Iroh knelt on a folded towel, his frame finding it too awkward to sit on the chairs built for the local pony - or in this case, zebra - population.

“I must thank you for your hospitality, Zecora. I was somewhat apprehensive of the reaction of some of the locals after the nurse in the hospital was so easily terrified of me, though I have run across a couple of others who were much more friendly.”

Zecora waved Iroh off with a hoof. “My thanks I must also share, good quality tea in Equestria is somewhat rare.”

Iroh smiled as he took a sip from his freshly brewed cup of tea.

“This place somewhat confuses me.” Iroh confessed. “I have seen no other human in the short time I have been here, only the creatures like yourself that call themselves ponies.”

Zecora chuckled at this, “Your confusion I can see, but I am Zebrican, not a pony.”

Iroh lightly chuckled as he hoisted his mug of tea towards Zecora in acknowledgement. “My apologies. If that is the case, do the ones with horns also have a different name?”

“If a pony with a horn on its head is born, it is known as a unicorn. If a pony comes with wings, it is a pegasus that fortune brings.”

Iroh recalled seeing bird-like creatures high in the sky that morning as he had been making his way out of town. “So those were pegasuses I saw flying around before I came into the woods?”

Zecora smiled gently as Iroh applied the wrong form to his pluralization, “If it was ponies flying in the sky, what you saw were indeed pegasi.”

Iroh nodded at the explanation as he watched Zecora float a blob of tea out of his pot and into her freshly emptied cup, her hoof steady as she guided the liquid with a gentle sweep.

“What of this ‘magic’? So far I have seen a unicorn floating both myself, a cup and you moving liquids from one place to another. Where I come from, we would call what you do water bending, though you use none of the motions, and if I understand correctly, you need a horn to be able to move things with magic.”

Zecora looked at Iroh thoughtfully for a moment. “Perhaps it would be best, to explain our magic and put your curiosity to rest.”

When Iroh dipped his head in assent, Zecora stood from her seat and moved over to a nearby shelf.

“We will begin with my own magic, that of the Zebrican Shamen. This, from what I have heard from you, would be closest to your ken.”

Zecora scooped a hoofful of green powder from a pouch and blew it into a cloud to the side. Iroh looked on appreciatively as images began to form within its smoky depths.

“A Shaman’s power, at its core, comes to us from elements four.”

The scene shifted to what appeared to be rounded mud huts, where a zebra sat by a circular fire pit as she struck her forehooves together to cause sparks to fall upon the wood piled before her.

“Like you we have some control of fire, but just a spark compared to your pyre. We use it with this glimmer dust to project a notion, or simply to ease the heating of a delicate potion.”

The image dimmed a little as it changed to a scene of a pair of zebra within a hut, one tending to the wounds of another by running a faintly glowing shard along a cut on his flank.

“The glimmer dust is a facet of earth, we use many minerals in the land of my birth. Mud for poultices and crystals for healing, some make gems into traps in case dragons come stealing.”

The vision shifted once again, this time showing a group of zebras crossing a savannah, the leader adorned with rings that bore some similarity to Zecora’s. The leader closed his eyes for a moment before pointing his hoof forward and slightly to the right.

“Water to us Zebricans carries much meaning, for in the savannahs of Zerbrica, water is not exactly teeming. Those of us with the ability are taught its detection, for it can be a matter of life and death if we fail in its collection.”

The crowd of zebras faded away, to be replaced by a zebra shaman facing down a trio of hyenas. With a toss of her mane, the zebra gave off a silent shout, causing the small pack of wild dogs to scatter in terror.

“Our use of wind power is the last to make clear, we use it for sending messages or inducing fear. Though that last use is one I abhor, it is very useful when faced with a predator.”

“Now on to the pony tribes, which when taken as a whole, their magic is best described as mind, body, and soul.”

A unicorn appeared in the smoke, her horn alight as she floated a trio of apples before her.

“The unicorn’s magic varies greatly by vocation, though all possess the ability to use light and levitation. Though many different elements their magic has employed, the greatest of their casters use the concept of the void. For the purposes of this discussion, it is easiest you will find, to consider their magic to be powered by the mind.”

The unicorn was replaced by the image of an earth pony, a yoke around his neck as he pulled a plough through a field with little trouble.

“The earth ponies magic is most often hidden from sight, though most often detected through their incredible might. Though most ponies will tell us their element is earth, the truth is they tend to have powerful connections with the lands of their birth. From farming to construction to growing a flower, theirs is considered to be the bodies of most hidden power.”

The image of the earth pony sunk as the view moved skyward to focus on a pegasus flapping her wings as she used her forehooves to push a cloud around the sky.

“Finally we come to the pegasi, who are most comfortable when up high. Amongst the clouds these ponies patrol, though most do not know it, their power is not wind but soul. Between their hooves even a cloud may be clutched, for all of them, elder to foal may, interact with what otherwise could not be touched.” Zecora waved her hooves, guiding the powder back into a small pouch sitting on the shelf next to her. Once the last of the dust was back in its container, she turned back to Iroh, soothing her now slightly dry throat with a sip of her tea.

