🤴Zara & Prince Johnny as children👩‍🦰

Once upon a time there was a little girl... who's life sucked big glittery unicorn balls!

Her name was Zara Scruttle and for most of her life, she felt the same way most people feel every once and a while, she wished she could change her appearance. However, unlike most people Zara was a troll, and in troll society the beauty myth was turned on it's head. To trolls, it wasn't about being the Beauty, it was about being the Beast. Everyone knows trolls were meant to be ugly, scary dominating creatures that hunted whoever dared try to cross their bridges. But Zara... Zara was born different. She was born into a family of trolls, with two troll parents and yet she was the least ugly or scary troll ever born. A huge insult to any troll parent...

Zara had vibrant red hair and no matter how hard she tried, she always seemed to have a good hair day. Her pale complexion was nauseatingly flawless, with not a zit or wart in sight. She also had an obscenely cute button nose in the middle of her face. Her troll ears weren't even big enough! They looked more like pointy pixie ears!

Maybe Zara wouldn't feel so bad about herself if the other trolls in her community didn't point out her flaws. All she had to do was leave her house and she could feel the other trolls staring at her and whispering about her behind her back.

This was never more relevant than on Zara's first day of school...

People say the first day is the hardest, but that day added a whole new meaning to that saying. The day Mrs. Scruttle brought her four year old daughter into the MacGuckle Preschool For Troll Youth.

The moment young Zara looked at the school, it's playground and all her troll peers that she could build lasting friendships with, she was excited. This school thing could be the beginning of the rest of her life! A place where she could prove herself as a troll! A place where she could be excepted as part of the group! A place where--

"Mommy, what's wrong with that girl?"

Zara followed the source of the soft voice and saw one little troll girl pointing at her. She had a pig-like snout and fangs that overlapped her bottom lip, the perfect profile of a normal well-adjusted troll child. The girl's mother followed her pointing finger and her eyes widened in shock as they landed on Zara. The troll mother didn't answer her daughter, but gently shoved her daughter towards the school's entrance.

Zara sighed under her breath. She was used to people doing stuff like that. Questions like What's wrong with that girl? Or My God! What happened to her face? Or Poor thing! I wonder what kind of accident she was in? These were all questions Zara's parent got asked or Zara would just hear people whisper behind her back.

Does it still count as whispering if other people can hear you? Zara wondered.

Her mother put a hand on her shoulder. "Zara, sweetie" she said, she made her voice sound soft, like she did when Zara was sick. "I've been thinking... maybe it's not such a good idea to spring too many people on you this early."

Zara pouted. Her mother meant well, she understood that she was sending her daughter into that classroom to be ridiculed and bullied. In fact, she was risking that everytime she let her daughter go out in public. But what annoyed Zara most was that her mother always made excuses instead of flat out telling her that she was too grotesquely beautiful to be seen. Often times Zara felt that her family was embarrassed by the way she looked, she did stick out like a sore thumb among the rest of her clan.

"Can't I at least go into the classroom and try to make friends?" Zara asked her mother.

Mrs. Scruttle sighed. "Fine" she said reluctantly.

Zara and her mother walked into the preschool. "Alright, you should be in classroom 201" Mrs. Scruttle said as they turned down the hall.

As they approached room 201, Zara noticed her teacher. A young troll woman in a navy dress. She had gleaming yellow eyes and green hair, which was held out of her face by the two stout horns sticking out of her forehead. She greeted Mrs. Scruttle with a handshake and smile.

"Good morning, I'm Miss Gorginn" she introduced herself. "And who is thi..."

Miss Gorginn's words trailed off when she saw Zara peeking out from her mother's skirt.

"This is my daughter, Zara" Mrs. Scruttle explained. "I believe I spoke to the principal on the phone about her... special condition." She gestured to her face.

"Oh yes" Miss Gorginn nodded, trying not to stare at Zara too long. "I was informed of that." Miss Gorginn kneeled down to Zara "Don't worry, dear. It's what's on the inside that counts."

Zara forced a smile. As if I haven't already heard that one... she thought.

The bell rang from somewhere down the hall and Miss Gorginn ushered Zara into the classroom.

