Marula: 27
Pain.
A burning pain that pulsed with renewed vigor with every heartbeat. She could feel fire on her skin, digging down deeper as it marked her body. She heard a male voice scream, realizing with dulled confusion that it came from her. She looked down and saw herself… or whoever’s eyes she was looking through. She watched as red sparking light poured from their own hand into their body, filling gruesome shapes carved into their skin.
The world flashed again, she saw a town around her, simple homes and buildings in a quaint town. A destroyed square and flashes of light as they arced across it. The world flashed again, and now she felt a new burning pain in her chest, and saw a glowing red hot rock grind against her. Again the male voice cried out in agony, sparks dancing around her vision as they strained against the burning stone. In the moment before it became unbearable, the moment before she could feel her host crack under the pain he shouted, and the heat pulled back, and darkness overtook her.
Slowly she felt herself returning, felt the constant burning agony slowly disappear. Soon an oppressive and constant heat was all she could feel as she awoke from her dream. It hung on to her body like a wet blanket, weighing her down, so intense even this early in the morning. Every time she thought she had gotten used to it over the past year, another heat wave swept through almost breaking her spirit each time. Every activity was immeasurably harder than it should have been with this sweat inducing heat. And as life was, everything was already hard enough.
“Are you awake Marula, friend of mine? If you sleep much longer your teacher will whine.”
The drenched form on the bed groaned and did its best to prop itself up, the wood and woven fiber bed creaking softly. The woman hunched over at the edge with a tired and grumpy look on her face. Her bare skin was darkly tanned, contrasting heavily with the pale scars that covered her body. They crossed her skin, over her stomach, legs and arms. The most prominent ones marked the end of her left arm, just above her elbow, and her left leg, which ended half a foot below her knee. Her hair was short and light blonde, just long enough to keep her scalp from burning under the sun. Despite her scars and her haphazardly cut hair she was still beautiful, her eyes blue and piercing, a smart mind hidden behind them. She was muscular, having spent almost the entire last year training with her teacher.
“Elder Rorzo said I was done with training, so there isn’t really a reason to wake up until your father needs me. Not that he needs me today anyway.”
“That is indeed true, but maintaining your habits is good for you.”
The girl sighed and nodded, leaning over to grab a nearby wooden contraption. “Yeah I guess. I should start saying my goodbyes anyway.”
The zebra mare nodded, turning around to busy herself. She was packing up her stuff, various bits and baubles, almost all of them concerning alchemy and potion making.
“With your struggle to arise, I assume your dreams still reprise?”
“Yeah, just a replay every night the past month.” She responded, stretching her arm and leg. “Close my eyes, dream of that dumb town, wake up, repeat.”
“I am sorry my potions do not soothe your dreams.” The mare apologized. “But Ponyville is much more than it seems.”
“Sorry Zecora, I’m sure it’s great and your pony friends are great too. But I can’t forgive such a terrible pun.”
“It’s true the name is terrible.” The zebra said as she nodded, her smile almost audible. “But I assure you the citizens make it bearable.”
The girl shook her head, a small smile on her face as she raised her crippled leg, sliding the cloth and wooden peg that served as her prosthetic. She tied a myriad of straps and latches, securing the prosthetic tightly. Once she was sure it was secure, she rocked back and then forward, using the momentum to stand with practiced ease. She still winced however, and reached for a long wooden staff that she used for extra support. She used the staff expertly, stepping forward with her right foot, using both the wooden peg and the staff to walk.
“And you are sure that this Twilight pony can help?” She asked with noticeable anxiety after a long pause. “These dreams are driving me crazy.”
“She is a kindhearted mare and will help any thinking creature.” Zecora answered. “But if you are unsure there is always her teacher.”
“Not a chance, I’m not stepping foot in Canterlot until I know that they aren’t gonna just freak out and throw me in jail.”
“They would never do something so cruel hearted. Unless of course for something you started.”
“So you keep telling me. But you also told me about how they treated you when you first started living in Ponyville.”
“As much as their behavior was unkind, I was not within my best mind. I was not looking for friends to make, though I should have been for my own sake. Instead I was happy they avoided me, their fear giving me a perverse sense of glee.”
“Will you ever tell me why you left for so long?” Marula asked her friend and roommate. “Your father just says that it is your secret to tell.”
“It is a story for another day, perhaps when we are well on our way. For now I must finish packing, and it is long past time for you to get cracking.”
“Yeah I know.” Marula said with frown. “I think I hate goodbyes.”
