//------------------------------//
// Ch9 I... Was... 
// Story: Never Meant to Be 
// by Priceless911 
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Zeil opened his eyes only to find himself standing in the middle of the most horrifying sight he had ever seen. Zeil looked around as he found himself standing on a hill in the middle of what was once a terrible and bloody battlefield. Far as the eye could see, was a stretch of pony, griffin, and zebra corpses that covered the landscape making it almost impossible to see the trampled and dead grass below them. And if the sight wasn’t bad enough, the reddish glow that was stretched across everything in sight from an overhead eclipse made even the grass that could be seen look as if blood had rained down from the heavens above. Seeing the stretch of dead soldiers, weapons, and blood made Zeil cover his mouth and close his eyes as he tried to remove this vision of horror from his mind. But as he tried to bear the sight, a voice came from behind him, “terrible… isn’t it?... so many lost, all because of what the heart desires most in this world… but then again, how are you supposed to react, when your heart demands something from you?”
Recognizing the voice, Zeil turned around and looked at the sitting zebra as he asked, “Rafi?... where… where are we?... what is this place?”

The wise chief stood up and trotted past Zeil as he replied, “Don’t you recognize it?... it’s the same field we met in before… this is Equestria…”
Zeil looked around at the sight as he replied, “No… that’s impossible. Equestria hasn’t had a war in over a millennium. How could this be… wait…”
Zeil looked at the armor of a fallen zebra on the ground, then he looked back at Chief Rafi’s armor and replied, “these… these where your soldiers… weren’t they?”
Chief Rafi nodded his head, “Do you recall the stallion I mentioned before… well a thousand years ago, I came to this place in hopes of stopping a war, but found myself fighting in it instead. Not because I wanted to, but because when I met that stallion, I knew that he wasn’t fighting for orders, or even for glory… he was fighting for love.”
Zeil gave Rafi a curious look, “Love?... all of this for love?”
Rafi smiled, “He was given a choice… his love… or the lives of those around him. His first answer led to the horror you see before you… while his second… led to his endless regret. But what he doesn’t know is that with his second choice, even though it will take a long time… he will find his love… and his happiness.”

Zeil stepped closer to Chief Rafi as he gave him a skeptic look, “So… your saying that I'll have to make the same kind a choice… wont I?”
Rafi nodded his head as he replied with an expressionless stare, “You will.”
Zeil continued, “What choice will I have to make?”
Chief Rafi looked away, “You will have to choose, whether they see you as what you are… or who you are. But I will warn you… they are coming. And if you don’t make this choice soon… then you and Zecora will never be.”
Zeil had to ask, “Who is coming? And what do you mean what or who I am?
Chief Rafi ignored the questions as he turned to Zeil and looked him in the eye, “Zeil… it’s time to choose… will you fight a war for your love? Or give it up without a fight? Temporary torment?… or Endless Regret?... this is your choice, your path, and in this case… your future.”
Zeil thought to himself as he tried to understand what he was supposed to choose. Nevertheless, Zeil looked back at Chief Rafi and replied with a serious expression, “I love Zecora… and I'll do whatever it take for us to be together.”
Chief Rafi smiled as he placed his hoof on Zeil’s shoulder and replied, “I am proud to know you as one of my brothers… and I know, that despite your species reputation, you will make the right choice and show them what you are capable of… and all the while, earn their acceptance… even if… never mind. It is not my journey to make… but yours. I will leave you now. Farewell, Brother Zine.”
With that said, Chief Rafi looked at the bright red eclipse above, as it got brighter and brighter until Zeil had to cover his eyes to shield them from the light. When he moved his hoof to see what was making the eclipse so bright, Zeil found himself looking at the sunlight that shined through the hole in the ceiling of the old tower that he was sleeping in. Blocking the light of the sun from entering his freshly woken eyes, Zeil sat up as he mumbled to himself, “Rafi… what were you talking about. I’ve never seen him this serious before. And… who’s coming?”
“Spread out!”

When Zeil heard that faint voice echoing through the doorway, he quickly jumped out of the bed as he made his way downstairs and entered the second floor of the castles main lobby. As soon as he entered the lobby, Zeil kept his head down as he eased his way to the indoor balcony that overlooked the center of the room. As he took cover behind the marble railing, Zeil looked down onto the first floor to see Shining Armor and a number of royal guards as they creped across the bottom floor like a pack of hunting wolves. As Zeil listened closely, he could hear Shining Armor as he gave his orders, “Alright! You know the drill, you two take the east wing, you two, the west. You four start searching upstairs and the rest of you will be search down here. If you see any pony, zebra or changeling, arrest them on sight… but if they put up a fight, do what you have to, to make sure they don’t escape. Understood?”
The guards stood at attention as they replied, “Yes your majesty!”

