//------------------------------// // 3 - First Encounter // Story: Home // by lunabrony //------------------------------// Zecora temporarily forgot her pony friends were even there, so overcome as she was by the sudden appearance of a species she never in her life thought she'd ever see again. She stepped slowly off her porch into the dirt, progressing slowly towards the giraffe with such caution that one might have thought it was irradiated with dangerous chemicals. "Forgive me if I seem aghast," Zecora said. "The giraffes I heard were long since passed." Indeed, she had heard rumors of their extinction quite some time ago, and had never seen one since. But that also may be due in part to her native land being so far away, and it had been so long since she'd even thought of it. Even the name of the lands she once called home had almost eluded her, but it came back to her now as easily as the potion for dispelling bad dreams. Zebrabwe. "I apologize if I've come across apalled, may I ask what you are called?" Zecora asked. She was slightly worried she didn't have enough tea for everyone, but would figure something out. The giraffe just smiled at her, softspoken as he always was. "I am Mzungu. I came from very far away. As I think you know." He continued speaking, most likely in more haikus, but Zecora had paled and gone blank, hearing none of it. Twilight was waving her hoof in front of her face, the ponies speaking distantly, but she was lost to them. Now, faced with the giraffe as she was, memories of her youth and origins came flooding back, hitting her in the stomach like a sack of bricks. She didn't used to rhyme all the time when she was little, she only took that up when she became a shaman. --- Zecora was on the move, running as fast as her little legs could carry her over the plains of Zebrabwe. She could run fast, but not as fast as the adults in her herd. It didn't matter, though. No matter how old you were, when you were being chased by lions, your top speed was never fast enough. Her herd was small, consisting of only a dozen or so zebras, a diminishing, weak number by any count. The herds used to number in the hundreds, but many had since answered the call of civilization, and gone to more populated, urban areas. They had been chased across the plains of the continent all day by a sizeable group of female lions numbering no less than fifteen, and the cats were stronger and faster. They also had more energy, and the zebra herd was beginning to tire after hours of running. "Mama, I'm scared," Zecora whined, looking up at the female zebra who was never far away from her. The adult said nothing, but leaned down and gave her a comforting nuzzle across the top of her head; all the while looking plenty scared herself. The lions had them penned in against a rocky ledge now, beyond which was a terrifying drop that would surely end unpleasantly for any creature who attempted it, or lost their footing. Down below, waves crashed violently against jagged rocks sticking up to pierce the sky, serving as a barrier at the very edge of the continent of Zebrabwe. It was fortunate, though, that zebras had hooves, and possessed quite stable footing in situations like this. Some of the zebras even claimed to be part goat, but had no proof to substantiate this. "You've put up a good fight, but it's time to end this," the lioness in front growled. "We're hungry. That's just the way things are. Don't worry, we'll make it qui-" she was interrupted by a frantic paw on her shoulder, shaking her so violently that her entire body rattled. Judging by the look of contempt on her face, interrupting her was a highly dangerous idea. "What?! I'm in the middle of my speech! Can't it wait?" It didn't appear so, as the shaking resumed, and the lioness gave a wildly annoyed groan as she looked behind her. An enormous cloud of dust was being raised as something barreled towards them over the dusty, barren plains, littered only with the occasional tree and even less occasional watering hole. "What is that?" She demanded. "Someone go out there and find out what that is! Report back to me at once!" A few lions broke off from the rear of the hunting party and ran towards the cloud to investigate, but had hardly gotten far at all when they turned around and booked it back towards the group. "It's giraffes! A whole lot of them! They're coming this way!" "I can see they're coming this way, you idiot!" Zecora raised her head at this in wonder and excitement. She'd heard tales, of course, but never actually seen a giraffe before. It was a few minutes yet before they came into view, all the while the lions and zebras were in a standoff. When they did come close enough to be seen properly, Zecora gasped. They were enormous creatures with spotted, patchy pelts, ridiculous necks that Zecora absolutely refused to believe at first were natural, and fierce hooves. "Stand your ground!" The head lioness called. "They won't dare-" But she was cut off again, and the giraffes did dare. They charged sideways into the lions with such force that the cats were forced to scatter, allowing the zebra herd to slip away from the rocky ledge onto flat and open ground. The giraffes were under fire almost instantly, and several of them soon featured dark red gashes down their hides, and at least one had a lion hanging by its claws from its neck. Still they refused to give up, however, and it only took a brief nod amongst the zebras for the herd to decide to join the fun, and the lions sound found themelves outnumbered, being swung about like pinatas and kicked with flurries of hooves. "That's enough!" The head lioness shouted. "Abort, abort!" The lions began to try to slink away to recover from their embarrassing loss, but not before Zecora spotted a young lioness, not quite full grown, trying her hardest to sink her teeth into leg of a young giraffe, not all that older than she was. "Hey!" Zecora shouted, and and ran towards them. The young lion turned towards the source of the noise, just in time to recieve a powerful black hoof to the face. The lion recoiled, screeching, streams of blood running down his face. The lion roared at her angrily, and made a hasty retreat back towards the rest of the hunting party. She turned back to the giraffe, who was gazing at her with awe. "How'd you do that?" the giraffe asked. "Do what?" Zecora tilted her head. The giraffe gestured with his hoof, and Zecora craned her neck, seeing an elaborately decorative spiral pattern on her flank that she was certain hadn't been there in the morning. "I... don't know," she said, but something tugged at her. The new mark had almost seemed like magic, and she was suddenly wildly interested in knowing if there were other kinds of magic. She knew she couldn't cast any herself, zebras could not, but wondered if she might be able to pull something off in the art of apothecary. She cast the thought aside for now, though seeds of interest had been planted, and turned back to the giraffe. "Are you alright? What's your name?" "Yeah... I think so," the giraffe said. "I'm Mzungu. That's my dad right over there, the tall one." "They're ALL tall!" Zecora exclaimed, and Mzungu laughed. Zecora peered up at him, pointing her hoof at the bony growths coming out of his skull. "What are those for?" she asked. "These?" He lowered his neck so she could see. "They're for hanging cloaks on, when company comes over." Zecora stared at him, and this time they both laughed together. --- "I think she's broken," Twilight was saying, and sounded intensely worried. Pinkie was making silly faces, trying to get her attention, and nothing was working. "Do not fright, I'm alright," Zecora said finally, releasing herself from her own thoughts, and all four of the others gave a sigh of relief. "Come inside," the zebra said. "We have much to talk about." Zecora went back in the house, and all three ponies exchanged a glance of surprise. Had she just... more importantly, had she NOT just... no, couldn't be. Without further hesitation, they followed her into the hut.