Author's Note

I can already tell you've all been waiting for this story to come out, well now it's finally here, so you can all finally enjoy the first chapter of my Zecora story. Your patience has been awarded and there will be more to come in the near future, so thank you and brony on

Stepping Out of the Shadows

The Rhyming Beauty

Written by Israel Yabuki

Edited and Co-written by

NineTailBeastBall

You smiled in satisfaction that you were about to pull off another robbery. Placing down your lamp, you made your way over to a desk, where many goods laid before you. You didn’t have to worry about anyone catching and arresting you, as it was already way past midnight. The only one who lived in this house was tied to a chair in the corner bleeding after the beating you gave him.

You admit you didn’t find sneaking into someone’s house and restraining them so you could take their things to be moral, but these kinds of means were necessary to survive ever since you landed here 7 years ago. Back home, you were extremely rebellious against your strict parents. Every day, they would always lecture you by using your “perfect older brother” as an example of what you should become.

As far as you were concerned, you didn’t do anything wrong. All you wanted was a chance to finally be free. Free to decide what you wanted to do and what you wanted to become when you were about to leave. You defied your parents to the very end and chose to go to college to seek your own career in engineering. Back then, you were in love with cars and trucks and even one day dreamed of designing your own vehicle.

Your dreams unfortunately, were completely crushed on the day you set out for your Spring break vacation. Having cut ties with your family, they of course wouldn’t be joining you, but your flight had a bit of some turbulence and ended up claiming the lives of all the passengers.

Rather than move on to heaven as you thought, you found yourself alone in some kind of deserted wasteland. As a perceptive man, you weren’t going to question how landing in another universe was possible, especially with all the dangers around you. What mattered was that you had been given another chance to live.

Knowing you wouldn’t survive in this wasteland, you made your way out to find civilization, which is how your 7 year journey began. Sneaking in from one town to the other, you were extremely careful to avoid the eyes of the civilians. Many of them were shady characters who made their profits by selling innocent creatures off as slaves and you would suffer the same fate if they caught you. What’s more is that you learned the civilians lived under the iron fist of a tyrant called the Storm King.

Desperate to survive, you constantly hid in the shadows stalking and stealing what you needed. Besides stealing, you prepared yourself for the hardships that awaited you by training yourself. However, you wouldn’t be able to stay in just one location and were forced to sneak out when the suspicions made your stay too risky.

After years of training and living in poor conditions, you’ve become a hardened man. Every day now felt like just another day in this rundown wasteland and you had gotten familiar with the layout of the cities from the maps you stole. Your latest stop was in a town called Klugetown, yet another location oppressed by the Storm King’s rule, or at least it used to be. You’ve been living here for 4 years, a much longer stay than you anticipated. Turns out as immoral as the civilians are, they aren’t very smart and rarely noticed when they’ve been robbed.

Since things didn’t seem so different around Klugetown, it was only until recently that you found out the Storm King has been dead for the past 3 years. With this knowledge, you didn’t see any reason to keep hiding in this dump, which is what led you to your current robbery of a crime boss named Verko.

“Some things never change, do they Verko?” you asked the naked mole rat. Though you knew you wouldn’t get much more than some grunting, since in addition to tying him up, you made sure to gag him as well. It took some work to sneak into a crook like Verko’s house, the last thing you needed was him crying for help. Despite all your training, you weren’t in the mood for dealing with more of his lackeys. As soon as you finished getting what you needed, you were going to make your way out of here.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. For that matter, you won’t ever have to see me again, as I’m quite tired of this crappy town of yours,” you sighed opening a drawer and taking out some essentials you’ll need before your big send-off for yourself. For instance, you took some leftover bits he stashed away, which you plan on using for purchasing some grub on your trip. Ever since the Storm King was defeated, the currency has been switched from storm bucks to bits.

