//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Life's Scapegoat // Story: Trip Of A Lifetime // by Tailslover13 //------------------------------// “My…my name is Josh,” the human stuttered, slightly unnerved how this zebra girl didn’t seem to be scared of him, and how she casually and politely asked who he was without immediately jumping into a bunch of annoying questions. “Josh…a very unusual name…but then again, mine is much the same,” the zebra nodded, “My name is Zecora, and this is my home. Tell me, for what reason did you come out here to roam?” “Um…aren’t you…kinda…confused about exactly what I am?” Josh questioned, “Why aren’t you asking me what type of…creature…I am? Why aren’t you quickly locking your door in fear? Why aren’t you acting more…you know…cautious?” “I can read your emotions within your eyes,” Zecora said calmly, “What I see does not lie. While it is true I have not seen one such as you before, such a fact is not a reason to quickly lock and barricade my door. Would you perhaps like to come inside, which would be a lot better place to confide?” “First, you don’t get freaked out by a complete stranger at your door, which happens to not be a pony,” Josh said sarcastically, “Then, you openly invite that very same alien into your home without even asking questions? What’s your game, Zecora? Are you a mad scientist who is thrilled to have found a new test subject? Or are you perhaps mocking me, thinking that I’m completely pathetic and could not possibly bring any harm to you or your home.” Unlike all the ponies that he had previously met, Josh was stunned to find that Zecora didn’t glare at him, nor did she make an immediate angry retort. Instead, the human boy was met with the same calm, collective stance that Zecora had displayed from the very beginning. She took Josh’s sarcastic remarks and seemed to brush them aside, or just accepted them for what they were and didn’t get mad at Josh for speaking what he wanted. Naturally, this shocked the human. “If you do not wish to come in, that is up to you,” Zecora said, staying in her calm stance, “You are free to decide what it is you wish to do. If you wish to talk, please come in. If not, I hope to see you again. But you have come all this way, so perhaps you should rest; conserving your strength in the Everfree Forest would be for the best.” Once again, Josh was at a loss for words. This zebra spoke so maturely, so wisely, and so calmly. Even if the human WANTED to be rude to her, he wasn’t sure if it would matter. The only reason he ever spoke rudely, to either humans or ponies, was to make sure they understood his point. He tried to speak nice in the past, not to mention he tried to be a sweetheart to everyone he met. But, all he got in return was abuse, so it turned him into the sarcastic, outspoken boy he was now. With Zecora, since she was speaking with respect, yet maturity, Josh had a harder time being mean. “Okay, fine…I’ll come in then,” Josh muttered, rubbing the back of his head and feeling highly awkward that he was addressing coming into a zebra’s hut, “As long as you’re sure about this.” “I am very sure, do not fear,” Zecora smiled, stepping aside and raising a hoof up to beckon Josh into her home, “I am very interested in what I might hear.” With a slight nod, Josh bit his lower lip and gently stepped into the small hut. Josh had never seen a stranger house; then again, his home was on Earth, so that was only natural. The inside of Zecora’s small hut was filled with vials of potions aligning the shelves, not to mention jars filled with odd or strange ingredients. There was a giant cauldron in the middle of the one-room house, which was bubbling calmly with some kind of clear blue concoction. Oddly-colored masks and other foreign décor filled the rest of the little hut, along with a small bookcase, which Josh guessed was filled with spell books or other scriptures pertaining to enchantments. The human was guessing that this zebra was kind of shaman, potions maker, witch, or something similar along those lines. “Very interesting house,” Josh mused, standing in the middle of the room and glancing around with interest, “It’s so…well, different.” He was trying to talk politely and not insult Zecora’s house. Deep down, Josh found the place slightly creepy, and he was somewhat concerned about his wellbeing while being in that hut. For all he knew, Zecora could be waiting for the right moment to try and poison him, or turn him into a toad, or perform some kind of evil incantation to do something horrific to his body. However, as with Apple Bloom, there was just something about Zecora’s personality that was making Josh behave himself, at least for the time being. “By ‘different’, I can guess what you mean,” Zecora said, “This place is a lot more than it may seem. It may be my home, but it is much more than that. Would you like something to drink? My home is your welcome mat.” “A drink? Ah-ha, I knew it!” Josh gasped, “You’re gonna try and poison me, aren’t you? Or you’re gonna knock me out with some sleeping potion! I may never wake up again if that happens!” The human quickly got into a defensive position, half-expecting the zebra to start attacking him with magic or some other unseen force or weapon. However, once again, he was shocked when Zecora just sighed and sat down without