day 78 - tiny pony

One day there was a tiny pony. Tiny Pony was not like other ponies, however. Tiny Pony was more like a human. Tiny Pony could stand on his hind two legs and talk just like a person might. For this reason, Tiny Pony was very different. Tiny Pony tried to find his place in the world, just as you might.

"I know! I'll be a baker!" thought Tiny Pony.

Tiny Pony worked hard to get his baker's license. He opened up a modest bakery in his mountainside hometown and called it 'The You Can Do It! Bakery'.

Tiny Pony wanted to inspire others to follow their passions and find their place in the world, just as Tiny Pony had done.

However, Tiny Pony's success was short lived.

The FDA shut down Tiny Pony's bakery saying it was unsanitary for a horse to prepare baked goods with the same hooves he used to walk around on. Tiny Pony had nothing left. As a pony he did not have many of the same rights as people might have, and so Tiny Pony was left to the streets. With nothing left to lose, and a desire for a place in the world, Tiny Pony set out to climb the enormous mountain that provided the town with its beautiful backdrop.

As Tiny Pony began his ascent, he began to think about his life. Nobody had taught Tiny Pony how to talk and think. He had learned those things on his own. And nobody had helped Tiny Pony when he was going to baking school! Nobody had even helped him after he opened up The You Can Do It! Bakery. The only thing anyone had ever done for him was cast him aside because he was a tiny pony. But that was okay because Tiny Pony didn't need anyone else. Tiny Pony had started that bakery and Tiny Pony was the one who was going to climb this mountain!

Tiny Pony took these thoughts with him all the way up the mountain. Through the rocky paths, the mysterious forests, and the icy peril of the mountains peak. When Tiny Pony finally reached the mountain's top, he felt victory as he had never felt it before. The peak was wide and clear, with plenty of room for Tiny Pony to frolic. And frolic he did. Tiny Pony had never felt so happy, so alive. He looked down the mountain at the town below, and cursed them for ever doubting Tiny Pony. He even looked up, right into the heavens and cursed the face of God for trying to stop him by making him a tiny pony.

When Tiny Pony's tears of anger and joy had finally run out, Tiny Pony sat down and opened his pack. He heaved a great sigh out of his pony lungs and into the frigid air. Tiny Pony's favorite symphony rang in his ears as he unsheathed his samurai sword, and after a lifetime of challenges, Tiny Pony did the most challenging thing of all at the mountain's peak. Tiny Pony ended his life with seppuku. In his dying moments Tiny Pony thought of home, and a quote from Kurt Cobain. 'It is better to burn out than to fade away.'

"Yes..." Tiny Pony thought as his innards lay strewn about him.

"Yes, it is..."


Little did he know, however, that his adventures had not gone unnoticed. The townspeople had noticed their not-so-beloved tiny pony was missing, and followed his hoof prints to the base of the mountain. The townspeople thought that, surely, no pony could climb the mountain, not even a giant pony! And Tiny Pony was certainly not of any large stature. So the townspeople decided to call upon the greatest mountain climber among them, Bjorgen, to solve their mystery. Bjorgen took on the task with great zeal.

"I will find Tiny Pony and save him from the perils of the mountain!" he proclaimed to the townspeople.

"I will bring him back to the town where he can live happily among the other ponies!"

Bjorgen climbed. He thought of his own place in the world, a mountain climbing hero. "What glory I will have!" he thought. His excitement took him to the mountain's peak in half as much time as it normally would have taken him. There he found the frozen remains of Tiny Pony. Bjorgen did not know what to make of the scene. It seemed as if someone had gutted Tiny Pony with a samurai sword! He opened Tiny Pony's pack to see what laid within.

All he pulled out was a single note.

To whom it may concern,

     My name is Tiny Pony. My name is thusly because that is what I am. I have performed the act of seppuku upon myself on this very mountaintop. Not so much because I feel dishonored, but more because it is dramatic and I felt it fitting for a mountaintop suicide. Please know that my death did not come from grief, or anger, or any form of negativity at all. Know that my death came from joy. The indescribable joy that I felt when I reached this peak, overcame all my weakness, and conquered what felt like not just this one peak, but the entire world. It was in this feeling of triumph that I wanted to remain forever. If the supernatural realm dictates that any part of my spirit is allowed to linger here, it will, for I can imagine no greater feeling than the one I have on this mountaintop, alone, and happy.

Tiny Pony

Bjorgen found himself shedding many tears. Never had Bjorgen cried in his entire life.

"Only blood and sweat has my body given forth," whispered Bjorgen to the frozen corpse of Tiny Pony, "and now tears. I will make sure the town knows what you did, Tiny Pony. I will tell them, for it is my place."

When Bjorgen returned to the base of the mountain the townspeople were waiting for him.

"Where is the small horse?" an anxious and annoying old woman asked.

"He has reached the peak, as none of you thought he could, but now he has moved to where he belongs." Bjorgen told them.

"Where is that tiny pony moving that he can feel belonged?" cried an even more annoying old woman.

Bjorgen sat down next to a campfire and stared into the burning embers.

"On."