When Ozma was a young child, she had a fascination with ponies. Whenever she saw one, she became giddy with excitement. She longed to ride one and perhaps one day to become good friends with it. For in the land of Oz, all animals could speak. This created an interesting relationship between pet and owner as they could form deeper ties with one another. Their relationship is never limited by the inability to communicate, as would typically be the case in any normal land. In any case, she had always hoped that she would end up having a pony as a pet and she was sure it would be her best friend ever. She was so excited by the idea that any time she saw a pony in the wild, she would be unable to sleep well that night, as she would be up stirring and restless as she pondered how she might go about acquiring a pony. This went on for a few years, until her parents decided that they were tired of constantly hearing her tell them how much she liked ponies and how much she wanted one.
One day Ozma awoke to find a note in an envelope on her nightstand. It was sealed with the royal seal, so she knew that it must be from her parents. She promptly proceeded to open the letter, eager to discover what they felt was so important that they had to not only write her a letter, but seal it in an envelope with the royal seal. She was so excited and curious, she forgot all about the fact that it just happened to be her birthday. She obtained her letter opener and opened the letter with an extraordinary enthusiasm. As she pulled out and opened the letter, she saw that on it was written but two words: "GO OUTSIDE". This seemed very peculiar for her, as she went outside nearly every day, so why should this be any different? In either case, she ran down the stairs and headed out into the courtyard of the palace. She looked around eagerly, but saw nothing. She was confused, a mixture of dismay and irritation caused a variety of wild thoughts to enter her head. Why would her parents ask her to come outside to find nothing, and on her birthday, no less. She became rather disillusioned at this turn of events. As she was about to turn and head back in, she heard a rustling somewhere near her. She looked around to see if she could spot the probable origin of the sound. Unfortunately, to her dismay, she was unable to locate the source of the rustling sound, so she turned around and started to head back with her head down and her eyes beginning to well up with tears. She was stopped abruptly by something soft and furry. She heard a slight snort and as she looked up, she saw the most beautiful pony staring back at her. She was so excited she hugged the pony instantly in a warm and loving embrace.
Ozma looked at her new pony companion and inquired as to her name. The pony smiled and said her name was Elizabeth, although she could call her either Eliza, or simply Liza. "Not Beth?", Ozma asked with a somewhat malicious grin. "I'd rather you not...", Eliza retorted as she rolled her eyes and started walking off in the direction Ozma headed for originally. "Okay", said Ozma, "I will only call you Eliza, or Liza, as it seems to be what you prefer." Eliza smiled and thanked her new companion for her cordial welcome and understanding of her request to only be called the two names she was most familiar and comfortable with. Ozma and Elizabeth became close friends rather quickly. Every day they would go for walks, sometimes with Ozma riding upon Eliza, other times they would simply walk side-by-side.
Then one day, Ozma was talking with Eliza and she decided she wanted to know about Liza's origins. "You know...", mumbled Ozma silently, "I didn't mention this before, but ponies are very rare in Oz, because certain things from their bodies can be used in magical formulas." "In fact, there are so few ponies in Oz that I'm always surprised when I see one, but whenever I do, it's usually in a special environment where they can be monitored and protected." "However, you don't seem like those other ponies. I've never seen one as spectacular as you!" Eliza seemed to tense up a bit and started backing up slowly. "What's wrong?", Ozma asked gently, sensing the sudden change in her companion's mood. Liza started to frown a bit, then she got a little scared, and started to cry. She whispered something silently under her breath. Ozma couldn't understand her the first time and asked her to repeat it a little louder. Eliza trembled a bit and said a little bit louder, "I'm.... from...." Ozma could tell she was terrified. She told her that she was safe now and had nothing to fear, and to please continue what she was saying. "I'm... from... Canterlot...", she said with a petrified expression on her face. As soon as she said the last word, she looked around her quickly as though somebody wer chasing her. Ozma wondered what could be causing her to be so afraid.
Ozma didn't mention the event again for a few months, until one day when Eliza was in an especially good mood, she decided to see if she could get some kind of an explanation out of her. They were in the middle of a normal, happy conversation when suddenly Ozma asked, "What's Canterlot?" As soon as Ozma mentioned the word 'Canterlot' Eliza's expression went from happy and excited to incredibly frightened. They sat there in silence for what seemed like an eternity when finally Liza was able to squeek out a tiny bit of information. "it's... a... different kingdom... far away from... here...", she said rather meekly as she started walking off slowly. Ozma had never heard of Canterlot before, but she took her word for it that it was a place and that it existed out there somewhere. Ozma's expression changed to a very concerned one. She hugged Eliza and told her that she needn't fear, and that she could tell her anything. "I know... but... ... okay...", Liza said with an expression of trepidation on her face.
"Canterlot is a kingdom of ponies and their brethren wherein night and day are managed by the rulers of the kingdom.", Eliza explained. Ozma looked rather puzzled. "A kingdom of ponies and their brethren?? I didn't even know such a thing was possible... Do they speak there too?" "Yes, we can speak in Canterlot, which is one of the reasons it feels natural to me to be able to speak to you while in other lands, we ponies cannot speak.", Liza said to Ozma with a sort of sense of disbelief. "So where is this Canterlot, and how did you come to be here?", Ozma asked her lovely comrade with a curious sort of tone. Liza stood pondering the question for a moment, "Hrm... as for where it's located relative to here, that I do not know. As for why I'm here, that I know all too well." "I am a sister to the rulers of Canterlot, Celestia and Luna." "I am the youngest of the three and I have always played a minimal role in the management of time in Equestria." "You see, Celestia is in charge of the day, while Luna is in charge of the night." "I, on the other hand, was only allowed to manage time on special occasions." "Usually this was in the threshold between day and night." "It wasn't on a regular basis, but whenever one of them was too busy to simply give time over to the other, I was called upon to manage the time that neither of them would be able to rule." "Both of my sisters are incredibly powerful. Neither of them have any problem managing time." "However, I only have mediocre powers so it is very difficult for me, even if it is only a few hours." "So I decided to seek an apprentice, somebody to whom I could teach my powers so that they may assist me in managing time when it was determined that I was to do so." "I searched around for a while until I came across a young soldier who said that he had a little sister that needed something to do during the day, so that he had time to focus on his duties." "I taught her well, and we became good friends. She was a very fast learner; the speed at which she learned magic was so amazing to me that it was no surprise whatsoever when her cutey mark turned out to be magic."