“I hope I am not being cavalier in trusting I have helped to make things more clear.”

Iroh sat back on his heels as he considered the words of the zebra before him. Contemplating the explanations he had received, he found there was only one detail which he could not fully understand.

“You said the unicorns make use of the concept of the void. I’m not sure I quite understand, do you think you could elaborate on that, or would it be better to find someone with more specialized knowledge in that regard?”

“I’m told the unicorns that use void focus on nothing, or so they say. The best examples of this would be the unicorn fighters who make use of something called the Still Way.”

Iroh stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Fighters you say? Given what I saw from that unicorn that woke me up, getting on the bad side of one of them would not be pleasant.”

Zecora frowned as she remembered her own welcome to Ponyville. “While conflict with a unicorn being bad is true, there are few fighters, so it is the talkers that should be more worrisome for you.”

Iroh did not like where this was going, “Among my people, a crowd mentality is commonly seen when there is a vocal leader in the group, or even someone who is just particularly vocal. I take it the same is true with ponies?”

“The herding instinct is very strong amongst ponies,” Zecora sighed, “What does not make them scatter will sometimes make them freeze. In that state, it would only take the voice of one, to cause the whole group to accept, or the whole group to shun.”

The old man looked shrewdly at Zecora, reasoning out the cause of her melancholy tone. “I take it something like that has happened to you?”

“It is true, my arrival caused the town’s peace to shatter. The very sight of my walking down the street caused everypony to scatter. It was not long after that I was lifted from my gloom by a brave young filly, named Apple Bloom.”

Zecora smiled at the memory. “These days the ponies are much more at ease whenever I venture forth from my home in the trees. I even found suppliers for herbs and flowers easy on the nose, in a trio of lovely mares, the flower growing ponies Daisy, Lily and Rose.”

Iroh laughed as he stood to refill the kettle with water and a fresh blend of tea leaves. “I can certainly believe that, this has got to be one of the most relaxing smelling homes I have ever come across.”

Iroh placed a hand on either side of the kettle while Zecora looked on in fascination as he heated the water inside. When steam was finally coming from the spout a minute later, he placed the kettle down on the table and reclaimed his spot.

All the better for the two who had travelled so widely in each of their own worlds to share their knowledge and experience.

The train had finally steamed into Ponyville.

“Ponyville! Now stopping at Ponyville!” A conductor called down the train, moving to open the doors out onto the platform and make way for disembarking passengers.

Seven of these passengers were relieved to finally be free of the train after their long journey from the Crystal Empire, far to the North.

The first of these out the door was Rainbow Dash, the blue pegasus barely stepping onto the platform before she took to the skies.

“YES!” cried Rainbow Dash, “Free at last! I SO need to stretch my wings.”

Rainbow Dash proceeded to do some minor acrobatic stunts, revelling in her freedom from the confinement of the cabin she had spent the last day and a half in.

She was followed momentarily by Pinkie Pie, who was grinning at her friend’s acrobatic enthusiasm, happy herself to be back home.

Applejack and Twilight followed soon after. Spike was seated on Twilight’s back, his bag of gems clutched tightly to his chest. “I’m gonna miss the Crystal Empire.” he said fondly, patting the bag.

“You mean you’re going to miss the edible houses.” Twilight snarked back at her assistant.

“Heh, you got that right.” Spike chuckled. “At least now I see why some of the new ponies in town always try to take a chunk out of Sugarcube Corner.”

“Teehee! All the better for me to find them!” Pinkie grinned, “I wonder if anypony new came while we were gone? I’m gonna have to throw a few parties to catch up.”

Spike looked up thoughtfully from his perch. “What are the chances of somepony new coming to town in the last week anyway?” he asked.

The spring in Pinkie’s step increased as she smiled happily. “About a bajillion times higher now that you asked that question! Thanks, Spikey. I wonder who my new friend will be!”

“Ah ‘spect you’ll find out ‘ventually Pinkie,” drawled Applejack, “Ah’m just glad ta be home. Ah can’t wait to see the family again.”

“I can’t agree with you more, dear.” Rarity had emerged behind them, her luggage levitating to one side so as not to wrinkle her dress. “Do you mind if we go directly to your home? I promised my parents I would go pick Sweetie Belle up from there the moment I got home.”

“Sure thing, sugarcube. Ah’ll see y’all later everypony.” Applejack waved to her companions, already turning towards the road that would take her from the train station to her farm.

“See you soon. Oh, Fluttershy, would tomorrow at two work for you for a visit to the spa?” Rarity turns in time to see Fluttershy nodding to her quietly. “Wonderful! See you then, my dear!”

As the sounds of Applejacks powerful hoof steps and Rarity’s dainty trot receded into the distance, Twilight turned to her remaining three friends.

“I think we’ll also be heading home. I have a lot of studying to catch up on now that we are back.” stated Twilight, “We’ll see you all later, OK?”