“Though your goodbyes will bring much pain, we cannot miss tomorrows train.”
The girl cracked her neck, stretching languidly, keeping her balance easily. She turned to watch Zecora pack, surprised at how much stuff she had brought with her in the first place.
“Do we have to leave tonight? Can’t we just get up early?”
“It will take many hours to travel there, and the trains coming this far south is very rare.”
The girl nodded again, glumly accepting the schedule they needed to keep.
“I’m going to say goodbye to Elder Rorzo and your father, maybe help him with some last minute things.”
“I will join you at my father’s when I’ve finished my task, if he remembers enough to ask.”
The girl nodded over her shoulder, heading to the door. As soon as she pushed it open heat rushed in, the oppressive sun already high enough to beam down on the entire village. She hung her head for a moment, before stepping out further. Zecora, who had turned to watch the human leave, shook her head and chuckled. The human turned her head back and stuck out her tongue before stepping forward and shutting the door.
Eventually, after a long moment, Marula’s eyes adjusted to the bright sun as she slowly began to make her way through the village. She knew it well by now, having plenty of time to explore it the past year. The small huts, gardens, dirt paths and the Zebras that walked them were all familiar. She waved to the ones she knew well, and nodded respectfully to those she was indebted to, of which there where many.
When she had first arrived in this strange but somehow familiar world she had been broken to an almost unimaginable degree. Her lost limbs, while the most obvious injury hadn’t even been the most serious. The village had all pitched in together to help her, giving freely to support the broken human.
She had apparently fallen from the sky, landing in one of the few trees that populated the clearing that the small zebra village sat in. She remembers waking in incredible pain, begging and pleading for it to stop. Beyond that she remembered nothing from her first month of Zebrika.
Not that she remember much from before she arrived here either. Bits and pieces of her past life floated through her head. Friends, places, sometimes even glimpses of an average day. But in the end it was always just that, glimpses. She couldn’t even remember her own name, hence taking the name of the tree that had saved her, a Marula tree.
Marula steadily made her way to the edge of town, eventually reaching a small hut connected to a large roofed area. The roofed area was marked with sparring dummies and racks of poles. A few zebras practiced there hoof to hoof combat as an elderly and grizzled zebra watched.
“Good morning Elder Rorzo.” Marula greeted with a smile.
“Who is that?” He asked, without turning around. “It sounds like my student Marula, but she would never come visit me so late.”
“I apologize Elder Rorzo, my dreams have been making sleep difficult.”
The wise zebra nodded, his ears flicking as he talked.
“You are leaving tonight?” He asked simply, blunt as always.
“Yes.” Marula responded, an awkward pause floating around. “Thank you for all you’ve done for me Elder. I know I wasn’t the easiest student.”
“You did your best, and I did as well.” He responded, his ears flicking to listen to Marula. “Together you learned just fine.”
Marula nodded, watching the zebras as they practiced, some fighting each other, some practicing on the handful of wooden dummies. She had learned a lot here in the training yard. Before Elder Rorzo had made it his job to help her, she was barely able to walk a few feet before losing her balance, or collapsing from pain.
“I owe you a lot Elder. I…”
“It is my job to train those with the fire of survival in their hearts.” The elder zebra said when Marula’s words failed her. “You never gave me a reason to doubt your fire, so what else would I do but train you?”
Marula smiled and nodded, knowing that the grizzled old zebra was complementing her in his own way.
“Thank you for treating me like every other zebra Elder Rorzo.”
“As before, you gave me no reason not to. However…”
With a pained groan, the old zebra stood up on his hooves, slowly making his way to his shack. Marula’s first instinct was to help the time worn stallion, but she bit her lip. In her current condition she would only make things harder. Eventually the stallion returned, a long staff balanced on his back. He pulled it off his back and swung it at Marula with no hesitation. Marula easily brought her own staff to block it. The long sticks of wood collided with a resounding crack, Marula’s letting off quiet creaking noise, vibrating painfully in her hands.
“I think it’s high time I set you apart. You’ve earned it.”
Elder Rorzo pulled back from his strike, the dark grey shaft of wood unharmed, while Marula’s had a sizable dent. He slid the staff to her, holding it out for her to take.
“For… Me?”
She asked, taking the end of the staff and passing her old one back to her teacher. The new staff was heavy, and clearly new as it still had yet to absorb the last traces of treating oils.
“Yes. A shared parting gift from me and Azerith. I carved it from the heart of a young Leadwood tree myself. It is heavy, but you’ll never have to worry about it breaking by your own hooves. I’ll let the potion master explain his own additions, I don’t pretend to understand why he was so proud of them.”
