//------------------------------// // Confusion // Story: Journey of The Untold // by Zhenra-Khal //------------------------------// There was a soft knock on the boutique door. "Who could that possibly be?", Rarity wondered aloud, startled. She hurried to tidy things up a bit before opening the door, still wondering. "I don't have any appointments toda-", She stopped mid-word, as the stallion who stood before her was absolutely stunning. His violet-and-gold spiked mane shone in the afternoon sun, his silver coat and three matching horns..."Three?", She mumbled softly, somewhat snapping out of her daydreaming daze. "Three what?" The stallion asked in a tone that was curious yet obviously frustrated. "O-oh, nothing, sir, just come right in. What would such a fine stallion be looking for here in a small town's rather under-visited but fabulous boutique?", She replied, stumbling and nearly falling as she opened the door farther to let the stranger in. He entered and promptly sat down on one of her many stools. "I am in need of a few gemstones and some fine cloth for some work of my own. Do you have these things?", With that he handed her a list. "Ooh, yes, i just got more of those in today, I'll go get them for you.". She hurried to get some polished gemstones and a roll of the fine dragonhide-and-giant-spider's web silk that she had just bought. Sure, she had twenty-three rolls of the stuff, but it didn't make her hesitate any less. She stuffed the cloth into a long, narrow bag and carefully counted the gemstones into a smaller, wider bag. Once that was done, she went to give him his order. "That'll be thirt-" She attempted telling him the price but he stopped her short with a simple, "Already paid.". "O-oh, okay...", She stuttered, looking around slowly. He gestured at at a small bag sitting on her largest worktable, and said "Thank you, Rarity, I couldn't have found these for a better price in Canterlot." With that he left, the door closing behind him with a soft click. She walked over to the table to pick up the bag and count her money, when it hit her: "How did he know my name?". Her mind still buzzing with questions, she emptied the bag onto an unoccupied table, and those questions nearly tripled in number when bits just kept pouring out of it. It was like Christmas for Rarity, and she just stared in wonder, looking at the gold that just kept pouring from the small bag. Her thoughts wandered back to the strangers face, and with that, she fainted, out cold. * * * * * He trotted slowly down the road to the Everfree Forest, glad to be away from silly ponies and noise. The air was quite unsettled, and whirled about him in a way he found quite pleasing. It rustled his spiky mane, and swirled around his horns. He decided he'd release the spell he had put on himself to hide his most-used form. He stopped momentarily and closed his eyes, allowing himself to tune into the sounds of the wind rustling through the trees. His horns began to glow, a deep violet that made you think of a star in the night sky, and it appeared as though a mist dissipated from around him, and was carried away with the wind. Once the wind blew away the fog, he opened his eyes and smiled. Instead of a plain Unicorn, with the additional horns of course, he now appeared as he naturally did, a symbol of power from worlds both familiar and foreign. He was an Alicorn, a creature that combined the flight of a Pegasus, the magic of a Unicorn, and the strength of an Earth pony, all into one. But he was more. Underneath his coat of soft, silver hair, lay rows of silver scales that glittered in the sunlight. His eyes looked reptilian, with slit-shaped pupils and streaks of green and orange running through the gold of his irises. He smiled a little larger as the whites of his eyes changed from white to a ghostly greenish-yellow color, and violet flames appeared to pour from his eyes and flicker around his head. With a slight nod, his eyes lost their flame, and he resumed his pace with a little more spring in his trot, unaware of the many sets of red eyes that watched his departure. * * * * * As the tall Alicorn approached the sacred grove of Zecora the Wise, he slowed his pace. She had once been an outcast, much like himself, so he decided not to mask his appearance, and continued with renewed haste. He knocked on the door, and noted the many inlays and carvings on the old wood. Zecora answered quickly, as if she had been waiting for him to arrive, and upon seeing him, she gasped. "You are terrifying, old one, by I will not scream, but I must ask, are you the one of which I dream?", She asked rather excitedly, stepping aside to let him in. With his mouth open and eyes wide, he entered the zebra's home and sat down. "You knew I was coming?", He asked the rather shaken Zecora. "I had a feeling, and the forest yearned, and of your approach I promptly learned", She replied, "Please answer my question, strange Alicorn, for the dream I had of you had warned.". She handed him a mug, which he took with more than a little suspicion, eyeing the zebra carefully. "It is simple maple tea, no harm will come to you from me", She said indignantly, "But darkness follows you all to close, and I fear that evil blooms like a poison rose.". He was startled, and he drank a little tea to calm himself. It was still rather hot, but sweet and free, and the taste soothed him. He asked, "You had a dream of me? When did you have this dream?". "It was seven years ago, to the very day, yet last night, in my mind it replayed.", She answered solemnly, "My question is why have you returned? In my dream, the world burned...What wrong could you have caused, to give our royal ruler such pause?" "You dreampt of Celestia and I?", He asked, shaking. He gulped nervously as memories flashed through his mind, those he wished would've stayed hidden. One memory engulfed him entirely, the room falling away to a place flaming and barren, a scene he knew all to well and wished he could forget. He saw Celestia, standing above him, mane and coat flaming with black and red energy. Her eyes glowing with the red of a dying sun and her head was surrounded with black wisps of fire. She towered over him, as if he were just a pawn to her, just as everyone was a pawn to her. "You never meant anything to me, Zhenra-Khal, and you will never mean anything to anyone!", She boomed, her voice otherworldly, and sounding more like a howl than anything else. "You will hide for now, banished for three hundred years, and when you return, no one, not a single pony, will remember you, and they will hate you as much as I do, simply because I will them to.". Her face went darker, and her horn glowed with a dangerous red light, and in a flash, he was back in Zecora's hut, the zebra wisemare staring at him in concern. "If things are truly as I dream, then you are not all that you seem." "Your words are true, Zecora, I am not as I seem. But as of this moment, that is of no consequence to you. I came here for a few items, and I intend to receive them. There are only three things on my list, and I know you must have them. They are essential pieces of my current project. and I will pay for them, as I leave no debt unpaid.". She took the list he passed to her, and said with a scowl, "I do possess these things of which you speak, but the price will be great for the items you seek.". It was his turn to scowl. "How much?", He asked, obviously a bit disgruntled. "Four hundred bits, for you must give to get.", Came her calm and stern, yet kind, reply. His gaze hardened as he pulled another small sack from his saddlebag, and after focusing on the amount she had set, he put it on the table beside her. "That cannot be four hundred bits, into it my hoof barely fits." She said, raising her eyebrow as she attempted to feel the contents of the bag. "I will not be swindled, strange old one, show me you are not, at my cost, having fun.". She placed the bag on the floor in front of herself and nodded to it. "Show me the contents, pour them on the floor. If the amount is right, take your items and be on your way once more.", She said in a tone full of wisdom yet curiosity. He sighed and did as she asked, and to her amazement, the exact amount she had requested poured forth from the bag. "How did you do that? I've never seen that before. Please, if you care, can you please tell me more?". She managed to ask excitedly. "No Zecora, I simply wish to be on my way.", He said rather impatiently, "Can I have my items now?". "Yes, why of course, how silly of me, I nearly forgot why it is I you chose to see." She replied a bit clumsily. "Here are your items, I suppose you must move along. But would you return and speak with me, before too long?". She looked at him in curiosity. "No, I am afraid I have things to do. If ever I have a spare day, though, I may trade stories with you....Maybe.", He replied solemnly, looking at the ground. "Goodbye, Zecora, your wisdom is strong, as is your spirit. I wish you well." And with that, he left, walking back through the forest, leaving the wisemare to ponder the things she'd seen, and what was to come.