Awakening

by Little_Draco

Change

Awakening: Change

So many ponies face the fear of change that they will do anything that is within their power to stop it. They will remain stuck in the past, either physically or mentally, never knowing what their future holds.

It was not the part of Zecora passing out that scarred Layla and Twilight; it was rather she was able to pass out from all that had transpired that scared them both. Zecora was never a pony/zebra to be caught off by surprised and pass out.

However, the strange revelation that the zebra passing out had Twilight to wonder if it was truly believable.

Layla was busy right now making some hot tea over the large pot while Twilight used a wet towel and draped it over the zebra’s forehead. The zebra was well out, but hopefully, whatever Layla was cooking, it would help her mother out.

During this time, Twilight was thinking bout her Zebra friend. As she looked down upon her, she could not help but wonder… what she must have been through since her premature death. The horrors she faced with Discord, the fears of endless chaos and the scariness of having a foal on the way. Not something that anypony could really understand, especially Twilight.

Her mind ceased as the zebra below her shifted in her sleep. Standing back, Twilight watched as Zecora slowly began gaining conscious and opened her blue eyes.

She blinked once before she turned her head towards Twilight. It was an awkward kind of stare, like if someone was not only looking at you but at your soul. It did not look anything harsh or dirty but it did let Twilight know that Zecora was checking to see if it was really her.

They remained quiet for a bit. It was momentarily interrupted by Layla’s serving on a teacup. The filly had poured a hot cup of tea from the pot and had brought over (magically).Twilight, though not looking at Layla directly could tell that she was using magic.

Another thing that had Twilight worked her brain was that she knew that Layla was using magic. It’s like she could sense it. Now, it was of course that any unicorn can aww other unicorn’s magic. But unicorns can’t pick up on other types of magic. Yeah, they could see and feel them but they could not sense what is behind it or who is behind it.

Discord was an example. Discord magic was difficult to replicate and very hard to destroy or be ridden of it. The Princesses had their own magic, which was almost like unicorn magic but ten times the power. However, this is something that somewhat unraveled her. A zebra, with a magical sense of moving objects. Then again, her mother is an enchantress and her father is a unicorn.

Layla brought over the tea and set it down by a table next to the bed. How the table was there, Twilight never knew.

“How are you feeling mother?” asked the filly zebra.

Slowly, Zecora sat up on the bed and took tea with her hooves. Taking a small sip, she sighed pleasantly and set it back on the table.

“I feel better now my dear, with help of the tea, my head is now clear.”

Ah, this is one of the things that she loved about her dear zebra friend. The wonderful but somewhat pleasantly rhyme of the zebra. It still somewhat confused her why her daughter didn’t rhyme.

“Now as for you,” said the rhyming Zebra, slowly sitting up on her rump. “It doesn’t seem true. Twilight Sparkle you say, I would dare say nay…” She slowly stood up and leaned in, absorbing the new yet same old look of Twilight.

Twilight in turn let her, for she knew the mare was trying to check for sure it was her. For all she knew, she could probably Twilight was a Changeling. But then again, a changeling wouldn’t know the history of the zebra’s arrival. 13 years can really change a pony, especially if your dead.

Zecora looked over Twilight, studying every little feature, from the end of her tail length to the large tip of the horn. Her sparkling violent eyes still matched perfectly with her coat. Her otherwise long mane and tail were the only true things that set her apart then her younger appearance.

Then her eyes went back to hers. She looked deep within, seeking her soul almost. Zecora almost expected to see anger, or fear of being discovered, but no. The only thing she saw in Twilight was the innocence of lost pony. A pony lost in time without a home to return to or a friend in this world.

Zecora sighed and gave her the warmest smile.

“Well… without a doubt, my old friend, you’re not a changeling about. You truly are… my older dear Twilight, and my, my what a sight!” She almost jumped at her, wrapping her arms around the mare and giving her the biggest hug Twilight had felt for… 13 years she assumed.

Twilight didn’t resist the hug nor did she try to hold back her own hug. She hugged in the same type of grip she is receiving herself. Twilight actually felt her own tears come into place.

After they all had, truly settled down, they began their mutual pleasantries with the recent events of Twilight’s arrival. Truth was, not even Twilight knew how she survived and came to be here.

