Momodora: Equestrian Adventure

by Whiskas

Chapter 8 - "Am I interrupting something?"

Chapter 8 - "Am I interrupting something?"

"So can I leave now?"

"Yes, you can. But if I see you back here within the next week, you won't avoid me talking your ears off!" Clean Cut snapped.

"Yes nurse." Kaho said solemnly, leaving the hospital room.

"You can get your things back at Bold's house." The nurse said without turning around, cleaning the room.

The priestess left the hospital and started wandering the town. The sun was high up in the sky, it's rays beating down on everything below harshly. Kaho slowly made her way towards the married pair's home, trying her best to ignore the whispering and stares directed at her. Ponies seemed to be attempting to drill holes into her body with their eyes and she was really not liking that. Then a small pony - a foal walked up to her. He had a green coat and a red coat and his yellow eyes were looking at her in... reverence?

"Miss?" He asked in a squeaky voice.

"Yes? What do you want child?" She asked, glad that some of the attention was now directed to him.

"I wanted to thank you for protecting our home."

"You don't need to do that. It's my duty to protect those in danger regardless of who they are." She spoke warmly. The foal walked up closer, got up on his hind legs and stood up to hug her. It was nice. He backed away and ran up to a group of other foals which started to chatting excitedly. Kaho continued, relieved that not everyone was looking at her now. It took her a few minutes to find the house again since she only once walked the road from the hospital to it. She knocked on the door and waited. The door was opened in a few seconds by Honey Bee.

"Oh! Welcome Kaho. I see you've been released from the hospital."

"Yes, with a threat of a verbal lashing if I come back too soon." She explained.

"Oh, well. That's just how Clean Cut is. In any case, I'm glad you're back on your hooves already!" The other mare exclaimed, giving her a big hug.

"Thanks." Kaho said, blushing slightly.

"Now come on in. You'll be getting your things back and we can talk a bit before dinner." Honey stepped aside, allowing the priestess to enter.

They walked inside, Honey closing the door with her magic. The living room was empty but there was a ridiculous amount of noise coming from the kitchen. It seemed like Bold was cooking again. "Maybe he's the cooking type of man." Kaho thought. She sat down on the couch, while Honey turned towards the guest room Kaho slept in before. Half a minute later her hostess came back with all her things plus a tiny purple wallet with yellow dots on it.

"Thank you. But what's this..?"

"Ah, Shadow dropped by a few days after the whole incident and said that he got you the dimensional wallet you needed. Your bits are in it."

"Oh, I'll visit him and thank him later then."

"And now onto the important bit!" Honey exclaimed, dumping everything onto Kaho.

"Which is..?" She asked after taking everything off of her.

"I want to hear all about those things you used when you were fighting! For research purposes!" She gave a winning smile and the same notepad and pencil as before popped into existence next to her with a yellow flash. Kaho sighed resigned before starting to explain.

"Alright, but after that I get to ask you some things as well." Honey nodded and made a 'go ahead' gesture.

"Well the first thing I used was the Pocket Incensory. It enhances any item held in the smoke it emits with fire, causing the item to cause small explosions of flames with each hit. They grow in size and are hotter the stronger you hit. I then hung the Black Sachet on my neck. It induces a horrible smell that makes you stronger, though at risk of entering a frenzied state where you lose most of your capability for coherent thoughts and nearly nullifying all pain you would feel. The frenzy wears off quickly and the user might experience a shock when they suddenly feel all the pain they previously ignored." She paused for a while to breathe.

"Then I ate a Crystal Seed. It also enhances your strength though it doesn't do much besides that and tinting your vision slightly blue. The plants I ate to stay alive are Bellflowers. They're fairly common where I come from. They can magically heal wounds, stop bleeding both external and internal but they can't fix broken bones. They're also unbelievably sour and the first five times you consume them you'll probably regret doing so a lot. Like throwing up, a lot." She concluded.

"Thanks! Now what do you want to know?"

"How did you meet Bold? I'm curious." Honey's face soured for a tiny fraction of a second but Kaho still caught it.

"I was doing an errand for... my employer at the time." She looked away. "It was here in the desert. I was supposed to find a specific item for her and come back. It was supposed to be a simple job. Turned out to be anything but that." She let out a humorless chuckle.

"Turns out a group of bad ponies was out for the item as well. We ended up fighting to no surprise. Just me against ten others. I might be good but I'm not that good. I probably would have died if he didn't find us at that moment." She paused.