“I heard Capper’s deal for getting you a couple of ponies didn’t work out either,” you reminded bouncing the bag of bits in your hand and the mole rat looked to the side out of embarrassment. “Bet you feel like a real washed-up failure since that “precious cargo” hightailed it outta there.” you said, rubbing it in. “Ah who am I kidding, why should I be wasting my time talking to you anyway? You can’t even speak.”

You put the bits into your backpack, which was worn out, but still useful. Lifting your lamp you looked over at your map again. It was dirty of course, but you could still make out that civilization awaited you up north. Deciding it would be about a 3 day hike, you rolled up the map and placed it inside your backpack along with your other essentials.

Verko continued to struggle to no avail as he saw you make your way over to the window and open it. “Relax, I said I wouldn’t kill you and I’m a man of my word. By tomorrow morning surely a couple of your goons will notice your predicament and come to your rescue. Sadly, I’ll be long gone by then,” you said crawling out the window and closing it behind you.

Looking at Klugetown from your current height, you looked for any hints of civilization in the northern direction. All you could see was the empty wasteland hills of the Bone Dry Desert. You had at least 10 to 15 water bottles that you managed to smuggle from Verko. You would have to remind yourself no matter how hot it got along the journey, the water would have to be conserved. Descending from the house, you slowly made your way out of the city as carefully as you always did. You didn’t know what awaited you up north, but you did know it would be much better than life in the wastelands.

“I’ll ask one more time, get the fuck out of my way,” you snarled at the three crooks standing before you. Quite unfortunate that on the 2nd day of your journey you came across some of the few slave traders still remaining after the Storm King’s reign came to an end. Some fools just weren’t willing to abandon getting a quick buck out of selling living beings.

“You must be joking. After getting a gander at a specimen like you, there’s no way we’re gonna pass up on a one-way ticket to fame and fortune!” the first crook said. You’ve seen a lot of humanoid animals along your travels, this one appeared to be a rat.

“Now. be a good little… whatever you are and come quietly with us, or we’ll be forced to do this the hard way,” the second crook, who was a humanoid crocodile, threatened.

“So which one will it be, freak?” the last one asked. This one was a humanoid boar, probably the biggest of the group. Compared to him, you were the 3rd tallest.

“Make it as hard as you want, I don’t take no smack from some half-assed jokers like you. I’m warning you, though, I’m a professional when it comes to kicking others’ asses,” you said, putting up your dukes.

To your luck, the three crooks weren’t very smart and recklessly ran towards you with ropes in their hands. You calmly pulled out your trademark pipe and knocked the crocodile down by whacking his legs. Once the large boar got close enough, he grabbed your arm, but you pulled all of your weight into lifting him over your shoulder and slamming him to the ground. All that was left was the rat, whom you slowly approached, cracking your knuckles.

“What in Tartarus are you, you... you bastard?!” the rat asked.

“Your worst nightmare,” you said in a low, deep tone. Grabbing him by the throat, you gave him a hard punch to the gut followed by an uppercut to the chin, knocking him to the ground. Noticing the boar was still conscious and struggling to stand, you put him down with a quick kick to his face.

“Wasting so much of my precious time...” you grumbled as you picked up your backpack which you had set down before the fight. You then noticed a poor bird that had been captured by these three squawking loudly in its cage. You have indeed become hardened over these last 7 years, but you still had a soft side. Making your way over to the cage, you picked the lock and allowed the bird to fly away.

“Yeah that’s right. Be free, little guy,” you said in a calm voice. Looking back at the unconscious crooks, you decide to take advantage of the situation by looting them. As far as you were concerned, since they earned their profits through corrupt means, they shouldn’t have it. In addition to the bits you stole from Verko, you would make sure this money was put to good use upon reaching civilization.

You continued on your way through the Bone Dry Desert covering yourself from the hot sun with a cloak. You got a little thirsty after an hour or 2 of traveling, but you made sure not to drink too much water. With only 13 bottles, you had to make them last long enough. You can already tell this was going to be a long journey and you did not want to spend an entire night sleeping in this blazing desert.

