Teenage Rose Moon: I can’t imagine you being engaged to someone since you were a filly, Abuelita!
Abuela: San Franciscolt was wilder back then. Our families tried to find matches that ensured our survival first of all.
Teenage Rose Moon: But you didn’t love him- else why would you marry grandpapi?
Abuela- I thought I loved my fiancée back then. I was too young to understand real love then- but I knew how to be loyal with him.
My fiancée only really saw an annoying filly that followed him around and treated him like a son rather than a partner. He didn’t like how bossy I could be, and would often ditch me to play with my brothers. But my mother said we would grow to love each other.
As we got older he was too busy to pay me much attention- until it was my turn to wear the mantle of the Heritage Guardian. He thought it was creepy, even though I told him it would pass on to my younger brother when I married him. It started a big argument between our families. They didn’t understand how important the tradition was to preserving our family’s memories.
Looking back, I think my fiancee's parents were also worried our family would engulf theirs. While my parents were blessed with lots of children, my fiancee was an only child. This tradition of ours was the one thing we wouldn’t compromise on- but they saw it as the beginning of our family controlling everything.
In turn, they stopped being so generous with us. Wanting a bigger profit of the harvest since they were the more experienced farmers. Insisting that our house was too loud after dark. They even tried to claim that we were taking too much of the well water.
For the first time ever I fought with my fiancee rather than listened to him near the river bordering our properties. Of course we were using more water than them- we had a bigger family! But unlike the well, the river showed no sign of drying up- so there was no need to not take what we needed. He tried to pull the water bucket out of my hooves, and when I shoved back.. He…
Teen Rose Moon: You don’t have to say, Abuela. He drowned, didn’t he?
Abuela: …He did. His parents became husks of their former selves after that. They went through the motions of life, but didn’t live with passion. They passed on not too much longer after that.
My dear, I’m tired. I think I’ll go to bed.
