In an instant, after a brief flash of light, Bozz had found himself in a dense wood, Twilight standing nearby with a giddy grin on her face. He could not quite put his finger on it, but this area felt...familiar. The sounds, smells, and sights all gave off an atmosphere akin to the jungles of his homeland. Off in the distance, he could hear a frog croaking on a log, while an crocodile growled in a bog nearby. Less obvious to others, however, was the spirits. They were still barely legible to him, but it was here that they were clearer than anywhere else. The distant whispers from before had turned into ones that were closer and more intense.

Twilight clapped her hands and said as she bounced on the balls of her feet, "Oooo, this is so exciting! I'll be able to learn SO MUCH about both of your abilities!" She then gestured excitedly for him to follow her, walking immediately to one massive tree in particular, which upon closer inspection revealed itself to be hollow, with two windows carved out on either side of a wooden door. At this door, Twilight turned around and whispered, "She's almost done preparing a brew. Go right on in."

Bozz, looking between the door and the princess motioning him forward, carefully opened the door to reveal the inside of the hut. Across the walls, various tribal masks and wooden slabs with painted patterns were hung all around the large chamber. On the floor, shelves lined the room, filled to the brim with books on botany, alchemy, and spiritual folklore, all accompanied by bowls of various herbs and flowers. As Bozz continued to look around the room, he heard what sounded like something boiling alongside...humming? With that realization, Bozz turned his attention to the middle of the room, revealing the mare who was hosting them.

In the middle, dancing around a bubbling cauldron, was a visage directly taken from the folklore of Bozz's tribe. The mare was waving her arms, humming a tune as the cauldron simmered and the bangles on her right forearm clinked along with her movements. The bangles slid over her striped coat, both of them given a light sheen in the light of the candles. Her hair was done up in a tall Mohawk, revealing the rings around her neck and the hoop earrings dangling from her ears. These were complimented by a brown loincloth and a tanned handmade top. As she slowed down, she noticed her new guests at the edge of the room and gave a friendly smile, walking up to both of them.

"Twilight, good to see you again/May I ask, is this your new friend?"

Twilight nodded in excitement and quickly hugged her before she turned to Bozz and said, "Yep! The very same. I rushed him over here as soon as he was done with the demonstration!" Excitement dripped from her voice as she was nearly bouncing up and down, a smile stretched wide across her face.

As she nodded in acknowledgement, Zecora walked slowly up to Bozz, her eyes quickly scanning him as she seemed to be trying to get a read on him. She then gave a warm smile and bowed her head as she said, "How wonderful to have you here/I am Zecora, zebra seer. Are you ready, my friend, to take my hand/and see, as you call it, the 'Unformed Land'?"

Bozz smiled and nodded his head eagerly. "As you may know, I am Bozz, witch doctor of the Umbaru tribe. To answer your question, yes, I am! To see what spirits roam these lands would help me better understand the ways of this world.", he said as he knelt next to the cauldron. He then clasped his hands together, bowing his head to signal his readiness.

Zecora knelt down just to the left of him, smoothing her loincloth as she took a deep breath. As she took a moment more to center herself, she looked at her new guest and said in a serious tone, "To see the unformed upon this plane/your vision must scan, your hearing strain. The spirits are timid in this land/Is what I say clear, Umbaru man?"

Bozz took in what she said, the words seeming odd to him at first, before he nodded his head and said, "Yes...I believe I understand." He then took in a deep breath, reflecting the meditative practices he was taught. "If I am to see the spirits in this land, I am to focus my senses. Is that accurate?" He inwardly chuckled to himself as the situation that he found himself in. It had been many decades since he was able to ask anyone these questions. Truly, he did not believe that his lingering spiritual questions would be answered, whether here or even in Sanctuary. Yet here he was, about to enter on a journey akin to his first.

Zecora gave a small smile and nodded her head as they continued their deep breathing exercises. After a few breaths, she said, "Now we shall see where the spirits roam/within the forest outside my home. With these spirits, we shall commune/that you may use that as a boon."

All throughout this conversation, Twilight had already grabbed a chair and sat to the side as she furiously scribbled on her parchment, quill practically smoking with friction as she wrote down every detail of their encounter. To bear witness to the meeting of humans and ANY race within Equestria and beyond...such an event was nothing short of historic. She considered it her own personal honor to transcribe this meeting for future generations to learn from. When she looked up from her notes, Zecora and Bozz had their eyes rolled into the back of their heads as their bodies began to shake. She had to wonder what they were seeing...

Bozz looked around slowly as he found himself in Zecora's hut, though it was different, as he expected. There was no light that was there in the physical plane. Instead, everything in the hut and everything that could be seen outside of the window had a certain luminescence to it. A light blue color seemed to radiate from everything, from the leaves of the trees high up in the canopy to the small rivulets in the far distance. This was the Unformed Land. If nothing else, Bozz thought to himself that, strange of a land as this was, it would seem the Unformed Land would remain a constant.

With a quick clear of her throat, Zecora made her presence known. Bozz's head snapped back to the center of the room. There knelt Zecora, as before, but now she carried a much more ethereal aura. Her eyes, once light blue of iris, were now a solid white, similar to the witch doctor himself. She held a bright glow throughout her body similar to the spirits that Bozz had seen in his previous insights into the Land, and her earrings and some strands of her hair were almost floating, as if she were completely submerged in water.

With a calm tone, Zecora said to her momentary pupil, "Welcome to the Land Unformed/From which all that is is born. Go into the forest deep/to find where the spirits creep." She then closed her eyes, taking deep breaths in and out in sequence.

Bozz looked to the front door of the hut and slowly swung it open. He quickly scanned the surroundings, looking for any sign of a spirit's presence. One didn't simply stumble across one, even back in Sanctuary. These spirits were far more elusive than that, going where they pleased. Like anything that exists, however, spirits always leave a slight trail to follow. The trouble with this world's Unformed Land was FINDING any trails.

Bozz stepped carefully through the underbrush, keeping low to the ground as all of his senses scanned for sounds, smells, anything that could indicate a presence. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, he found something. It was a small, fairy-like creature...

...That had been very recently crushed under the gait of something VERY large.

Recognizing that this was certainly an abnormal occurrence, he immediately stood up and listened for what could have caused this sudden upset of the spiritual balance. There was nothing, but Bozz knew better. In all his years of serving as a guardian of his world, rarely did he find that “blindly malicious” equate to “stupid”. His head was fervently turning, listening for the presence of...something.

That presence made itself known with a sudden snap of a twig. All Bozz had to do was turn around, and there it was: a slightly ethereal form of a Dark Berserker hulking over him, lipless mouth growling and chattering as it’s spiked club was cocked back behind it, ready to strike.

Bozz just barely dodged the swing, one of the spikes giving him a bad scratch on the front of his leg. Immediately, he focused his mind and phased out of the Unformed Land, back to the physical plane. He had to hurry, for he rarely ever saw a demon appear so clearly in the Unformed Land...

...Unless it was really, DANGEROUSLY close...

Author's Note

Apologies for the short update after so long, I kinda wanted this to be something of a turning point for the story, establishing just how far the demons have gotten in their movement to Equestria. This would facilitate further interactions down the line, I believe. As always, lemme kno what u guys think! :D