♡☠︎𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓻𝓹𝓼𝓮 𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓭𝓮☠︎♡

♡𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎 ♡

A week later:

Mrs. Warren was in the middle of going over our plans for the week when someone knocked on the door. She opened it. "Your gear is back." She smiled. I got up took the box. "We're about to go down to the stables when I'm done with these last two days. You can put everything back." She smiled. I nodded and sat back down.

I put the box on my table and after a few minutes we walked down to the stables. I quickly put eclipses tack up and grabbed my gear. I quickly got dressed and walked back out. Apollo was staring at me. "Mrs. Warren." I said. "Yes?" She asked. "Is it okay if I try to ride eclipse today?" I asked. "You can try, but please be careful." She said. I nodded.

I went into the tack room and grabbed her saddle and her pad. I also grabbed her reins. I walked over to her stall and put her tack down. I opened the gate and put her reins on. She was calm. I walked her out to the front of her stall and hooked her up. I quickly brushed her and put her saddle pad on. I picked her saddle up and threw it on her back gently. I put it on properly and unhooked her from the holder.

I put her in front of the stool and got up. I slowly got on her and put my feet in the stirrups. I picked her reins up and gently rubbed her neck. "Good girl. You got this." I whispered. I'm so scared right now. "Ace, carefully and very gently kick her sides." Mrs. Warren said. I took a deep breath and gently kicked her sides.

She started slowly walking and I turned her around. I patted her back. "Everyone please tack up your horses and meet me out in front of the stables." Mrs. Warren said. Everyone quickly tacked their horses up and mounted them. I started walking out to the front of the stables with everyone else. Mrs. Warren was already on hers. She had a brown and white horse.

"What's his name?" I asked. "Gunpowder." She smiled. "Cool." I smiled. "Ace, I'm gonna have you go to the felid by yourself, I don't quite trust eclipse around all the other horses, tomorrow we can try, but I also want you to get used to her. Okay?" She asked. I nodded. "Apollo, I want you to go with her and watch her." She said. He nodded. I dismounted eclipse and looked at Apollo. He dismounted his horse and we started walking to the felid.

After a few minutes we got there and I tried mounting eclipse. I couldn't. "Do you need help?" He asked. I nodded. He came up behind me and gently put his hands on my waist. My breathing hitched. "Ready?" He asked. I nodded. "3. 2. 1." He said and lifted me up. I threw my leg over her and he let me go. I put my feet in the stirrups and he mounted his horse. He stopped next to me. "You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, just a bit nervous." I answered. He nodded. "Can I ask you a question?" He asked. I nodded. "Why'd you choose eclipse, especially knowing her past?" He asked. "I was assigned to her." I said. "Everyone else got to choose their horses." He said. "I didn't get to. And I also don't know her past. All I know is it's very bad." I said. "I know her past." He said.

"Wait, how?" I asked. "She was my sister's horse. I was blindsided by what she was doing to her." He said. "What happened to her?" I asked. "I don't like talking about it. But, it was bad." He said. "I was assigned to her because of my trauma. Mrs. Warren thought that since I was like her in a way we could have a bond. As soon as I walked up to her she was fine. Nothing like she explained her to be." I said. "I know. It was, rather, shocking." He said.

"I just want to know what happened to her so I don't do anything that could possibly trigger her." I said. "She was neglected, abused. She was nearly killed by my father." He said. "Killed?" I asked. "He was drunk and went out to the stables with a shotgun. My mom jumped in front of her and died that night." He said. "I- I'm so sorry." I whispered. "It's not your fault. My dad's been in jail for a year now. He's on a life sentence without parole." He said. "My sister was put in a mental hospital for 15 years." He said.