> The Twilight saga
>  by Heart in a locket
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> The prophesy 
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A striped pony walked freely. That's the good thing about Canterlot. All the snooty unicorns were too busy and uptight to pay attention to a foreigner. The zebra had her intricately carved cart trailing behind her, filled with a multitude of potions, herbs and clay pots. Striped star was on the way to the Canterlot traders, to try and acquire a rare talisman she had been searching all over equestria for. The talisman was a neck band, similar to her brass neck rings. A very talented zebra in her homeland, born with rare unicorn ability, impregnated the talisman with her power. The talisman gave unicorn magic to the wearer.

As she walked the streets, her heavily pregnant stomach gave a growl. Striped star gave a groan and turned around, making her way to a bakery just down the street. Zebra foals need twice the nutrients of a pony foal and often, in the zebra lands, the mother cannot deliver. The death rate for mothers were 2-4 but survival rates for foals were 3-4. Striped star wanted to birth her child and still survive. So she ate regularly. She walked into the bakery, brought two corn muffins and settled down into a corner to eat and rest. Striped wanted the talisman, more for the sake of her foal than anything else. Striped wanted to birth her foal in the zebra lands, just as she herself had been. It was tradition in her family. She thought back to the foals father, a slave, just like her.

Striped had been taken from her homeland by force, by griffons, and forced into slavery. While in captivity, she met a zebra stallion from a neighbouring village who was put into service in the same house. While she was a maid, he was a kitchen boy, cooking all the time for the family of seven, all canterlot nobility. Striped star had escaped the house in a slave rescue operation but the stallion didn't make it. He stayed behind so she could be free. It had only been months since she had escaped, giving the child time to grow and tracking down the talisman but she was adamant that once the foal was old enough, Striped star would rescue her lover.

Star continued walking towards the town square, where the trading centre was being held. A large, white building came into view and star felt the cold, slimy feeling that came to her just before a vision. She lay down on the path and relaxed.

 A purple filly was born, a golden halo encircling her head. The scene split in two, half the filly, uncorrupted and the other half, corrupt, dark magic flowing from her eyes and horn. The filly grew, the pure side read, became antisocial but smart and powerful. The corrupt side made friends and rebelled. The pure side embodied the elements of harmony and the corrupt side became the leader of a vicious gang. Both grew wings and the corrupt pony overthrew the celestial princesses and became a tyrant queen, ruling equestria in am iron hoof. The pure side became more powerful and became the princess of nature, controlling plants. Tyrant's equestria went into famine and poverty. Pure's equestria was the most fertile it had ever been.

Star shook her head. Two sides? impossible. Still... She detached her cart and ran as fast as she could into the large white building. The hospital. Striped star ran inside and, following the signs, entered the maternity ward. Rushing up to the nurse at the desk she panted
"I need...(pant)... to see the mother... (pant)... of the purple filly... (pant)... who was born today..." The nurse looked at her strangely, scanning her stripes, brass rings and belly. 
"How do you know about the Sparkles?"
She asked accusingly. 
"Vision. I had a vision, about her."
The nurse coughed. 
"I'll, ah, ask them what they think." 
Star smiled wearily and collapsed onto a seat in the waiting room. Several minutes later, The nurse walked back in. 
"Miss? You can go in now. Third door on the left."

Star knocked on the door and walked inside slowly. Inside, a midnight blue stallion and a white colt were sitting on chairs, staring at her. A white mare was lying on the bed with a purple filly nestled in her fore hooves.
"Come in, come in, miss...?"
"Striped star"  
"Miss Striped star. I have heard of being visited by a zebra doctor when a foal is born, but I never imagined I would get visited. So, what do I owe this huge honour?"
"I have come with a prophesy. One that could decide the future of equestria."
"Really? What is it?"
"A prophesy given is not forgot. A pony of solitude is kind, a pony of social is terror. sociality is tyracy and leads to famine and drought. Solitude is powerful and leads to fertility and grace."
"I don't understand."
"Your filly must be raised alone. Friends corrupt her mind until she finds her true calling, when she is a mare. A social life can lead to her becoming a tyrant queen and killing equestria. She must have no time for friends."
"My filly, brought up in solitude? I can't do that to my daughter! That would be wicked!"
"It must be done. How you bring up your daughter affects equestria, years from now."

