Zecora's Redemption

by The Mountaineer Brony


Benevolent Lodgings

Zecora managed to avoid drawing suspicion as the guards escorted her delegation out of the city walls and towards the small village which would be their living quarters, though she knew it wouldn't take long for news of her return to spread.

The ponies with her looked about curiously at the dusty cluster of huts as though it were completely alien to them. Zecora, however, just kept her head down to avoid undue attention; she'd grown up in a village similar to this, and quickly learned that if you've seen one, you've seen them all.

The guards ordered them to stop; one stood with the delegates while the other trotted into a wood-and-straw hut in the shade of a nearby acacia tree to speak with the residents. Outside the modest dwelling were scattered miscellaneous day-to-day items: farming tools, clay pottery, hollowed-out gourds, some stopped up with corks, and traditional masks displayed to say "hello" and "welcome." After a few minutes, the guard exited the hut, pointed backwards over his shoulder as if giving directions, then departed with his comrade in the direction of Zanzebrar proper.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to go in and introduce ourselves." said Twilight. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

As they made their way towards the curtain serving as a door, they were met by two zebras, a mare and a stallion. The stallion was larger and appeared to be close to the Elements and Zecora in age; his body was somewhat lithe, yet he was muscular, with a strong chest and legs. The hair of his mane and tail was long, unkempt, and colored like charcoal. His muzzle, face, and neck were largely greyish-black, and he possessed fierce-looking stripes down his legs and body, most of which did not wrap around him fully. He wore no jewelry, save for a single golden braid in his hair and a plain braid holding his tail up, and his Cutie Mark was some kind of sunburst, though it looked almost like a sun made of shattering glass. He scanned his new houseguests with dark green eyes.

The mare standing beside him was only slightly younger and somewhat shorter, but looked fairer. With minimal blackness on her face, most of her stripes were located on her legs and body, forming intricate and beautiful patterns. Like Zecora, she wore golden rings around her neck, as well as a braid in her tail and a few in her hair; several small, jewel-like studs pierced her ears. Her mane and tail, much like the stallion's, were long and unkempt, except hers was pure white, differing only on the tip of her tail, were it was greyish-brown from dragging in the dirt. Her eyes were a bright blue, and her Cutie Mark was a stylized crescent moon.

"I extend warm welcomes and greetings to you." Said the stallion in a midrange, yet powerful voice. "I am Sundiata, and this is my younger sister, Nuru."

"Greetings, Sundiata and Nuru! We're glad that Queen Marwe is allowing us to stay with you!" Twilight said, ever eager to make new friends.

"As are we, though our lodgings are meager, as you can see." Said Nuru, her voice somewhat tender, like Fluttershy's, though with a hint of gravelliness.

"Oh, it's quite alright. We're just happy to be here!" Twilight said with a smile. "Allow me to introduce the Equestrian Friendship Delegation, sent to you courtesy of Princesses Celestia and Luna!" Twilight hovered just above the ground, causing her zebra hosts' eyes to widen, never having seen an alicorn before.

"I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and this is my assistant, Spike." The little dragon waved.
"These are my best friends, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy." Each pony gave a gesture of greeting in turn as her name was called. "Together, we represent the Elements of Harmony: Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, and Magic, all key parts of the Magic of Friendship."

Sundiata and Nuru nodded. So far, so good.

"And this is our guide to the zebra lands!" Twilight pulled back Zecora's hood, eliciting an awkward smile and wave from her.

There wasn't as grave of a reaction as she got from the zebras in the palace, though the siblings' eyes widened slightly. Zecora could hear Nuru whisper in her native tongue "Is that Zecora?" into her brother's ear, to which he nodded silently.

"I take it you're already familiar with our guide, then?" Rarity asked, chuckling awkwardly.

"Indeed, all zebras in this nation know the tale," Sundiata replied "of the deed which made Zecora set sail."

