellow warriors. The zebras that he called brothers and sisters were the ones that were destroying the town and murdering the innocents. He was no better, for his sword was also drenched in the blood of the townsfolk. Reasons and excuses why they were doing this flooded back into his mind, but none of them mattered now. No turning back now.

A few of the building were left untouched by the flames, they had all agreed on pillaging them later for anything of value. It was Sokhor job to make sure no one was hiding inside the buildings, he didn't care as it gave him a excuse to get away from the smell of burnt flesh that plagued the air outside.

The buildings were just like the buildings in his old village, single rooms that had all the essentials scattered around on the inside, the only differences was the amount of expensive decorations that were littered around the place. Rich tapestries were against the walls or hidden away, gold pieces of jewellery were left out on tables or in small wooden boxes and rolls of velvet were stacked up against cabinets. This was no doubt, a wealthy village, they could have easily afforded a way to defend themselves against attacks but they didn't even try to defend themselves when he came up the road.

They were all dead now, so it didn't matter.

Sokhor went back outside, the screams had mostly stopped now and the birds had started chirruping again. But the air was still foul, a consent reminder of the deeds he'd done. As he walked out the door, he heard the faint sound of crying, Sokhor quickly tracked down the sound, it was coming out of a old cellar hatch by the side of the house. He drew his sword from its sheave and opened the hatch cautiously with its sharp tip.

Behind the hatch were a group of children, barely old enough to start school, they were cowering in here, hoping they wouldn't get noticed. They all looked up to Sokhor with eyes wide in fear, a few started to mutter prays to the gods, whether for mercy or protection didn't matter, it was up to him if they survived.

“Get out, now!” Sokhor commanded, all the children flinched but obeyed his orders, “Line up! Single file!”

The children all lined up so Sokhor could get a better look at each one. The oldest looked around fourteen and the youngest could have been eight or nine years old. These ones were lucky enough to all be under sixteen, if they weren't they would had had to been killed like their parents were.

One of the younger children started to cry and the zebra next to her, broke from the line in order to comfort her. She started to cry into his shoulder and he stared up at Sokhor menacingly. Sokhor knew he had to punish him for disobedience, but left him alone for a bit so the younger zebra could stop crying.

He many be a monster to them, but he wasn't heartless.

Once she had calmed down a bit, Sokhor pushed the older zebra away from her. The older one took a stand and sized himself up against Sokhor, even we Sokhor drew his sword, he still didn't back down.

Sokhor chuckled, “A brave one are we?” he asked, eager to hear the young zebra's response.

“I won't let you hurt any of them, you will have to kill me first!” the zebra growled, Sokhor laughed and put away his sword, the zebra gave him a confused look.

“You are honourable young one, but you are foolish if you think that you can match me,” Sokhor said, the zebra didn't relax, still ready to ponce at Sokhor if he did anything. “Calm yourself young one, I mean no harm to you,”

“You say that now, but once your finished with the village you'll leave us here to die,” the zebra hissed.

“What is your name?”

“Koda...”

“Well Koda, I promise you and your friends won't be harmed, if you all behave,” Sokhor said truthfully, they were young enough to be a use to his tribe, so had to keep them alive long enough for the elders to pass judgement on them.

Koda nodded and the other zebras gathered around him, he appeared to be the leader of their little group. Sokhor watched them closely as he waited for one of the patrols to get here, to take the children back to the camp. A few in the group kept turning their heads to look at him, some looked scared and some looked angrily at him.

When the patrol arrived, Sokhor explained the situation and they agreed to take the children back to camp. The children lined up again and slowly began marching along side the warriors.

“This one looks too old,” the patrol leader pointed towards Koda, who looked shocked when he was called out. Another member of the patrol grabbed him and brought him forward.

“He looks fine to me,” Sokhor said, “Perhaps we should wait for the elders judgement,”

“Or perhaps we should save them the trouble,” the leader chuckled, drawing his sword and moving closer to Koda. The other children watched in horror, some of the older ones shielding the eyes of the younger ones.

