Disclaimer: I (sadly) do not own Hetalia!

A/N: For all you Hetalians and horse-lovers, a little Christmas present from moi!

Horses of Hetalia

Chapter 1 – Saturday Silliness

The morning had come faster than I expected. Then again, I suppose that's what happens when you get up early on a Saturday morning. But I didn't mind. I'm usually an early riser anyway. And as I dressed very specifically for what I had in mind to do that day, I made sure I was also wearing a cheerful expression, since no one else likely would. I had been looking forward to this day, but that didn't mean everyone else was. Still, when I took one final look at myself in the mirror, I hoped that some of my cheerfulness would rub off on them. And even if it didn't, I was determined to have some fun after a long week of hard work.

But despite all my mental preparations, I was still plagued with anxiety over whether any of the countries would respond to my invitation at all. More than one of them was probably still lying in bed after tossing my note in last night's fire. We all hadn't hung out together in a long time, since the Cross National Party, in fact. But usually, getting them all together in one place didn't bring entirely good results. Hopefully though, they'd at least read the notes I placed in their rooms, and they all liked me despite their differences. Maybe this would work.

To keep my worries at bay, I focused on what was in the halls in front of me. The results of a week of careful planning and detailing. It was already December, which mean Christmas would soon be coming, which in turn meant that we had to decorate the entire campus from top to bottom. Even so, from the time I walked out my dorm to when I neared the conference room, I couldn't help but marvel at what our efforts had produced. The walls were lined with sparkling silver and gold laced greenery. Bouquets of poinsettia had been laid out. And I could see outside that even though the courtyard was now decorated with freshly fallen snow, the fountain and the benches had gold bells hanging from red and green ribbons.

Every so often there was a wreath, and the biggest one was at the front entrance. But right outside the conference room, my attention was caught by someone trying to hang one more underneath a window. He looked like he was having trouble on top of that ladder, but I didn't want to startle him by falling off. Clearing my throat to get his attention, I called out, "Hello? Do you need help?"

He turned around toward me and smiled. "Oh, good morning Miss Seychelles! No thank you, I'm perfectly alright!"

"Are you sure?" I asked. "It looked like you couldn't get the wreath to hang."

"Oh I was just trying to keep my balance. I'll be okay. By the way, that's an interesting choice of dress you got on."

I blushed a little bit at the comment. "It's just for today. I know it's cold and it's snowing but, I just wanted to get out."

"Well, I hope you have a fun day!" His smile grew, and I couldn't help but return it.

"Thank you!" But when I turned to face the door, my smile dropped slightly. I knew there was a chance most of them at least wouldn't respond, but I didn't want to be disappointed. Still, I knocked on the door and then made my way into the conference room where we held the party months ago.

And my eyes widened in surprise as I saw all eight of the countries I'd sent notes to. There they all were, lounging near the great fireplace, and even dressed in the clothes I told them they should wear. To my even greater surprise, it looked as though there hadn't been any fights between any of them. At least, not yet. Then again, one can never be too careful. I knew this very well when everyone turned and looked at me.

"Oh, Seychelles!" Italy grinned widely. "Buongiorno! We were wondering when you'd show! I was starting to think I'd been set up so I made a white flag!" He then picked it up and waved it enthusiastically for everyone to see.

"Good morning, everyone," I tried to smile back. "I'm glad you all could make it. I didn't think it would happen."

"Then why send letters to us in first place?" Russia asked, smiling yet looking suspicious.

"A better question would be why we had to come wearing this dandified gear?!" Britain spoke up, obviously put out. I had a feeling he'd react that way. Same thing for France, who immediately stood up and stared Britain down.

"Well, I'll have you know I think I look magnifique!" he said as he then blew a kiss in my direction. My cheeks instantly felt toasty.

"You always think you look great, dog face! Instead of shoving your face in ours constantly, why don't you shove it up your –"

"I don't know about you guys, but I feel great this morning!" America interrupted him. "Sure every non-Jew in the world has better things to attend to on Saturday mornings, but a hero must never be tired!"

"I only hope one of those things is not a hangover," Japan suddenly said. "Not that I had much to drink last night."

"Speaking of which," China spoke up, "that sake was pretty good! It makes me glad to know you learned at least one useful thing from me!"

