A/N: Thanks so much to those who reviewed!! It is because of you that I have incentive to keep writing. Here's chapter two, hope you enjoy! I STILL would dearly love any ideas you have, so PLEASE tell me if you think of anything! Thank you for reading!!

Disclaimer: I still own nothing, but the police think they have a lead on my inspiration and are tracking it down, so I hope to recover some of my stolen property soon. . .

"So you don't recognize him?" Al asked the man in the doorway. The man shook his head. "Ah, well thank you. Sorry to bother you!"

They had spent the entire day wandering around Resembool trying to find Roy's nonexistent owner. That was the last house. Roy followed the Elric brothers with his head hanging low and his hooves dragging. The humiliation was too much. Having complete strangers inspect you and touch you in all manner of completely inappropriate places. . .Roy heaved a great sigh. It didn't help that he was starving. They had fed and watered him the night before, but he could not bring himself to start eating dried grass just yet.

"Well, he's not from around here." Ed stated the obvious as he strolled along with his hands behind his head.

"What should we do with him then?" Alphonse asked in a worried voice as he patted Roy's nose.

"Why can't we just let it go?"

"Ed! We can't do that. He's obviously tame—who knows if he'll be able to survive if we just release him into the wild!"

Roy figured that actually the odds of him surviving were pretty darn high, but didn't say anything. . .not that he COULD even if he wanted to, he reminded himself with another sigh. He knew it was irrational, but it irked him that Edward would just abandon him without a second thought like that. He'd always known that the younger Elric was superior to the elder, and this just confirmed it. He bumped the armored boy affectionately with his muzzle while simultaneously shooting a death-glare at Edward. He hoped that his death-glares still worked in horse-form.

"See big brother? We can't just leave him!"

Bless you, Alphonse Elric. . .

"Why NOT?!! This is becoming a huge hassle! Just put it back where you found it!"

Die, Fullmetal. . .

"How can you be so mean, big brother!" Al huffed, "We are NOT just leaving him! That's inhuman!"

"Fine!" Edward sighed deeply, "Well, we obviously can't take him with us, so maybe we can get granny Pinako and Winry to take care of him. I'm sure they could use a horse for. . .something. . ."

Al wondered how a horse could possibly be helpful in making automail, but he was just glad that Ed had agreed not to abandon the horse.

Night was falling when they returned to the Rockbell's house and Roy was tied to a post outside next to a pile of hay—which he now grudgingly ate, and tried not to let himself think about how good it tasted.

The next morning, Alphonse came out to talk to him. "Good news, fella!" he said, stroking Roy's nose affectionately, "Granny Pinako has agreed to take care of you!"

Oh, that's good, at least.

"That means we can come visit you whenever we want!"

Wait. . .what?

"Brother and I are going back to Central today now that his automail's all fixed up, so we won't be around here much anymore."

No! Not good! You can't leave me here!!

Roy whinnied and reared up, struggling against the rope.

"Whoa, hey there, calm down! It's okay! Granny and Winry will take really good care of you! You'll really like it here!"

Forgive me, but I REALLY THINK NOT! He yelled wildly, jerking the rope. If the Elrics left without him now, who knows how long he'd be trapped in this backwater town.

"That horse seems really attached to you, Alphonse." Pinako said as she came out of the house, smoking her pipe.

"Come on, Al, let's get going." Ed hoisted his suitcase over his shoulder. "See ya later, Horse."

AUGH! Miserable, pint-sized pipsqueak! Don't you dare leave me like this!! Roy screamed. He was bucking and rearing wildly. Even if all else failed, maybe he'd still be able to get in one good kick before Fullmetal got out of range.

"Whoa! It's crazy!" Ed yelled, jumping back.

Crap. Can't reach him.

"Oh, don't mind him. You boys just go on, he'll calm down eventually." Pinako assured.

NO I WON'T!!!

"Uh, yeah. Come on, Al. Bye Granny! See ya, Winry!" The boys waved as they walked away.

"I hope those two stay out of trouble." Pinako sighed as she went back inside.

