(Settings and characters belong to StarStableOnline. OC are mine)
Stormflash was not a typical gentle giant. At first glance, he appeared serene and patient with his rider and spectators, letting himself be petted and fussed over. But in reality, behind closed stall doors, Storm was as mean as a feline especially with equines physically smaller than him. Pushing, biting and kicking were only the bare minimum of his aggresive traits and not just to other horses; numerous volunteers and even Johanna herself had had the unfortunate luck of being on the recieving end of a few of his kicks. The Andalusian had grown up without his parents for the most part, his mother being taken away from him when he was only two.
Storm envied young colts viciously, especially those that arrived at the shelter with their dam, or even in the rarest case, the sire as well. He also avoided pregnant mare's conversations about they're unborn foals, spitting with rage at the first hint of it being a colt. However, there was one mare he couldn't avoid even if his life depended on it: Daydream. The twenty year old pony had been in the shelter years before he was bought by his new teenage female rider, Reyna Heart. Flashing back to the days the girl brought him home, cared for him, dressed him up and actually loved him always brought a smile to his face.
A snort snapped Storm back to the present. Plodding to the bars of his stall, he caught sight of a buckskin North Swedish horse chuckling to himself. Storm let out a short nicker, making his displeasure painfully obvious.
"Hush up you cart-pulling cow! At least I can actually clear a jump higher than my hock!" Storm whispered fiercely.
The bucksin cast the Andalusian a glance with his good eye, his only good eye. "Cow? Hmm, last I checked you've had to have walked at least ten feet to see one of those, outside your box that is"
The retort sparked laughter from the stalled horses down the main aisle. Storm kicked his door and barked for silence, glaring at the buckskin.
"You think you're soooo funny don't you Smokey? Well I certainly don't understand what the others SEE in you. HA!" Cackling, Storm circled around his stall to his sleeping spot and plopped down with a sigh.
Every awakened horse in the stable went dead silent. Soon enough, the shelter was devoid of any equine sounds louder than breathing or the occasional rustle of bedding. But for one horse, sleep wasn't coming any time soon.
The buckskin North Swedish horse, Smokey, had lost his left eye to infection from a seemingly unrelated virus he'd picked up years ago. In order to relieve the pain and swelling, the vet had elected to remove it but his previous owner couldn't afford the cost. Instead of giving him to another shelter or selling him, she'd left him out in her pasture never to be seen again. Until one fateful night, the gelding had arrived at Rescue Hearts starved, sick and depressed; upon his discovery the Heart sisters immediately began nursing him back to health, and a few years later, Smokey looked good as new even with a missing eye.
The gelding was also blessed with the patience of a saint but the temper of a devil. Despite this, Smokey never let Storm's antics ruffle his coat as he would remember the stallion's age and experience level with life and give a hearty chortle, just like now.
He pawed at a corner of bedding fitfully convincing himself to nod off. He also tried counting the stars from his stall window, but that didn't ease his mind either. His mind was ablaze with thoughts of Daydream and her little rider Dezzy: Where was Day? Was she hurt? What was taking so long for them to come back? What would he do if something-
The gelding pricked his ears. He could have sworn he'd heard a clop clop of small hooves just off to the left. Focusing only on the sound, he picked up a rhythm of an uneven gait followed by a soft fop fop fop of boots. He let out a huge sigh; Day and Dezzy were back home.
Awakened by the noise, Storm lifted his snout only to catch the scent of Daydream and her rider; and they smelled something awful. Blowing the foul air out of his nostrils, Storm rose to full height to get a view of what was going on: the girl removing the halt thing from Day's face, Day ever so slowly making her way into her stall, and finally the girl leaving. Storm harrumphed to get Daydream's attention but the old mare was fast asleep before Dezzy even locked her stall door.
Saturday morning. A glorious day for riders all over Jorvik to spend leisure time with their friends, families and horses. But best of all, it was a day where Destiny and Reyna could just be normal girls doing normal activities instead of bustling about like bees.
Reyna had suggested bareback riding out of Jorvik just for the fun of it, which Destiny added to by bringing a pal along. Together her, Reyna, Stormflash, Daydream and Smokey made the journey from Jorvik Stables all the way to Moorland where they stopped for rest and a snack. While the equines munched on the fresh summer grass outside Moorland Stables, the Heart sisters tracked down Loretta and Tan to gossip about the latest news.
