A/N: So, there's a bit of a time skip at the beginning of this. It jumps from the mission in the last chapter to... well, you'll find out!

Disclaimer: I own none of the recognizable characters as they belong to Disney/Pixar.

After that mission, which Finn and Rod had been calling 'The Camera Mission', Finn and Ethan had gotten back into an easy, relaxed rhythm. Training with jumps or dressage in the morning, Finn got to do whatever he liked during the day (unless Ethan wanted to just ride, which was at least three times a week), and training with stairs or water crossings at night. One a week they'd practice shooting, Finn would work on balance with sharp turns while Ethan shot. Ethan fed him performance grain, mixed with supplements, after training every day at around six in the morning and six at night.

That was their schedule whenever they didn't have a mission. And after that first mission, there was really not a lot of criminal activity. So for a while, it was quiet for them.

Until it wasn't. The day she arrived changed everything.

Finn was walking through HQ, looking for Ethan to let him know they'd been asked to go for another mission. He passed the indoor arena, glancing in when he'd heard a sharp squeal. He'd stopped dead in his tracks.

There, in the middle of the arena fighting with three human agents, was the same filly that he'd tumbled over ten months before.

Finn knew fear when he saw it. It was the exact look in the eyes of the bad guys Finn so easily could take down. It was a look he was familiar with. However the humans obviously were not, and they were treating the filly as if she was angry. She wasn't. She was afraid. Oh so very afraid.

He watched her jump straight into the air, thrashing wildly for a moment before she came down hard. A soft, surprised snort escaped him and he reacted as soon as she hit the ground.

"Let her go." His voice was soft, gentle and low. All eyes turned to him.

"What!?"

"I said let her go." He paused before walking slowly in, keep his head low and body soft. Trying to signal to the filly he meant no harm. That he would not harm her.

The three shared a look, and then dropped the ropes. Either they respected Finn a lot, or they were done struggling with her. At the moment, Finn didn't care for any of it. Just her.

She instantly yanked herself to her feet, bolting as far as away from him and the humans as she could. However once to the corner of the arena she turned back around to stare at him. Her ears were forward, nostrils flaring and head tilted. Her head was flung high, and she stood with the simple grace of an Arabian - which she very clearly was, by the dished face - but with the carefulness of someone who was trained to fight. Trained to kill.

Finn mimicked her movements, throwing his head up and tilting his head, keeping his ears forward. He didn't try to move towards her, just stopped and stood. They watched each other, and Finn could make out one of the humans contacting Ethan, and possibly Jake. However at the moment he couldn't have cared less.

His attention was on her. Only her.

She quickly bobbed her head, and he repeated the motion. A quick up and down of the head. She did it again, and he copied her again. They stared at each other again, before she snorted and dropped her head to itch her foreleg. Finn, repeated her, and when he did, she pretty much squealed and jumped forward a bit, before breaking into a run along the edge of the arena. Finn knew it wasn't out of fear, but more out of contained energy and newfound excitement.

The sudden movement startled him just a tiny bit, and he ended up swinging his head and jumping forward, bucking once. She watched him and Finn watched her as the two ran. They avoided each other for a while, just watching the other.

At some point Ethan and Jake had slipped in the arena and had joined with the three other people and Finn had heard their voices, but hadn't bothered to care with what they were saying.

Also at some point, he began noticing the filly had been inching closer to him and pretty soon they were neck and neck. He could feel her body heat from the sweat on him, and he knew they should probably stop running soon, but he couldn't stop. Not now when she was so close to him but so out of reach. He knew one wrong move could send her running.

So, he experimented for a moment. He slowed down a bit, waiting for her to keep going enough for him to switch places. He got on her outside, which kept her between him and the wall. Finn could tell she didn't like the change for a minute, but relaxed when Finn's head dropped.

After a few minutes of running like that, Finn slowed down again. He leveled his head with her flank, hoping to get her to slow down as well. Slowly, she began slowing down and carefully matched his pace.

Her strides were naturally shorter and quicker than his was, but at that moment his shortened and hers extended just a tiny bit to suit each other's. Finn could see Ethan's grin, Jake's impressed look, and the other three humans shocked faces.

He carefully began slowing down, more and more each time. With each slower pace she responded quicker, so when they finally transitioned from a canter to a trot, it looked so graceful. Like they'd known each other for years, and it was easy for them to be one.

Finn pricked his ears and automatically curved his neck in towards his chest. They must've made quite a pair, because Ethan had taken out his phone and taken a picture.

When they were walking, Finn decided to come off the wall a little and see what she'd do. Turned towards the middle of the arena, she followed him. She looked curious, and almost as if she was waiting to be told what to do. Waiting for his lead.

When he stopped in the middle of the arena, so did she. She waited while he stood and watched her, and he nickered softly to her. She hesitated, but he heard a very quiet returning nicker. Her voice sounded sweet, but roughened by worry. He dropped his head, but got another idea.

He dropped to his knees, and then shifted so his left hip hit the ground. He was laying down, and the filly took a couple steps sideways. But her head tilted again, and she looked genuinely confused for a moment.

The filly could easily strike, kill him, when he was down like this. He was showing her he trusted her not to hurt him, and he could see her running that through her mind.

And then she was laying down next to him, belly to him and ears forward. It was the first time he actually got a good look at her.

Her coat was dull with malnourishment, her ribs very clearly showed. Her fur was coarse, and he could see jagged scars from what had to be a knife, there's nothing else that makes those sort of scars, and rough patches where fur was missing. Finn's eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked at her face again. A beautifully dished face, with a small star in between her eyes. It was covered with dirt, but he could see it. And her eyes.

They were dull, but Finn could see a small, small struggling fire. Almost out but fighting to stay alight. Pain from physical and mental abuse or torture (look at the scars). He knew she must've had some form of PTSD. And by the looks of it, she was young. Incredibly young. Finn guesses maybe two, three at the most.

He noticed he'd been staring, so he softly sighed and asked, very quietly so Ethan nor Jake could hear. "What's your name?"

It took a while for her to answer, but finally, "Holley... Holley Shiftwell."

A/N: So this was a bit longer than I expected but I enjoyed writing this and I can't wait to get the next part up! Hope you enjoyed 3