Twilight alighted next to her striped friend. "Zecora, what exactly has everypony been up in arms about today? Do you mind me asking what you did that was so terrible?"

The outcast zebra sighed. "I promise to someday, Twilight, but not today." She turned to face the rest of the Elements. "Surely you can trust me until your worries can be allayed?" They all looked concernedly at each other, but agreed not to push the issue.

"If it means anything, Zecora, we do not think you are at fault." Sundiata tried to comfort her. "Having heard your tale, we do not think it's worth its salt."

"Indeed, we think any guilt should've faded with time." Nuru added. "What you did was essentially a victimless crime. And even if it was seen as a fall from grace, anyzebra could understand what you did in your place."

Though she tried not to show it on her face, Twilight's curiosity was piqued. Now, she really was curious about what Zecora did; it must've been construed as a criminal act, yet it was probably done for a greater, just reason. If only she could get any information about it. The other zebras seemed to think of it as being unspeakable, so unless she went digging through the town records (which she probably would do anyway if she found herself a library,) she'd just have to wait for Zecora herself to tell her.

Sundiata and Nuru were very useful in helping everyone move in; though it was a tight squeeze, their hut had just enough space for themselves, six delegates, their guide, and a dragon, though many of them would wind up sleeping in hammocks stacked atop one another. They spent the rest of the day sitting around talking, getting to know each other and exchanging pieces of their culture, though Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy were really the only ones interested in picking up local etiquette to any great degree.

As the sun began to set and the hearth fires of the various huts began to light up around them, the group of new acquaintances were enjoying a light meal and sharing tales from days gone by. Twilight had just finished sharing the tale of Nightmare Moon's fall and redemption.

Sundiata's eyes brightened as a tale he'd learned, yet long taken for granted, sprung back into his mind. "There's a story of our people that I'd much like to tell! Nuru, Zecora, do you remember it well?" Nuru returned a broad smile in response, and turned to Zecora.

Zecora nodded. "I know the story of which you speak, from 1,000 years ago, when our nation was weak." She turned to the six ponies and dragon sitting near her, trying to build suspense for the story to come. "While Equestria was threatened with Luna's eternal night, the Zanzebrari folk faced their own terrible plight..."

Nuru had produced a set of bongo drums from behind her; brushing hair from her eyes, something she could often be seen doing, she began to rhythmically beat on them and chant in her native language. Sundiata pounded his forehooves against the ground in the same rhythm, throwing dust into the air above the fire, and by some unique magic, Nuru's music and words began to warp the cloud into a simplified, moving image to tell the ancient tale. Zecora translated Nuru's Zebrish storytelling into rhyming Ponish.

"In Old Zanzebrar, we set our story, at a time when life was grim and gory."

The figures dancing in the dust, which appeared to be zebras, were soon overtaken by darker clouds in the form of various monsters.

"Monsters preyed upon our folk and villages were consumed by fire and smoke."

The girls, plus Spike, were at rapt attention as the "monsters" crept towards a walled settlement that they took to be the city of Zanzebrar long ago. Several zebras huddled behind the low walls with their spears, shaking with fright; the "sky" began to turn dark as the monsters drew close.

"As the zebras were being drowned in their fear, BEHOLD! In the sky, an eclipse appeared!"

Shortly after, the dark silhouette of an alicorn mare appeared upon the lunar surface.

"Just as suddenly, the shadow of a mare appeared in the moon..."

Twilight shot a smile at Zecora, happy that both of their cultures shared in the Nightmare Moon story.

In the dust cloud, a heroic equine appeared, zebraic in appearance, but with only sparse stripes on his front half.

"...it was then that a zebra named Mvemba knew exactly what to do." Zecora finished her rhyme.

Twilight's heart--and cerebrum--leapt up. "That's a quagga!" she said with excitement. "I've seen them in books! They're a kind of zebra that went extinct long ago."