Koda didn't even flinch as the leader rose his sword to strike, he did however, close his eyes and waited for death to take him, but nothing happened, instead, the ringing of metal smashing into metal sounded and he opened his eyes. Sokhor had rushed to meet the leader's sword with his own, hitting it with such force that it would of broken his jaw if he wasn't as experienced. The leader's sword flew out of his mouth and fell to the floor with a clang.

“What do you think you are doing brother!” one of the other members snapped at him.

“Following the rules, any under sixteen years of age must be brought to the elders, that's the code,” Sokhor reminded as he sheathed his sword, a few of the zebra mumbled their agreement under their breath.

“He's not coming with me, and if your so fond of him, you can take him,” the patrol leader grabbed Koda by the hair and through him towards Sokhor. He landed in the mud by Sokhor's hooves.

“Very well then, take the rest and go,” Sokhor said, flicking his hoof in the air. The patrol quickly left, a few of the children mouthed thanks to him as they left. Sokhor looked down at Koda, who was still lying on the ground, looking up at his saviour. “Try to keep up, I won't wait for you,”

Koda did has he was told, standing up and following behind Sokhor timidly, “Thanks for saving me...” he uttered.

Sokhor didn't reply.

Small beams of Celestia's sunlight tickled at Flitter's nose and eyelids, causing her to wake up from her peaceful sleep. The previous day's events resurfacing in her memory, she gave the bed around her a few hoof taps to see where her friend had gone, he wasn't there.

She opened her eyes to look around the room, she turned away from the blinding sunlight and looked around the interior of the room. His armour was still there, but had been reorganized and piled up neatly in the corner.

He was by the window, looking out as dawn reached over the hills. He maintained a perfect balance on one hind leg, other leg bend to help maintain balance and forehooves joined by his chest. He was like a statue, perfectly still apart from the soft breaths that caused his chest to move in and out, in near-complete synchronisation with the blowing winds outside.

Flitter watched him, never making a sound or moving too fast. He knew she was awake, but continued to look out the window as the sun broke past the rolling hill around Ponyville, he outstretched his hooves as far as they would go, lowering the second hind leg to the floor. He lowered his forehooves and dropped down onto all fours again, he looked back at Flitter.

“Pleasant morning to you Flitter, trust you slept well,” Sokhor said, walking away from the window and closer to Flitter.

“Dude, its way too early to be awake, get back in the bed,” Flitter replied, moving the sheet over so Sokhor could get under.

“But the sun is up, and its a beautiful day,” Sokhor protested, turning to point out the window.

“There's no rush, we have all day to do stuff, but right now we can catch some extra hours,” Flitter leaned over and grabbed one of his hooves, gently dragging him into the bed. He gave a sigh, and crawled into the bed, Flitter gave a mental cheer and cuddled up to him like she did before. He was different this time, instead of being soft and cushion like, he was as solid as iron and tense.

“Sokhor, what's wrong, why are you so worked up?” Flitter asked

Sokhor paused, opening his mouth to speak, but shutting it before any words could escape. “It doesn't matter... it was just a illusion,”

“Did you have a nightmare?”

“I'm a warrior... we don't have nightmares,”

“Tell me about it,” Flitter rested a hoof on his cheek, “What horrors must be in your dreams, if my nightmares are your reality,”

“The future... I saw the future... foresight is a dangerous thing,” Sokhor crawled out of the bed, “I cannot sleep, I need to walk,” Sokhor rushed to the door, his mind was racing and he needed to find peace.

“Ohh... ok, I'll wait for you,” Flitter said, a sad look fell onto her face as he left the room and she was once again, left alone. She hated being alone.

An early morning walk helped clear Sokhor's head, the peaceful chirping of the birds and the gentle touch of wind against his fur helped him cool down, maybe he'll be able to figure out the dream soon.

Sokhor strolled beside a river, water parting around the rocks that laid lazily at the bottom. He followed it far, the town hid behind the hills, the sense to walk away and never return lingered in his mind. To run and never look began to appeal to him, he would never take part in the horrific act that he dreamed off, to only ever do the things he wanted to do. To be as free as the birds that perched around him.

