A/N this is my first fanfic for something other than my beloved Harry Potter. I decided to write this after watching one of my favorite morning cartoons. I know that I'm too old for such nonsense but I just love Horseland. So if you are a fan of horses and horseland than I hope that you enjoy my first horseland fic.
Summery, just in case it's too long to put where it should be.
Sarah Whitney's horse Scarlet dreams of the chance to run in the desert like her noble grandsire did. What happens when the Horseland team is invited to take part in a Horse show in Saudi Arabia in honor of the 15 year old Prince's birthday? Will it all fall apart or will something magical come out of the tragedy? Read and find out for yourselves.
Chapter one Horse Dreams & invitations
~(_)~Late night in the Horseland stables~(_)~
Scarlet paced her stall sleepily and snorted softly with distress as she popped her delicate black head out of her stall door to breathe in the sweetness of the summer night air that blew gently through the open door of the barn. She flared her nostrils taking in the scent of roses that floated in on the breeze and sighed. The other horses were all sound asleep in their stalls but Scarlet just couldn't lay herself down for rest.
"You're up rather late," said Shep as he padded quietly into the barn to check that everything was as it should be.
"I couldn't sleep, Shep. I keep on having this dream that is leaving me unsettled in many ways," said Scarlet as she shook herself at the thought of the dream.
"Sometimes it helps if you share what's bothering you with another individual that cares," said Shep as he circled and then lay down in front of Scarlet's stall and looked up at her expectantly.
"Maybe you're right, Shep. The dream starts out pleasantly enough," began Scarlet as she recalled the dream.
~(_)~Scarlet's Memory of the Dream~(_)~
Scarlet and the other horses were led off of the large equine transport plane by their riders who were all chattering excitedly about the exhausting plane ride. While the humans were seated comfortably in the part of the plane that was reserved for the human passengers the horses were tied into separate box stalls so that they couldn't lay down to sleep.
As they were led one by one from the plane into the waiting horse trailer Scarlet held her head high and sniffed the desert air around her. She caught the scent of an unfamiliar Stallion and neighed shrilly in greeting. As her rider Sarah gently coaxed her into the trailer she heard the answering neigh come from the unseen stallion.
"Easy girl, we'll be arriving at the stables soon and you can get some much needed rest," said Sarah as she tied Scarlet securely into the end of the trailer before patting her sleek black shoulder and shutting the doors to the trailer. Scarlet pawed at the floor of the trailer with impatience as the human's got into the long white limo that would lead the trailer and its presous cargo safely to their destination.
As the trailer started to move Scarlet calmed and watched the passing country side wishing that she was running alongside of the trailer instead of being so confined. Suddenly she pricked her ears when she heard the sound of the excited Stallion who had called to her before, coming from somewhere outside the trailer.
All of the other horses now perked up their ears and gazed out of the windows excitedly as they too heard the excited whinnies of the Stallion who now sounded as if he were outside of the back door of the trailer. As the confined horses watched they were shocked to see the whitish grey stallion with white and gold highlights in his flowing main and tail running hard along beside the trailer.
The Stallion seemed to lock eyes with Scarlet for a second then whinnied again shrilly in greeting to the attractive black Arab mare in the trailer, before giving his master a happy little buck of joy and plunging forward with his tail flying proudly like a flag behind him as he ran passed the trailer effortlessly. The dream then changed.
Scarlet was awakened by strange hands clipping a lead rope to her halter and dragging her out of her comfy stall. She reared and neighed shrilly for help but the other horses were unable to free themselves from the stalls. "Help me, someone please ," she screamed as the strange people led her passed a stall at the far end of the stables where the Grey stallion poked his head out and snorted loudly.
"Are you mad? Have the human's broken your proud Arabian spirit? Fight them, Damn it, fight back as if your life depends on it," shouted the Stallion in his masculine Arab accented voice. On hearing his words Scarlet planted her feet firmly and pulled back with all of her might against the rope that held her. One of the human's hit her sharply with a long leather whip and she reared and leapt forward screaming in pain and terror. "Don't worry, I'll find you," called the grey stallion as he started kicking his door wildly. The dream changed again.
Scarlet was tied to a large strange looking beast unlike anything that she had ever seen before being led deep into the desert night. She caught the sound of the Stallion's shrill neighs on the wind and whinnied back. After hours of traveling she was tied up with other Arabian horses in the center of a human camp, wishing that she were back safe with her beloved owner.
The dream changed once more and she was running alongside of the grey Arabian Stallion who was leading her back through the desert toward her friends and her beloved rider.
