Zecora's Heritage
Applejack, Applebloom, the camels, and the zebras returned to the village, which was still a mess from the cauldron explosion. The villagers were still mad at Marini and the ponies for causing this, at least that’s what they thought had happened. They all met up in a private hut where Applejack closed the door behind them. “Okay… Zecora ran off into the desert… because I’m certain that she remembered something that stabs her,” the farm pony spoke. “What is going on?”
The zebras and camels looked towards Marini, who gave a sad sigh. “It’s not just hard for her to remember,” the chief explained. “It’s about me… and her father.”
“Her father?” Applebloom questioned. “But… we didn’t see him and Zecora would… Ohh…” She had quickly put some details together along with her sister. Many of the creatures started gathering supplies to find Zecora, feeling things were getting awkward.
“…What happened to her?” Applejack asked. “Tell me!”
Marini took a deep breath before explaining. “It’s easier to explain if I start from the beginning.” She then began narrating. “When Zecora was a foal… she wasn’t into socializing…”
Years ago, Zecora was a young zebra who wasn’t much for socializing. She enjoyed her free time finding some books to read and sitting in the shade of the tree. She didn’t appear to have her mark at this point, as the process for zebra and camels getting their marks was a little different compared to the ponies.
She looked at the children running around before looking back down at her book. Her attention was grabbed after getting struck in the head by a ball. “Ow!” she shrieked. Zecora stood back up a camel and zebra ran over to her.
“Sorry about that,” the camel apologized. “It was my fault.” They picked up their ball and were about to walk away if it wasn’t for the young zebra looking at Zecora.
“You looked bored today. Do you want to join our game?” she asked.
Zecora looked at the zebra she hadn’t met before until now. She looked back to her book and dusted off the sand before responding. “Pass. I’m sticking with my book reading,” Zecora responded.
“Okay. If that’s what you want, go ahead.” The young zebra walked away as Zecora returned to her book. After a minute, another zebra walked over to her, this time it was Zecora’s father, Zane.
“Zecora, are you okay?” he asked. He could see a bruise on the side of his daughter’s head and felt concerned.
“I’m okay, father. A ball hit me on my head on accident.” They both looked over to the zebras and camels that were playing around with the toy that hit Zecora. “They didn’t mean to do it.”
“Hmm, I understand that. What did they say to you?”
“They wanted to know if I wanted to play with them.”
“And did you say no?”
“What’s wrong with that, father?”
“My daughter, it’s important that you make good friends. I’m glad you like reading these books, but you might not have another chance to meet nice creatures like them. Go ahead, have a talk with them. You’ll be having a good time.” The young zebra looked to see the others playing and didn’t seem to be too confident. Zane held out his hoof. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you.”
Zecora hold onto her father’s hoof as they both walked over to where the group of friends was at. They stopped playing as they looked at father and daughter. “Oh, it’s you again,” the first zebra said.
“Um… Hello,” Zecora said shyly.
“Are we in trouble for hitting with our ball?” one of the camels asked.
“No, not at all,” Zane smiled. “I want to help Zecora here to make new friends. Who knows, you could learn new things from each other.” Zecora slowly stepped forward to join the group that had seemed to form a circle.
The zebras and camels looked at her for a while until one of them kicked the ball over to Zecora. When it stopped by her, Zecora kicked the ball over to one of the camels, which started the young ones kicking the ball around to each other. Zane looked at his daughter, who was smiling as she was starting to have fun.
After a bit of playing, the friends all introduced themselves to Zecora. Here she learned about many things, such as Medley’s affinity for singing and Dust Devil’s love for speed. However, the fun was cut a little short after the girls started getting thirsty. Hearing this, Zecora spoke up.
“How about some of my father’s cactus juice?” she asked.
The five young creatures looked at her a little confused. “But my mother said that cactus juice can make you sick,” Cactus Rose commented.
“Not the way my father makes it, he knows how to manage that. I can show you if you want.” Zane was impressed with the pep his daughter had in her step. The two of them led Zecora’s new friends back to their hut, where Zane quickly started preparing some of his cactus juice by adding some water to a medium-sized cauldron. He added in a few other ingredients, such as some powders, and cacti mixed them together.
As he stirred up the drinks, Zane muttered some rhymes to himself. “Some cacti to get some flavor,” he said to himself. “Must add the powders so it can be savored.” Zane looked at his brew before looking over to Zecora. “Could you fetch me some mugs?”
