Zecora's Letter Home

by Rara

Reflection

Twilight blinked in surprise at the knocking. It echoed for a moment in the hollow bole of the library-tree before dying away into silence.

"Now, who do you suppose it could be this late at-" Twilight stopped as she saw her number-one assistant, curled up and snoring in a pile of heavy, cloth-bound books. The lavender unicorn chuckled softly.

"Poor little guy. I guess it's past his bedtime."

She was startled as the knocking sounded again. For a moment, she had forgotten what had disturbed her studies. She rose from her writing desk with a sigh and stretched. Her muscles were cramped from sitting hunched over a desk for hours on end. Rarity would scold me for my bad posture, Twilight thought idly as she trotted towards the door.

"Oh, it's you, Zecora. What brings you to the library so late? Looking for a book on herbal medicine? Because I've actually just been reading this very informative book. It's called 'Most Potent Potions', and I really think you would-"

The older mare shook her head, cutting Twilight off. The young pony was startled by her friend's bruque manner, and fell silent mid-sentence. "I'm sorry I cannot enjoy your book, but I have something to send. Here, take a look."

She showed Twilight a tightly rolled scroll of paper, coated in wax and tied with a thin silver ribbon. The unicorn was intrigued.

"You mean you want Spike to send this letter for you? Why not just take it to the Ponyville Post Office?"

"This is a very important letter. It goes to Zebrica, and I know Spike is better."

Twilight was interested in this claim. Zebrica, the homeland of the zebra ponies, was hudreds of miles away. For the first time, Twilight wondered about Zecora's origins. Why was she, a zebra, living alone in the Everfree Forest? It seemed very unlikely. Twilight opened her mouth, ready to bombard her friend with questions about her mysterious past and even more mysterious letter, but something in Zecora's eyes told her not to pry.

Twilight stopped. She considered Zecora's request, and realized the hitch in her plan. She ran a hoof through her mane, uncomfortable with what she had to tell the desperate-seeming zebra.

"I'm really sorry Zecora, but Spike can't do that. He can only send letters up to a certain distance away, and Zebrica is way out of his range. I wish I could help somehow, but my teleportation spell doesn't work on inanimate objects, and I don't know if I could even send something that far either. Spike's magical fire works on the same energy basis as a teleportation spell, you see, and...um... oh. Sorry."

The older mare sighed, and her shoulders slumped as if she were carrying a terrible burden that had finally become too much to bear. Zecora looked weary, and sad, Twilight noticed suddenly. She looked old.

Twilight burned with curiosity, and also with sympathy for her friend. But before she could offer to make tea, or talk to her, the zebra was already turning away. "Thank you, my little pony friend. I will find some other way to send."

Looking downcast and weary, Zecora left the library, leaving a shocked Twilight standing frozen to the spot.

"What in Equestria was in that letter?" she wondered out loud. "Whatever it is, it can't be good. Poor Zecora..."

Zecora sat on top of a grassy hill. It rose out of the Everfree Forest, providing a perfect and unobstructed view of Princess Luna's star-sprinkled night sky. The zebra mare gazed at the blackness behind the stars, thinking about the past. Finally, she untied the ribbon on the scroll she still held. Holding it tight to her heart, she closed her eyes and whispered something in a language that she hadn't used for years. Then, she released the letter to the guiding fingers of wind that twirled and danced around her. Zecora watched it float away over the trees, tears streaking down her cheeks.

"Happy birthday, Zinnia."

The weary mare turned and walked back down the hill, without another backwards glance.

Comments

[Nitrox]

This is an interesting idea for zecora's past. Short, sweet and to the point, well done

[Rara]

1230287

On, go on with you, sir!

I just wanted an excuse to use the name Zinnia. The whole thing took about twenty minutes- ten to write it, and another ten to come up with enough filler for the second chapter to pass the word minimum. Good thing Twilight's a chatterbox.

[Dusty_tales]

I would really love to see a sequel to this or something. Like Zecora getting upset and confiding in Twilight about her daughter and why she left her... Or something. Aaahhhhh I just want to know more about her past in this its so good, and it really tugs at the heart strings!

[Rara]

2747756
Wow! Thank you so much! This is what makes writing this stuff worth it! I'm thrilled you like it.

[Beware The Carpenter]

Quite good; would be better with some explanation though. Also take out the last line, it doesn't add anything and "Happy birthday, Zinnia." is a much more powerful ending.

[Beware The Carpenter]

1230681

Wait a sec, are you saying you wrote this whole story in to minutes? if you did chapter one that fast that is INCREDIBLE. Even if you only wrote the second part it that long that's still impressive. If I'm writing well I do about 1k an hour, and I do a lot of writing.