A Hero of Darkness

Freedom

Lightning snorted and buried his muzzle into the trough half filled with dry grains. It was old and musty, and caught in his throat. Lightning did something halfway between a cough and a sneeze, trying to dislodge the bits of oat caught in his throat.

Scarlet, a chestnut brown mare whose coat glinted a light red in the sun, snorted with laughter.

Lightning pressed his ears back onto his head and peeled his lips back, angry at Scarlet. She always had acted better than others.

He took a deep breath, then stuck his head out of the stall. Food had been terrible for the last few weeks, and the owner had come less often than usual.

"They won't come." Barley, a light brown stallion with white splotches, nickered faintly, noticing Lightning.

Lightning sighed. He turned uncomfortably in his stall and took the last few sips from the nearly empty water bucket.

Suddenly, a sound came from the front of the barn. Lightning and the other three horses, Scarlet, Barley, and Cloudy(dappled gray female), looked eagerly toward the sound, ears swiveling excitedly. The groomer had come!

The young boy opened each of their stalls and led them out to the pasture.

As soon as his halter was removed, Lightning began prancing around the meadow, every so often putting his head down to take a giant mouthful of the sweet grass.

Ahhh, I would love to be free, with no humans to tell me where to go or not. Lightning thought as he finally stopped hopping around and settled to graze eagerly.

Cloudy eventually wandered over to eat with him. Scarlet and Barley walked over together, and all the horses peacefully grazed together.

. . .

Zuri impatiently pawed the ground with her hoof. She had been trying to find the "darkness" Sage told her about for days. Zuri had quietly snuck away from her beloved herd once her wounds had healed. It had been so hard to leave, not knowing if she would ever see Seren, her closest friend, or Aurora, her beautiful dam ever again.

Zuri sighed, pushing the thoughts of her family out of her mind. She had to find the Darkness to save them.

Staring out at the night, Zuri spotted a shooting star trail across the sky above her. Her gaze followed it, and she knew what it meant. It was an omen.

Her tired hooves slowly began moving. They took her forward.

The direction the shooting star had gone.

. . .

Lightning glanced up at the darkening sky, wondering whether the groom or owner would come to get them. The darkness slowly, ominously, fell on the pasture.

Scarlet nickered quietly, it broke the cool, silent night air. The crickets paused in their song for a moment.

Lightning looked in the direction Scarlet had nodded to, and spotted the owner and groom approaching the horses.

There was something different about them. The young groom was crying and yelling, and the owner spoke to him soothingly. Gradually, the groom quieted.

Muttering to himself, the owner led the groom to the standing horses. The groom went to each horse, and gave them a pat and some soft words.

When he got to Lightning, the groom looked right at him, his eyes red with tears, then whispered in his ear, "Lightning. I trust you. You are the leader."

Lightning looked at him in confusion. What was happening?

The owner got halters and leads on each of the horses, then led them to a large trailer. Even though it was large, it was still a tight fit for all the horses. Lightning hated it, especially when Scarlet kept nipping him in anger.

"I don't have any space either!" He finally whinnied.

Scarlet gave him a look, then turned away with her ears flat.

They drove for hours. The horses got more and more angry every moment. When the trailer finally stopped, they all felt exceptionally angry at the owner.

But all their anger evaporated when the trailer door was opened to reveal a dense, wooded forest.

The owner got them all out. The horses all looked fearfully at the groom and owner.

Suddenly, Lightning realized what was happening. The crying groom, the long drive to nowhere. They were being released.

But why?

When the horses didn't move, the owner and groom got into the car and drove away.

"NO! COME BACK! DON'T LEAVE US!" Cloudy cried, racing after the trailer, but giving up after a little while, her head bowed.

"We must learn to live alone. As a herd." Barley said wisely.

Lightning stood stock-still. It was too much to take in. They were abandoned? They had to live without the care of the owner and groom?

But a greater thought entered Lightning's mind. They were free.

Free!