“Yes, father,” the young foal replied. She quickly found 4 mugs and placed them beside her father, who promptly got a ladle to pour the cactus juice into each mug.
Once that was done, he passed one out to each of his daughter’s friends. After letting the drink cool down for a little bit, they were still a little unsure about this beverage.
“This looks unenticing to the eye,” Marini said. With her deep breath, he bravely grabbed the mug and took a sip of the juice. The foal’s eyes lit up from the taste. “Hey, this is pretty good!” she satisfyingly commented. Zecora smiled at the thought she could share one of her favorite beverages with someone other than her father.
As much as they were starting to warm up to each other, the friends had to go back to their homes since it is almost nighttime. Zecora herself was starting to get tired. She lay down on her bed as Zane draped a blanket over her.
“It seems like you and your new friends are getting along well,” he said.
“Yes. But… will they ever stick around?”
“Of course, they will. Why would you think they wouldn’t?”
“Well, I like reading, but I’m not too sure about what the others like to do.”
“You might not know what they like doing for fun, but once you do, you’d enjoy it to its fullest. Now, rest your head ‘cause it’s time for bed. Save that energy for tomorrow, and you’ll be able to meet your new friends again and have an amazing time. Just remember not to quit.” The father kissed his daughter’s forehead before blowing out the nearby candle and leaving his daughter to sleep.
The next morning, Zecora went to find Marini and her friends. She was surprised to see Medley wearing a dress that was a little big for her. “Oh, hi, Zecora,” Medley said cheerfully.
The young foal was a little confused about her new friend’s accessories. “Um, why are you wearing that big dress?” Zecora asked.
“I’m a troubadour, and they play instruments, like this kora.” Medley held up the said string instrument and tried playing a couple of strings, though it was pretty clear she wasn’t used to playing it. “Everyone else is inside getting their costumes together.”
Zecora looked at the hut that her friend pointed at and walked inside of it. Marini, Dust Devil, Cactus Rose, and Crystal were digging through some chests to find items that could fit their characters.
“I can’t find anything that’ll be a good ax,” Dust complained.
“There’s no way our parents will let us have real weapons,” Crystal noted.
“Maybe we could make some?” Cactus Rose suggested.
Marini was about to give her opinion until she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned and saw the newest addition to the group. “Oh, Zecora, you’re here!” she cheered.
“Hello, uh…. What are we doing?” Zecora asked.
“Roleplaying. My mother found this book about Ogres and Oubliettes. We’re going to go on an adventure!”
“I’m going to be a warrior!” Dust Devil proclaimed.
“And I’m going to be a Druid,” Cactus Rose added.
Zecora didn’t fully understand what those statements meant until she was given the book the foals were so excited about. She looked through the different classes of characters she could pick from then she saw the alchemist.
The description read; “An Alchemist is an expert at combining reagents to produce mystical effects.” This made Zecora think about Zane and share some knowledge with the group.
“My father makes potions for the village,” Zecora proclaimed. “An alchemist will be perfect for me.”
“Great choice!” Marini dug through the chest again, finding a few saddlebags, some empty bottles, and a pair of goggles.
“Um…. What do I do?”
“Just pretend you're mixing stuff into those bottles and use them to help our team or fight off evildoers.”
Zecora thought about the process of when Zane made potions. She remembered the rhyming he did to help her remember what was needed for each recipe. She also took a look through the book to learn about the other classes of characters.
After some time of searching, everyone had gotten their outfits together. They walked outside and Crystal quickly had to ask something. “Um, Marini, who’s going to be the bad guy?” she asked. The young leader thought for a moment as she didn’t quite think this part through.
Lucky for her, Zecora had an idea once she found a long stick. She picked it up and stabbed it into the sand. “We’ll each dig away at the sand at the same time,” she explained. “Whoever the stick points to when it falls, gets to be the creature… Doing the crime.”
Everyone seemed to think this was a good idea, so they all started digging at the base of the stick. Eventually, it started to tip over and landed pointing at Dust Devil. “Looks like you’re it, Dusty,” Cactus Rose commented.
“Alright then,” the camel proclaimed. They ran off doing their best evil laugh, leaving everyone else to start their adventure. Zecora took the book with them so she could read up more on her character.
After looking for Dust Devil for a little bit, they found the camel warrior standing proudly above them on a hill. “Behold foolish weaklings!” they proclaimed, “I’ll show you my true power!” They quickly swung their stick, which was supposed to be their ax, in front of the group of friends, pretending to attack.
