Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AY45WPiioKXELpldOrYykYh1qCNhJro-EX30t8PkwGo/edit?usp=sharing

Twilight Sparkle found herself to be completely alone in a flat, dark realm. No matter where she looked, nothing but darkness was all around her. She could not even identify what the ground was made out of. Feeling scared and isolated, she started walking. Soon, her aimless wandering turned into a trot and her trotting finally became a full run. She was not even sure if she was moving at all, even though she put her everything in getting away from this place. As she turned, she suddenly saw Despair right in front of her face.

“996 years ago, Celestia forced the reapers to go down a path of self-sacrifice in favor of her subjects,” she stated.

Once more, Twilight Sparkle nearly jumped out of her bed due to a bad dream. After catching herself, she realized that the sun had already risen. So far, Blueblood had been doing a somewhat decent job at cycling between day and night. But who knows how long it would take for him to get annoyed with this task. While the rest of Twilight’s friends were still asleep, Zecora was up already and applying a green paste on Rarity’s chest. The medicine had such a strong, foreign aroma, Twilight could smell it all the way from her bed on the other end of the hut. But it seemed to do its purpose. It had been quite a while since the white mare could sleep so peacefully and without getting a brutal coughing fit.

“I’m glad to see we are finally making some progress on her health,” Twilight whispered.

Zecora instantly looked up in surprise. Apparently, she hadn’t realized that the purple mare had woken up. It was now that Twilight could see the tired eyes of her zebra friend. She must have been staying up all night in attempt to heal Rarity.

“I must have been working far too steady. Is it truly this late already?” Zecora wondered after glancing through a window.

“Wow. I do appreciate your dedication, but you shouldn’t overdo it like this,” Twilight commented.

“Sadly, I am far from done. Results, so far, I do have none. I must do my very best. Otherwise, I can not rest,” the zebra mare spoke with determination.

“If it helps, we suspect her sickness to be of magical nature,” the purple mare spoke.

“I will try calling the spirits for her sake. But for now, I need a break. I suspect you are in the mood for some fresh brewed tea and some food?” Zecora wondered.

“Don’t you want to lay down for a bit?” Twilight wondered.

Her friend just shook her head shortly. Even though she looked tired, she still seemed to have a lot of energy left. She must be used to staying up late for her work, Twilight figured. The least she could do was to help Zecora prepare breakfast.

Before they started, Zecora went over to her sleeping daughter and husband, waking them up. After rubbing their eyes shortly, Maarith got up and picked some incense sticks while her father left the hut with an empty bowl. After lighting the sticks while continuously mumbling the same phrases over and over again in her native language, Maarith eventually brought them in front of a tiny altar consisting of a painted wood mask, several small clay figures and a wooden ladle. She sat down and seemingly began to meditate, still mumbling the same words. In the meanwhile, Twilight was busy cutting some roots with a conjured knife, accompanied by Zecora. Not much later, Zecora’s husband returned with the bowl being filled with muddy water, which he then handed to his daughter.

Now, Maarith’s words changed. While she slowly moved the incense sticks over the bowl, the smoke began to form a ring over the altar. Next, she arranged the figures around the bowl and drew some lines around the mask. The incense sticks extinguished, the ring of smoke descended into the bowl and suddenly, the water became clear. Maarith’s mumbling changed again as she picked up the ladle, filled it with water and evenly poured its content over the figures, which dried up seconds later as if they were drinking up the water. Once the ritual was done, she placed the ladle and figures back in place.

“Ow!” Twilight exclaimed suddenly.

The purple mare had been observing this magical purification ritual with such fascination, she accidentally cut herself with the knife. This sadly now woke up the rest of her friends. But while they were slowly coming to their senses and looking at her in confusion, Zecora casually dropped some liquid on the wound, letting it heal up moments later.

“Thanks,” Twilight spoke while blushing a bit in awkwardness. “I guess I’m still easily distracted when I find something fascinating. That was a lot of ritual for a simple water purification spell.”

“Zebra magic might seem weak, but it’s not, just quite unique. One can not stop to stress how important it is to get the spirits’ bless,” Maarith explained.

“You keep mentioning spirits and your magic seems to be based on them and natural elements, but I don’t quite get it yet,” Twilight commented.

For a moment, Zecora rubbed her chin, trying to think of how to explain this. Her thoughts came to a halt when Maarith tapped her on the shoulder and started speaking to her in their native language. After a short conversation, Zecora nodded and turned back to Twilight.