With that, the guards started separating into their groups as four of them began trotting up the main lobby stairs. Knowing that they were headed his way, Zeil quickly and quietly backed up before turning around and rushing to the bedchambers as fast and as stealthily as he could. After returning to the room, Zeil closed and locked the door as he reached for his saddlebag, “Great… Shining Armor came to me… I wonder how they knew I was here. No matter, I got to get to Zecora and fast.”
As Zeil put on his saddlebag, he quickly made his way to the balcony as he looked down and spoke, “Alright let’s do this.”
with that said, Zeil changed from his zebra form to his changeling as he opened his wing In preparation to fly, but as he felt the wind blow against his only wing, Zeil quickly looked at where his other used to sit as he sighed, “That’s right… I can’t fly anymore… Crap how am I…”
All of a sudden banging could be hard against the door as the royal guards on the other side yelled, “Who’s in there? Open this door now! By order of Princess Celestia open this door!”
As the banging could be heard against the door, Zeil quickly looked around as he tried to think of a way to get out. Then with a hopeless sigh, Zeil looked at the bed linen as he spoke, “I guess there is only one way to do this… it’s a little cliché’, but it’s the only think I can think of.”
With that, Zeil quickly rushed to the bed linen and began tying the corners of the sheets together before tying the comforter, the pillowcases, and any other fabric he could find. Then with his newfound rope made, Zeil tied it to the balcony rail as he tossed it over and started climbing down.

With each carefully gripped knot, Zeil felt like this whole situation was just going to get worse until his thoughts were finally confirmed. As Zeil reached the very bottom of his sheet made rope, he looked down and realized that he still had almost fifteen feet to go, until he was to a tree that sat just below him. As Zeil looked at the tree with hesitation he mumbled to himself, “alright looks like I'm jumping… one… two… three.”
With that, Zeil released the sheet rope as he fell the fifteen feet and into the tree as he landed using the branches and leaves as a painful and stiff cushion. After landing in the tree, Zeil looked around to see if the coast was clear as he changed into one of the royal guards he had seen in the lobby and climbed down to the ground. 

Now that Zeil was finally on the ground, he looked up to see if anypony watched from above as he mumbled to himself, “That was harder than expected, oh well now to get to Zeco…”
“HEY!”
Feeling a cold chill of worry, Zeil turned to the voice as he saw Shining Armor approach him. Knowing that he looked like a royal guard, Zeil stood at attention and spoke “Yes your majesty!”
Shining Armor glared at the disguised guard, “What are you doing out here! I told you to check the west wing!”
Thinking quickly, Zeil replied, “Yes your majesty, you did, but when I was on my way there, I spotted this so I decided to investigate.”
With that said, Zeil pointed at the fabric rope that hung overhead as Shining Armor looked up and replied, “Really?... and?...”
Zeil continued, “I spotted a few broken branches in this tree here, but no changeling sir.”

Shining Armor looked at the tree and confirmed the branches as he looked back at Zeil and replied, “And, your partner?”
Zeil continued, “I told him to continue to the west wing while I investigated. Since there is nothing here I'll proceed that way, unless… you have further orders for me your majesty?”
Shining Armor gave Zeil a skeptic look, as he replied, “No… I don’t. Precede to the west wing and if you see anything suspicious. Don’t hesitate to act, am I clear?”
Zeil stood at attention, “Yes your majesty!”
With that said, Zeil turned away as he started trotting away in the direction of the castles west wing. However, before he was out of sight, Shining Armor spoke, “Oh… and Star Bolt?”
Zeil stopped, “Yes your majesty?”

Shining Armor reached into one of his pockets as he pulled out the everstone and replied, “When we arrived here, I think I saw you drop this. Is it your?”
With that said, Shining Armor tossed the everstone through the air as Zeil caught it out of reflex. When he did, Zeil looked over the stone, as he replied, “No… I don’t think I dropped this. You think any of the others co…”
Before he could finish his lie, the Stone began glowing very bright as Zeil’s hoof slowly turned black as his entire body began changing back into his changeling form. Shocked by his unexpected transformation, Zeil dropped the everstone as he took a few steps back and looked at himself, “But… h-how… wha…”
Shining Armor smiled in a gloating way as he pointed the spear at him and spoke, “Your name wasn’t Star Bolt… that is the name of a criminal we are hunting. So you gave yourself away… you should have known that no changeling can fool me.”
Zeil sneered at the angry unicorn as he replied, “Well you shouldn’t blame me for trying… so what are you going to do now? Arrest me?”

Shining Armor shook his head, as he replied, “No… I got you all to myself!”
With that answer, Shining Armor charged at Zeil as he swung the blade of his spear in an attempt to kill him. Luckily, Zeil was too fast as he dodged the attack and backed away, “Before you do you need to know! I'm not your enemy!”
Shining Armor replied, “Yea right like I'll believe YOU!”
Shining Armor lunged forward in an attempt to scour Zeil as the quick changeling dodged the second attack and replied, “No… I'm serious! I even helped your sister when she…”
“DON’T TALK ABOUT MY SISTER!!!”
With his rage, building up Shining Armor started swinging his spear repeatedly trying to hit Zeil, however the quick changeling managed to dodge each and every attack with ease, even more so then he himself expected.