"I'll be standing by if you need me" Mrs. Scruttle told the teacher. "Bye, sweetie! Have fun!"

"You can have a seat right up front here, Zara" Miss Gorginn point to a desk in the front row.

At the troll teacher's command the rest of the students took their seats as well. All of them took notice of Zara almost instantly. She smiled back at them to appear friendly, but all this did was force one other troll girl to burst into tears.

"What the heck is that?" One buck-toothed troll boy asked, pointing to Zara.

"Are we doing a science experiment?" Another wart-cheeked boy asked. "Cause I call first dibs on dissecting it!"

"Quiet down!" Miss Gorginn told them. "Now this is Zara, she's a troll and she's starting school here today just like everyone else."

"Doesn't look like a troll to me" A girl with a crooked nose said.

"How can you know what a troll looks like?" Zara asked. "We all look different in our own way."

"But nobody looks as weird as you!" said one girl with big ears and a snout.

"What if it tries to attack us?" Asked one boy with glasses and a spiky hair.

"I never hurt anyone in my life" Zara replied. Although the day's still young... she thought to herself bitterly.

Suddenly the girl that pointed to Zara outside the school earlier came running into the classroom.

"Sorry I'm late, Miss Gorg--" she stopped when she caught sight of Zara in the desk in front of her. She jumped and let out a high pitched scream.

Zara clapped her hands over her ears to drown out the sound. She felt a pair of hands grab her by the shoulders and yank her out of her seat and into the hallway.

Zara looked up and saw it was her mother. "I told you this was a bad idea" she hissed to Zara.

A pang of guilt washed over little Zara, that girl was scared of her and the way the rest of the kids talked about her. It was all so hurtful and overwhelming. She covered her hands with her face as hot tears began running from her eyes.

Mrs. Scruttle picked her up and stormed out of the school. Suffice it to say, Zara would spend the rest of her young life being home schooled...

👹👩‍🦰👹

Later that day as they walked home, Mrs. Scruttle bought her daughter an ice cream sundae to make up for the day she had. Zara indulged herself in the cold confection, she was already ugly, might as well add fat to the list as well.

"I know you're upset by what happened today" Mrs. Scruttle looked down at her daughter sadly. "But you can't help being born the way you are. Folks just aren't ready to embrace people with your... looks."

"Why do I look like this, mummy?" Zara asked, catching her own reflection in a nearby puddle. "You and Daddy and everyone in our family looks like a troll should. So why don't I?"

"Because you're not me or daddy or anybody else in our family" her mother told her. "You're Zara. You're your own person. You're different."

"I know that, but all that stuff is on the inside, what about what's on the outside?" She asked.

"Don't worry about what's on the outside" Mrs. Scruttle shook her head. "Focus on what's going on inside."

But no one ever judges what's on the inside... Zara thought, sighing under her breath.

"But let's not focus on that" Mrs. Scruttle said, turning up the walkway to their house. "Remember we're getting our family portrait done tonight. We'll get to dress up and a photographer's going to come in. Your aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents will be there. It'll be fun!"

👹👩‍🦰👹

That evening Zara got dressed up in her favorite dark blue dress and joined her family in the living room, the grandparents sat on the sofa, her parents, aunts and uncles stood around the sofa, while Zara and the other children of her family sat on the floor in front of the sofa.

The photographer, Phillip was a skinny troll man with a lazy eye and a long wrinkled neck. He stared through his camera lens as the remainder of the Scruttle family took their places within the shot.

"Okay! Lovely!" He muttered. "Lovely family... AHH!" He shrieked as he Zara took her place in the middle of the children in front of the sofa.

"What's wrong?" Zara's mother asked.

"Oh... eh, nothing" Phillip laughed uncomfortably. "It's just that... I think that your family portrait contains a little stowaway...?" He nodded his head in Zara's direction.

Mrs. Scruttle followed his nod and her lips formed an O. "No, no! She's supposed to be here" she explained to the photographer. "She's my daughter."

"Ah..." the photographer's chewed his upper lip, glancing at Zara from behind the camera. "Little red-headed girl!" He called to her. "Can I get you to move from the middle to the end of the line?"