“Our stories are mostly untold, for zebra magic is very old. Books containing them have long since rotten, but our people have not forgotten. If with a true master you wish to speak, Roho Maua is whom you seek,” she explained.

“Who’s that?” Shining Armor wondered.

“As of our current age, Roho Maua is the zebras’ spirit sage. Her wisdom is well respected and through her, all tribes stay connected,” Maarith replied.

“I have heard only vague rumors of the spirit sages,” Celestia started. “There is always only one and they act as the spiritual leader of all zebra tribes. Supposedly, they are chosen by the spirits themselves and must dedicate their entire life exclusively to them. But these sages live in complete isolation and only the most trustworthy are allowed to know where they are hiding.”

“If we could convince her of our cause, we have good chances to get the support all tribes,” Luna concluded.

“Finally we have a lead,” Twilight commented happily. “Zecora, do you by any chance know where Roho Maua is living?”

“Years ago, I did beseech, asking if she could teach me the pony speech. But my daughter also knows the way, making sure that I can stay. Healing Miss Rarity is, of course, still my priority. Without question, you have my trust. But the group size, you need to adjust. To keep secrecy and to greet, only one of you can come and meet,” the zebra herbalist stated.

“Then I think Twilight should go,” Cadence suggested. “You are the head of the rebellion and I am sure there are quite a few things you would want to learn from her.”

“As long as this is okay with all of you, I definitely would love to have such a rare opportunity,” the purple mare replied.

“Don’t worry about us, Twilight. We will be here,” Fluttershy assured.

“Yeah. Go right ahead. We will stay and guard Rarity,” Derpy agreed, followed by the rest nodding in agreement.

“Well then. Let us have breakfast first and then we will see,” Twilight stated.

Not much later, breakfast was done and the ponies as well as zebras gathered up to eat.

---

After their rather small breakfast, Twilight and Maarith went on their way towards the thick jungle. Just getting there would take them an hour. The way through the jungle itself would be a lot more difficult, since it was so tightly clustered. But Maarith assured that they would not need to bring any supplies. The path to the spirit sage was supposedly dotted with small hidden camps for pilgrims to rest.

As they arrived at the jungle, Twilight’s suspicions became confirmed. Hours passed extremely fast as they tried to find their way through all the vines, ferns and bushes. The huge ancient trees created the rooftop of this enormous forest, which blocked out most of the sunlight. It was pretty much the opposite of the savanna. Humid, dark, but still very hot. A very draining combination for Twilight, although it seemed to affect Maarith very little. Yet, wandering through thick vegetation that provided little light even during the middle of the day seemed all too familiar to her.

At the end of the day, as it truly started to get dark, they arrived at one of those hidden camps Maarith mentioned. A small fireplace, surrounded by wooden figures. The young zebra mare performed a short ritual in front of the statues, each one suddenly beginning to move and lower a limb, presenting gifts to them. Some contained tinder and flints for the fire, some water and food, others even a comfortable mat to wrap themselves in during the night.

It was so strange to Twilight. So foreign. Of course, she witnessed zebra magic in the past before. But it still seemed so puzzlingly alien. How did it work? She would have loved to observe Maarith for just a little longer, but their pilgrimage had drained her. Twilight's eyes soon fell shut on their own.

---

It was the second day of their journey to the zebra spirit sage now. Twilight had stopped thinking hours ago and just kept following Maarith through the endless walls of green, being pestered by mosquitoes and other parasites. In the few moments she felt being bitten, causing her to regain her wits for the moment, she just used her magic to free herself from the bugs. For everything else, she was not able to focus enough. She was panting and sweating profusely, her whole body craving for water and a cool place to recover. As if something was reading her mind, it suddenly started to rain. Twilight let out a sigh of relief, getting the feeling that this was not a coincidence. It was no ordinary rain either. The purple mare could feel magic in the drops. As the cooling sensation washed over her body, she noticed that her bug bites stopped itching, as if they were being washed away.

“We are close, right?” Twilight wondered.

