Yegüita (Translation: Little Mare)

Sure, he's patient with you, but he's still got a short fuse from a life of hardship, and you're one of the few things that keeps him calm and happy. So you gotta be a good girl, and of course, you are. You're simply the best that there ever is. He's been taking you across the country on long road trips, to see his friends and family, to work jobs across the nation, or even just for the sake of travel. Every time you hit the highway, you're delighted to sit in the passenger seat and join in when he sings along to his favorite albums as the land whizzes by in front of you. You've committed so many of his favorite songs to heart, and sometimes you hum them idly to yourself because they remind you of him when you're waiting for him. The van is more home to you than any apartment he pays for, and you make his life so much brighter by just being there. It makes you the proudest mare in the states.

 

But all that currently pales in comparison to the burning in your backside right now. You really, really, really need to pee. You whine, and helplessly paw a stumpy hoof at the handle that a basic set of fingers could easily tug on to operate. You try biting it, only for your snout to come up just short as your forehead bumps against the window. Your eyes twitch up, and you see a vast desert outside. The stars are gorgeous, the moon caressing the ground softly with its light over the earth, coloring the plants and sand in a gentle blue. You snort and whicker, doing a little anxiety dance on the seat you climbed onto.

You twist your head to your right, and see your master dozing away in the farthest back seat of the van, the one that's basically a couch. He's wrapped in a blanket and sleeping on a big pillow, and his big cowboy hat hangs on one of the headrests. You don't want to upset him by waking him up, but you could lose control of yourself at any time, and you don't wanna have to deal with that! You give another needy whinny, and keep trying to open the door. Of course, you can't, and in desperation you rear up onto your hind legs to simply push against it, hoping against hope that the door wasn't closed properly, and that if you just lean on it, it'll open. This, of course, doesn't happen, and instead, you lose your balance and topple off of the seat and onto the floor, letting out a fearful squeak and noisy thud. You freeze, and hear your Maese stirring.

 

"Yegüita." He mutters, it's his little nickname for you, "¿Por que todos la ruido? What's going on?"

Embarrassed, you hide your face in your hooves. "I- I- I'm sorry, I'm sorry," you hiccup, on the verge of tears from the stress. He sees you upset, and he moves from the back of the van to the middle, where you currently lie. He runs a rough, leathery hand across your mane, and it comforts you instantly. "Shhhhhshshshsh, calmarte, calm down. It's okay, I'm not mad. What's wrong?"

You look up at him with innocent, teary eyes. "I really need to pee, Maese.." You fear the worst, waking him up for such a silly thing!! Surely he's upset with you, and your breath starts to quicken, but then.. He chuckles. Then laughs, and reaches over one of his toned arms to open the door in one fell swoop. The cold, thin air of the desert hits your fur, and your ears twitch towards the sound of the landscape before you. "Buen, vame. Go pee. I'll be right here."

You give him a grateful nuzzle and skitter out of the van into the night, and trot about for a minute, looking for a decent spot. As you do, you take in the surroundings, and you see the van parked on the shoulder of the highway you've been riding along for the past day or so. The highway stretches further than your little pony eyes could ever hope to see, and there's nothing for miles around but plants and bugs. You finally find a spot to do your business, and get to work.

 

Relief finally washes over you, and for a moment, nothing else matters. The feeling finally passes, and you kick up the sand beneath you to cover your tracks. You begin to make your way back to the van, happily looking at your master as he calmly observes you. But suddenly, your ears twitch behind you, an instinct you didn't know you had, as you realize you're in danger. Ynigo sees the sudden fear on your face, and barely has time to blink as you feel a sharp pain dig into your flank. You scream, and feel your body being shredded as a coyote tries to make a meal out of you. You kick, buck, and wriggle, anything to get away from it. Ynigo is on his feet instantly, brandishing something, you don't know what, your terrified mind is trying to find an escape from this thing's teeth!

 

You hear a sudden, sickening CRACK! - and you hear the coyote yelp in pain, and pull away from your flank. You take this opportunity to limp away, and Ynigo puts himself between you and the coyote. You've never seen him this mad before, as the now prone animal receives blow after blow, and you realize he has the tire iron in his hand. Over, and over, this animal cries out in pain, and then goes silent, and still, Ynigo attacks it. Crack, crack, crunch, crunch. He's enraged, and it terrifies you. You hide under the van, heart pounding, until the impacts stop.

