Author's Note

Yeesh, it took forever to get this chapter where I wanted, but I finally got it. Enjoy!

8 - The Zebra Princess

“Spike, you need to eat your meat,” I insisted, holding up a fork with some roast chicken on the end of it. “Now come on, say ‘Aaaah’.”

Spike made a face and lifted his nose up, not wanting to eat the meat in front of him. “No! chikin tathts yucky!” he shouted trying to swat the offending fork away.

“Come on, little brother, you need to eat to grow up big and strong,” I tried again with a patient tone.

“No!” he shouted again, inhaling and breathing out a bit of his blue flame at the bit of chicken.

Fortunately, I was quicker, knowing just how to spot when he would begin to breathe his fire. I moved the chicken slightly farther away, just enough to sear the chicken but not enough to burn it. I leveled my gaze on Spike. “If you eat this chicken, I’ll get you a niiice juicy sapphire for dessert. Doesn’t that sound yummy?”

Spike pouted and looked at the chicken like it was the nastiest thing in the world. “Bleeegh!” he said, sticking his tongue out and making a face.

I let loose yet another sigh. Spike could talk somewhat, but he was a fussy young hatchling and I could tell Buttercup was losing sleep. I tried my best to help, but she insisted that she had experienced the same thing with her own child and could handle it.

As I tried to feed the toddler, I thought back on the last four years. Four years since Sunset Shimmer had come into our lives. I say our in reference to me, Aunt Celestia and my other friends. She was quickly accepted into our group of friends with open arms, and despite a few rocky incidents in the first three months, Sunset started to warm up to us.

I saw her during our normal schooling sessions, with my magic teacher and during free time. Just as I figured, she was a very talented mage. She learned things faster than I did. Initially, whenever we studied, she would seem a bit prideful in her ability to surpass me, but after being sat down by Celestia and being kindly but firmly scolded, she apologized and helped me in a more constructive way with my magic.

As the first six months passed, it was discovered that she was pretty good at playing the lute as well (guitars hadn’t been invented yet) and was a very good singer. Aunt Celestia had a lute tutor brought in for her, and sometimes she and I would practice our own instruments together, playing songs and singing with each other.

While all this was happening, I continued raising Spike with the help of Buttercup and others. I quickly mastered fireproofing spells due to his random burps which caused him to breathe out blue fire. Thankfully, nothing of major value was destroyed, just a few bookcases and my desk.

Buttercup and I both took turns teaching Spike how to talk, and I was surprised at how well he picked it up. Sunset took an interest in the young dragon as well and played with him often enough. The three of us became very close. I was grateful that Canterlot’s kitchen staff had hired a griffon cook for visiting meat eating dignitaries since I wanted Spike to have a good and healthy diet.

Strangely enough, when I first smelled a roast chicken, I didn’t react as I thought I would. Being in a pony body I thought that the smell of meat would sicken me instinctively, but the mind must be stronger than the body because I started salivating when I smelled it. I still couldn’t eat meat in large quantities, of course, but I did sneak a small bit before leaving the kitchen, enjoying the juiciness and the texture as I chewed it.

There wasn’t much of note to report during the first four years of Spike’s life. I continued growing and learning from my tutors. As those years passed and I finally reached the age of ten, Aura would sometimes take a break from tutoring us and Aunt Celestia herself would take time out of her day to teach me and Sunset certain bits of magic. Sunset and I were pretty evenly matched, I felt. I might not have been able to cast spells with the same amount of power behind them as Sunset did but there were spells that I could cast that she had trouble with. She and I grew close because of our talents for magic. She would help me and I’d help her.

When she eventually came out of her shell, I learned that she was a lot like Celestia in that she could be a troll when she wanted to be. She loved playing little pranks on me and my other friends, but in the cases where she went too far (which were few and far between) she always made sure to make it up to the recipient of said bad prank.

As my knowledge and body grew, Aunt Celestia gave me more and more permission to leave the palace and explore Canterlot, just as long as I was with my guards. I took my friends out and we’d play and eat good food on our outings. We’d always go out on Nightmare Night for candy and on Hearth’s Warming to sing the famous winter carols door to door. I was surprised to learn that many of them had similar melodies to the Christmas Carols I knew from Earth. My favorite was Carol of the Bells, which was practically identical save for the words Merry Christmas being replaced by Happy Hearth’s Warming.

Despite my self study in politics, there were times when Celestia would give me lessons on how to rule. Lessons which started some time after my eight birthday. She had found me studying in the library at one point, and while impressed by my eagerness to learn how to rule told me that books would only take me so far. She mentioned that learning from an actual ruler would fill gaps in my knowledge, something I agreed was definitely a good idea.

“No! Yucky! Don’t wanna eat it!” Spike shouted again, giving me his best pouting face. A face he had given me, Buttercup and Sunset plenty of times. One I never fell for.

I moved the chicken closer. “No, Spike. You need to eat this. You’ll be big and strong with it. And after that, you can have a nice sapphire.” Holding out my hand, I grabbed said gem from a nearby bowl on my private kitchen counter, holding the gem up for him to see.

His eyes widened and he reached out to try and grab it. “Oooo!” he squealed in delight.

I pulled the gem away and put the meat in front of him. “Eat this first, and then you can have the sapphire, okay? Open wide.”

Spike gave me an indignant glare, but obediently opened his mouth. I placed the chicken in his mouth and with a frown he began chewing. “Blech,” he said as he continued chewing.

I handed him a glass of water. “Swallow it all down then open your mouth. I don’t want you hiding the chicken like you did last time.” At one point, Spike had hidden his meat on one side of his cheek and had even gone to sleep with it in his mouth. It was a miracle he hadn’t choked on the food during his sleep. Ever since then, Buttercup and I had been ever vigilant in making sure he swallowed.

Spike drank the water and swallowed, making a disgusted face and sticking his tongue out. “Yuuucky…” he whined.

