It was like--

--Some great giant asshole of a fist had come down and crushed the foothills I had grown up in—had carved a water basin with impossibly large, sharp knuckles and made a huge mess out of rocks and earth, a pulverized hole in the ground. And with that all mighty punch, they had straight pounded the ground I used to sleep on at night—completely decimated the trees and the streams I used to know, replacing it with something else, something that looked broken to me, probably because it was broken in my eyes.

What even the hell, man!

I acted like I was surprised. I acted like I had a reason to be pissed, like it was my right or something. Like it was still my home and that I hadn’t abandoned it at some point, along with any and all family that I used to have residing here. The place was trashed; the scents were different, totally changed, with no hint of the huge, fierce warriors I used to always want to emulate. I couldn’t smell Miss Day-Day here or Mr. Archiballs (oh my god I really thought that was a his name at one point) or anyone, anyone else, except for some vague scent that sparked something painful in me but I wasn’t sure why.

My eyes were wide; fuck boarder protocols, man, my old home was junked and I was too shocked to care about anyone else’s feelings for courtesy right now. Not that I would’ve cared that much before, but here now was a grievance too personal for me to rein in this bogus sense of outrage that I was allowing myself to get away with. Anger was my mainstay, I guess, or at least it was beginning to be—sort of like an amber bottle that you keep reaching for to steady your knees so you can keep walking. I’m guessing it was just as healthy.

“What the HELL is this?!” I bellowed from the back of my throat, a raw throated, rage-induced, heartbroken shout that shot straight at the profile of an unfortunate pissing mare. I stomped toward her, my hooves slashing in the water as I came closer to this stranger who may or may not be calling this place home. This strange place—this blot on unfamiliar territory—

But I didn’t get too close before a golden blur entered my vision, dropping gently from the sky like a flurry of precious dust—but I was still yelling before I could even see who it was. “What happened?!” I was yelling over the greetings he was giving her, “The mountain! Who the hell trashed the mountain like—like dad--um--" I blinked rapidly, my eyes becoming as confused as my speech as I halted in the stream, gazing at the duo. There was something about this golden guy that was springing in my memory—not a name or anything, or even a voice, really, just this—this feeling that he was a dad…

Someone’s dad…




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