The soft melody of music flew through the air, its beauty soothing his doubts and fears. He follow the harmonious sound until he found its source, a mint green unicorn perched on a stone slab with a golden coloured instrument in some kind of magical grip. Sokhor moved in closer, the snapping of a twig under-hoof broke the mare's concentration and caused the instrument to fall to the ground.

The mare picked up the instrument again in her magic, resting in on the stone beside her, never turning around to see who had interrupted her. “I'm sorry... was I playing too loudly?” the mare asked softly.

Sokhor moved closer to her, “It was beautiful,” Sokhor whispered, when she couldn't put a face to the voice, she turned around to look and was surprised by the zebra.

“Do you really think so?” a smile grew on her face.

“Truly,” Sokhor reassured, the mare picked up the instrument again, fiddling with the wire loops. “But why play so far away from the town? Ponies all over should enjoy such wonderful sounds,” Sokhor insisted, the mare chuckled to herself.

“Well... not everypony enjoys my music, I can't blame them. With musicians like Octavia to play them wonderful tunes that I can't ever match. After all, I'm just a simple mare with a simple lyre,” She said, looking sadly down at the grass.

“Sometimes the most simplest things, can be the best,” Sokhor sat down next to her, she looked down at him from her elevated position.

“Maybe your right,” she muttered, looking brightened by Sokhor's word. “I'm Lyra Heartstrings,” She rose her hoof.

Sokhor recognised the interaction she was seeking, “They call me Sokhor,” he met her hoof with his own. She gave a light shake and he did the same.

“Guessing you're the new guy that everyponies been talking about, I hope you're enjoying your stay in Ponyville,”

“It has been a interesting experience so far, just hoping the first day goes smoothly,” it was Sokhor's turn to stare down at the floor.

“I'm sure you'll be fine, pony aren’t the most trusting of something new or unusual, but once they see your a nice guy then they'll be fine with you,” Lyra reassured.

“I hope so, but ponies seem friendly enough as it is, I don't wish to intrude on your lives, for they are so vast and complicated” Sokhor stood up and looked off into the distance, the opposite way from Ponyville.

“Missing home?” Lyra stepped beside him, “I can imagine it hard to adjust to it all, being from so far away, all of the luxuries us ponies have, apparently you all still live in huts,”

“You seem to know more about my way of life than others,”

“I only know as much as the next mare, we've all heard the stories of zebras, then there's a few rumours floating around, but I refuse to accept them as the truth... such horrible things,” Lyra informed, Sokhor turned his full attention to her.

“I'm sorry to disappoint, however the zebra race is infamous for it ability to do unspeakable things, have no fear though, I mean no harm,” Sokhor muttered, Lyra looked at him with an indecisive look on her face.

“And do you regret any of the things you've done?” She asked quietly.

“Yes... but I know I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't do those horrible things,” Sokhor replied firmly.

“At least you regret it, that's a start,” She gave a small shudder, “I don't think I could ever do something like that,”

“I only did those thing for survival, not just my survival but the lives of my family,” Sokhor stated, making sure she understood his reasoning.

“I suppose your right, to save the ones you love,” she looked up into the sky, “Sun's risen, I best get back to the town, do you want to walk we me, it would be nice to have company?” she smiled at him.

“I should be getting back as well, let's walk,” Lyra went to pick up her lyre from the rock, using her magical grip again to hold it as she walked.

“How do you do that?” Sokhor asked, indicating to the hovering lyre in front of him.

“What? Magic, well, it's all in the horn,” she replied with another smile...

The town was a bit more lively now, pegasi flew through the sky above and small groups of ponies wandered the streets. Lyra had explained to him how pony magic works as best as she could, she was no expert on magic, but she knew the basic like every unicorn did.

Lyra's mouth on and closed a few times, Sokhor waited patiently as she tried to form her sentence. “Sokhor... Could I ask a big, big favour?” she asked nervously.

“Very well, what is it?”

Lyra looked hesitant for a moment, “I'm auditioning for a place in a orchestra... nothing special, but I was hoping to get somepony to listen to me play properly before I go... I don't mind if you say no, but nopony's ever said that my music was good like you did,”she said, looking hopeful at him.

