//------------------------------//
// Ch 2: Another Point of View 
// Story: Out of the Darkness 
// by SergeantShenanigans 
//------------------------------//

"I need to find this kava, so that I may go home and drink some java," Zecora remarked idly.

Zecora had spent the past hour or so searching through the forest for a plant called the kava, a plant used to brew a sedative or an anesthetic. She was searching for this plant because Fluttershy needed it to take care of her animals.

Passing through a few trees she finally found what she was looking for. The kava was a dark green spade shaped leaf, while normally if consumed it would be toxic; if strained and extracted correctly it was a very useful medicinal herb. The plant itself was fairly easy to spot against the dark brown and black background of the rest of the area.

As Zecora reached down to collect her findings, she heard a sudden explosion that sounded as if Rainbow Dash herself was just a few meters away pulling off a Sonic Rainboom.‘What was that?’ she wondered. Gathering up the bit of kava that she had found,she quickly departed to locate the source of the loud noise.

Walking in the direction she heard the explosive sounding noise come from she came upon a small clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a motionless dark figure lying on the ground. ‘Is that the being that made the noise?’ she wondered, approaching the figure. Upon closer inspection she could see that it was a stallion, who was seemingly unconscious, and very hurt.The stallion was wearing a tattered and torn cloak that covered most of his body.

While inspecting the stallion she immediately noticed one of his legs, which was bent in a way it shouldn't have been able to.‘He is damaged I do concur, perhaps I should see if he will stir?’ She thought as she leaned towards the stallion and slowly, brought her hoof to his chest to see if it was alive. As a response she felt the steady beat of a living heart.

Zecora let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.‘Good, this pony’s fate did not turn out as I thought it would.’

Gently, she prodded at his back left hoof to see if he would stir. She instantly regretted this as his eyes jolted open. ‘Why did I feel compelled to prod this colt and move his body with such a jolt?’

For a moment he simply looked at the moon, then to his left staring at some trees, then to his right staring at the other trees.

When his eyes finally came to rest on Zecora, she decided to speak up. "Sorry for your hooves that I did shake, but I had to check if you would wake." She said calmly trying to think of what to do with this stallion.

He seemed to try and respond, only for his eyes to cringe in pain. "Please do not try and move or your consciousness you will lose." She warned, still trying to think of what to do.

Finally, Zecora decided that she would carry him back to her hut and tend to his injuries. "If your injuries I do not tend, your bones and cuts will not mend." 

He responded with a questioning look. ‘At least, Ithink it’s a questioning look…’ she thought. Before she could ponder it any more, she decided to carry him back to her hut. Even though she tried carefully, he still lost consciousness.‘I hope I am not too late,’ she thought grimly, picking up her pace as she raced back to her hut.

Many hours later he slowly stirred into consciousness. His first priority was to see if his eyes would open, and instead of his body being unresponsive as he assumed it would be, he was rewarded with his eyes slowly opening. When they were completely open he took a moment to take in his surroundings. 

Doing so he found himself in a hut of some sort, upon further inspection he found many vials, plants and masks spread throughout the hut.‘Looks like I’m in some kind of witch doctors hut.’ He decided upon seeing the masks. 

With that in mind he began to contemplate what kind of creature lived in this hut. His thoughts were interrupted when what happened the night before came rushing back to him. ‘I wonder where that strange pony went?’ he wondered. 

After a few moments of searching around the room and not finding the strange pony he decided to get some more rest and regain his energy.

Sometime later, he was abruptly woken by the sound of a door closing. Looking towards the sudden disturbance he recognized the pony who had found him the night before, to his surprise she turned out to be a zebra not a pony. She had a black and white mane sticking up in a mohawk, a strange spring like necklace around her neck and her cutie mark was a spiral surrounded by small triangles.‘Huh, I don't think I've ever seen a zebra before.’

That stray thought caused something to click inside his head. ‘Wait, have I ever seen a zebra before? Come to think of it what’s a zebra? How do I know what a zebra is? Who am I anyway? I don't even know who I am!’

Seeing his eyes widen Zecora quickly approached him with a worried expression on her face. "Do not strain yourself to move, if it is in strength you have nothing to prove." 

He briefly wondered what she meant.‘Strength…?’ His eyes widened again as he came to a sudden conclusion. ‘I couldn’t move my body the night before so what condition is it in?’ He tried to look down at his body but his effort was in vain, without the use of his neck he could not see his body.

"Your body is in a bad condition, if you were wondering how it was then you should listen," She waited for him to calm down before continuing. "Broken bones and cuts cover your body, the fact that you live strikes me oddly. That is all that I can tell, for your internal organs I hope this bodes well. Until you are better what I think will be best, is if you stay in that bed and get some rest.”

Having explained the situation, Zecora decided that he should get some food to help him regain his energy. Using the last of her vegetables for the month she made a carrot, corn and green bean stew. After carefully spoon feeding it to him, she let him get more rest and head into ponyville to restock on her monthly supplies and check in on her friends. As she left the last thing on her mind was what had happened in the month that she had been gone.