Gumdrop Ch. 13

"Isn't it supposed to be the freedom of being a horse?" replied Penelope, seemingly confused.

"Yes, that is what ultimately drives us all, but it is hard to endure something as demanding as her training without a more tangible objective and reward. You are going to be that. A person and their approval and love are powerful motives, especially for a young mind."

"Yeah, but you already fill that role, don't you?"

"Yes and no. I am the guide in her journey, I cannot be the destination too."

"And then she will be mine." replied Penelope, as if she was expecting a confirmation.

"She will adore you like a goddess." said Ava with a weird dreamy tone "Your role is crucial, if you want her to win races. If we just relied on her competitiveness, she would be yet another amateur athlete. Ponygirls run for something much more powerful than the desire for fleeting glory and a cup: they run for love."

Penelope chuckled.

"Sometimes I wonder how you could have ever been a pony."

"I still am, at heart." retorted Ava, somewhat more coldly "And I would still be in practice too, if I could, but I'm older now and it would not be the same. Rearing new ones is a way to keep the dream living, for other girls at least."

"Yeah, but, I mean... You see through the training!"

"I do now, but you've got to understand how lost I was then. You found yourself an overzealous bi student who's lost her sport scholarship on ADD drugs. I have been in juvie and got out only because the state could not afford to keep me there. I needed someone to give me meaning and, at the same time, I needed to run."

"Sure, I get that, but how do you feel about it now? I mean, what about your ex owner? Did it not break your heart to know that she was just using you?"

"I will be eternally grateful to her for allowing me to be her pony: she realized my dreams. As for my feelings, what I felt was real and has made me happy for thirteen years and if I were you, I would not rush your judgment on who's using who or who needs who: you might not like the answer."

That left Penelope without words. All we heard for a while was Ava's heels fading away. When finally Cream Pie arrived, we were so lost in thought about what we heard, that we almost forgot to do our prank. Almost.

That night, still nursing the bruises that her kicks had given us after making her literally jump, we discussed what we heard in detail, briefing Cream Pie too. It had not been easy, but our two brains combined managed to find a way to mime most of the content of the conversation.

Cupcake and I were not surprised by Penelope's desire of being a young girl's goddess. It fit perfectly our theory about her behavior with us. Cream Pie, on her part, was shocked by the idea of breaking poor Fudge. We were too, but how come that Ava did not regret anything? Cupcake put forward the opinion that it was just like the military. I explained that sometimes you need to be pushed, and that I was glad that Aidan did it with me. Then, out of the blue, Cupcake revealed to us that her mom had been a ponygirl and her father had met her that way. I gasped: that must have been the reason why Aidan knew him! She went on and told us that he had started to bet on the races and had lost a lot of money, putting himself and her mother in danger. Finally, she presented herself with her hooves and made a wry smile: it meant "and that's why I am here".