Sometimes, things are just painful to write · 1:03pm Sep 2nd, 2017
Yaks appeased.
Flurry knew that the last accomplishment was all hers and that the impromptu yak stomp dance had made the yaks feel welcome. The following yak hugs might’ve been a little too enthusiastic, but Flurry was fine with looking disheveled and was in no hurry to look straightened out. Now, the yaks had been shown to their yurts and were happy to be left to refresh themselves after a long trip.
Yak yurts were perhaps one of the greatest things ever, and Flurry longed to stay in one. Alas, the yurts of yaks were not considered secure buildings, and as such, her parents were opposed to such action. Setting up one indoors just wouldn’t be the same, so Flurry had to wait. Someday, she would be in charge of her own life, and when that day came, she would gather her closest friends, retreat into a yurt, and maybe not come out for a while. Should something dare to disturb the sanctity of their yurt, there would be Megara—who was like a big snuggly lion-skin rug, but with teeth, claws, muscle, and more head-twisty-offishness-out-of-anger.
“Mom, do you think Megara and Sumac will end up together?”
This made her mother pause mid-step, and there were clanks as the guard too, came to a halt. “Flurry, sometimes… sometimes Mama worries about what goes through your head.”
“But I want all of my friends to stay together and if they became a family, they would. I would have them all in place and they would all be together for when I needed them.” Flurry wanted to say more, but the right words eluded her at the moment. So far, this just sounded bad, like having her friends all together for convenience. “I think they could be happy together.”
“Sumac, even being the mouthy little roguish charmer that he is, can’t just go off and marry all of your friends in a bid to keep them all together in one spot, Flurry. I know that what goes on when all of you gets together seems like crushes, or even love, but this is just bonding between all of you as a social milieu. It is a safe space to experiment and this is normal behaviour for juvenile groups that form during foalhood. This is how little foals learn what they need to know to become adults and have successful relationships.”
“But Sumac has kissed Meg and she’s kissed him back.” For whatever reason, Flurry felt like arguing the point and she was quick to stay by her mother’s side when the procession began moving again. “They flirt all the time and they’re so sweet with one another.” She heard her mother sigh, a sad sound, and knew that grownup words were coming.
“Flurry, Sumac is the colt in that particular juvenile group. This is normal… well, just about as normal as life can be those little troublemakers. This goes back to our most primitive selves and our most basic herd structures. Little fillies reenact and play out a herd structure to learn social behaviour and usually there is a little colt or two that ends up being doted on. This is normal. But life goes on, foals grow up, and these juvenile gangs get broken apart.”
“But why break them up?” Flurry demanded, wanting answers to why this tragedy had to happen. “Why not fight to keep them together? Why does it have it to end?”
“The reasons outnumber the stars, Flurry,” her mother replied, and the filly could hear the exquisite sadness in her mother’s voice. “Some ponies want to go out and see more than what a small town has to offer. Others have destinies, or goals, or things they want from life that they can’t get if they stay. Some grow up and develop emotional or physical wants that go beyond what their established group can give them.”
A long pause happened and the clank of armor around them was like the ticking of a clock, a means for Flurry to count the time as it passed. After a while, she heard her mother say, “Sometimes, the best lesson these juvenile gangs have to offer is that of a broken heart. The pain of moving on. As awful as it is, as painful as it might be, it is something that happens in life and it can be a learning experience. It can help a foal learn how to face the rejections they will face as adults, all of those painful moments when life just doesn’t quite go as planned.”
Hearing this hurt her heart, and little Flurry wanted to kick, stomp, and thrash about to let the pain out. She wanted to scream, to protest, to make the entire world know how she felt about the unfairness of life and how awful it was. But all that came out was a sigh and she followed along beside her mother, walled in all sides by burly, capable protectors.
Just to reassure you that your mind is not the only one to go off on a tangent this popped into my head. while reading this. Would one of the yaks favorite songs be Boots Randolph's' Yak-aty sax ???