Mocha's Story

by Mocha Star

Chapter 6

I followed Lom, what an interesting name by the way. Lom. Anyway, Lom led the way and I followed. Wait, that’s obvious. I guess I’m just trying to get past what happened during our walk.

As soon as I began following her I noticed her talking again. She’d point here and there, stating what seemed like facts. Probably telling me what things held importance to her. Maybe names of the trees, plants, grass. Maybe she was just talking to the voices in her head, I didn’t have a clue.

She was ahead of me and I was enjoying the scenery. I still had my HUD on so data was running across my screen. I got a noise and beeping sound that drew my attention to Lom and… How do I put this? Well, horses didn’t go to the bathroom anywhere specific. What I’m saying is... she was pooping while walking and talking.

Her tail was up, and it was just dropping while she walked and talked like it was nothing. Maybe to her it was nothing but, I’m not a horse. Or, wasn’t. I’m still not, but, you know what I mean. So, there she was, talking in horse-ese and pooping.

And I stepped in it. It was awful to think about. Just as bad to watch it happen the second time, but I was able to walk around that one.

The forest was becoming much more dense, so her talking was becoming more animated. I think she was telling me about the terrain but even now I can’t recall.

She stopped suddenly and ducked, then motioned for me to do the same. I hesitated before I complied and knelt down. She looked back to me and scowled, to which I shrugged. My massive body wasn’t going to go up and down like a normal creature; not while I’m in the armor.

I don’t think she understood by the way she glared at me like a mother would a child. I actually felt a bit uncomfortable but stayed as I was. She huffed and turned to look ahead. I focused my scan ahead and didn’t see anything at first but then something moved. I smirked and turned off my HUD.

I saw them hiding, even without the HUD and I still had my rifle in my right hand and I relaxed myself, I stood and, holding the rifle like a crutch, I began to limp. I saw Lom hop up and turn to me.

“Mocha. Ythmloth potokok. Ythmloth. Potokok.”

I’m pretty sure she was telling me ‘stay down’. I shook my head and winked at her. I stumbled ahead and moved my hand up, almost like I was guarding myself from her as the others jumped from their hiding spots and ran up to Lom, making all kinds of ruckus surrounding her.

Some held spears, others rocks, in the crooks of their forelegs. I didn’t know they could bend that way, but horses shouldn’t have language like that, so what the hell do I know?

Cool, stone age horses. This’ getting cooler and cooler.

“Intrel ptick, bo’ta worass,” A large one, comparatively, whinnied in the middle of his sentence aggressively, “Lom,” he growled at me, “eieith miltrep. MILTREP!”

I fell back and cowered slightly. “Lom. Catch. Me. Lom. Fine. Warrior.”

I pantomimed by pointing to her, then to my leg while I spoke. I made sure to tremble my arm, as best I could in armor, while pointing to her and saying her name.

The look of such confusion on Loms face was worth the picture. I still have it, actually. All these years later. I’ll show you later. Well, she was able to squeak something that meant as much to me as it did to them. She was speechless. The warriors, I call them that loosely, looked between us and grinned.

They chanted her name and hoisted her up, the look on their faces was something out of a show I once saw, where a young warrior had killed his first prey on a hunt. They were so excited and focused on Lom they didn’t see me stand up and start ‘limping’ away. One of them did and I was quickly surrounded by spears.

I acted like I was afraid, which I would have been, had it not been for a centimeter of layered armor that was heavy round resistant. Uh, that means it was really tough. I bet if I still had it, Celestia couldn’t even stomp it without a lot of effort. Yeah, that’s how tough it was.

Well, their leader warrior guy shouted at me and I turned around slowly, still using my rifle as a crutch, and looked to him with a hint of sorrow and fear. The fighting grin he put on was actually endearing. Even without my armor I think I’d have beaten him, but he’d have fought his best and might have landed a few good hits.

He grumbled a few words to me I really didn’t hear or care about.

Lom trotted up to him and placed a hoof to his side and got his attention. She whispered to him and his eyes widened, then he looked to me in shock.

“Mondah, ruoum Lom?”

I looked at him and I think he could see my confusion.

“Ythmloth Mocha, Retila. Ythmloth Mocha.”

I guess his name is Retila. I’ve gotta remember that. Damn I’m terrible with names.

He looked to me and narrowed his eyes. “Mocha, ruoum Lom?”

I think he’s asking me if-

“Mocha, Lom, prit!” Lom shouted loud and proud. I really wish I could have been recording still. Their expressions turned to shock, all of them. They looked to her, then me several times, trying to process whatever she said.