“I summon a sandstorm to stop you in your tracks!” Cactus Rose cried. She waved her hooves around as Dusty pretended to be caught in a storm.
“My ice spell will help freeze you in place,” Crystal proclaimed. She held out her staff and made magic noises as Dust Devil did their best to stay statue-still.
“Zecora, do something!” Marini cried.
The foal panicked as she quickly grabbed one of her bottles. “You are not going to bring this land any doom,” Zecora cried, “Take this potion that’ll go boom!” She chucked the bottle at the camel, landing right beside them. Dust Devil provided the “boom” noise before jumping back dramatically.
“I have been defeated,” Dust proclaimed. “I have not prepared for the new one’s power. Need…. More training!” With that, the camel played dead with its tongue sticking out.
“...Did… Did we win?”
“I’m pretty sure we did,” Marini confirmed. “Good thinking with the boom potion.”
“Um… Thanks.”
“I like how you did that rhyming,” Medley added. “Do you think you could help me write some songs sometimes?”
“I… I think so.”
“We’ll have another adventure very soon,” Marini proclaimed. “Onward!”
After having a fun time with her friends, Zecora returned home, where her father was just putting out the flame under his cauldron. “Welcome home,” Zane proclaimed. “Did you have a good time?”
“It was fun,” Zecora beamed. “I got to pretend to be an alchemist and make exploding potions as healing ones.”
“Hmm, sounds like you’ve been inspired by my business haven’t you?”
“Yes. You make so many of them and they sound so cool.” The young zebra ran over to a bookshelf and picked out a notebook in that Zane had written down his successful potion recipes. Zecora then looked at her blank flank before turning to her father.
“Are you about to suggest what I think you’re thinking of?”
“Yes. Father, I like to have my mark.” Zane smiled as he looked around for his tools for the marking process.
A zebra or camel getting their mark is a little bit different than the process a pony goes through. Instead of the mark magically appearing, they have it marked onto their bodies like a tattoo. The process took a while and it was a bit painful for some creatures, but Zecora was ready for this.
Zane was told what his daughter wanted for her mark and he carefully started his work. Zecora cringed a little bit from the process, but she held it together. After a while, Zane stopped his words and looked at the two spirals that his daughter now possessed.
He soon got a mirror to show his daughter what her new mark looked like. “Wow!” she gasped.
“It’s rather simple, but I think it could have a deeper meaning.”
“Does it mean we can make potions together?”
“Of course. Now, how about we start with something simple by making some cactus juice?” The foal beamed as she looked through the notebook to find her father’s recipe. Zane started another fire under his cauldron, which was filled back up with water. Zecora had gathered more than enough ingredients to make the juice. Zane chuckled as he took his daughter step by step on how the juice was made.
Zecora’s life was rather uneventful as she grew up throughout the years. Her friends were impressed that she was the first one in their group to get her mark. The others would get their marks, with Marini getting hers right after Zecora’s.
Aside from that, their friendship grew to be pretty healthy. Zecora would love to share the potions she and her father would create and share knowledge of other brewers, like Mage Meadowbrook. Marini and her friends would enjoy their time with her, playing Orgres and Oubliettes, helping around the village, or just doing something simple and calming like star gazing.
One day, Zecora was checking a list while she checked on some basket she had on her back. Marini walked over to her and was curious about what she was doing. “What do you have planned for today?” Marini asked.
“My father is a little low on ingredients,” Zecora answered. “I was just about to head to gather some cacti.”
“You’re going by yourself? Doesn’t that seem kind of dangerous?”
“My father said that it shouldn’t be too much trouble if I do it quick. Through the different types of cacti, I worry about getting mixed up and getting someone sick.”
“You know the others can help.”
“No, I don’t want to bother them.” Marini saw the list her friend was looking at and then saw the number of cacti she needed.
“I’m pretty sure it’ll be a bother for you looking for all those different cacti. You should bring Rose along, she knows a lot about those different plants.”
“Hmm, alright if you say so. However, I’m doing it because you won’t take me saying no.”
A little while later, Zecora, Marini, and Cactus Rose were all set up to explore the desert. They were just leaving the village when they noticed the other half of their friends running over to them. “Hey, girls, wait up!” Dust Devil cried.
Zecora was confused as she thought that only Marini and Rose would be joining her. She turned to the camel to ask why everyone else was joining her. “Well, I just thought the more the merrier,” Rose explained. The zebra just rolled her eyes and just carried with her runs as her friends tagged along.