"¿Yegüita? Yegüita, ¿dónde fuiste? Where are you?" You hear your owner call out, but you remain hidden under the van. You can't help but whimper, both pain and fear spilling out of your throat. He hears you, and puts the tire iron down. You smell blood on him, and your fur stands on end. You want to hide further under the van, but the shock has faded into agonizing pain, and you can't move.

"¿Yegüita? It's okay. It's dead."

"You killed it."

"I know."

"I, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. You did nothing wrong. We didn't know about the coyote."

"It's dead! It's dead.. I, I.."

"Come here. I need to see your wounds."

"D-don't hurt me! I'm sorry!"

"Hey, hey, easy. I won't hurt you, you know I won't."

You whimper in fear, shaking, shivering, heart thundering against your chest.

"Chroma."

Him using your name catches your attention. He never does that..

"Chroma, mi quierda, I want to help. Please, ven acá. Come here."

 

Tentatively, you reach a hoof out toward his outstretched hand, which he takes hold of. He gingerly pulls you out and up, and holds you in one arm as he pulls out a towel from the many bags you travel with, knocks over your pet bed to make room on one of the middle seats, and spreads it over the seat. He sets you down gently, wound side up, and closes the door behind him. There, across from you, he sits on the other seat in the middle of the van, and he starts to take deep breaths. He pours some water onto a rag, and washes away the blood for a bit, which already hurts so badly. Then he pulls out a first aid kit, pours some alcohol onto a clean rag, and says to you, "This is going to sting, okay? I need you to be a brave pony." He looks at you with such concern, and you whimper, give him a nod, and brace for more pain.

 

It's horrible. You scream and cry and sob, tears flowing freely now, as he tries his best to be gentle with you. He gives you a minute to recover, and gives you another warning when he applies more disinfectant. This time, you just cry silently, shivering from the pain. He rubs an antibiotic cream on the wounds, and wraps your rump in bandages and gauze. He looks at you, and tells you gently, "It didn't look horrific. You're just going to need to keep off that leg until it heals. Okay?"

You sniffle, nod, and then reach down to get your pet bed, before he suddenly picks you up by your barrel. Confused, you look up at him, and watch as he squeezes his way into the back seat, lies down, belly side up, and places you on top of him. He holds you tightly, and now that you're on his chest, you realize his breath is shaky. It makes you worried.

 

"¿Maese? ¿Estes bien?" You ask him. "Are you okay..?"

A little shine glistens against his face in the moonlight. You sniff, and smell saltiness. You tilt your head, and grow worried. You nuzzle his neck, and only then does he cling onto you even tighter, and sobs.

He's crying, dear God, he's crying. You can't help but cry too, and after all this, you realize you almost just lost him. And then, moreover, you realize he almost lost *you*. You make him so happy, of course he'd be upset to see you in danger like that, to see the light of his life almost be taken away. It makes sense, and your heart breaks, and the two of you wrack yourselves with tears, until both of you are completely drained from it.

 

You don't even remember falling asleep, but the next morning, you found yourself snuggled tightly against your Master, your snout pressed deep into his neck. The smell of blood is still there, but the rest of his scent calms you down as you slowly awaken. He's still holding you tightly, but the heat of the desert is starting to make the both of you sweat. You prod him awake, and help him gather fresh clothes so that he doesn't pass by a state trooper while covered in blood. You blush when he changes right in front of you, knowing that you find his weathered body severely attractive, but you don't want to cross that bridge just yet. Being his pet is wonderful, and you want to allow him to claim you one day, but definitely not today.

Your ass already hurts way too much for that.

 

You tenderly limp into the passenger seat as he climbs into the driver's side, and he revs the engine to life. He looks to you, buckles you in, and gives you a gentle scritch behind your ears and then along your neck, moving to right under the chin. You whicker in delight, and he smiles softly, relieved to see you doing okay.

"Tell you what. How about, at our next stop, I get you a big bowl of fruit, para tu desayuno. Any breakfast fruits you want. ¿Suena bien?"

You nod enthusiastically, "¡¡Si, Maese!!"

He chuckles, and shifts into drive. You settle back into the seat and neigh softly as you relax.

You're so happy to be his little mare. His Yegüita. His, and his only.