“Alright, now open your mouth wide and stick your tongue out,” I told him. He did so, and I looked inside. There were tiny bits of chicken, but aside from the few remaining pieces, his mouth was clean. “Alright, you’ve earned a sapphire.”

Spike’s eyes widened, this time in anticipation. He grabbed it and stuffed it in his mouth, using his sharp teeth to bite down on the gem. “Yummy!” he said with his mouth full of sapphire.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Spike, it’s rude,” I admonished him. “And chew your sapphire thoroughly.”

“Sowwy,” he said sheepishly as he closed his mouth and chewed happily on his dessert.

Stretching, I stood and looked out of the window. It was a nice and warm early Sunsday afternoon, around twelve thirty by the clock on the wall. Clocks in this world were a relatively new thing, at least in Equestria. Most ponies couldn’t afford personal clocks, but most didn’t need to because all they needed to do was look out of their windows and look at their city or town clock located at or near the center of town. Canterlot was no exception, although some of the rich could afford smaller clocks which needed to be wound daily to keep time. Royalty was no exception.

I smiled as I opened one window with my magic, letting the sweet-smelling spring air enter. Winter had only ended about two weeks prior, and I’d spent one of those days observing Ponyshire from my room during their Winter Wrap-up. I thought that I’d seen Applejack’s parents at one point in one of the farms pushing snow away with a plow being drawn by their horses, but it was hard to tell.

As Spike finished his meal, I took him out of the baby chair and set him down on the floor, wiping his face clean with a damp washcloth as I did so. Spike was a quick learner, and once he’d found out how to walk, it was almost impossible to keep up with him. He was a very happy young dragon, but I knew he was in for some hardships in the future because I’d seen some of the nobles in the castle looking at Spike with disdain. However, they held their tongues as I was with him whenever he left our room.

“Can we go out now?” Spike asked, looking up at me expectantly.

I smiled down at him. “Yes, I think you’ve earned it. Just put on your sweater and we’ll go.”

“But dere’s no snow today,” Spike said, pointing to the outside weather.

“Yes, but it’s still cold enough for you,” I replied. Thanks to Aunt Celestia, I learned a few things about dragons in this universe. They would become sleepier in the winter than in the summer, sleeping more than half the time. It wasn’t quite a full hibernation, but they definitely needed to be warm during the times they slept. They would, however, spend the time before this period of semi-hibernation eating a lot of food. Spike hadn’t yet reached maturity, which was the time when his body would start doing that, but I still wanted to keep him safe from the cold since dragons tended to live in more tropical locales.

“I don’t wanna wear dat sweater,” Spike pouted.

I put my hands on my hips. “Spike, Aunt Celestia told you that you need to wear a sweater when it’s cold outside, and so do I. I know you don’t like the sweater, but it’ll keep you warm outside.”

He crossed his arms, or did his best to do so. It only made him look cuter when he pouted with his arms crossed. “Fine, I’ll gwab it,” he said as he walked off to the closet. While he was grabbing his clothes, I threw on my own sweater, a dark purple button down thick long sleeved shirt with silver buttons and gold cuffs with golden cufflinks. Over it, I threw on my short but dark red mantle that I wore anytime I went out of my room. It was similar to the large mantle that Aunt Celestia normally wore, only hers was gold. She’d told me once that Luna’s was a deep royal blue.

“You ready, Spike?” I called out as I slipped on my shoes and waited at the door for him.

“Coming!” he replied as I heard the sound of claws on the floor running up. Spike never liked wearing shoes, especially since the would require special shoes for him. However, Spike’s feet were made of sterner stuff than even some of the best shoes. He did have shoes for special occasions, but he mostly went barefoot.

Spike ran up to him, smiling. He was wearing a dark green sweater with bronze coated buttons. Kneeling, I began buttoning up his jacket. He groaned at this, but I looked at him. “Remember what Aunt Cellie told you.”

“I know, Bwue,” he replied, “but it’s too wawm in da sun.”

I sighed. “I know, it is made of ovitaur wool. Tell you what, if you get too warm, I’ll let you take it off, but the moment you get too cold, I want you to promise me that you’ll let me know, okay?”

That seemed to cheer him up and he nodded. “Okay, I pwomise!”

I smiled and opened the door. Astra and Crimson were standing there, completely at attention. They turned when they saw me and Spike leaving. “Heading out, sir?” Crimson asked as I closed and locked my door.

“Just out to the private part of the royal gardens with Spike,” I said. “Accompany us, please.”

“At once, Your Highness,” Crimson said.

As the four of us headed down the stairs towards the exit to the garden, I lifted Spike up and set him on my shoulders. He always loved being able to see the world from my perspective. I’d told him a few times that someday he would be as tall as me, if not taller, and that prospect, along with the idea that he’d someday sprout wings and be able to fly, excited him. I always loved seeing that hopeful look in his green eyes.

As we reached the ground floor and walked down the massive corridor towards the gardens, I saw three well dressed unicorns, two mares and a stallion standing in one of the window nooks, glasses in their hands of what I assumed was some alcoholic beverage. Nearby I saw a holstaur maid who was holding a small tray with a mix of empty and half full glasses. When the three ponies saw me, they immediately bowed. “Your Highness,” they said. The holstaur curtsied as well, but said nothing.

I knew these three very well. Hard Bargain, the stallion, his wife Busy Bee and the second mare he was attempting to court, Noblesse Oblige. Hard Bargain wasn’t a noble, not officially, but he did own a large number of wineries and millhouses throughout the nearby countryside. Thanks to his marriage to Busy Bee, he also had access to a large honey farm that had come as a dowry from the more traditional Bee family. I didn’t care too much for Hard Bargain or Busy Bee, but Duchess Noblesse Oblige was one of the rare ponies of high standing that I could stomach. She was the only noblepony in that group, the heir to the Duchy of Bittsburg, one of the bigger Duchies under the crown. They currently lived in Canterlot.