Maarith nodded in response. From the moment it started to rain, the atmosphere of the jungle seemed to change. There was something in the air, all around the two of them. It kind of felt familiar, though. She had been feeling this before, but not quite as gentle and harmonious as it was now. After passing a few more trees, Maarith stopped and pointed up. There was a hut in the crown of one of the trees before them, so well hidden that she would have never spotted it on her own. But how would they be able to get up there? Once again, it seemed like something was reading her mind. The trees close to the one with the hut on top started to move their branches, creating stairs for them to walk on, spiraling all the way up to the hut. There truly was a lot of magic flowing around. But still… this was strange. The plants obviously wouldn’t be able to move like that on their own. They seemed to be in some sort of symbiotic relationship with the magic in the area. Even though she had learned so much about magic already, this was something completely new to her. Twilight kept staring at the branches with wide open eyes and a slightly opened mouth as they formed a path before them and moved back to their original position as soon as they passed.

At last, they reached their destination. Now that Twilight stood right in front of the building, she realized that it was actually a temple. While the outside was made out of leaves and branches to disguise it as much as possible, the inside was made out of chiseled sandstone. Figures similar to those she had seen before throughout the various villages were displayed in the walls and the two pillars keeping the roof up. The place was small, even smaller than Zecora’s hut. So as soon as they stepped inside, they found the altar at the back end of the temple, in front of which a zebra mare adorned with countless golden rings around her neck and limbs, even in her ears was praying quietly. The air was filled with smoke from the incense sticks at the altar, yet it seemed to move and swirl in frequent harmonious patterns while the spirit sage kept whispering. Out of respect, both Maarith and Twilight kept standing just behind the open entrance, waiting for her to finish her prayer in silence. Whatever she was doing, it must be the cause of the magical sensation Twilight was feeling. She felt a strong pleasant tingling in her horn, going all the way down into her forehead. It felt like she was absorbing the feeling, giving her strength and focus again. In fact, from the moment it started to rain until she arrived here, she felt herself getting increasingly stronger and more focused again. Roho Maua must have been expecting them, the purple mare assumed.

The prayer finished and the smoke vanished. As the zebra mare turned around, the golden rings jingled audibly. Only now could Twilight see that there were even more golden rings attached to the ends of each strand of her long black and white mane. She smiled at their visitors, her eyes half closed. She seemed to be extremely calm, giving off a strong benevolent magical aura.

“Maarith, I remember you. Tell me, how does your mother do?” Roho asked gently and calmly.

“Home again, having zebra grees, ensuring she can help by any means. It is just as it should. My mother is doing good,” Maarith replied.

“Your mother helps, that I can see. But whom have you brought to me?” the spirit sage wondered.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am the leader of the rebellion against Blueblood. It is an honor to meet you,” the purple mare replied.

“An important cause, a noble deed. No easy task it is to lead. The spirits told me you would come. The cult Blueblood leads make them feel numb. A great power, very evil. It can be sensed by even a weevil. But unlike him, you stay meek. It is my support which you do seek,” Roho Maua spoke.

“That is true. I am glad the word made it all the way here,” the purple mare replied. “We have been trying to talk to the zebra tribes, but we don’t understand their language enough. There also seems to be too many differences between the individual tribes. But against an enemy such as Blueblood and the BloodClaw Cult, we need all zebras to unite. I was told you would be able to help us to accomplish this.”

“Destructive power like his can not be ignored. But I must ask, what will you do when Equestria is restored?” Roho wondered.

“We hope to give Celestia, Luna and Cadence their immortality back and bring them back on their thrones. I just want to return life to normal, as it used to be,” Twilight explained.

“But I know that this normality, which has been in Equestria, was mere formality. Evil spirits do still dwell. Do you wish to destroy them as well?” the spirit sage wanted to know.

“Those are not spirits, honored spirit sage. Those are demons. They are a hazard to all life in this world. So long as they exist, they will continue to bring terror wherever they go. The only way to prevent something like the BloodClaw Cult to ever happen again is by wiping them out completely. But I’m not so foolish as to think that this could be accomplished any time soon, seeing as we struggle to just get Equestria back and driving them away,” Twilight stated.

“The demons may be quite obscure, but to deny them to be spirits, I would not be so sure. Both fighting them or leaving them be poses a risk. But tell me, do you really believe they have no right to exist?” Roho wondered.

“I understand that you have very little knowledge about the demons and I don’t really have the time to explain everything we know about them just yet. But I can absolutely assure you, they are a force that does not belong into this world. I’m not so sure how these things work, but perhaps you should ask your spirits about their opinion. I do feel a strong magical presence after all, so I am sure they are here,” Twilight stated.