Zecora nodded at Twilight's factoid. "Indeed, quaggas even back then were hard to find; it was believed that Mvemba was the last of his kind."

The noble zebra rallied his kin and had them put a plan into action. As the drumming and chanting grew louder, and the dust cloud became thick and billowy with ancient magic, the audience could see Mvemba and his warriors almost as clear as day. He directed the warriors to fashion great shields in the likeness of terrifying masks and charge forward making a great deal of noise. As soon as they did, the monsters attacking the village thought that there were even scarier creatures coming for them, and so, they fled in fear and were cut down by Mvemba's troops.

"Just as he had seen the moon put on a mask, Mvemba knew that that would accomplish this great task. This great victory made him quite the superstar, and so, Mvemba was crowned as the first King of Zanzebrar."

The crowd of seven all cheered for Mvemba as the dust cloud faded and Nuru finished with a loud strike of the drums.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, doing a little flip in the air.

"Because Mvemba was brave enough to rouse us out of our fear," Sundiata spoke up "all zebras celebrate his great victory each year."

Zecora continued. "We zebras put on masks to give each other a fright! It's a tradition you ponies know as Nightmare Night."

"OOOOOOOO!!!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, jumping from her seat. "That's SO COOL that we both celebrate Nightmare Night! Are there any other holidays we share with zebras?! Hearth's Warming?! Hearts and Hooves Day?! Winter Wra--"

Before Pinkie could finish, Zecora kindly put her hoof over her mouth and smiled. "There are several others of which I can think, but I shall tell you them later, O Pony of Pink."

Pinkie's friends all chuckled.

"So, if Mvemba was the first King of Zanzebrar," Fluttershy posited "does that mean that Queen Marwe is descended from quaggas?"

Nuru shook her head. "Mvemba never married or had foals; at least, none that are recorded in ancient scrolls."

"Though he did appoint his best warrior to rule in his stead." Sundiata added. "It is from his bloodline future rulers were bred."

"You see--" Sundiata began another sentence, but was interrupted by the "doorbell"; having a curtain instead of a proper door to knock upon, he'd hung up a cowbell for visitors to ring.

"Excuse me." He said, smiling to himself at having salvaged his rhyme.

Upon trotting over to pull back the curtain, he was greeting by a cross-eyed zebra with a mailbag. He handed Sundiata an envelope bearing the royal seal, then trotted off.

"What is it, Sundiata?" asked Rarity, sitting closest to the door.

"To me, it is not addressed, but to Twilight Sparkle, and the rest." He passed the letter to Twilight, who opened it with her magic and began reading.

"It says that the Equestrian delegation is invited to a banquet being held in the palace tonight!"

Everypony was abuzz with excitement until Twilight's face showed disappointment.

"...Except for Zecora."

Zecora rolled her eyes and huffed. "That figures, if it's a party of hers." She thought.

Twilight walked over and patted Zecora on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, Zecora. I would bring you along anyway, but I don't think it wise to tempt fate with Marwe already upset with us. I hope you understand."

Zecora raised a hoof dismissively. "Twilight, my friend, do not think I feel spurned. The success of the mission is my primary concern."

The two friends shared a smile before Twilight turned to lead her "delegation" towards the palace.

"Oh boy, food!" said Rainbow Dash, rubbing her forehooves together. "I hope there's something spicy!"

"I wonder what they grow here instead of apples?" pondered Applejack aloud.

"I can't wait to try Zebrican desserts!" exclaimed Pinkie. "I wonder what their cupcakes are like? Do they even HAVE cupcakes? If not, hoo boy, am I going to have a fun time teaching them about 'em!"

Zecora waved goodbye to her friends as they left. Admittedly, she was a little disappointed at not getting to come along, but she supposed there would always be other occasions, perhaps when her translative skills were required. Besides, it wasn't all bad; she had two zebras to socialize with right here, the first such chance she'd had in ages.

At least she could speak in her own language for a time... which meant she didn't have to rhyme.