Roy was seriously starting to panic now. Countless months of serving as the Rockbell's horse, nice as the two of them were, was not an appealing thought. He had to get back to Central! He'd been gone for three days already! Everybody was probably going crazy over his sudden disappearance. He hated to think about how Hawkeye was taking it, and he also felt a great swell of pity for anyone insane enough to get in her way.

He strained at the rope, pulling against it with all his (considerable) strength. The rope groaned, but did not break. He twisted his head around frantically, trying to snap it. No good.

He dropped his head, panting from exertion. He never thought he'd see the day: He, Roy Mustang, the FLAME Alchemist, trapped by a simple rope. No. He can't give up, not now, not yet.

He backed up until the rope was taught and took a deep breath. This was it. Either this worked or his neck snapped. He plunged forward in a full gallop, racing past the pole. In a moment he had run out of rope and his head was jerked around even as his body kept moving forward. He almost wept with relief when he heard a faint snapping noise and the pressure on his neck suddenly disappeared as he crashed to the ground. Ow, ow, ow, ow. . .He held his head tenderly at an angle as he scrambled to his feet and took off down the road. A part of his mind delighted in how spectacularly fast he could run now, the rest of it just panicked about whether he would catch the brothers in time.

He careened into the train station just as the Elrics were about to board. There were startled shouts all around him as people leapt to get out of the way of the crazed horse who was making a b-line for Alphonse's easily-recognizable form.

"What the—"

"Aahh!" Alphonse yelled as Roy bulldozed into him, sending them both tumbling to the ground in a huge crash. Roy hadn't meant to actually run into him, but it was amazing how hard it was to stop when he was running full-speed. They now lay in a tangled heap—Al holding onto his head to keep it from rolling away. Roy tried to get to his feet, but Alphonse was tangled up underneath him and all he could do was flail his legs wildly until Al rolled away from him and helped him up.

"WHAT IS IT DOING HERE?!!!" Edward screeched, pointing wildly. Roy snorted at him, but didn't really have the energy to do much else.

"What are you doing here, fella?" Alphonse asked, holding up the tattered end of the rope, "Hey, Ed, look at this! This guy broke the rope and came all this way just to follow us!"

Roy pressed as close to Alphonse as was physically possible, trying desperately to get across the message 'TAKE ME WITH YOU!!!!'.

"Aww, look at him, big brother!" Al said, running a hand through Roy's mane. "He obviously wants to come with us!"

Yes!! Roy felt like weeping with relief.

"Can we keep him?" Al asked, somehow managing to make puppy eyes even though he was a suit of armor.

"NO!! We are NOT taking it with us!" Ed slapped his forehead, "Ugh. This means we're gonna have to take it back to granny Pinako's. We're gonna miss the train, dangit. Come on, you troublesome Horse." He grabbed the remains of the rope and started trudging back to the house.

This is getting ridiculous, Roy thought. How blunt do I have to be??

. . .Obviously more blunt than crashing full-speed into Alphonse. . .he sighed. Fine.

Roy reached out and grabbed the back of the young state alchemist's coat with his teeth, dragging the startled blond backwards.

"What the. . .AGH!" Edward shouted as Roy tossed him bodily through the air (good thing he was so small) towards the train's door. . .missing the actual opening by a few feet. Ed bounced off the train's side and landed heavily on his back. Roy tried not to take too much pleasure from the bump rapidly forming on the boy's head.

"Big brother!!" Al immediately rushed to Ed's side.

"Ahh! It's crazy! Get it away from me!"

But Roy had already lifted Ed by the back of his collar again and was shoving him towards the train compartment. Then he trotted around and nudged Alphonse with his nose, trying to guide him towards the livestock compartment. The lift-and-toss technique wouldn't work with the younger Elric. Roy cantered over and stood pleadingly beside the compartment.

"Big brother. . .I really think he wants to come with us."

Ed gaped at the possessed horse for a few moments, then sagged in defeat. "Fine, fine. . .I guess we can't seem to get rid of it anyway. . ." He slid out and went to make arrangements for transporting Roy.

"Thank you big brother!!" Al yelled enthusiastically. Even Roy whinnied in relief.

"Meh." Ed grumbled. . .