A/N: Ookiez.. second chptr!! Hope u enjoy it, and thanx sooo much for the reviews!!

Chrissie: Haven't watched the show… but I've read the book!! And it's fantastic!!

Disclaimer's on theme page..

-- sylver_rain

The Clydesdales

Chapter 2: The Clydesdale From Hell

Remy was exhausted from the long dusty trip. He had been travelling in the carriage for a whole 24 hours from Monto to Cleedersville. And the ride had been hot and sweaty and extremely boring. But travelling over the Texan-like desert and seeing nothing but cactuses and tumble-wheat seemed to make people feel that way.

He had fallen asleep in the carriage and woken up to a new and totally different landscape. There were forests and small rivers around, and the temperature was nice and cooling.

He stepped off the carriage into a crowded town where people were bustling about their own business. The town was one of the bigger and more major towns, and it was full of different mediterranean houses and accommodations, with huge houses, obviously belonging to the rich, and small ones, belonging to the less fortunate. But over all, he couldn't see any poor people or beggars, so he presumed it was a pretty wealthy area of the Milestone Kingdom, as medieval as it was.

He booked a room at an inn and started his search for the 'demon' Clydesdale. Walking around, he looked for a big crowd of some sort. He walked by a wall when he caught sight of a single colorful poster on it out of the corner or his eye. He walked toward it, and after reading, decided that the day wasn't all that bad. It read Circus: Featuring the Demon Clydesdale, Nightcrawler. Sure to Scare You to Hell.

He read the details of where the circus was going to be held and at what time. Nightcrawler, huh? It was to start at 7 that night, and it was only 2:30 in the afternoon at that moment. He thought it'd be best to go there and snag the Clydesdale before the freak show started.

He roamed the town and got to the circus by 3. There, he strolled around the circus grounds like he was meant to be there and looked for any type of demonic looking horse. After a while of futile searching, he was starting to get tired and decided to swipe a drink from any stall and sit down under a shady tree not far from the circus tents. Then it came.

A long row of connected cages were pulled in by a carriage, and then elephants started lumbering in one by one behind it. Remy kept a close watch for any sign of the Clydesdale, and only managed to catch sight of a cage rumbling along with all the others, only that a large dirty cloth was draped over it.

He kept an eye on it as the cages were disconnected one by one and each pushed into certain places. The clothed cage was placed right in the middle of the entire circus area, as if protected by the wide radius of circus tents around it. No doubt it contained the Clydesdale he was looking for.

He tossed the wooden cup he had been drinking from behind him and made his way down. However, circus people were already milling around inside and when he neared the cage, a man stopped him and said, "Uh uh… no peeking. You'd have to wait till the show starts if you wanna see the Clydesdale. And you definitely have to pay!" Remy smiled and walked off. Went a lot better dan I thought… He thought to himself. He had half expected the man to start yelling at him and calling out a pack of lions and clowns to attack him.

But Remy really wanted to get the Clydesdale named Nightcrawler out as soon as he possibly could. He pretended to walk out of the area and after the man left, he circled around a tent and walked back to the cage.

Thankfully, the circus people were either busily setting up the large circus tent or getting themselves ready. He pulled the sheets up a little to look at what people had said to be a horse from hell. He gasped a little from a small shock at what was inside.

Although the entire cage was dark due to being shut off from light, the dim bit of sunlight that managed to shine through the dirty sheet of cloth revealed a dark figure that looked almost black. The creature was, however, unconscious and all he could see was a mass of darkness.

He tightened his grip on the cage bars and was about to discharge kinetic energy into it when he heard the same man coming. He ran off, cursing at the same time, and disappeared before the man had a chance to see him.

The circus ground was getting crowded by the second, and Remy knew that he had blown the chance to get the Clydesdale. The only chance he had left of rescuing it was that night at the circus. He had no idea how he was going to do it, but he had to somehow. Or another option was waiting for the next day where the circus would pack up and leave. He decided on the former.

Remy had finished his stolen lunch and felt well replenished and ready for whatever he would face that day. The circus was about to start any minute and he made his way down to the enormous circus tent. He had wanted to wait a little later for when it became crowded but saw no need to it.

