Outland

by Dafaddah

Of Hearts and Absence

Outland

by
Dafaddah

Chapter four: Of Hearts and Absence

Edited by Sharp Logic, Microshazm and Mythee

---

Zecora woke up the next morning to the colt’s whispered entreaties.

“G’morning, Zecora. Shad go get some breakfast now.”

She groaned as she lifted her muzzle from the floor. Her head was a whole pony orchestra of pain.

“Shad, don’t...” she started to say, and then heard the rustling of the thornbush at the cave’s entrance. She contemplated calling out to him for only a moment before the details of her circumstances returned fully to her awareness. Her better sense prevailed and she held her tongue.

Reaching up with a hoof she felt a huge lump on the side of her head, and realized that she was unlikely to be going anywhere in the next few days.

Alone and blind in the cave, she was in a very unfamiliar and uncomfortable state of enforced idleness. With nothing to do, her active mind kept circling back to her situation.

Girl, if your vision remains black, from this trip you might not come back! Her heart raced at the thought, and then she felt the heat of embarrassment.

Do not succumb to weakness and self-pity, there’s a young one here in jeopardy! she scolded herself.

As if thinking about the foal called him forth, there was a scratching near the entrance and the muted sound of Shad’s hoofsteps entering the cave proper. She heard him step carefully over to where she lay, then the sound of a wooden bowl being placed on stone. She smelled both fresh greens and water directly in front of her muzzle.

“Breakfast,” said the colt in his very quiet voice. Despite her current blindness Zecora could hear the pleasure in Shad’s voice. He was proud of providing for her.

“Thank you, my little Shad,” she said, adopting the same mild tone. “You are truly quite the lad!” Her nose led her lips to the water. She drank sparingly, not wanting to risk the return of nausea. She then ate some of the greens, more to sooth her tumultuous stomach than to sate her appetite.

Questions came to mind as she ate. Pausing between mouthfuls, she began to gently question the foal.

“How long have you lived here, little pony? How long is it since you’ve seen your mommy?”

“Shad always live here. Momma said Shad was born here. When Momma left was many moons ago. More moons than Shad can count. More than eight moons,” he concluded sadly.

“And since that time you have lived all alone, with no grown-ups in your home?”

There was no response that she could hear.

“Shad, your answers you must tell me, for since the fight I hear but cannot see.” She flicked an ear in emphasis.

“Shad has been alone since Momma left.”

Her suspicions confirmed, Zecora was at a loss for words. She was a proud mare, and she knew it. Not least among the things she was most proud of were her independence and self reliance. This little one, you must confess, though just a foal has done no less! She felt an enormous amount of respect for the little pony that had somehow survived the dangers of the Everfree, abandoned or worse. In her heart she knew what had likely happened to Shad’s mother. The thought brought a lump to her throat.

“Why Zecora cry?” he asked. She felt his hoof wipe a tear from her muzzle.

“My head still hurts a lot, young hero. The basilisk dealt me quite a blow!” She rubbed the side of her head and tried to smile reassuringly.

You've grown a mountain on the side of your head. That's certainly better than being dead! The thought brought a rueful smile to her lips. If only you had your medical kit, you could reduce the swelling a bit.

This reminded her of her saddlebags.

“Where I was struck did you find, bags with objects of all kinds?” she asked.

It took the lad a moment, but eventually he replied. “Shad saw them fly away when the monster hit Zecora. Had to run. Couldn’t take them.” His tone turned miserable.

“Worry not my brave young colt, it was most wise of you to bolt. Both brave and strong was Shad to carry, Zecora so far to warmth and safety.”

Again there was no reply. And then she felt a tentative hoof on her own. It was trembling. On impulse she pulled him gently into a hug. The colt snuggled up to her willingly, but trembled like a leaf. He was obviously frightened of something. Then it struck her: Shad had been without love and comfort for who knew how long.

His need is desperate, and he doesn’t understand why. This colt is a flower too long hidden from the sky!

Not knowing what to say, she merely hugged him tighter. A flower. Unbidden, a memory surfaced of herself crying in her mother’s embrace. Words came to her, and Zecora began quietly to croon.

“Maua mazuri yapendeza
Maua mazuri yapendeza
Ukiyatazama yanameremeta
Hakuna limoja lisilo pendeza
...”

“...Maua mazuri yapendeza
Ukiyatazama utachekelea
Hakuna mmoja asiye yapenda.”

Zecora doubted Shad had understood a single word of her song, but still, he was no longer trembling.

“Zecora?” he asked.

“Yes, child?”

“Are you going to go away, like Momma did?”

She thought about how to reply. She didn’t want to make a promise she might not be able to keep. Nevertheless, she knew she could not abandon the colt in the Everfree.

“Little Shad, this you must believe, without you I shall not leave.”

She heard him let out a breath. “Shad is glad.” He pulled away from her embrace. “Don’t like to be alone. Shad go get more food.” Without further pause she heard him leave the cave.

As she glanced involuntarily towards the sound she noticed that she could tell where the entrance was because it just seemed less dark in that direction. She waved a hoof before her face and noticed the light from the entrance being occluded. Between her withers, a knot of tension she hadn't known was there relaxed, leaving her still weak, but feeling lighter, somehow.

With a hoof, Zecora touched her poll, muzzle and chest, expressing her thanks to the spirit of the Maker. Her sight was coming back! Reassured, she lay down her head and slept. She dreamt that she was a filly again, and of being abandoned and forgotten by everyzebra she knew.

---

Blue-jay, woodpecker, crickets.

Shad hissed in pain as he slipped into the water of his swimming hole. He didn’t even bother saying hello to the fish.