Finally Shining Armor’s rage got the better of him as he swung the spear vertically, missed his mark, and embedded the blade into the soil as Zeil placed his hoof against it and held it down, “Prince Armor listen to me!... you’re not okay… Queen Chrysalis still has a slight hold on your emotions! She can’t control them, but neither can you! If you stop I can help yo…”
“SHUT UP!!!”
With all of his strength Shining Armor pulled the blade from under Zeil’s hoof as he quickly raised it up and lunged forward trying to dig it into his chest. Luckily Zeil managed to side step and avoid the attack yet again only this time, he placed three of his hooves on the shaft as he pushed the blade down into the soil and tried again. “Please Armor I'm only trying to he…”
“ENOUGH!!!”
With his rage controlling his actions Shining armor channeled his strength into his hooves as he griped the spear and started flinging the determined changeling over his head as Zeil was tossed through the air and landed almost ten feet from where he was tossed.

Zeil picked himself as he looked at Shining Armor who’s eyes were now glowing green as the angry prince spoke, “Your kind are a parasite! You bear no value towards the world around you while hurting those that do! Your queen and the rest of your kind deserve to rot in Tartarus for all I care! And that’s where I intend to send you… EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!!!”
With a rage-filled throw, Shining Armor tossed the spear at Zeil and watched in hop of killing his foe. When Zeil saw the spear coming at him, something unexpected took hold. It was as if the spear started slowing down in his sight as Zeil stepped out of the side, caught the airborne projectile before spinning it completely around and embedding the blade into the ground in front of him. Zeil stood shocked, He didn’t know what exactly it was that helped him do this, but he slowly realized that it was possible that Zecora’s teachings of patience, balance, and focus lead to this improbable action.

As Zeil looked up at Shining Armor, he felt as if he was looking into the eyes of a raging bull since now, even his pupils were whited out by the green glow of his curse. With a little more confidence now, Zeil pointed the spear at Shining Armor as he spoke, “Alright… if you want a fight… then let’s fight.”
With his actions controlled by anger, Shining Armor charged at Zeil as he drew his swords and started swinging mercilessly at the ready changeling. One after another, Shining Armor swung his swords as Zeil used the spear to block each and every attack as sparks from the impacts where thrown into the air with little distractions for either fighters. The sound of metal on metal echoed through the area as Zeil blocked each attack as Shining Armor yelled through his strikes, “You think because you can take the form of a simple creature means you can live amongst us! You’re fooling yourself! Creatures like you can’t live like us! Creatures like you who have no conscious, no soul, no heart, and no decency! Creatures that can feel guilt! Remorse! Creatures that can’t even feel LOVE!!!”

At that moment, Shining Armor’s words hit a soft spot, as Zeil blocked the last attack, parried the blade and swung back, hitting Shining Armor in the side of his face with the staff of his spear. Stunned but not down Shining Armor took a few steps back as he put his hoof on his head and stumbled. With that, Zeil glared at the unicorn as he reached into his saddlebag and spoke, “Can’t feel love… what do you know unicorn… you think that a creature like us has much of a choice. You shun us every time we trot by. You treat us like monsters, and chase us away anytime we want to say something… you think we have a choice in this matter?... you’re dead wrong!… We can feel love, just like you… but you know what… right now, at this exact moment… you’re the one acting like a changeling!”
Zeil slowly pulled out a glass vial from his saddlebag as Shining Armor’s rage took hold again, “DON’T EVER COMPARE ME TO A FREAK LIKE YOU!!!”
With that, Shining Armor began a second charge as Zeil quickly tossed the vial at the charging unicorn before raising his spear in defense.

As the small glass vial flew through the air, Shining Armor swung his swords as the blade shattered the vial and sent the powdery contents into his face as he continued his charge without concern. With the spear at the ready, Zeil blocked the enraged unicorn’s strike as Shining Armor looked into his eyes and spoke, “I am not like you…”
Zeil smiled as he replied, “You’re right… I'm better.”
With that said Zeil jumped back as Shining Armor stood there in anger, “Better! I'll show you BE… w-what?...”
Trying to charge for the third time, Shining Armor tried to lung forward, but when he did, his hooves failed to move. Confused, the angry prince tried moving his body to compensate for his motionless hooves, but no matter what he tried, his hooves were frozen in place as he looked down, “What?! What did you do to me!? Why can’t I move!?”
Trying to us all of his strength to lift his hooves, Shining Armor continued to jerk his body left and right but no matter what, his hooves remained stationary as they started turning grey as the color started spreading up his body and freezing everything as it spread. With an angered look Shining Armor looked at Zeil as the clever changeling spoke, “It’s apparent that your little rock neutralizes internal magic… but it does nothing to external magic. That simple mix I learned will prevent you from doing anything else. Luckily it’s non-lethal… but then again I’m not.”

Shining Armor sneered at Zeil as the grey color ran up his neck, “You changeling piece of…”
As the grey color engulfed his head and silenced his swear, Zeil smiled as he approached the prince, “There’s no need for that kind of language… it will all be over soon anyways, now I'll show you who’s incapable of love.”
With that said Zeil raised the spear and readied himself to drop the blade on the frozen unicorn. However as he looked into Shining Armor’s eyes, Zeil could only sigh as he lowered the blade and spoke, “You know, killing you would be so easy right now… it would make me feel better too. But… I’m not who I was a few weeks ago. I changed for the better… and you… you’re just not worth it.”
Shaking his head, Zeil took off his saddlebag, sat it on the ground, and looked through it. Then Zeil pulled out a small container as he opened it and spoke, “You know, if all goes well, you and I may even call each other friend someday… but I doubt it.”

