We Are Hiding In Plain Sight

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Dark Side Of The Moon was a powerful mustang. He was solidly built and had a color to blend into the best of the desert surroundings. The black stallion with the bald face led his mare into the woods quietly. They would not seek to claim land or start a herd, though it did flit through Moon's mind more than once. But this mare was his daughter and he was hoping to save her from a stallion that had already killed his grand filly. He paused and looked back towards Once Upon A Time and nickered softly, making sure that the wild bay mare was keeping up.

"We will rest here, Time. It should be far enough away from anything that looked like our home land. Once I make sure that you are alright, I will go looking for Tonka and hope that she ran from Windstalker with you. I just wish that I could have been there to make sure that you two got away." Moon's voice held worry as he spoke to the bay mare behind him.

Once Upon A Time was a lovely light bay mare with a blaze and socks and one stocking on her hind leg. She was a pretty little mustang that was the pride and joy of Moon. But she had come upon hard times when an older and angry stallion named Windstalker had come and stolen her from her family herd. She bore him a small filly named Tonka and now she was heavy with foal once more from the rough stallion. But she knew that this foal would not last until it was born into the world. The travels and running had meant the end of the poor unborn foal and she would bear a dead foal this spring.

Her legs folded as she lay down, panting heavily,
"I will be fine here as long as you stay with me. I am in good health and this will not stop me. I will be ready to find a herd in the spring and hopefully bear a live foal next summer. But this will not hurt me. I just miss Tonka and I hope that she is alright and away from that dreadful stallion." her voice held a sigh as she lay her head down on the forest floor.

[bullseye]

Flapjack was attempting to remain optimistic, but the young john's resolve weakened as Maple's own mood continued its nosedive into incurable grouchiness. While Flapjack regarded Maple as dearly as a mother and viewed her as nothing short of dominant, he was starting to doubt her ability to guide him back to the herd. How long had it been since they'd been separated from the cattle? Two nights, he thought. Long enough for the dimwit bovines to get themselves into unreasonably large amounts of trouble. The gray donkey suspected his charges used their skulls to store extra stomach space, since it certainly didn't contain a brain.

The aspens seemed to draw Maple and though Flapjack attempted to argue it as a destination, his resistance was brief, ending with a sharp look from his mammoth counterpart. Though his last objection was only minutes ago, the little john heaved a sigh and tried again to steer his companion elsewhere.

“Ma—,” his words were cut short when his senior uttered a sharp “shh” and shot him a withering look. While the quantity of white on Maple's muzzle had increased exponentially over Flapjack's short life, he'd never been able to identify a degradation of her senses. Noticing the old jennie's ears pricked, Flapjack copied her motion. That's when he heard the voices.

<<<>>>

The lad had picked and griped Maple out of any patience. She was too old for this nonsense—and she knew it wasn't bound to end real soon. The red roan had an excellent sense of direction, but getting back to the charges was proving impossible. She'd navigated mountains and fields, but never had Maple encountered as many landscapes as this corner of the earth provided. The aspens, bare and stick-like in the winter, offered the only semblance of familiarity the jenny could find in this hellhole of strangeness.

The voices up ahead gave away the genders of their owners. One male, one female. Both horses, Maple reckoned.

“Keep close, Jack,” she commanded. “I dunno if yonder horses are friendly, but they're currently our best shot at getting home.”

It took the two donkeys a couple minutes to close the distance between themselves and the strangers ahead, but they had no qualms about making enough noise to announce their presence. The pair had faced innumerable dangers, even in Jack's short years—two horses bore no weight with them.

When the donkeys drew into sight of the two horses, they halted, taking in the sight of the strangers. Being in no mood for pleasantries, Maple snorted into the winter and gruffly addressed the horses.

“Greetings. I'm Maple, this is Flapjack. Where are we at?”

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Moon raised his head towards the voices and startled a bit at well, the ears. His own ears wiggled slightly and he shook his head, clearing it for a moment. Time looked up from the ground, her own demeanor remaining as calm as could be. This was not who was hunting them, therefore it was alright to remain on the ground for now.

"I am Dark Side of the Moon and this is my daughter, Once Upon A Time. Our herd, when it used to be a herd, called us Moon and Time. It is a pleasure to meet you Maple and Flapjack. You are here in the woods. Where here is, I have ever quite figured it out myself. We are new to this forest, hiding from a wild stallion that has stolen my daughter's filly and means to steal my daughter. But it is amazing to have others here that are not those that hunt us. Please, rest with us a bit." Moon spoke with the courage and strength of a true herd stallion. He had drawn up to his full height as he spoke, which was not very tall really. But he was still a decent stallion.

Lumbering to her hooves, Time shook herself all over and bowed her head to the donkeys. Her tail swung behind her as she raised her head and let her soft eyes fall over them for a moment. Yes, they were kind and she would be safe with them. Thank the heavens that it was them that arrived and not that horrid Windstalker.