Going to sleep never went by smoothly, as occasionally, you would wake up instinctively to check around for potential threats. This has become a very terrible habit ever since you first went into hiding. It was only when you were absolutely sure that you were safe that you managed to force yourself to get some sleep.

By the next morning, you started your simple routine by eating some ham for breakfast before once again moving up north. You held onto your cloak tightly, as today you were forcing your way through a sandstorm. Blocking the sand out of your eyes, you kept in the same direction, until you managed to find shelter once again.

Preserving your water didn’t seem to be working out as much as you hoped. You were almost completely drained after surviving the sandstorm and had no choice but to use up most of your water in order to recover. You were down to 7 and a half bottles of water. All the more reason not to keep wasting time just sitting around.

You were more grateful than ever that you took time during your years in the shadows to train yourself thoroughly. It’s definitely not an easy feat moving across this desert, though you’ve heard rumors that a small group from the lands above journeyed through the Bone Dry Desert when the Storm King invaded. If these rumors are true, you didn’t see any reason to just go back to a life of thievery and hiding.

Your luck was beginning to turn when you got through Bone Dry Desert the next day. For up in front of you, you saw a train that was making its way to your desired direction. That was your chance to use up the last of your strength to sprint the rest of the way. Though you were both tired and hungry, you didn’t give up and reaching for the railing on the back of the train, you pulled yourself on board.

Nobody seemed to have suspected anyone to sneak on board their train. Truthfully, before the plane crash, this was something that wouldn’t even think about doing, then again, you’ve done many crazy things in order to survive in harsh conditions. Such conditions have made you into an entirely different man. Thinking about it now, it made you feel like it’s been nothing but one hell of a toxic life. All of this thieving and stealing has to end some time and you planned on starting over soon.

You closed your eyes, you took in some of the nice fresh air blowing in your face. If you needed more evidence that you were headed for a better place, all you had to do was look at the train you were on. Though pink wasn’t your color, you still got some transportation and the train’s design wasn’t the kind a corrupt nation would use.

As the hours went by, both your hunger and the need to sleep grew worse. You could barely keep your eyes up and your balance was slipping. In order to keep yourself focused, you tried punching yourself to stay awake, but it didn’t work. You tried pinching your arms, but no luck. Nothing you did to keep yourself awake was helping. Pretty soon, you failed to keep your eyes open and passed out before feeling yourself fall.

You felt the impact of the ground as you fell off the train and tumbled into a strange forest before losing consciousness.

You expected upon waking up, your entire body would be in pain. For that matter, you expected you’d be find yourself on the cold forest grass. Quite the opposite for both of these things, as upon waking up you were mysteriously in excellent condition and rather than the forest, you appeared to be in some sort of house. Looking left and right, you found all sorts of unique objects including masks, urns and anything related to tribes.

“Ah I see you are finally awake, but you must rest a bit more for your own sake.” Any ordinary person might have panicked to not only wake up in an unfamiliar location but to discover that they’re not alone. However after everything you’ve been through, you rarely showed fear anymore and calmly just turned to the source.

Before your very eyes, you see a beautiful zebra woman with sky blue eyes. She wore these gold rings around her arms and this black bra, which barely contained her impressive rack. She had to have at least an F-cup bust size and a long black tribal skirt. She had a perfect well-toned figure, probably an inch or two shorter than you.

“Who the hell are you?” you asked.

“I promise an explanation will soon be in order, until then please don’t talk so vulgar. You really should not be so rude, as I’m the one who saved you from becoming manticore food,” she said.

“Uh... okay?” you slowly responded as you observed what she was doing. Judging by the scent hitting you nostrils, you immediately picked up on the scent of soup. “Is that soup I smell? I haven’t had any sort of homemade cooking in a long time.”

“You have a very good eye and this is a soup you simply must try,” she said with a smile. You quirked an eyebrow from the way she rhyme as she speaks.

