Exotic Interests

It's almost incredible what happened to me over the course of these past few days. What started out as what was supposed to be a simple, casual visit to a town about which I once wrote an article, ended up becoming an entirely different, as well as enlightening, experience. I must be honest, I always had a particular appreciation for the rustic and antiquated, but nothing could have prepared me for the new purpose in life I ended up finding in the middle of scenic nowhere. This article in particular isn't going to be a professional one about my travels, rather a personal, sincere one about one of the best things to ever happen to me.

I had just arrived on a train in the wondrous town of Ponyville, simply to take a trip down memory lane. To get my feelings of nostalgia out of the way, the memories of my visit to this location reminded me of when I came to write an article about the Ponyville Days festival, and I met what I believed to be the love of my life, in the form of the orange farm mare. Of course, since then, I had moved on from my feelings for her, as I figured it was only a matter of time before I ended up finding another individual of great significance.

Little did I know, or even expect, to be proven right at least two-fold.

I was careless enough to not take notes on the whereabouts of the town's landmarks and other places of interests, and as a result, I decided I might as well go with the flow and simply walk wherever my hooves took me. I found myself in this unusual forest, rather dark in atmosphere and teeming with wildlife I had never seen before, in books, articles, or in person. I had never felt this intrigued with the exotic since I went on my vacation in Saddle Arabia, and yet it was so close to a beautifully simple town. One particular floral specimen fascinated me beyond belief. It was a black vine with greenish-blue thorns. My curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to feel its texture. That was my greatest mistake that day, as the vine did not hesitate to wrap its thorny self around me, almost to the point where I couldn't move. Call it a case of overreaction, but I could have sworn I was a goner. I screamed out for help as loudly as I could, and that was when a hooded figure came to my aid. They grabbed what appeared to be a potion of sorts, and tossed it at the vine. It quickly shriveled up and its grip of me loosened, and I collapsed from pain as a result of the thorns pricking my body. I was too weak to move, or even speak, so the figure picked me up, and took me to some sort of hut. Admittedly, I was even more scared for my life from the outside appearance of the hut, and I passed out  as a result, coupled with my pain.

When I awoke, I found myself lying in a small bed, and my flesh wounds already perfectly healed. I wanted to get up and leave, as I was still nervous, but when I tried to move my hooves, they flared up in soreness. I thought the best thing to do from there was to get my rest and wait for my hooves to heal completely. I thought that hooded figure must be a benevolent one if they rescued me the way they did, so I took some deep breaths, settled my nerves, and affixed my mind on giving them the benefit of the doubt. Of course, almost too fittingly, as soon as that happened, the hooded figure came into the room, and revealed their face to me, or rather, her face.

"Ah, finally, you have awoken. Are you this Trenderhoof fellow, of whom ponies have spoken?"

The striated individual looked nothing like anypony I had seen before, but her vocal tone and relieved expression gave me the signal that she is of no threat to me. In fact, as soon as I stopped to process what I was seeing, she appeared rather striking. Something about her was different, like a different cross-breeze on a spring day. I could only bring myself to nod at her, confirming my identity, and she gave me a charming, closed-eyed smile. It wasn't one of admiration, as I would expect out of readers of my articles, but one of acceptance, like she had an answer to an old question, and nothing more. She immediately placed a coconut shell beside me, and it appeared to contain water inside. I promptly thanked her for her gesture, and drank from it. The taste was nothing like any water I had before. In fact, the aftertaste was quite bitter. Fortunately, my sore muscles quickly eased and I was back to my old self, as my gleeful steps could have indicated.

"I'm glad that you once again have energy, but you do not have to thank me. I was not about to let a pony get hurt, not yet."

At that point, I figured that, along with her exotic appearance, came a different verbosity. Her sense of rhyme was uncanny. Perhaps in the area from which she hailed, they all spoke in this manner, but I wasn't one to get into such details so quickly, not after she had just saved my life. It was then that I looked around the room, and saw some wooden masks of unfamiliar design, along with quite the exotic furniture arrangements. It was astonishing. Before I could speak another word, I found myself wandering out of the bedroom and into the main room, and there walls were decorated with more of the same exotic decor, along with shelves stocked with many medicinal herbs and chemicals of sorts. I didn't have to rely on my unicorn nature to know there was something magical about this individual. I immediately turned towards her and asked her who she was, along with several other questions.

"My name is Zecora, handsome sir. In this room, I make many an elixir. You said you got lost on your way through town, and that was when the black vine got you tied down? Plundervines are indigenous here, and though they hurt, they aren't much to fear. I saved you because I couldn't let you keep thrashing... and in honesty... you appear quite dashing."

I immediately blushed as I saw her shuffling her hooves with a sheepish smile. It was one thing that I found her foreign appearance rather alluring, but never would I have thought that she had mutual feelings for me. Not since the white unicorn from Ponyville has anypony (more or less) revealed an attraction to me directly. I immediately shook off her words and proceeded to ask her questions about her choice of decor. I should have guessed that all these masks on the walls came from her native land. She also said she chose the Everfree Forest as her new home because the free-growing flora allowed her to easily carry on her family tradition of potion-making. After a series of more informative questions and answers, I finally took a look outside the window, and noticed that it was becoming rather late, and she was becoming rather tired. We both agreed to retire for the night, and I returned to the room in which I had awoken earlier. As I got into bed, I thought to myself, despite everything I had learned from Zecora, there was still something special about her, but I couldn't quite place my hoof on what. I ended up falling asleep within minutes.