Zecora's leaf-green saddlebags sat next to the pond. He had already retrieved them and the things she had dropped in her fight with the monster, or at least, he hoped, most of them. There was a pot left in the middle of the clearing that had been tipped in the fight, but its awful smell had not encouraged him to touch it or even stay in its proximity any longer than necessary.

For the first time since the previous day’s events, he took a close look at his flank and saw the swollen red flesh under the monster’s claw marks. He rubbed the wounds until they bled again.

Getting out of the water, he carefully licked the cuts and the fur around them dry. That’s what Momma had taught him to do with scratches. He grimaced at the bad taste.

Silence.

Shad’s ears shot up and swiveled in every direction. Looking out through the trees, he saw something large and green moving in his direction from beyond the opposite side of the pond.

He quietly lowered himself back into the water, and swam into an area full of reeds, keeping only his nose, eyes and ears above the surface. Soon there was the sound of undergrowth being pushed aside. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his entire head underwater.

Shad trembled as he thought of the huge monster just above. It was the one from yesterday! He had seen its damaged head. It was wounded very badly, with the eye gone on the side he briefly glimpsed. Somehow, the ball that Shad had thrown had caused this. Now the monster was very angry, and had decided to hunt him down.

When he could no longer hold his breath he began slowly blowing out bubbles of air. He had played this game many times when visiting the pond with Momma. They would hold contests, and he would try his best to stay down longer than she did. Together they would look at the fish and tadpoles, and inevitably he would have to thrust his muzzle out of the water before she did. She joked that she had bigger lungs than he did. Sometimes she'd stay down an extra long time, just to show him that she could.

Finally, his lungs were empty and he was becoming desperate for air. He poked his nostrils barely above the water and drew in a slow breath, only to submerge again without a sound.

Monster.

It was still up there. No doubt it had smelled out his presence. He recalled the damaged head. If their gazes had met Shad would have been turned to stone. A chill ran down his back, causing him to tremble. Again he took himself to the limit of his endurance, and risked another indrawn breath through his nose.

Monster.

Underwater again, Shad felt calmer. The monster made no move to enter the water. He resolved to show this monster that he could play this game longer than it could.

It only took two more breaths before his nose told him that the monster was gone. Still, he continued for two more breaths after that, and then slowly raised his ears out of the water, listening intently.

Blue-jay, woodpecker, crickets.

Shad rose out of the pond in slow increments, all senses on full alert. The saddlebags had been upset and some the contents scattered. He gathered what remained back into the bags, pushed himself under them and stood. The bags almost touched the ground.

Next he located where the monster had exited the area around the pond. He followed the signs of its passage off of the rock and back up the ridge into the forest. After a few minutes his eyes narrowed to slits and his ears hit the back of his head. The monster was following his trail home!

Shad growled. Then with the silent focus of the hunter, hurried after the monster.

---

Zecora awoke from her nap and stretched. She still had a headache. At least the mountain on the side of her head had shrunk down in size to something no bigger than a good sized hill. Rubbing it carefully with the frog of her hoof, she found no obvious rents or tears in the skin. This was no small comfort when she was still effectively blind and unable to get access to her medical supplies or to go replenish them from the forest.

She waved a hoof in front of her face. Her eyes seemed more sensitive to shades of light and darkness than before, but she wasn’t sure exactly by how much, or even if she was merely being optimistic.

It’s hard to be an optimist, when all you see are shadows in the mist! she thought, raising a sarcastic eyebrow.

Her stomach growled, reminding her of other obligations. Without being able to see the sky she only had a vague impression of the time. Still, she was reasonably sure it was at least an hour or two after midday. The colt said he was going out to find lunch, so she presumed he should have returned by now. Her ears flicked in mild distress.

Zecora decided to carefully explore the cave by touch and scent. It didn’t take her long to find what was obviously a stock of dried food, mostly grasses and some wild oats. She grazed guiltily from the stock, vowing to replace the amount consumed at least twice over once she recovered.

Another bit of exploring brought her to an alcove near the back of the cave. Both her ears and nose informed her that there was a water course nearby. Some careful hoofwork let her determine that a stream emerged from the wall, was exposed for two ponylengths and then sank back into the rock.

The smell in this area also made it clear this was where the cave’s occupant took care of his necessities. She was grateful for the discovery as her own needs were becoming pressing. Thus relieved, she carefully felt her way back to where she had slept, a natural bowl-shaped depression in the rock lined with some soft materials. She lay down in the nest, her tail flicking back and forth agitatedly.

Zecora had rarely felt so helpless. And she had to admit to herself that she was more than a little concerned for the foal. “My little pony, why do you tary? Your absence for so long is becoming scary!” she whispered into the suddenly oppressive silence.

Comments

[RadicalDishonesty]

Hmmm... The description indicates this could be a sad story about ostracism for Spike and Twilight. but the Comedy tag makes me hope it's a bit less hopeless than that.

It's certainly pretty bittersweet with Zecora and Shad at the moment.

[Dafaddah]

5029768

It's one of my conceits that I believe a good drama – to be true to the richness of life itself – should encompass both the happy and the sad parts of life. The tag system for FIMfiction unfortunately expresses a different opinion:
- there is no drama tag,
- adventure and slice of life are mutually exclusive,
- the same for comedy and sad.

So, to at least make things clear for readers who see this post:
This story is a drama about four individuals who each live on the periphery of Equestrian society, and how they feel inside about being outside.

Hey, I think I'll add that to the description! Thanks for being my muse!

[RadicalDishonesty]

5029813
I see! The description (plus the adventure tag) seems to imply that the Outland is an actual place that the four main characters are banished to because they don't fit in normal society, not a place in their mind. Good to know!