The journey through the desert would be difficult for a few reasons. One was the fact that every direction looked the same, making it very easy to get lost. The second problem was the heat. The sun beat down relentlessly, making it very uncomfortable for the zebras. The camel would have a better time as they were better suited to exploding in the dry environment.
Cactus Rose proved to be very helpful with picking the different cacti. She identified them almost just by glancing at them. Zecora was very thankful for her help and they were just about to head back home when a loud screech was heard.
Everyone looked and was horrified to see a roc flying around its future prey. Marini almost went into a panic as they had nowhere to hide. “Scatter!” she cried. The friends did so, running this way and that to hopefully confuse the roc.
The big bird looked down at Zecora and Marini, who were running side by side. The roc flew downwards and was about to swoop the two up if it didn’t see the large sand cloud heading their way.
It flew away, making the zebras think they were in the clear until they saw the sandstorm. “Oh no!” Marini cried. They tried running away from it, but the storm was gaining on them. Fearing that they were unable to escape.
“Get down and cover your face!” Zecora cried. The two did this action, bracing themselves for the worst. The storm hit them like a swarm of bees. The sand smacked against their bodies, causing some cuts. Zecora and Marini could barely hold on.
Mercifully, the storm subsided. The zebra managed to gather their energy to stand up, covered in sand and injuries. “Did…. Did we make it?” Marini asked.
“Yes, with some injuries,” Zecora groaned. “And right now it looks like it’s you and me.” The rest of their group was nowhere to be found. To make matters worse, they were now lost.
“Which way is back to the village?”
“The storm got us turned around and covered our tracks, I don’t know how we’re going to make it back.” Both of them were lost for words about what to do. All Zecora could think of doing was staying still, hoping that somebody would find them.
Marini, on the other hand, didn’t want to stay put. She stood up on her shaky legs and slowly walked away from her friend. “That roc could come back for us,” she guessed. “We can’t stay here.”
“But we have no idea where we're going. It’s less likely we’ll find our way back than it is to start snowing.”
“You can stay here and wait for your idea to work. I’m not…. Going to let a roc eat me.” As Marini traveled further away, the more concerned Zecora got. Even though she knew this was a bad idea, she lifted herself up and slowly walked after Marini.
Zecora groaned in pain as she seemed to have suffered a little worse from the sandstorm. She was struggling to walk as Marini waited for her to catch up. “Maybe we should walk together,” Marini suggested. Zecora only nodded in agreement as standing was a little hard with assistance.
The two zebras kept walking, even though they had no clue where they were going. The plan was that they’d keep walking in one direction until they found something they could use as a landmark. Zecora didn’t think this would work, but she knew Marini would probably make her condition worse if she went off alone.
Eventually, the two got tired and sat down to catch their breath. As they took their break, there was a hissing sound. The girls looked and suddenly saw a snake slithering across the sand. It looked to be a viper, and a dangerous one too. As if this wasn’t bad enough, there was more than one.
The snakes quickly surrounded the two friends who felt like they were done for. They braved themselves for one of the vipers to bite them, only to be taken aback by the sound of one of the snakes getting hit with a stick.
Zecora opened her eyes and saw her father smacking the vipers away with a stick. Some camels raced over to the injured zebra and placed them on their backs.
They started running back to the village with Zane just about to catch up to them if it wasn’t for the sharp pain in his back leg. He looked back and saw, to his horror, one of the vipers had bitten him.
He kicked it off but weakness quickly took over his body. One of the camels was able to run back to him and carry him away. “Zane, are you okay?” the camel asked.
“I’m…. I need medical attention but…. Make sure Zecora recovers,” Zane groaned. He breathed heavily as the camels quickly took them all back to the village. Zecora had lost a lot of her strength by walking with Marini. She eventually passed out and would be unconscious for a while.
When Zecora woke up, she found she was back home in her hut. She looked around wondering where her father was. Stepping out of bed, she headed outside to see some zebras and camels talking amongst one another, sounding concerned.
“Excuse me,” Zecora spoke. The creatures turned to her and looked nervous. “Where is my father?”
Everyone looked nervous as if they didn’t know what to say. Crystal, who was among the crowd, walked over to her friend, who still looked to be injured. “Zecora, but we think you need to lie back down,” she proclaimed.
“But… What about my father?” Crystal didn’t know what to say and just helped her friend back to the hut. While she wasn’t answered, the fact they were surrounded by poisonous vipers was a clear sign of something Zecora didn’t want to believe.
