An Unfortunate Mistake
The Companion cantered through the winding streets of Haven, beckoned by the Call of his Chosen. He had been rather taken aback, for he had ascertained the age of his Chosen a while ago—the child couldn't possibly be more than six years old! Yet, the boy's Mindspeach had awoken without any warning. The citizens of Haven sang a livid tune, though that dealt more with the dirt clouds wafting in his wake than the anticlimactic rousing. He slid into a destitute portion of the city, harness bells ringing. The cobblestones clattered and jolted loose under ringing bell hoof beats. Caa-lunk, ca-ding, ca-lunk, ca-ding echoed off grimy, crumbling walls in the narrow alleyway. Broken windows lined the sides, and the Companion pranced around the heaps of sharp shards with mincing hops. Furtive faces peaked through the empty holes, and small giggles resounded throughout the path. With an affronted snort, the Companion veered off towards the left, the clangor of hooves on uneven cobbles drowning even the most raucous of the children.
The Companion ground to a halt in front of a particularly putrid alley. Muck coated the stone and flies buzzed languidly about mounds of decaying garbage. He whinnied, desperate to avoid wading into the filth as the odor washed over him. When the child refused to emerge, he whinnied again, more strongly this time, and tapped his hoof thrice on the cobbles. A pair of dazed brown eyes peered out at him to reward his efforts. The Companion caught them in clear sapphire. :I Choose you, Devon. You're my Chosen. I have no name. It is yours to decide.:
The doleful walnut eyes lit with an unnatural brightness. The Companion uneasily reassured himself that there was no way it could be that awful. "I can choose? Really?" the six year old chirped. "I'm gonna call you...Stumpy!"
As the Companion, now named Stumpy, mournfully trotted back to the castle, he reflected that perhaps some choices were rather worse than others.