Zara nodded before standing up and moving down the line of Scruttle children to the far right end.

Phillip looked through his camera lens again. "Eh..." he moaned. This one little girl stuck out like a sore thumb amongst her whole family. She'd ruin the entire photo for certain...

Zara watched as the photographer pulled her mother aside, out of earshot. Her mother seemed reluctant to whatever he was saying but finally nodded in agreement with him.

"Zara, sweetie" Her mother called to her. "Come here."

Zara got up and walked over to her mother.

"So... Phillip the photographer and I have worked out a little deal" her mother explained. "You're going to sit this portrait out and next week when Phillip is free again, you'll get to have your very own portrait done. Won't that be fun? How lucky, are you?"

"But I thought the whole family was suppose to be in this portrait?" Zara asked. "I'm family, aren't I?"

"Of course you are" Mrs. Scruttle nodded. "But we know how self conscious you are about your... condition and we decided your very own special photo shoot might boost your confidence."

"But then... why can't I be in this family portrait too?" Zara asked.

Mrs. Scruttle pursed her lips, which meant bad news was coming. "Zara, the point of a family portrait is to show off the entire family. And Phillip thinks you might draw too much attention from everyone else in the portrait."

"So I'm an eyesore?" Zara asked.

"No!" Mrs. Scruttle cried. "No, no... goodness no! It's just that you're... unique, sweetheart."

Zara sighed under her breath. "I guess... having my own photo would be cool" she tried to disguise the sadness in her voice.

"Good girl" Mrs. Scruttle kissed her forehead.

Zara stood behind the camera and watched as her family smiled and joked with each other before posing for the photo. This wasn't the first time her mother used an excuse like that to isolate her from the usual activities. But Zara wondered, did her mother want to isolate her to spare her the embarrassment? Or so she herself could avoid having to dealing with the embarrassment that came from having Zara as a daughter?

But as much as Zara wanted to voice her feelings about it, she didn't want to argue with her mother and ruin everything for everyone. Her disfigured appearance already drew too much negative attention, she didn't want her behavior to match that. Looks were only skin deep, it was the actions of a person that mattered. At times like this, Zara tried to carry that advice with her, but it wasn't easy in a life like hers...

❤👑❤

Zara obviously had a lot of miserable baggage in her life, although she always assumed it could be worse. And for a young Prince who was visiting a neighboring kingdom, it was...

Because nine hundred and forty-eight miles away in the Kingdom of Taustix, six year old Prince Johnny Depp of Dellort was in the middle of a fateful play date... with Princess Amber Hockle.

Hockle... Young Johnny thought. What a horrible name to be stuck with... it sounds like the gagging sound someone makes every morning after years of smoking!

As the story goes, years prior to this meeting, two kings -Johnny and Amber's fathers- met and arranged to have their two newborn children marry when they turned eighteen. However they made this decision without first consulting their children... and worse, their wives!

Now even after Johnny's father passed away, the deal was still set in stone. In twelve years time Johnny was to be married to Princess Amber, but just recently their mothers arranged a play-date, so the betrothed children could at least get to know each other before spending the rest of their lives together.

Upon meeting the young princess of Taustix, Johnny noticed she had a certain prettiness to her, her hair was blonde, so fair it could be mistaken for white. With bright green eyes and the palest shade of pink in her lips. She wore a white gown with gold mesh veil overlapping her skirt with a matching frill around the hemline. At first Johnny was nervous about meeting the girl who would one day be his bride, but so far he had to admit Princess Amber was lovely...

Then she opened her mouth.

"Gimme my diamond!" She told Johnny before he could even say hello.

"Excuse me?" Johnny asked confused.

"My diamond" Amber clarified. "If we're going to be married, I need a ring with a big diamond. So where is it?"

"Well... we're not getting married yet" Johnny shrugged nervously.

"Fine" Amber heaved a sigh. "But next time you come to my place, you could at least bring me a present."

Let's hope there won't be a next time Johnny thought, rolling his eyes.

"Come play with me!" Amber commanded snatching his wrist and pulling him down one of the hallways in her castle.