The next morning, I awoke to the scent of something delicious. Predictably, it turned out to simply be her cooking breakfast. She was kind enough to share with me, and I was never one to be rude and turn down a free meal. I took a seat opposite of her and took a sample of the dish she had prepared, and the flavor was almost euphoric. It was as if the tribal sounds of her homeland were playing in my mind, intensifying as I continued to taste her dish. Everything about her homeland invaded all of my senses, from the feeling of dry air, to the sound of the wildlife. All of this synesthesia had resulted from simply one taste, and I had never even visited her homeland. I promptly thanked her for the food, and returned the favor by cleaning the tableware for her.

"You're quite the gentlecolt. Oh, look at the time, I must bolt!"

She ran out the front door before I could even ask where she was going, but I was so tempted to learn even more about her, so I took the time to straighten out my apparel, mane, and tail, and followed her out the door immediately after. Fortunately, her hoofprints were enough to lead me straight to her, and I caught sight of her entering town as I reached the edge of the forest. My curiosity forced me to waste no time rushing up to her, and when I finally caught up, she looked back at me, with a bit of a smile. I told her about how I had so many more questions for her, and she gladly allowed me to continue my "interview" from yesterday. I figured that, since I originally came to Ponyville for a memory trip, it would be nice to accompany her through town. You know, kill two birds with one stone. As my second day with her went on, I started to gain an increasing appreciation of her. Perhaps it was her zebra species that made it so, or maybe it was her wisdom. Whatever it was, I had developed quite the fondness of her. It saddened me to realize that I would have to say goodbye to her in time. Nevertheless, after she took care of her needs in town, I happily accompanied her back to her hut, upon her approval, of course.

It was just before sunset by the time I had another chance to speak to her again, as a young yellow friend of hers, adorned with a cute pink bow (and if I may add, a slight similarity to the orange mare I had once swooned over), had come to her asking for help with potion-making. I spent my waiting time observing her lessons, as this gave me yet another taste of Zecora's culture. When the young filly finally did leave, I decided to take the opportunity to freshen up. To my surprise, there was running water in the zebra's hut. By the time I was done, a cold spell had come over the area, and even in my argyle sweater, I was feeling quite chilled. I came to the main room to see her bundled up in a shawl, and shivering a bit. I wasn't abut to let her freeze, not after everything she did for me, so I came up to her, and held a hoof around her back, trying to share my warmth.

"Thank you, Trenderhoof, you're too kind, but this cold weather, I don't really mind. If you do insist that I keep warm like toast, then let's go to my bedroom; I'd prefer that most."

I was quite flustered by her words. We had only just met and she already offered to share a bed with me. It was getting quite cold, however, and I couldn't stand to see her suffering for it. I nervously accepted, and we walked into her bedroom together. It was only a tad larger than the room I had last slept in, but the bed had just enough room for two. I allowed her in first, and quickly followed suit on the other side. She moved over to me and embraced me in a hug, appearing at her happiest since I first laid eyes on her. I could feel my heart racing from the whole situation, and feared I wouldn't get any sleep that night. It was all happening so quickly, and yet I couldn't help but follow along with her. By the time I had finally started drifting off to sleep, she had rested her head on top of me, and I was giving her back a gentle rub. I had finally done it. I had found somepony, or rather, some zebra, to consider a love interest, not just a petty crush.

As the morning sun rose, I woke up to see Zecora still happily asleep with her hooves over me. Luckily, the cold spell from the night before had subsided, so I eased my way out of her gentle grasp and got myself ready to leave. As much as I wanted to stay, a travel journalist like myself can't stay cooped up in the same place for too long. I found it only polite to leave a note for her, saying that I had to leave, and thanking her for everything. I left the note by the door and made my way out of her door, and through the forest, eventually finding my way back to Ponyville's train station. I had arrived about an hour and a half before the train arrived, and I occupied my waiting time by drafting this very article. The train finally arrived, and I was about to board, when Zecora came up to me, wearing the same hooded cloak in which I had first seen her. I took this time to properly thank her for everything, and even asked her how I could repay her.

"My favors, you can repay by coming to see me again someday."

She gave me a quick kiss on my cheek, and I apparently blushed as deeply as she did as I nodded in agreement. I stepped onto the train, and she gave me a wave goodbye, as I looked out the window and did the same to her. I was happy to know that we had some good closure on our short time together, but also sad to know that it would be some time before my busy schedule would allow me to pay her another visit. It was a bittersweet taste that I'll always treasure. Zecora was more than just a new friend. She was, and still is, my first true love.

A nice trip down memory lane, resulted in a new one being gained. Another purpose in life, I have obtained. Zecora, one day, I shall see you again.