Cute and Innocent

In the beginning, there was nothing…

All I remember is just blackness… The void… And my little pink body standing there, surrounded by it all…

And then, daylight!

It must have been during the afternoon? The sun shone brightly on my body, as I stood there on the concrete platform.

Honestly, I couldn’t see so great! The sun was right in my eyes, and I could feel wetness around my cheeks, as if I had been crying, but that wasn’t nearly as concerning as the bright light I was trying to blot out with my right forehoof!

“She’s free!” I hear a blue pony scream in the distance, and I remove my hoof, to see a blue earth pony bolting for the other end of the yard!

“Oh, golly! He must be afraid of me?” I raise my gaze, in the bright light and feel the warmth of the sun’s glow on my flesh as my fur blows in the breeze…

It felt amazing after all that nothing earlier!

I’m still not sure who I am or what I’m doing here, but I feel as if I need to leave?

I take off to fly out towards the open sky!

I felt the wind blowing against my feathers for the first time in what felt like forever, and I feel the air blowing against my cheeks in glorious spender… It felt like….freedom!

I feel the wetness on my cheeks begin to dry as I fly off towards a wide open treeline in the distance, but I also see I need to cross over some village to get there!

I already flew over that big building, whatever it was… I think to myself…

I stare down and see earth ponies and unicorns of different colors and mane styles, red, blond, blue, green, and yellow, all going to and from their respective places, and working to do whatever it is they do…

It looked a lot like a town!

I stare forward and think that that doesn’t matter now… I’m free now, and nothing else matters… I smile as I fly towards the forest on the horizon, as I feel the warmth of the sun on my back, and the wind lifting me higher towards the clouds…

I was free… I was finally free…

<*****>

Once I crossed over the treeline, I watched as several different trails and paths led into the forest, and I raised my gaze to stare forward, away from the hot sun…

I feel like I should know where I am?

Gee, I’m kinda hungry! Uh, maybe there’s berries in the forest somewhere?

How do I know which ones are safe to eat?

Well, I remember somepony once told me not to eat the red ones, but that the black ones were okay…

Wait, who taught me that?

I shake my head to clear it before scanning the forest floor from overhead, where I continue to glide with my little wings, and I notice a particular bush near some strange blue flowers!

I smile, “I bet that’s safe to eat?”

I flutter down to the left, towards the bushes, from 50 feet away, and I come screaming in as I begin to quickly flap my wings away from me, to slow down, before I lightly land on my hooves in the forest clearing…

Where did I learn to fly like that?

I stare over at the bushes, maybe 10 feet from me, and I slowly trot over there on my hooves, to inspect it with my eyes…

What color are my eyes, I wonder?

I see the berries on the bush, are in fact, black!

I notice it brushing up against some much smaller blue plants, but I think nothing of it as I eat the berries…

They explode in my mouth with sour juicy flavor!

I have no idea how long it’s been since I ate actual food… I matter-of-factly think to myself…

Suddenly, I feel a weight grow on my shoulders, and I can barely move!

I very slowly say, “Heeyy! Whhaatt giives?

The words Cozy Slow suddenly enter my mind for some strange reason.

Suddenly, I hear a deep feminine voice say from behind me, “I have traveled this area of the forest under the sky so blue, but I don’t recall seeing you! Who are you, young filly?”

I very slowly turn around and try my best to mouth out, “I doooonnn’t knnnnoooowww mmmmmyyyy nnnnnaaaaammmmme… “ before very slowly blinking…

The striped pony I see 8 feet away from me raises her gaze before turning back down to me and she asks me plainly, “That bush has poison joke! Did you eat from it, or no?” as she stares at me inquisitively with her blue eyes and I note her Mohawk style mane-cut and the 4 golden rings around her neck, which I guess are for decoration?

I slowly blink again, and very slowly nod my muzzle up and down…

She smiles, and says, “Ah! You have nothing to fear! I have just the thing, my dear!” before she takes two paces towards me, reaches down with her neck, and forcefully bites the back of my neck and turns her head around, to place me on her back… She keeps her grin, “Say nothing, little pony! I’ll make you well again, for your coming testimony!

She turns her gaze and body further down the trail, while all I can do is watch the forest floor pass as she continues to slowly trot and speak to me, “You’ve become infected with poison joke, my new friend! Only a bubble bath, could this situation mend!”

… A bubble bath? Oh, golly! That sure sounds like fun!

… Wait a minute?

<*****>

She ran a bath for me, in her ivory bathtub in the small cottage…

It was in the corner and I noticed the ornate elephant shaped feet…

She then turns back to look at me, reaches down with her neck, to lift me back up from my neck, and she then turns to carry me towards the elephant tub…

After taking 4 steps, she gently cranes her neck down to set me into the warm soapy water, with it’s many bubbles…

Oh, boy! A bubble bath! Hooray!

As the water covers my fur and it grows soggy, I begin the feel that weight from earlier beginning to lift… I finally move my neck to see her there, smiling at me, with similar white and black designs across her back and I finally ask her, “You have black and white stripes! What kind of pony are you?”

She smiles wider, “I am what’s called a zebra, young soul! I come from a land far to the west! But what pray tell is your name, foal?”

I blink and tell her the truth, “I uh, um, I have no idea!”

She frowns, “So in this contemporary, you mean to tell me that you have no memory?”

I nod, “That is correct! And you rhyme a lot!”

She smiles again, “Indeed that is so! And my name is Zecora, just so you know!”

… “Oh, golly!”

Her mouth straightens, “Still, I don’t wish to call you nameless filly, and so what should I call you, to make this less silly?”

And that’s when I smiled and said, “Call me, Captain Awesome!”

You know, I really don’t see this one panning out?

… Implying there were others…

She smiles, “I shall call you, Ophelia!”

I grin too, when I suddenly think I like my new name!

(To be continued… )