"Omg yes! I've totes heard him talk about you when he thinks no one's there" Loretta snickered. Reyna's pale cheeks suddenly flushed.
"Ooooh, someone's turning an adorable shade of embarrassed" Destiny giggled, which only got her a sharp glance from Reyna.
"Stop it. Oh my god Dezzy, he's like- right there! Can you be any more obvious?" Reyna whispered fiercely.
Destiny merely shrugged, adjusting her seat on the fence. She hazarded a glance toward Josh, who was initiating pole bending races, and caught his eye for a split second. After he looked away just as quickly, the girl gave her sister a "he's-watching-you" grin. The teen turned beet-red attempting to steal a glance at the cowboy. pretending to mess with her hair or watch the horses run across the pole bending track.
Tan lightly pulled Reyna's hair while gesturing in the cowboy's direction. "Go! Go talk to him. He's real bored with all those newbs." Loretta nodded quickly, offering to bring Josh over.
"Ohmygod no- okay...okay, I'm going over there." she replied taking a deep breath.
The teen stalked her way toward the wagon in Josh's view all the while pretending to observe the horses going by. Taking another thought-clearing breath she walked right up to him giving him a great big grin. She felt her cheeks redden again but at this point there was nothing she could do about it.
Josh whipped around just in time to catch the gorgeous hazel-eyed teen approaching him. Mid-back jet-black hair streaming like a banner behind her, golden eyes twinkling, gleaming white teeth adorned side by side with rosy cheeks, she was stunning in a shy, teenage horsegirl kind of way. The cowboy became so flustered he dropped his hat trying to re-adjust it.
Reyna suppressed a giggle while helping him with his hat. Her fingers touched his momentarily but that split second was just enough for her to catch his eye, as he did the same. An awkward moment of silence passed for what seemed an eternity only to be broken by the duo cracking up at each other like children at a pony ride.
Josh shook his head while properly adjusting his hat. "Gosh, I'm plum sorry 'bout that. I di'nt expect it to just...yea. With the wind...'nd, yea..." Now it was his turn to grow red.
Reyna's smile widened till her cheeks hurt. "That's okay. I-uh-really like your hat. It feels like well made felt. Where did you get it?"
The cowboy visibly relaxed. "It's from a real swell place called Epona. They dun got the bes' hat n' boot makers on Jorvik in my opinon."
"Wow, Epona. I've never heard of it. It's here?- on Jorvik?"
"Yep, jus' off the path from Goldspur's farm. In fact, I'm near done here for today teachin' the Western lessons. Do ya wanna-uhm...do you want me to show ya?"
Reyna smiled bashfully. "Honestly...I dunno if I'll have time to go leisurely exploring. See, I work at this place called Rescue Hearts, its a-", Josh nodded, "Oh you know it? How did you- ohhh! That's right!- you and Tan came to us to adopt a horse for Thomas some years back- psh, of course! How could I forget that?" she laughed nervously.
"Darn hootin'! I gotta say that's the kindest horse ya'll 'ave ever taken into your shelter. I've been thinking about goin' back one of these days and adopting a Quarter horse or maybe even a Paint."
"That's great! That would be splendid. Josh you have no idea how happy it would make me- err, I mean, us...at the shelter, to see another one of our beauties find him or herself a new home."
Josh tipped his hat gentlemanly and Reyna near fainted. She caught herself in time to meet his gaze again.
"Well uh, I've got to go. My sis and I brought our horses and a friend of theirs here on bareback since today we're free. I guess I'll, see you later?"
The cowboy tipped his hat again, grinning. "My pleasure Miss Heart."
The duo waved goodbye and parted ways. While Josh got a broom to sweep up the dirt rustled up by numerous hooves, Reyna just about bolted back to her group. Tan caught her shoulders, silently demanding to know everything. The teen stuttered her words now and then but overall she managed to give a brief summary of their exchange.
"But that's great! Why didn't you accept right then and there?" Tan said with her hands on her hips.
"Becaaause, I have a job to do. Plus, I'm still working on a few things with Storm."
Destiny groaned audibly. Every time her sister said "a few things", that meant hours or even days of non-stop practice on her Dressage and Jumping. Non-stop hours meant Reyna didn't have time or energy to do her chores for her own horse which also stemmed into the other horses' chores.
