Chapter 1: The Trip

Author's Note:

Whoop whoop, this is my first attempt at a serious story. Haven't been on this site since I was much younger. My brother, Acoustic Pulse, has convinced me to write a decent story. Definitely check out some of his stuff if you haven't already, he's great. Feel free to leave any constructive criticism or ideas in the comments. Thanks friends. Always remember that you're loved and cared about and that I'm proud of you.

Note: I did my best with the cutie mark photo to try and give a visual but it's still not exactly right. Regardless, you guys will get the point.

-Electric Harmony

Electric Harmony's eyes slowly blinked open as the light of a new day warmed her paper-white coat through the windows of her small cottage. It was meek and relatively modest. She didn't spend much time here, so the mare didn't need much. Sleeping occasionally and eating were her main objectives whenever she did enter the tiny house. After rising, the unicorn quickly used magic to straighten her bed and tidy her room. She didn't plan on returning for a few days.

Electric trotted to the mirror; her gray eyes looked right back at her as she examined her features closely. Electric Harmony combed her spiky, purple, two-toned mane back. She primarily did her own hair cuts, and it showed; her mullet-like style was more for practicality than making a fashion statement. She noted that she was almost overdue for a trim, but Electric thought it could wait.

Electric Harmony was a decently tall mare; her muzzle was slightly squared off. This made her look more like a stallion, but Electric Harmony didn't mind. Her horn was long and narrow, and she enjoyed the seamless and easy taper; it was one of her favorite features. Electric glanced at the double earrings in one of her ears. She smiled at them fondly. She pierced them herself long ago when she was only a filly. Electric leaned forward in the mirror to inspect her face. She looked at the purple circles surrounding both her eyes; they were the same color as her mane. She'd never been the happiest with her appearance, but slowly and surely, she began to find peace with her looks. After a few minutes, she eventually trotted away from the mirror and began to pack a bag for her trip.

She was heading into town to pick up supplies. It was a long journey to Ponyville, one she didn't make very often. Being around other ponies had never been Electric's strong suit. Electric Harmony lived deep in the Everfree Forest, away from all civilization. The only things to keep her company were the plants and animals. She lived in harmony with the forest, singing to it and occasionally performing offerings to the entities around her. The last thing she needed was a pack of Timberwolves or a particularly angry manticore breaking down her cottage doors and attacking her at night. Mindlessly, Electric started singing a nursery rhyme that someone close to her had taught her. It was in a language she never quite understood.

On the way through the forest, she planned on visiting this mare, a zebra named Zecora. Zecora was an enchantress, a kind individual who always spoke in rhyme, and the closest thing to a mother Electric Harmony ever had. It was hard to understand the zebra at times, but Electric Harmony grew up around her. Sometimes she even found herself speaking in rhyme when spending time with her. As a filly, Electric would collect herbs and flowers for Zecora, similar to a small pony that occasionally visits the zebra now, Apple Bloom. In return, Zecora would make her food and tell her stories of her past. Stories from when Zecora was only a filly in her hometown of Zebrat Electric even affectionately referred to the zebra as "mama yangu," which means "my mother" in a language called Swahili. Electric Harmony was unfamiliar with the language but had read about it in many books.

Zebra was in the region of Farasi. Electric Harmony found the place fascinating. Electric loved learning all about ancient civilizations and creatures far away from Equestria, like the zebras and kelpies in Farasi. In fact, everything Electric Harmony knew and loved ultimately stemmed from things Zecora taught her as a filly. The zebra was even there the day Electric Harmony got her cutie mark.

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It was a mild spring morning the day Electric Harmony stopped having a blank flank. It was finally warm enough for the animals to begin giving birth. Nearly every day, Zecora and Electric would walk together, collecting herbs and flowers. Zecora would teach, and Electric was always eager to listen, writing down the things that stuck with her. Along the way, Electric Harmony spotted a flower she knew as "Heart's Desire." She knew Zecora needed this for many of the brews that she created. Electric Harmony trotted over to the flower; she was so quiet that apparently, Zecora didn't even notice the filly had left her side. She just kept trotting and talking to no one. Electric made her way over to the flower and picked it, admiring the heart-shaped petals. After a few moments, she carefully placed it in her bag and turned around. At this moment, she realized that she was alone.

