Mocha's Story

by Mocha Star

Chapter 14

Earth ponies were all I saw at the time and I could swear I had known one of them, but I didn’t know where from. She had a pink coat with a long flat pink mane, and blue eyes, only she was sad and looked out of place, all the other ponies had earth tone colors; brown, grey, white, grey, black. She was pink, really weird. She made eye contact with me and forced a small smile, but that was it before she was past and gone.

The ponies didn’t have cutie marks back then, just names. James, Erin, Marsha. Names I could recognize and relate to, and that was weird in and of itself, even with magic.

I walked to my armor and smiled wide at the minotaur. “Like it, she’s one of a kind.”

“I like it,” he said. Typical minotaur, won’t bore you with details, only they were a lot dumber then. “How much?”

“Ah, not for sale or trade. It’s mine, only works for me and my kind,” I said tapping my right temple, “with certain features that help it to work.”

Yeah, I was trying to be clever and instead the minotaur, which had its arms crossed, opened its left palm and swung at me. It hurt. A lot. I don’t remember much but a lot of running and screaming from the ponies around where I was. I reached for my right hip where my pistol was and realized I was sailing through the air.

An instant later pain. Pain through my whole body, starting at the top of my back and screaming across and through my entire body. The next thing I knew I was being picked up by the top of my head with its giant hand; its fingers almost reached my neck, but it was enough to hold me in the air with its right hand and pummel me with its left. Pain thrust itself in my abdomen, then my chest, then my abdomen again. I was being beaten to death and couldn’t do a damn thing.

I grasped for my pistol in desperation and felt it for a second, then pain across my right arm made me black out. Some fighter I am, I thought as the beast stopped pummeling me for a moment.

From what I was told something magical happened at that moment. Lom jumped past the monster while Retalia bucked it in the back of its knees, breaking them both in one shot. Lom jumped under me and I landed on her back, she ran me clear of the area in a blind panic for my life while Retalia landed one more heavy buck to the creature, shattering its left horn, then joined in running behind us through town.

Rea guided them to a clinic, which was a room in the ground floor of somepony’s two story house, where I woke up three days later. Naked again, but I didn’t care, I was barely alive and happy for that much.

The first thing I saw was a lantern at low light to my right on a table, a wall to my left, and nothing but fuzz after that. It was a blur, I called up my internal HUD and it was still working, but what good is that if my arms were broken or something?

It hurt to do everything so I did the only thing I could. I whined like a little filly that wants candy for as long as I could until I started to cough loudly. The door swung open and galloping to me was my first unicorn. She was beautiful, I told her so several times while she cast spells on me, cursing after each one.

Finally she put something in my mouth and I felt so much love I could have kissed the lantern, had my body not been so damaged. Yeah, I was heavily, heavily drugged. The fact I woke up was a miracle after the beating I’d gotten, they said.

The inn owner stayed with his family until I could wake up and left promptly once I had, which killed my plan to join them and give the inn to somepony else. Now I was stuck there until I healed enough to travel again. And just cuz I woke up didn’t mean I was awake. I was in and out for the next week, drugged to the limit and beyond.

Finally I woke up gasping, drenched in sweat, coughing like crazy in the middle of the night, but alive and thankful the pain, at first. Retalia was in the room, sleeping below the window. I called his name with a raspy voice and his ears perked up as quick as he did to look at me.

It was like a loyal dog that just got startled, so cute. I mouthed ‘water’ while trying to whisper it, I was so thirsty and dry I felt like I could cough dust. A moment later a ball of water was floating in front of me.

Without even thinking about it I leaned toward it, pressed my lips to it, and sucked a mouthful of it. It might have been the best water of my life, seriously. I gasped and before I had finished inhaling fresh air the water had moved to my mouth again and I drank it like a foal at a teat.

It was so good. Suddenly I felt cool and refreshed, the headache I’d had dissipated almost instantly and I fell back into the bed and smiled. The world became clearer and I asked for more water. Another ball hovered over me and I drank it just as quickly, and again several times.