I nodded my head in acknowledgement towards them, giving the Duchess a small smile. She gave me one back. I knew from what Celestia told me that those under Noblesse Oblige’s rule had only good things to say about her. From what I could see, and from the gossip I overheard occasionally, Hard Bargain was looking to expand his holdings once more and become a Duke by marriage. However, Hard Bargain was one of the more ruthless businessponies in Equestria. His smile was not genuine. Busy Bee was very much the same, despite her talent for beekeeping. I’d heard that she treated her bees more like soldiers. I doubted that whoever Fluttershy was in this world would have approved.

I felt Spike waving at the three ponies. Hard and Busy’s expression froze briefly but they both nodded at him with some politeness. Noblesse’s smile was warmer and she raised a hand in reply.

As I walked past the holstaur maid, she averted her eyes. I still gave her a smile as I passed, as I did to all the staff at the palace. They worked hard to maintain Canterlot Palace, after all, and they deserved all the respect they could get. Not that many of the nobles who visited the palace or those few who lived there gave them any.

“I wike Miss Obwige,” Spike said as we headed past them towards a side corridor that would lead to the gardens.

“I do too, Spike,” I replied. “I do too.”

We reached the large double doors that led to the garden and my guards opened them. Cool, delicious air washed over us as we headed out into the large spacious garden. And there, sitting in a circle in the center of the green, I saw Anna Belle, Frostfall, Shadow and Sunset. Anna Belle was standing and walking around the seated Frostfall, Shadow and Sunset, tapping their heads with her hand. As I approached, I head her going, “Duck, duck, duck.”

I smirked. Duck Duck Goose was a game I had taught them, telling them that it was something I’d invented. They seemed to like it. As I approached, Anna touched Frostfall and shouted, “Goose!” Then she began running, giggling as the poor shy ovitaur did her best to stand and chase after Anna. However, Anna was faster and reached Frostfall’s old spot, sitting down with a giggle. Frostfall looked a bit upset, but stood tall and was about to begin another round when she looked up and saw me. Her face brightened. “Blueblood! Spike!” she called out.

Sunset, Anna and Shadow all turned in the direction she was looking. I picked up the pace and joined them in a matter of seconds. “Sorry I’m late,” I said apologetically as I lifted Spike off of my head to set him down. “This guy didn’t want to eat his lunch.”

“Chikin is yucky!” Spike said with a frown.

Frostfall walked up and hugged Spike. Everyone in our friend group had grown quite fond of the young four year old and had become very protective of him, including the normally demure ovitaur. “Blueblood, did you make poor Spikey here eat some nasty chicken again?” Sunset asked with a grin, putting her hands on her hips.

“Hey, it’s for his own good,” I said as I mirrored her appearance. “He needs meat.”

“Who wants to play hide and go seek?” Anna asked, jumping to her feet excitedly. “The gardeners haven’t trimmed the bushes yet, and that means lots of good hiding spots!”

“I’m in,” Shadow said, standing. “It’ll give me a chance to practice my shadow magic.”

“No shadow magic! That’s cheating,” Anna huffed.

“How about this,” I said, not wanting this argument to start again, “When Sunset or I are it, you can use shadow magic, but when we aren’t, you can’t.” Turning to a confused Sunset, I explained, “It’ll give us some practice in detecting foreign magic.”

Her confusion slowly vanished and a grin spread on her face. “Sounds fun!”

Anna’s frown had vanished, and she was looking expectantly at Shadow. “Can you take any of us into the Umbral too?”

At that, Astra stepped forward. “No,” she said, looking at her son. “Shadow is not ready to take anypony or anycreature into that realm.”

“What’s the Umbwa?” Spike asked me.

I smiled. “Eutherians have a special magical power. They can turn into shadows and move among them from place to place. The Umbral is sort of like a magical sub-realm which the eutherians can access using shadow magic.”

Spike’s eyes widened. “Whoa…reawwy?”

I chuckled and nodded. “Really. It’s really cool to watch.”

“Can I see? Can I see?” Spike began to beg. “Can you do it to me, too?”

“I’m gonna say no, Spike,” I said. “Only eutherians can travel through the Umbral. I’ve only ever read about a handful of unicorns who did it successfully. Eutherians can take other non-creatures into the Umbral, but it’s dangerous.”

“Your Highness is well versed in shadow magic lore,” Crimson said. He turned to Spike, knelt and began to explain. “You see, young dragon, it isn’t possible for anycreature who isn’t a eutherian to travel through the Umbral alone. A eutherian can take another creature there, but it takes training. You’re too young to go.”

“What kind of twaining?” Spike asked, looking a bit disappointed.

“It’s a bit hard to explain,” Crimson said.

“Let me try,” I said. I knelt beside Spike and looked at him. “You know how in some dreams you know it’s a dream and you can control it, but then you start to doubt yourself and your control doesn’t work anymore?” Spike thought a bit, then nodded. “Being in the Umbral is a bit like that. You need to really focus or else you could get lost, even if you’re holding someone’s hand.”

Spike looked disappointed, but nodded. “Okay. Can I wearn?”

“It takes years of training, but I don’t see why a dragon couldn’t learn,” Astra said.

“I wanna twy!” Spike exclaimed.

Smiling, I turned to Crimson and Astra. “Do you know anyone who could teach us how?”

Crimson looked over at Astra, who looked back. They slipped into a language I now knew was their own private language. While the other three pony tribes spoke in Equish, the eutherians had their own language which not only catered to their sensitive hearing, but utilized their batlike sonar abilities. I’d studied their language over the past few years, and while I could learn some of the vocals, I didn’t have the necessary sonar abilities to broadcast the full meaning of the words. For example, I could use the eutherian word for puppy, but without a sonar qualifier, I could be talking about a wolf puppy or a dog puppy. Other ponies might find eutherians creepy, but I found them fascinating despite them being mutated pegasi. Crimson then turned back to us. “I suppose we can bring you a tutor, if you’re really interested.”