doing anything of the sort. “If you did not want something to drink, a simple ‘no thank you’ would’ve worked, I think,” she said softly, “You have no reason to fear me, my friend; shall we sit down and talk to make such thoughts end?” “…do you always talk in rhyme?” Josh asked, still standing up and being a bit defensive, “It’s not annoying or anything…I just find it fascinating. Back where I come from, no one talks like that.” In response, Zecora chuckled and sat down on a small blue cushion that was on the floor. “Much like yourself, Josh, I am quite different from the ponies,” she explained, “However, just because I am myself, that does not make me a phony. I am who am I am, and I always will be; the fact I speak in rhyme is a part of my life, you see.” “Oh…well, uh…you know, I think I WILL take something to drink, Zecora,” Josh muttered, rubbing his forehead and, for once in his life, really starting to feel like an ass, “I’m sorry about those accusations and for questioning how you talk…I’m just an outspoken person, you see.” “That is quite alright; do not worry yourself about that,” Zecora smiled, rising from her cushion and trotting over to a small makeshift fireplace, “Allow me to make us some herbal tea; I’ll have it going faster than a mouse being caught by a cat.” “Thanks,” Josh mumbled again, looking behind his back and seeing a small, beautifully-crafted wooden chair. It only came up to his thighs, and it looked fragile enough to easily be broken by a 150-pound human. However, when Zecora noticed Josh eying the chair, she looked up from her teapot that she was settling over her small fireplace and smiled at him. “That chair was crafted using the strongest wood in Everfree,” she explained, “Big or small, it will support your weight; try it and see.” “I highly doubt you’ve seen any creatures that weigh 150 pounds,” Josh said, poking at the chair with his foot, “But…well, if you say so; I’ll take your word for it.” Nervously, he turned around and timidly sat down on the small seat. Shockingly, he felt the wooden chair easily support his weight, and it would probably even hold two more humans his size. As the shocked boy made himself comfortable on the strong chair, Zecora was busy brewing the herbal tea. While she did, she glanced back and made idle chatter with the human. “So, Josh, if it would not be too much to ask,” the zebra stated, “Maybe you would tell this curious zebra about your task? Why is it that you are out here all alone? Serious bravery coming here is what you have shown. Was there a reason that you came here, or maybe not? If I am asking too much, do tell me to stop.” “Oh, no, it’s fine…ask what you want,” Josh said, blinking slightly as he observed the zebra, very mystified to why Zecora wasn’t questioning just WHAT he was by this point, “I only came to this forest to get away from…uh, Ponyville. You see…those ponies were just getting on my nerves, and I just HAD to get them out of my hair, at least for a little while. A guy like me can only take so much before he snaps.” “I see…so, you decided to take a little walk?” Zecora asked, smiling as steam began rising from the teapot and going to get two teacups from a small wooden table, “Perhaps it was fate, since now we get to talk.” “Uh, yeah, I guess…” Josh muttered, now twiddling his fingers and propping his left leg up over his right as he sat on the seat, “I suppose I owe you a deeper explanation than that, Zecora. After all, you ARE being kind and generous to me, so the least I can do is return the favor and explain the whole situation.” As he spoke these words, Zecora poured two cups of boiling-hot herbal tea with by grasping the teapot with her mouth. She then put both cups onto a large saucer before putting the saucer into her mouth and carrying it over to Josh. Without saying a word (or perhaps because her mouth was momentarily full), Zecora set the saucer down onto the nearby small table. Then, after some minor adjusting, she sat back down on her small blue cushion on the opposite side of the table while Josh was perfectly fine where he was. Josh, being a gentleman for once, allowed Zecora to take her choice of cup before taking the second for himself. For some odd reason, Josh still wasn’t being himself. Normally, he would’ve explained how much he honestly hated tea and refused to drink it. However, Josh couldn’t find it in his heart to do anything mean at the moment. Was Zecora already casting spells on him that he didn’t know? He wasn’t really feeling sick. Sure, he was feeling a bit dizzy for some reason, but he only just realized that. Regardless of the way he was acting, Josh soon lifted his cup of tea to his mouth and took a sip. “Mmm…that’s lovely, Zecora!” Josh smiled, licking his lips as the tea burned his throat on the way down. He wasn’t lying. Even though he still didn’t like it that well, it wasn’t terrible, and he was much too nervous to really say anything negative to this hospitable zebra. Then again, Josh very well could’ve just drank some poison or sleeping potion, as he first suspected, but he had put those thoughts mostly into the back of his head by this point. “I am glad you like it; I don’t usually have more to make tea for,” Zecora said, leaning up on her cushion and using both of her hooves to lift up her teacup as she herself took a drink, “I must admit