Zecora was baffled herself. It was not known through any history of Equestria for a unicorn or any other pony to hurl themselves from a cliff and survive, and not know how they lived through it for 13 years. It truly was a stump.

The morning was quickly turning to late afternoon. The amount of hours spent to tending to Zecora and settling down, little Layla began taking a brief nap on her bed while the two mares discussed the situation at the table.

Zecora had pulled out a book on unicorn biology as well as “History of Great Achievements by Magic” by Starswirl the Bearded. Both mares began reading over the books, from front to back, trying to find some way of explaining Twilight’s…. situation. Surviving falls, no memory of death and current situation.

It took almost an hour of reading from both ponies before Zecora had finally found a solution with an explanatory ‘Ah! At last! A look into the past!’

Twilight dropped her book and leaned in close to the zebra. Zecora somewhat continued to scan the page before laying the book down and twisted it around to face Twilight. Twilight quickly levitated the book, however, as soon as she did, the book began to slowly crush in on itself.

Twilight quickly gasped and tried to lower her hold on the book but that did not seem to work. Zecora watched as it happened, somewhat surprised that she was doing that to a book. But then again, she knew why.

Twilight dropped the book entirely and somewhat stared down at it. She sighed.

“Fear not my dear friend,” spoke the zebra. “For this is not a dark trend.” Twilight nodded and looked down at the book before her. She read the passage, letting her mind scan every word there on that page.

As she read, her eyes began to grow wide. The very words wrote by Starswirl had always been enjoyable and joyous for Twilight. Finding a new ‘old’ book to read was the greatest of pleasures for her but but this book… was making her sweat.

Powerful ponies, almost as powerful as the princesses, will have the ability to avoid death if their magic is strong enough to save them. The pony with the magic ability to do it will first die, letting the magic reside within their ‘souls’. Once the pony has passed, the magic will slowly come out and repair the body.

This study is currently known as the ‘Phoenix Theory.’ Much like the phoenix, the pony will be somewhat be reborn. Depending on much magic is stored, the pony can either be ‘reborn’ as a new pony or be alive as the same pony they were before. However, no current ponies have been seen from with that ability except the Princesses, who do not deny this theory.

On rather extremely rare occasions, a pony with enough power ca not only be repaired but the pony will grow more powerful as their magic flows through them for long periods. This can happen within a month or years. The longer the pony stays under the power, the longer the power will grow.

Since the magic will have nowhere to go or has little to no way of releasing, the magic will most likely be stored in the pony’s soul. Unicorns often use their magic or leak magic everyone in a while so their bodies do not become so full of magic. This case however, is different. Once that pony awakes, they will be five to almost ten times as powerful as they were before.

Though cautious must be taken, that pony will have so much uncontrolled magic, much like a newborn unicorn, that the simplest of their spells can be resulted with devastating consequences.

Many magic abilities will also be changed from the volume of mass one can levitate to teleporting miles and miles away. Ponies that have been known to do this are the ones that have been asleep for more than a year or so. Actual tests have not been made.

It goes on to say that Starswirl was one of the few ponies to have accomplished this in a late part of his period of life. He fell ill, only to be saved by his magic. But it didn’t fully restore him, just allowed him to live a full… long life. Apparently, he lived thirty years more than an average unicorn, which is 90 to almost 110 years.

Twilight knew that it was possible to live past normal lives. Her great, great, grandfather, Dusk Sparkle lived to be 112. He was not a powerful unicorn but he was great with magic.

Pushing the book away, Twilight sighed.

“Well,” she began. “At least I know how I got here, but that doesn’t answer why I am here.” She stood up (like from chair to floor) and walked past the table to outside. Zecora looked over the table to see her daughter still asleep; she then followed Twilight outside.

Outside, Twilight looked at the forest before her. It looked pretty much the same in the Everfree though that was probably the biggest understatement.

“Why?” she said aloud. She knew Zecora was right behind her. “Why am I here?”

Zecora appeared behind her.

“I am but a zebra my friend, through little knowledge I have, i can lend. Time has passed and it has been down, with Equestria growing harrshly, there are little ponies without a frown. Your journey should begin here, where you may find out without fear, that your death may have been for good or bad, that your arrival does makes me glad.”