For the next few days, Zecora was very quiet. She would often avoid others whenever she could, and refused to speak with any of her friends, especially Marini. Though her friend tried her best to apologize, Zecora didn’t want to hear it. The loss of her father was too much for her to bear. It got to the point where simply being in the old hut was reminding her too much of him.
One day, Zecora gathered up all of her essentials and left the village. While Marini and her friends didn’t quite know how Zecora got to Equestria, the most like cause was by boat, they did wish they would see her one day again.
Everyone had gathered up the supplies they needed to find their friend as Marini finished her story. “I always felt guilty ever since that incident,” the chief sighed. “I didn’t think that she’d ever forgive me.” She lowered her head as Applebloom and Applejack felt sympathetic.
“We all make mistakes,” Applejack noted. “And judging for how long Zecora has been visiting Ponyville, I say it was long ago.”
“Zecora’s shown to be very wise,” Applebloom said. “She’s helped us out of several problems. Even if we caused them ourselves. I know it was hard but… you didn’t mean for that to happen on purpose. You’ve both grown, and I believe that she’ll forgive you like a friend.”
“How can you be so sure about that?” Marini questioned.
“We have a friend that likes to cause trouble and even slipped back into his old ways, nearly causing damage to all of Equestria,” Applejack informed. “And yet, we know creatures who were still forgiving him.”
“He’s putting in the effort,” Applebloom noted. Her eldest sister nodded.
“Nevertheless, I’m positive that if our friends can forgive someone who almost destroyed Equestria… twice… Zecora can forgive you for what happened. We can’t just leave her out in the desert and die from thirst.”
Marini looked at her friends, who were all set to go. The chief thought about everything that had happened so far, sulking wasn’t going to fix anything. “You’re right.” With her spirits lifted back up, Marini stood up and took a deep breath. “Let’s go find our friend,” she proclaimed.
They walked out of the hut, pushing away the angry zebra and camels that wanted a word with Marini. Applejack helped push them away, letting them know they were going to find Zecora, even if they had to push some creatures that were getting in the way.
They headed in the direction where they saw Zecora runoff, using a compass to help them from not getting lost. After walking for a little bit, Cactus Rose saw something lying down in the sand. “I see her!” she cried.
The group of creatures ran over and soon took a sigh of relief when they saw the zebra turn to face them. “Leave me alone,” she ordered. “I don’t even want to go back home.”
“We aren’t forcing you to go back,” Marini said. “We want to talk.”
Zecora looked away from her old friends as Applejack and Applebloom walked beside her. “Zecora, I know what it’s like to lose a parent,” the older farm pony spoke. “You could’ve done something different and tried to figure out the problem.” The zebra looked back at Marini, who stepped back as she could feel some guilt. Applejack lowered her brow. “And blaming a friend for an accident like that merely makes things worse.”
Zecora looked down at the sand knowing she was right. “We’re sorry that you had to go through something like that,” Applebloom added, “But that doesn’t mean you have to shut the rest of the world out. Your friends want to help you cope and… Chief wanted to make up for her mistake.”
Zecora looked at the chief who realized it was her time to speak. “I’m sorry for everything that happened,” Marini spoke. “I should’ve listened to you and waited for the villagers to find us. Zane should never have been bitten and perished. I’m sorry for all of the trauma I caused you. I’m failing now as chief and even worse… as a friend. You don’t have to help in the village, I’m not forcing you to do that. I… I just want to be friends again.”
Marini’s voice sounded like she was about to cry. Zecora sighed as she took a moment to find the right words. “I shouldn’t blame you for what happened in the past,” she spoke, “I felt that guilt would always last. The memory of my father’s incident is grim, but every time I think about it… I miss him.”
Zecora lay down as she started to cry from her father’s memory. Applebloom tried to help cheer her up by hugging her. “It’s okay,” the apple filly said. “I hear sometimes it’s best to let it all out.” The zebra was in shock, even more so when Applejack join in with the hug. Eventually, the zebras and camels join in to make a group hug. Zecora felt overwhelmed but found herself smiling as she started crying tears of joy. The hug carried on for a while before everyone separated and stood up.
“I’m sorry for how I acted,” Zecora apologized, “I should’ve been more mature. The problems I should’ve talked with you about it so it would be easier to endure.”
“It’s okay Zecora,” Marini said. “I think the worst might be behind us. …Unless you count the drought.”
“About that,” Applejack spoke. “I think I’ve got a risky idea that should help with the drought.”
“At this point, I’m willing to try anything,” Marini admitted. “What’s the plan?”