Zeil opened the top of the container and dipped his hoof into the past substance as he smeared it onto Shining Armor’s forehead. Then as he finished, Zeil wiped the remaining past on the ground as he spoke, “There… you don’t know it yet, but your cured of the curse. By the time the freezing powder wears off, you will be in a much better state of mind… even if I like you better frozen.”
All of a sudden, a few royal guards emerged from the castle as they called out, “This way, I think I heard swords clashing! Prince Armor Are you out here?”
With no way of disguising himself, Zeil took the spear with him and began fleeing the scene, leaving his saddlebag where it sat.
Later after crossing the bridge, Zeil chose a concealed spot as he sat down and tried to change back into his zebra form but no matter how hard he tried, no part of his body changed in any way. Trying to figure it out, Zeil mumbled, “That stone… it completely removed my ability to transform… why?... I better keep moving. I must tell Zecora the truth… even if I look like this. She deserves to know.”
With that said, Zeil continued into the forest carrying the spear as he made his way towards Zecora’s hut.

Not fare from her hut, Zecora, Twilight and a royal guard messenger trotted through the forest as Twilight spoke, “And he said he was going to The Palace of The Royal Pony Sisters?”
The messenger replied, “Yes… the princess has informed me to deliver this message to you personally. To prevent unessisary risk.”
Zecora spoke next, “A cursed brother, versus a creature of deceit. With two darkness’s clashed, who knows who will taste defeat.”
Twilight looked at Zecora and asked, “You’re sure you don’t know where Zine lives? It’s never even come up in conversation?”
Zecora shook her head, “Not once did he say where he leaves for the day. I never did ask, for to know wasn’t a must. Since in my heart like his, we always had trust”
Twilight smiled, “That’s sweet and all, but we could use his help in this too. I only hope we cross paths before this is through… wait… I just rhymed.”
Zecora could only chuckle at her friend’s accidental rhyme as the three entered the clearing where all the Golden jokes grew.

As they entered, Twilight looked around in awe, “So this is where you got the golden poison joke you have? They’re everywhere.”
Zecora replied as they continued, “This is where Zine and his magic he spoke came to create the golden jo…”
Before Zecora could finish her sentence Zeil still in his changeling form, emerged from the forest on the other side of the clearing as he paused as soon as he saw the three, “Z-Zecora?”
Too far for the three to hear him, Zecora Twilight and the messenger braced themselves for a fight as the guard drew his sword and yelled, “YOU THERE HALT!”
Still annoyed with Shining Armor’s actions Zeil didn’t reply as he started trotting slowly towards them. The guard took a few steps closer as he yelled again, “Didn’t you hear me? I SAID YIELD!!!”
Zeil yelled back as he continued trotting, “No… I will not yield to anypony!”
The Royal guard was now annoyed as he replied, “THEN ON YOUR GUARD!!!”

With that said the guard charged forward with his sword ready as he approach Zeil and swung horizontally. With the attack obvious to him, Zeil turned his spear around and stuck the blade into the ground as the shaft blocked the incoming slash. Then before the guard could react, Zeil used the buried blade as an anchor as he swung around the staff kicking the guard in the side of his face as the guard fell to the ground unconscious. As soon as they saw what happened, both Twilight and Zecora readied themselves for a fight as Twilight spoke, “Stay back! Don’t come any closer!”
As Zeil looked at the angry expressions on both their faces, He replied, “I'm not here to hurt you.”
Twilight replied, “really?,,, what about him?”
As Twilight gestured towards the unconscious messenger, Zeil looked at him and replied, “He… is an exception. He tried to attack me, so I merely defended myself. Just like I did with Shining Armor.”
“WHAT!?! What did you do with him! What did you do to my brother?”

Knowing that Twilight was now worried, Zeil looked back at her as he tried to calm her down, “Your brother is fine… I promise I didn’t hur…”
“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!”
At that moment a number of royal guards rushed from the forest and stepped between the changeling and the mares he was talking to as one spoke, “Twilight, thank Celestia your unharmed. We found Prince Armor a few minutes ago… I don’t know what he did, but… the prince is frozen.”
Twilight stared in shock at the guard as she replied, “W-what?! I-is he alright?”
The guard shook his head, “I'm sorry… but we don’t know.”
In shock, Twilight looked down as Zeil tried to speak, “I did what I had to do to prevent him fro…”
Twilight glared back at Zeil as she interrupted him, “Guards… Surround and arrest the changeling!”

