The sound of wind and the leaves it swayed surrounded Zecora as she made her way through the forest. She had just finished picking up a herb from the Whitetail Woods and was returning back to her abode. Despite the lesser risk of encountering a monster from the Everfree, while she walked the trail that led to her hut, she still twisted her ears in every direction and gripped her staff with a steel grip. You could never be absolutely safe in the forest and she knew that.
A twig snapped and it alerted the zebra. Halting her progress she stood still as she continued to listen for any signs of a stalker. A few seconds passed and all was peaceful so she decided to ignore it. But before she could take another step the sound of rustling leaves from a nearby bush drew her attention. Quickly she grabbed a vial that hung from her simple belt. Rearing back she threw it at the bush and heard it break, followed by a cry of anguish and a puff of smoke lifting from it.
Not wasting even a single moment she took a deep breath, jumped into the bush and pinned the monster down. After a short struggle the monster stopped resisting, the potion taking effect. After a few seconds the smoke cleared and to the Zecoras surprise it wasn't a monster that was held under her staff, but rather a certain alien.
"Trider?" she asked baffled.
"Hey Z, nice weather we're having." Trider replied coffing slightly. "The hell was in that. I can't move a damn inch and my eyes feel like it went twenty rounds with the sun and lost."
True to his words his eyes were teary and bloodshot, he could barely squint with them. The mare reached into her puch and retrieved another small vial and poured some of its content onto the Kanisars forehead. "Forgive me, I thought you were a beast that wanted to have me for its meal." she apologised to him.
Trider flexed his fingers, to test if he could move now and to his pleasure they obeyed his command. "It's fine Z, you can never be too careful in here." He rubbed his eyes to elevate some of his pain. "How come my eyes are still in hell, though?"
"I don't have the necessary herbs to treat them with me right now. I can take you back to my hut and treat you there."
"Thanks." he said. "If you wouldn't mind, could you get off me, cause this situation is getting kind of hard to stand."
The mare gave him a confused look, before she realised what he'd meant. When she tackled him, she ended up on top of him, straddling his waist. She got up and offered Trider her hand. Taking it he stood up as well.
"What are you doing here, I thought you were still healing?" she asked him to which he replied.
"Can we talk, once my eyes don't burn anymore?"
Nodding she took his arm and put it over her shoulders and carried him towards her home.
Zecora stood over her cauldron as she mixed the ingridients she had gathered, while Trider rested in her couch. He had a damp cloth over his eyes, which was healing him.
Done stirring the content, the zebra turned to her guest. "Now if you wouldn't mind telling me, what you were doing wandering through the Everfree?" she questioned him.
Sighing Trider responded. "I was just walking and I got lost in thought, before you know it I'm in the Everfree, being tackled by an amazon zebra."
"Those must have been some heavy thoughts." she mused. "What has been troubling you?"
The Kanisar pondered if he should tell her or not. "It's the whole incident in the Crystal Empire."
"You still worry about that? I thought you talked it over with your friends?"
"We did and I know I should be so hard on myself and I'm not. It's something else." he confessed.
"And that would be?" she asked him, beckoning him to continue.
"I already told you how my Feral Unleashing works right?" The mare nodded so Trider decided to continue. "Well I also told you that we Kanisars learn how to control ourselves while we are in that form and we don't lash out." Again she nodded. "That is not true."
Raising a brow Zecora looked at him. "Mind explaining?"
"You see, wolfs are by nature vicious and savage animals and we Kanisars carry that part deep inside ourselves. By tapping into that part we get access to our Feral forms." He began to explain and Zecora listened intently. "We first unlock it as children when we are put into a very emotional setting. Usually its triggered by anger, but there have been cases with grief and fear as well. And when that happens we release all of it all at once, losing control over our actions. We act on instinct and that makes us very dangerous. But as we grow up we learn how to only release portions of it and we can willfully control ourselves."
"I see." Zecora said as she added another ingridient into the cauldron. "So you're telling me that your control over the Feral form is not perfect?"
"Yeah." he said as he nodded. "There have been cases where Kanisars became completely uncontrolable due to a stressfull situation." He closed his eyes and sighed. "It happened twice to me. Once back on Inu and the other in the Crystal Empire." He opened his eyes and looked the mare into her eyes. "I'm afraid it will happen again and I'll end up hurting someone close to me. And that is why I've decided to never use the Feral Unleashing ever again."
"That is quite a statement. Can you hold on to it though?" she questioned.
"You think I can't do it?"
"You used your Feral form to combat most of the enemies you have faced up until now. Even against Twilights friends." she told him and his ears folded onto his head. "Up until now you heavily relied on it to defeat most of your opponents and I'm sure you'll probably use it again, when there will be no other choice. And lets not mention the fact that you have anger issues and you'd probably unknowingly use it."