"What's a cutey mark?", Ozma asked in wonder. "Perhaps some day I'll explain it to you, but it's not important now and would merely interrupt my story.", Liza responded kindly, but somewhat sternly. "Anyway, since I was always hanging out with this young unicorn, I typically got a chance to talk with her brother often." "I started to fall for him after a while." "Unfortunately, this young unicorn was a bit of a jealous type and didn't like anybody trying to date her brother, lest that pony draw attention away from her." "So she hatched a plan to get rid of me." "One day we were managing time together and bonding. I told her that she was so good at managing the twilight hour that she made everything sparkle and gleam as the time was handed over to Celestia." "So I suggested that people should call her 'Twilight Sparkle' as it would be fitting for her." "She seemed to like the idea. She laughed, but as she did it sort of unintentionally turned into a bit of a cackle and I could see a look of evil on her face for a brief moment." "This terrified me as I know how powerful of a magician she had become." "One day I woke up and found her missing. One of my sisters told me that she had decided to pay a visit to Zecora." "I had no idea why she would do such a thing, but I was quite curious." "So I started out towards her place in search of Twilight." "I neared the hovel of Zecora and crept up slowly." "Suddenly I heard a rustle, I turned around and found Twilight staring at me with an evil look on her face." "I won't allow you to take my bbbff away from me! After I'm done with you, nobody, including myself, will even know you ever existed!" "Then before I could even react in any rational way, she cast a spell on me from a rather curious-looking book lying at her feet which she may or may not have acquired from Zecora." "I blacked out, and when I woke up, I saw your parents walking up to me, looking excited and mentioning something about how I was perfect for 'her'."
Ozma sat pondering Eliza's longwinded explanation about this turn of events. She couldn't help but be fascinated by what she heard about Equestria, let alone Canterlot. She asked Eliza to elaborate a bit about the land and its residents, but Liza refused. She still seemed a bit taken aback by it all and was certainly very uncomfortable talking about it at length as it was a traumatic experience for her. In either case Ozma was completely supportive and told her new friend that she would be willing to try to find a way to help her return to Canterlot if she chose, and that she would be welcome to stay and live in Oz as well, if that is what she decided. Liza did indeed love living in a fine castle surrounded by royalty, but then again, she had that here as well, so she really didn't know what she wanted at the moment.
After they both retired for the evening and Eliza was getting ready to fall asleep, she thought about the current situation and what she felt should be done about it. This was certainly a difficult issue for her to think about, as she would have a good life in either place. She loved her sisters, to be sure, but she was gaining a fast attachment to her new companion who treated her like she was on top of the world. After much deliberation on the best option, she decided that she wasn't sure. However, regardless of whether she actually did return, she felt at the very least, she should try to figure out a way to return, should she ever decide to do so.
The next morning Eliza awoke early. She had difficulty sleeping due to the traumatic experience which caused her to toss and turn all night. Ozma awoke to find Eliza waiting outside of her door like a guardian. She did not expect this because she was not accustomed to anybody awaiting her appearance. After recovering from her slight shock, she asked Eliza if there was a particular reason she decided to wait for her, or if she simply wanted to be there to greet her as she woke up. That's when Liza told her that she arrived at a decision, regardless of whether she returns, she at least wanted to know how it may be possible, if it is indeed possible. Not knowing the location of Equestria relative to Oz, she was afraid this may prove to be exceedingly difficult.
Ozma thought long and hard about how they may be able to achieve this. She then decided that perhaps her parents may have a solution to their problem. So they set off to discuss the issue with her parents. Upon arrival, Eliza went into detail about the events that transpired prior to her sudden appearance there. The king and queen were quite shocked to hear all of this. They remarked that Twilight and Zecora must be truly evil and that they should declare war against them if they were to ever come here. Liza was quite shocked to hear this and insisted that that is certainly not the case, and that both of them were merely misunderstood. They still seemed a bit unsure about it, but said that they would do what they could to help.
After careful consideration, they decided that perhaps the best course of action would be to consult the great sorceress Glinda who dwells at the very southern border of Oz. Ozma and Eliza seemed a bit concerned because neither of them really knew the land that well and they were afraid it may prove to be dangerous. In addition, Ozma was still quite young and had never gone anywhere without the accompaniment of her beloved parents. Unfortunately, they had their royal duties to attend to, so they decided to send an escort to assure their safety.
They both enjoyed the remainder of the day. They decided it best to rest well before setting out on such a grand adventure. They played bizarre games together that most people would never consider. By virtue of Eliza's magic, they were able to do not only things that Ozma could do with other humans, (not having hands, this would otherwise be difficult for Liza) but also spectacular things that normal people could not do. Liza was excited to see Ozma enjoying herself. She hadn't had such a good time since she used to hang out and play with Twilight. Then when she thought about it, it made her sad and wondered that if she did decide to return, would Twilight still hate her? Did she hate her, or was she just fueled by jealousy? She decided it best to not worry about such things and simply get some sleep, as it would be a long day tomorrow.