“I’ll ask auntie if we can get one,” I said with a grin. “What’s training like?”

“It’s mostly about learning to calm your mind and learning to have complete trust in your eutherian partner,” Crimson explained.

“So, is it meditation?” I asked.

Astra nodded. “Learning to calm and control your thoughts helps them from straying. The Umbral is a dangerous realm.”

“What does it look like?” Anna Belle asked, looking eager.

“It’s not as exciting as you might think,” Astra explained. “If I were standing in the Umbral where I’m standing now, I would be able to see everything around me, but it would look like the world is grayer.”

“Isn’t it true that there’s a deeper level to the Umbral?” I asked. “I read about it in one of Blazing Glory’s books.” Blazing Glory was one of the earliest and most powerful eutherians. He was the last eutherian who was a victim of Discordia’s spell to pass away.

Crimson nodded. “Yes, but it’s rare for anypony to reach that level. I only know of a handful of eutherians who can reach the second level. We call it the Penumbral.”

“And before you ask, nopony can describe it,” Astra said.

“Awww, that’s too bad,” Anna Belle said. “Still, I’d love to see you disappear!” she added, looking over at Shadow. “Please??”

Shadow looked uncertainly at his parents, who both gave him an approving nod. He sighed then looked around. Finding a shady spot near some trees, Shadow walked over and stood in the middle of a large shadow. As we watched, a strange change began coming over his body. It started at his feet, which began to become transparent. It moved quickly up the rest of his body. When his feet were completely gone, I noticed that the grass he’d been standing on rose up a bit, like he had just moved. Eventually, he was completely gone, and when I tried using the magic tracking spell I knew, but I couldn’t detect him.

“Okay, that was really impressive,” Sunset said, clearly impressed. Her own horn was glowing and she was looking around. After a bit, her horn stopped glowing. “I can’t even track him!” She turned back to Crimson. “Can he interact with the real world like that?”

“Not unless he exited the Umbral,” Crimson replied, “but he can hear and see ten times as well as he could in the real world.”

“And he can only travel through shadows that connect to the one he entered, right?” Sunset asked in confirmation.

“That’s correct,” Astra said. “He would have to leave and move to another shadow if he wanted to travel. It’s one reason why many of us travel at night. We can travel through the entire land even by the light of a full moon. Some eutherians have even crossed large oceans while in the Umbral.”

“So, um, does he have to come out at the exact same spot where he went in?” Frostfall asked.

“No, he can come out wherever, just as long as it’s within the shadow,” Crimson replied.

“How long can you all stay in the Umbral?” I asked.

“As long as we want,” Astra said. She then paused and turned to another part of the glade. “He’s coming back.”

In the direction where she pointed, I saw a shadowy figure beginning to emerge. Starting at his feet, Shadow fully reemerged, stretched, then rejoined us. “Well? What do you think?”

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Sunset said.

“I really wish I could do that,” I admitted. “Traveling around invisible and undetectable would be really fun!”

“It would take a unicorn years to learn,” Crimson said.

I was about to reply, when someone opened the door to the palace. One of the guards came out, looked around, spotted me, and walked over to me. Kneeling, he said, “Apologies for interrupting time with your friends, Your Highness, but Princess Celestia has summoned you to court. She wishes to see you. Alone.” He said the last word while looking at Spike.

Frowning, I stood. “Did she say what it was she wanted to see me about?”

“She did not,” the guard said.

So enigmatic, my aunt, I thought as I looked at the others apologetically. “Looks like you’ll have to play hide and seek without me. Crimson? Astra, could you keep an eye on everyone here? Especially Spike?”

Both stood straighter and gave me a salute, a fist to their chest. “Yes, Your Highness,” they said simultaneously.

I nodded, then turned to the other guard. “Take me to my aunt.”

When I reached the massive throne room, which was one of the only parts of this version of Canterlot Palace that resembled it’s MLP counterpart. Sitting on the massive throne on the large raised dais, my aunt looked down at me, smiling warmly. She rose, spread her wings, flew over to me and wrapped me in her arms. I hugged her back. “Hello, Aunt Celestia,” I said with a smile.

“Dear Blueblood, I’m glad to see you,” my Aunt said as she put me down. “I’m sorry that I asked you here when you were playing with your friends, but I wanted you to meet some foreign delegates we received.”

Looking around, I saw nobody else in the room. “Who? There's nobody here,” I said.

“They’re in the Conservatory nearby,” she said, “planting some exotic new plants that they brought for us from their country.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Foreign diplomats are planting in the Conservatory?” I asked.

“They asked to,” my aunt said. “They know more about the plants they’re delivering than we do yet. Come. I wanted you to meet the young princess. She’s about a few months younger than you are.” Taking my hand, she began leading me towards one of the side doors which led to the Conservatory.

The Conservatory itself was a massive room with large raised platforms of dirt lined with large stone barriers to keep the dirt in place. The room was domed with a geodesic window that faced south so as to receive the most sunlight. Inside the room, plants that couldn’t be grown normally spread out among the various paths through the Conservatory itself.

There were large flowers from the fields of Minos, the empire lead by the minotaurs and holstaurs. There were glowing vines that were used to illuminate the Mines of Canina, the realm of the Diamond Dogs, or as they were known in this Equestria, Lykosians. There was a housetree, similar to the tree which housed the current Ponyshire library, all the way from the Woodland Realm of the Deer. There were a few examples of catmint plants from Abyssinia. And there was a freshly planted cactus sitting near the window. With a number of figures kneeling and pouring some light beige soil around it.