I awoke again to the sun shining on my face, the window was open, and I could smell the sweet scent of flowers. I hadn’t appreciated it nearly as much when I was trudging through them for those days, eating them on occasion with my new friends, or even putting one in each of their manes and watching as they freaked out. It was akin to being engaged for them. It was an awesome time.

I gave myself a quick once over, moving my limbs, feeling them and my fingers, toes, and butt wiggle was elating. I wasn’t dead or paralysed. I moved to sit up and regretted that too. My right arm was broken, I didn’t know where but it hurt like… well like a broken limb. I tried to sit up unassisted and that hurt too, the grunt I made as I fell back down woke Lom up from her sleep.

“Mocha, friend Mocha, you are okay? Please, talk. You’re awake and get better now? Horn pony! Friend Mocha, awake now!” she said in a happy panic.

A few seconds later hoof falls approached and I saw the unicorn that had taken care of me. I had a brief flash of memory of her blushing fiercely, but that was it.

She was white, alabaster white, with a blue mane, yellow eyes, and the first horn I’d seen that didn’t want to hurt me.

“Fine sir,” she said in a careful and soft voice that was almost as sweet as yours, “are thee well?”

She was eloquent and exuded a poise I had never really seen in real life and wore a smile that took any fears I could have had away.

She was so clean. I hadn’t realized how dirty the world was compared to her coat. “Your coat is so pretty,” I said before I thought, “I mean clean! Can I get a shower? Where’re my clothes? What day is it? How long have I-”

“Hush, darling. When one is in a fight with a minotaur, one does not live. Thee are unique,” she said lighting her horn. I felt the usual tingle you get when you’re magically scanned before she spoke again. “I have never seen your kind, or heard of your kind. Thou are akin to minotaurs?”

“Heh, no. Not even close. I’m not even from this planet, I kinda fell here,” I said as she helped me sit up with my pains and groans.

“I have read of magic opening portals to other worlds, but to have fallen? How far did thee fall?”

“Heh, about fifteen thousand feet,” I said as I swung my legs over the side of the bed with a grimace.

With a sceptical look she dismissed my words. “Yes, and I can walk on clouds,” she said sarcastically, but in a refined way.

“Ya can!? Cool, what’s it like? Can you show me?”

She looked at me with a bit of humor and a lot more pity. “Simple creature, unicorns can not walk on clouds, I was musing at your expense, lest the humor belittle your mind, I shall ceace.”

“Yeah, you can, but my mind is far from little,” I said, almost snapped, back. She got a small twinkle in her eye and took a step or three toward me and leaned in close. Too close for me, I leaned back, got a cramp in my side, hissed in pain, then fell back and hit my head on the wall.

She burst into a laughing fit as I burst into tears, mainly from the pain, but also from the slapstick of what had just happened to me. With a little magic I was sitting upright, but I quickly fell to my knees and hunched over, still sharing a laugh with her. Lom and Retalia were in the room still, I had totally forgotten about them until I noticed them watching me from the corner of my eye.

What felt like a good hour of laughing in pain was over too soon after only, maybe, three minutes. I trembled and asked for more water as I looked at a small puddle of drool under me, when the unicorn saw it she started laughing again, but this time left the room to get more watah.

‘Watah’, like water but… Nevermind, she got more water.

Well, I collected myself and sat up, resting my back against the bed, which had a wooden frame, and that surprised me since I figured it’d be flat on the floor or something. A futon would be a more accurate description, but double padded. Hmm, I never really thought about why she’d have had that in a room.

I mean, minotaurs are big. Cows, bison, the latter two weren’t in that part of the world at the time, but why so much comfort for a wounded creature?

Meh, I’ll never know, I guess. So, next came the fun question every bipedal creatures loves to get from a quadruped. “Mocha, why is it out? Are you excited by horn pony?” Lom asked. I glanced to Retalia, but he was just as curious, staring at my… reproductive organ.

Okay, I know it’s not an organ, but that’s what males call it sometimes. No you can’t see it now!? What the hay. I don’t care if you’ve seen plenty in the streets, I’m not that kinda colt. Back to it.

I was done being silly for a bit, getting my flank bucked was enough to humble me. “No, it’s always out. That's why I wear clothes, plus I lost my fur and my human friends can help me find it.”

