I’ll make a note here (and the other covers) that Diamond Comic Distributors just announced that due to the COVID-19 situation they will postpone shipping any comics with planned released after April 1 indefinitely, which will include MLP Issues #89 onward.

Nice to see Twilight following in her manipulator’s hoofsteps by sending ponies on dangerous expeditions.

@Background Pony #BC7A  
I’m gonna check that out 📖

I’d like where this is going 😁

They can finally afford to give Tempest a speaking role.

Only AJ out of the Mane 6 gets to join this adventure?  
Heck yeah, that promises to be a very different season opener.

@Masem  
The AFRICAN abada. Not the european. The abada is a unicorn-like animal with two horns, which can be used as an antidote to poison. The artist SomeSoap on DeviantArt has a picture of an “Abada Unicorn”. That’s pictures of abadas here, too. According to myths from Africa, these abadas are smaller than the zebras. The abadas is the african response to kirins from the far east.

@Background Pony #BC7A  
On the abada… from Wikipedia:
 
Äbädä is a demon or spirit. He is a Turkic forest being, similar in nature to the İyes. He protects the birds, trees, and animals of the forest; he appears in the shape of a human with blue skin, two great horns, green hair, and a long green beard across his face, carrying a club or whip indicating his mastery of the forest. He can shapeshift into many different forms. As a human, he looks like a peasant with glowing eyes, and his shoes are on backwards. Should one ever encounter an Äbädä, one must thwart him immediately by turning all one’s clothes inside out and backwards, and placing one’s shoes on the opposite feet.
 
Maybe the last part doesn’t quite apply to the MLP world, but the first part would seem to be the same as how the kelpie idea was brought to the previous comic, mirroring to some degree the mythological entity.
 
Alternatively, Phillip II of Spain kept a pet rhino called Abada, and THAT would be a lot more interesting…

Can I come up with speculation? Tempest may have joined the expedition as an airship captain to escort the new princess’s envoy, Applejack. Rockhoof, who had become an accomplished storyteller and undoubtedly thirsty for new adventures, may have joined in documenting the travel story and assisting Applejack. Zecora, of course, was to guide the expedition as she came from the land of the Zebras. There are available airships by Storm King that Tempest can use, and the artist - Andyprice - loves airships.
 
The kelpies are sea creatures known from IDW # 23 and # 24 so it meant that the expedition must have sailed on or over the ocean or used the waterways en route to the land of the Zebras. Since Whitley is the writer behind # 23 and # 24, it meant that his version of the kelpies may have been chosen. It meant that “Coltlantis” is now canon should there be a link between # 23 and Season 10. Kelpies are interesting because they are not hippogriffs, more a continuation from the sea ponies of G1 - although # 23 shows they can be related to the sirens.
 
The abadas are going to be brand new and since these can use magic it meant that he has stolen ideas from the fim fiction writer Rambling Writer? Lets just hope that Whitley will respect this, for the fiction story is good. Abadas are likely to be smaller than both the ponies and the zebras, but they can play an important role in the country where the zebras live. The Rambling Writer portrayed these as skilled magicians who were far ahead of the ponies in the use of magic in abuse. Only the earth ponies were immune to these spells, as Twilight Sparkle discovered when she examined the weapon fired at her.
 
Applejack is sure to discover a lot of new things about the zebras and the land, and not least about Zecora itself. With Rockhoof, the strongest earth pony and Tempest Shadow, one of the toughest warriors in Equestria - it certainly won’t be trouble.
 
Certainly?

@Neko Majin C  
Same here I hope it is good.

I must say, I am eagerly anticipating the upcoming season ten.

Wait… who is the writer of MLP comic #89? Whitley or Anderson?
 
If it’s Whitley, that mean he is taking his rejected ideas to put those one in S10 because the show ends… years ago he said that he wanted to create a story about Zecora’s backstory but hasbro rejected the idea because they said that will be explored in the show, something that never happens.
 
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2016/07/bronycon-coverage-mlp-idw-comic.html
 
That mean Whitley have posibilities to make the Discord’s trial but replacing Twilight’s kingdom with Ending of the End… but the Discord’s sister thing would be weird thanks to Princess Eris and Accord…

Abada”? Did the writers plan to use the fan fiction “The Other Side of the Horizon” by Rambling Writer in Fim Fiction? In the story, Twilight came out for murderous abadas who wanted to isolate the Zebra’s land from Equestria. But the land of the zebras is on the other side of a large ocean, so if they want to include this in the land of Equestria that can be used on a continent, and the zebras are not ponies - it’s not smart. Then the “official” map must be rewritten as the zebras cannot be within the traditional Equestria.
 
Just hope that Whitley didn’t dumb out, as the zebras were almost as rare as the kirins, it meant that they came from very far away without good transport opportunities between the land of zebras and equestria. The kirins had chosen to isolate themselves because of the nirik problem despite the short distance to a railway station. I don’t see the zebras doing the same; and after all, most are non-magical as seen with Zecora; she was a shaman.
 
Probably the Mane 6 must use sailing ships or airships to get to the land of the zebras. Railroad will be ridiculous.

At long last, zebra land!

Ad Limestone and I would have all my favourite ponies in a Picture.

Finally the comics will introduce zecora’s kins.