One of them, a zebra mare, spotted us approaching and turned. She had light green eyes and the eyelids were painted a light teal color. She also had a typical zebra coloring and stripes, and a warm smile on her lips. She was wearing a skirt with a multicolored tie dye like pattern and white wrappings around her breasts which kept them hidden. This exposed her midriff and her arms. She had a large golden earring in her right ear and three gold chokers around her neck. Her gray and white mane was cut in a mohawk and I noted a small plain golden circlet around her head with a red gem in the center, half of which was covered by. She wore sturdy looking sandals on her feet and gloves on her hands, which she quickly removed. She turned to another one of the individuals and spoke in a dialect that reminded me of some African languages I’d heard.

The being she’d spoken to stood and turned. To my surprise, the individual wasn’t a zebra at all. He, judging from the lack of shirt on him and the strong looking chest, was a couple heads taller than the zebra. He was even taller than my aunt, and she was the tallest pony I’d seen so far. He was a dark and surprisingly slender green creature with two curved horns on his head, one coming from his forehead and one from his nose. His tail looked like that of a boar, albeit with more fur on the end and matching his colors. He had light green stripes running down his chest, a part of which was interrupted by a nasty looking scar near his right pectoral. His eyes were a moderate cyan. He had a large spear in his hand, the handle made up of some type of wood and the tip made of what had to have been gold plated metal which gleamed in the light of the sun. He wore a small purple cape around his neck and a gold circlet on his head with a diamond encrusted in the center. His mane was a dark blue and fell about his head, most of it tied in braids.

He nodded at the zebra mare, then looked down at me. Immediately I felt like he was sizing me up, so I stood and kept my eyes on his, not daring to look away. The unusual creature before me finally nodded as if in approval, then turned to Celestia. “Your nephew is quite well behaved, Princess,” he said in Equish, albeit with an unusual accent.

“Thank you,” she said in reply, placing both her hands on my shoulder. “He is quite mature for his age.” She looked down at me, and said, “Blueblood, I’d like to introduce you to some visitors from Farasi. This is Queen Zwena, the imperial zebra leader of the Simbabwe tribe of Farasi. And this is her husband, King Sandy Trails. He’s an abada and the leader of the Farsight tribe of abadas on Farasi.”

My studies on Farasi came back to me. I had learned about the three different tribes of zebras, sure, but later studies had brought some new knowledge of Farasi to me. Apparently, some seven hundred years ago, two other races, the abada and the kelpie, had fled from their own small island continent which had sunk due to a massive volcanic eruption. They made their way to Farasi where they had begun to incorporate into the zebra’s continent. The three zebra tribes were wary of their neighbors at first, and a few bloody battles ensued, but eventually a treaty had been reached and the zebras gave the two new species areas to live. The abada were similar to unicorns in that they possessed some kind of magic, although the studies on that magic were unclear. They mostly lived in the vast Farasi jungles, which had seen some healthier growth shortly after. The kelpie were an aquatic equine species and had been given Farasi’s Lake Kamari, which was a crescent shaped inland ocean, as a new home to live. The waters of Farasi had become cleaner and more drinkable in response since many rivers ran through the ocean.

I put my fist on my chest and bowed to the two royals. “Welcome to Equestria, your majesties,” I said as I raised my head again. “I hope you have been enjoying your visit.”

Queen Zwena smiled and chuckled in a melodious and deeper feminine voice. “We have been, young prince,” she said in the same accent as her husband. She walked over to her husband and extended her hand, palm outwards. He did the same and touched her hand with his, palm facing hers. “Your nation is very beautiful.”

“I’ve heard that Farasi has its own beauty,” I replied with a small smile, “and someday, I hope to actually see it in person.”

King Sandy raised an eyebrow at me, then smiled a bit. “You are quite polite, young stallion,” he said in a robust voice. “Farasi is a wild and varied land compared to Equestria, but its beauty is beyond compare to us. No offense meant to your nation,” he added, looking at Aunt Celestia.

My aunt chuckled. “None taken. Each of us have a special place in our hearts for home. But where is your daughter and her friends? I was hoping to introduce my nephew to them so they could play with him and his friends.”

“Of course,” Sandy said before he turned back and spoke in the same language he had spoken before. A young filly’s voice responded, and I heard the sound of approaching footsteps. I watched as a young zebra filly led a group of other creatures about her age towards us. The zebra in front of the group had a mohawk just like Zwena’s and wore a dark blue, dark green and white tie dyed sleeveless dress. She looked similar to her mother, but had the same colored eyes as King Sandy. She had a familiar look about her, but I couldn’t quite place it.

She came with a number of different creatures. The first was another zebra, a filly if I wasn’t mistaken. She wore a dark brown and red tie dye dress in a similar style as the first mare, had gray fur with purple waves along her exposed arms. her mane was black, white and a purplish green. And she had light green eyes like a kiwi. Her muzzle was the same purple as the unusual stripes on her arms.

There were two abadas with her as well. Both were the same general build as the abada king, taller and more slender than the other creatures. The first was a light beige abada, who I guessed was a boy, or colt. He wore a pair of gray pants and a light brown shirt with horizontal red, yellow and blue stripes around the chest area. His muddle and horns and even a part of his arms were a light gray and he had a short tail with gray and yellow highlights on it. His mane, gray with yellow highlights, looked like it had been cut to resemble fins. He had dark blue eyes as well.

The second was another filly. She was the tallest out of the group, with bright yellow green fur and dark green arms and legs. She wore a short skirt with sky blue and dark green tie dye patterns on it. Her tail was longer than the first abada and had light blue fur at the end. Her mane was long and curly with a few different shades of a bluish green. Her eyes were a bright purple.

The other two were of a species I hadn’t seen before, but I guessed that they were kelpies. Unlike the other four children, these creatures seemed to be made of water since their bodies were see-through. The first one was a dark bluish-green colored water being with an equine face. I guessed that she was a girl, too. Her mane was long and wavy. It was a darker aquamarine color and seemed to flow like it was an eternal waterfall. Her muzzle was a shade of light sky blue. She wasn’t wearing anything, not that she needed to. Her eyes were a dark black with white irises and a white pupil that seemed to hover inside her head. There was a light purple mark on her lower hips, looking for all intents and purposes like a tidal wave. Her tail matched her mane in color and motion.