I guess I wasn’t really done being silly, I just didn’t wanna put any effort into it. When the unicorn came back she held a blue ceramic bowl in her magic. I took it from her as she sat before me while I sipped my cold water.

“I know thy name is Mocha, however I have, as of yet, the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Una, Unaleska, but I prefer Una. I am a unihorn, as you can tell. Have thee any questions before I continue?”

I shrugged and winced from the pain in my right arm. I got a good look at it and saw a simple set of splints tied to my arm, my bone, reset nicely, was throbbing between the boards and under the cloth holding it together. Slowly I raised my arm and looked at the work.

“What did I do to deserve this?”

“Ah, I was meaning of myself. Your question is simple, the minotaur believed you to be insulting its intellect. Uh, calling it stupid, they say here. Some are, indeed, and that leads them to rage. Their strength is nearly unparalleled, the fact thou live is only due to your friends, here.”

“What happened? It’s all kind of a blur, and a ‘unihorn’? Not unicorn?”

“Hm, unicorn? Unicorn? Why? We have a horn, and what is a corn?”

“Well, corn is a delicious sweet vegetable that looks like a horn, but it’s covered with small yellow balls of sweet juice,” I said looking at her as she listened, “yellow like your eyes, just not as sweet.”

She blushed, which was weird given her fur shouldn’t have. Then I winced as I failed to facepalm with my right hand. The growl I made as I held back a roar of pain got everyponies attention, their ears pointed to me, and their posture straightened.

“Sorry,” I said as best I could through a strained exhale, “I’m right handed and this is gonna be tough. So, the other question? Can you answer it?”

“Erhm,” was the noise she made loudly as she cleared her throat to begin, “yes, right. Well, thank you for the comment about my orbits, few notice, it seems,” she said sheepishly looking to the floor and then to me.

I have to add, that ponies eyes weren’t as big then either. They were smaller, by far. And round in their heads, not plates, but your vision was better too that way. I’ll cover the change eventually.

“Well,” she began, “from what was told at the tavern and rumors abound, the minotaur struck thee, lifted thee by the top of your head and began to break thy body until you stopped moving and became cold.

“Your friends here came to your aid and, with the help of Rea, brought you to me. I am the town healer of body and mind.”

“Wh-what happened to the cow that beat me up?”

Una gasped and placed a hoof to her chest. “My word, thou use such hurtful words about them,” she said in shock, “all cows are better than that who beat you.”

I strained a laugh as she did too at her humor. “Ah, it hurts to laugh. You’re humor is as great as magic. Is the beast in jail?”

“No, your stallion friend here broke her legs and a horn. She stayed here until she was healed enough to be sent to Rew, the jail is stronger there, an enraged minotaur will break our city if they felt like it. Thou are safe now, can I get thee some food?”

My stomach grumbled as she said that. “That was weird. I am hungry, but my stomach never growled so on time like that.”

“Oh, Lom hungry too,” she said as both her and Retalia’s stomachs rumbled.

“Huh,” I said looking between them all as they looked back to me, “did anyone else ever notice that happened too coincidentally?”

“What?” Una asked.

“I’m hungry,” I said. A second later my stomach rumbled again. “See, that! Say it too, Una.”

“I am hungry,” she said looking to me with an eyebrow raised. Her stomach rumbled. “Oh my,” she said looking to her underbelly, “what an interesting phenomenon. I have never heard anypony ask such a question. I am hungry,” she said again as her stomach rumbled. She arched an eyebrow and poked her belly saying it again to the same result.

It still happens, but it’s part of the world knowledge so it’s not as interesting. That was how I started ponies, unicorns specifically, to learn about the digestive systems of animals. They kept it to themselves for a long time, but after that whole tribe war everypony shared what they knew for a while.

I tangent again, I apologize.

We got up, with a lot of effort on my part, even with Una’s help, wrapped a sheet around myself, and went out of that room for the first time in a week that I, thankfully, didn’t recall.

What I did notice first was the fresh air full of sweetness.

Comments

[deltablaze22]

6548347 Yas!

[Mocha Star]

6549354

Eeyup!

The magic of friendship...

[Mocha Star]

6549354
How far have you gotten?
:)