Their gaze fell on me, their weapons lowered. Retina started to talk to me. “Modahk-”

“Mocha!” Lom interjected.

He glanced to her, almost kindly. “Mocha, prit?”

I have to find out what that means? I swear, if I married her I’m going to run until my armor dies.

I nodded. “Lom, Mocha, prit. Retina prit?”

He hopped back a bit, recoiling. The others laughed and Lom came to my side, whispering in my ear. “Retila. Ythmloth Retila, ngng Retina,” she giggled as she moved back.

“I’m sorry. Retila prit Mocha?”

The laughter subsided and he looked me over with caution. I glanced to Lom and she was standing tall, but she nodded and moved her forelegs apart.

Oh yeah, I guess I should..

I steadied myself and placed my rifle on the ground, leaning my knees on it so none of them would get it. Just to be safe, and opened my arms.

Lom smirked at me and nodded, like we understood each other. A few seconds of uneasy murmuring among them and the leader Retina- yeah, Retila, whatever, stood in front of me holding his spear lightly. He grunted and the others raised theirs again. I couldn’t see them all but, I imagine if I could they’d have been smiling behind me.

He lowered his spear and took a step into my open arms then reared and fell into me; another hug.

What the hell is with these things and hugs? Oh crap, what if they’re all one big happy family and this is just indoctrination into their clan? Like, I have enough to worry about.

I grunted and embraced him lightly, since my armor could probably crush a tree in its prime, I just left enough space, just in case. He pressed against me and I opened my arms. He looked into my visor at my face and we shared a smile, it was a good moment.

He pushed back and turned, landing on all fours. Reaching down and picking up his spear he thrust it ahead. Well, kinda. It was at an angle from where I had to go. I couldn’t just leave this group, and who knew when I might need their help in the future?

I just stood up, grabbing my rifle as I did. I took a few steps before I remembered I was supposed to be limping and I got a few awkward looks. I looked to my leg and knocked it three times, while giving a command to open the reload slot.

It’s a place where extra rounds are kept, so I could drop a mag and pull a new one in a pinch… I’ll maybe get into that later.

Well, I removed the clip and replaced it the same way. I groaned and wiggled my leg like something was happening, then I stomped it to the ground. With a heavy thud I hopped a good foot, that’s like two hooves…

You know, I don’t really like how our measurements are based on Celestia’s sizes. I mean, conceited much? Gosh, sorry. I’ll try to not insult her in front of you. I said try, not I wouldn’t.

So, I landed and they all looked to my leg like it was miraculously healed. A couple tried to poke my leg with their spears but Retina… Retila, stopped them with a sharp shout and glare.

I began to walk through the small group and in the direction he had pointed for a few good paces before I was flanked by them all. I was still surrounded, but it didn’t feel like I was in trouble now.

Lom was the talk of the moment; I heard her name several times a minute. She kept pointing to her, whatever it was, a bandage? A patch? A three hundred credit piece of plastic that I needed to keep my weapon on my body, in and out of the suit. Whatever you wanted to call it, she was proud of it.

I just went along for the ride, essentially. After about an hour the conversation died and we walked ahead in silence. The sounds of nature began to drive me mad. Crunching under our feet, wind in the leaves, birds. It was mind numbing.

Then a manticore jumped out of the bushes and I wrestled it to the ground and they watched in awe as I rode it around, then I adopted him, named him George, loved him, petted him… What?! It happened, in my imagination. Only it wasn’t a manticore; it was a lion. But I was so bored I wanted something to happen.

I had heard stories, read books, and watched movies about how great nature was. How it was where we belonged, where we came from, and where we went when we died.

If it was like that, I’d have preferred to live in a heavy metal video for eternity.

No, I’m rubbing my temples because I keep making references you don’t get, and you ask, and I have to deflect the answer. It’s really difficult to stay on topic when reminiscing about something so boring, at the time.

Okay, well. After what felt like an hour I shut off external audio and turned on my music again. I was so much happier listening to classic rock like Metallica and Slayer and other classical music like grunge. Oh, it was amazing music.

Well, I was alerted by System to pay attention and looked ahead to see a large gathering of horses. Maybe fifty of them scattered around a clearing ahead of me. I turned off my music and stopped. I looked to the bushes and sighed, turning I took a step, only to find spears at me again. I looked at them and tapped my crotch, then pointed to a bush.

