◆Tolter Challenge Story Thread◆

[Captain Chomp]

Toby was new to the ranch, a tall blue roan reverse splash stallion and he wasn't exactly new to the surroundings, but new to the routine of horses that lived permanently on the land. Nose pressed against the bars of his stall he tried to nip at the passing black stallion. Toby was a biter meaning he always tried to bite everyone around him. Unlike most horses he'd nipped at the black, thirteen point two hand high stallion didn't react poorly and just continued to walk past. "Pay attention to me!" He nickered pulling at his tail and stomping a hoof down. The Pine Trotter watched this horse halt and look over his shoulder, pulling the stable hand with him.

"Excuse me? How rude must you be?" Chad snorted, glaring at the roan inside the stall. "Why should I pay any attention to a rude horse such as yourself?"

Mouth open, Toby stood without words. Sure he was used to being spoken to, but this horse was oddly more threatening then any others ,even if all he did was speak to him. "Well...I'm sorry I just I always bite at everything that moves around me and I guess I don't have any friends here," he mumbled, moving away from the stall bars.

Chad was tugged along, lead into the stall next to Toby's a small pat on his rump from his handler with a murmuring of something a long the lines of get along you two. With blue eyes the stallion watched the roan curiously. "Where's the cocky attitude you had before Roan Boy?" He chided, bowing his head to tug at his hay in the holder.

Again the roan was stumbling over his own words, shy. "You scared him off...I'm not always so mean, I'm just nervous," Toby mumbled pawing anxiously at the ground and stepping towards Chad, thankful a wall and bars separated them. "You're really mean..."

Chad pinned his ears to his head, upset by the accusation. "My name is Chad and I'm not a mean stallion, I'm sorry that I came off that way," he nickered bobbing his head and showing his teeth in a funny sort of grin.

Slowly the roan stallion became adjusted to Chad, feeling that he was no longer in danger of being lashed out at. "I'm Toby," he said. "Since I'm new, will you show me around here and be my friend?"

"Of course."

[Captain Chomp]

Tawny nickered, pawing anxiously at the entrance of her stall before she fell into a pacing inside the straw floor box. The mare had grown deeply nervous in the early morning, disliking the empty feeling. The barn she was housed inside had no other occupants, it was only her and the silence of the night. Five days ago the young mare had been lured into a paddock at the ranch and trapped inside and forced into a stall. Terrified of what the humans would do to her, she had lashed out, striking a man hard in the shoulder with her back hooves. That was two days ago. Ever since she'd been locked inside the stall, no one willing to let her out, knowing they needed to plan how they'd work with the girl.

Ears perking and body freezing Tawny heard the creaking of the barn doors, their hinges sounding old from lack of use. "Tawny?" A soft voice called out and the mare slowly calmed down, moving to the bars and pushing her nose against them.

It was Pentatonix, a mostly black stallion with just a few white markings, his most notable being the white face and the black stich-mark markings on his mouth. He'd been her only friend, well the only one that willingly talked to her. The stallion had been sweet to her, bringing her small treats and just sneaking in at night to spend time with her. "Pen," she whinnied, beginning to paw at stall door again. "How are you?" She asked softly, stopping her anxious motions.

He was silent, only the sound of his hooves on the hard ground giving a small echo as he shouldered the doors closed with a squeak. Enclosed in his mouth was a bundled cloth that he set down, just out of Tawny's line of sight. With a flick of his ear he glanced up at Tawny now. "I am doing well, legs a bit tired out from all the dressage routines I was put through, but it was worth it. Junior gave me an extra treat today."

His words of how fond he was of Junior, the human that rode atop his back disgusted Tawny. "How can you trust those creatures? Or so I should say how you told me to, humans. They're not worth something like your trust!" She snickered, starting to paw once more.

A heavy sigh and a roll of the eyes and Pentatonix just watched the prisoned mare. "They're not half bad sweetheart they only wish to help you, but you can't go out and just hurt them. No, that's not how things work around here. At Paradise Pines man and horse work together and trust one another. You need to understand that," Pentatonix murmured, pressing his nose to hers to try and calm her down. His shows of affection lost on the angry mare.

"Pen how can I know that it won't be different for me? That they'll hurt me?" she whined pinning her ears to her skull and moving away.

"Well I know because every horse here is well cared for. None are never hit, beat, starved, nothing like that. Even after you hurt one of them they still come to feed you and give you water right? Do they ever hit you?"

Slowly she shook her head. "No, now that you mention it, they still do all that and never hurt me in all the time I've been here."

Soon a swell of accomplishment washed over the stallion as he bent his neck down nosing the cloth off the top of the bundle and grabbing, with a gentle mouth, a long slice of carrot and setting it between the bars to Tawny. "I brought you a little bit of my treats since I know you normally just get the normal meal and water and that's it."

Hesitantly the mare took the carrot, nibbling on it, her teeth making quick work of the tough orange vegetable until it was all gone. It left the mare bobbing her head and peering for another slice, which was passed through the bars quickly. Standing back he watched before allowing himself to lean against the stalls, head lowered while orange yes began to flutter shut slowly. Pentatonix's day had been a busy one and now his body urged him to sleep. "Night Pen and thanks. I'll try to learn to trust the humans," Tawny whispered gentling nuzzling the stallion before she too let herself rest.

[Captain Chomp]

Night fell down hours ago on the small town in the north woods of Wisconsin while stars danced in the sky, Pen sat in his bed. Legs folded in a crisscross position and a note book balanced on his bare legs. Tomorrow the senior had his finals and he wasn't exactly studying like his mother thought he was. Instead his blank page was now adorned by several varying sized hearts, doodled in red ink of his pen, clenched in his fingers. On his mind was a girl, not just any girl. No this wonderful girl was his own. His precious other half, Tawny and that's all he could think about lately for some reason. A pesky thought, nagging in the back of his mind telling him it was a warning, but the other parts of him all just said it was his love bathed self.