Almost the entire town was there, with a large crowd trying to cram itself into the circus tent. The circus manager was trying to keep things in order, and was collecting bundles of money at the same time. It seemed that everyone was eager to see a Clydesdale, even more so the Clydesdale from Hell, as many people were calling it. Remy felt it was too easy, squeezing his way through the crowd and getting in without any trouble or paying. He ignored a group of girls who were swooning at him and he stood at the corner at one of the entrances.

After a while, the people quickly settled down, all eager to see the Clydesdale. The lamps were dimmed and the large ring in the middle of the circus lighted up.

The ringmaster announced loudly, "Ladies and Gentlemen. Tonight, is the biggest night in all of our circus history, where you get to witness a real live Clydesdale." The crowd cheered wildly, then settled down again to listen to the tall skinny ringmaster, "Please enjoy the show."

The large ring suddenly burst into flames, sending the crowd wild, and circus performers poured out from different openings. The people cheered and whistled. Circuses were rare and were usually performed for special occasions, and so many people had attended to add some excitement into their otherwise boring lives. Elephants lumbered out, holding on to the elephant in front of each of them by the tail and walking in a line. Clowns hopped about, pulling funny faces and making the people laugh. However, the people were more eager for a look at the Clydesdale. They started chanting "CLYDESDALE! CLYDESDALE! CLYDESDALE!"

Remy watched closely as the ringmaster gave in to the cheers and finally called out, "Presenting, Ladies and Gentlemen, the star of tonight which you have been all dying to see! The Clydesdale from Hell, Nightcrawler!" The crowd grew quiet as suspense filled the air. It was so silent that every single person in the arena could hear the cloth getting yanked off the cage, revealing the creature. Everyone gasped.

A dark blue stallion staggered to stand up, waking up from his long sleep of unconsciousness. He looked up and the people gasped again. He had a rich navy blue mane, the same as his body, and his eyes were a gleaming yellow that reflected any bit of light that glowed in the circus arena. His hooves were split, like a bull's hoof, and they were black in color. And the most remarkable and noticeable feature he had was that instead of a tail full of hair, he had a long demon-like tail. At the end of the tail was a flat spade that looked a lot like the spade from a card deck. Well, at least that was what Remy was thinking of when he saw the tail.

The Clydesdale's tail swung around in anticipation and Remy could actually see a look of panic cross the creature's eyes. The keeper in charge of Nightcrawler opened the cage, and swung a lasso, then looped it around the Demon Clydesdale's neck. He panicked, and starting neighing shrilly in fear and kicking around but to no avail. The crowd only scared him more by cheering wildly. "DEMON! DEMON! DEMON!" The crowd was chanting. Some of the people looked terrified of seeing a demon-like Clydesdale, and others just wanted to see it do circus tricks. Remy's eyes began to turn a dark shade or crimson and he was about to make his way to the cage when a sudden 'Bamf' was heard and the neighing stopped.

The entire arena was left in silence, and the crowd stared at the cage with disbelief and opened mouths. The Clydesdale was gone, leaving a very confused keeper with a very empty lasso. All that was left was the smell of sulfur and brimstone. The crowd could hardly believe what their eyes had just seen. The people would have thought it was part of the show but the confused look on the ringmaster's face just gave the whole thing away.

Remy sighed. Great. He was dealing with a mutated horse that was in shock and panic and its mutant ability, of all things, was the power of teleportation. Just great. Now, he had practically no chance of finding the Blue Clydesdale. He was the only one who stood up and left the tent, while all the other people either sat there with mouth hanging wide open or were trying to ask the ring master for their money back.

Remy was getting tired. He thought about the Clydesdale. Nightcrawler was the first Clydesdale he had seen, and he was a lot more spectacular than Remy had expected. But then he had seen the panicked expression on the creature's face when the crowd chanted at him, calling him a demon. He looked horrified, angry, yet sad at the same time. Remy couldn't get his mind of Nightcrawler, and wondered if he would see him again.

End of chapter 2