(A/N- Screw Chronology once more! Introducing Zecora.)

When The Forgemaster awoke from his slumber: he was surprised to say the least. He awoke on the bed that was made for him last night, but something was different. It felt like there was a weight on his arms, legs, and chest and he couldn't move! He opened his eyes to see a rainbow-colored object clouding his vision. He twitched his face and blew air until he got the thing off of him. As it did, he noticed what the thing was; it was Rainbow Dash's mane!

He moved his head around to see better and found Rarity on his left arm, Pinkie Pie on his arm, Rainbow Dash on his chest, Twilight over his stomach, and the weights on his legs must be Applejack and Fluttershy. Apparently, during the night, the ponies had gotten off of their cushions and found him to be a suitable replacement. All of them! Fortunately, the ponies had yet to notice the morning-wood creating a tent in his pants. The Forgemaster had the thought that waking them up might be considered rude, so he settled himself in for the long haul. He managed to stay still for about a half-hour before he was forced into waking them. In Rainbow Dash's mid-sleep movements; she accidently rolled over onto The Forgemaster's neck and was choking him. He could have endured that for a while, but a new torture set in: Rainbow Dash's mane! As she moved about, unconsciously trying to find a comfortable spot on his neck, she brushed his face with her soft mane, causing The Forgemaster to be tickled! With a combination of being tickled and having difficulty to breath, he felt the need to do something to stop this unintended torture: so he bit Rainbow Dash on the ear.

With a yelp that would probably have woken up all the ponies in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash announced her displeasure. The Forgemaster felt all of the other ponies pinning him to the floor jolt awake and get off of him as fast as they could. Rainbow Dash immediately dashed above him, hovering there and glaring at him.

With the most innocent voice he could muster, the Forgemaster said to the irate pegasus, "What?"

"What do you mean, 'What'! You know what you did! You bit me in your sleep!"

"I was dreaming about a winter wonderland filled with cupcakes and lollipops… I just had to take a bite."

"You liar!"

"Fine, you caught me. I was awake and noticed you were all on me, and I wanted to get up."

Rainbow Dash was extremely upset with this explanation, "So you bit me!"

"Yes."

"Couldn't you have tries something else first? Like, I don't know, poking me!"

"Yes, but I wanted to know what you tasted like. Blueberries, by the way."

Rainbow Dash hovered in mid-air, dumbfounded at what The Forgemaster had told her. Just then Pinkie Pie tackled her out of the air, screaming, "Really!"

The other ponies and the human watched as Pinkie licked Rainbow Dash as she had her pinned on the floor. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were both giggling, though Rainbow was also trying to get Pinkie off of her. The Forgemaster decided to intervene.

Without rising from his position, he called out, "Pinkie Pie, I was joking."

She lifted her head long enough to look at him in surprise, "Really! I could definitely taste some blueberries in there, but it tasted more like Skittles to me!"

Rainbow used this opportunity to interject, "Pinkie! Get the hay off of me!"

Pinkie Pie did so, with a sigh of disappointment, however.

"Now, why were you all on me?" The Forgemaster asked.

"Well, you were having a nightmare so we decided to comfort you." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah! You at least should be grateful!" said Rainbow Dash, still on the ground.

The Forgemaster grunted, and then said, "I don't have nightmares… I relive past memories."

All of the ponies just looked at him with shock evident on their faces.

Twilight, however, managed to speak, "Really? That must have been an awful memory, then. Just what exactly were you remembering, anyway?"

The Forgemaster, very eloquently, replied, "No."

"Come on, you can tell us, we're your friends."

"No, you're not." The Forgemaster then got to his feet as quickly as he could as all the ponies screamed, "WHAT!"

The Forgemaster made his way to the door, hoping to avoid an awkward moment. Unfortunately, that wouldn't happen.

The ever annoying and inquisitive Twilight Sparkle spoke up, much to The Forgemaster's chagrin, she asked, "Where are you off to, Forgemaster? And, why don't you think that we're friends?"

"Home." He said, completely ignoring the second question as he opened the door.