“It would be a honour to hear you play,” Sokhor replied, nodding his head. Her face lifted up with joy and she pulled in for a quick hug.

“You will! Thank you so much,” Lyra exclaimed, shying away after her hug. “Can you do tomorrow, same time, same place on the hill?”

“Same time, same place,” Sokhor gave her a small smile, she gave a squeak of delight.

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you,” she moved in for a second hug, but Sokhor raised his hoof to stop her, the ponies around them were still watching them since the first hug.

“It is no problem, Lyra Heartstrings,” Sokhor reassured her.

“Please, just call me Lyra,” She insisted, “You have no idea how happy you've made me. I got to get back to Bon Bon, I'll see you tomorrow,” Lyra slide around his raised hoof and gave him a small, friendly nuzzle on his cheek. Sokhor immediately froze up, unsure on what to say back to her.

“Err... F-Farewell,” Sokhor muttered, bowing his head down so she couldn't see his glowing cheeks. She walked into the town and he walked in the opposite direction, he didn't know what to think, was it just a harmless gesture of friendship? or a plot to make him vulnerable so they could ponce?

It had dawn on him that he would have to go past several residential areas to get back to Flitter's house and he was without any way of defending himself, had he fallen for an attempt of trickery? Ponies watched him from the windows or were behind corners, unlike before they weren't afraid of him. A few that walked near muttered a “Hello,” or “Good morning,” to him as they passed, to which he gave a wordless nod or ignored them entirely, for he didn't want to start a conversation with them.

The sound of galloping hooves moving at a high speed echoed near him, he turned to look but before he could even turn his head, a bright pink mare appeared like magic in front of him, causing him to jump back. “You're the new pony, I know your the new pony because I know everypony in Ponyville,” The mare said at incredible speed. “Word is your arrived yesterday and were all big and scary, but now you're all friendly and nice so we can all be friends and have a party, do you like parties? I love having parties-”

“Slow down, please miss?” Sokhor tried but she was already lost in the moment.

“-Parties mean that there is lots of cupcakes and music, ponies to talk to and games to play, oh aren't parties just the best things EVER?!” the mare continued, her voice was slowly grinding in his head and starting to give him a headache.

“Miss...” Sokhor voice grew louder as the mare continued at the same neck breaking pace.

“I know! I'll throw you the best party ever! We can have lots of balloons and goodies to eat, I can invite the whole of Ponyville so you can make so many new friends, it will be so much fun!”

“Miss! Please stop talking!” Sokhor snapped at her, he caught her attention as well as the ponies that were walking around. All stopped to look at them.

The mare's wide eyes looked up at him and her hair seamed to deflate from its bouncy state. “D-don't you like parties?”

“No. I don't,” Sokhor said firmly, her eyes started to water slightly and the ponies around started to mutter.

“Was it something I said?” the mare asked through choked breaths as she recollected herself.

“Don't blame yourself, but I didn't come here to have a 'party',” he replied, he was sure what a party was, but he was sure it was some sort of social event. Judging from the angry sounding ponies around him, he wasn't going to be making many new friends.

The mare opened her mouth to talk but the dull thud of a stone hitting the back of his head silenced her. “Nopony make Pinkie Pie cry!” a stallion in the crowd shouted.

“Yeah!” a few of the ponies cheered, more angry stares fell on him and a bunch more small stones and rock started levitating.

Sokhor could only run as the stones were thrown at him and ponies broke off to chase him down. “Run him out of town!” a mare yelled, the ponies around her roared their agreement.

“We don't want you here!” another pony shouted.

Sokhor ran as fast as him leg could carry him, but he couldn't outrun the pegasi that were dropping sticks and other objects in front of him, causing him to trip and stumbled. Due to him having to stand up or slow down the other ponies were able to keep up with him. The hailing of debris rained down on top of him consently.

He fell once again to the hard floor near the outskirts of Ponyville but this time he couldn't stand, his knew he couldn't get away. The mob crowded around him, their kicks and shouts filling the air, “Ponyville for Ponies!” some shouted. A unicorn levitated him into the air, carried him out of the town and through him to the ground with a lifeless thud.

