You've Got a Friend in Me

Beaty was a young little thing in a sense. Not nearly as big as his dad or mom were, being as he was only 8 months old currently. But still, he felt he was fairly good looking for an 8 months old foal. He was feeling himself today, enjoying the world around him. He was currently wandering around in a massive pasture that he was visiting. He was currently trotting around and exploring the fairly empty pasture. There were a few other ballators here and there around him and he didn’t really pay much attention to them though. Instead, he grew curious once he saw another foal around his age across the pasture. They didn’t look like his type but he didn’t know so he wanted to go find out. He started his path towards the other foal, ears forward in curiosity. His steps were precise and confident as he drew closer and closer, the wind was blowing through his fur and it was keeping him cool. He started with a walk before bumping up to a slow jog for a bit then switched back to a walk as he was roughly ten yards from the other and had his eyes trained on them. 

Malaika loved the feeling of the wind in his fur. In all of his eight months of life, he had never felt a better feeling. He stood there, eyes closed enjoying the feeling when he heard hoofsteps approaching him - and fast. He quickly opened his eyes to see another ballator about his age coming towards him. He wasn’t quite sure what to do. Should he back up and run away? Should he stay and see what this other foal wanted with him? He was uncertain, he had only really talked with his mom until now. He debated for too long, this strange foal was now in front of him. He looked around, flustered for one last route of escape. When he found none, he looked at the ground and mumbled a stuttered, wavering greeting. A part of him slightly wished for the other foal to just go away. Another part of him though was slightly hoping for a friend to play with and race against. He looked back to his mother who gave him a reassuring smile. Then he looked back to the foal. “My name is Malaika, what’s yours?” He tipped his head to the side like a little puppy would. 

Beasty blinked as the other was frozen in front of him. Was he scared of him? He hoped not. He wasn’t all too scary, at least he hoped not. He grinned upon hearing the other finally speak, shifting his hooves slightly in place. “Hello, Mal! My name is Beasty. Nice to meet you.” He nickered out happily and eager to make a new friend. “Wanna be friends? You look like you need one and I need one because there are not really many others here that are my age. How old are you anyway? I am eight months old.” he pawed the ground eagerly and trotted around the other and examined them eagerly before coming to a stop in front of them again. The wind blew through again and cooled them off. He glanced at the other’s mother and blinked before giving a grin then bumped his nose against theirs before leaning down before grazing on the fresh spring green grass. It was sweet on his tongue and he loved it. The fresh grass was one of his favorite things to eat so far and he didn’t mind it one little bit. After a few mouth-fulls of grass, he stood back up tall and grinned. 

“I-I would love a friend! I am eight months too!” Malaika exclaimed. He looked around. “There really aren’t a lot of other foals here, are there? I really didn’t notice because I stick around my mom a lot.” Malaika was overjoyed. He finally had a friend! Was it really this easy to make a friend, he wondered. Feeling the breeze, he smiled a little. His smile widened into a grin as he had an idea. He jumped around a little, very excited before saying, “Hey Beasty, do you want to race me around the pasture?” He jumped around Beasty, bouncing around like he was on a pogo stick. This was something he had wanted to do for a while, to stretch his legs and test his speed against another ballator. But of course, almost everyone he knew was bigger and much more well trained then he was, so it really wasn’t a fair race. He wanted to see how a real race would go, against someone around his size. This one reason it was nice to finally have a friend, another was so that they could practice fighting. Nothing real or dangerous, of course, but that was a common pastime for most young ballators. 

Beasty had a wicked grin on his face as the other’s idea was spoken out loud. “A race? That sounds fun.” he chuckled and nudged the other to follow him over to a nearby tree. “How about from here tooooooo..” he trailed off as he narrowed his eyes and searched the pasture, spotting another tree at the far end. “The tree at the end of the pasture, and back?” He grinned playfully, basically bouncing in excitement. He couldn’t wait to race with someone his age. For once, it would be fair and most likely, immensely fun. He trotted in a few circles before cantering in a few more, stretching his muscles in his legs and getting some blood flowing through his veins easier. It felt good and he couldn’t wait. “Only if that’s alright with you of course. If you don’t think you can handle it, that’s also fine. We can make it shorter if you would rather not run that far. It is a bit of length so I understand. Your mom can be the judge too if you want! To make sure things stay fair of course.” He grinned and winked, pawing at the ground eagerly in anticipation. 

Awesome, his first race! He was totally ready for this, “Naw, of course, I can handle it! And yeah, I’ll ask my mom if she will judge.” Makaika trotted over to his mom and asked if she would help judge. She looked from one tree to the other. “Alright, we are so on!” He trotted over with his mother and stood at the starting line. “Are you ready, Beasty?” He shifted his stance into a ready position and snorted. He stared at the tree, every muscle tensed and ready for the race ahead. He was buzzing with excitement, a huge grin on his face and his heart racing in excitement. If this was what having a friend was like, well he loved it. He looked over at Beasty and grinned widely. Then he looked up at his mom. “Are you proud of me mom? I made a friend!” She smiled and nodded, looking proud that her son had made a friend and happy that he found someone to have fun with. He was such a shy, anxious, quiet foal that no one would talk to him. But now someone had, and he was much happier than he had ever been. 

Beasty smiled softly at the two of them. He never was that close to his parents really but it was nice seeing the other so happy with their mother. He shook his head slightly and got into position. He waited right next to the other until he heard the mother say go, then off they went. His hooves dug into the ground, kicking up dirt and small amounts of grass as he ran, pushing himself with each stride, keeping an eye on his new friend but aiming straight for that tree up ahead. Once they were nearing it, he did a flying lead change and turned around the tree sharply, jumping into running straight away again after the turn. He was breathing hard and heavy, the blood rushing through his veins and he could only hear the wind whipping through his mane and his hoofbeats pounding against the earth, same as Malaika’s. He hoped the other was having fun as much as he was. He could feel the burn in his muscles and the coolness of the wind through his fur and against his face. He was working up a sweat and he loved it, the feeling of it all. As they neared the finished line, they were barely a few strides from the finish line, he pushed himself as fast as he could go. 

Malaika started out strong. He practically leaped from the starting line, filled to the brim with excited energy. He felt fast, very fast. This was a heck of a lot of fun! He almost felt as if he was flying! He was even ahead by a hair. His heart raced along with him, the wonderful adrenaline fueling his every step. He was so close to the tree… and he made it! He quickly turned the corner, closely followed by Beasty.  He was laser-focused on the finish tree. Just a few more steps...So close… So laser-focused that he didn’t notice the rock sticking a bit out of the ground. His face was planted into the dirt, so close to the finish line. He laid there in shocked silence for a second, before springing back to his feet and walking across the finish line. “Don’t worry, I’m fine! That was really fun, we should do that again sometime!” he said with the largest grin on his face. He walked around his new friend happily then looked up at the sky. “The sun is starting to disappear for the night. Better go back to your family!” He had such a fun day, he couldn’t wait to play with his friend again soon.