Keeping to the truce, Zanza did not take his leave of the fortress. Celestia took Twilight aside into the hall, to speak to her in private, leaving Zanza to himself. Of course, he listened in with his heightened senses through the door.
"Twilight, are you absolutely sure you are capable of this?" Celestia spoke in hushed tones.
"I wouldn't say I was if I wasn't," the purple ponio responded.
"Twilight, Zanza has valid reason to distrust friendship, and reason to not like us," the taller said. "We've started this whole thing on the wrong hoof. That, and we've seen what that sword is capable of, and his temper. Not to mention how easily he rouses anger in others, even my own sister. Even if he is not inherently malicious, his own personality may bring him to trouble."
'Temper?' he contemplated. 'You have not even begun to see my ire. And in all honesty, her sister wasn't a challenge in the least to infuriate.'
"Princess, my friends and I can handle this. Really! If we can reform Discord, this is just going to be the next step up. Discord just didn't understand friendship at all, with Zanza, he's familiar with it - we just need to show him the good things about having friends!"
Zanza scoffed aloud. He froze as hoofsteps approached the door, then quickly picked up a nearby book and opened it.
"Ah, hello. Are you done speaking now?" he said casually,
"What did you hear?" Celestia glared.
"Hm? Nothing. I've just been reading." he lied.
Twilight pulled the book towards her, not letting the cover face the deity. "Oh? Then what's the title?"
"Perhaps I should have added an 'attempting' in there," Zanza raised a brow. "Why? Were you discussing anything I should know of?"
Twilight blanched and quickly shook her head, Celestia less frantically repeating the motion. She turned to the smaller princess.
"Well, Twilight, I'm afraid I have some business to attend to back in Canterlot. I'll leave you in charge here. And Zanza," she turned to him. "Behave."
"I had not even thought to preform otherwise." Zanza promised. 'I will do as I see fit. Not what you desire, mortal.'
Celestia gave Twilight a quick hug with her wing, nodded to him, unimpressed, and vanished in a white flash. Twilight stared at the spot for a moment before shaking her head and turned to him. Zanza looked at the finally risen sun, standing with crossed arms, the Monado slung across his back. His emotions were as unreadable as ever, his face the neutral gaze that had been his predominant expression that she had come to associate with him.
'Their sun had not been in this position before, and yet it held that precise place for the entirety of our meeting. I will have to correct this when-'
"Zanza? Is something wrong?" Twilight asked, concerned.
'Best not mention it. It would likely be normal for them anyway.' "Nothing. I am just... reminiscing."
Twilight did not press. Instead, after a moment, she cleared her throat, and began anew, "Zanza, We're going into town."
He turned to her, and smirked insincerely. "Oh? And why is that?"
"My first experience making friends began with me being dropped into this town with Spike. We had reason to talk to a bunch of different ponies, most of which became friends, and six of them became my best friends." Twilight elaborated, leading Zanza down the steps again. "So, I'm going to try and show you around town while introducing you to the different ponies."
"In a re-imagining of your original experience?"
"That's right!" Twilight opened the large front doors.
"Then you would equate to this 'Spike' person?"
Twilight thought a moment and then violently shook her head. "I don't know you like Spike knows me. So I don't think it'd be fair to compare me to him."
'She doesn't seem to make much of him, meaning he is either a disappointment or had ideals conflicting with her own, in all likelihood. I will have to meet this 'Spike' at some point. He could be a useful tool.' Zanza followed her out into the open.
The ponios were now, for the most part, going about their days as normal. Children walking to school, shopkeepers unlocking or setting up their stores, pedestrians milling about with a seeming absence of purpose. It was a tranquil morning indeed. Emphasis on 'was.'
Upon the first citizen's notice of his presence, everyone within his sight line dropped to the ground, cowering. Anyone who was not bolted.'It is an improvement. A minor one, but still an improvement.'
The Spirit of Bionis turned to her. "Are you now realizing that your arrival was not as nearly obtrusive due to the fact that they are at least the same species?" Twilight gave a nervous chuckle. "I shall take that as a 'yes', then."