At that moment, the guards quickly surrounded Zeil as he sighed, “Really?… I gotta face you guys too.”
With that said, Zeil held his spear at the ready as he waited for the guards to attack. Then, the first guard charged him as Zeil easily blocked, parried, and pushed the guard aside just in time to block the attack from the next guard. One by one, each royal guard tried all they could to land at least one stunning blow on the changeling, but no matter how hard they tried, the well-trained changeling proved too much for his pony attackers. As Zeil and the royal guards continued their endless cycle of attack, block, parry, push away, and attack again, Twilight looked at Zecora as she whispered to her zebra friend, “Zecora, I'm going to need your help to send this changeling back to his nation.”
Zecora nodded her head as she replied, “I will do what I must, though this isn’t tranquil. This will be a tough task, for this creature has skill.”
Twilight gave Zecora a curious look, “What?... why do you say that?”

Zecora gave the fighting changeling a curious look as she replied, “This creature’s strength, so familiar yet poise. His movement, his balance. Like silence amongst noise. I don’t understand, why familiar it does seem. So peaceful yet strong… like a fast moving stream. But we must stop him still, for your brother we will redeem.”
As the two mares started formulating a plan, Zeil continued fighting off the royal guards as he started getting pushed back further and further with each guards attack. Finally, as Zeil started feeling weak from fighting off the guards, he was saved as Twilight stepped forward and called out, “Guards wait! Stop attacking him!”
With that order, the royal guards stopped their attacks as they looked at each other and backed away from the now winded changeling. As Zeil planted the spear and used it to brace himself while he caught his breath, Twilight started trotting towards him as she spoke, “You said you’re not our enemy right?... well do you have any proof? Anything you can show us that proves you’re not planning anything against Equestria?”
Zeil continued breathing heavily as he replied, “I… I um…”
As Twilight stopped and waited for a response, Zeil tried everything he could to change into his zebra form, but not only was the everstone’s magic still in effect, but he was now too weak to focus on his transformation.

With his attempted transformations going unnoticed by the surrounding ponies, Twilight continued, “No proof? Nothing to say in your defense?”
When she said that, Zeil looked at the hostile expression on Zecora’s face then back at Twilight as he replied, “I… I… I can’t say…”
Twilight spoke up, “You can’t?... or you won’t?...”
Zeil didn’t reply, instead he gave Twilight an annoyed look as she continued, “I see… then I have no choice. Guards! Step away and be ready!”
Confused, the guards stepped away from the changeling as they stood by and watched what was about to take place. As they did, Twilight changed her stance to an offensive one as Zeil shook his head, “No… I’m not going to fight you Twilight.”
Without catching the fact that he knew her name, Twilight replied, “You have no choice… Zecora now!”
With that command, Zeil quickly looked at Zecora as she pulled a small glass vial from her saddlebag and tossed it at the unsuspecting changing.

As the airborne potion flew towards him, Zeil expected it to be the same powder he used on Shining Armor, so rather than destroying the easy target like his unicorn counterpart did, Zeil used his spear to hook and fling the glass projectile over him as it hit the side of a tree and shattered, leaving the liquid contents to run down the trees stump. After that, Twilight tried to shoot a magical beam at Zeil as he quickly turned back and deflected the beam with the spear. After the beam was neutralized, Twilight started stepping back from the defensive changeling as he repeated himself, “Like I said before… I'm not going to fight y…”
Before he could fully repeat his previous statement, Zeil was silenced when he heard a familiar sizzling sound as if something was boiling behind him. Nervously turning his head, Zeil slowly looked towards the tree that was covered with the potion, as he saw the surface of the damped tree sizzling as if the potion was boiling against its surface. Knowing what it was, Zeil spoke quietly “No… the vacuum potion…”
With that, the determined changing flipped the spear upside down, as he buried the blade into the ground as deep as he could to anchor himself.

As the changeling took that precaution, Twilight called to everypony else, “Zecora! Guards! Quickly come close to me!”
With that call, the guards quickly surrounded Twilight as Zecora looked at Zeil in shock, “He knows… but how can that be, is this his first time here in the e…”
“Zecora!”
Reacting to Twilights warning, Zecora rushed to her unicorn friend’s side as the purple mare created a magical bubble around her that enclosed Zecora and the rest of the gathering guards. Seeing this, only confirmed Zeil’s fears as the sizzling liquid quickly evaporated as a powerful wind was created pulling anything and everything towards where the liquid was splashed. Even the tree’s very limbs were snapped off as they were pulled against its own trunk. As the wind started pulling against Zeil’s body, he held onto the spear with all his might as the ready changeling managed to keep himself from being pulled towards the tree. Knowing this was a part of their plan, Twilight used a spell as a magic portal appeared between the source of the powerful vacuum, and the anchored changeling.