Well, a few blushes told me they understood I had to use the restroom, as it were. Or, that I had to furiously masturbate in some privacy. Gods I wish I knew their cultural heritages.

Well, I went into the bushes and used a drill feature on my boot to make a small hole and deposited my waste from the last day into it, then covered it, following the act I walked out to see all the horses looking away from me. I really hope they thought I was just doing some weird alien bathroom stuff and not…

Well, I rejoined them and they led me into what appeared to be their home, of sorts. It was mostly just a poorly made forced clearing. They had knocked over some trees and cleared bushes away from a good sized area. A place to gather, while I’m sure they slept in the safety of the nearby woods or a cave or something.

The overall opinion of this group returning with a giant bipedal creature made from unknown material was obviously fear and concern. I saw parents and their foals group up, their little ones hiding under their legs, peeking as they could.

I stopped at the edge of the clearing and knelt down again. “Lom, prit?” I asked pointing to the horses in the clearing. Lom looked to me, followed my point then looked at the concerned ones gathering together. She looked to me and smiled a little before beginning to talk to Retila. She pointed at the ground before me again and told me to stay with a look. I obliged, like a good pet. Maybe prit means servant. I wondered.

She and Retila went ahead with the others standing around me, relaxed like I was just a tourist and they were there, like I wasn’t something that scared them to death earlier.

About ten minutes later Lom and Retila returned and began talking to me and the others around me. They all walked into the clearing and I was encouraged to follow. I hesitantly stood and walked ahead, into the clearing. I didn’t know what to expect, at all.

A small group approached us and we stopped, I was following Lom like she had me on a leash. She nuzzled who I presumed to be her mother and father before pointing to me, happily talking and saying ‘prit’ so often.

Their eyes were locked on me the whole time. They watched me with their ears perked up, their bodies in a position to bolt away in a heartbeat, and their little ones under them waiting to follow their parents’ actions; cautiously looking between me and Lom.

She finished her little tale and they all looked around to the other horses in the area who were whispering. I know I say this to death, but ‘prit’ was the word of the day. It was losing it’s cute factor and starting to drive me mad. I know I didn’t have any linguistic package in that dumb suit, only a few thousand human languages.

It could translate horsen-ese just as good as I could. Yeah, that bad.

At least at first.

After a few minutes I sat down after finding a large tree to plop against, and I relaxed again. The horses came by and randomly poked me, looking at me, asked me things I couldn’t answer because I couldn’t understand. All I could do was smile as nice as I could while they passed, crowded, poked, prodded, and examined my armor until they warmed up to me.

I actually started to fall asleep so I thought I’d give them something to talk about. I loudly yawned and stretched my arms, tinted my visor, and slumped like I had passed out. I heard them giggle, talk, hush each other, then an eerie calm washed over me. I had my shows on at first, just enjoying most of an episode before I got an odd feeling.

I paused and looked up to see about thirty of these horses laying on their bellies, sleeping or dozing, while many others laid facing the woods. They took me as a cue to rest safely.

I couldn’t even find a thought at what I saw. I turned off the show and lifted my head to look around. Lom had fallen asleep with her head on my lap, I couldn’t feel her but it was so cute to see. Her ears, and the ears of almost all the others’ ears, flicked in every way while they restlessly slept. It was odd to see them sleeping so uneasily and I really wanted to find out why. What kind of predators existed here? What kind of tech would I have to face down in this weird world?

Well, that’s all I had to think about as I dozed off to sleep myself. “System, standby mode,” I mumbled, almost instinctively, as I fell asleep.

I woke up I don’t know how long later to see the sun was setting.

Holy shit, I’ve slept more here than on a week off in the military.

I noticed I was on my side and grumbled. Trying to sit up didn’t yield any results. I was in a suit that weighed as much as five ponies, I couldn’t get up without help or System.

“System, online.”

A humming sound filled my ears for a couple seconds and everything turned on. My body twitched briefly as my suit did a mobility check and I sat up. Looking around I saw the entire area was deserted.

“Great, what happened?”

System was in standby mode. All systems were set to powersave mode. Current power levels are at 57%. Projected life is three days without full recharge. Solar recharge panels damaged. Recommend return to repair bay ASAP.

“Yeah, thanks,” I said grumpily as I boosted myself up and looked around. A quick scan and I found their tracks. And something bigger. Looked like a big beast, whatever it was. So, I began to trot, I mean run, after them.

---

---

“I need to take a break,” I told her. She frowned but I insisted. “This next part is a bit tough to put into words, I need some water. Be right back.”