it is nice to have company; save for Apple Bloom, getting others here is quite a chore.” “Apple Bloom? Oh, yeah, I met her earlier,” Josh chuckled, taking another sip and forcibly trying to make himself like the stuff, “She’s quite a nice little filly. She’s you friend, I presume?” “Friend…yes, I think that would be right,” Zecora said, closing her eyes for a moment, “Apple Bloom is a sweetie, not to mention quite bright. She always comes to see me, sometimes with Twilight Sparkle and her own friends. Having them seek me out, for whatever purpose, usually leads to a happy day’s end.” “Happy day’s end? So…I’m guessing that means that you really value them as friends, eh?” Josh asked. For a moment, Zecora sat silently, just staring at Josh and looking him over. The human stared back and gave the zebra the same treatment. Eventually, Josh realized that he had yet to explain himself, so he should probably do so before the conversation lingered any further. “Zecora, I still owe you that explanation, so here it is,” Josh began, leaning back slightly and randomly taking sips of the herbal tea, “You see, I’m a human. I’m 20-years-old, even if I don’t look it, and I come from a planet known as Earth. I’ll be the first to tell you that…it’s not all that great of a place. There’s violence, crime, pollution, global warming, songs being sung by males who look like girls, and much more horribleness that I don’t wish to describe. But, whatever the case, it’s still my home.” “I won’t go into everything that my world has, since it would take months, but I will explain what happened. You see, I was watching my television…which is basically a big, square, metal box that displays images of things…and it blinded me with some kind of rainbow or something. The next thing I knew, I blacked out and found myself here. When I woke up, I found Twilight Sparkle and her friends all looking at me like I was some kind of freak, and began bombarding me with stupid and annoying questions. I tried to be nice, but they eventually aggravated me to the point of no return.” “I’ll admit that I may have acted…kinda mean…but, they deserved it! Do you know how it feels to be looked at like you’re a little kid? Or a monster? Or a freak? Well, it sucks! So, I gave them a taste of their own medicine; if they’re gonna treat me like I’m just an alien and I’m a danger to this world, then I’m gonna act how I want to and ain’t nobody gonna stop me. They gave me a tour of Ponyville, and then I kinda lost my mind for a moment and…thought that all this was a dream. So, I then proceeded to run away, which is how I got here. I suppose I was having a mental lapse and just needed to get away from it all. I hope you don’t think I’m a bad person now that I told you all that.” After Josh was done talking, he noticed Zecora staring into his eyes, reading him. She stared deeply and intently, and never blinked. Was she trying to see if he was telling the truth? Was she hypnotizing him? Was she seeing if he was really good or bad? Or was she just…staring? Josh had no idea, but staring back at the zebra was making his chest fill with butterflies and making him nearly choke on his next sip of the hot tea. Why wouldn’t she stop staring at him? It was really starting to freak him out; no one ever looked at him like that. No human males, no human females, no animals, not even his own mother ever looked at him like that before in his life. It was so…different. “Josh, allow me to explain something that is most certainly true,” Zecora finally spoke up, setting down her teacup, “But, whether you believe it or not or want to listen is entirely up to you.” “Okay…shoot,” Josh muttered, trying to avert his eyes from Zecora’s. Slowly, the zebra rested her hooves on her lap as she wiggled some more on her blue cushion. Then, she began to speak again. “You and I…we are very much the same,” she whispered, “The only thing different between us is our names. We are vagabonds, outsiders, who came from a faraway place, in this world full of different species and race. However, it is clear that I am not a pony, so once I came here, I was quite lonely. Because of where I live and my choice of work, Ponyville would run and hide when I came to lurk. I look very different, and my voice is not the same…but where my outwards appearance belies what lies beneath, I live by my name. I am Zecora, and I may not have much fame…but on the inside, no matter who you are, we are all the same.” “Josh, please realize that I was treated the same as you; when I came to Ponyville, I was made out to be a monster, too. We might have different coats, different hair, different voices, and different thoughts, but love and friendship is something that can never be bought. While it is true that you should not judge one before you know who they are, you must give a little to show that you want to go far. We are the same, this much is true, but what happens from here is up to you. Twilight and her friends apologized to me when there was no inevitable danger in sight for them to see. Until you can go home, what will you do? If you continue to live in pain, each day you shall rue.” “In…in pain?” Josh growled, clenching his fists as he put down his teacup to avoid it from breaking, “What the heck do YOU know, huh? Who are you to…?” “Josh…you need not lie to me,” Zecora said