RedColt woke up to the sound of metal rubbing against wood. It was also known as the door to his stable opening, a female notail walked in, standing on two hooves as it inched its way towards the foal, it studied RedColt with egear and unfriendly eyes before grabbing, missing the first time, at the thick vine-like material that hugged his face tightly with its pail hooves and clipped a thick vine through a loop under his chin. The notail started to walk forward muttering something Red didn't understand, then proceeded to pull on the vine.
"ow,ow,ow, Stop!" pain flared in his neck causing him to toss his head and pin back his ears, this certain action received a sharp and sudden force being applied to the right side of his neck making him flinch, followed by harsh sounding words from the notail. RedColt Swayed, it had been some some seasons since he'd been dragged unwilling away from his dam, a blue roan mare, or was she grey, the memory of the wild horse was already fading from his young mind. RedColt had no choice but to follow. He hesitantly placed one hoof in front of the other as he kept pace with the notail he swished his tail around, expressing the pain in his neck and legs after being cooped up for darkness after darkness, if it worked with other horses it should work with the notails right? The notail paid no attention to RedColt's spastic tail as he led him without release. He tried lots of times to relieve the pressure being constantly applied on his nose by throwing his head again and again only to be smacked by a thin stick-looking thing being held in the left hoof of the female notail, he tried dipping his head away from the pressur only to find his path blocked by the right hoof of the notail, causing him to flinch at the contact. He tried trotting 'smack' He tried stopping, 'yank.' He tried backing up, 'Smack' and 'yank.' Eventually he gave up, licking his lips he hoped that that foal move would make the notail halt, it did with horses. No such luck.
"Hello!"
RedColt reared and spun around to face the sound, pulling the notail around with him. "Hello? Wh-"
He was interrupted by yanks and multiple whips and smacks with the thin stick, he pined back his ears and started swishing his tail, he was smacked again. What have I done! He backed up a step.
"So sorry to get you into trouble, i'm Obe" A black stallion stepped up to the wooden barrier.
RedColt studied him, unaware that the notail had started moving until he had to move forward to relieve the pressure, which didn't work. " Hello? Obe, i'm Red-" he hesitated, is there any need to have colt in my name?
"Well hi there Red, Don't worry you'll soon learn to love it here." he nickered
RedColt snorted back as he reached down to nibble on grass, he got another smack. "Dout it."
Obe pinned back his ears as RedColt approached the gate. "One rule, Im lead Stallion here."
RedColt blew into the black horse's nose, he squealed as Oby kicked out through the fence and he attempted to turn and kick the bigger horse but as soon as he tried to, the female notail yanked on the vine, hurting the ridge on his nose. "Okay fine." RedColt licked his lips in submission and waited to see what the notail would do next. He was yanked forward into a huge grassy area and the notail reached up to undo the hugging vine and started taking it off. as soon as it slacked RedColt yanked his delicate head up, took two steps backwards and broke into a gallop. "Ha ha" He squealed definitely to the notails, RedColt felt the wind in his mane and the sun on his coat for the first time in darknesses, he stopped suddenly as he approached a stick driven into the ground and entwined with thin shiny stuff "Ha... What's this?" RedColt nickered Curiously as he placed his nose on top of the shiny stuff, he gave a squeal as his coat fluffed up and he pulled back.
"Wouldn't touch that if I was you, Red." Obe walked up behind him, his shadow fell over the red roan colt. "It's lightning in a wire, but not enough to kill you." he pinned back his ears and faced RedColt. To his surprise the colt shuffled at a fast walk sideways, away from him. "You speak horse?"
"Wha- of course I speak horse." RedColt whinned. "What did you think, I was taken away by notails the moment I was born, then placed in a square box and shut out from the world more than twelve hours a darkness and only brought out to be taught how to be a horse. By a notail. How silly is that." red snorted and grazed on the grass. "My dam taught me how to be a fabulous at horse sign language." He moved two steps forward.
"I… Well then..." Obe swished his tail once, scaring away a bot fly.
RedColt gazed into the rising darkness. "My, dam.." he pricked his ears as if he was searching for something far away, over the ridge.
In fact, he was right, for far away over the ridge there lived horses...
In a meadow, tucked out of view, was a barrier made of sticks and clay by none other than horses themselves. The outline of a small brindle liver chestnut mare was clearly visible as she helped two colts fix the wall that they'd decided to try and eat, breaking some of it down purposefully. As she showed them how to hold the sticks to the remaining walls and mold them together with damp clay, the brindle mare felt a tingle in all four of her legs. She promptly collapsed to the ground in a heap. "What is it you wish to show me!" She stood up and found herself on the side of a rocky canyon. "Why have you brought me here?" she nickered nervously, the whites of her eyes started to show as she looked around, she'd never been here before, But what is so important you picked now? She sniffed the ground.
"IvyDapple…" A ghostly horse swayed in the wind as it addressed her. "Your herd is in danger."
"What kind!" IvyDapple swished her tail, not knowing what else to do.
"I can not see... But I can help." the ghostly horse faded and in its place grew a red feather, straight out of the ground. What must this mean!? Her vision faded in and out.
"-yDapple?"
"IvyDapple!"
She woke up. Barely aware of the colts calling her name. "I must speak with GreyMoon!" She squealed and raced off with her tail streaming. IvyDapple pinned back her ears and horses were parting like blades of grass in the wind to let her through. Not one of them questioned her nor did they question the trotter that had joined behind her, he was her trotter and training to be a SkyHerd Horse. Together they skidded to a stop in front of PineMoon, a chocolate stallion. And GreyMoon, A strange cremello mare, they led the herd and every decision was passed through them first. "Calm down IvyDapple, you too CloverHoof. I can see your clearly worked up about something but is it really this important?" GreyMoon snorted.
"Oh.." CloverHoof looked around, their little run had everyone worked up and all the horses had gathered around them to see what they had to say.
"Yes!" IvyDapple squealed with her ears pinned back briefly. "We are in danger!"
"I said calm down." GreyMoon walked up to the fretting mare. "What kind of danger?"
"I couldn't see. SkyHerd couldn't see!"
"Anyway to prevent it?" PineMoon walked up beside her. "Did SkyHerd show yo-"
"YES!" IvyDapple stomped her hooves. "They showed me a red feather."
"A red feather?" PineMoon watched as a confused look spread across GreyMoon's face.
"Yes, a red feather. It grew up out of the ground like a tree." IvyDapple neighed and pawed at the air with a black hoof.
"But what could this mean!" A grumpy old mare with patches of white hobbled forward. "Could we be facing extinction?" she pinned back her ears and the horses that surrounded her moved away. IvyDapple turned her attention to the mare. "Hold your horses AppleMuzzle, I'm sure PineMoon won't let it come to that. Right?"
"Right. Anyway let's get this over wit-" PineMoon didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before he was interrupted by one of the dams, BlueLegs. "What if it's a foal?"
"What?" GreyMoon angled her ears.
"A foal! Like, well you know, how it grew out of the ground. Maybe somewhere out there is a foal that looks like a feather and can save this herd!"
"Sorry what about the 'looks like a feather' bit?" GreyMoon's confused-face appeared again.
"Okay maybe it won't look like a feather… But I say we should look out for this foal!"
"Hmm, yes I agree." PineMoon nickered as the gathering of horses started to disperse. "I want every Defender on look out for this red-feather-foal.