Zecora 2

Thing was quite nervous.  She was about to visit the home of the zebra whom she had saved and healed.  It was strange to talk with someone new who knew her true identity, she was still getting used to social interaction.  She had stalked and watched the zebra go home from the trees, she didn’t want to scare her new friend with her grotesque transformations.

An enormous pink, smooth, fleshy tentacle with a large bulge on its trunk undulated, forcing the bulge towards the tip.  The tip of the tentacle opened like an aperture, orifice mutating into existence.  Out of the orifice, Amber’s face appeared, eyes closed and face slimy with the liquid one would expect after being birthed.  The rest of her body quickly followed, squelching as the muscle in the tentacle undulated and forced her out.

Amber slowly stood up and stretched as her bones cracked into place, shivering as her body solidified.  Her skin quickly absorbed the slimy birthing liquid that covered her and the tentacle that had given birth to her quickly retracted, sliding back up into the tree from whence it came.  Amber sighed, calming her nerves and rounded the tree, now in full view of the quaint home of the zebra, charms and random nick nacks decorating the entrance.

She slowly walked up, taking in the crisp cool autumn air and the chirping of random birds.  A nostalgic and breathtakingly colorful twilight glowed and wreathed the quickly shedding trees.  She found herself in front of Zecora’s door unable to work up the courage to knock.  After a few moments, a tentacle extruded itself from her torso, once again hairless, fleshy and a brownish pink color.  An eye extruded itself from the tip and Amber used it to look at her own face and fix up her mane.  The tentacle quickly retracted back into her flesh with a wet squelching sound Amber straightened herself up and knocked.

The door opened and Zecora revealed herself, a smile on her face, but her eyes looked a bit exhausted and almost resigned.  It was no doubt a trying day after fully expecting herself to be eaten by a manticore and a shapeshifter.

“Ahh, I see that you have come to see me, this time not a monstrosity.  I am glad you have taken this opportunity.  Please come, have a seat with me, and we will have some tea.”

“Thanks, Zecora.”

Amber entered and a warm environment enveloped her, escaping the chilly autumn air.  She shivered at the pleasant temperature change, her flesh wriggled slightly in pleasure, she had been out hunting for quite a while and her body was still a bit acclimated to the cold.  She followed Zecora into her living room and sat in the offered seat.

“Please, sit here, I’ll get the tea and be back momentarily.”

Amber sat down on the sofa, in front of her was a small table and another seat was located on the other side.  Zecora came back into the living room with a tray clamped in her teeth.  She set it down on the tea table and sat down in her seat.  She skillfully propped the teacup and saucer on her hoof and began to sip.  Zecora looked up at Amber.

“Do you mind if I…”

Amber gestured to a tentacle that had appeared near her shoulder.

“It makes no difference to me, honestly, it is quite a curious sight to see.”

Amber smiled and her tentacle reached out, sprouting out of her body and wrapping around the handle, bringing it up to her face.  “Thanks Zecora, I am much more accustomed to using these for fine dexterity.”

She took a sip and a warm feeling quickly entered her body.  It seemed to make her more calm and relaxed.  Zecora was starting to lose some of the tired look in her eyes and her curiosity seemed to be piquing.

“I have many questions I wish to ask but I worry if I am being too brash.  Perhaps we should begin with an introduction.”  She paused.  “As you know, my name is Zecora.  My homeland is far away, but I came here near ponyville to stay.  I was led here by rumors of the everfree, it is quite full of mystery.  The art of potion making is fickle and hard won but the magical herbs found here are the best bar none.”

Zecora’s face fell, she looked tired and sad.  “Unfortunately, this forest is quite dangerous as you have seen.  I worry that my studies will be interrupted, I am not quite sure what to do.  Enough about me, I wish to learn more about you.  I must admit that despite my travels and experience I have never heard of a being quite like you.”

Amber took a long sip and set her cup down.  Her tentacle retracted back into herself and she sighed.  “Well, truthfully I only have a vague idea of what I truly am.  My ancestors tried to impart their knowledge, skills, and instincts on me but much of it has been lost due to time and distance.  If you look up to the stars, I believe I came from somewhere out there.  I was encased and unconscious inside a rock in a kind of frozen state, unable to move or think for a vast period of time and flung at incredible speeds through truly empty space.”

Amber tucked her legs under her barrel as she continued her story, her tentacle sprouted and reached for her tea cup and she took a sip.  “I wasn’t always the way I am now.  In the beginning I was more of a feral monster.  The memories are fuzzy as I wasn’t even able to think properly because of the damage the extended stasis did to my mind.  I have memories from my time hunting as the broken monster, ‘The Thing’ or Thingy as Anon likes to call me, but I also have memories as Amber.  Before, I was a broken alien acting on pure instinct and not really a conscious sapient being, more of a machine.  It wasn’t until I consumed Amber that I was able to truly think for myself.  Amber is a large part of who I am now, in fact I even use her name as my own.   As the feral monster, instinct screamed at me to rebuild my broken mind and Amber’s sapient brain was the first suitable basis to rebuild.  In fact, the pony you see me as now is a clone of her original body.  You must understand that I don’t make a habit of consuming ponies anymore despite the temptation.  The monster I was before, led me to do such a thing.”

“Everything changed after my minds fused together.  I began to feel a kind of empathy for the animals hunted and I no longer had a mindless urge to consume all life.  I guess since then I’ve been struggling with my dual natures, that of a pony and that of an alien predator.  The only other person who knows about me is Anon the human.  He has been helping me to try and integrate into pony society.  He is also an alien and had to deal with things similar to what I did.  It hasn’t been easy.”

Zecora gazed at Amber with wonder at her story.  The story was fantastical and far fetched.  However, the being that saved her was fantastical so perhaps a story like this one would fit.

“I see that you are perhaps struggling with your identity, perhaps not sure what to do.  I am happy to say that I think I can help you!  I too have had struggles fitting in.  There was a time when I appeared, ponies would hide their kin.  I have experience in these matters.  I can give you advice.”

“This might be slightly selfish, but In exchange, do you think you can accompany me, when I visit some of the more dangerous parts of the everfree?  There are many valuable plants in there, many of them are quite rare.  There is good reason rare plants like this exist, most do not want to take such a risk.  However, if you accompany me, I will feel much safer with thee.  I love having someone to talk, the trip to the herbs I need is quite a walk.  We can discuss your troubles as we walk through the forest.  I know that this may be too much to ask.  If that is too much trouble we can just meet here in my house.”

Amber smiled at Zecora.  She felt emotional, she finally had a new friend.  Her instinct as a predator was to be reclusive and not very social.  “I would love that.”  Amber felt a warmness in her heart.  The thought of protecting her cute and relatively weak friend from the dangers of the forest was something that made her feel good.  “We should meet every few days or once a week and I can tell you all about my experiences as I try to make friends and be more sociable.  I think you will be a good confidant.  No offence to Anon but he can be a little aloof at times.  I think I will enjoy our walks together.  I don’t have any problem being your bodyguard.”

Zecora looked excited, she smiled widely.  She stood up.  “What an opportunity!  Thank you for being so kind to me.  I will forever be in your debt.  I will never forget.  It is so wondrous, so rare to be able to befriend a creature like you.  I feel like the universe has given me an incredible gift.”

Zecora walked up to Amber and gave her a big hug.  “Thank you Amber, for everything.  I think our friendship will be long and beautiful.”  Amber wrapped her forelegs and her tentacle around zecora and closed her eyes.  Her tentacle felt her friend’s pulse, she would protect this kind and wise creature.