Trying not to panic, Electric tried staying put, hoping that Zecora would retrace her steps and find her. Foolishly, after a few minutes, Electric Harmony found herself too anxious to sit still and attempted to look for Zecora herself. She called out to the zebra,

"Zecora! Z-Zecora!" Electric Harmony yelled out to nobody at all. The only thing she heard was the animals chittering around her.

Electric Harmony tried calling out to Zecora once more, "Zecora! Where did you go?"

It was evident to Electric Harmony that she was lost; she began to feel tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to retrace her steps. She wasn't the quietest despite her knowing she should be. Electric Harmony felt herself beginning to panic. She galloped in one direction, crying as she looked for Zecora. The next thing she knew, she had slammed into something big. Electric fell to the forest floor with a yelp. She quickly rushed to her feet when she heard a loud and booming roar.

Electric Harmony looked up to see a large manticore staring angrily at her. It had become apparent that this was the sizeable thing she had galloped into. Electric slowly shuffled backward, trying not to make any sudden movements.

"N-Nice kitty..." She said it shakily, trying her best not to scream.

The manticore growled and began creeping toward her; he looked as if he was about to pounce when Electric Harmony did the only thing she could think of. She began to sing; she didn't know how or why she did it. Thinking back on it, maybe it was because it always calmed her down when Zecora sang to her. Everything in the forest went silent as soft notes emanated from her voice. The creature stopped and sat down; its wings seemed to almost flutter with the tune. The next thing Electric Harmony knew, someone was yelling and galloping towards her.

"ELECTRIC HARMONY, BEWARE! MANTICORES ARE NO CASUAL AFFAIR!" Zecora's voice boomed.

The manticore was still calm as Electric Harmony continued to sing. Without hesitation, Zecora swiftly grabbed Electric Harmony and threw her on her back, galloping away as hard as her hooves could take her. Electric stopped singing as they got further away from the beast and closer to Zecora's treehouse. As they walked inside, a lecture ensued.

"My dear, for your life I feared!" Zecora scolded Electric Harmony. Electric had so many questions filling her mind.

'Where did the manticore come from, and why did my singing work?', The filly began to pace back and forth, thinking of the possibilities. Suddenly, Electric heard a gasp from the zebra as she pointed a striped hoof at my flank.

"Your cutie mark has shown while you were off on your own." In the heat of the moment, Electric Harmony didn't even notice the flash of light that occurs when a pony gets their cutie mark. Electric quickly rushed over to the mirror, admiring her newly adorned flank.

Electric gasped, she thought the mark was amazing. It was an amazing. It was a picture of a bright yellow sun with a moon nestled inside of it. On the other side of the sun, not taken up by the moon, was an eighth note. She couldn't hardly take her eyes off her flank, she was so excited to have finally gotten her cutie mark.

"Do not view this as a reward, little filly. What you did was very silly," Zecora said, still visibly distraught. Electric beamed and quickly went to hug Zecora. Electric Harmony loved hearing the story of how Zecora got her sun-shaped cutie mark. And now she finally had hers, and it had a sun element within it as well!

"I'm sorry for scaring you, Zecora..." Electric said after pulling away from the zebra's embrace. Zecora tousled Electric's hair, smiling at her.

"It's alright, my child. Just be careful in the wild," After a moment Zecora turned around and began making a stew. It was one of Electric's favorite things to eat. Zecora sang herself a nursery rhyme as she cooked.

It didn't take long before the stew was prepared, and Zecora never failed to please. The stew was fantastic! Electric Harmony didn't hesitate to eat her fill, taking multiple bowls of the mixture. Sometimes Electric wondered if there was a sleep aid in the stew, it always made her sleepy. After finishing, she rose from the table with a yawn. It was overdue for Electric Harmony to be in the bed.