As the children's mothers left for the ballroom where a party was currently taking place, Johnny was pulled into Amber's bedroom. It was exactly what you'd expected a six year old Princesses room to look like, a large pink satin bed with matching canopy, a gold vanity with mirror and various hair accessories and an oversized toy chest in one corner of the room.

But Johnny barely noticed these things, what he did notice though was... eyes. Various sets of glass eyes looking at him... staring, even. Apparently Amber was one of those girls who liked to collect dolls there were shelves upon shelves of finely-dressed china dolls surrounding them. And Johnny couldn't help but wonder how any kid could sleep in a room like this and not have nightmares.

"Sit down" Amber told him.

Johnny turned to her. "What?" He asked.

"Sit down" she repeated, pointing to a kid sized table in one corner of the room. "We're having a tea party!"

Johnny sat down at the table. So far he hated how this play date was faring out. He didn't like having tea parties, he didn't like being surrounded by creepy dolls, but mostly he didn't like the way Amber didn't ask him what he wanted to do. And since he arrived he had heard gimme's, command's and what she wanted to do, but he hadn't heard a hello, thank you or what would you like to do?

I wanted a girl who was a boss Johnny thought. Not a girl who was bossy!

So far, young Prince Johnny could tell this wasn't working out. As Amber joined him at the tea party table, he reached for the plate of pastries that had been laid out. Until Amber slapped his hand away.

"No! You have to wait until we pour the tea and then the pastries will be passed out" Amber carried on with her nagging.

She gingerly picked up the teapot and poured them both some tea. Then she took the plate of pastries dumping most of them onto her plate and dropping one onto his plate.

Johnny furrowed his brow. "How come you get all those and I just get one?"

"Because I'm a lady and ladies go first and get whatever they want and the stupid boys just have to deal with it!" Amber explained with a condescending smirk.

As Amber began shoving pastries into her mouth, Johnny silently hoped she would choke. When she swallowed instead, Johnny rose up from his seat.

"I'm leaving" he stated humorlessly, walking out of the room.

"Wait! It's my tea party and I didn't say you could leave!" Amber told him.

"Nobody said you could be bossy either" Johnny told her. "But you went ahead and did it anyway!"

Amber grabbed a pillow off her bed and chucked it at Johnny's head.

"Ow!" Johnny turned to face her. "That had a button on it!

Johnny would have been able to let her aggressive behavior slide, were it not for Amber sticking out her tongue at him!

Johnny grabbed his one pastry off his plate and chucked it at Amber's chest. The pastry smashed upon impact and jelly filling dripped down her gown.

Amber stared down at her stained dress and for a second it seemed as if she found burst into tears. But then she looked up at Johnny, growling.

"I'm gonna kill you!" She screeched, chasing after him.

Johnny dashed out of Amber's bedroom and ran down the hallway with the livid little princess hot on his trail. They ran through the palace dodging servents and knocking over a suit of armor as they go. Johnny turned into the crowded ballroom where his mother was. Amber followed close behind until a pair of hands held her back.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Amber shrieked.

She looked up to see her mother, Queen Parafink Hockle was holding her by the shoulders.

"Amber, why are you chasing your handsome young friend?" She asked her.

"He has horrid manners, Mommy" Amber answered. "I think he might be an inbred."

"No, Prince John is just like you. Royal by blood, visiting from his own kingdom of Dellort" Queen Parafink explained gently. "And he's a guest in our palace, we have to make him feel welcome."

"But it's my palace, I was living here long before he came!" Amber complained.

"Now darling--"

"NOOOOOOO!" Amber screamed running out of the ballroom and onto the balcony where she found Johnny.

Johnny spotted his mother in a nearby crowd and Amber knew he was going to snitch on her. To defuse the situation, she painted on a smile and walked up to the young prince, tightly grasping his hand in hers.

"Your highness, we should return to our tea party" she said sweetly. "I'm more than willing to forgive your horrid manners..."

Johnny almost bought her act. "You talk about my horrid manners while you don't know a thing about sharing! Being a girl might earn you respect, but you have to remember to return it to those who gave it to you! Otherwise you'll look like a selfish baby!"