The second was a light striped sky blue and white kelpie girl with a shorter but still flowing purple mane and tail. She had black eyes, with bright sky blue pupils that matched her sky blue fur color and white pupils. Like the other kelpie, she had a mark on her hip, which resembled a black snowflake as seen up close.

The first zebra stepped towards her mother, who put her hands on the young filly’s shoulders. “Young prince, please let me introduce my daughter, Princess Zecora. These are her friends, Marini, Dust Devil, Cactus Rose, Medley Brook, and Crystal.” As she introduced them, I watched her point them out. Marini was the other zebra filly, Dust Devil was the abada colt while Cactus rose was the abada filly. Medley Brook was the kelpie with the tidal wave mark and Crystal was the kelpie with the black snowflake mark.

I pushed aside my astonishment at learning that Zecora, the zebra from the show, was a bona-fide princess. I smiled at all six of the children and inclined my head towards them in polite greeting. “Hello. I’m Prince Blueblood, but you can just call me Blueblood.”

Zecora raised her hands, grabbed her skirt, and performed a surprisingly traditional Canterlot curtsy. “Hello, young Prince,” she said, “I am Princess Zecora. Please call me Zecora.”

Medley Brook was beaming wide as she walked over to me. “Hello!” she greeted me with an energy that reminded me of Anna Belle. Her motions were, to put it bluntly, rather fluid and it was like she was gliding over the floor instead of walking.

I was struck by how she smelled. It was like I was sitting near a lake and the freshwater breeze was blowing over me. Her eyes were wide with excitement as she looked at me. “So you’re a pony colt, huh? Wooow! And you can use your horn to cast magic??”

Caught off guard by her sudden approach and energy, it took me a few seconds to respond. “Well, I’m a bit unique, but yes, I can use magic.”

“Miss Brook, show some decorum,” King Sandy said, “you are in his space.”

The kelpie slowly backed away, looking a bit sheepish. “Sorry,” she said.

“It’s alright,” I replied.

I watched as the abada filly walked over to the newly planted cactus plant, knelt down and reached out, touching its needles with a care that seemed practiced. “And how are you doing today?” she seemed to ask the plant. I watched as her pointed ears swiveled forward towards the plants. There was silence for a bit as she apparently listened, then turned back to the group. “The cactus says it’s nice here and it’s eager to get to know the other plants.”

“Plants can talk?” I asked incredulously. I knew that animals, at least those in Equestria, had more intelligence than elsewhere on Threia, but the thought of plants talking seemed a bit unusual even for this world.

Cactus Rose looked at me and nodded. “They can’t talk like we can, but I can understand them.”

“Just accept it,” Crystal said with a wry grin. “She’s weird like that.”

“That’s not very nice!” Marini scolded Crystal.

“Your Majesties,” Aunt Celestia said, “would you be alright with these six spending time playing with my nephew and his friends?”

Zwena and Sandy looked at each other and both spoke in that African-eque language. After some time, the two turned. “As long as they are accompanied by two of our guards, they can,” Sandy said, turning and gesturing to a larger zebra stallion and a bulkier looking kelpie.

The zebra was of a different stock than the other zebras I’d seen. He was fairly muscular and had apparently thicker fur than the others. His mane, which was cut in a mohawk like the other zebras, was dark red with white highlights. He wore armor that seemed to be made of bone. He held a personal shield in one arm that looked like a massive scale and a spear that was similar in appearance to that which the king held, albeit not coated in gold.

The kelpie, on the other hand, was a bright lime green with yellow eyes. She, I could tell her sex from her curvature, held a spear made of clear glowing ice in her hand and a shield made of the same type of ice in another. Her mane was dark purplish-blue with a hint of aquamarine highlights.

“These are two of our joined kingdom’s personal guards, Gulzar and Melody Pond. They are two of the best of each of our guards. My daughter and her friends can play with your nephew and his friends if they accompany them.”

“Of course they can,” my aunt said, “just as long as you’re alright with my nephew’s own personal guards being there as well.”

“You can never have too much protection when it comes to your kin,” Zwena acknowledged before turning to Zecora. She spoke to the young filly in their own language before turning back to me. “Young Prince, I hope you and your friends can get along with my daughter and her friends.”

“I’m sure they’ll get along well,” I said, hoping that I hadn’t jinxed it.

I hadn’t jinxed it, as it turned out.

A couple hours later, my friends and Zecora’s friends were all playing together in the garden. We’d gotten a game of hide and seek going soon after meeting, which was very unique considering the fact that the kelpie could hide in any of the spots of water and be nearly invisible.

I wasn’t surprised when Anna Belle and Medley immediately got along. Medley was apparently a great singer, and Anna was no slouch in that department either. Their bubbly personalities clicked and Anna was finding it hard not to touch Medley’s watery body despite me telling her that it was rude.

I was a bit surprised that Crystal and Shadow started getting along. I got the impression that Crystal was a little older and wasn’t quite as talkative or friendly as Medley, but during the introductions I saw them talking to each other. I even caught Crystal creating a snowball in her hands to show Shadow. This attracted the attention of Frostfall, and she joined the two, listening in quietly.

Sunset was immediately curious as to what kind of magic the abadas used. I saw her watching as Cactus talked to some of the plants in the garden and applauded when Dust showed off his incredible speed that might very well have put Rainbow Dash’s to shame. Especially with the yellow trail he left behind in his wake.

Marini had seen Spike and had found him instantly adorable. She took to playing with him and even asked to see his blue flames.

As for Zecora, after the game of hide and seek was over, I spent some time with her, showing her the garden. I was surprised at how well-read she was. Her Farasi accent was the least prominent out of the rest of her friends.

