You, Me: Us

3. Ariel

Gaby, Pin, Lainey, and Zoe were in the back stables watching Ariel. She was still whyinning and stomping her hooves into the ground. "Something's wrong," Gaby shook her head.

"Yes, but we can't figure it out. Physically, she's fine," Pin told them.

"Maybe she knows there's a price on her head!" Zoe pointed out as the horse started to pace.

"Or maybe, it has something to do with why the horses left the castle," Lainey said, looking at her. "Something might be going on that's causing all of them to be frantic."

Marcus opened the top half of the door and looked in, "hey, is uh, Mia here?"

He looked nervous and Zoe shook her head, "nope, why, is everything okay?"

He started bouncing in place, "the training centre called, they want me to do my exam today, and she's supposed to be riding for me." Each of them turned a bit worried.

"Today?" Zoe asked.

"Yep," Marcus nodded. "Examiners on her way."

"What?"

"You have to cancel," Gaby demanded, stepping closer to him.

"Ariel's distressed," Pin told him, looking over at the horse in worry. "We can't let any outsiders in until we know what's wrong."

Lainey shook her head, "they're already on their way, we can't do anything now. Let's just try our best to keep the examiner away from here, tell them it's under construction."

Zoe sighed, "she's right and you already do so much. So... Golden Boy, go out there and ace that exam!" He smiled at them and closed the door. Zoe turned to them, "we can handle Ariel, right?"

Lainey cringed, "well, here's the thing, Danny and I have to help my mom with a few things, so, we'll be there, call if you need something major." She started backing out. "Love you guys!"

Quickly, she exited the room. She wasn't even supposed to go to the stables today, but she was worried about the horse.

Tomorrow was the yearly update that she had to help with, but today, a new line of products were being released. Her mother owned a fashion and makeup company that was huge in Eurasia and was spreading world wide. However, her company also sponsored other companies and owned stock. So, she also owned part of several tech companies, other clothing brands, shoe brands, and appliances. Therefore she was also on the boards for those and were trying to buy out the owners of a few.

Today, she needed all hands on deck to get the new line running smoothly while she closed on a deal for buying another company out.

~

Lainey had been on her computer for only an hour doing her double checks when she got a call from Gaby. "What's wrong?"

"Ariel escaped, we can't find her," she said in a panic. "And Pin's helping Marcus with his trainer's exam so he can't help!"

She sighed and quickly sent her finished work to her brother and shut her laptop, "I'm on my way!" She hung up the phone and knocked on her brother's door. "Something wrong at the yard, I finished most of my part and sent it to you!"

He gave her a thumbs up from his desk and she ran from the room.

By the time she had made it into the yard, she found Gaby and Zoe leading Raven and Ariel to the back stables. "What happened?"

"We found Ariel in Raven's stable," Gaby explained as they shut the gate behind them.

Lainey looked between the two horses and her eyes widened. The two climbed up on the platform and sat next to each other as they waited for Pin to tell them that the examiner was gone.

He smiled at the three when he came in. Ariel had changed entirely, "she's a different horse. How did you guys work it out?"

"Gaby knew that Ariel needed to get out of here."

Gaby smiled and nudged her, "then Zoe spotted the connection with Raven." He looked at Lainey confused why she was there when she was supposed to be busy.

"Let me tell you what really happened," she laughed. "Ariel went out of control, escaped, they called me in a panic, found her, and let Raven lead her back here." Pin laughed at them as they cringed a little before chuckling.

"Who'd of thought they'd work well together?" He joked as Lainey shook her head.

"Not me."

"Well, there's definitely something between them," Zoe said, gesturing to the two horses. Pin looked at her confused. "Raven knew Ariel was at the moors and I think she came over here to be near him."

Lainey pulled on Pin's suit jacket as they went over to examine Ariel when Jade and Becky came in, "I think she might be pregnant." He turned to her. "They're acting like Priscilla and Elvis." She grabbed his hand and they both felt around her.

Her face broke out into a smile as she looked at her fiance who was smiling back at her. "Hey, our little fugitive is safe and protected here at Bright Fields," Zoe promised Gaby and Pin looked up at them.

"She may not be the only one we have to look after," he told them with a smile. "I can't believe we missed it originally. She's shaking, her tails really high..." He looked up to Gaby. "She's pregnant." Their mouths dropped open in shock.

Gaby laughed, "no way."

"Well, that seals the deal, we have to protect Ariel and her baby. No matter what it takes," Zoe nodded towards the horse.

"I knew you were keeping something from me," a voice came and they all looked over to see Heather. She shook her head, "you guys are in so much trouble."

They all looked at each other in worry, scared for what this meant for Ariel.