Lonely Silence
by Pomx2
Prologue
The sound of thundering hooves across a rocky plateau echoed through the range as a lone stallion ran like the wind. His breathing tuned into the beat of his hooves and his heart pounded faster and faster as he gained speed. The bay horse whinnied happily after he knew that he was free out of their midst. He had escaped the coyotes, but would he escape the unfair adventure that he was about to creep up on? The stallion took a deep breath and looked behind him just to make sure everything was in order. After seeing no coyotes, he sighed with happiness and carried on.
He turned a corner when some claws dug into his back. He looked back and saw a large coyote. The horse tried to shake it off, but the coyote just dug in further. He panicked and reared up into the sky and neighed in terror like you wouldn’t believe.
The stallion then got an idea. He ran as fast as he could towards his destination. As he tore across the plateau, the coyote’s claws slipped and the coyote fell behind, left in the dust. He neighed in agony as he realized that the claws had torn the flesh straight from his neck to his rear in a straight line. But he kept cantering.
The horse reached a pitch-black cave where he knew there were others. The heavy, moist breathing and body heat from the others caused him to become claustrophobic. His eyes started to tear.
“You’re late, Contempo,” a stern voiced called out. Contempo knew from the voice that it was Rouffin. Contempo sneered, though you could never see it in the darkness. The stallion tried to apologize, but he collapsed before he could do so.
As he lay on the cold rocks, the other horses looked bewildered as they saw the wounds. They looked around, frightened as they were, and many asked if he was going to be okay. But Contempo did not move. They were afraid that he would not make it through that day in the cave.
Contempo was a light brown, with a white star on his forehead. His hooves were a shiny grey, though you could not tell with all the mud and dirt on them. His ears perked up and his black muzzle snorted. Contempo was alive! His beady black eyes opened and as he squinted he asked them quietly but boldly, “Where is she?”
Chapter 1
The other horses traded faces. “Um, Contempo, actually we don’t know,” Rouffin finally called out to save the day.
But they should have known that Contempo was not in the mood to play games. His shiny hooves reared and he neighed with anger as he knocked over Rouffin. Contempo bravely stood over him, smiling dimly as he noticed the blood by Rouffin’s muzzle. “You will tell me, or you will pay!” Contempo shouted powerfully. The other horses backed away slowly as Contempo neighed at them. “For years I have wanted revenge on you, Rouffin. You will do anything to separate my family. But now, your life is only a dangling thread on the necklace of God, and I rule over you. You will tell me where my wife is and you will tell me now!”
“We don’t know! We tried to catch her and her new foal, but they escaped! Please, I beg you to leave us alone,” Rouffin pleaded.
“Pity, pity, all you do is speak lies. Your twisted tongue shall never say another, if you lie to me once more, because I’ll…” With great difficulty, Contempo swung his hoof and struck so close to Rouffin’s side it wasn’t even funny. “Next time, I won’t miss,” he sneered.
“Please, we never meant to do your family any harm. It was Linear’s orders!”
“What about all the times in the past? You shall never harm my family, never!” Contempo didn’t miss this time. His hoof went right on target, and it swept across Rouffin’s muzzle. Rouffin hacked and lay motionless on the stone ground.
“By the law of Arben, on page thirty-four of the regulations handbook, ‘A citizen that kills another horse without permission of the Arben leader, they shall be punished without further ado, by being kicked out.’ We all abide by that rule, except for some individuals,” Linear, a pitch black horse with dazzling light blue eyes, the perished leader of them all, cried out. “And we have to get rid of those individuals, thus I proclaim Contempo permanently banned from Arben!”
A neigh of delight rang out from the crowd gathered around the podium, for they were glad to see the mastermind Contempo banished. They had feared him ever since the “Murder at Bloodshed Cave”, as they named the previous night, happened.
Near the crowd, held hostage by two chestnut Arabians, was Contempo. He stood guiltily, but he knew it was all part of his plans. When the muscular Arabians started to move to take him away, he followed politely. He spoke to them in a kind voice, as if to engage in a friendly conversation. But they never responded; it was as if they were brainwashed.
The gruff horses brought him to the edge of the river near Arben, and walked away without saying a word. He looked back at Arben nervously, lowered his head, and started to walk along the ridge of the river. Away from Linear, away from Arben, away from the Arabians, away from his past, he walked away.
A mare, almost a golden color with a white mane and a small white star on her forehead, hurried her foal along. Her foal was an albino horse with gold crescent moons in her eyes. Her pupil dotted right above the curve of the moon, and she did not possess a retina. The foal looked at mother with her beautiful eyes. “Why do we have to run away from daddy?” she asked curiously as they carried on.
“Because, Moonlit, sweetie, they think your eyes make you a bad horse. They think you are evil because of your eyes,” said the mare, named Destiny.
“Do you think I’m a bad horse too, mommy?” Moonlit asked.
“Of course not, sweetie! I love you very much. Now we must hurry along, they may be after us. And I do not want you to be taken away from me forever.” Destiny whispered.
The two of them spun around when they heard a harsh neigh. Destiny froze when heard the hooves pounding and saw the wind from the horses running pick up the leaves and throw them around as if in a tornado.
“Hurry, Moonlit! Run!” Destiny called out.
“Where do I go? Where are you going? Where are you?” Moonlit questioned, confused as she was. She turned around and saw a large stallion running straight at her. She saw her mother backing away from some other stallions to her disappointment. “Mommy!” she cried out.
“Run! Leave me, Moonlit! Run!” Destiny shouted at her foal.
“No! I don’t want to leave you, mommy,” Moonlit responded uncertainly.
“Run!”
Moonlit watched her mother try to fight with all the strength she had. One second she was up, the next she was down. Destiny was losing to this battle and Moonlit couldn’t stop it. Destiny reared up and tried to bring her hooves down on one of the stallions, influencing pain, but she failed. She neighed in terror as she saw the stallion in front of her buck his hooves. One hoof was coming straight at her face! It hit her straight on the muzzle, that shiny hoof did. In a split-second, her spirit was gone. “Mommy,” Moonlit quietly and gently sobbed as she saw what happened. “I’m a bad horse.”
[To be continued...]