Snowfall

Horse Protection

"Percy! Where are we going!" Thalia hissed as her cousin dragged her along the sidewalks of Manhattan.

"I figured out they've still got an option to rent a carriage," Percy said. "I went and checked it out."

"Alright. And?" Thalia scowled, annoyed.

"See for yourself," he answered gravely and entered the stable. The owners were nowhere in sight but the horses were. Thalia could see why Percy wanted to bring her along.

The horses were in terrible condition. Many of them were skeletal from malnourishment and Thalia looked into some stalls to see horses passed out on the ground without any strength to get up. She winced when she noticed that one of the horses on the ground wasn't unconscious, it was dead.

"Help me free them," Percy said, already unlatching one of the stalls. Thalia obliged with no complaint.

"What about the ones that can't move?" Thalia asked.

"I'll ask my dad to teleport all of us to Camp Half-Blood. If he doesn't agree, could you get ahold of Artemis?" Percy explained.

"I can try. I doubt she would want to leave these poor things here," Thalia said while looking sadly at one of the equines. Any horses that could move immediately dragged themselves from their stalls, most going up and nudging Percy. It didn't take long, there were probably only fifteen horses kept there. Three of them were dead.

Percy closed his eyes and prayed to Poseidon. "Dad, please, help me."

"Son? What do you need?" He heard in his head.

"I've got some dying horses here that we need to get to Camp Half-Blood. Could you teleport them there?" Percy asked hopefully.

"I'm busy, Percy. I'm sorry, but dying is the way of life," Poseidon responded, retreating from Percy's head. Percy frowned.

"He didn't agree. Can you . . ." he trailed off, gesturing to her. Thalia nodded and prayed to her patron. After a few moments, she grinned in victory.

"She'll help us." Percy smiled.

"Didn't take long to convince her," he commented, asking an unspoken question.

"Once I mentioned 'dying animals' she was ready to go," Thalia chuckled, stroking the large head of a pinto mare. Within a minute, a silver glow filled the room and all creatures closed their eyes from the blinding light.

When the light died, Artemis stood in its place. She took one look at the horses gathered around the two demigods and a determined look appeared on her face. "I'll teleport one of you first with all of these horses," Artemis said, nodding toward the standing ones. "The other will stay behind with me to help teleport them all to camp."

"Percy'd probably do better with the horses," Thalia said. "Send him ahead." The male demigod nodded in agreement.

Percy appeared in the middle of camp with six horses surrounding him, scaring any demigod in the area. Percy waved a camper over and asked if she could grab the Apollo cabin. She looked hesitantly at the horses and nodded, racing off to wherever the cabin was. One by one, the rest of the horses appeared around him until all twelve horses were at camp. By then Percy could see Will approaching along with four of his siblings.

Thalia popped in beside him, though there was no Artemis. "She left," Thalia explained. "She sends her thanks for rescuing the horses."

"Percy!" Will called before he could answer. "What happened?"

"Found them in a Manhattan stable," Percy replied. "Just like this. They're dying, Will."

"We'll help them, Percy, don't worry," Will said. "It looks like they haven't been fed in forever. I can't see any other problem. We'll feed them until they're healthy and then we can decide what to do with them."

"Thank you, Will," Percy said, sending a silent thanks to Artemis as well.

Mortals could be malicious.