softly, once more returning to stare into the human’s enraged eyes, “I am no mind reader, but I can still see. Your eyes and your heart, they are quite on-edge; it is almost like you are living life on a ledge. Let me ask you a question, answer it if you desire, but only afterwards may you then call me a liar.” “Okay, fine, shoot!” Josh snapped, crossing his arms and glaring at the zebra. Zecora was silent for another moment, slowly taking another sip of her own tea, before she stared solemnly at Josh. “What is it that you want in life?” she asked, “Why do wish to own a heart filled with so much strife?” “What the heck are you saying, zebra girl?” Josh frowned, “My heart is not filled with…” However, at that moment, Zecora rose from her cushion and slowly walked around the table towards the human. Josh immediately went defensive again, expecting to be attacked, but all Zecora did was lay a hoof on his left hand while staring up at him. Josh stared down at her, and the room started to spin for a moment. Zecora was so close, and now she was touching his hand. What was her DEAL? Why couldn’t she just leave him alone and shut up? What business was it of hers why he wanted to live the way he did? His father never cared, his so-called friends back on Earth never cared, his so-called family never cared, and his mother hardly cared most of the time, too. Why would he bother listening to a zebra from a world full of girly horses? For a moment, he felt like slapping the zebra’s hoof away and just leaving, but something was keeping him rooted in his seat. Once again, his heart was filling up with butterflies the longer Zecora stared at him and held his hand with her hoof. He had no idea why he was experiencing these symptoms, but they felt weird. “Zecora, I…I…you wouldn’t get it!” Josh cried, suddenly clenching his eyes shut as he wrapped his left fist around Zecora’s hoof and used the other one hold his own head, “My life…is a living hell, okay? I hate my life! All my life, all I’ve been is abused…tortured…mocked…and even nearly killed at a few points! All those that I trusted…all those that I loved…all those that I wanted to be with me until my dying day…they’re all gone! I hate them all! My world is filled with nothing but liars, thieves, and jerks; all they care about is themselves. That’s why…I could care less about love and friendship. What good is something that is fake? Believe me, I know it’s fake…I’m 20-years-old, and it feels like I’m 90, from all the abuse I’ve gotten.” Josh began to sob, clenching his teeth as he squeezed Zecora’s hoof even harder. “I am…life’s scapegoat. When pain happens, life chooses me to take the fall. It hurts…it hurts so bad…all I’ve ever felt is pain. My father assaulted me every day of my life…until he ran away and never came back. My mother is an emotional wreck…who tried committing suicide nearly every day. My family disowned me and made me out to never exist. Through my years of school, all the bullies choose me as their target…because I was too nice. I tried so hard to live a happy life…always being kind to everyone, always showing them respect…but, no, it got me nowhere. I’m life’s scapegoat, after all…I’m a nobody. There is no such thing as love…or friendship…it’s all a freaking joke. A sick joke made to mess with your mind so that you’ll fall victim to it and get hurt as well, which life will then laugh at you before doing the whole thing over again until your dying day.” Tears were now streaming down Josh’s face as he kept his eyes shut; he didn’t want to see Zecora’s expression. “So…what do I want in life? Why do I want a heart filled with strife? Well…why do YOU care? You’re nothing more than a little talking zebra who lives in a hut in a dark forest inside of a world of nonsense and fairytales. Nothing I say to you will matter tomorrow; you’ll forget all about it. Nothing I say to you will matter when I go back to my world; we’ll go back to our lives like nothing ever happened. Words mean nothing…and never will. Your actions speak louder than words, and I know all the actions that life takes by now…and they all hurt.” Josh continued to cry his eyes out, squeezing Zecora’s hoof more and more before releasing it altogether and using both hands to hold his weeping head. He leaned down in his wooden seat and covered his eyes with his hands even more as he continued crying, remembering all the horrible memories that he had shut out inside his heart and head all these years. Having this outburst with Zecora had brought all those memories flooding back to him, and it wasn’t helping matters. Zecora herself was just sitting on her haunches, staring at Josh the entire time and not saying anything, allowing him to have his moment. It was then that Josh began feeling dizzy again, and this time it was a lot more intensified than the previous times. Zecora’s voice now sounded so far away, but he felt her grip his hand and he thought he heard her gasp about something involving “blue stains” and “poison joke”. However, before he knew it, he was drifting away into sub-consciousness, slowly falling out of his chair and rushing down to meet the floor below him. He could no longer hear or feel Zecora, and once he hit the floor, he couldn’t hear or feel anything. A second later, the human boy’s eyes stayed shut as his body went limp and he fainted.