Chapter 1

An 18-year-old Sarah Whitney rode atop her black mare, Scarlet, as they strolled past a line of horses with riders on them.

"So just last week I had taught you the basics of jumping," Sarah spoke loudly to her class, "Today, we will be working on form. It is important to follow the horses lead and move like the horse moves. Keep your back like the horses and your heels down. You also will slide to the rear of the saddle. Now let me demonstrate."

Sarah positioned Scarlet to the jump and gracefully flew over it. Her class clapped; their eyes wide with excitement to try the jump themselves.

"Alright," Sarah said, as she and Scarlet made their way back, "Who wants to go first?"

Everyone raised their hands almost immediately, making Sarah giggle just by the memory of her being one of these eager students a long time ago. The class ended quickly and Sarah lead Scarlet into the barn where Alma, Molly, Nani, and Bailey were cleaning profusely.

"What's going on here?" Sarah asked, confused.

"Didn't you hear the news?" Molly asked behind a stack on boxes balanced in her arms.

"Apparently an important person is coming to Horseland," Alma said as she swept the floor.

Sarah looked even more confused, but excited all at once, "Really? Who?"

"That's the thing," Bailey said, coming out of the tack room, "I asked my folks and they won't tell me. They said it's a surprise."

"It better be one heck of a surprise if we are being put to work," Chloe and Zoey popped out of nowhere.

"Like, I understand you guys having to do all the cleaning, but us!" Zoey said, looking at her neatly filed nails.

"You haven't even touched a broom yet, much less gave us a helping hand," Molly stated.

"We are giving help," Chloe crossed her arms, "We are giving emotional support for your guys doing all the cleaning."

Nani came to stand next to Sarah, her hands on her hips.

"Crazy how they haven't changed in the slightest, even after all these years," Nani said.

Sarah laughed and led Scarlet into her stall. She unhooked the saddle and began brushing her down.

"Any ideas on who this new special person is?" Sarah asked.

"Maybe it's a popstar!" Zoey said excitedly.

"Or another princess!" Chloe cut in, sitting on top of a stack of boxes.

"Or even better, a prince!" Zoey squealed with delight.

"Whoever it is," Bailey said, tossing two brooms at the Stilton's, "We need to get this place cleaned up and we need all hands on deck."

The two dodged the brooms and Chloe was the first to make an excuse.

"Ahh sorry," She said, "But we just got our nails done yesterday and they cost more than those clothes you're wearing."

"Yes," Zoey continued, "We would hate to ruin them."

They walked out of the barn, leaving the others behind.

"You know," Nani broke the silence, "I lied. They have changed. They've gotten worse."

Everyone laughed and continued on with the cleaning. Hours later, the barn was sparkling. However, more than half of the filth was left stained on the rider's clothes. The quickly left to clean up, as the newcomer was apparently arriving soon.

"So, are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" Calypso asked.

Pepper was the first to chime in, "I heard, from my stall window, that it's an old student from Horseland."

Chili groaned, "Ugh, not another old horse to tell us 'younger' horses what to do."

"According to the gossip going around," Pepper continued, "They are incredibly talented and have won every tournament they have entered."

"Like that even matters," Chili said, "In the end, I hope they don't think I'm going to bow down to them just because of some trophies. I have plenty of my own to brag about."

With that, Chili disappeared deeper into his stall. An hour or so later, the riders came back in, washed and changed, to saddle their horses.

"Hey, I just realized something," Sarah said, putting Scarlet's reins on, "Where's Will and Jimber? I haven't seen them all day."

"He's been acting like a mad man all day," Bailey said, "I recently got him to go out for a trail ride to get a breather. He was just stressing everyone out, so it was better to get him off the farm to clear his head."

"Wow," Molly said, leading Calypso out, "This must be some person if Will is that stressed. I don't think I've ever even seen Will nervous before."

Bailey looked at Molly with wide eyes, "Trust me. You never want to."

They walked out of the barn to their normal spot on the fence that they often sat at when newcomers arrived. Horseland had grown a lot since they were kids. They had to build a whole other barn and more fences to fit the growing number of students.

"It's hard to believe that at one point we were the only student's sitting here, waiting for new people," Alma said, hopping on the fence, "Now look how big it has grown."

"How many years has it even been?" Once more, Chloe and Zoey popped out of nowhere with their horses.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. How old were we when we started?" Bailey asked.

"Well," Sarah thought back, "I think we were around 12 when Nani and I came here."

Before they could continue to revel in the past, hoof beats came running up the dirt road. Will, who was now 21, appeared with mud and grass stains, as well as twigs stuck in his hair.

"What happened to you?" Bailey tried not to laugh.

"Let's not talk about it," Will said.

