Peculiarities

KoalaSlinky

Is the beginning of time when all space began? Or when the first being was created to explore the void?

Oecee stretched her jaw with a mighty yawn. She opened her heavy eyelids to observe her surroundings. The air was still.

Rolling onto her back, she stretched her hooves in the air with a groan. She held the pose for a moment, reminiscent of a fluffy, long-legged turtle stuck on its back. The blue pony let out another long yawn and rolled back into a fuzzy ball of pony, tail covering her face like a lampshade.

The concept could be considered peculiar or even downright strange that in a land without a Sun, no difference between night and day, ponies still developed ‘five more minutes’ syndrome. But there the little pony lay; face snuggled into her own side, hidden beneath the makeshift blanket that was her tail. However, when there was nothing to do, no responsibilities to handle and no time to waste: you couldn't really call it a problem. And there wasn't anyone around to do so.

Ever so slowly, the breeze picked up. It was cool and pleasant at first. Soothing to the curled up pony as she snuggled into her hair and smiled at the bliss the world was. The breeze was the only distraction in this dark expanse. The only movement in the void aside from Oecee herself, and for all she knew, the only friend she would ever have. The breeze was good. A loving companion, never too long gone or far away. It came and went as it pleased, paying no mind to the wishes of Oecee. But she loved it. For she had lived here for her whole life and the breeze was the lone force she had encountered in the all encompassing void. She knew not how long she had spent in this world, nor could she remember if there was anything before the darkness.

All she knew is that she was here, many, many sleeps since her first arrival. So many so that an outside observer used to the timely clockwork of sun, moon and stars may say she had lived here for years, decades, or maybe centuries. Who could tell?

Oecee didn't mind, for she could not remember how many sleeps it had been, or how long in between her naps.

This was her life, and she was happy.

The breeze continued to grow stronger, whistling around the prone ball of fuzz that was Oecee. The mare shivered, drawing her legs and tail closer to help keep warm. But the wind did not abate. It began to grow stronger still.

Intrigued, Oecee finally raised her head to look towards the wind. As usual, she couldn’t see it. But she could feel it buffeting her face and making her squint. The breeze had never been this strong before, previously gentle and caressing.

At the moment, however, her only friend was scaring her.

What was she to do? This was certainly unusual, and while the wind itself was not yet unpleasant, it was showing no sign of relenting. The little pony stood to face the wind, her face a childish mask of attempted stoicism. As it continued to grow stronger with each passing minute, she felt it harder to stand her ground. But then again, why should she oppose it?

The wind had always been good to her, there was no reason it would hurt her now. Oecee felt something in her stomach. A feeling that she had not experienced since her first few minutes in the void so long ago. The thought made her body shiver in excitement, compiling with her already violent shivers from the cold winds. The thought that there was something new to be discovered brought a smile to her lips.

She turned tail, and ran with the wind.

She ran as she did countless times through the darkness. Galloping across the expanse of nothingness, of eternal night.

The blue pony soon realised that this time was different. With the wind at her back, she ran faster than ever. With her friend pushing her along, she could do things she never dreamed before. She jumped higher and further than she ever thought possible, being carried along and away by the strong winds. Precious seconds where she felt to be flying through the black. She ran, jumped, squealed and laughed with glee.

And she fell.

Misplacing a hoof, she tumbled along the ground and skidded to a halt. “UUghbleh!” she blew a raspberry in frustration as she lay still on the ground. She was uninjured, not even having a solid floor to hurt herself on. Lying still a moment, the wind only grew louder in her ears, as if encouraging her to keep moving.

So she got up, and again ran with her friend.

Soon she was running as fast as before. Jumping and laughing, she followed the wind.

Until it stopped. Almost in an instant, the winds died down to a gentle breeze while Oecee was in the middle of one of her amazing leaps. She touched down again and slowed to a trot, swivelling her head to search for the lost wind.

Then the wind started again, just as strong as before, but in a different direction. Oecee looked to where the wind was heading. Slightly to the left. Not one to care much for the reason behind such exciting occurrences, she turned and followed the breeze once more.

And promptly tripped again.

Tumbling end over end, she clutched her stinging forehoof. “OOOWWWWW! Ow, ow, owowow. Ouch.” Oecee lay on her back, wailing and clutching her hoof to her chest. She cried, never having felt this sort of pain before. Eyes teary, she stared up into the void as the winds dropped once more to a slight breeze.

