by mooncakes » Sat Aug 22, 2015 12:42 pm
word count: 1193
Cendrillion's muscles rippled under her varnish coat. Her light blue eyes stared intensely outside her stall door as the other horse, who seemed to teasing her. It was a colt, and he seemed to be in training for racing. Cendrillion snorted and hissed at the colt loudly, making him at least jump for a moment. From then on, the colt's teasing and nickering was kept at a minimum. Ears perked, she heard a hollow sound erupt from the far side of the stables. Her row, at least. Cendrillion stuck her head out as far as possible, expectations high. She was ready to accept her seldom given feed. It was special, and Cendrillion only received it the day before a big event. In the back of her head, she knew she was going to be entered in a race. A big one. It wasn't often her owner would feed her. Cendrillion smiled softly, ready to accept her tasty treat.
It wasn't her rider. It was a stranger. Someone new. They took out an unfamiliar red bucket and slowly approached the trough before dumping the feed. Cendrillion backed up, examining this taller individual. Male. Tall. Green eyes. Bigger nose than the usual female rider. Cendrillion scoffed, turning around quickly and flicking her tail in the man's face. From behind, she could hear, "Agh!" Pleased with herself, Cendrillion nickered. The man narrowed his eyes and looked at the entrance/exit. "Well if you're gonna act like this, then I'm not going to give you any more of this feed," he muttered, glaring at the mare even though she wasn't looking at him. Cendrillion turned her head around, cocking it slightly. What does this human think he's doing? No one can just TAKE AWAY the food from me... she thought. Reluctantly, she turned her body back around, but she kept her ears pinned and she stared at the man. "You can probably understand me. Horses are smart. My name's Darius." Hello, Darius. Darius looked at Cendrillion, his face rather stoic. No emotion. A smile then formed on his face, then he turned around and left, the red bucket swinging in his hand. Cendrillion whinnied a thank you.
That night, Cendrillion stood contently in the corner of her stall, her eyes closed. Night was always a nice time for her, but she preferred the heat of day. It was nice to run around. The heat annoyed her, which made her work harder. More work meant more praise for her. But what was work? Cendrillion was on top of everything, ready to race, ready to play, ready to lunge. The mare had done a handful of laps around that day, and she raced a large black stallion who was the so-called "Champion of the Stable." He still was considered that, even though Cendrillion beat him by a tail's length. It took no time at all for the red dun to fall asleep.
In the morning, Cendrillion was ready to go. She nickered when she heard the familiar hollow sound. Darius came out and stretched. "Come on. I know you practiced a lot last week, as well as yesterday before I came. I was put to have you last-minute notice. Cendrillion, let's go," he said. Quickly, he put a lead on Cendrillion and led her to a bin that possessed her tack. It took no time at all for Darius to tack her. Cendrillion exhaled loudly and nudged Darius, pleased with him. It wasn't usual for her to warm up to someone so quickly. However, in reality, she wasn't. She was just tolerant of this human. Darius mounted her, kicking her gently. The mare spurred into action, beginning with a rather quick trot. She waited excitedly for another nudge. Darius nudged again which sent Cendrillion into a canter. One more nudge. Cendrillion sped down the path, knowing where to go next: the practice arena. For running, at least. Cendrillion's mane flew in the wind, and her legs moved with grace and determination.
After about thirty-five minutes Cendrillion was ready to go. Darius dismounted, loading her into a trailer. He waved goodbye to the stable members, the stable hands, helpers... everyone. Cendrillion raised her head proudly, smiling softly. She was going to win this. For her. For the stable. Forty minutes passed since she left. Fifty. Finally, after fifty-two minutes, they arrived at the racing track. The big one. The real deal. Cendrillion eyed out the little 'windows' of her trailer, eyeing the other horses she could hardly see. They were just faint shadows and figures. Oh, a handsome bay too. Oh, there was another handsome stud. Black. Oh, oh, stallions galore! One mare. Oh, another, there's another! Cendrillion quit her boy-crazy impressions and rolled her eyes. The trailer door opened soon after the truck stopped, and she was led out with the others temporarily. Darius left to register her, approve, compare, and talk with the coordinators.
Cendrillion didn't know how long it took, but after what felt like hours of waiting, she was geared up in racing tack. The flags she wore were black with red stripes. Her mask was black with red lining. Cendrillion shook out her red mane, flaunting her beauty. She followed Darius obediently, ready to race. The black stallion deliberately nudged her, snorting. Cendrillion snapped at him, but intentionally missed. She turned back to Darius quickly, following swiftly after.
"And here... comes... Darius with Colossal Inferno!" the announcers shouted. A wave of claps and whistling swooped in after. "And there's Jordan on Goliath's Boy!" The black stallion emerged soon after with his jockey, named Jordan. He was shorter than Darius. Cendrillion was led to the gates. Darius mounted Cendrillion, his whip in hand. Cendrillion grew tolerant of the whip after awhile. Waiting. Waiting. And waiting more.
A gigantic boom sounded, and all the doors were opened. Cendrillion took off, making each stride count. Her mane flew wildly in the wind, and her eyes were quickly going back and forth to eye the challengers. She wasn't in the lead. She was third. They weren't even a quarter around the track. Cendrillion kicked up dust as she went, and she nearly knocked a smaller bay mare over. She didn't care. It was about winning. Oh, the honor, the admiration, the pride. Cendrillion was filled with adrenaline. She sped up, almost passing by the second placer. She passed him quickly, cutting him off at a turn. Almost halfway. She lowered her head and galloped almost as fast as she could. At the third quarter, she'd push herself. She could do it.
Halfway. Cendrillion moved her body to the left to prevent a stallion from passing her. Darius sprung into action, beginning to beat Cendrillion's hindquarters. Cendrillion expected this. The third quarter arrived, and Cendrillion pushed herself. She soon passed the black stallion in the lead, but the stallion nipped her rump. Darius, aware of this, continued to push Cendrillion further. Slightly scared of the stallion (mainly since she might lose her glory), the mare weaved back and forth, trying to keep Goliath's Boy behind her. The finish line was getting closer. Closer, closer, closer...
A win was then made.
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
♡ wme's
你好，i'm mooncakes (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)
used to be Sheperd
