Prologue

A/N: Hi everybody! So, this will be my second story I have ever published. As with any of my stories, most characters will be 'horseanized', with a few exceptions. Please no flames, but constructive criticism is welcome:) And remember, most of the characters are horses. And they age the same way had humans, but grow to maturity faster. So at the age of two they can start racing:) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: None of the recognsiable characters belong to me, they belong to Disney.

I stood in front of the tv, my hands shaking with anticipation. This was my favorite day of the year. Kentucky Derby day! Doc let me watch it every year, and sometimes he watched it with me, but he was someplace else right now. He wouldn't tell me where he was going, and nobody else would either.

Oh excuse my manners. I'm Talia. I have green eyes with long brown hair, and I'm really tan from being out in the Arizona sun for so long! I'm thirteen years old, and love to watch races, especially horse racing. It's been my dream to ride a racehorse since I first watched Doc run at Willies Butte. I was nine years old at that time, and Doc had just moved here.

Nobody had known his past until I had seen him run. I'd been really excited and had asked him a ton of questions, prompting him to finally show us all a clip of one of his races. He never has shown me the one where he broke down, but he's told me about it.

Anyway, when Doc had moved here, he was three and a half years old. This year he's turning six! So Mater, the resident two year old bay Quarter Horse, Sally who was a baby blue three year old Arabian filly, and I were planning him a surprise party.

And since he was gone for a few days to who knew where - Sheriff probably knew, but he doesn't tell anybody anything when Doc hasn't told them - it was the perfect time to continue planning his party.

That was currently what Mater and Sally were doing behind me. Every once in a while one of them would nudge my back with their muzzle, asking me a question about decorations or the food, which I answered.

I tensed as I saw The King and Chick rounding the fourth turn on the second to last lap. The Kentucky Derby was one of the most strenuous races for the racers, with the dirt being turned into some sort of turf that made it difficult to get good footing, and being one of the longest races there was, besides the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. The other two races in the Triple Crown series. The King has won that four years in a row.

The Kentucky Derby was three hundred laps, and the track was two miles around. That was six hundred miles they had to run! The Kentucky Derby usually lasted three hours. By the end of the race, most racers were sweating and completely out of breath.

"Hey guys! It's the last lap!" I yelled, my eyes still locked on the screen.

I jumped up and down as Chick Hicks, the four-year-in-a-row second place Kentucky Derby 'winner' and The King, or Strip Weathers, came nose to nose in the homestretch. The King had always pulled ahead at the last minute to take the win, and he'd been on a winning streak for the past two years.

The others slowly made their way around the tv just as they rounded the third corner. It really started getting intense now! Chick was inching his way ahead of The King, but he refused to give up his spot on the rail.

From the view the television crew provided, I could only see The King starting to get a bigger lead and Chick starting to tire as they rounded the final corner. I cheered as The King got ahead of Chick by a nose, and then a shoulder and just before he crossed the finish post, he managed to get ahead by a length.

I cheered again, joined this time by a few of the other residents. I wasn't the only one that enjoyed racing here. I turned around to look at the others.

"That was epic!"

"Sure was! Chick almost got him this year didn't he?" Luigi smiled at me. He always talked about the races after, as he knew I loved it.

I grinned and agreed. Ever since my parents abandoned me as a baby, Luigi and Guido had taken care of me. Luigi had officially adopted me when I was six, and ever since then I referred to Guido as 'uncle' and Luigi as 'dad'. Sometimes I used their names, but not all the time.

As the others began talking amongst themselves, I turned my attention back to Mater and Sally, who had apparently just finished the final preparations for the party.

"Come look at this Tal!"

I skipped over to them, and looked down at their list, setting a hand on Mater's brown shoulder.

I read over the list, reading some out loud. "Banner. Cake. Ice cream. Invites. Looks perfect guys! Should we ask Flo is she could make the cake?"

His birthday was a week away, meaning minimal time to get everything ready, but I was pretty sure we could handle it. After all, we've pulled off some pretty amazing last minute birthdays before.

"Yeah! And we could ask Sheriff or Ramone to take us to a grocery store to get the ice cream!"

Mater and I agreed before running off to ask Flo about the cake, and Sally went to go find Sheriff.

Mater and I burst into the V8 cafe, causing several horses to turn their heads towards us. I grinned and rushed over to Flo, Mater right behind me.

"What do you need, hun?"

"We were wondering if you could make Doc's birthday cake this week?" I asked, grinning and giving her my best puppy dog eyes. Even though I was thirteen, I could still pull them off.

She laughed, "Of course! Got anything in mind?"

Mater and I quickly sketched out a small cake, with blue frosting and the words 'Happy Birthday Doc!' written in cursive. Doc had taught my cursive when I was eleven, and I'd been practicing ever since.

We handed the sketch to her just as Sally came trotting into the cafe. She answered my unspoken question.

"Sheriff said he'd take us on Thursday!"

"Great!" I turned my attention back to Flo, looking under her neck as she looked over the drawing.

"I can do this. What day were you havin' the party?"

"We were thinking this coming Saturday at like, three-ish."

"I'll have it done," she smiled at me and then turned back around to look through her cupboards.

I turned back towards Mater and Sally. "Anybody know what Docs supposed to get back?"

Sheriff answered as he entered the cafe, "He's supposed to be back by tonight sometime."

I grinned, "Plenty of time to wrap his presents and hide them!" And with that, Sally, Mater and I took off out of the shop and back to my house to wrap his presents.

However, we had no idea that our lives were about to change forever.

A/N: The Kentucky Derby is actually only for three year olds. But I decided I wanted to change that for this particular 'realm'. Hope none of you mind, but that's just how it is. Lightning, right now, is around a year old and... well you'll have to wait for the next chapter! Please review!