“Thanks for letting me stay here Twilight, I really appreciate it!”

“It’s absolutely no trouble! I should be thanking you for agreeing to let me study you! It’s not everyday somepony gets to study a completely new sapient species!”

“Sure, as long as it’s nothing too invasive, it should be no trouble. And I’ll be happy to answer any of your questions as best I can.”

“Are thirsty? Can I get you something to drink?”

“Just water will be fine.”

“Huh…this water tastes a little funny….”

You wake up, and the first thing you notice is the wooden ceiling above you. The unfamiliar environment causes your eyes to widen and you sit up with a start. You scan your surroundings to see that you are in some sort of wooden structure. But it wasn’t made of clean cut wooden boards, instead it was all one peace. It looked as if you were inside some giant, hollowed out tree.

‘Where am I?’ you think to yourself. You try to recall the last things you remember. It was hazy, but you remember being attacked by a pack of timber wolves. What happened after that, you weren’t sure. But what you were sure of was that you were outside in the wilderness. Which means someone had to have brought you here.
You quickly toss the bed sheets covering you aside. The first thing you see is your injured ankle wound tightly with bandage wrap. Then you notice more bandages wrapped around the bite wounds on your arm. There are faint pink stains on the cloth where the blood must have seeped through. There are also a series of small band aids littering your body to cover the smaller cuts you received during your escape. You also observe that your skin is no longer caked in dirt and blood. You must have been cleaned.

You look around once more. You do not recognize this place, and it does not match anything you’ve seen in Ponyville. But who else would live in this area but a pony? They’d helped you, that was for sure. But perhaps they just wanted to make sure you weren’t dead so that they could pass you along to…her. Perhaps she’d put out some sort of bounty on you after you escaped from that tacky crystal castle.

The place you are in is decorated with cultural items that look distinctly African. The ponies in Ponyville lived in a distinctly western and European styled community. Perhaps there are other pony cultures in the world. You wouldn’t know, you never left Ponyville. What you do know is that you can’t trust a pony when they say they have good intentions. You’ve made that mistake before.

You place your feet on the floor and carefully stand up. The pain on your ankle is significantly less than what it was before, but it still isn’t strong enough to walk without a limp. You slowly make your way to the edge of the room you’re in and peer around the corner.

You see a main chamber, decorated with wooden masks, along with potion bottles hanging from the ceiling. There’s even a black witch’s cauldron, which does not ease any of your worries. Thankfully the room appears to be clear of any residents, and the door is within sight.

You start limping towards the door, your eyes peeled for any potential threats. You also look for anything that might be useful in your survival. Halfway to the door you catch site of a long wooden pole. It looks solid and sturdy.

‘That would make a good cane. I could also use it as a weapon.’ You make your way towards the pole. Upon reaching it, you notice that it is decorated with carvings. You examine them. One ring appears to show a group of equines gathered under the sun. The next ring under it depicts a single equine alone. It appears to be traveling from a barren region into a forest.

‘The Everfree?’ you question.

Next is a ring showing the same pony next to a large tree with windows and a door. It must be a depiction of the home you’re now in. Next you see the singular pony figure approaching a group of six other ponies. Two of them are flying, Pegasi obviously. The other four are bound to the ground, two of them have horns.

‘Interesting,’ you muse. Then you hear the door behind you open. You whirl around with the staff firmly gripped in your hands, holding it in front of yourself defensively. Standing in the doorway is…well at first glance you could confuse it for a pony. But with the mohawk and stripes, it looked more like a zebra.

A zebra…you never new about any zebra’s living near Ponyville in the last world. You remained largely ignorant of life outside of that town. You were completely in the dark here, with no way to know if you could trust this thing.

The zebra seemed surprised to see you standing there, but quickly relaxed and stepped inside the home, shutting the door closed.

“Ah, you are awake and on your feet. I’m glad we can finally meet,” she greets you in a friendly manner. You are now able to determine that this zebra is female.

“Who are you? Where am I?” you asked with the staff pointed forward.

“My name is Zecora, I’m from lands far away. And this is my home, where I’ve brought you to stay.”

‘Why is she rhyming?’

“Why did you bring me here?” she looks befuddled by the aggressive tone you are taking.

“I mean you no harm, I assure thee. I found you injured in the Everfree.” She begins making her way closer, stopping at the cauldron. She uses her mouth to retrieve a vial from her saddle bags and pours the contents into the pot. She then grabs a ladle and begins stirring.

“Are you the one who bandaged me up?”

“Indeed, thankfully your injuries weren’t too severe. So I cleaned your wounds, patched you up and let you stay here.”

“Why? What’s in it for you?” her eyebrow raises at this and she looks at you with confusion.

“Why must there be something to gain? It would be awfully cruel to leave a creature in pain.” Despite the tension you let out a small ironic chuckle, which causes Zecora to look even more nonplussed.

“And does anyone else know I’m here?”

“Who would I tell if I you don’t mind? Are you on the run for some sort of crime?”

“The crime of existing,” you respond. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll be leaving now.” With a firm grip on the staff you begin making your way to the door, keeping your distance from the Zebra.

“Wait!” she calls out. You stiffen and prepare for a fight or flight scenario. “Your wounds are still fresh and sore. If you venture back into the forest you may receive even more!”

“I’ll take my chances,” you respond.

“If you wish to leave, I can’t make you stay. If your hearts set on leaving, I won’t get in your way. But please don’t take my staff, it’s important to me. If you need something similar, let me offer you something with less sentimentality.” You look to the staff in your hands, then back to her. You give her a slight nod. She sighs in relief, and heads into another room. You consider bolting for the door, but she’s back before you can even consider it. She brings with her what looks like a broken broom stick.

“I wish you would confess why you seem to lack any trust. To live life in Equestria, faith in others is a must.” You trade the staff for the broom stick.

“I already tried that, didn’t work out very well for me,” you respond. Her eyes widen in concern and seem to scan your from. She no doubt took in the deforming scars that decorated your flesh. You begin backing away towards the door. Zecora makes her way to the cauldron and uses the ladle to fill a small wooden cup. She then walks back up to you.

“Before you go, you must be hungry and thirsty. This tonic will refresh you and give you energy.” She offers the cup to you with a smile.

“Are thirsty? Can I get you something to drink?”

The zebras fur starts change color. The dark and light gray stripes turn to one solid color of lavender. Is that a horn poking out of her mohawk?

You can hear your blood pumping once again, adrenaline once again returning to your system. You smack her hoof away.

“Get that away from me!” you snarl, causing the Zebra to step back. “You won’t trick me again!” Before she can respond, you are out the door, putting as much distance as you can between yourself and this zebra, with as much speed as you are able. You don’t see the look of concern the zebra gives you as you leave, but if you did you probably wouldn’t care.

Only an idiot makes the same mistake twice.

Author's Note

Buymeacoffee or KO-FI