"Why? And answer my question or I won't let you leave." Twilight said as she slammed the door with her magic.

"Trying to avoid awkward scenario, failing."

"What do you mean?" asked the angry unicorn.

He glared back at her, then said, "Morning Wood." He then blasted the door open with his own magic, turned invisible, and went home as fast as he could.

All of the ponies in Twilight's home immediately blushed a deep, deep red, especially Twilight, who realized where, exactly, she had been laying on The Forgemaster. But, the ponies were also fairly upset. How could The Forgemaster not consider them friends after all they've been through? The ponies sat down and devised a plan to trap The Forgemaster and admit to them what was wrong.

*The Forgemaster's Home*

The Forgemaster arrived home as quickly as he could. When he entered, he let loose a spell. The runes in the walls immediately reacted to his magic, turning his house invisible to anyone looking from the outside. The Forgemaster then went about his morning routine, washing his clothes, taking a shower, making and eating food, then getting re-dressed in one of the copies of his clothes that Rarity had made for him. He knew he would have to answer the questions the ponies had about why he didn't consider them friends, but that could wait until another day. He sat about his living room, moping, really, when he realized he had yet to deliver his prototype to Rarity. So he went about preparing for that little adventure. The Forgemaster had an inkling that if any of those 6 ponies saw him he would be immediately detained and questioned. And his oath to Celestia prevented him from hurting those 6.

The Forgemaster sighed and thought, 'Better to get it over with.'

He picked his prototype up and walked out the door, making his house reappear and lock on his exit.

The Forgemaster walked through the streets of Ponyville, and for the first time in his admittedly short stay didn't see a single pony. He thought that was strange, but this probably had something to do with Pinkie Pie. He recalled that the pink party pony threw a party for every new resident in Ponyville, so perhaps a new pony was I town. He was thinking that as he dropped the prototype off on Rarity's porch and continued to walk through the town, still not seeing any-pony on the streets but noticing the ponies hiding in their homes.

Now, The Forgemaster had not been around in this land that long, but he knew that the only thing that would scare one of these ponies would be some creepy thing from the Everfree Forest. His suspicions, whether he knew it or not, were true. The Forgemaster walked around a corner and stopped. The first pony that he had seen in the whole town that wasn't cowering in their home was wearing a cloak over his/her entire body. The pony had yet to notice him, so The Forgemaster went up to the strange pony.

He said, "Excuse me, but where are all the other ponies?"

The figure looked over its shoulder and looked The Forgemaster in the eyes; the figure had brilliant, golden eyes, The Forgemaster noticed. As they looked at each other, each hesitating for a moment, the strange pony spoke in a rhyming, sing-song voice.

"I've never met a pony here; each time I come they disappear!" this pony looked him directly in the eye, not even fazed by his non-pony status.

"Oh… really? That seems rude. I should do something about that. But, where are my manners, I am called The Forgemaster, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He reached out with a hand for a hand shake.

"Do you not like your name, or do you hide behind your title out of shame?"

"I do not know my name, pony, I forgot it."

"A shame to hear, that is true, however, I could fix it with a brew."

"Ah. So you make potions then? But my memory is not something that can be fixed, nor do I wish it so. I hardly want to remember what I was like when I was insane."

The pony and The Forgemaster spoke for several minutes. He learned that she was, in fact, a zebra, not a pony. He also learned her name, Zecora, where she lived, directions to her home, and some other miscellaneous facts about her. When he learned how long she had tried to connect with the residents of Ponyville, and that a certain 'Hyper, pink mare' had screamed out 'An evil enchantress! RUN!', he became fairly irate. He held up a hand to stop Zecora mid-speech, turned around, and directly spoke to the residents of Ponyville in what could only be described as a Drill Sergeant's baritone yell.

"RESIDENTS OF PONYVILLE! ASSEMBLE RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW! ON THE DOUBLE!"

A few villagers poked their heads out of their homes and looked at him; fewer still actually left their homes to assemble where he had indicated. The rest of the doors remained resolutely shut.