Zecora helped Electric get ready for bed and tucked her in like she always did. Electric smiled and shut her eyes, knowing that the zebra was about to start telling her stories of her homeland. It was her favorite thing about their routine. Electric Harmony imagined the distant place as Zecora told accounts from her fillyhood. It wasn't long before Electric drifted off into a peaceful sleep, with dreams of riding kelpies and meeting zebras like Zecora.

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Finally, Electric Harmony had finished getting her bags together. She walked around her cottage doing a final check in before leaving, making sure everything was just right. Satisfied, it was time for her to be off. Electric trotted northeast towards Ponyville, and towards her childhood home. She usually let Zecora know she was coming but this time she wanted it to be a pleasant surprise. She knew that her maternal figure didn't get many visitors except for the rare pony who ventured into the forest when they wanted something from her. It made Electric upset sometimes that they only wanted the zebra around when it was convenient for them.

Most times, Zecora had to send Electric Harmony into town to get supplies. All of the shops in Ponyville were mysteriously closed whenever the zebra tried to go herself. The lack of sympathy and respect for Zecora always upset her, another reason she never really cared for going into town. However, she had recently gotten a letter from the zebra talking about a mare named 'Twilight Sparkle' who turned the town towards Zecora's favor. She said that sometimes Twilight and her five friends visit her tree house and they have tea.

Electric Harmony was glad that there was at least a handful of decent ponies left in Equestria. Luna knows that there are so many bad apples. Electric brought one her hooves to the necklace she never took off. It was a gift from Zecora when Electric Harmony took the brave step to begin living on her own. The necklace had a light gray robe with a skull attached to it. The skull was slightly yellowed due to age but it was still lovely nonetheless. Electric never went anywhere or did anything without carrying this piece of Zecora with her.

The sun was sweltering hot, every couple minutes Electric Harmony found herself wiping the sweat off her muzzle. Electric reached into her saddle bag to grab some of the water she brought with her. Hydrate before you diedrate, amirite? She took a few swigs and carefully placed the cap back on. The last thing she needed was all her water spilling out for some reason.

Slowly but surely Electric Harmony made her way past the old Castle Of The Royal Sisters. She vaguely recalled Zecora telling her that this same Twilight Sparkle and her friends defeated the infamous Nightmare Moon in that castle. Electric would be lying if she said she wasn't interested in meeting the group.

One hoof after the other, the mare continued to make her way through the Everfree Forest until she reached a river. The river went from calm to roaring in a matter of seconds as Electric walked up to the bank. She couldn't help but let out a little giggle.

"Putting on a show for me, Steven?" Electric said through her little laughs.

"Why of course, darling! It's been FIVE ever since I've last seen you!" Steven Magnet, a large purple sea serpent said. The only thing more magnificent that his mustache was his fabulous personality.

"Your mustache has finally returned to its former glory, I see," Electric smiled. He was quite distraught with his two-toned mustache for a while. Apparently somepony cut her tail hair off to give him some semblance of dignity back after a mysterious purple cloud cut half of his mustache off. Electric though it was quite generous of the unknown mare.

Steven Magnet twisted his glorious mustache with his fingers. "Yes, honey! Don't I just look marvelous?"

Electric laughed again, she loved talking with the serpent every time she came across this river. Something about his over the top personality was amusing to her in small doses.

"You gonna help me cross or sit there and just look pretty?" Electric teased the giant creature.

He stroked his mustache again, pretending to be deep in thought, "Hmm... I do look quite dashing don't I?"

Electric laughed again as Steven moved his long serpentine body in a way so Electric could easily cross the river. Electric Harmony thanked him as she hopped across the river. "Thank you as always, Steven. Stay awesome!"

Steven beamed, his iridescent scales shining in the sun. "Anytime, love! You come sing to me sometime soon, yeah?"

Electric agreed and waved goodbye to him, continuing on her way, it wouldn't be long before she reached Zecora's house. The mare trotted and trotted, it was growing more and more late at this point. She was about to fall asleep standing before she came face to face with an old Farasi mask. A wave of happiness and relief washed over her.

Electric Harmony was finally home.

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