Part 7: Lance the Pony

Aho rounded a bend in the trail and came across a flustering display of dust and noise. Ahead of him there was a tiny pony, leaping and jumping around and performing acrobatic tricks, all the while crying out gleefully, “Oh how great it is to be wild and free! How great it is to be wild and free!”
Aho had never seen such behaviour before and was somewhat envious. “Wow, you seem to be so happy and full of joy.”
“Yes, yes, oh how great it is to be wild and free!”
“You seem so good at leaping and jumping around. You must practice every day.”
“Yes, yes, oh how great it is to be wild and free!”
“I guess it must be great to be so wild and free,” replied Aho.
“Yes, yes, oh how great it is to be wild and free!”
By this stage, Aho started to wonder about the pony. On closer inspection, he noticed that the pony was cross-eyed and had some kind of blinker on and engraved on those blinkers was the phrase, ‘My name is Lance. I’m a pony.’
“I see that your name is Lance the Pony.”
“Yes, yes, oh how great it is to be wild and free!”
Aho wondered what was wrong with Lance. He kept saying the same thing, over and over again.
“Lance, do you know that you keep saying the same thing, over and over again?”
“Yes, yes…”
“So why do you…”
“…oh how great it is to be wild and free!”
Aho frowned and sat down confused. What a strange pony, he thought. He seemed to leap around so beautifully and yet he kept saying the same words over and over again. After a while of watching Lance’s performance, Aho discovered that he was doing the same jumps, the same leaps, in the same order all the time. After a few more moments, Aho started to get tired of this performance and decided to continue on his way.
“Well, it was interesting meeting you Lance. Good luck.”
As Aho left him, in the background, he could hear, “Yes, yes, oh how great it is to be wild and free!”