The Secrets of The Unicorn and Pink Pony

Polly, the pretty pink pony grazed in the pasture filled with clover. She kept a watchful eye out for Lucas, the handsome white Unicorn for she had a major crush on him. She also knew a secret that he kept hidden from everyone, but it didn't change the way she felt. She knew that all the mares also vied for his attention; he was the only Unicorn in the area, the only one they had ever seen.

Most of the stallions would have like to see him disappear for they didn't need the competition.

"Where did you come from anyway?" asked Rupert, the shiny black stallion.

"I was brought to the valley near the mountains years ago by a fairy I once knew. Alas, she flew off into the sunset and I never saw or heard from her again You know that Unicorns live forever, don't you? When she left, I was lonely and wandered around for a while; now I am here with all of you."

"Is that so" snorted Rupert. "Don't you ever long to find your own kind?"

"Yes, someday I will, but for now I'm content here. What more could I wish for than green clover and all the attention from these lovely mares."

"Right, what more!" See you later." Rupert raced off to join the others.

"I tell you; I've had just about enough of Lucas; we need to find a way to get rid of him." Rupert told the stallions.

"What are you suggesting?" asked Donovan, elder of the herd.

"I don't have one, but if we don't do something we'll not get a lick of attention from any of the mares until he's gone."

"You're right there, son. Lucy, that red-headed mare over yonder used to give me the eye. Now she won't even look my way." This from Jason, the grey spotted Mustang. "Let me go have a little chat with him." Off he trotted, head held high.

Lucas was just beyond the big oak tree surrounded by several mares who were heeing and hawing over everything he said, each trying to gain the most attention.

"Good afternoon, ladies," he said in the most pleasant tone he could muster. "How are you beautiful mares today?"

The mares, in varying degrees of acknowledgement returned the greeting.

"Lucas, I was wondering how many unicorns were in your herd and why only you were separated from them?" queried Jason.

"Oh, well it's a long story, Jason. I wouldn't want to bore you with the details."

"No really, not a problem, I'd love to hear it. Wouldn't you ladies as well?"

"Yes, yes," giggled the mares, "tell us Lucas, please. We'd love to hear the story of how you came to be here.":

"Well, I will tell you all about it sometime, but right now I have to be somewhere else. Catch you all later." Off he galloped, not looking back.

"Well, that was awkward," glared Stacy the tan Palomino. "Geez, Jason, did you have to chase him away?"

"I didn't, all I did was ask a question. All of you were interested too."

Polly, who was curious, heard the entire conversation as she had trotted over to see what was going on. She knew full well why Lucas ran off so quickly but was not about to tell the others.

Later that day, Polly ran into Lucas down by the apple orchard.

Lucas looked up when she came, "Hi Little Polly, how are you today?"

"Hey, knock it off, I'm not little; thought I'd come over and get some apples before you eat them all."

"Not a chance, I have to keep my figure you know?" smiled Lucas.

"Right, for all those mares you're courting I suppose. How do you ever keep them all happy?"

"Well, it is a challenge, but I can't give away all my secrets, can I?"

"I'm sure you can't," winked Polly.

"What's the wink for, are you flirting with me?"

"Heaven's no, never! I do happen to know something about you however."

"Sure, you do Polly, nice try." Curious, Lucas asked, "Want to come with me. I found an oat field."

Flattered, Polly quickly headed down the hill yelling behind her, "Catch me if you can!"

They raced through the valley, up and down a few hills and there was the oak field, hidden behind a stand of trees.

"You know you really should share this oat field with the others, they would like it too."

"I should but I only share it with my favorite mares."

"Oh, so now I'm a favorite?"

"Not really, I mean, you're OK but you have a lot of growing up to do."

"I think you do, you're selfish."

"You can say what you want Polly, but I say finders' keepers. By the way, what's the big secret you think you know about me?"

"Let's just say I don't think you came here with a fairy."

"Oh, so you don't believe me, that's rude!"

"Well, I mean, a fairy, really? Is that the best you could come up with?"

"You're a feisty little pony, aren't you? Kind of sassy too?"

"Just keeping it real, you should try that some time. Ah, that's right, you're too busy trying to impress the mares."

"I think you're jealous. That's it, isn't it? You're jealous? If I wanted to, I could snap my fingers and summon a fairy. Us Unicorns have magic you know."

"Unicorns are not real."

"Neither are pink ponies, so what's your secret, huh?"

"Maybe we have something in common. You're impossible. Race you home."

That night Polly was on Lucas' mind. She was a handful, but he liked a challenge. She said Unicorns weren't real. Did she mean he wasn't real? He needed to spend more time with her for sure. What did she mean they had something in common?

Polly had a secret too that no one else knew and she wasn't about to reveal it; not yet.

Next day the mares were huddled in a circle. Lucy was speaking. "I'm going back to Jason, he always treated me right, not flirting with the rest of you like Lucas does."

"Are you telling us that Lucas has been after you?" brayed Sharon, the white draft horse.

"Well, he has taken me for a few walks in the countryside," she replied.

That conversation opened up a whole discussion between all the mares, revenge was about to come down hard on Lucas.

Next day Lucas came bounding into the field as usual. Instead of the giggling and flashing of eyes, he received an icy shoulder. "What's up everyone? Something happened that I should know about?"