"Wow, Will," Alma spoke, "You look…"

"Handsome!" Chloe interrupted.

"Cute!" Zoey chimed.

Alma gave an annoyed look at the sisters, "I was going to say exhausted."

"Look!" Bailey called out.

A giant cloud of dust appeared at the hill, signaling that something was coming. Everyone stared eagerly, awaiting the new arrivals. A truck, pulling a small trailer, appeared.

"What is that?" Pepper asked in disbelief.

"I thought you said this horse was crazy famous?" Chili asked Pepper.

"That's what I heard," She spat.

"Hey," Scarlet said, "Never judge someone before getting to know them first. Remember when you judged Sarah and I before getting to know us?"

"And how it bit us in the butt," Button said, "Literally."

She glared at Chili, who ignored her. The car came to a halting stop. The red truck was old and dusty looking, with tires that squealed when applying the brakes. The tiny trail behind the truck didn't look any better. It was scratched up from being on the road for so long, with coats of dust and dry mud covering the bottom half. If someone were to look really close and swipe their hand across the grime, a Horseland logo design would be found.

"What-" Chloe began.

"Is-" Zoey added.

"That?!" Chloe finished with a bit of a screech in her voice.

The two sisters look horrified beyond belief by what they saw in front of them. The car door opened in the passenger side, but nobody could see who came out as the driver side faced them. When the person came into view, she was a mess. It was hard to make out her features in detail by the first appearance she gave off. Her chocolate brown hair was tangled beyond belief with pieces of a tree branch knotted in. Her clothes, that looked like a designer riding uniform, was covered with splotches of mud and grass stains. Her black boots had dry blocks of mud covering them, so it looked as if she tried to make herself a shoe of mud. Her entire body was shivering, and her emerald eyes looked sunken and exhausted. She leaned against the hood of the truck in order to stabilize her body.

"What happened to her?" Molly was the first to ask.

Everyone shrugged and Bailey stated, "She looks like she just came back from a war."

"Or from playing in the mud," Zoey snickered.

Will was the first to approach and basically had to catch the girl before her legs gave out. They thought Will looked like a mess, but between him and the girl, Will looked normal. The two were muttering to one another. They couldn't hear what the two were talking about, but from the tone of Will's insistent voice and the way the girl was shaking her head and trying to pull away, it sounded serious.

"I'm fine," The girl said loud enough for everyone to hear, "I need to get Onyx into the stable."

"You can barely stand on your own," Will said sternly, "We can take care of your horse, but if you want to help him then you need to first help yourself."

Will turned his head towards the group, gesturing his head to grab the horse. He picked up the girl bridal style and headed towards the house. Sarah was the first to jump up and hurried to the trailer where the driver was already leading the horse out. The horse was a magnificent stallion. His body was toned with muscles that showed just how hard he worked for his competitions. He held his head high with confidence and when he looked at the other horses, he huffed and pawed the ground with his front hoof. The other horses felt a bit intimidated and backed away slightly. His eyes were the eyes of a competition horse that never loses. They stared right into their competitor's soul making their insides turn to ice. It almost felt as if he were whispering in their ears, 'I am going to crush you like a grape.'

"What a beautiful horse," Sarah said, taking the reins.

Unlike his rider in the current moment, he was clean and very professional looking. His midnight black coat sparkled in the sunlight as his mane moved every time he turned his head. Within his dark mane were strings of white that could barely be seen unless someone were to pinpoint every strand. There were white speckles covering his face and moved down his neck, disappearing past there. If one were to try and explain the white part, someone might say it looked as if a handful of flour was thrown at his face.

"What kind of horse is it?" Nani asked, stroking his neck.

"I'm sure we can figure that out when his rider gets cleaned up and rested," Bailey said, "Come on, let's show him to the stable."

Once in the stables, the riders had grabbed all their horses to put them in their separate stalls. They fed the new stallion and brushed him down. He was incredibility calm and moved in certain positions to help the riders brush him down easier. The other horses watched in earnest as Bailey finally locked the stall door and the rest of the group walked out.

"Hi, welcome to Horseland," Scarlet started first, "My name is Scarlet, and this is Calypso, Button, Aztec, and Jimber. Then in the corner is Sunburst, Chili, and Pepper. What's your name?"

The black horse didn't say anything, but just stared as if Scarlet was speaking a foreign language. Instead of addressing the others or introducing himself, he disappeared into the stall.

Pepper was the first to huff, "Wow! How rude!"

"Don't be mean, Pepper," Aztec said.

"Yeah," Calypso said, "He's probably worried sick about his rider."

The others didn't say anything but just stared at his stall. Slowly, one by one, each horse moved into their stalls, disappearing from sight.