Mama tells me a story while it rains outside to help me feel less sad. One about how the mountains and water came to be. She says that a long time ago, way before anything had real names like we do today, Earth and Sky loved each other very much. They were wild and free and didn’t think of many things besides each other. That’s just how it was back then, I guess.
Mama said that Earth was a stampede all by himself. He was strong and tall, but not tall enough to reach Sky.
And Sky could never come down to meet Earth, either. He was so light that he was blown away by his own wind.
It made them both sad, especially Sky. Sky was a stallion made out of clouds and rain and everything that lived in the air. And when he did get sad, he cried and cried big thunderstorm tears that washed over Earth for days on end. The water would flood up fiercely, but with nowhere to settle, it all dried up when the sun flew overhead.
Earth would bellow and shake and buck his hooves with great anger.
Sky would weep and flood the land.
For years and years, it went like this. Howling and crying. Stomping and downpours.
It was very, very sad.
Until one day, during a big bout of anger, Earth kicked up so much dust and rock that it became a mountain. A mountain so high that he could climb it and hold Sky for the very first time. And when they finally met, Sky cried so much that his tears ran down the mountainsides in streams and rivers.
And this time, with the guidance of the valleys and slopes, the water finally had a place to go. It settled into lakes and ponds where the sun couldn’t dry it up anymore. Trees grew, and so did all the flowers and mosses and buds with them. Regular ponies came after, but mama says that’s a story for another time.
So, every time it rains now, I know that it’s because Earth and Sky are so happy to see each other that they can’t help but cry, and I feel a little better about those days full of gray.