Reyna shot Destiny a look which the girl made a face at. The silent sisterly disagreement sparked laughter from all four girls.
aaAAACHOOO!
"May you be blessed by Epona"
"Thank you for that Smokes"
Daydream sniffed and blew the remainder of pollen from her nostrils. Her sudden sneeze had caused Smokey to jump a few feet in the air and Storm to leap to the other side of the grass patch.
"Hey! Mind warning us next time?! Geez" Storm retorted.
Smokey rolled his eyes for the two of them to see before resuming his tactful grazing. He had an eye, and particular taste, for slightly sweet grass with a twinge of tart. Finding the leaves of a certain weed and grasses that fit his taste buds wasn't always the easiest task. For this, he employed the help of Day, who's nose could sniff out a bloodhound's tracks.
Daydream pawed at a particular plant with a fluffy white top and yellow flowers growing around it. "I believe this is it Smokes. The dandy one?"
Smokey jumped up in glee. "That's the one Day! Thanks!" He rushed over to wolf it down, nearly running into Storm in the process.
"HEY WHAT GIVES!" roared Storm. He bucked and threw his head earning nothing as much as a blink from either equine. Blowing his nose in frustration, the Andalusian crept his way away from the group to pick out softer, tender grass.
While he was busy nit-picking he watched the wide assortment of horses race past. Warmbloods, ponies, Quarter horses, Morgans- all those and them some that he believed were inferior to him. He was also totally sure that all the Andalusians that galloped by were jealous of his superiority and awesome skills and better rider.
As if to prove his point, the trio's heads shot up at the sound of a horse neighing and bucking wildly. A sorrel Andalusian mare was trying to throw off her rider, appearing to be frustrated with the girl's inability to give the right cues to jump. The mare thrashed her head wildly meanwhile several riders had corraled around her attempting to calm the situation. Rider and horse fought for several minutes, until finally her rider jumped off and fled for the safety of the gate.
Stormflash cocked his head arrogantly at the others. "Hmph. You'll never understand what it's like to be as good as me." However, Daydream and Smokey were too busy to notice his prideful stance, so he merely dropped his head back to the sweet grass.
Daydream was enjoying a well deserved roll and belly scratch when Smokey approached her, having just witnessed the madness in the Moorland paddock.
"What was that all about? Did that rider even know what she was doing?" he asked, concern in his tone.
Day shook her head. "Clearly not from what I could see. Too much pressure, directions were not clear, the mare was obviously exhausted- honestly I can't believe humans don't pay attention to these things. It seems black and white to us. Pardon the pun" she chuckled. Smokey nodded in response. "Ohh I wonder where my Dezzy is. Hopefully she hasn't run off somewhere I need to go catch her"
The buckskin Swedish didn't have to search too long for her; she was right where he'd last seen her. Day thanked him, rising ever so slowly.
"Ohhhh these old bones. Still got fight in me but I'm afraid the warm up for it will take twice as long." Smokey couldn't help laughing a bit and soon enough, Day laughed right along with him.
An hour later the girls were ready to head home. They said their goodbyes to Tan, Loretta and Josh (Reyna's face tinging red again), before heading off on their journey back to the Stables. Reyna and Destiny couldn't stop chatting and laughing about how the afternoon had progressed, especially about a certain someone's invitation to visit a brand new area.
About halfway across the bridge, Reyna suddenly halted, her eyes slitted and lips pressed together. Destiny rode up beside her with genuine concern.
"What happened Riri? Is something wrong? Did you forget something?" she asked waving her hands about.
Her sister shot her a look before a cackle erupted from her. "What?- no, nothing like that. I was just thinking...maybe we could gallop back to the Stables- oh come on! We've done it before."
"Yea but not bareback! Ya know how bad that hurts Daisy's back?"
"Oh please, she'll be fine. I've seen the stuff she puts up with from horses three times her size. Trust me- she'll deal."
"But I-" Before Destiny could get another syllable in, her sister kicked into high gear, her horse but a gray blur.
"Hey! I wasn't ready-no fair!" she cried out. "C'mon Daydream, lets show her what a real equine's made of!" Daydream nickered her agreement while Smokey pitched his with a snort.