"Admittedly it was much more complicated then I expected at first." Bold's voice came from behind them. Kaho looked back while Honey just looked away.

"To me it was just an unknown mare about to be killed by some strangers. But it was still someone to be protected. I came in and we defeated them. I was conflicted, I admit as she already killed four of them and murder is the greatest crime one may commit in this country. But... I saw the desperation in her eyes. She was only defending herself. So I helped. Honey didn't make anything easier on me when she fainted after the fight. What was I supposed to do with four corpses, six fainted aggressors and her?" He finished. Kaho was staring wide eyed at both of them.

"When I came to, he was nearby, standing guard. I didn't want to attract attention at first. This wasn't in the script and I never was in a like that before. So I pretended to still be unconscious. He found me out pretty quick and started questioning me. That was the hardest conversation in my entire life. I had to explain what happened, why was I here and for what purpose, why did I kill the-" Honey's voice cracked as she tried to continue. Nearly instantly Bold was at her side, holding her close.

"She lied throughout the entire conversation. Somehow managed to convince me they were some evil cult despite them not having any signs of it. I mean there were no black cloaks, painted faces or blood sacrifices around which normally tend to give away these things, so I don't know how she did it. Said she needs to go back to her employer and face her punishment. And here I finally managed to object."

"He told me he'd help me explain. He saw the situation, knew that I had to do what I did." The unicorn interrupted with puffy eyes, filled with tears.

"We weren't capable of dragging these ponies by ourselves. We left them there and went back to my home in Oasis. We went in at night so no one could see that she was covered in blood. She took a very long shower and in the morning we were on our way to mainland Equestria." He continued.

"She was calm like always but I knew it was just a mask. It always is. You learn that after a while under her. I explained the situation from my perspective and Bold from his. I don't know what she was thinking but I was... retired. I still run errands for her occasionally but mostly I just live on monthly stipend as long as I go to my monthly psychiatrist appointment in Canterlot so I don't have... issues." She finished.

"Oh, I... didn't expect that. Sorry for bringing it up." Kaho apologized awkwardly.

"No, it's okay. My psychiatrist said it's better to open up to people instead of bottling it in. I'm just... cautious not confess to anypony unless I trust them." Kaho blushed at that.

"Do you really trust me that much?"

"Yes." She said confidently. "From what I've seen and heard you're someone who can be trusted. You'd risk your life for others and seem like a genuinely pleasant young mare, so I feel like I can do it." She explained.

"How many people you've told already?"

"You're the first one I've told personally"

"Oh. Oooooh. That's... a lot of pressure. Well, I won't betray your trust Miss Bee." Kaho stammered, the blush returning full force and then some.

"Please. It's just Honey to friends." Her hostess gave her a very warm smile. Kaho blushed even harder and the married couple shared a short laugh at her expense.

---

"Thank you for the dinner. I'm going out for a few things." Kaho said.

"Alright. Be sure to come back before it's dark. The town gets really cold at night." Honey called out as the priestess stepped out the door.

The sun was approaching the horizon and it was getting darker with each minute. She decided to go to Shadow first. The walk was uneventful. She knocked on the door to his currency exchange office before coming in. He predictably was swinging back and forth on that creaky chair again with his eyes closed. She rolled her eyes and walked forward. She grabbed the chair with her magic 'and isn't that cool?' she thought while stopping the chair. With her thoughts. His eyes slowly opened and he gazed around confused with half-lidded eyes before seeing her.

"Oh, hi Kaho." He paused. "I swear I'm not asleep on the job all the time."

"Sure, whatever you say. I came here to thank you for the wallet." She responded. He narrowed his eyes slightly before responding.

"You didn't need to, I sensed your gratitude earlier in the day." He explained casually, giving her a smug look.

"I'm sure you sensed me coming here as well then. Would explain the way you greeted me when I came in." The gauntlet was thrown.

"Yeah, I have a way to make mares feel special I know."

"I'm sure you have to drive away dozens of adoring girls each day."

"Yeah. It's a bit hard on me having to do that everyday. I don't let it get to me, of course. I'm far too great for that."

"Yeah, with a name like that I would be surprised if you weren't a cunning leader of a dark cult bent on world domination. Humble beginnings for someone of your caliber."

"Don't worry I'm sure there will be a place for you in the new world order." He paused. "Somewhere."

"Probably as the heroic resistance's mascot. I'd be great for morale." Kaho boasted.