“Well, there’s a boulder blocking the underground river. There’s nothing in this village that’ll be able to remove that thing safely, except for a boom potion.”
“Hmm, one paper that sounds like a good idea,” Crystal commented. “But there’s still the chance of you also getting blown up and/or the chance of being swept up in the flowing water.”
“Maybe the thrower of the boom potion could just run back to the hole,” Dust Devil commented.
“Unlikely. Applejack, how far was the boulder from the hole?”
“I give or take about a three-minute walk,” the earth pony guessed from her memory.
“Running out of there would barely get away from the water.”
“Not to mention climbing up a rope,” Cactus Rose added. “Could there be any way to make someone go faster?”
Applebloom and Zecora both thought until they came to the same idea they found in the potion book. “Acelerado!” they proclaimed.
The creatures were a little confused until Zecora informed them what they were talking about. “The potion Acelerado is exactly what we need,” she explained, “For it’s that can increase a creature’s speed.”
Marini smiled as they had the plan in motion. “Okay, but we have to make sure things go properly this time,” she informed.
“We’ll make sure we have the right potion this time,” Applebloom proclaimed.
“Okay then. Let’s get back to the village and fix this.” Everyone followed Marini, ready to put their new plan into action.
After getting back, Applebloom and Zecora got started on the new potions. They made them in a smaller cauldron this time, inside one of the huts in case of another explosion. While they did that, Applejack had a rope tied around her waist, getting ready to use the two potions she would be given.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Marini asked.
“I’m not letting any of your villagers get hurt,” Applejack stated. She looked to Marini’s friends, who all gave a tug on the rope around the pony’s body, making sure it was secure. “Applebloom, how are the potion coming along?!”
“Almost done,” the apple filly replied. She watched Zecora pour the second potion into a bottle carefully. She and Applebloom then took the red and blue potions outside to the creatures standing next to the well.
“The blue potion is the one you go faster,” Zecora explained. “Be careful with the red one, or it might be a disaster. Also, Acelerado is something I’ve never made before, it’s one I often skip. I recommend just starting with a sip.”
Applejack took her advice, opening the Acelerado potion and drinking a tiny amount. That alone sent a flash of energy through her body. “How do you feel, sis?” Applebloom asked.
“Fine. I’m totally fine,” the farm pony responded quickly. She shook her head as the energy needed to be let out. “I feel finer like a bull in a china shop that’s been condemned.”
“Is this normal?” Marini asked.
“The potion’s description said it would have the user acting a little jittering on the first use,” Applebloom informed. “Let’s put that energy to good use.” Applejack simply nodded before grabbing the boom potion and leaping into the well with an excited “YEEHAH!”
The creatures quickly grabbed the rope to stop Applejack hit the ground. The farm pony then ran to where the boulder was and chucked the bottle at it, running back to where she came from. The potion blew up upon impact and the boulder started cracking. Streams of water started to leak out as the cracks got bigger and bigger.
Applejack had gotten back to the hole and gave the rope a couple of yanks before she was starting to get pulled out. It was good timing too since they all heard the sound of rushing water getting closer. Thankfully, Applejack was out of the well just as the river flowed right by the hole.
The group of creatures peered down into the well and saw the water down inside. Marini dropped the bucked down inside and turned the handle to lower it in slowly. After letting all of the rope out, the chief then pulled the bucket back up to find it filled up with water.
“It worked!” the chief cheered. “Quick, get a barrel.” Dust Devil and Medley Brook did as they were told, running over to the first barrel they could find and taking it back for the water to fill it up. The bucket went up and down several, each one coming back with water that was filled into the barrel.
The villagers looked and saw the well was back in working order. They were relieved that they weren’t going to have to worry about water for a while.
“What a relief,” Crystal commented.
“Agreed,” Marini noted. “Let’s get as much as we can. If the well gets clogged again, we’re setting camels to fetch water as soon as possible.”
“Noted,” Dust Devil and Cactus Rose responded. Dust Devil looked at the Acelerado potion and was curious to test something. They picked it up and drank some of it. Like Applejack, they felt a wave of energy flow through them.
When Rose saw what they did, feeling a little concerned. “Dusty, what are you doing?” she asked.
“Trying out the potion,” Dust Devil responded. “Kind of taste good. I’m going to go for a run.” With that, the camel ran off, causing small dust clouds with their steps. Dusty grabbed some large buckets and ran towards the ocean, making clouds of dust the whole way.
Everyone watched in amazement. “So… How long will it take him to get back?” Applebloom asked.