"Funny you should ask? Sharon replied. "Who's your date today, Lucas?"

"Huh, date? What are you taking about?"

"That's what we would all like to know. We hear you've been playing the field."

"Me, you don't see a ring in my nose, do you?"

"Well, beauty isn't everything. I like my guy to be steady and faithful."

Lucas wasn't perturbed by the cold shoulder, give them all a week and they'd be begging to go for a trot again."

The stallions were all happy as a lark now that Lucas' game was out in the open. It seemed the mares had finally put him in his place, and they didn't have to do anything.

Several weeks went by and Lucas was definitely feeling left out but at least he had Polly to run around with; she was a good friend.

Then one wet, misty morning she was missing, and no one knew where she had gone. Lucas and the others searched the apple orchard and surrounding fields but no Polly. Lucas decided he would reveal the oat field to others; maybe she was there.

"Listen, I know where there is an oat field, I think we should all go and see if Polly might be there. Maybe she hurt herself."

The herd all followed Lucas to the oat field. No Polly. They stayed for the afternoon, glad to have something new to graze on.

Then Jason said, "Lucas, how long have you known about this oat field?"

"Huh, I don't know, a while, I guess.

A couple of the mares piped up. "He took me, there once, but I wasn't supposed to say anything, and I couldn't find it again."

"Me too."

"Me too."

Jason snorted disgustedly. "I can't believe this. Keeping secrets from the herd. You all should be ashamed of yourselves; and Lucas, you are the ringleader of it all."

"I'm sorry, I've shown it you now," said Lucas, hanging his head.

"That doesn't cut it, Lucas, it doesn't cut it at all. I think you should leave us for a few days. Go in search of Polly, and when you find her, bring her back to us, that will be your way back to forgiveness."

All the others shook their manes and nodded their heads in agreement.

Lucas left the group. He knew there was only one thing he could do and that was to go back to where his days as a Unicorn all started. Day after day he traveled through the lush fields of green and through rivers swollen with rain. Sometimes he hid in caves from the lightning and thunder. Finally, he saw the narrow canyon walls he had been searching for. Coming closer and closer to the canyon he blinked his eyes, was he seeing things? A pink figure appeared in the distance. Galloping faster and faster he thought, a pink pony, could that be Polly?.

Now he had her in his sight. Yes, it really was her and he was glad to see that she was OK. "Polly, what are you doing here? Oh my gosh, I'm so glad to see you."

Polly looked sad. "I'm here for the same reason you are Lucas. You see, I'm not really a Pink Pony; just like you aren't a Unicorn. I've been here before too.

"You have? So, that's how you knew."

"Yes, Lucas, I'm a fake, just like you are. I'm going back to being a plain old Appaloosa just like the day I was born."

Lucas hung his head. "Yeah, I messed things up a bit myself, thinking I was better than everyone else. Funny, I was an Appaloosa myself once upon a time."

"Are you going to....well you know," she flicked her head in the direction of the opening to the cavern.

"Yup, it's time, let's do it."

Together they walked through the narrow canyon until they came to the entrance of the cave. They stepped inside and then both walked to the small pool of glistening water just within the damp, dark walls. As soon as they were fully into the water, the cave lit up and a golden dust filtered down from the ceiling. They looked into each other's eyes.

"Make your wish now," she softly said.

He nodded and they both closed their eyes.

The walls of the cave began to shake and rumble. The water gurgled and crashed against their legs. When it stopped, they opened their eyes and looked at each other.

Their lips both spread into a huge grin at the sight before them. She was a beautiful white Appaloosa with a long, black, wavy mane and he was a brown Appaloosa with a white mane.

"It feels good to be back to myself," Lucas grinned. "Look at you, you're all grown up now and beautiful."

"I'm glad we're not fake any more Lucas. It's hard keeping secrets."

"Yeah, let's go home, shall we?"

After days of traveling back to the herd, they finally stood on the hill overlooking the field and sat there watching the herd grazing below. The sun was just beginning to set in the western sky. "What will we tell them," Polly asked.

"Just remember that you are now Misty, and I am Dakota. Tell them only that we have been traveling for some time searching for others and wonder if they would let us join the herd."

Slowly they made their way down the hill. The herd lifted their heads and watched them approach.

"Welcome, have you come far?" Jason asked.

"Yes," Lucas (Dakota) nodded his head. We've been traveling for days looking for a herd with the hopes we might join."

"You can stay with us; we are glad to have you. By any chance did you happen to see a Pink Pony or a Unicorn along the way?"

"No, we didn't," Lucas (Dakota) said. "Are there really Unicorns or Pink Ponies out there?"

"Unbelievably, there are, they used to live here but the Unicorn went to find the Pink Pony and neither ever returned."

"That must have been quite a sight to see," said Lucas (Dakota), looking at Polly (Misty) who kept her head down.

That was the last lie he told. They both had learned it is better to tell the truth.

Dakota and Misty remained together for life; he thought she was the most beautiful mare he had ever seen, and he never strayed from her. Misty felt lucky that even though she had told a lie, her crush became a reality. Sometimes the things you wish for aren't really what you wanted after all.

Often the herd would talk with sadness about the loss of Polly, but most were glad that Lucas was no longer causing friction within the group.

2,248 Words
Prompt: Creature has secret admirer
Submitted to: Creature Features, Feb. 2023
Rec'd Honorable Mention