“Okay then... thanks?” you replied just as slowly as before. She walks over and hands you a wooden bowl and spoon. Letting out a sigh, you scooped up a spoonful of the soup and slurped it slowly to avoid burning your tongue. It tasted delicious, much better than the food you’ve been stealing over the years. “That’s pretty good, how’d you learn to cook like this?” you asked.

“Cooking is as easy as potion brewing, if you know exactly what you’re doing,” she said.

“Okay, now I would like that explanation you promised please,” you said. “I believe I already asked before, what’s your name?”

“Zecora is what they call me, and who exactly might you be?” she asked. You tell her your name, but you weren’t generous enough to tell her anymore about yourself, at least not yet.

It was quite the opposite for the zebra in front of you. Even though you weren’t much of an open book, Zecora didn’t hesitate to give you a little more information. Such included that she found you unconscious out in what was known as the Everfree Forest and you would’ve been eaten by manticores if she hadn’t intervened. You’ve heard of the manticores from a book you read, but never had the privilege of seeing one, as they are quite uncommon in the Bone Dry Desert.

“I live alone in this hut out here, but Ponyville is not too far away my dear,” Zecora added. Hearing that proved your theory was correct and there was indeed civilization up north. You were about to head for the door when Zecora stopped you by grabbing your hand.

“I can see you’re quite an impatient one, aren’t you? There are some things we must attend to. Broken teeth don’t make a good look, it makes you appear like some sort of crook,” she chuckled as she made you sit back down. You felt awkward, as the zebra mare didn’t realize how right she was. “I fixed this mixture before you awakened. It’ll fix those teeth so the ponies won’t be mistaken.”

You raised an eyebrow as Zecora handed you another bowl. This one was smaller than the one she served soup with and held a bright purple liquid. Seeing as you had nothing to lose, you took the bowl and slowly drank the warm liquid. The taste of the liquid was pretty sweet, but later turned into a bitter aftertaste.

You worried about the sweet taste because it might have a nasty effect with one of your teeth with the cavity, but that wasn’t important. The effect was almost immediate, soon you could feel that your teeth, which have been badly damaged, were somehow growing back and the cavities seemed to be disappearing.

“Hey, that wasn’t so bad,” you said very much impressed. Tracing over your teeth with your tongue, they felt as good as new. “How did you do that?”

“I’m a specialist in magic mixtures you see, I can brew up almost any kid of remedy. Now for something about that breath of yours, it’s never good to leave your hygiene poor.” While Zecora fixed up another potion, you passed the time looking at yourself from an empty bottle. With your teeth fixed, those handsome looks which you’d never see again, were slowly coming back.

‘I definitely have to make it up to her later,’ you thought as you continued to admire Zecora’s handy work. This was much more efficient than visiting a dentist and getting implants, given this land you entered actually has dentists. Speaking of which, you remembered what Zecora said about a town called Ponyville.

“Zecora, you said you could brew up just about any kind of potion. From my understanding, you could make a fortune with your special skills, yet you choose to stay here. Could you tell me the reason why, please?” you asked.

“Fame and fortune does not interest me, my life is perfectly fine as far as I can see. It doesn’t take a clear mind to see that, otherwise I’d be drawn in and turn into a spoiled brat,” Zecora explained with a slight chuckle.

“Well, I guess that makes sense,” you replied, unable to stop yourself from chuckling a bit as well. ‘I probably will never figure out why she always rhymes like that? Is it a type of custom for her to do so, or is it just a bad habit,’ you thought.You seriously doubt that you would get an answer if you asked her. Instead, you might end up accidentally offending her, so you held back such a question.

“I don’t see any reason to keep you waiting, having bad breath can be quite irritating,” Zecora said before pouring her now completed potion into a bowl. Looking down at the bowl as she gave it to you, you saw that instead of purple, this mixture was bright green. With a deep breath, you drank up the potion and soon felt it taking effect.

It was a little slower than the last potion, but very soon your mouth caught a slightly chilly sensation that disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived. You breathing into your hand a few times, you smiled as you discovered that the foul, fishy smell was finally gone.

