//------------------------------//
// Chapter 0.  I panicked. 
// Story: Meta Gamer in Equestria: Odyssey 
// by reflective vagrant 
//------------------------------//

I ran.  I ran and ran on into that cold night.  I ran away in a fearful panic.  I ran through the down poring rain.  I ran as if the draconequus's ice cold fire breath was still running down my back.
I finally collapsed in the middle of the muddy road.  I could hear hoof beats coming up behind me and found Zecora helping me to my feet.
I lurched away as best I could while off balance in the mud only to find myself falling forward again, spilling the contents of my stomach only inches to her right.
She began to speak, but I quelled her with a muddy hand on her snout and a strong tug on her mane to start bringing myself upward.
With the short moment she took to shake the mud off her face, I reached for the sprig of mistletoe around my neck and spoke an incantation while still tugging down hard on her mane to stand.
By the time she realized what I had done, it was too late.  All four of her hooves were now solidly embedded into a large lump of mud-turned-stone with me again running at full speed out of town.

It wasn't long before she broke free and caught up to me again, though.  This time she approached with care, being mindful not to venture too deeply into the mud.  Not that it would have mattered.  When I was about to round a turn and slip out of sight, I turned around and summoned Archimedes to my shoulder.
The moment she was in range, I spoke my next incantation.  Vines sprung up around her on all sides.  The tingling sensation at the back of my neck cropped up for a brief moment as the vines restrained her.  I quickly ordered my familiar to distract her for as long as he could as I turned to run again.  I knew the loyal owl shaped spirit would only be able to buy me a few more seconds before she managed to neutralize him, but I needed to make sure every second counted for this next step to work.
Pulling every trick in the book I had, I brought out a crystal from my pocket and ran for the cliff I knew was near. It was  so far up I knew someone like me wouldn't be able to see the bottom in this dark night.  Without hesitating, I grabbed a stone and leaped as far off of the cliff as I could.  I activated a spell to make the rock glow and threw it hard towards the darkness below me to scout ahead.
Then that familiar sense of nothingness under me came as I felt myself slowly catching up with the raindrops passing by me on their way to the ground my rock was scouting for.
A quick flick of the hand that held the crystal and I landed on my feet safe and sound a few seconds later in the small break of trees in the forest below.
'you're running out of tricks!  You need to disappear, fast!'  I thought to myself as I shut off the light, placed an enchantment on myself and dashed deeper into the woods.  Hopefully she didn't see my light from the cliff edge.  It would only make tracking where I went easier.


Springing from tree to tree with legs that practically landed and launched on their own, I made a beeline through the forest while keeping a small distance away from the edge of the forest were it gave way to the cliff wall.
She was still on my trail, I knew it—or at least I had to presume.  This was her element and I could barely shake her in my own element.  I was going to have to face her soon.  The only thing I could do was pick out where.
Finally, I found a tree that met my needs and stopped.  I let go of my enchantment, and watched the paws that had carried me this far fade away back into hands.  Then I leaned up against the tree's trunk, stuck my hand into my sleeve, let the rain pore down on my face and scalp and waited for that persistent shaman to catch up.


Maybe a few minutes later, the tingle on the back of my neck flared for a moment again as my eyes zeroed in on a shadow that was only slightly larger than before.
Seeing that she was caught, Zecora stepped forward into the light.  Before she could even speak I yanked my last ace quite literally out of my sleeve, pointed the wand and forced a lightning bolt at the ground just in front of her.
I locked eyes with her and showed every last bit of emotion running through me.  "You!  I do not want to hear anything you have to say!  Stop following me!  That's the last warning I'm giving!"
She must have finally gotten the message because she gave me a flat face that clearly wanted to be a scowl and stepped back into that shadow while giving a stiff bow.  The next moment my eyes lost her.  I spoke my incantation quite loudly and faded backwards into the tree.  I had no idea if she could track me through this trick or if she'd have to pick up my trail again like anypony else, but it was the best method I had.
Carefully, I stepped out of another tree onto a large stone absent of moss that was only a few yards away from a cave in the cliff.  I pulled out my mistletoe sprig and cast another spell to close the entire distance to the cave with one leap.
Another quick spell just as I jumped and my boot marks were gone from the stone.  One final set of spells within the cave and the water within my clothes and the mud I had tracked in when I landed was also gone.
I just walked into the cave as deep as I could, exhausted and strained.  Finally, I sat down and quietly cried.


It wasn't long before I heard the light sound of hoof steps on stone.
"Go away, Zecora!  I told you I don't want to hear any more of your crap!"  I called out as I readied my wand.
"Nor will thou hear any of the... words of the zebra until thou art willing," Princess Luna called back in an authoritative voice, finishing with an air of friendliness, "We shalt lock her up personally should she try."
With a levitating mirror, she looked around the corner until we could see each other's faces.
"May I come in?" She asked with a voice fitting a worried aunt, dropping the authoritative royal mannerisms.
"I don't really want to listen to what anypony wants to say right now."  I lowered my wand as well as my head in defeat.  "But It's not like I could hope to stop any of the princesses even at my top condition."
Luna puffed the conjured mirror back to where it came, came in and sat down beside me.  It was the perfect distance to allow a pony to pull away without having to feel like they needed to fight off an unwanted hug, or lean into a comforting embrace if they wished.  Her studies on handling uneasy ponies had seen great improvements since the last time we met, though I could tell she still was also putting her own personal touch in with the mirror.
Not that it mattered.  I just sat there in the middle, waiting.
"...Well?  You're here to lecture me too, right?"
"I don't think that would be very productive with how upset you are."  She gave me a wink as I looked up at her.  "Trust me when I say that I've been there."
I finally took the option to turn away from her as she continued, "I'm just here to support you.  Although explaining why you are upset would certainly help."
The only response I could give her request for the longest time was quiet sobbing.


A good hour of crying later, I finally managed to speak up.  "After what I did to Fluttershy-" *sniff* "-I don't know if I'll ever be able to look at myself in the mirror without getting sick again."
Luna looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not sure if I understand.  Maybe you should start from the beginning, Moss."