"Not the leader?" He tsked. "Disappointing Kaho, but it's good that you know your limits."

"No, the resistance leader always gets overthrown by their right hand with a chronic backstabbing disorder and an unhealthy desire for power. And at the end of the day the mascot is plain better, since they get all the credit."

"The heroic sacrifice you'd do to prevent my backup plan to destroy the world, means you wouldn't live to tell the tale and no one would know how you defeated me." He countered. Kaho raised her eyebrow.

"Backup plan to destroy the world?" She asked.

He scoffed in response. "If I can't have it, no one can."

"Of course you realize that I'm too good of a person to just die like that at the hands of an evil overlord. There would be a light from the heavens and all of the gods would bring me back to life and make me the ruler of everything because of my heroic deeds and my selflessness." Kaho said condescendingly.

"My evil cult would revive me as an evil god after centuries when the time is right to upset the balance of good and evil once again, which you wouldn't expect." He shot back.

"True." She admitted. "No one could expect such a failure to be revived, just to be defeated again by the line of my heroic descendants."

"How am I a failure! I took over the world once and am back as a powerful evil god fueled by hundreds - No, thousands of bloody sacrifices?!" He asked disbelievingly.

"But you failed the first time and won't get the second chance because I secretly suspected something like that would happen and prepared my child, who prepared theirs and so on." Kaho said, victory in every line of her body.

"You can't do that! That's cheating!" He exclaimed.

"You did it before me, Mr. "I suddenly have a dark cult", so you have no room to complain." Kaho justified.

Shadow stared for a moment before bursting out laughing and shaking his head.

"Very well. I am defeated. Good match." He offered his hoof. Kaho shook it, giggling herself.

"We have to do that again sometime." He said when they've calmed down.

"Sure. We might need to change the topic since I've obviously got you beat on good versus evil." She teased.

"That you do. We might only need to change sides though. We'll see how it will go next time I guess." He commented.

"Yeah, you're right. Now I'm off to do the rest of my errands. Goodbye!" She called as walked outside.

"Goodbye!" He called back.

Kaho left the building, shaking her head slightly.

"That was very enjoyable. We really do have to do that again." She mused, walking towards the market. The merchants were slowly starting to pack up their merchandise. She quickened her pace, looking around for the bell. After a few minutes of looking around, she spotted a pegasus stallion with a collection of various trinkets a tiny collection of bells included. Kaho walked up to him.

"Excuse me, do you maybe have a golden bell?"

"Sure do, lady! Covered in gold or made of gold?" He asked.

"Made of gold. How much for one?"

"Fifty bits."

The priestess fished out the wallet out of her bag and pulled out the bits, handing them over to the pegasus. In turn he gave her the bell.

"Pleasure doing business with you lady!" He called out as she walked away. It was getting darker and colder with every minute so she sped up. Not so long and she was standing before the couple's house and knocking on the door again.

"You don't have to knock every time! Just get in!" Honey's annoyed voice called out from the inside. Kaho blinked, before lighting up her horn and opening the door. The priestess walked in, closing the door behind her and blinked once again, not sure how to feel at the sight before her. Bold was laying on his belly on the sofa while Honey was standing on him and... jumping up and down?

"Am I interrupting something?" Kaho asked, her voice and odd mixture of confusion, embarrassment, amusement and simultaneous bemusement.

"Yes." Honey growled through gritted teeth while still looking at Bold.

"Just go to your room girlie. We're just having a... lover's spat." He answered grinning at his wife.

Kaho only shook her head and did just that. Before she managed to close the door to her room she heard a "Give it back already!" followed by "You need to take a break and relax." and a "I am relaxing! With research!".

Kaho took of her cloak off and tossed it on the bed before placing the bag on the nightstand after retrieving the bell from inside. She placed the bell on floor before her and took the closest position to kneeling possible in her equine form.

Closing her eyes she began to pray.

Author's Note:

This chapter has been written and released early (by yours truly) to make up for the horrible thing that was chapter 7. I had much fun with this one, though the ending was a bit rushed as I took a five day long "break", before writing the end. I'm going to shout out myself from the 7th of January for being a real man and powering through two thousand words in like two or three hours, a true record for one like me. If you have any possible topics for Shadow's and Kaho's future "debates", let me know and I'll see if I can write something with that (IF you want to see more of them). Hope you people enjoyed this chapter and I'll see next time. Take care!
- Whiskas