Twilight velvet studied her filly then sighed. 
"Whatever it takes."
Striped star was just about to reply when a sharp pain flooded through her stomach and she cried out in pain. The pain intensified and she screamed, loud enough to wake the foals in the maternity ward. The midnight blue stallion cast a shielding spell over every foal in the ward, silencing the screams and sending them back to sleep. Nurses came galloping into the room and one nurse lifted star onto a bed.
"NO! NO!"
She screamed, swatting the nurses out of the way. She screamed again and turned to nightlight. 
"TELEPORT ME TO THE ZEBRA LANDS. MY FOAL MUST BE BORN THERE!."
She yelled. Nightlight hesitated for a moment, then with an approving nod from Velvet, rushed forward and grasped Striped star by the hoof. They disappeared in a flash of blue light. They re-materialized inside a dirt hut, with one single zebra mare inside.
With Star screaming, She yelled as loud as she could, instructions in zebra tongue. Several mares galloped into the room and placed her on a mat. As they prepared for the birth, the original mare said to Nightlight,
"Who... Who is this?"
"Her name is Striped Star. I teleported her here on her request, from canterlot maternity ward in Equestria."
"Striped star... Darling, is that you?"
The mare said to star. Star stopped screaming and gasped
"Mum?"
before starting up again. The mare rushed to her daughter and squeezed her hoof. She started talking to her in zebra tongue, which seemed to be calming star down. As the Zebra foal was born, the mother was reduced to a blubbering mess over her daughter.
Star had gone to sleep with her filly and her mother was crying over her. Nightlight was low on magic so had to wait for a few hours for his magic to recharge. Once the mother had stopped crying, they started talking.
"I haven't seen my daughter in five years. I was afraid I was never going to see her again. She was taken into slavery and I don't know what happened after that. My name's Zecora, by the way. I am Star's mother and the village chief's wife."
"I am Nightlight, father of the Sparkle foals. I am in Princess Celestia's government, as a consultant. I just met star, she had a vision about my newborn filly and came to inform us."
"A vision... That must have been what caused her to go into labour. It's not uncommon, you know. I am very grateful to you. You brought my daughter home and did so, just in time to have her filly born on zebra land. Thank you."

Once Star woke up, Night light was invited to join the birth ceremony as the guest of honour. The filly was placed in a circle, on the dirt, with her mother in a linked circle. The chief approached Star and bowed before touching his hoof to the fillies forehead. Star cried out, first in zebra tongue, then in English, the name of her child.
"ZECORA!"
The chief bowed once again and whispered zecora.
One by one, every zebra came up and blessed Zecora. Finally, as the guest of honour, Nightlight blessed Zecora and lifted her into the air. At that moment, rain fell from rainclouds that weren't there. The shower lasted until Nightlight took down Zecora. Every zebra cheered loudly and began to dance wildly. A feast of desert plants were prepared and Nightlight stayed, being the guest of honour. After the feast had finished and evening festivities began, Star came up to him, little Zecora strapped to her back.
"How are you enjoying the customs of the zebras?"
"Intriguing. As it happens, I am committing it to memory so I can write it down later. I don't doubt this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me."
"It is, by far. You are the first non- zebra to witness a birthing ceremony in a millennium. You must be proud."
"I am, but I am afraid I must return home soon. My wife must be worrying so much."
"I understand. But, I would like to ask you one more favour."
"Anything, Star."
"I need you to take me back to Canterlot, then send me back here. There is a talisman in the trading markets that I need. With it, I will be able to free Zecora's father from slavery in the griffon kingdom."
"I can do that."
Star trotted over to her mother and bowed.
"I will be back soon."
She trotted back.
"I am ready, Nightlight."
They disappeared in a flash of blue light.

They reappeared in the hospital room they left earlier, without all the nurses. Nightlight walked over to Twilight Velvet and nuzzled her.
"Star!"
She exclaimed.
"How did it go?"
Star smiled. She presented Zecora to Velvet, who placed her twilight in one hoof and zecora in another one.
"Isn't she a beauty? What's her name?"
"Zecora, after my mother. May I leave her here for a while? I have business I must attend to before sundown."
"Yes, of course, Striped star. You better hurry though, Celestia has almost lowered the sun."
Star galloped out onto the street and after hooking herself up to her cart, Galloped towards the market.
When she arrived at the curiosities stall, she was exhausted but the talisman was still untraded. She swapped several vials of potions and rare zebra herbs for the talisman and pulled the neck band over her own. Power flooded through her, light and fizzing, like she has soda for blood. Knowledge of using the power entered her head and she teleported back to the hospital with her cart. The Sparkles looked startled when she appeared but calmed down quickly.
"I guess you found your talisman" 
Nightlight commented. Striped star nodded. She took Zecora back and prepared to teleport home.
"Thank you for your help today. I will be sure to visit again and your daughter and Zecora will have to have a playdate."
Star smiled then started to turn away.
"Twilight" Velvet said to her and she prepared to teleport away.
"Twilight" Striped star repeated as she blinked out of equestria.


"Twilight."
"Twilight sparkle."
"Tyrant queen."