Amber's face twisted in anger. In her kingdom women ruled over the men, she wouldn't be told how she should and shouldn't act by a man, let alone a boy! He was in her kingdom, he had no right to tell her to be mature. She was the woman, she had control and he needed to get use to it!

"I'm not a baby!" She shouted. "A baby be too scared to do this."

Amber climbed up onto the stone balcony railing and began walking on it in her heels. Even though below the balcony was a two story drop to the palace's cobblestone courtyard.

"Stop it! You'll fall!" Johnny warned her. When she didn't listen he grabbed the hem of her dress and began tugging her back towards the balcony. "You'll be killed! Get down!" He told her.

"No, I won't!" Amber snapped. "Because I'm a lady and I can do anythi-- AHH!"

As she began to lose her balance, Johnny tugged down hard on her dress, causing her to fall backwards onto the stone balcony. The princess landed directly on top of the young prince, crushing him. As the two little royals got up, they realized that the front of Amber's skirt had been ripped off when in the fall.

"My dress!" She gasped. "You ruined it!"

"I didn't mean to" Johnny said, feeling guilty. "I was just scared that you would fall off!"

"You're lying! You ruin everything!" Amber accused him. "You ruined my tea party! My dress! I hope you die!" She smacked him on the head with her fist.

"Ow! Quit it!" Johnny said, trying to dodge her fists.

"Shut up and take it like a man!" Amber told him, carrying on with hitting him.

Deep down Johnny wanted to hit back, but if his parents taught him anything it was that boys were never allowed to hit girls. But right now, Johnny wished Amber was a boy. But then again, a boy wouldn't get so ticked off about a torn dress...

So instead of fighting back, Johnny ran back into the crowded ballroom to find his mother. But of course, Amber chased after him.

"I was trying to help you, you boasting brat!" Johnny yelled back at her.

"Come back here and take it like a man!" Amber fumed.

"No!" Johnny protested turning to face her.

Amber took this opportunity to tackle Johnny in the middle of the ballroom. Johnny tried to get up, but Amber shoved his face into the ballroom's marble floor, which was polished and good for dancing, but hard and cold when you're lying face first on it.

The whole party stopped abruptly as the two squabbling kids thrashed about the dance floor. The crowd of party goers watched in shock, muttering.

Amber pinned the young prince down and started hammering her fists on his back. Johnny curled up in a ball, yelling for her to stop.

"Stop it! You're hurting me!"

"Just you wait! I'll show you!" Amber told him. "You're stupid! That's what you are! A stupid baby!"

Suddenly the children were pried apart by their mothers. Amber was yanked off Johnny by her mother, Queen Parafink struggled to pull her daughter out of the ballroom as the young girl thrashed in her grip and shrieked angrily. Simultaneously, Johnny's mother Queen Betty-Sue grabbed him and pulled him into the hallway. When they were finally alone, Johnny could tell his mother was mad by the way she glared at him.

"Do you understand who you offended just now?" Queen Betty asked, her brown eyes glaring down at him. The same ones Johnny was born with.

"But I was trying to help her!" Johnny pleaded. "That crazy girl could've died!"

"That crazy girl is to be queen of our country and your betrothed!" Queen Betty reminded him.

Johnny pouted while rubbing his back where Amber hit him, he leaned on the nearby wall and slid down to sit on the floor.

"That crazy girl is already the heir of two thrones, but she has been promised to you as your bride, when you both come of age" Queen Betty explained. "Her family has promised to keep their end of the bargain, they have offered up their eldest daughter to you! And this is how you show them your gratitude?"

"But she nearly fell off the balcony and killed herself!" Johnny protested.

"Enough! I don't want to hear it!" Queen Betty told him. "Now I want you to apologize to Princess Amber right now! I taught you better than this, John! Stand up! Let's go! On your feet!""

"I can't, Mama! My back hurts!" Johnny groaned.

"John! I've had just about enough!" His mother demanded. "If you think pretending to be hurt will save you from apologizing, it won't! C'mon, up!"

