Lost, Alone, and Afraid (Spirit fanfiction)

A/N: I pretty much made this to explain what happened before "Here Be Dragons". And yes, there also is a Brave one.

***

Spirit trembled a little with relief. Several hungry wolves had come that night, ribs showing beneath their taunt hides. They had raced towards the herd, hoping to drive them into confusion and chaos, but luckily Spirit had managed to drive them off. He had never seem wolves before and though he hated to admit it, they terrified him. He started to lope over to his herd, but his foot caught in a hole and he tumbled to the ground. However, his fall did not stop there. The ground collapsed, opening up to a hole filled with strange, twisting, green tendrils of light. Spirit screamed in panic, his front hooves scrambling madly for something, anything to hold on to.

Spirit! he heard the terrified call of his mother, Esparanza.

Mom...please...help me... he cried out weakly, before his hooves slipped, and darkness overtook him.

***

The first thing he realized was that it was cold. And hard. The buckskin stallion opened his his eyes to a nightmare. He was lying on some sort of grey stone that stretched as far the eye could see. On either side of him was a large, dark, wall. But the thing that scared him most were the large metal boxes with wheels, racing up and down a long, narrow strip of black. Did they have eyes? And mouths? Spirit shrank into the shadows, trembling uncontrollably. What kind of world had he landed in? Where was the grass, the trees?

It was worse than a nightmare, for those aren't real. This was.

Thunder boomed softly in the distance, followed by the pitter-patter of raindrops.

Well, at least there's still rain, Spirit thought sarcasticly, then sighed and sank to his knees, feeling his terror ebb into a great weariness. The young mustang had never felt so alone.

Spirit sniffed at the black pavement then coughed at its rancid smell. It stung his eyes and filled his lungs with choking fumes. The "boxes", as Spirit decided to call them, had slowly disappeared as the hours dragged by. Now it was dawn, the highway deserted and empty. Spirit squeezed his eyes shut and took a step onto the pavement, then another. His ears lanced back back an his eyes snapped open at a squealing sound. A red "box" was barreling towards him, and there was nothing he could do.

Goodbye Rain, he thought sadly. Goodbye Mother...

Just before it would have hit him, the box swerved, nearly crashing into a nearby building., where it stared at him in shock mixed with surprise. Spirit turned and ran. He ran blindly, not caring where he went, only wanting to get out of this awful, awful place. He turned a corner, and slammed into something.

Greybar? Spirit asked in astonishment.

The smokey grey stallion looked up in surprise. Spirit could still make out the faded blue ring around one eye. Spirit?! I... I never really thought I'd see you again, much less here. How did you get here?

Fell through a hole full of green light, Spirit groaned. What's with this place anyway?

You mean the cars? Greybar said. And that thing you fell through, it's called a portal.

Uh... how do you know? 

I've been here a couple weeks, so I've picked up a few things.

Then, you mean, there's no way out? Spirit realized how thin and frail Greybar looked.

It's not so so bad now you're here, Greybar said, trying to smile. C'mon, I know of a place were we can stay for the night.

Greybar and Spirit spent the rest of the day talking about cars and other things, and searching for things to eat. By dusk they had only found a few dry patches of grass, and Spirit felt his stomach grumbling, but he knew Greybar was much worse off. When they had seen cars, they would draw into the shadows to make sure they weren't seen.

Because, Greybar explained, we're as much of freaks to them as they are to us.

The two stallions soon made it to a tunnel dug out of a stone wall. It was dark and dusty, but warm and dry. Spirit walked in and collapsed to his knees with a sigh, closing his eyes. Greybar did the same, and they both slept soundly until morning.

A few more days passed, each exactly like the other. Spirit and Greybar would wake up, spend the day looking for food and avoiding cars, then return when night fell.

I'm going to go insane if I stay here much longer, Spirit thought. I have to get out.

In fact, the only thing that kept the young stallion from going off the edge was Greybar. The older stallion was a great comfort to Spirit, a light in his time of darkness. Spirit didn't know what he would do without him. However, Spirit was as much of a comfort to Greybar as Greybar was to him.

One day, Spirit and Greybar were walking along the side of a highway when suddenly they heard a very loud snap, like the crack of a whip. Startled, Greybar jumped forward, landing on the road.

Spirit felt his heart skip a beat. Greybar! he screamed. Greybar, look out!

His warning came too late. An oncoming car crashed into the stallion with a sickening crunch, and sent the stallion flying onto the pavement. It swerved around and kept on going, no even pausing to see what it had done. Greybar didn't move. Blood trickled from one nostril, and his eyes were closed. Spirit realized with heart wrenching agony that Greybar was dead. The mustang felt the world crashing down around him. He was terrified, lost and now...alone. He had been ripped away into a strange world. His friend was dead. Spirit couldn't take it anymore.

Greybar... he whinnied. He walked forward and nuzzled his friend gently, silently mourning. He slowly knelt beside his friend, while something unexpected happened. He wept.

How long he stayed by Greybar's cold and motionless body, grieving the loss of his friend, he did not know. He only knew that sometime later, he felt an urge to go back to the tunnel. He stood up slowly, muscles screaming in protest, and cast one last look at Greybar.

Goodbye Greybar, he said sadly. Thanks for all the times you've been there for me. You are the best friend a horse could have. Goodbye.

Spirit slowly walked away, his heart heavy, and his head down. Suddenly, he paused feeling the earth tremble. Hope sprang into chest.

Sure enough, the ground opened, but this time Spirit was not afraid. He closed his eyes blissfully, feeling some of the sadness wash away, and waited for the portal to take him home.

***

Spirit shook his head groggily, and looked around. Grass. Trees! Spirit scrambled to his feet, neighing with joy. Then he felt disappointment flood through him, followed by confusion. This wasn't home, but where was it?

To be continued in "Heart Of Courage"…