“T-thank you Elder Rorzo.” Marula stumbled out. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
“Then say nothing.” He responded, holding out his hoof.
Marula ignored his outstretched and stepped closer, wrapping her arm around the Zebras head. She held him tightly, the zebras head against her chest. After a long moment she released him, a hand lingering on his back.
“When I return I will bring you a gift as well.”
“In the meantime I think I’ll keep this.” The zebras said, holding Marula’s old staff. “Something to remind me of my most interesting student.”
The grizzled old stallion nodded, a light smile playing on his lips. He patted her arm, before turning back to the sparring zebras. Marula remained by herself for a while, watching the training stallions and the elder as he chastised them for pulling their blows. Eventually she turned away, heading off with a sad smile.
She walked slowly away from her teacher’s home, enjoying the heft of her new cane. It was the perfect height for her, slightly longer than any cane or staff that the zebras would ever use, for fighting or support.
Eventually she reached her destination, the smell of cooking ingredients, boiling potions and exotic medicines heavy in the air as she reached the door. She knocked before pushing the door open, stepping inside the home.
“Azerith, are you home?” She called out.
“In the back!”
Marula nodded and followed the familiar voice around back, her staff and prosthetic leg made dull thumping noises as they hit the wooden floor. She opened another door and stepped inside a small brewing workshop. Two small cauldrons sat boiling against the far wall, various ingredients and plants hanging from the ceiling. A middle aged zebra leaned over a counter, slowly cutting a red flower.
“Good morning Azerith, been busy?”
“Very much so. I finally got my hand on some devils thorn.” He explained, gently lifting the pile of chopped flowers and sliding them into one of the cauldrons. “Just putting the finishing touches on Zecora’s going away gifts.”
Marula nodded, watching the zebra mix the ingredients into the cauldron, watching its contents turn a muted red.
“Hmmm… good color and at the right temperature… good .” Azerith said with a nod, touching the side of the cauldron gently with his hoof to test the temperature. “Now what can I do for you?”
“I came to see if you needed any help today… and to say goodbye.”
The old zebra nodded, waving the girl over. She pulled over a stool, her stool considering that no zebra could sit on something so high, and leaned her new staff against the corner of the counter. Azerith placed a pile of yellow flowers in front of her, and slid her a knife.
“Not to fine, the heat will dissolve it”
Marula nodded at his instructions, positioning the flowers into a tight group with her hand, picking up the knife and cutting them quickly. Meanwhile Azerith examined a small potted plant on the far end of the workshop, picking a few leaves off.
“I see you visited Elder Rorzo already.” Azerith asked, pointing to her new staff as he took the pile of chopped flowers, putting the leaf in its place. “Nice and fine with this one.”
“Yeah. He said that this was a shared gift?” She replied without looking up, dicing with practiced slicing. “He said you were awfully proud of your work.”
“Of course I am, it was good work!” The zebra stallion replied with a smile. “It took a few days to figure out how to treat the wood so that nothing reacted with each other.”
“What did you treat it with?”
“Quite a few things!” He replied with a happy smile. “It should be fireproof from anything short of dragon fire and it will never rot or dry out. But that’s not what was really difficult.”
Azerith walked around Marula, picking up the staff and sliding it down towards the beveled end. He then held the end near the fire that sat under the cauldrons. Immediately the end caught fire, surprisingly bright in the already well-lit room.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Marula shouted, standing up and walking along towards Azerith, leaning heavily on the counter. “You said it was fire proof, why is it burning?”
“It isn’t!” Azerith replied with a wide grin. “The oil absorbed into the bottom is!”
The zebra stallion dunked the end in a nearby bucket of water, putting the fire out with a quiet hiss. He passed Marula the staff, letting her examine the end.
“I managed to treat the end so that it would absorb a special kind of bright burning oil. It won’t harm the wood itself, only burning the oil. It can burn for almost a half hour before running out, then all you need to do is let it absorb the oil over night, and it’s ready to go again!”
“That’s… pretty incredible” Marula admitted, looking close at the beveled bottom of the staff. “What happens if I run out of oil?”
“It’s a simple recipe, Zecora can make it easily while you’re away.” He explained, heading back to the cauldrons. “It’s like an emergency torch!”
“It is very impressive, thank you Azerith.”
A long pause stretched over the two, Marula bus chopping more ingredients while Azerith prepped them. Eventually Marula turned to look at the potions master.