As we walked along the pathways, she was talking about her hope to one day learn how to use magic of any kind. “I just know there’s a way for me to learn magic somehow,” she was saying as we walked along the edge of the garden closest to the mountain. “I mean, the kelpies and abada can, so why can’t we? And I know it has to do with my cutie mark!”

“Your cutie mark?” I asked, curious now. Initially, I had assumed that only ponies had cutie marks, but when I got to cutie mark studies, I was told that a few other creatures could develop cutie marks of their own. Zebras were one of them. “What’s yours?”

She pointed to her arm, where I saw the very same mark that had been on Zecora’s flank in the show. “My real cutie mark is on my bottom,” she said, “but mom tattooed this on me after I got it!”

“When did you get it?” I asked curiously.

“Well, last spring, I wanted to see what would happen if I mixed up some flowers in with the dinner stew,” she began sheepishly, “so I did, but it broke the pot after dinner went flying everywhere.”

I chuckled a bit before nodding. “You tried to mix a brew, eh?”

Zecora looked at me with a tilted head. “A brew?”

“Sure,” I said. “Potions are a form of magic. I’ve looked at a few potion books here and tried to make some simple ones in my spare time. They’re really fun.”

Zecora looked excited at that and shouted, “Can I see you brew them?! And can I see the books, too!?”

“Well, I think my aunt won’t mind if I show you some,” I said. “Maybe later. How long are you staying?”

“Mom says we’ll be here for a week,” Zecora said as we turned a corner that led to the back entrance to the massive maze, presumably the same one that had appeared in The Return Of Harmony. “There’s a lot of green, here,” she observed.

I heard Crimson’s footsteps as he followed us along with Melody’s wet sounding footsteps. I ignored them as I nodded. “Well, when pegasi can control the rainfall, it’s easy to keep grass growing.”

“I wish we had that,” Zecora said. “It hasn’t rained in Farasi in a while. Even Lake Kamari is low.”

“Oh no, that’s not good,” I said, and at once I began to piece together just why the Farasi creatures might be here. Auntie had told me that negotiations with the various Farasi tribes had been going nowhere, so seeing creatures from Farasi here was definitely unusual. But with what Zecora had just said, it made sense that the Farasians would reach out and seek help from Equestria. I filed that little bit of knowledge away to tell my aunt just in case the Farasi delegation hadn’t mentioned it to my aunt yet.

“Yeah, dad says we can only drink a little bit each day,” Zecora said.

“Well, you can drink as much as you want here,” I said in an effort to be encouraging.

She smiled and nodded. “Medley and Crystal said that the water here tastes different than back home.”

“Really? What does it taste like?” I asked.

“They said the water is sweeter,” Zecora said.

“Oh, I see,” I said, unsure of how else to respond. I knew little about any race on Farasi, but I made a mental note to begin a new bit of research into what was known about them after the delegation had returned. “Hey, what do you like about Equestria so far?”

“Um…I think the plants,” she admitted. “They’re a lot sweeter than the ones we have back home.”

I smiled. “I bet my auntie could give you some seeds and teach you how to grow some of our plants,” I said.

Zecora was about to reply, when she paused. She looked down at the ground in front of where we were walking and pointed. “Hey…what’s that?”

I turned and looked in the direction she was pointing, but didn’t see anything. Not at first, anyway. We were both walking on a cobblestone pathway that wound through the garden. Every aspect of the stones had been perfectly place and if a crack formed, it was immediately taken care of. But on this particular occasion, I saw something that made me pause.

Near a portion of the pathway where there was a lefthand turn that headed back to the main portion of the garden, I saw a very slight crack in one of the larger stones. “What the…where’d that come from?” I wondered as I slowly approached the crack in the pathway, Zecora close by my side. I knelt and touched the crack.

“Young foals, what have you found?” Melody’s silky feminine voice asked as she and Crimson approached.

“Just a crack in the path,” I replied as I stood and faced them.

Crimson joined his Farasian counterpart and knelt at the crack, looking at it curiously. “Hmm…” he said as he looked up at the cliff which was directly above us. He looked around after that and stood. “Well, I don’t see any rocks that might have fallen to cause this,” he said.

Melody looked down at it as well, looking at it with a curious expression. Wordlessly, she stuck her hand on the crack. To my astonishment, her hand seemed to pass through the crack until all I could see was her wrist. Her eyes widened in alarm as she quickly pulled her hand out of the crack. “It’s hollow below!”

“A sinkhole?” Zecora wondered.

“If it is, we should get back,” I replied. “It’ll probably-”

Things happened too fast for us to properly make sense of it until later. I felt the ground under me move upwards like I was standing on a wave. I fell back onto my ass, Zecora right beside me. I saw Crimson hovering in the air and making his way towards me with his arm outstretched, but by then it was too late.

Dark tendrils of black surrounded me. I struggled to break free, but even with all of his strength, Crimson was unable to pull me out. I screamed, only to be encased in total darkness. And that was when I lost consciousness.

“Shadow walking? Your Highness, shadow walking is one of the more advanced spells known to ponykind. More specifically, the eutherians. Not only does it require a significant amount of magic, but it requires a great deal of concentration. The fact that your eutherian friend has learned it at such a young age should not be considered as the norm. It takes a normal eutherian almost fifteen to twenty years to master the technique.”

Aura was in her lecture mode again. It was something Sunset and I were very used to by this point. Whenever she found a subject that she loved to talk about, she could go on and on about it. Sometimes Sunset and I would get her to go on a tangent in case we were feeling lazy, which wasn’t often, but it was still fun to see her scrunch up her nose when she realized what we’d done by the time magic practice was up. Not that we minded. We always learned something new during her tangent lectures.

“Starry Swirl mastered it before her disappearance. Same with Mistmane,” Aura continued. “Starry wrote about it in Chapter Six of her Magic Spell Index. The title of that chapter is Travel Through The Umbral.”