I got up and cantered to the bathroom. I went in, closed the door, turned on the light and looked at myself in the mirror.

I have looked the same for almost sixty years. Maybe I should change it up? Meh, what’s the point. I have to face the truth sooner or later. I guess this is the first step, telling the truth. My truth.

I turned on the water and plugged the sink, letting it fill about halfway before turning the water off. It was warm when I dipped the tip of my hoof into it. I chuckled.

When I first got here, hooves were senseless but mobile and could grip. Now they’re almost like having two fingers with nerve endings. I can’t wait to get to that part of the story.

I plunged my muzzle into the water and drank all of it down to the drain before I gasped for air.

I always loved water, but the water in some places has unique local flavors. Some sweeter, some saltier, some are just to full of minerals. But, all are clean and fresh. I respect that about this world.

After everything, the water has always been clean.

I sighed and shook my head quickly. Most of the water got off, some was in my fur. Fur. If only I knew. I grabbed a towel from above the… what do I even call it. It’s a toilet, I guess. But they’re so different here from what I knew as I human.

It’s a unique design that somepony I knew came up with a while ago.

I dried my face and tossed the towel to the sink before turning off the light and exiting the bathroom. She was still there, tapping her hooves on her legs waiting.

“Do you know the history of the toilet? I asked her. She snapped me a look that said ‘what the hay are you talking about?!’

She shook her head cautiously.

“I know the pony that invented the modern design. Did you know that they were once like chairs, with a hole in them?”

She tittered at the thought and shook her head. “That sounds so silly. And weird. And why are you talking about that?”

“Just a quick side note. The ones now are just long squat toilets that cater to practically every species. When I got here, creatures went while they moved. Over time we tried to implement more comfortable ways we were used to. It didn’t take so well for quadrupeds, though. And tails were not a thing humans had, if I didn’t mention that.”

“No, you didn’t,” she said with a hint of annoyance as she levitated her stack of papers to the beginning and scratched a note about human anatomy. “I thought you were monkey like, they have tails.”

“Don’t let any human hear you call them monkeys. It’s inflamatory, an insult. You do not want to anger a human.”

She looked at me and nodded.

“Anyway, I have a story to tell you.”

---

---

I tracked them for what felt like miles. My suit was doing most of the work but it was still a long trek through an unknown forest. Not that a known forest would have been much better. I had my infrared scanner going and searched for any horse I could find.

I found a few drops of blood by a thorny bush, lots of lost mane or tail hairs, but nothing of note. I finally got tired of looking and looked to the sky. The colors of night were coming in and I saw some stars peeking through the void. I kind of hoped I’d get kicked again, that some horse would be there beside me, shouting ‘prit’.

I turned and began to march toward where Skippy was when I noticed a heat signature. It wasn’t tiny. It had to be what scared the horses away so I readied my rifle and walked loudly to it. I switched to night vision for a second before regretting it; It wasn’t night yet, just dusk. It turned itself off but left me seeing spots.

I didn’t notice the creature until it’s maw was right over my upper torso, trying to chomp me. I let my rifle go from my right hand and drew a fist, I raised that fist up as high and as fast as I could catching the beast somewhere that made it vomit as it flopped off me and rolled on the ground.

I didn’t mind being covered in whatever its last meal was as I walked to it and looked at it. It stood on shaky legs and I saw it was what I now know to be a manticore, but a smaller male. It backed up and I saw blood around it’s mouth. Not mine, so whose?

I took my rifle in hand and looked at it, ready to shoot it’s ass with buckshot or even a taser if I wanted. Then I saw Lom on the ground, dead by it’s rear legs. It was eating her. I stopped it from finishing her. He threw her up on me.

I blinked as the flash from my muzzle, the gun muzzle, blinked. I didn’t know I had even aimed and pulled the trigger but I hit it center mass with a .50 caliber round. It was turned to mush before it knew it was dead and I still shot it twice more. I didn’t even feel mad, it just happened.

I walked to Lom and cradled her head in my hands, part of her face was nibbled on and the rest of her was just beginning to be snacked on so she was mostly intact. I took in a deep breath, held it for as long as I could, and exhaled sharply.

“Lom, Mocha prit.”

I laid her head down, covered her with a few scraps from the beast, stood up again, then began my march to find my friends.

If this is how it is here, maybe life on earth wasn’t so bad.

Comments

[Sun Struck]

Woah...

i really don't know what to say.....

oh wait i do...

this place is weird. q