When Zeil saw the portal appear, he could only assume that where ever it led wasn’t good. So in an effort to hold out until the vacuum wore off, Zeil griped the spear as tightly as he could as he looked at the pony party that watched him. With grass, golden jokes, and everything else in the area getting pulled into the portal, Zeil could only continue holding on as the wind behind him started getting stronger. Then while trying to keep his focus, Zeil saw a sword get picked up from in front of him as it flew by, nicked his shoulder, entered the portal, and vanished. Confused as to where the sword came from, Zeil looked at the ground ahead as he spotted the unconscious messenger laying on the ground. As soon as he saw the guard, Zeil noticed that the wind started sliding him across the ground as the messenger was pulled towards Zeil and the portal behind him. Seeing the guard being pulled towards the portal by the powerful vacuum, Twilight called out, “NO!!!”
All of a sudden, as the guard’s body flew by Zeil, the determined changeling reached out and grabbed him as he pulled the guard close and placed him in front of the spear, away from the portal. Seeing the action, Twilight, Zecora, and the rest of the royal guards could only watch in shock as they witnessed a changeling, the greatest enemy to pony kind, save a pony soldier.

After placing the unconscious guard in front of the spear where he couldn’t be moved, Zeil sighed as he continued holding on, “I must really be crazy… to save y…”
Before he could finish, Zeil could see that with both their weight combined, the spear was starting to lean as it was being pulled from the solid ground below. As he saw this, Zeil knew that if something weren’t done, then it would eventually be pulled from the ground leaving both he and the royal messenger at the portal’s mercy. As Zeil pondered his options, he started feeling the winds against the spear get even stronger, so much in fact, that it took all of his strength to keep his hind hooves on the ground. As he thought about his options, the words that started his day started echoing through his mind as he mumbled to himself, “Wait… Show them what I am… or…” Zeil looked at Zecora from the distance, “Who I am.”
With a heavy heart, Zeil looked through the pony party who stood protected in the magical barrier. From here, he could see a look of concern on everypony’s face. The royal guards, Twilight Sparkle… and even Zecora. As he looked into Zecora’s eyes from the distance, he started to think about everything he’s done since he arrived in the Everfree Forest. He started to think of the flirting she did when she was treating his wounds, the sights she showed while they trotted through the forest. The magic he learned when he became her student. The wisdom he earned with each meditation session. But more than all the rest, he started to think about the golden joke, the stormy cave, and their first kiss.

With all these thoughts in mind and with his decision now made, Zeil could only smile peacefully at the pony party that watched him. When they all saw this, the ponies were even more surprised than before, but what came next completely stunned them. With his peaceful smile, Zeil spoke “Zecora… Good bye.”
Though his voice was too low for any in the magical barrier to hear, Zecora somehow knew exactly what he said, as Zeil released the spear, and was pulled through the air, before flying into the magical portal, and vanishing from everyponys’ sight. Less than a few seconds later, the portal closed as the wind died down until everything seemed calm as it did before. With that, Twilight stopped using her spell as the protective barrier around them vanished leaving the group to spread out as they trotted through the field in wonder. As they trotted, the guards quickly surrounded the unconscious messenger as they checked him. Then one spoke up, “Twilight Sparkle, this guard is fine, he is still out cold but he is unharmed.”
Slightly ignoring the guard, Twilight looked at Zecora as she spoke, “He… he gave himself… for that soldier… but why?”
Zecora shook her head as she looked at Twilight with concern, “I know not his reason, nor why h…”
Before Zecora could finish her sentence; everypony in the area went silent as the golden joke closest to where the magical portal once sat, began changing colors from their goldish hue to a lime green then to a darkened blue.

After the first few golden joke changed back into their previous Poison joke color, the rest started to follow in a wave motion as the entire field of gold, slowly turned green, then blue. Everypony to include the zebra enchantress was speechless, they didn’t know why the field changed color like this, but it was easy to see that it had something to do with the departure of their changeling counterpart. With worry, Zecora reached behind her ear and brought her golden joke down so she could see it as she watched for this particular plant to make the same change. However, as Zecora watched the gift from the stallion she loved, no changes took place as she continued looking at it. Then as Twilight looked at Zecora she asked with concern, “Zecora?... what wrong?... are you okay?”
Without realizing it herself, a tear slowly started rolling down her face as Zecora wiped it away and replied, “I'm fine my friend… I know not why I feel… I feel uneasy… like this shouldn’t be real…”
Twilight asked, “I'll admit that I'm unsure whether sending that changeling away was the right thing to do… but its already done… we can’t really change that now.”
Zecora couldn’t tell if what she was feeling had anything to do with the unknown changeling’s departure, but never the less, she felt a deepened sadness that she couldn’t understand. So without concern for the unexplained feeling Zecora replied, “I’m sorry my friend, I don’t know why. This sudden tear fell from my eye. I guess it the jokes, the blue that surround. With the return or their color, their mischief abound.”

Twilight could tell that Zecora wasn’t being honest, but with absolutely no speculation as to why her eye teared up, Twilight just played along as she continued, “I guess so… wait… Shining Armor!” Twilight looked at one of the guards, “Hey! Can you take me to where Prince Armor is?”
The guard stood at attention as he replied, “of course! This way!”
As the guard turned to leave, the other guards followed as Twilight looked at Zecora, “Zecora… since this mess with the changeling is settled I think I'll be fine from here. I'm going to go check on Shining Armor. So if I need you, I'll come find you alright?”
Zecora gave Twilight a curious look, “You have no worry, of your frozen bro? I can assist if you need me so?”