“Thank you Azerith. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me over the past year.” She said, looking down at her feet. “I wish I could repay you…”
“I don’t want to hear anything about that.” Azerith said, waving off her words. “All the help I’ve given you freely given.”
“I know, I know. I just wish there was some way I could repay, reward everyone who has helped me!” She explained, shaking her head. “I feel so wrong not giving anything back.”
“You most certainly have! You’ve helped me run this shop for many months, which has more than payed for any help I’ve given you.”
“But what about Elder Rorzo and the rest of the village? And Zecora? She may have only been here a few weeks but I’ve been living in her home since I got here.”
“Elder Rorzo considers it his mission to pass on his knowledge. I’m willing to bet he feels indebted to you. And as for Zecora, she was just glad that her home wasn’t just sitting empty.”
Marula shook her head slowly, continuing to follow Azerith’s instructions in silence. He watched her with a diligent eye, silently checking to make sure she was doing everything right. It wasn’t that she was unskilled at the tasks she was given, only that so far she had shown no talent in potion making, only learning the absolute barest of basics over the past nine months she had been helping the potions master. She rolled his eyes as he watched her closely, knowing that he was doing his best to do so undetected. She debated whether to call him out like she usually did, but with a smile she just shook her head, getting back to work.
The moon was high over Ponyville, watching over the slowly healing town. It slowly traveled across the sky, full and bright as it cast gentle shadows on the streets and houses. The town was almost fully repaired from the conflict with Nightmare, which happened just over a month ago. The only thing that was still noticeably broken was the statue that sat upon the fountain. It was still being carved, and would arrive in the coming weeks.
Luna stood over Andrew’s hospital bed, watching the human take slow, peaceful breaths. Since the battle with Nightmare Andrew’s body had been healing nicely. The magic burns on his stomach and chest had begun forming scar tissue, aided by more of Zecora’s healing potions. They worked regardless of the magical nature of the burns, though seemingly at a slightly reduced pace. His other injuries were healing naturally, the doctors opting to not use magic to heal the various fractures and breaks. His body was still wrapped in bandages, his chest completely covered. Both of his arms had been covered as well, splints still attached. The doctors at Ponyville had gotten very stern talking too when Twilight discovered that both of his arms had hairline fractures running along them, previously missed by the doctors. Luna shook her head, glad she hadn’t been the one to discover them. A stern talking to wouldn’t have been the first thing on her mind.
A nurse opened the door, and nearly dropped her clipboard in surprise when she spotted Luna on the other side of the bed.
“Princess Luna! I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were here.” She said nervously. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Has there been any change?” She asked simply, looking at the light grey pony.
The nurse walked to the end of Andrew’s bed, picking up the folder attached to it. She read through it before shaking her head.
“I’m sorry Princess Luna, there hasn’t been any change since last night.”
Luna nodded, returning her look to the bedridden human. She shuffled her wings, the right one feeling the stiffness of both healing muscle and new feathers. She shook her head, looking back to the nurse with a light smile.
“Thank you Nurse, I’ll just be a moment.”
The grey mare nodded and walked out the door, closing it gently behind her. Alone once again Luna watched her student breath slowly. She found herself wondering how she hadn’t noticed his spark when they had first met. She shook her head, trying her best not to dwell on it. There was no reason for her to scan him looking for that, so of course she didn’t find it. And if she had, what would she have done differently? She shook her head again, this time successfully driving the what if’s from her mind. She sighed, resisting the urge to scan Andrew herself, knowing that her magic wasn’t even close to fully healed. Instead she used her hooves to make sure that he was comfortable, adjusting his pillow and blanket before pulling back.
“Please wake up soon Andrew.” She said quietly. “Life has gotten awfully boring again, and your friends miss you. I miss you.”
Silently she leaned over, laying a gentle kiss on his forehead before pulling away. Her eyes watered gently, but she blinked away the threatening tears. Instead she turned and exited the room, closing the door slowly, watching her student for a moment more, before the door clicked shut.
The room was motionless, save for the blinking instruments and the gently swaying trees outside. For a long moment this stillness was perfect, until subtly, almost invisibly, Andrew’s eyes fluttered.
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I completely forgot what this story was about......sry
Wait... crippled human.... Holy throne, it can't be!!!
I too forgot most of the contents of this story but got a moderate refresher rereading the last chapter. ... I still would have preferred his sister never show up but whatever.