Twilight heard every word and sighed. It felt like if she landed in a sort of Tartarus-ish future. Looking up at the sky, she saw how gloomy it was. It first confused her but then she remembered that she was in the Everfree Forest. The forest was its own chaos, its own private Tartarus. Something that has been like that for centuries.

“You should not cause frets for they may lead to many great regrets.” The zebra laid a hoof over her. “Now, if you truly are powerful, then nothing should seem so dull. You magic grows, your powers awaken, and it should be slowly taken.”

Twilight nodded. Right, so her magic had increased exponentially by that to almost the Princesses. Her death may or may not have been a good or bad thing but she knew that it was the past. She could not do anything to fix it and… She paused.

She could do something about it! She could travel back in time and stop herself from jumping off. She could just find another way of dealing with the situation. Her face lit up with excitement and her body jumped with glee.

She turned around to face Zecora with the happiness news but… it immediately dropped. The zebra was shaking her head, almost like if she knew Twilight’s intentions.

Twilight, though a little confused, tried to speak.

“I can try, I can…”

Zecora paused her by placing her hoof on her mouth, silencing her.

With deep, regretful eyes, Zecora gazed onto Twilight’s own eyes.

“I am sorry… my friend, but your journey to the past, will be your end. If you go and try to correct this mistake, your own doom will you partake. Let your past go, and hope for the best in this new flow.”

“But how can I?” she asked loudly. She turned to her, tears beginning to reapear. “How can I let it all go? I left behind my friends, family and I lost so much more. Are any of the ponies I loved before even still alive?” The question hung in the air.

Zecora remained quiet and Twilight knew that silence all too well. Something did happen to her family and friends and to be quite honest, she wasn’t really surprised.

With a voice that was almost a whisper but dripped with anxiety and fear, Twilight spoke.

“Zecora… who’s gone?”

Zecora sighed.

“Many of your friends have… not met their ends. Many have just gone through changes, many through dark and scary ranges. I have seen the five of them gone divided, many into a places not… lighted.”

At this Twilight had calmed down, but was saddened to hear it all. Her friends haven’t been well, nopony has been.

“If you wish to know of your family’s fate, I cannot provide those answers up to date. To that, the princess we must go, for it is the answers she may now.”

Twilight nodded her head in defeat, leaving it facing down.

“At least there alive…” she looked up to her zebra friend. “Right?”

Zecora nodded and spoke no more. Layla, over-hearing the commotion, had awoken to see Twilight and her mother outside. With a small yawn, she spoke to her mother.

“What is happening mother?”

Zecora brushed her head alongside hers.

“Nothing you need to worry about my dear, nothing at all for you to fear. Twilight and I have been speaking, and I was helping provide some of the answers she was seeking.”

Twilight in her turn, nodded and approached the both of them.

“Yes we have and now that I know what I must do, I have to go to Canterlot. Let us hope the princess can help me out and tell me what has been happening since my… absence.”

Zecora nodded and quickly walked inside with Layla. They both quickly got a few things before walking out.

Both of them were caring pouches on their sides. Zecora stopped before approaching Twilight. She brought out a greenish powder and turned to her home. With a simple blow, the mist engulfed the cave in a greenish mist before it cleared and the cave almost disappeared, leaving behind a simple looking mountain side.

Twilight was impressed, like finding a new discovery impressed, which, this was not much of a new discovery but it was pretty awesome. Oh, how Rainbow Dash would flip if she saw this, but then again, Zecora was friends with her or she hoped she still was even after thirteen years.

Zecora smiled with a content smile then turned to Twilight.

“At last, we are ready, to head to Canterlot, nice and steady.”

As the two Zebras began walking towards the Everfree, Twilight spoke.

“Zecora, wait...”

“Hmm?” The zebras turned to Twilight.

Twilight knew that it took almost an hour to get from the Everfree to Ponyville, and from Ponyville to Canterlot was a good three-hour train ride. Therefore, by the time they get there, it would be nightfall and she wished to speak to the princess as soon as possible.

“Maybe, we shouldn’t go walking. I think… that I can teleport us there.”

Both zebras’ blinked. They slowly walked back towards Twilight, who suddenly seemed nervous of the thought.