Twilight shook her head, “Before I would gladly have you come with me… but that changeling… seeing him sacrifice himself for a guard that has no benefit to him… it just make me think that what he said about not hurting Shining Armor is true. I'll check him first then if his condition is the same, I'll return for your help. I don’t want to bother you any further. Especially since I dragged you away from time that could be spent with Zine.”
Zecora nodded her head as she replied, “Then I’ll bid adieu to you.”
Nodding her head, Twilight, and the royal guards started trotting down the trail towards the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters as Zecora broke off and went the other way. However right before she left the refurbished poison Joke patch, she paused and looked at the embedded spear that was now leaning in the ground as she mumbled, “If he truly said to me, good bye… then what would provoke him… or better yet why?”
With that thought in her mind, Zecora turned and left the area, as the only thing left in the field of now Poison joke was the leaning metal spear that was sticking out of the ground.

Later that evening right before sunset, Zecora arrived at the sight where they agreed to meet, as she sat on the cliffs edge stared into the distance, and waited. She waited, as the sun completely set over the horizon, as the moon rose to take its place. She waited, as the fireflies awoke on their own, and started their dance to greet the silence of the night, and although the fireflies were the reason she loved this place so much, Zecora paid them no mind as she continued her wait. As the night progressed, Zecora sat looking over the cliffs edge at the rest of the forest below, but occasionally, she would turn to the tree line behind her in hopes of seeing the stallion she loved approach. Sadly, each time she did, no zebra was there, as she sighed in disappointment, before turning back to her cliffside view. With time going by even the dancing fireflies grew restless as they started returning to the tree that they dwelled in, and rested for the night. Not long after, the stars began to fade, the moon began to set as the sun started rising on the horizon. As Zecora sat watching the rising sun, tears started building up in her eyes as she continued looking into the distance with an unhappy sigh.

Then finally, with the rising sun came the sound of hoof steps behind her as Zecora quickly turned with excitement, only to find, that the one approaching wasn’t Zine the zebra, but Twilight instead. Disappointed with her raised hopes, Zecora turned back to the cliff as Twilight spoke, “The guards said they saw you here… actually they said it was last night that they saw you… were… you here all night?”
Zecora didn’t reply, instead she looked into the distance as she nodded her head. Twilight continued, “Where… you planning on meeting somepony here?... or better yet… some zebra?”
Zecora continued nodding her head without a word as Twilight sighed before speaking, “Zecora… there’s… something you need to see. It’s about what we found at the Castle of the Pony Sisters… well… we found a saddlebag that we think belonged to the changeling… only… I’ve seen that very same bag before. Well… I think it would be better if you came and saw it for yourself.”
Having already pieced together the puzzle, Zecora sighed as she replied, “Very well, I'll go… since… I think it so. The only way I'll accept it… is if I truly know.”

With that said Zecora reached behind her ear, took the golden joke that was there, as she brought it down, and looked into its gold colored leaves. At first, she wanted to toss the plant from the cliffs Edge, but when she remembered something Zeil said about why the plant will never wilt when it’s near, she could only smile as she mumbled, “So it’s true… I do love you… so you must truly love me too.”
With tears rolling down her face and falling onto its golden leaves, Zecora used her hoof to dig a small hole in the ground as she placed the stem of the golden joke in, and planted the mystic plant. Then with a content smile, Zecora looked into the distance as the tears continued to fall, “Maybe someday, he could find the Everfree. And when he does… our love will truly be.”
With that said Zecora wiped the tear from her eyes as she and Twilight left the cliff’s edge and went to investigate where the mysterious changeling slept.


Epilogue
I Am Home

All was silent as Zecora and her young alicorn student balanced over the stream on staves. As they balanced the young fillies, expression became troubled as Zecora sensed her aggravation and spoke, “To master your fears, you must first remove all fuss that is how one attains focus.”
The young alicorn tried to focus as her troubled thought left her leaving her to return to a deep and focused meditative state. Then as they continued their session, Zecora could sense a presence in the forest as she spoke, “With deep connection, to the world around, you can seek all even what’s not found. Such as the guard, who is roaming around.”
Completely breaking her concentration the little filly opened her eyes as she spoke, “Guard?”
Before the filly could say anymore, the young alicorn fell from atop the staff and into the stream below. With no trouble at all Zecora opened her eyes and lowered herself from the top of her staff as she stepped onto the ground and spoke, “All distractions must be deterred, even if just a simple word.”
As the filly picked herself up from the water, she hung her head in shame as she spoke, “Sorry teacher, I tried, I really did… but I'm just no good at this magic stuff.”

Zecora patted the young princess on her back as she replied; “Now, now, dear Umbra, your lessons are still fresh, for once you master my teaching, you will be a great princess.”
The young filly looked at her teacher and smiled as a group of royal guards stepped out of the tree line as one spoke, “Ms. Zecora! Princess Umbra’s lessons are over for the day. I am here to escort her back to Canterlot.”
Zecora looked at the guard and smiled, “Her lesson is done, but much more when will learn, so tomorrow we’ll continue, so long as you return.”
Princess Umbra smiled as she replied, “Ok then I'll see you tomorrow morning for the next lesson. Don’t worry teacher, I'll become strong just like daddy.”
With that, Princess Umbra turned back to the guards as they both left the area towards Canterlot. Once the princess and her guards were out of site, Zecora secured both staves that were being used for balance as she leaned them against a tree and began trotting into the forest. Not long into her travels, Zecora met with a trail and began trotting up it towards her destination.