After all the negative reactions from the last few chapters I was afraid that you had left this story too rot. I'm glad my cynicism was wrong. I'm looking fun too more simple fun from the story.
7518928
missing leg and arm*
It's been quite awhile since i read this fic so i had almost completly forgotten what it's all about, i was a bit confused about the female human in the beginning, i could not remember anything about her in the previous chapters.
Here's hoping Marula, who is definitely not Alice, will fix Andrew's mistakes
7519106 I'm almost certain she is a brand new character who is being introduced into the story. She seems to have arrived on this planet in much the same way that Andrew did in the beggining.
Edit: Having re-read the last chapter it implies that it's Alice who managed to follow Andrew to Equestria, somehow surviving the method of entry.
It's kind of depressing that this story has to switch to an entirely new main character because you just aren't willing to admit that you screwed up with the last few chapters. It was an OK chapter and "Marula" seems interesting to read about, but I just don't like it as much anymore as I used to. I enjoyed reading about Andrew.
Personally, I would've tried to use Suaheli words for the zebra names, it just seems more thematically fitting, especially since "Zecora" already kind of is. "Azerith" in particular just sounds kind of strange on a zebra from some tribal community.
7519441
I actually tried to do that, spent a while toying with google translate and a few online dictionary of various native African languages. The problem is that Swahili, along with the other languages i looked at translate terribly to the English alphabet and English language in general. A lot of words don't translate at all and those that do tend to not fit a name. While it was a cool concept I just didn't think it flowed, especially considering that, both Zecora and Marula are leaving Zebrika shortly . I do try hard to connect the two worlds as much as possible. For example all of the runes that have been mentioned so far are Elder Futhark, and follow the generally agreed upon definitions. The Marula tree is a real tree, as is a Leadwood tree. I like sneaking hints as to whats going on in names and such, a few of them have yet to be found!
As for Marula being a replacement, that is just not true. Andrew is not gone, and I still consider him to be the main character. While I am sad that quite a few people dislike where the story went the past few chapters, I don't think I have screwed up at all. This path was always intended, though I will admit the pacing could have used some work. But, as can be seen in the list of tags, this story was never intended to be a slice of life, and was always intended to be an adventure.
7519510
I didn't really mean that it would have to be good Suaheli, just enough to make the sound of the names feel consistent. "Zecora" is an outmoded word that means "zebra," after all. It is, to the best of my knowledge, natively written in the Latin alphabet, so I think it wouldn't be that difficult. There's a few that I think would've made sense enough. Elder Mbembe, which means "horns" and could've been a joking reference to how usually, it seems being pointy is a requirement to being a leader of anything in this show. Or something simpler like Elder Babaye, which just means "father" and is really self-explanatory enough. It's just a small stylistic thing, though, and since the story will be leaving that area now, as you said, it won't be coming up much anymore anyway.
As to the other... well, I kind of laid out already why I didn't like the direction the story had taken there in the older comments. That's kind of argued out, though, so I think it's best to just leave it at that and keep going forward. I think you can see where that impression would come from, though - first people criticize the recent twist in the story a lot, then the story goes under for months and then it comes back with a sudden focus on an entirely new character. It looks a whole lot like you're trying to give it a new beginning... which, given that you're sticking to your guns there come hell or high water, isn't something I necessarily would disapprove of.
a second human can it be?
tune in next week same bat time same bat channel.
Forget the haters whinging about it not being a slice of life story, there aren't enough good action adventure stories.
Keep up the good work.
well worth the wait
stayclassy
IT'S ALIVE!
RvB reference?
So, there's another human here. I'll bet it's Andrew's sister. I'll also bet she's his other pair. She was probably brought to Equestria first. In the last chapter, Celestia mentioned somepony who could sent others through time: perhaps he sent Marula to the future the moment she arrived: that would explain her disappearing from the human world first and seeming to arrive in Equestria second. The question is... why? Could this have been the will of the All-Mother?
7528342
Erm, I think the chapter made it pretty clear that Marula/Alice isn't in Equestria. Like, at all. And in a pretty remote area, at that. All that being the case, it isn't all too hard to explain how she could have arrived first.
I really like this story so far. I can not wait till another chapter comes out.
7604185 I still don't get how it's a pun
It's been a long time since a new chapter has come out.
7632773
Soon.... very soon ;)
7655976 reactiongifs.com/r/84.gif
I'm quite grateful regardless.
That's one hell of an understatement.
True loves kiss
7521191
BANG, BANG BANG, BANG. not anymore bucko
8660129
Wouldnt be so sure of that....