The ponio princess cleared her throat. "Everypony, there is no reason to fear. This is Zanza, he's visiting from his own home, and he's here to-"
"Eat us?" one asked fearfully.
"Conquer us?" the one next to her asked.
"Conquer us and then eat us?" another popped up in between.
Zanza laughed. "No, no, I am not here for that." 'Though that was a surprisingly close guess.'
Twilight picked up her announcement again. "Zanza is here to make some friends. I'm going to show him around town, is all. All of you can continue with your days, he won't be any trouble."
'Don't make promises you lack the capability to enforce, mortal.'
Still, Zanza smiled serenely and took a courtesy bow, ignoring the humiliation it presented him. This seemed to calm the population, or at least alleviate their concerns somewhat. Slowly, they rose from the ground and began to resume their daily tasks, more wary and uneasy than before. Twilight breathed a second sigh, this of relief, and led the deity down the street, pointing out shops and landmarks as they came. He hardly paid attention, instead amusing himself by looking directly at different citizens to gauge their reactions. Many noticeably looked away, more still pretended he wasn't there, and a few even ducked behind the nearest solid object. 'It is a wonder this community exists with such cowardice so prevalent.'
Eventually, the duo reached the end of town, a hill overlooking a dark, foreboding, overgrown wood. The deity, having no more skittish targets for his glance about, decided to finally tune into what the princess was droning on about.
"... so I'd stay out if I were you."
"Hm? And why is that?" he inquired, sensing odd ether energies from within the forest. 'Their kind likely just does not understand it's creatures, and fears them because of that. It seems to be a trend among the finite.'
"Weren't you paying attention?" the ponio huffed. "The Everfree forest is full of deadly monsters and dangerous plant life, and only a few ponies can get in and out of there without having a lot of trouble."
"Creatures such as...?"
"Manticores, Timberwolves, the occasional cockatrice. All dangerous, all plentiful, all hungry."
"They hardly sound intimidating."
Twilight snorted, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, I thought so too before I went in. Ever been turned to stone?"
'In a sense,' He thought, bemused. Yet he shook his head.
"That's one of the least horrible things the creatures of the forest can do. Especially if you're unprepared." She quickly gave a skeptical glance up and down the deity, but not so fast he wouldn't notice.
Zanza cocked an eyebrow, no longer amused, motioned to the Monado, then himself. "You doubt my skill?"
"While that's sealed? Yes." Twilight replied casually, unconvinced.
'So arrogant, to think yourself better than a god! Such impudence deserves punishment. and yet I cannot give away my disposition. I would so dearly love to show you how wrong you are. Perhaps...?' He contemplated a moment, formulating a plan to put her in her place. 'Ah, that could work. But first, step one: Flattery.'
"You have said you are a hero of sorts, a prodigious student. You have indicated experience with traversing it, and with dealing with the dangers. Not to mention I can sense your aura in the seal. One of your power could surely hold their own in there." he gestured to the dense forest.
She blushed slightly. "Well, yes. That's true."
'She took the bait.'
"Then why do you not show me the forest's hazards?" he questioned.
She tilted her head, and gave an incredulous look. "You're kidding, right?"
Zanza shook his head. "If I were to see the dangers first hand, I'd know how to avoid them. If I saw you dispose of them, I would know how. If you could not, I could prove my own ability to hold my own. One learn's best from experience," he paused, giving her a moment to consider. He then continued, "I see no reason for you not to do so. You would likely have the time, seeing as you had the time to take me through town. What would a short detour be?"
The princess sighed, giving an annoyed expression. Zanza reigned in his urge to laugh with no small amount of effort. The ponio dragged a hoof over her face, and returned to a noticeably forced grin.
"Alright! Okay. Fine. We'll wander aimlessly around the Everfree Forest. Let's go." she turned a one-eighty towards the forest, and started walking stiffly away from Zanza.
He chuckled softly to himself, starting to walk after her. 'She certainly is good as masking that irritation,' he mocked. More darkly, his thought continued, 'I cannot wait see her broken by my will and blade. Who knows, maybe I will not even have to.'