The mob gave a collective cheer of victory, some were high hoofing each other or just laughing together. The crowd started to break up and went to continue with their day. A pegasus lead a dark cloud over him, gave it a kick and cold water started falling onto him.

The crowd started to quickly thin out until only two ponies were left. Roseluck and the mare that he believed was called Pinkie Pie. Roseluck waited for the ponies to leave before helping him whilst Pinkie watched.

“Sokhor!” Roseluck cried, she dragged him from beneath the storm cloud. “You're going be fine,” She reassured.

Sokhor raised his hoof and pushed her away gently. “I do not need your help,” Sokhor said, standing up on shaky hooves. “Besides, you ponies had made it quite clear that I'm not welcome,”

“You know we don't all dislike you, ponies are just scared of you,” Rose said, Sokhor looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Drop the façade, what I just saw was a town uprising to kick me out,” Sokhor shot back, Rose fell silent and Pinkie walked to her side.

“I never knew that ponies could all be such big meanies,” Pinkie spoke softly, still a little nervous.

“Haven't you done enough damage yet?” Sokhor hissed at her, she flinched but stood her ground as she gave him a sad smile.

“I sorry, I'll make it up to you, I pinkie promise,” the pink pony sat down and began doing several gestures with her hooves, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

Sokhor opened his mouth to reply, but felt something run down the back of his neck, a feeling he was too familiar with. Raising his hoof to wipe it away, looking at his hoof reveal that the liquid running down his back was actual blood. Rose looked at the back of his head.

“Oww, its looks pretty bad, we should get you to hospital,” Rose advised, Sokhor gave a quick shake of his head.

“No, take me back to Flitter's house, I have a potion for this sort of thing,” Sokhor insisted, Pinkie and Rose shared a uneasy glance between each other.

“If you're sure,” Rose said. The three quickly walked to Flitter's home, avoiding any ponies they saw and Pinkie kept checking if Sokhor was still fine. Rose gave the door a few knocks and after a few seconds, Cloudchaser opened the door.

“Hello... oh no, what happened?!” Cloudchaser let the three in, Sokhor carefully stumbled into the living room and sat down on the sofa.

“Sokhor? Oh Celestia, what happened?” Flitter walked in from the kitchen, she looked at him with wide eyes as he smiled at her.

“Flitter... remember the potions I told you about... healing potion...” Sokhor said as a wave of dizziness overcame him, but Flitter already rushing up the stairs before he could finish. She quickly grabbed his back and emptied the content. The vials and bottle rolled across the floor as well as a few things she saw the night before, except one thing she didn't recognise. It was like a brown envelop, only made from rough paper and was rather sloppy, on the front it read “For blessed eyes only,” in loopy handwriting. She didn't have time to think, she quickly hid it inside the top draw of her dressing table and rushed back down with the healing potion.

   She uncorked the lid off of the bottle and Sokhor drank it down, like magic, the cuts and bruises started to fade away, though they left faint scars from where they once laid. Sokhor downed around half of the bottle before stopping. As soon as the bottle left his lips, he gave a loud gagging sound accompanied by a shudder. “Such a horrible after-taste,” he commented.

“Now can you tell me what the hay is going on?” Cloudchaser asked impatiently, Rose and Pinkie looked down at their hooves.

“It was my fault, I-” Sokhor began, but was interrupted by a pink mare.

“No, it was me, I want to say hey, but Sokhor was in a hurry, he said some things and got beat up by some ponies,” Pinkie summarized, skipping over a few details.

“Do you know who did it?” Flitter asked, sitting beside Sokhor and brushing his mane with her hoof.

“There was a lot of ponies,” Rose muttered, Flitter and Cloudchaser looked at Pinkie, who nodded her head. “I was just walking around at the time, I see him running away from a group of angry ponies,” Rose added.

“So, lets get this straight... you said something and are now public enemy number one?” Cloudchaser asked with disbelief. All three nodded their heads.

“What am I going to do with you?” Flitter asked rhetorically to Sokhor with a smile.

