The first thing Spike heard when he opened his eyes was a loud thud. From the sound of it, he figured it must have come from downstairs. So, ever so slowly, he sat upright in his bed, letting out a long yawn and rubbing the crust from the corner of his eyes. Afterwards, he hopped out of said bed and, in a still-groggy manner, made his way over to his bedroom door. It took him little time at all to start walking down the hall to the stars, and before long he was down there, looking around until, finally, he saw the source of the noise he’d heard. It was Twilight, looking over what appeared to be the oldest books in the library. There was a great big pile of them too, all stacked to one side as she focused on one in particular. Every once in a while, a book on the top of that pile would fall off, creating the very thud that had woken Spike up in the first place. Though a little irritated at this, Spike just sighed, then walked on over to stand beside his Mother.
"Mom?"
Immediately, Twilights' ears perked up, and she glanced down to her young charge.
"Oh! Spike! I'm sorry! Did I wake you?"
Spike smiled, but shook his head.
"It's fine. So..."
He glanced over the open pages before him.
"...what's all this about?"
Twilight turned to look at those same pages, and her smile faded a little.
"Well...given a lot of the things that have happened lately, I decided it might be best to look up some of the old stories from around here."
Spike looked to her with curiosity.
"Like what?"
Sighing, Twilight's expression became a bit more serious than Spike was expecting.
"Have you ever heard...of Zecora?"
Naturally, Spike shook his head, silently giving his parent her answer. Seeing that, Twilight offered a small smile.
"No, I didn't think you would. Well..."
She flipped a page, showing one image in particular.
"...she would have a looked a little bit like this."
Spike looked to what his Mother was pointing to. It was an old drawing, probably made by some pony scholar decades, or maybe even centuries ago. It looked like a mare, but with a mane-style completely different to what Spike had ever seen. But, the truly stand-out feature of this person was that they bore black and white stripes. As one would expect, this led to some confusion for the youth.
"Um...what?"
Giggling slightly, Twilight explained.
"They're called Zebras. They live far to the South. Further than most ponies have ever been before."
She tapped the page.
"This drawing was made by a pony explorer who went down to find them. He never found their home, but he did manage to come across a few. Took all sorts of notes and pictures, but..."
Briefly, she shook her head.
"...but I'm getting ahead of myself. So...Zecora."
Spike looked to her, showing clear interest as she kept on speaking.
"Legends have it that, out of all the Zebras in the world, she was the only one who sought to travel beyond her people's lands. She journeyed forth, seeing new people, new places, gaining knowledge wherever she went."
Twilight's eyes focused hard on the text of the pages as she flipped through them.
"But there was one more thing that set her apart from the rest of her people. And that...was that she had a connection to magic."
Of course, Spike seemed surprised by this.
"But...I thought only unicorns and alicorns could do that?"
Twilight nodded.
"Normally, that would be true. But Zecora was special. Ever since she was born, she was set apart from the rest of her people, feeling and sensing things they could not. Part of her journey was to help understand this part of herself. And eventually..."
Another flip of the page, and this time, Twilight and Spike looked upon a very familiar location.
"...she came to the Everfree Forest."
She then looked to Spike.
"The Everfree possesses great magical power, Spike. It's a place of pure and wild nature. If ever there was a place to go to in order to focus on the magical currents of the world...it's there."
Spike looked back to the picture, then back to his Mother.
"So...what happened? To Zecora?"
Twilight's eyes drifted back to the book.
"According to the stories, she found a place, deep in the heart of the Forest, and...stayed there. She sat upon a stone, closed her eyes, and lost herself in the whispers and energies of the Forest and the magic within it. It connected with her, and she with it, and she allowed it to become a part of her."
Another page was flipped.
"In time...she gave herself completely. Her physical form, abandoned. Her mortal life, given up. And now, if the story is to be believed...she now exists as part of the Everfree."
Spike's eyes widened.
"So...there some old mare's ghost haunting that place?"
Twilight giggled slightly, patting him on his head and shaking her own.
"No, Spike. I don't think it's like that. From the sound of it, Zecora...well..."
Her smile shrank a little.
"...if this story is right, she did something nopony has ever done before, or even attempted. For all intents and purposes...she became one with the energies of that Forest."
Her expression became one of thoughtfulness.
"Neither good nor evil...but an unseen and powerful force in that place."
Spike's eyes drifted to his Mother, and he too started to look curious.
"Um...Mom? Where did you hear about this?"
Looking back to him, Twilight started to look a little bit nervous.
"Oh! I...er...I heard somepony mentioning the name to me a while back."
As Spike looked to her, he felt that, while those words were not a lie exactly, there nevertheless seemed to be something else in all of this that Twilight wasn't telling him. Regardless, he didn't seem to feel as though it would be good to poke any further into this, for at that moment his mouth opened wide, and he let out yet another long and loud yawn. Twilight, seeing that, offered him a warm smile, sighing, and placing her hoof upon his shoulder.
"Time for bed, I think."
Spike smiled back, and he nodded. This time, however, Twilight decided to walk up with him, and before long, they were right at Spike's room again. Twilight opened the door for him, watching him enter and get back to his bed, before giving him a nod and turning to head off to her own room. But, before she did so, she was halted when the young drake spoke to her again.
"Mom?"
Twilight looked to him.
"Yes, Spike?"
Though hesitant, the youth managed to get his words out.
"Do you think it's real? The legend? Zecora?"
Twilight paused, thinking on that question long and hard, before looking back to her son.
"Yes, Spike...I do."