“Hey, thanks, is there anything I can do to pay you back?” you asked. “I know it’s a bit strange, but suddenly I feel I can’t just leave here like I originally planned. You did rescue me and took me in, so it’s only fair that I return the favor. Is there any way I can repay you for all you’ve done for me?” you asked.

“Willing to repay a debt, you are quite wise. It just so happens I’m a little short on supplies. I was going to go to Ponyville just like you had planned, you can repay me by kindly giving me a helping hand,” Zecora said. She then walked over to the corner and pulled out a brown cloak that was similar to your own.

“Consider it done,” you replied.

It seemed like the Everfree Forest was like one big labyrinth. And if you were to walk around this forest alone, you’d end up as chow for those hungry manticores Zecora mentioned earlier. Thankfully, Zecora knew which path to take in order to exit the forest like the back of her hand.

Ponyville was unlike any of the other lands you visited. It was a nice, clean environment and the locals of this town were all multi-colored humanoid ponies. From the moment they all saw you, they gave you a friendly wave, not even fazed by the fact that you weren’t one of them. Once again, your perceptive side kicked in and you theorized that their lack of fear meant they’ve seen your kind before.

“Hmm, it seems like they don’t seem to mind my presence. Have any other people been to this town before?” you asked.

“Such an intelligent man you are, your suspicions are true. Indeed, other humans from near and far have arrived before you,” Zecora replied placing a hand on your shoulder. “Most have experienced some lifelong trauma, so they rebelled to escape from all the drama.”

You took in this information with great interest, unfortunately, questions would have to wait. Reaching the town’s market area, Zecora gave you a list of ingredients and supplies she needed you to get. Thanks to the bits you’ve got on hand, purchasing them shouldn’t be too much hassle. Your only concern was whether Zecora was growing suspicious of how you had so much money.

Zecora finally guides you to the shop she was looking for. Since this last stop wouldn’t take too much time, she decided to take care of this herself and allowed you to go off on your own to explore the town like you originally planned. Taking the offer, you looked around Ponyville for any signs of humans, but so far you were unsuccessful.

“And here I thought every single place in this world was all corrupted, but this place gives off a whole other vibe. I’d best not cause any trouble with the locals. After all, I did promise myself I would start off with a fresh clean slate. Besides, it just wouldn’t feel right if I betrayed not only Zecora, but myself,” you said to yourself.

“Hey, do you always talk to yourself?” a male voice asked. You turned your attention next to you and noticed an actual male human being.

“Oh, hey there. Sorry, I usually talk to myself whenever I’m trying to weig-” but then at that moment, you stopped. Though it’s been 7 years since the plane crash, you were gifted with a long-term memory since you were child. Now that you looked at the man very closely, he looked very familiar. “Say, I remember you.”

“You do? That’s funny, I don’t think we’ve actually met back on earth. Were you one of my school classmates or something?” he asked.

“No, I remember seeing you before both of us kicked the bucket on that plane crash. You were sulking like someone stepped all over your work or supper. I sat beside you,” you explained. From that info, the guy flinched and took a step back. “Sorry, did I say something wrong?”

“B-But if you were with me during the plane crash, how c-come you I never s-saw you when you came t-to Equestria?” he asked while stuttering.

“I’m not sure what Equestria is, but I do remember waking up in some rundown town over in the southern part of this new world. I survived by-” At that moment, you decided you’ve said a little too much, as the man before you was more curious than ever and was expecting you to finish your explanation.

“I’m listening, you survived by doing what?” he asked raising an eyebrow.

“Uh... I don’t think now’s a good time to talk about it. I-I’m sorry to have troubled you, I’ll see you around... maybe,” you said frantically as you started to back away. You were indeed ashamed of yourself for looking so weak after all you’ve been through, but the less others know about you, the better. Taking off, you ignored the man’s desperate calls for you to stop as you ran away.