As Zecora continued, she reached a small clearing where she could see poison jokes growing amongst the clearing. But in the center of it all, stood a leaning and rusty spear, that hasn’t moved in almost a decade. As she trotted past this clearing, Zecora smiled slightly at the spear, before continued on her path towards the place she wanted to see. Continuing on her path, Zecora saw a random golden joke as it grew on the side of the trail glowing with its golden leaves. A few steps later, Zecora pasted a second golden joke that sat on the opposite side of the trail as the first. Soon, almost every other step revealed yet another golden joke as the mystic plant could be seen growing along both sides of the trail, though despite this sight, Zecora continued as she paid them no mind. Finally, as Zecora neared the end of her trail she stopped on the edge of a cliff as she looked down at the same glowing golden joke that she herself had planted so many years ago. As she looked at the golden joke that was once the last of its kind, she cradled the golden leaves as she smiled at what the magical plant once represented.

Zecora could only smile as she started tearing up at the memories that began flooding her thoughts. Though it was so long ago, Zecora couldn’t forget the happiness she felt, the joy she experienced… then… the sorrow that followed. Even now, after nine years eleven months and six-teen days, the pain still felt fresh. As she continued looking into the golden plant’s leaves, her heart skipped a beat, as a familiar voice came from behind. “Zecora?...”
When she heard it, Zecora paused as she slowly turned her head to look at the direction it came from. Nevertheless, when she saw who it was, she couldn’t believe her eyes. There at the tree line, almost twenty feet away, stood Zeil in his full zebra form as he stood wearing a brown cloak with rings and accessories that could only be described as Zebrican. As she stood starting at the stallion she loves, Zecora could only stare in shock as she started trotting towards him and spoke “C-could it be?... I-is it he?...”
As Zecora trotted closer, Zeil put his hoof out to stop her, “Zecora wait!...” Zecora stopped as he continued, “Before you come closer… I have to tell you something… No… better yet, I'll show you.”

With that said, Zeil sighed as his entire body, minus the cloak and assessorial, changed form to reveal himself as a changeling. When she saw this, Zecora didn’t react, instead, she just gave him an emotionless stare as he confessed, “Zecora… I'm a changeling. I'm… the same changeling that you and Twilight defeated almost ten years ago. My real name is Zeil. And, I’ve been deceiving you the entire time. But, let me explain… yes, I was one of the changelings involved with the attack on Canterlot. And yes, I specifically lied just so you would save my life. But… that’s why I couldn’t tell you the truth in the end. I lied about who I was, but… I really did come from a Kingdom that my Queen destroyed. And did I really fall in love with you?... Absolutely! Zecora, when I fell for you I wanted nothing more than to be with you. I wanted to share your joy during the good, comfort you during the bad, I wanted to make every day with you the happiest I could. I loved you so much… the thought of losing you terrified me. Even more than the thought of being punished for betraying my queen. Zecora… I love you… and I spent the last ten years traveling from nation to nation Zebrica the Highlands, even Prance just so I could be back with you. But… if you’re upset with me, or… if you never want to see me again… I completely understand. Just know that through all the lies, there is but one absolute, one hundred percent truth… I love you.”

Zecora stared at the changeling that stood before her with almost no emotion in her expression. Though she was surprised by everything, he said Zecora didn’t show it as she turned to look at the golden joke that grew on the edge of the cliff behind her. Then she turned back to Zeil as she gave him a look that was a combination of serious, and angry. With this look, Zecora started trotting towards Zeil, slow at first, but then faster and faster, until she was moving at a less then jogging pace. Seeing the anger in her expression lead Zeil to believe that she was going to hit him when she got to him, so accepting whatever came next, Zeil held his ground as he sighed with disappointment. However, when Zecora finally reached the truthful changeling, she didn’t hit him at all. Instead, she threw her hooves around him, and kissed him harder then she had ever kissed him before. Standing there, more stunned and confused than anything, Zeil didn’t move as Zecora finished her kiss and spoke with tears rolling down her face, “I waited so long, for you to return. Even after, the origin that I learn. I do not care of the shape you take, the stripes you bear, or the lies you make. It was not your tail, your mane, or the color of your eyes. But the heart, the personality, hidden under the disguise. I loved you for you, and no matter how long the roam. I'm happy you’re here… I'm happy… you’re home.”
With tears running down her face, and her hooves already around him Zecora hugged him as tightly as she could. Feeling this, made Zeil tear up himself, Zecora has always remained calm, cool, and collected no matter the situation. However, seeing her this fragile only proved just how deep her feelings were for him as he hugged her back, “It’s okay Zecora, I'm here. And whatever happens from here… I won’t ever leave you again. And that is no lie.”