"I SAID ASSEMBLE AND I MEANT IT, RECRUITS! GET YOUR ASSES IN GEAR OR I'LL GET THEM IN GEAR FOR YOU WITH MY BOOT!"

The denizens of Ponyville finally got it through their thick skulls what exactly The Forgemaster wanted, those still in their homes left and proceeded to where the original ponies had gathered. When the Forgemaster was confident all the residents of Ponyville were there, he spoke once more.

"YOU CALL THAT ASSEMBLING! FALL INTO LINES! 7 WIDE AND 18 DEEP, PONIES! ON THE DOUBLE! NOW, MOVE IT! MOVE IT! MOVE IT!"

The ponies dazed and confused as they were, found themselves doing as he told them as quickly as their legs could carry them.

"DISGRACEFUL! YOU CALL THAT DOUBLE TIME! I DIDN'T EVEN HEAR A PEEP OUTTA YOU! WHAT DO YAH SAY?"

A few ponies yelled back, "Yes, Sir!"

"I DIDN'T HEAR YOU! I ASKED, 'WHAT DO YOU SAY WHEN ADDRESSING A SUPERIOR OFFICER'!"

All the ponies replied, "Yes, Drill Sergeant." And then looked at each other with confusion, the question evident on their faces, 'What did we just say?'

"SLOPPY! BUT YOU'RE GETTING BETTER! PRIVATE PINKAMENA DIANE PIE! REPORT, FRONT AND CENTER!"

"Private Pie, reporting for duty, sir!"

He blinked and Pinkie Pie was standing in front of him, dressed in Army green fatigues with a helmet and combat vest. In fact, all the ponies were wearing that now and they were extremely confused. He looked down at himself and saw the uniform of a Drill Sergeant. He didn't bat an eyelash at Pinkie's antics and continued where he left off.

"PRIVATE PIE, YOU ARE HEREBY ORDERED TO APOLOGIZE TO FIELD MEDIC ZECORA!" he indicated the zebra in question.

"Sir, for what transgression, sir?" asked Pinkie Pie, as serious as the most hardened of veterans.

"UPON ARRIVING IN PONYVILLE, FIELD MEDIC ZECORA WAS INSULTED AND PONIES FLED FROM HER LIKE THE PLAGUE. THIS HAS CAUSED IRREPERABLE HARM TO HER EMOTIONALLY. THE ACTIONS OF THE PONIES WERE INSTIGATED BY YOU, PRIVATE PIE. AS SUCH, YOUR PUNISHMENT IS TO APOLOGIZE, IMMEDIATELY!"

"YES, DRILL SERGEANT!" Pinkie Pie then went up to Zecora and apologized with all the seriousness she displayed earlier, after apologizing and at a nod from her Drill Sergeant, she fell back into line.

'NOW IT'S YOUR TURN, MAGGOTS. YOUR PUNISHMENT IS AS FOLLOWS: YOU ARE TO BE FRIENDS TO ZECORA, YOU ARE TO TREAT HER WITH THE RESPECT SHE DESERVES, AND YOU ARE TO ACCEPT HER AS AN EQUAL! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

The ponies all replied, "YES, DRILL SERGEANT!"

"GOOD! WHILE THIS IS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, ONLY TIME WILL HEAL THE WOUNDS YOUR CHILDISHNESS HAS CAUSED. NOW, ALL OF YOU ARE TO REPORT TO PT WITH CPL. APPLEJACK AT THE ORCHARD! MOVE OUT PONIES! ONE, TWO. ONE, TWO."

As the ponies marched away in perfect military precision, The Forgemaster looked back to see Zecora laughing her head off. She looked at him with a question in her eyes after gaining control of herself, but The Forgemaster cut her off.

"No, Zecora, you do not have to join PT. That will show those maggots not to mess with those who are different. I think I'll visit you later on, is that okay?"

She nodded, but he looked away and screamed after the 'recruits'.

"PRIVATE PIE! JUST BECAUSE I'M NOT THERE DOES NOT MEAN I CANNOT PUNISH YOU. CPL. APPLEJACK! 5 MILE RUN FOR ALL THE PONIES! BUT PRIVATE PIE GETS 20!"