“Are you sure you can make that?” asked Layla. She was not much of a magic user but she also was not naïve of how incredibly far that is. It takes massive amount of magic to teleport that far and too much or to little, you either end up in millions of pieces or just dead. None were the best options.

Twilight only nodded.

“If I am as powerful as I am claimed to be, then this should help us. Besides… I think that after thirteen years, my magic is aching for release.”

The two of them nodded before coming closer. Twilight, content with it, slowly concentrated and closed her eyes. If she was right, they’ll will be right outside of Canterlot, if she was wrong then… this time wouldn’t have to worry about dying again. A magical, purple sphere enveloped around the three and with a powerful purple flash, they were gone.

Twilight only blinked, her surroundings slowly coming back to her. She looked at her companions, who seemed woozy by the whole experience. Twilight blinked again, slowly examining her surroundings. Her back was to the sunset where not almost fifty, sixty miles away was the Everfree. In front of her, she stood in front of the Canterlot castle gates.

She brought her hoof up to her eyes, examining that she was not dead or a ghost. She was standing on grass, the zebras were still trying to get used to their environment and that a few guards, surprised by their sudden arrival, quickly made ways to them.

Oh, yeah, she just pulled off the biggest feat known to pony kind without any accidents, no deaths and she wasn’t even slightly affect by that amount of magic used.

With the approaching guards and suddenly a few Canterlot ponies passing by, there seemed to be a massive amount of shock and awe. Twilight at first thought it was Zecora and them but when she realized who she was.

A group quickly formed around them, only to have the guards make way. One of the guards, a Night Guard who was a unicorn, quickly cleared way. When he saw the zebras, he quickly embraced the two.

“Father!” cheered little Layla. The unicorn smiled and he hugged his daughter and his mate. Zecora, who Twilight has never seen happier before hugged and kissed the unicorn. Everypony else did not seem to care for them but they did care for Twilight, who was becoming nervous.

When the hugs ended, the Unicorn guard looked from them to Twilight.

“Who is that?” he asked loudly.

Zecora turned from her mate and approached Twilight. To everypony, she turned.

“This here, everypony, is the truth and not a phony. This is Twilight Sparkle.”

The words sooner left her and everypony began speaking amongst themselves or out loud. Some were claiming she was a ‘fake’ a ‘changeling’ or even saying that she was just another unicorn. Soon, more ponies that were either passing by came to join them.

It got to the point where the Night guard quickly pulled his family out and ordered the other guards to push through the ponies to get Twilight out of there. She was frightened as more ponies kept pushing closer, asking questions and so on.

Twilight realized that it this point, she was trapped. She could teleport but then were would she go? And she didn’t want to end up anywhere else without any knowledge of it was still there or something was in the way.

It all stopped when a single, loud hoof step echoed beyond any of the ponies’ voices. Everypony turned and almost dropped themselves to the floor when they saw who it was.

Twilight looked down at everypony but slowly her eyes met with the pony they were bowing to. She knew that no matter what, she’ll never ever be used to how beautiful this pony was. In her own regal way, she was just as beautiful as her own night sky. She bowed in respect, even when the crowd around her slowly dispersed when the Princess approached.

Slowly, lifting her head, Twilight looked at Princess Luna. The night goddess herself looked directly at Twilight, as now they were now the same height.

Without even a flinch or even a stare, Luna spoke to Twilight like if they were live time friends.

“Hello, Twilight Sparkle. I am glad that you have arrived.”

Twilight stared at her in her own awe. She even tried to speak but Luna raised a hoof and gave her a small, smile.

“It’s alright, Twilight, I know who you are and I know it is really you. I will answer your questions later, but for now, let us bring you inside. I wish to… welcome you back home.”

Doing the best not to shed tears, she wrapped her arms around the princess, many to the disbelieve of the surrounding ponies, and hugged her.Though the bond had been shared many years prior, it was still as strong as the day they first met.

“It’s good to be home, Princess.”

---------------------------------------------------------

Somewhere outside of Equestria Borders…

A changeling came flying through dark tunnels, almost pitch black. It’s eyes were able to see in the dark but that didn’t still make it any better. It flew down in the corridors and in till it entered the deepest part of the chamber.

There, the Changeling approached the throne. Dropping to the floor, it almost crawled to the throne, where a single entity had been silently sitting.

