The forest was much larger then it had first seemed. Brian wandered through the trees using the screams as his guide. As he got closer the screams grew louder and seemed familiar to him somehow. "That's strange. It almost sounds like- Yee-ahhh!
Brian didn't see the ground had slanted downward until it was too late, by that time he had tumbled down the slope into a small makeshift lake. "This just isn't my day today." Brian sighed, and then spun around quickly as he heard the scream again, this time he knew. Whatever had called him here was very close.
The level of the water was past his knees and getting deeper all the time as Brian got closer. Then he stopped for a moment in shock. "Oh No!" He yelled out.
There was a tree nearby directly in the water's path. And tied to that tree was a horse. The horse would continuously rear up and charge forward only to be stopped by the rope. As Brian approached the horse she reared up in fright. "Woah!" Brian immediately backed away out of the path of her hooves, waiting until they were back down on the ground, before slowly approaching once more. "I can help you, but I can't until you calm down!" To his surprise the horse settled down as if understanding.
"That's better. Now let's get you free." The rope was tied tight, and the dampness was making it hard to grip the knot and impossible to untie. As the water level continued to rise up past his waist, Brian quickly tried another approach. "I hope you don't hate me for this." Taking a desperate leap Brian was just able to grab a hold of the horse, and managed to pull himself up. As expected the horse reared up in fright. Once again Brian was able to settle her until he got the rope off.
The instant the horse was free, she bolted. Brian just held on tight hoping the horse would stop soon. Every now and then the horse would jump for no apparent reason and would sometimes change directions. Brian chucked. "You are one strange horse. If I didn't know any better I'd think you were dancing."
Finally the horse stopped at a small stable and Brian got off. The rain had long since stopped and as Brian watched a beautiful Rainbow appear in the sky. Looking carefully, Brian finally spotted the white horse with the rainbow mane and smiled. "Hey Rainbow!" he yelled out waving.
Rainbow Brite was startled when she heard Brian's voice. "Brian?" she wondered looking down. It took a moment to recognize her earth friend. "It is him!"
"But what is Brian doing way out here?" Twink wondered. "And how did he get covered in mud? Look at him he's positively filthy!" Starlight snorted. "Let's go find out." Rainbow touched her belt, sending out a beam of rainbow light and quickly rode down eager to see her friend. As expected Starlight refused to go closer, so Rainbow jumped down and walked over.
"What happened to you?" Rainbow said half worried and half bemused over the situation. "And how come you're all muddy?" Twink was quick to add. Brian just smiled weakly. It's a long story Rainbow. "I don't mind, I've always got time for my friends!" Rainbow smiled cheerfully. Seeing no way around it, Brian retold everything that had happened earlier. When he finished there was silence. "Wow that's some story! But I'm glad you're okay." Rainbow said smiling.
"Where's the horse Brian?" Twink asked looking around. "I don't see her anywhere." "She's right over-huh?" Brian noticed the horse's absence as well. "Well she has to be here somewhere." Rainbow smiled again. "We'll help you find her. Come on Twink! Starlight!"
With his friend's help the surrounding area was searched rather quickly, but it was Starlight who found the missing horse near the main building. "Ahh there you are." It took some coaxing, but Starlight finally got the other horse to come out of the shadows. He shuddered seeing the horse was covered in mud as well. Turning his head he saw Brian and Rainbow approaching as did Twink who carried a bucket of soapy water and a sponge. The horse looked ready to bolt again, but Brian calmly took the sponge from Twink and dipped it into the water. Once again he was able to calm her down enough to get close and ever so gently brushed it against the tense horse. Once the horse realized that Brian would not hurt her, she calmed down and let Twink and Rainbow approach as well. Then without warning the horse reared up again. Quickly they backed off.
"Why is she doing this?" Rainbow asked and then gasped. Underneath all that mud, the horse was brown with white patches, but what upset her was a deep wound on the horse's side and several whip marks. "Who could have done this?" Rainbow said clearly horrified. Brian and Twink came over and had similar reactions. "I don't know Rainbow, but somehow I'll find out who did this. Earth Dancer will never have to go through this again. Brian said eyes determined.
"Hey you kid!" Brian spun around and noticed an older man. Whatever the man was going to say was forgotten as he noticed Earth Dancer. He turned his eyes to the boy. The boy smiled weakly. "You got a minute?"