Again, Roho Maua began to smile and noded lightly. There was such a calm aura about her. Usually, Twilight would be a lot more fierce when it came to the topic of demons. She just wanted these creatures to be erased so badly, she could get a bit aggressive in her debates. But there was something very soothing and relaxing about the spirit sage.

“The fact you have such a strong magic sense can not be a mere coincidence. Inside you, I feel a yearn. A strong desire just to learn. Come, pray with me and very soon, you will begin to see,” she invited.

“Oh I’m… I’m not sure. I mean, yes, I do want to learn as much about magic as I can. But… you see… we ponies aren’t really religious in any way,” Twilight replied with a bit of inconvenience written in her face.

“Come, Miss Twilight. Give it a try. Such a rare opportunity, you do not want to let pass by,” Maarith whispered.

The purple mare hesitated for a moment. This was outside of her comfort zone, since the memories of the cultists speaking their prayers during twisted rituals were branded deeply into her mind. The only time she did this herself was when she was disguising as one of them. Worshipping higher beings… The princesses never wanted their subjects to do anything like that, even though they were demi-goddesses. But be it as it may, Twilight was offered an opportunity to learn something that was yet beyond her grasp. Perhaps it was time to expand her mind on these aspects now as well.

“Okay…“ she eventually replied.

Roho Maua lowered her head a bit and made a gesture, inviting her to sit by her side in front of the altar. Still insecure, Twilight stepped over to her and took position. The spirit sage herself turned her focus back to the altar as well. The incense sticks were still slightly smoldering, but no smoke was rising from them anymore. The zebra mare sat down cross-legged, placing her front hooves against each other and letting them rest on her crossed hindlegs. Twilight mimicked the position, then looked at Roho waiting for instructions.

“Open your soul, clear your mind. Leave the troubles of this world behind. Repeat my words, just give it a try. Soon enough, the spirits will reply,” she spoke.

Twilight gave a nod, then Roho closed her eyes. She spoke slowly and clearly in the language of the zebras, word by word so Twilight could follow easily. She as well had her eyes closed and tried to focus on her words alone. The purple mare felt uncomfortable, speaking words of which she did not even know their meaning. It took minutes and she was nearly convinced that whatever they were trying to do would not work. But then, she began to feel a wave of magic approach her. Instantly, her eyes opened and she saw that the incense stick magically started to smoke again. But because she stopped praying, the sensation soon vanished again, as well as the smoke.

“Spirits can be very shy. They usually avoid an open eye. But I feel they are curious, so give them time. To speak with them, repeat my rhyme,” Roho Maua instructed.

“Okay. I’m sorry… let’s try it again,” Twilight agreed.

Once more, they both closed their eyes and started their prayers. This time, Twilight told herself to not get so easily distracted and go through with it. This did fascinate her after all, so she should be as open-minded as she can be. Again, the minutes passed as they were praying and the magical sensation returned. But this time, Twilight kept her eyes shut and kept on repeating after Roho Maua. After a while, she realized a pattern in the prayer and kept on repeating it on her own. Slowly, she began to hear something similar to a ghostly whisper. As it gradually got louder, she could make out what it was saying.

“Hush, hush, do not fear. Even though that we are here. We mean no harm, so please be eased. All we want is for you to be pleased. Spirits of great, spirits of old. Spirits of stories yet to be told. So if it brings you pleasence, bless us with your presence.”

It took Twilight mere moments to understand that what this voice was saying were exactly their prayers, translated into Twilight’s language. It seems like rhyming is the way of spirits to communicate, which would explain why zebras exclusively communicate via rhymes. Even Discord was using rhymes for his riddles, even though he seemed to have adapted to the way ponies speak for quite some time already.

Twilight slowly opened her eyes again, seeing the incense sticks smoking again as she continued to pray. Just like before, the smoke seemed to move in patterns and swirls. In fact, she believed to see figures in them. Eyes looking at her. Lips repeating their words.

Roho Maua suddenly stopped praying. At first, Twilight didn’t notice and just kept going. But then she too became silent. As she turned over to her to see why she ended her prayer so suddenly, she could see a strange, ghostly figure made out of smoke. It seemed to be a tree creature with branches as arms and roots as feet, its mossy bark displaying a face. Roho Maua was looking right at it, but the creature did not look at her. Instead, it was focusing Twilight with an expression that could be interpreted as insecure curiosity. The purple mare had a very similar expression on her face as she slowly stood up and took a few steps towards the tree made of smoke.

