Starlight Glimmer had to postpone her meeting with Mocha Jon a few times before finally agreeing to come to his house. Unexpected friendship lessons got in the way, and she herself was more nervous than she let on. Starlight Glimmer is impulsive with her magic like nopony believes but almost never makes actual life decisions as suddenly as she did with the barista. She was almost regretting her decision and was almost hoping that the stallion didn’t take her offer too seriously. She still wanted to try and get to know the stallion more and maybe they could start slower.
Mocha Jon himself thought completely differently. He is as impulsive in these decisions as one could possibly be, and he was super eager to finally find somepony who makes the same wild decisions he does. He had already organized about a dozen of his comics and stories and was sitting on the couch waiting for Starlight to come by. When he heard the door knock he rushed up and tripped over a fallen book… “Falling…!” He yelled falling down, but quickly brushed himself back up and answered the door, “Hey Starlight! Glad you finally made it, come on in!” He said as he guided her in.
“Thanks Jon, sorry about the wait but I…” She began but when she looked around, her expression changed from nervousness to surprise, about how disorganized the place was, from clothes being kept on the ground, wires and chords left in the open, assorted snacks opened, “Is everything alright? Doesn’t really look like you were expecting company…”
Jon didn’t really seem phased by that comment, almost as if he was expecting that, “Oh, well I used to be a total neat freak, but lets just say keeping a place clean is next to impossible when you got a cutie like that over there!” He said as he pointed to what looked like a badger in an orange neck-chief eating out of a pet food bowl, “He gets into everything and cleaning became a waste of effort.”
Starlight just seemed confused at the sight of this, she has seen some exotic animals before bot someone having this is just, unusual, “You have a… Badger?” Literally the thought of a badger as a pet just seemed a little disturbing, she was a bit nervous to get close to it.
Jon remained cheerful as he picked up the badger, “Oh yeah! He’s the cutest little guy and the sweetest fuzzy butt you’ll ever see! His name’s Toby and he loves meeting new ponies!”
“Aren’t they like, vicious? I thought they loved fighting and clawing at everything? Plus that badger smell must get annoying?” She said as she took a step back from him, but tried to keep from being rude.
Jon seemed a little surprised she didn’t want to pet Toby, he tends to forget that he is used to being around the animal and often forgets that most badgers are vicious and brawny, he actually lucked out with Toby. “Badger smell? Oh, no, the only thing that is less effective than my tiny horn is my nose.” He said, referencing his weak sense of smell.
Starlight tried to change the subject, she wanted to keep an open mind and reminded herself that she wanted to do something impulsive and meet someone new. After she started looking around again she noticed a small bin on the coffee table and made her way over to it, “Hey, what’s in here?” She asked in an attempt to keep her mind off the messy place or the disturbing animal. Jon opened the box with his horn and nodded at her to look inside. She shrugged her shoulders and dug inside. “What are these?” The contents were a red flannel shirt, dark jeans thick brown boots, and most peculiar, an axe. She wasn’t really sure what to make out of these and on impulse made a silly joke to break the tension, “Why do you have these? I mean it’s not like you want to be some big dumb sweaty lumberjack or something, right?” She added a hardy chuckle not believing that could be true.
However when she looked back after the comment Jon just blushed and looked embarrassed, “Um… Well… Actually…” Jon himself had always fantasied about being a lumberjack and always felt like it was just a silly fantasy but nothing so far fetched. The problem was Starlight’s reaction was not the first time it happened, everytime anypony heard that dream of his they just laughed.
Starlight was at a loss in this situation. Making fun of somepony’s dreams was embarrassing enough, but that aside, she could tell that despite their first encounter, maybe the two of them didn’t have enough in common as she had initially assumed. Mocha Jon was nice but he was not organized, had a wild animal as a pet, and wants to be a lumberjack? This stuff really doesn’t match the hyper feminine student of the most organized mare in Equestria. “Mocha Jon, we need to talk…” She said as she sighed, “Look you seem like a nice pony you really do, but I think I was acting too impulsively the other day. I mean we decided to form a band just because we heard a song by Songbird Serenade.” She said as she regrettably started to make her way to the door, “I’m just not sure this would really work out, if you really want this I know you’ll find somepony else but I just…”
“WAIT!!!” Jon started to beg as he placed the badger down who started chewing on an old sock on the ground. “Look, I’m sorry I came on too strong, I’m not the best at making friends, look we don’t need to form a band or anything, but at least let’s try to get to know each other, please…” He begged as he started to get some puppy dog eyes.
Starlight was at a loss, she didn’t think they could bond over anything if this was who he was, but she knew what it was like to be lonely and this stallion was clearly lonely. She sighed and stepped back, “Well, I guess…” She said as she reluctantly sat down, after moving some jackets off the couch. She still thought he deserved one more chance. “If you really want to get to know each other, I need to ask, why a lumberjack?” She wanted to know why somepony who works in a coffee shop would want to be something like that.
Mocha Jon walked over and put the gear back in their container and chuckled awkwardly, “Yeah it’s kind of odd I know.” He said as he pulled out a chair, “It all started when I got my cutie mark.”
Naturally that comment peaked Starlight’s attention, “Your cutie mark?”
Jon poured himself a mug of espresso and nodded, “Yeah, after I got my cutie mark, my parents took me camping to celebrate. I tried really hard to get a good mark like an artist or a warrior but I was a little bummed out it was a coffee mug, I know, sounds weird to kind of regret your cutie mark.”
Starlight completely understood his point however, “No no, I can get it,” She responded as she started sipping from another mug on the coffee table, despite Jon not pouring it for her. Her interest was peaked.
“Well anyway, after my parents fell asleep in our tent, I felt a little naughty and snuck out. I had a lot on my mind because everypony saw me fail at everything I tried to do to prove I would be more than a barista. Eventually I got lost and was all alone for quite a while. I eventually found this woodspony chopping a tree with an axe. He was dressed like a traditional lumberjack with the flannel and boots and even the beard.” He said as he poured himself another cup of coffee and then attempted to but failed to open a bag of chips, Starlight reaching for as well.
“What was his cutie mark? A tree? An axe?” She asked as she flinched as the badger started crawling by her hooves…
“Actually it was a Cheeseburger.” He said as the bag burst and the chips fell everywhere, with Starlight picking them all up with her horn.
“A cheeseburger?”
“Yeah, he helped me find my way back after showing me some guidance skills and I told him about my cutie mark. He told me he thought he was destined to work in fast food forever but he eventually made his own path and found his own happiness and learned a new skill. It was amazing to see a man accomplish something like that, he’s kind of my hero, and I knew I wanted to follow in his boot steps. I know it sounds odd, but he inspired me.” He said as he ate the entirety of the chips effortlessly and then opened another.
Starlight was surprised, somepony else had a problem with their cutie mark? She thought she was alone with that, but honestly she couldn’t find the words to say. Should she hug him? Should she tell him about her past? Honestly there was only one thing that sounded like a good idea.
“Mocha Jon… Grab a pen and paper, we have a song to write!”