Vegeta was in something of a bad mood. This morning, four of the Saiyan horses had evidenced lameness and had to be disqualified. Four! And, of course, they had all been in the top twenty after yesterday's dressage event. His father would not be happy when he heard about it tonight.

Vegeta was now leaning against the fence with the handful of other spectators, watching the other contestants. He had been the second rider that morning, and had already made his run – a perfect one, of course. Normally, he would have been preparing himself and Master for this afternoon's run, but with Master out of the competition, he had nothing else to do other than watch the other contestants.

He had positioned himself with a good view of the water jump. It's a good measure of a team's skill and Vegeta was critically analyzing everyone who came over it. He was also noting who swung wide to have a straighter approach to the jump and who took the tight corner. The tight corner was the faster course – Vegeta himself had taken it during his ride – but you were more angled upon starting the approach to the jump. Good teams could get things straightened out fine; adequate ones would come at an angle, making the jump harder on the horse.

A familiar bay horse came around the tight bend and Vegeta focused his attention on it. As the bay straightened out from the turn and approached the gates, Vegeta told himself that he was interested in this team because the bay and his blue-haired rider were turning out to be surprisingly tough competitors.

The bay hit the edge of the drop and executed a powerful jump, putting him well over the water; Vegeta found himself nodding approvingly, despite the fact that she was a competitor.

The bay hit the water and went down, throwing his rider. Vegeta was shocked into motionlessness for a second before he vaulted the fence and ran to assist. Several other people were running forward too, but Vegeta was the first to reach them.

Before he had reached the jump, the horse began to scream, a terrible noise. The bay stallion began to thrash in the water, trying to regain his feet; his struggles were perilously close to his unmoving rider. Vegeta caught a sickening vision of the horse's foreleg, gone below the shin, but it was so fast, he was unsure. And he was more concerned for the rider, wading quickly toward her.

He grabbed the floating woman and pulled her away from the writhing horse, rolling her over onto her back. He cradled her against him in the water, trying to move her as little as possible. It seemed like a nightmare, huddling in the cold water, holding her still and trying to find the breath of life in her body, listening to the horse give that same terrible heart-breaking cry.

The paramedics were there quickly and they took her from him. He let her go reluctantly; that should have bothered him, but he wasn't about to worry about it right here. With her in good hands, he felt helpless, so he fell back on what he could do.

Helpers were trying to get around the horse, to restrain it. Vegeta watched carefully, then lunged in and grabbed for the bridle. He had always been good about reading horses and their movements and his fingers curled around a rein. He was able to haul the horse's head to him; once he had his arms wrapped around its head, it stopped fighting.

"Get him up!" someone yelled.

Vegeta shouted, "His right fore! Check it!" He saw one of the helpers run his hand down the leg under the water; in Vegeta's arms, the horse shuddered but didn't fight. "Good boy," Vegeta whispered, stoking the horse's cheek. "It's ok."

"It's gone," the man checking the leg said. "It's just gone!" His face was ashen.

Vegeta's stomach twisted; he hadn't been seeing things. Even as he heard someone start to ask what was gone, he ordered, "Get the vet." He held the bay horse's head, wishing that he had paid attention enough to know its name. "It's alright," he lied to the horse, making his voice a soothing murmur. "It will be ok, I promise."

An ambulance arrived, and Vegeta watched as Bulma was loaded into the back. Before it had pulled away, a golf cart arrived with Dr. Krillian. The small vet didn't hesitate; he dropped his bag and leapt into the water, wading out to the horse. "What do we have?" he asked.

"His right fore leg is gone," the man who had been dealing with the leg said. He was still ashen.

"Gone?" Krillian's voice was flatly disbelieving.

"Gone," Vegeta confirmed. "Below the shin. I saw it."

Krillian eased up to the horse and slid his hand under the water, feeling down the leg. The horse squealed and tossed his head, forcing Vegeta to tighten his grip. When the vet looked up, grief twisted his face as he said, "There's nothing I can do."

"I know," Vegeta said, somewhat unnecessarily. "Do you have something to end it?"

"Yeah," Krillian said, and Vegeta found himself liking the small vet, if only because the obvious anguish the man felt about having to put the horse down. It was a good horse and it deserved better than this. Dr. Krillian dug a large syringe out of his bag and moved back toward the horse. "Hold his neck straight and tight for me, will you?"

Vegeta nodded and braced his feet against the bed of the water jump, pulling the neck as tight as he could. He knew that Krillian was trying to find the carotid artery that ran through the neck and he helped as much as he could. Finally the vet stepped back and Vegeta eased the hold he had on the horse's head.

He held the horse until the vet pronounced him dead. Comforting Bulma's horse while he died was all Vegeta could do for her.

Vegeta didn't stay to see the body removed. He grabbed a ride back to the vet's box with Dr. Krillian. On the way, he asked the vet for a favor. Krillian agreed, though he looked surprised by the request. "You know, that's an expensive procedure," the vet remarked.

"Charge me for it," Vegeta said in a tone that brooked no argument. Once at the vet's tent, Vegeta got another ride back to the barns. He went straight to Stable A, grabbing Kakkarot as soon as he saw him. "Where is that woman you're talking to all the time?" he barked.

"Chichi?" Kakkarot asked stupidly. "She was taking care of her horses, last time I saw her. Why?" He did a double take. "Hey, you're wet!"

Vegeta pushed past his brother, then reconsidered and dragged him down the aisle. If the woman got hysterical, then Kakkarot could deal with her. Ignoring his brother's questions, he peered into the stalls, looking for the woman.

He found her brushing down an Appaloosa in the last stall. "Bulma is injured," he said without preamble. "Her horse is dead."

The woman went white; Vegeta was impressed – he didn't know that people could actually turn that color. Her mouth opened but she didn't say anything.

It was Kakkarot who spoke. "What?"

"Her horse went down in the water jump," Vegeta said. "He broke his leg and threw her. She was taken by the ambulance and the horse was put down."

"Oh, my god," Chichi gasped. "I have to go!" Kakkarot put an arm around her, steadying her.

"Your second ride!" Kakkarot exclaimed. "Will you be back in time?"

"I don't care," Chichi said. "I have to be there."

"Would she want you to finish the ride?" Vegeta asked.

Chichi hesitated, torn. "I think so," she finally admitted, "but I'm going to go anyway." She shivered. "I couldn't finish like this."

Vegeta didn't think about what he did next. He grabbed a piece of scrap paper from his pocket and scribbled down the number to his cell phone. "Keep us informed of her status."

Kakkarot stared at his brother; Vegeta ignored him, even as he thought, Father is going to kill me.

"I will," Chichi promised as she left the barn.

"It's too bad," Kakkarot sighed. "She had another horse to ride this afternoon. Chichi said he was a long shot, but he might have done well enough."

Vegeta blinked at his brother as a thought occurred to him.