As I listened, something began to happen. I saw a lamp in the corner that seemed…wrong somehow. I couldn’t place my finger on it. I raised my hand, only for Aura to not notice it despite her looking right at me. Something about this scene felt wrong.

I stood, ignoring the continuing lecture from his magic teacher. I slowly walked up to the lamp in the corner of the room, all sound slowly fading away, echoing as if it was inside a massive cathedral. I reached out…

…and massive shadowy tendrils shot out of the lamp, encasing me. I tried to run, but they had me in their grasp. I tried screaming for help, but Aura and Sunset were just sitting there, oblivious. And then there was something nasty covering my lips. Slimy and disgusting which started filling my mouth. With one last effort, I cast the most powerful light spell I knew…

I screamed and sat up, eyes wide and alert. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. My breath was ragged and I took in deep gulps of air.

As I did so, I took in my surroundings. Or lack thereof. I was sitting in total blackness. I could see anything, but I could hear a few distinct sounds. I heard the sound of water dripping onto stone nearby along with the sound of a small creek some distance away. And the sound of someone breathing heavily next to me.

I cast a small light spell, which illuminated my surroundings. I was in a small cavern of black stone. There were a few stalactites and stalagmites scattered around the area where I had been lying. Above me, there was a slightly slanted roof.

And lying prone on her back to my left, I saw Zecora. She looked no worse for wear, but she was frowning in her sleep, slightly twitching. However, as I brought the light closer, I saw small wisps of black smoke emanating from her eyes. I slowly opened one of her eyes only to see that same mist retreating from the light. As it did so, her expression softened ever so softly, but her twitching remained. Carefully, I opened her other eyelid and the reaction was the same. Holding both eyelids open, I poured some more magic into the light orb hovering over us.

With a gasp, Zecora sat up and screamed. In the light of the orb, I saw a black mist escape her mouth and dissipate. Quickly I put my hand on her back and held her up, rubbing her back gently in an effort to help her calm down. “Shh…deep breaths, Zecora. Take in deep breaths.”

She looked around wildly, but when she saw me, she seemed to relax a bit. Putting a hand on her chest, she closed her eyes and began saying something in her native tongue. Something that sounded like a chant. As she did so, I felt some of the tension leaving her body. When she stopped, she looked around. “What happened? Where are we?”

I shook my head. “I’m not sure, but if I had to guess, we’re somewhere under Canterlot. I know there are abandoned mines down here from when this city used to be a diamond mining town.”

“But how did we get here?” Zecora asked with a trembling tone.

I stood and stretched, then helped Zecora to her feet. “I don’t know, but what’s important is for us to get out of here and for you to get safely back to your mom and dad. They’ll be very angry with Auntie if they think we did anything to you. Well, unless Melody tells them what happened.”

“But where do we go?” Zecora asked nervously.

I looked around the small cave where we were currently. It looked like it had been a mine at one point, but any wood that had been inside had long since rotted away or fallen. I saw a few ancient rusted pieces of metal lying on the floor along with two tracks that possibly had been used for old mining carts. They had appeared in the Canterlot Wedding episode, but hadn’t looked this run down. “Let’s follow this,” I said, pointing to the two metal tracks. “Hopefully, it’ll lead us out somewhere. And it is heading up a slant.” I held out my hand. “Here, grab my hand.”

She immediately took it, and I could tell she was scared. Her hand was trembling as we both slowly walked up towards wherever the tracks led. It didn’t take long to reach the entrance to another larger cave, where I discovered the source of the sound of running water came from a stream that was running down another old mine shaft. I saw no tracks this time, but I remembered reading somewhere that you were always supposed to go upstream in case you got lost, and even underground that made sense. There had to be a source above that was leaking down through the ground.

Or is it the other way around? I thought, suddenly confused. I felt unsure of my decision, and almost started going the other way. No, I thought. We’ll go upstream. If I’m wrong, we can head down. I turned to Zecora. “We’re going upstream. There should be a source that comes from the surface.”

Nodding, she clung to my arm as we began our slow ascent. While I was wearing shoes that were relatively sturdy, Zecora was wearing thin sandals. At one point, she slipped on a rock and nearly fell, but I caught her.

The cavern began to expand the further up we went, solidifying my resolve that I’d made the right decision. As we headed up, I heard what sounded like a waterfall. Eventually, we reached a large clearing where we did see a large waterfall flowing into a large pool of water. The chamber we were in was almost all enclosed save for a small crevice. A crevice where light poured in.

When Zecora saw it, I felt her instant relief. “Is that daylight? We’re saved!” She let go and began running towards it.

However, something about the light was wrong. I ran after Zecora and grabbed her arm. “Wait, stop!”

She turned back to me, confused. “What? That’s sunlight, isn’t it?”

I gently but firmly pulled her back. “No, that’s not sunlight. Sunlight isn’t purple,” I said, pointing to the crevice.

She turned and looked closer at the light. A small sliver of purple could be seen emanating from it. The smile on her face faded and she came back, grabbing my arm once again. “B-But what is it?” she asked.

“Could be anything,” I said. “It’s probably some glowing plants or something. They have them in the Mines of Canina. They could be here, too.” I looked around the cave, but seeing no other way out save for the small entrance we’d just come through and the spot where the waterfall fell, the crevice was the only way out. “Let’s check it out.”

We approached, Zecora nervously and me with trepidation. The purple glow that came through the crevice seemed to fill me with a slight sense of dread, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why.

The crevice itself was big enough for us to crawl through, and I was grateful that we were still foals because I highly doubted we’d have made it through if we were full blown adults in these bodies, or even if I was in my old adult body.

We finally made our way through and I saw that the crevice led to a small ledge that fell away into the abyss. But that wasn’t what caught my attention. My jaw dropped at what I saw.

We were in a massive cavern with what looked like mile high columns across whatever the abyss was. There were massive waterfalls falling from caverns high above them. And from the columns, I saw bright purple lights. Which came from large windows.

We had just discovered an underground city.