Throughout all this, I noticed Germany was getting pretty frustrated. And it seemed no matter how many times he did, the others never got the message that Germany getting angry was never a good thing. The more red in the face he got, the more I wanted to crawl away into a corner. But I planted my feet to the floor and stayed where I was. Until Germany finally exploded, spewing forth his anger like a volcano does its lava.

"Enough already, you dummkopfs! Can't you see Seychelles has something she wants to say?! Something zat, oh I don't know, has somezing to do with why she called you miserable morons here zis morning?! Why can't you ever behave yourselves ven ve get togezer?!"

Finally deciding I'd had enough of him, I managed to summon back my own voice. "Thank you, Germany." But he went on with his ranting and raving.

"Vy, ze next time something like zis happens again, I'm going to take my own var machine and bang your empty heads against it!"

Now I knew I had to stand up to him, show him he wasn't exactly behaving well either. With a firm, steady voice, I said, "Yes, thank you, Germany."

At last, he seemed to get the message. His redness of face suddenly turning into one of embarrassment with himself, Germany sat back down where he was sitting and began mumbling to himself. The only words I heard were, "Never get to use the var machine."

I wanted to roll my eyes, but my attention was quickly diverted when I heard Italy say, "Go on Seychelles! We're excited to hear whatever you have to say!"

His appreciative words made my smile return to my face as I finally spoke. "Now, thank you all for coming. I know the notes I sent you last night were kind of on short notice, considering that we've spent the last week decorating the campus."

"Yes, and some of us should probably be sleeping in," Britain said, his last words spoken through gritted teeth. While I knew this was directed at France, who simply rolled his eyes, I couldn't help but glance at Japan. His head was now in his hand, and I wondered if I should take him to the health office.

"But why wouldn't we come here if you sent us notes?" Britain asked, pulling me back. While his tone wasn't the most friendly, I was, oddly enough, touched at the question. It brought new warmth to the smile I was desperately trying to keep intact.

"Glad you asked, Britain, I was just getting there. I just thought we could all do something to celebrate the end of the long weekend, something none of us have done in a while. And when I thought about it, I came up with the idea that we should all go horseback riding!"

Right when I said those words, all eight countries leaned forward and said, "WHAT?!" I'll admit I was a little startled when I usually am not so easily. And before I could say or do anything else, each one started giving their own back-to-back reaction.

"Alright!" America fist-pumped. "I've been wanting to show everyone my skills with horses! Remind the world why I have cowboys! Yeehaw!"

Seizing the moment to try and regain control, I held up my hands at him. "Hold on America. I need everyone's 'yes,' not just yours."

I then made my rounds, starting with China. He smiled. "Why not? It'd be nice to remind everyone I don't just have horses for meat."

Russia smirked when I looked at him next. "I know everyone has to say yes because otherwise I'd trample them with my own feet!"

Not too comfortable with the response, I quickly turned to France. "Oh, I would love for you to ride a horse behind me, ma cherie." He winked at me, causing me to raise my eyebrows as I then looked at Britain, uncertain the whole time of what he'd say.

His frown was stiff. "The only time I'd want to be near France on a horse is if I had a death wish." I frowned too, and almost let my head hang, until he added, "But, if it's what you want to do, I suppose I can face it for at least one day."

Again, though it was probably more intentional this time, I was touched by his words. Once again assured I was on his good side, I then heard Japan say, "Oh, why not? Perhaps the cold air will do my head some good. And I may need a lot of it."

Now that I got his "yes," I turned to Germany still sulking in his chair. When he realized my attention was on him, he quickly straightened. "Don't tell me again. I heard you ze first time. If it's a vay to teach zese brats some self-control, I'm signing on."

And last was Italy, who seemed to once again be off in his own little world. What it was like, I knew I would never know. But when he saw that all eyes had suddenly turned to him, he quickly came back to this one. Smiling, he raised his hand and said, "Pasta!"

And from that simple word, I knew he too had given his "okay." I grinned happily now that everyone thought my idea was good and decided to come along. "Excellent!" I exclaimed, getting a little giddy myself. "Now that everyone's said 'yes,' I think it's time we now go to the stables!"

"I'm gonna get there first, just like a hero should!" America said. While my smile remained, I crossed my arms at him.

"We're not racing, America. We're all gonna go at the same speed, and we're all gonna have some fun, am I right?" I then turned to the others to get a group response. And though they all smiled and nodded, I could tell by the looks in their eyes that they weren't exactly thrilled about doing this when we were all together. But I was still happy, not just because they decided to go after all, but that they decided to go with me.

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