“The ocean is a kilometer and half away,” Marini noted, “Though with his speed it should…”
“About thirty seconds?” Applejack finished. She pointed to the distance, seeing the quick camel running back with his buckets spilling some water thanks to his speed. They screeched to a stop, splashing out some water to creatures that were in front of them.
“Oop, sorry guys,” Dust Devil apologized.
“It’s alright Dusty,” Marini responded. “You’ve got me thinking about some backup plans for something like this happening again.” The chief turned to Zecora, who looked to be much happier now. “Thank you for helping us Zecora. I’m sorry you had to go through any… Past trauma.”
“You don’t have to be sorry, whatever grudges were there are at an end,” Zecora responded. “The village is saved and I’m glad we can get back to being friends.” This comment was enough to have Marini hug the rhyming zebra, who simply smiled while she hugged her back.
There was a sudden glowing, which grabbed everyone’s attention. Zecora, Applejack, and Applebloom’s marks were all glowing now, signaling the mission was complete. “Since when could you do that?” Marini asked.
“It’s something that special creatures do when there’s a mission for us to do,” Applejack explained. “It also shines when it times for us to go.”
“Aw, already?” Medley questioned. “We just started getting along again.”
“I know I have to leave,” Zecora noted, “But just remember not to be lost in grief. I’ll try and find a good time to visit you again, so don’t fret, who knows, maybe we can get to play a game of Ogres and Oubliettes.” This brought excitement to her friends, hoping the next time they met up would be very soon.
It took a couple of minutes for the airship to get ready to leave. As they waited, Zecora took a few more minutes to explore her old stomping grounds before they went back to Equestria. She looked around and gave a sniff… Something smelt familiar.
Poking her head into one of the huts, she found Marini looking at some notes with Cactus Rose, as they were throwing some ingredients into a small cauldron. The two looked to their and were surprised to see her. “Oh, hey…” Cactus Rose spoke, “We weren’t expecting you to find us so soon.”
Zecora looked at the cauldron they were using, and the mugs that Marini was soon filling up with a familiar green liquid. “Is that…?”
“Cactus juice, yes,” Marini confirmed. “I thought we’d give you one last goodbye present before you leave.” She let the juice cool for a little bit before handing one to her friend. Zecora looked at the liquid and gave it a little sip. It almost tasted like the kind her father used to make. She felt nostalgic and reminiscent of her past. Marini was worried when she saw the look on her face. “You’re not crying, are you?”
“No,” Zecora responded. “I appreciate the drink. It has a memory that will always have a link. I’m really lucky to have someone like you as a friend, and I highly doubt this will be the end.” The friends smiled as they drank up the cactus juice.
Just after they finished it, they heard Applejack call out to them. “We’re ready to go!” she called.
The two zebra just simply smiled at each other as they shared one last hug. “You again soon,” Marini said. Zecora let go of the hug and walked to the airship. As they started setting off, the zebra’s old friends ran out and waved goodbye, and Zecora did the same.
The ship kept on sailing away until the village was out of sight. “How are you feeling?” Applebloom asked.
“...Going back home was something that I fear, that memory would always make me shed a tear. However, I’m glad that you two came along, and made sure the problem didn’t around for long. I still miss my father when he fell victim to his condition, but I do hope he is that whatever grudge I had against my friend is forgiven.”
Applejack placed her hoof on the zebra’s shoulder. “If there’s ever a moment you need to talk, we’re always available,” the farm pony stated.
Zecora looked between Applejack and Applebloom. She gave a warm smile as she simply replied, “Thank you.” And with the past behind her, Zecora and the apple sister rode home back to Equestria.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- SuperPinkBrony12 · 108k words · 30 6 · 1.5k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.079 seconds
Total duration
952 users online
71,436 hits today, 2,591,549 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
And that's how she learned how to rhyme
Ohh my God that's actually more sadder 😭
Glad to see Zecora could patch things up with her friends.
But that was so sad what happened to her father.