“For a start you can stop messing up my hair,” Sokhor said whist waving his hoof at her in attempted to get her to stop, “Secondly, I got to clean myself up, walking around with blood stains might not be the best idea,”

“Good idea, blood stains aren’t the most friendly looking thing,” Pinkie said, her voice had a way of making something sad so much more nicer. “Oh dear, sorry, but I gotta run, I promised to watch some of Dashie's tricks. Hope you feel better soon,” she said at a high speed, they all said their goodbyes and she bounced out of the door.

“Alright, I'll go get myself cleaned up,” Sokhor stood up from his seat and went to the bathroom.

He stared at himself in the mirror, thankfully his face was mostly untouched, the same couldn't be said for the rest of his body, for it was riddled with small cuts and bruises that hadn't fully faded away yet.

His was going to be really sore later.

Flitter sat at her bed, the mysterious brown package in her hooves. She didn't know if she should open it, she obviously wasn't meant to look at it and she could help but feel like she was betraying Sokhor's trust by even holding the envelop in her hooves. However, if Sokhor was going to be a danger to anypony, it would be written inside. Her sister's words and the old nightmare night stories about zebra's killing each other for fun echoed through her mind. She had to open it, not just for her safety, but for the whole town's.

The seal broke easily enough, he must of opened it several times before. Inside was a single piece of folded paper, she let it fall onto the bed. Her mind was split three ways, one was telling her to trust Sokhor, to put the paper away and never look back. One was telling her to read the note and see what happens. And the final one was telling her grab his sword now while she still had a chance, with the element of surprise she could easily murder him.

She dismissed the final thought quickly.

She picked up the note, hooves shaky and her hairs standing on edge. She closed her eyes and unfolded the piece of paper. Her eyes opened and her mind filled with an unexpected disappointment, for it was written in some sort of code she couldn't understand or work out. Looking at it, she knew she wasn't smart enough to work it out, but she knew somepony who could, Twilight Sparkle. Conveniently she was already planning on taking Sokhor to the library today, so she could ask her then.

She put the paper back into the envelop and took it downstairs, to put in her saddlebags for later so Sokhor wouldn't find out. Her saddlebags were hanged up on the wall by the door.

“You really shouldn't go through your coltfriend's stuff, you might find something,” Rose's voice said from behind her. “Or at least try to look less suspicious when taking his stuff,”

Flitter turned to look at her, “He's not my coltfriend,” she muttered, getting a chuckle from Rose.

“Sure he isn't... Flitter it's obvious, the way you look at him, the way he looks at you,” Rose smiled at her.

“No... he isn't my type,”

“Oh well if you're not interested, then I'll just go upstairs and tell him I'm available,” Rose said, licking her lips.

“Don't you dare,” Flitter step in front of her.

“I thought you didn't like him?” she asked whilst fight back a giggle.

“I don't, but for all we know, he might already have a Marefriend,” Flitter suggested, Rose processed this possibility.

“Wouldn't surprise me,” Rose looked back up the stairs, like she was waiting for him. “Anyway, I better get going, the stand ain't going open itself,” Rose and Flitter shared a friendly hug before exiting the door.

“See ya soon,” Flitter waved her goodbye, Rose reached the street before waving her own hoof back to Flitter and continued to walk into the town. At the top of the stairs, Sokhor looked down at her with wide eyes and saddlebags by his sides. Flitter couldn't help but feel nervous as she felt his stern gaze.

“Hello Flitter,” Sokhor said as he reached the bottom of the stairs. When his hoof hit the final step, she flinched lightly. “Are you alright, you seem a bit nervous?”

Flitter forced herself to be calm, “No, nothing wrong with me,” she gave him a wide grin and he looked at her suspiciously. “Err... are you planning on going somewhere?” She asked, trying to change the subject.

“I must start the search for the zebra I was sent to find, for I now know I am not welcome here,” Sokhor spoke calmly despite his impending failure, for he cannot complete his trial fully if the ponies kept on kicking him out of town.

“There's no need to search, I'm pretty sure Twilight knows the zebra your looking for,” Flitter informed.

“Really?” Sokhor looked at her, amazed if it was actual going to be that easy. Flitter nodded her head. “Then there's no time to waste! Please take me to this 'Twilight' pony,”