Trider gritted his teeth as he realised zecora was right. All the fights, all the victories were all thanks to his Feral Unleashing. Without it he was weak.
"So you mean to tell me that I only have two options." he growled. "Either lose control or be others punching bag?" He smashed his fist into the wall, making small cracks in it. "How the fuck is that fair?"
Suddenly Zecora picked up her staff and smacked Trider upside his head. The Kanisar rubbed the sore spot as he looked at the mare questioningly.
"You are too simple minded. Has you reliance on your form made you so blind?" she asked. Trider wanted to reply, but she stopped him before he could. "Your form isn't the source of your strength, it's your determination to not lose."
She walked over to her warderobe, opened it and retrieved a small vial. She then proceeded to dump its contents into the cauldron as she continued. "It is true that your form gave you a boost in power, but in the end it was a boost and nothing more. You have grown stronger since you came here, right?"
"Yeah." he replied with a nod.
"And did you become stronger thanks to your Feral form." This time he shook his head in denial. Zecora smiled as she focused back onto her cauldron. "Do you see what I'm trying to tell you?"
Triders eyes widened in realization. "Of course. If I can't use my Feral Unleashing to become stronger, then I'll just train to be as strong." The mare nodded and grinned, happy he had figured out what she was trying to tell him. But Triders glee didn't last long and she noticed.
"What is the matter?" she asked concerned.
"There is still the problem with my, how did you say it? Ah. Anger issues." he said with a snap of his fingers. "It's easy for me to train, but to control my anger, when I've never held it back in my life is near impossible."
They both went quiet, Trider wallowed in his despair, while Zecora thought. Eventually something came to her.
"If you can't control your anger, then I shall teach you how." she said, gaining the Kanisars attention.
Trider just looked at her confused. "Huh?"
The two were now standing in front of a waterfall. "What are we doing here again?" Trider asked as he stared at the falling water.
"I told you that I'll help you control your anger." Zecora said as she began to take off her garments.
"Yeah, but how are we gonna- Woah!" Trider exclaimed as he turned around and saw now completely naked Zecora. "What are-?"
"Strip!" she commanded, as she slowly walked towards the stream.
The Kanisar just stared at her bare back, and ass, as he opened and closed his mouth. "OK, I think you're jumping the gun here Z. I only see you as a friend and-"
"Don't misinterpret my words and actions Trider. This is solely for the purpose of your training. Now take off your clothes." she repeated as she walked into the water.
The Kanisar simply shrugged as he began to take off his clothes. "Don't mind me then." When he stripped he followed the zebra into the water. They began to swim towards the base of the waterfall and Trider saw there was a rock sitting at the bottom, a small part of it jutting out of the surface of the water. he and Zecora climbed on top of it.
"Sit!" she said as she sat down. Following her instructions he sat as well.
"Now what?" he asked, curious as to where this was leading to.
"Now we meditate." she said.
"And how do we do that?"
"Close your eyes and ignore your surroundings. Deplete your mind of any unnecessary thought or emotion." she explained.
"OK." he replied and closed his eyes. He tried to do what she had told him, but no matter how hard he tried his mind was filled with thoughts, mostly around Zecora and her nude form.
They sat like that for a few minutes, before Trider moaned. "How long will this take?"
"Until you clear your mind and let go of your emotions." was all Zecora said.
He groaned and tried to clear his mind again, but to no avail. "Why the fuck am I doing this? How is this going to help me when I get angry?"
"Meditation is a practice where an individual trains the mind or induces a mode of consciousness, either to realize some benefit or for the mind to simply acknowledge its content without becoming identified with that content, or as an end in itself." Zecora said.
"Wut?"
"What I'm saying is that when you master meditation, Trider, you'll be able to let go of your emotions at the moments notice. You'll be able to remain calm even in the toughest situations." she explained without moving an inch.
Trider sighed as he looked at the mare. "When you said you'll train me, I thought we'd do some exercises to elevate my anger, not sit around."
"If you do not like my method of training, then you are free to leave."
The Kanisar looked at her skeptically as he pondered. After a few seconds he sat back down. "I'll stay."
"I am glad to hear that." Zecora said with a smile.
"Just one question though." Zecora ears perked, signaling she was listening. "Why are we naked?"
"Two reasons." the mare said. "One is to make you more in touch with the environment. I find it easier to meditate in this state."
"And the other?"
"To give you a bit of challenge. I want to see if you can focus while having a beautiful mare sitting in front of you, while naked." she said with a massive smirk.
"You're such a tease." They both chuckled and began to meditate again. They sat in quiet for hours, as the only sound that surrounded them was the cascading water.