Wow that was a very interesting story here and a very interesting turn of events as well although I still like the idea of the tree of Harmony location and everything but everybody has a different opinion so again with the story I probably had to treat this as an alternate universe because they'll be confusing for me but anyway after the failure and Zecora ran off Applejack and the others need to find her but before they could they needed to know what happened between her and her friends and apparently it was a tragic one her younger years was good she was not the most socialist with anybody but with a little push from her father she had the courage to talk with Marini and her friends and throughout the years they really became closest friends but then one day Zecora wanting to do shopping for her father but unfortunately they need the item what they needed is out in the desert so Marini and her friends wanting to help her reluctantly she accepted and unfortunately there was a giant bird try to attack them and both Zecora and Marini were separated from there friends but worse there was a sandstorm and they have to Duck and Cover but after that Zecora wanting to stay put until help arrives but Marini didn't want to stay there because of that giant bird or the sandstorm so she went out there not knowing where she's going and of course Zecora fellow her but unfortunately there was a poisonous snake attack them but luckily none of them got bitten and Zecora father came to the rescue but unfortunately he got bitten by the snake and apparently the Venom is starting to affect him Zecora woke up and trying to find her father but her friends told her the bad news that he didn't make it she was so devastated and really mad at Marini and she doesn't want to do with anything with her and with that she decided to leave her hometown and that's what happened so Applejack and the others found her they wanted to comfort her of what happened was an accident that nobody never knew this would happen but Marini wanted to apologize for everything that her friend had to go through and it looks like things are getting better with each other but they still have to figure out about the drought situation but they have an idea to get the boulder out of the well so Apple Bloom and Zecora came up with an idea to make a potion that will help Applejack and they use the last potion as an explosion so they can get rid of the boulder and she took the potion and she ran so fast when the boulder explode and the water flowed and it looks like it solved the problem and they finally got the water back not only they had the village but they also help Zecora to mend there friendship with Marini and her friends and it looks like the Mission was complete and they had back home but not until they had their goodbyes drink and it turns out it was Zecora father recipe and she even promise she'll come back to see them again and with that they went back to Ponyville again this was a pretty interesting take on the comic even though there was some changes and it really threw me off a couple of times but it was still good and well written keep up the good work
Lastly, let’s talk about Tempest and Rutherford and why they’re not in the comic. I don’t want to bring along characters I don’t think will be important to the plot. I think a story about Zecora’s homecoming would be best with just Zecora, Applejack, and Applebloom, the last of which was one of the only ponies who wanted to know about her when Zecora made her debut.
Rutherford? He was not even in the comic it was rockhoof.
Luckily, with some help from Greg, I was able to work out some details. For starters, I didn’t want to have multiple trees of harmony since it would feel kind of gimmicky. It’s like having all of the mane six becoming alicorns, it feels more like a gimmick if you do it like that.
Okay to be honest with you I thought this is actually a pretty neat idea having other ponies or creatures to represent the elements of harmony not just only the main six the pillars are the young six and yes I hear a lot of people said it will take the unique of the tree of Harmony away but it doesn't have to I still think it can work and I read the comic I was actually pretty excited for that one I mean yes they could have done a little bit better with the storytelling and the pacing and a little bit more history with that.
Another change I’ve added to Zebrat, is that it’s mostly just zebras and camels. I’ve changed Zecora’s friends into those species too. I looked around but Crystal and Medley Brook were the only kelpies I could find. The same applies to Dust Devil and Cactus Rose being abadas. Sorry if this is controversial.
Yeah that kind of threw me off a little bit I mean I guess you want to go for realistic animals when it comes to the desert or something I sort of like those other creatures even though one I never heard of like Dusty and Rose that was like a new creature. But anyway no worries
Lastly, let’s talk about Tempest and Rutherford and why they’re not in the comic. I don’t want to bring along characters I don’t think will be important to the plot. I think a story about Zecora’s homecoming would be best with just Zecora, Applejack, and Applebloom, the last of which was one of the only ponies who wanted to know about her when Zecora made her debut
Okay I guess I agree with that ever since her first appearance in season 1 a lot of ponies wanted to know where she come from and mostly Apple Bloom since she became good friends with her and taking an interest of making potion despite that she has no magic but I still think that's actually pretty cool she wants to learn about it and I'm sure she wants to know where she comes from so I guess that's a good move to make her to come with Applejack and Zecora in there journey.
So that just my thoughts about that and everybody as different opinion but it doesn't take away about how I liked about your stories ever since I join in the fimfic site
Dang it! How could I not see that typo? Fixed it.
11205024
That's okay it would be very odd if the Cutie Map did call him 😆
Aww, that was a great ending! Sorry it took me so long to get to it! I don't mind the changes, I think it made the story better to make them all align like that. Great job! I can't wait to see what you have in store for us next!
You might want to have an editor check the story out. Saw some weird and just wrong sentences.
In the Gameloft My Little pony game one of the special in-game events was Zecora and her friends all getting together to play O&O.