~(_)~End Scarlet's Memory of the Dream~(_)~
"That sounds horrifying," said Shep as he laid his head on his paws sleepily and yawned. I shouldn't worry about it too much though, you know that Sarah would never let anything like that happen to you," said Shep as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
"Perhaps you're right Shep, but I just have a feeling that there's more to the dream than we can understand," said Scarlet as she yawned and settled herself into the thick bed of soft straw that Bailey had put in her stall so that she could sleep comfortably.
~(_)~(_)~(_)~(_)~
The next morning Sarah Whitney arrived at the barn early. She walked up the gravel drive that led to the barn and scratched Shep and Angora on the heads happily before walking into the barn. She walked over to Scarlet's stall and peered in to find her lovely black Arabian mare eating the remains of her morning grain. "Good morning Scarlet. How would you feel about a nice grooming before we take our morning ride?" she asked the mare as she entered the stall with her grooming supplies.
On seeing her mistress Scarlet nickered softly with her nose still deep inside of her grain feeder. "Don't talk with your mouth full," laughed Sarah as she gave her horse an affectionate pat on the neck. Button and Calypso whinnied shrilly as Alma and Molly entered the barn.
"Good morning Sarah, I see that you've beaten us to the barn yet again," said Molly as she gave Calypso a nice carrot.
"Yeah, Chicka, you definitely beat us to the barn, but there's no way that we're just going to let you beat us to our favorite spot," said Alma with a wink as she entered Button's Stall and started grooming her horse.
The three girls laughed as they groomed their horses and decided exactly where they wanted to ride for their early morning warm up, as they tacked up their horses in the isle and placed their helmets firmly onto their heads before leading their horses out into the fresh morning air. The three girls rode through the trails for about an hour chatting happily about their mornings then returned to the barn and unsaddled their horses to let them rest in the pasture before their lessons began.
They were in the process of mucking out their stalls when Zoey and Chloe Stilton sauntered lazily into the barn gossiping over an article that they had read in a tabloid magazine. "You guys are never going to believe this," said Chloe as she groomed Chili. There's this Prince in Saudi Arabia who has a birthday coming up and according to the tabloids his parents are going to throw this lavish horse show to celebrate," said Chloe as she tenderly brushed her horses light grey coat until it shined.
"Yeah, the rumor has it that they will be inviting only the best horse and rider teams to compete in Arabia," said Zoey as she ran a soft brush over Pepper's Dark grey coat lovingly. "In my opinion it's not much of a competition unless the Stilton sister's and our magnificent horses are able to attend," she said leading Pepper from her stall towards the barn door.
Bailey came running into the barn waving a letter in his hand excitedly. "What's up, Bailey?" asked Sarah as she dusted fresh straw from her red riding jacket.
"You guys aren't going to believe this," he panted attempting to catch his breath.
"What!" screamed the six girls in unison just as Noni led Sunburst from his stall.
"Guess," taunted Bailey as his eyes sparkled mischievously.
Will took the letter from Bailey's hand and jumped on top of a stack of hay bales so that he was out of Bailey's reach as he read the letter out loud to the others.
"Dear Horseland Team,
The royal family of Saudi Arabia is proud to invite you and your horses to take part in the celebratory horse show that is to be held at the Palace in honor of the birthday of our crowned Prince. All travel arrangements and accommodations have been prepared for you. We look forward to seeing your fine performance on show day,
Sincerely,
Prime Minister Hassan Ali Caziier"
Zoey and Chloe Stilton squealed with joy and walked their horses out to the pasture talking animatedly about what they were going to wear for the competition, and the great shopping that they were going to do while in Arabia. At the end of the day before everyone went their separate ways Mr. and Mrs. Handler Bailey's parents, handed out permission forms for everyone to have signed by their parents.
"Keep in mind that anyone who does not have a signed permission form will be staying behind, Said Mr. Handler calmly.
"We leave for Arabia in three days," said Mrs. Handler with a bright smile on her face.
"Mom, Dad, what about my permission slip," asked Bailey?
"You know that you and I will be going, along. Since when have auntie and uncle ever refused you permission to go to a horse show," asked Will as he slapped the back of Bailey's head playfully? "I'll probably end up being the one who stays behind," said Will.
"Actually Will, You will be going as well, announced Mr. Handler with a sly smile on his face. "Besides it will give your aunt time to get the place remodeled a bit, while we are gone," said Mr. Handler as he patted Will on the back.
A/N Thanks for reading please review and let me know what you think so far. This chapter has not yet been checked out by a beta reader. Chapter two Oversea Road Trip is next .