[bullseye]

It appeared to Maple that the stallion—Moon, he said—was attempting to look as big as physically possible. He didn't appear to have much more height than the old jenny. In fact, she was about as impressed with these two as she'd ever been with the horses at Reggie's ranch. Horses, in her opinion, were for chasing cows. They were flashy and quick, sure. “Majestic” as could be. But she had yet to see them as productive or helpful to her cause. Frankly, she'd prefer a cow.

The black stallion babbled on for a bit about himself and his daughter and... well, it seemed to Maple that he went on forever. Not a single word he filled the air with proved useful to the displaced donkey. How “new” these two were to the area, Maple wasn't exactly sure. It seemed to her that it would take little more than a couple days to be accustomed to one's immediate surroundings. Perhaps that was another of many marks to add to her tally against horses.

In fact, she knew if she still had her youth, she'd curtly thank them for their information (or lack thereof) and be on her way. Her body, however, couldn't keep up with her mind like it once had. It needed a few moments rest before she could trudge onward. Plus, the silly lad seemed positively thrilled to see faces other than her own.

<<<>>>

Flapjack was more than thrilled. Sure, he wanted to get back to his herd—the cattle were his life, after all. They gave him purpose. But Moon alluded to adventures beyond the young john's imagining. The wide eyed donkey acknowledged Moon and Time each with a nod and stepped closer to his fellow equines.

“Thank you for the offer of some relaxation. We've hardly rested over the past couple of days.”

The grey john moved closer to Moon and Time, eyes wandering across first one, then the other. They looked similar to the ranch horses, but somehow remained different... Perhaps it was the muscle mass? The stock horses that Reggie used to chase the cattle were pure bulk. Moon and Time, however... their muscles were stringy and their coats unkempt. Plus... Well, as far as Jack understood, a belly as round and heavy as Time's warned of a calf's imminent arrival.

“I'm afraid I don't understand why this stallion you speak of is seeking to harm either of you. Is he a predator?”

Flapjack knew cows. And he knew predators harmed cows. Beyond that, his knowledge of the world was based on instinct. Why an equine would hunt another of his type was impossible for the little donkey to grasp.

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Time looked towards the other animals that were around her and sighed softly. The female looked positively annoyed with Moon, but that was how others acted around the stallion. He was self important in his own mind most of the time. Her eyes then went to the younger one and a smile seemed to touch her lips,

"He wants me back. I was his mate, but he hurt me and took away my baby." Her voice quivered with emotion as she spoke. She let her ears droop slightly as she looked towards Moon once more. The silly stallion. This was not his land, why did he offer it out?

Moon looked towards the female other "horse" and snorted softly,
"Why are you here? I mean how did you get to be here? We are wild horses, living on our own as we have for ages." He softened his voice and his appearance. Time was in no danger, but he still watched them warily.

[bullseye]

Maple's muscles hurt. Maple's joints hurt. And, frankly, her brain felt like it was buzzing. Between the lad and these two horses, the old jenny felt like her mind was due to explode any moment now. Her old body needed a rest inclusive of more than just a pause in a copse of aspens, but she knew that just had to wait; Maple had never been one to show weakness to strangers and she wasn't about to start now.

For the time being, the senior donkey took to listening to the mare's statements. Despite Maple's determination to remain aloof and callous, a bit of her heart softened upon hearing about the stolen foal. Although the jenny had never birthed a foal of her own, she'd pastured with a number of foals and their dams. Which, of course, meant she'd helped to rear a number of the tykes. Plus, Jack hadn't exactly been a mature colt when he'd joined her little herd.

It seemed to Maple that Time, the mare of the pair, gazed upon Jack with fondness akin to the variety one would feel towards a younger sibling or foal. The lad was the naïve type, though, wasn't he? The silly little john had never known anything beyond the pasture in which he'd been born and Reggie's cattle ranch. Maple had seen much in her time and never before had she contemplated viewing the world through Jack's inexperienced eyes.

<<<>>>

The little gray john viewed the black and bay horses with nothing short of wonder. Although in reality they stood about the same at the withers as his companion, Maple, somehow these two seemed to tower above the donkeys. The pair seemed so much more worldwise than the horses he'd known at the ranch. Even in the brief description of Time's dilemma, they proved knowledge beyond Jack's imagining.

What Jack couldn't wrap his mind around was the motives behind this mate Time alluded to. Not only was the monster hunting two of his kind, but he'd apparently stolen Time's calf. What could possess an equine to do such a thing? Horses were odd, Jack concluded.

<<<>>>

Maple returned Moon's softened expression with a harsh look. The flashy black stud was just as much a foal as Jack in her eyes. Sure, these wild horses had seen a turn or two more than the lad, but they were still young and inexperienced to her line of thinking.

“Our charges broke loose of their fence. We've been wandering about how long now, Jacky?” Here, the red roan turned to her younger counterpart.

“Two nights, Maple.”

“Right, two nights, searching for the damned creatures. Frankly, cattle can lose themselves in their own pasture, so it's no wonder they've wandered Reggie-knows-where. We just need to—“

“Have you seen them? The charges?”

Maple shot Jack a stern glare in return for his interruption but refrained from comment, instead turning to the two horses in case they proved of more use than they'd yet to be thus far.