“Okie dokie, Twilight!” chirped Pinkie, “I’m gonna go look for my new friend!”

Rainbow Dash landed and looked oddly at Pinkie Pie before turning back to the others. “I don’t know about finding somepony new in town, but I know I’ll need to restock on food. You wanna come with, Flutters?”

Fluttershy smiled at her friend, grateful for the invitation. “Thank you, I’d like that. I need to get some feed for the animals too. That is, if you don’t mind…”

“Ooh! Sounds like fun!” Pinkie exclaimed. She turned her head and tilted her ears to listen carefully as she rattled her tail. “I still have some room in my tail, so I’ll come get some snacks too. Maybe I can find my new friend there.”

“What makes you so sure there’s somepony new in town?” Twilight asked, looking slightly confused.

Pinkie giggled at the librarian. “Silly filly! Spikey just made sure of it when he said so.”

Spike perked up at this before he looked skywards thoughtfully. His face brightened as an idea came to him. “Bathful of sapphires! Bathful of sapphires! Bathful of sapphires!” he started chanting under his breath, causing Twilight to run her hoof down her face in exasperation at the little dragon.

“C’mon Spike, let’s go see your bathtub full of wishes…”

Spike was puzzled as Twilight started walking towards the town, waving to her friends as she passed. “Huh? But I was wanting a bathtub full of sapphires, not wishes…”

Rainbow Dash chuckled at the naivety of the baby dragon as he was carried away by Twilight. She hoisted her saddlebags higher before turning to help adjust Fluttershy’s load. “I’ll help you carry your shopping home. Your bags are so heavy you might get squashed flat if you do it by yourself.”

Fluttershy cringed at the jibe. “Oh dear, but what about your bags? I can walk back home, but you have to fly…”

Rainbow puffed out her chest, “No problem, I’ll just zoom back home and drop my bags off before coming to help you out. I’ll be back with you girls in ten seconds flat.”

As Rainbow Dash zoomed away, Pinkie Pie resumed her bouncing, springing in circles around Fluttershy as she exhorted the pegasus to get moving to the market. “Let’s go! The sooner we get there, the sooner we can meet our new friends! Uh oh!”

Fluttershy turned back in alarm to see Pinkie standing there stock still, her mane and tail perfectly straight and both sticking straight out from her body.

“Eep!” Fluttershy squeaked before turning and bolting for town and away from whatever Pinkie’s senses are alerting her to.

With a distinct ‘FLUMPH’, Pinkie Pie’s hair returned to its normal fluffy curls. After a moment of shaking her head, Pinkie glanced carefully left and right, cranes her head up to scan the sky, then down to look between her legs.

“Oh well,” she said, “I’ll figure out what that one was eventually.”

Spotting Fluttershy’s rapidly retreating form in the distance, Pinkie called out “Hey! Wait for me!” before bouncing after her spooked friend.

In a house somewhere within Ponyville, the curtains are pulled closed by a pony within their bedroom. He steps into the centre of the room and green fire began to flare as the changeling reverted to his normal insectoid form.

He took a deep breath and let it out as he focused on his connection with the hive mind, causing his eyes to glow with blue light as the connection strengthened.

‘This is agent Whispering Terror. Insertion successful under primary disguise. Recent event has been exploited to begin fear harvest early. Nine nightmare stones and two curiosity stones have been crystallized and prepared for transport. Awaiting further orders.’

A mild voice rose above the cacophony of the hive mind to speak specifically to the changeling. ’This is cogitator Echoing Truth, Elaborate on the recent event, Whispering Terror.’

Whispering Terror focused on what it knew to be the mind of a servitor drone, an intermediary of the Queen herself. ‘A Non-pony arrived yesterday and was injured. Overnight he escaped the hospital and went into hiding. Measures were successfully taken to exaggerate rumors and intensify suspicion and fear. Harvest of fear at more than 90% success rate.’

There was silence for a moment then another voice came, louder and infinitely more imperious than the mind-voice of the servitor. ’ A description of the non-pony, harvester.’ The mind voice was unmistakable, it now had the attention of Queen Chrysalis herself.

‘Unconfirmed information places the creature as bipedal, approximately two to three times the mass of an adult drone, my Queen. No known abilities, magical or otherwise. Local rumor names the creature species as ‘human’ according to a local purported to be an enthusiast of rare and mythical species.’

’We will need more information than mere rumor. Change priority of your harvest to emotional neutrality, siphon in small amounts. I will not risk the notice of Celestia’s student or her friends at this point. Research this ‘human’ and replace a different local to do so if necessary.’

‘By your will, my Queen.’

Author's Notes:

I now have a new hate to go alongside cabbages and guys with creepy stares. That new hate is writing Zecora. I feel like Doctor friggin' Seus right about now...

Much thanks to Avatar of Madness for his great proofreading.

Also credit goes to Moguera and his Savage Skies series for the concepts of the Still Way and Earth/Wind/Void used here.

EDIT: It has been brought to my attention that Still Way was first seen in Xenophilia, not Savage Skies, so credit there where credit is due.