Why did that have to hurt so much?

Sobbing and hugging her hoof, she rolled onto her side. Her eyes widened in shock. She realised that she wasn’t alone. A few metres away was a …

Thing.

The first thing that Oecee noticed about this new creature was that it was… different. Unlike the wind, this lump could be seen as clearly as her own hooves. Tears and pain forgotten, the pony lay staring at the object in awe. It was unlike anything she had seen before. Even the colour was completely new. But given that all she had ever seen was her limbs, body, tail and nose: there wasn’t much to compare it to in the first place. Slowly, with eyes locked on target, she rolled over to get all four legs underneath her. With a slight crouch, she crept forwards. Her mouth agape in wonder she walked up to the enigmatic being that had materialised in the void.

Surely this rock would be her new friend?

Stopping before the lump of basalt, she could see that it was nearly the size of her head, if a little flatter and more angular. After deciding that there was much to be learnt from such an odd occurrence, she attempted what any pony of scientific mind would do.

Oecee poked the rock.

As anyone who has had experience with rocks would know: not much happened. Her hoof clacked solidly against the stone. It wobbled a bit, and then returned to its peaceful state of rest.

Quite uneventful, sure, but Oecee was ecstatic with this response. She had never had something tangible to play with before! With an enormous smile stretched across her face, she looked out towards the void, and wordlessly thanked the winds for bringing her to this new friend. Wherever the breeze may be, she hoped that they could all spend their time together.

The stone didn’t appear to like moving and playing as breezes and ponies do, the little discoverer noted as she pranced about the grey lump.

Oecee jumped. The stone sat.

She ran. The stone stayed.

She giggled. The stone remained silent.

She poked the stone. It wobbled.

She stood atop the stone. It wobbled violently.

She slipped and fell from the stone. It hurt her knee.

Oecee wailed in again pain, reminded of her first encounter with the little boulder. Tears in her eyes and cradling her knee, the stone sat still, impartial to the distress it caused her.

Doubt quickly began to form in the blue pony’s mind. Maybe this one didn’t want to be friends. Maybe she should leave the stone alone. And the thought of leaving the only other solid being in existence only made her cry more. For she had spent so long without knowing that there was any others in the void, aside from the ethereal wind. The rock and herself may not have had much in common, and it may not like to play as she did, but it was in a way, closer to her than anything she had ever known.

And so the pony lay next to the rock, hugging herself, sobbing, and refusing to look the offender in the eye. Which was easy because it was a rock and rocks have no eyes.

At this moment, the breeze made its return, soothingly washing over the bawling equine, stinging her scraped knee, but feeling welcome just the same. The breeze was a good friend, her oldest, most trusted and only. Slowly, the tears stopped falling, a blissful smile taking their place. She closed her eyes as she felt the wind toying with her mane and tail, the only company she had had for all of her life.

She trusted the breeze with everything. Her only companion had, so kindly, led her to this new rock to be friends with. She looked over at the stone, thinking of how good the breeze had been to her all these years. Maybe the rock could be fun too. In its own weird way.

Maybe she should give the rock a chance. Maybe it wouldn’t be so cruel to her in the future if she learnt to treat it right. She had time to learn. She could not give up this chance just yet.

After all, she had originally hurt her nose on her legs. And look how fun they turned out to be!

Yes. She thought it would be good.

“Yes.” She made the strange sound aloud, “Yes.”

It felt comforting. And oddly positive. The first word to come to her. A new lexeme invented, inspired by this rock. It was the beginning of Oecee’s vocabulary which, so far, contained raspberries, groans and ‘ow’ and none of the more complex sounds such as ‘lexeme’ and ‘vocabulary’. Today surely was a day of new surprises.

“Yes!” she yelled with a smile, springing to her hooves and moving to the stone.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Oecee wrapped her hooves around the grey lump, squeezing tightly. “Yes.” She nuzzled the rough scratchy surface on her cheek, smiling all the while.

While it may appear that a particular azure pony created this word on a whim upon accepting the stone into her small circle of friendship, it was in fact at the subtle suggestion of another entity that the word ‘yes’ came to fruition in this new world. And so, that the pony had found a new compatriot and started using words (or at least a word) caused greatly satisfaction for this being.

“Yes,” Oecee whispered once more, cuddling up to the stone as she drifted into another of her lovely naps. The gentle breeze drifted around them. Both rock and equine. The beginning of a new bond. A friendship that was not necessarily one sided.