With a weak and terrified voice, it spoke.

“Um… excuse me, master?”

Bright green eyes with fire red pupils flashed open and looked down at the terrified changeling. The eyes grew dark and with a dark, almost booming voice, it spoke.

“What do you want peasant?” it asked, as smoke emitted from his voice.

With a terrified gulp and slow, crawl it approached the high throne.

“I discovered…a… a situation t-that might be troubling…”

The entity remained quiet and this, the changeling gulped once more, taking it to continue.

“One of the scouts have reported that a powerful unicorn has…a-a-appeared at Canterlot. And they claim to be it’s…” He paused, almost swollen with fear. If he could sweat, he would be creating a puddle under him.

The entity suddenly growled. With a magical grip from it’s horn, he lifted the changeling and brought him to his eyes. The changeling yelped in fear and was brought before him. It shook violently and curled itself tighter to itself, fear that it was going to perish.

“WHAT IS IT?!” he boomed. “WHO IS THIS POWERFUL UNICORN!?”

The changeling, still shaking spoke, “T-Twli-light S-S-Sparkle!”

The entity growled deeper and dropped the changeling onto the floor. The eyes grew wide with anger.

“The Element of Magic lives!” The entity then looked down at the changeling. “Are you sure of this or have your sources been misinformed?” His voice dripped with venom and his eyes burned with anger.

The changeling quickly shook it’s head.

“N-N-NO! O-One of the scouts-c-confirmed it!”

The entity snorted before slowly rising.

“If this is true… then it seems that I am forced… to bring up my plans. I have waited to long for the Princesses to lose much of their magic after their war with that foal of a monster, Discord and… each other. It is time I have brought myself out of the dark once more to attack Equestria.”

The entity smiled. “Yes, it is time for my return.”

The changeling slowly rose from it’s position.

“W-What do you w-wish for me to do?”

A sudden lash from the entity’s magic smacked the changeling across the throne room and had it land harshly at the entrance.

“MY NAME IS KING!” Boomed the Entity. “KING! And as a king, I am going rise back and take Equestria as my place of kingdom! This time, not even the Elements will stop me again!”

------------------------------------
Thanks to Jade Wulf for editing. Thank you all for your support. See you all in Season 3!

Comments

[Little_Draco]

I hope that season 3 will change all of us again for the better. MLP has changed my life in its own way and I hope that it changes others. This series also brings my OC later on and it will be the only one to do so. I also hope that Season 3 brings us all closer to each other as best friends and make us stronger as a community. See you all on Season 3!

[Iron Nebula]

Um... still a lot of spelling errors, but otherwise I enjoyed it!

[Little_Draco]

Any help is appreciated

[MLP BRONY 27]

this is easily the third greatest fic i have ever read... i love it to the point of exploding... can i haz moar?

[MLP BRONY 27]

MOAR!!!!!

[Little_Draco]

1687979 Okay!

[MLP BRONY 27]

1688218 when

[observer of dimensions]

This fic is ok but the whole find the answers in a book that so happens that Zeroca so happens to have for some reason is bad.

1. why does she have the book. Zeroca is known to have books but why would she have something of starswirl. She is not a unicorn had has her own type of zebra magic why would she need a book on achievements done by magic she can't use.

2. The book sound like it was made directly to answer Twilights questions. While it is alright to have a source that can answer her questions it's to pinpoint. The book passage should be more like this.
An interesting discovery has been made involving unicorns. In particular, Unicorns that possess a significant amount of magic within their body. This resurrection ability has been witnessed by me, Starswirl and conformed to have occurred before by the Princess'. The resurrection ability actives when the unicorn dies. It should be noted that the ability will only active in certain death scenarios such as poison, sickness, or falling from a fatal height. Deaths caused from decapitation or piercing of the heart will not activate the ability. Unlike normal unicorns who's magic dissipates upon death. The special unicorn's begins healing the body. At the same time the Unicorn's body enters a stasis like state preventing magic from escaping or the environment from effecting the body. The concentration of magic will cause the body to change to adapt to the new level of magic. In doing so the magic prowess of the Unicorn also increases. On the negative side the self-inflicted coma can last for several years. Etc. etc.

there are also other problems with tis fic as well.