It seemed to be much more insecure than Twilight was, taking only a single step forward. But as they were looking at each other for a couple of seconds, it extended one of its branch arms in her direction, apparently wanting to touch her. Twilight did the same, lifting a front leg and slowly letting it approach the hand of twigs. Her hoof was passing right through the smoke, but a pleasantly warm feeling filled her as it did. A few seconds later, the smoke disappeared.

Twilight stood there with wide open eyes and mouth. To her, this was as if she had met an alien. She found herself speechless, staring at the place where the tree creature had been just moments ago.

“Was… that a spirit? They do actually exist?” she questioned after a while.

Roho Maua still had that pleasant calm smile on her face as she nodded in response. Twilight focused Maarith and she as well nodded in response with a happy smile.

“I… I honestly had my doubts they were even real…” the purple mare stated.

“For what I understand, ponies did already encounter spirits in their homeland. Windigos, spirits of winter. Their aura so cold, they can make friendship splinter. Discord, chaos in physical form. Washing over Equestria like a storm. The one which you just saw is the reason you came this far. A guardian spirit, benevolent and kind. Giving healing rain and one with all trees you could find,” Roho Maua stated.

Only now did Twilight understand that Roho Maua hadn’t been casting any spells at all so far. It was this tree spirit that informed the sage of their coming. It helped Twilight cool off, heal her bug bites and strengthened her mind, as well as creating the stairs which led up to this temple.

“I always thought that the word ‘spirit’ is given to everything that could not be clearly defined otherwise. Nopony understood what Discord or the Windigos actually were. But… if spirits can be so hostile, why do you worship them?” she wanted to know.

“Spirits can be good or bad, depending on which intentions they had. Whenever imbalance is in the world, magic sprouts a leaf, out of which a spirit is unfurled. They can protect, they can destroy. They can bring sadness or bring joy. But if you know how they are pleased, spirits are easily appeased. And once the spirits are on your side, you can make it past any tide. That is why, for so many hundred years, we zebras lived without any fears,” the spirit sage explained.

“I see… that explains a lot about the zebra culture and why you live so peacefully with your religion. You must be allied with many spirits. That must also be the reason why you can use magic as non-magical creatures,” Twilight figured.

Again, Roho Maua nodded in confirmation. Things were finally coming together for Twilight. Zecora was right by saying getting the support of the zebras would be immensely valuable for their cause. If the zebras joined the rebellion, countless spirits would follow and support it as well. But there still were a few things left that confused her.

“But aren’t spirits, ghosts and souls basically all the same?” the purple mare wanted to know.

“According to old zebra lore, spirits were here long before. They existed for a much longer span, before even the first life began. They have few limits, free to be ghostly or physical form. As for souls, wearing a body is the norm. Spirits often leave us souls shaken, frequently being as ghosts mistaken. Ghosts, in fact, do not be. I hope that now you begin to see,” Roho summarized.

“Hmm… And there is no way for a soul to become a spirit?” Twilight wondered.

Both Roho and Maarith shook their heads slowly. This knowledge was very exotic, but it must have been very old as well. This only brought up further questions.

“How come you zebras know so much about spirits and we ponies know even less about them than about dragons?” Twilight asked.

“With multiple demi-goddesses making the land pleasant, why should spirits feel the need to be present? With harmony being sown, only spirits of disruption may not leave the land alone. And during times when buildings burn, souls are too busy healing to just learn. The only pony who ever, fully hearted, studied spirits was Starswirl The Bearded,” the spirit sage replied.

“Heh. That makes sense. According to the stories I read over him, he must have been quite the glutton for knowledge. He would have studied everything that was even remotely linked to magic. I guess he was the only pony who ever truly understood spirits in a level as zebras do,” Twilight commented.

This time, Roho Maua remained silent. She just kept smiling calmly at Twilight, pleased to see that she was beginning to understand the way of zebras and their spirit-centered religion. After a while, she approached the purple mare and placed her left front hoof on her shoulder.

“I do see your intentions as just and by understanding us, you gained my trust. In your fight against king, cult and demon, I will speak to every shaman. In attempt to make the world better, I will bring each tribe together,” Roho Maua promised.

“Thank you. This means so much to me and the entire rebellion,” Twilight spoke with joy in her voice.

“The way home is long. You need to rest. For the night, please be my guest,” the spirit sage offered.

“Once again, thank you, honored spirit sage. In fact, I think I will try to pray to the spirits some more,” Twilight replied, then sat down in front of the altar again.