When Johnny didn't listen, Queen Betty grabbed her son's hands and tried to haul him to his feet. But instantly regretted it when she heard her youngest child shriek in pain, tears began to run down his cheeks and his knees buckled beneath him. Queen Betty's eyes widened realizing it wasn't an act at all, he really couldn't stand up.

The Queen kneeled down beside her young son, she cradled his head in her skirt. "Johnny baby, can you roll over?" She asked him, gently. "Roll over and let mama see your back."

Queen Betty pulled up his shirt and saw that Amber had left ugly bruises all up and down Johnny's back.

"Oh my god..." she breathed. She yelled for a nearby page. "Send for a pediatrician! Quickly!"

👑 🏰 👑

Later in the palace's infirmary, the pediatrician had arrived and began work on the injured young prince. She informed Queen Betty that the fight with Amber had left Johnny with two sprained vertebrae in his back. The pediatrician said she could pop the vertebrae back into place and prescribe some painkillers for the young prince. Queen Betty agreed so long as it helped her son.

Young Johnny layed on his stomach on padded medical platform in his underwear and a paper gown. His mother sat nearby where he could see her. The pediatrician came in and turned Johnny's head to one side, his mother was there within view.

"I'm sorry for what happened with Amber, Mama" Johnny said sadly.

Queen Betty stroked his head. "I know you are, sweetheart."

"Amber's mommy doesn't" Johnny sighed. "I tried to apologize to her when they were rolling me into the infirmary. But she said that I was incorrigible and that I needed to learn to play nice. She said my behavior couldn't be help because the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. What does that mean?"

Queen Betty eyebrows shot up. "It means the next time you see Amber's mommy, she'll be walking with a limp" she said, her eyes narrowed angrily.

"What's the doctor going to do to me?" Johnny asked in a small nervous voice.

"She's going to fix your back and put your bones back to normal" Queen Betty said in a hushed gentle tone.

"Is it going to hurt?" Johnny whispered.

"I'm afraid it will hurt badly for a moment" Queen Betty said honestly.

Hot tears began to leak from Johnny's eyes as he layed on the table. His mother wiped them away with a lipstick-stained tissue from her purse, she ran a comforting hand across his brow and down his face.

"I don't want to die, Mama" Johnny sobbed.

"You're not going to die, precious" Queen Betty told him.

Johnny let out a shuddering breath "But I don't want it to hurt!"

Queen Betty kissed his forehead and held his hand, before giving her son a peice of advice he would carry with him for years to come.

"You won't die, baby. There will be pain, but it will leave you eventually. You must learn to deal with the pain, because you will have to experience a lot more of it throughout your life. I know it's hard, but if it weren't for the pain and hardships we experience in this life, we would take the wonderful and joyful moments for granted."

Queen Betty:

🎶Goodnight big moon
Sweet dreams, baby
If I could have one wish tonight
It would be that you'll always keep
Keep the starlight in your eyes
One day you'll grow up
One day you'll walk out
In this big world on your own

And there will be days when
Your heart'll break in
Swear that all your strength is gone
But then you'll find a way to carry on

Heaven knows that it's a crazy ride
It's never perfect all the time
It'll pull you down and send you flying
So baby hold on tight
On this crazy ride

So don't be scared when you're in the darkness
The sun is swallowed by the ground
You think it's gone but it's hanging on
It's just on the other side of town
Even when it's lost, it can be found

Heaven knows that it's crazy ride
It's never perfect all the time
It'll pull you down and send you flying
So baby hold on tight
On this crazy ride

Heaven knows that it's crazy ride
It's never perfect all the time
You know it's just a crazy ride
It's never perfect all the time
It'll pull you down and send you flying
So baby hold on tight
On this crazy ride

Goodnight big moon
Sweet dreams, baby...🎶

Queen Betty nodded to the pediatrician, who then snapped the sprained section of Johnny's spine back into place.

Johnny cried out softly. Then he began to feel dizzy, he layed his head back down on the platform. His eyelids grew heavy as he continued to stare at his mother's face.

"Just relax, I'm right here with you..." she told him softly, running her fingers through his hair.

Johnny looked at his mother one last time before before slowly drifting off to sleep.

AN: If you like what you've seen so far, hit the ☆ and leave a comment!