//------------------------------// // Two Angels // Story: The Chase Is On // by HorsesandMOARGaloar //------------------------------// The three equines were whisked away from their cramped seats on the long car, into a vast sea of sand dunes under a dreary sky. "Now, what?" Burr complained. Meanwhile, his friends noticed what appeared to be a road of broken yellow bricks. "Maybe, smart-guy," Schubert suggested, "we should follow that path if we are to find our way home," "How?" the Houyhnhnnm snorted. "You may have sharp eyes or the dreams of a Yahoo, but I could not see that road you mentioned." "Then you'll just have to follow me!" He and his tall, dark-coated friend sped off. Burr made up his confused mind, and hurried to catch up with his two friends, regardless of whether their decision has any logic or lack of it. The three horses traveled along its path for a while. They stopped at an intersection that branched into two haphazard paths that went on to a distant range of mountains: the leftwards path would have led them into a storm, filled with red lightning crackling amid the clouds, and the rightwards path led to a clearer sky over a field of flowers. From of flash of light, two humanoid beings emerged. One of those females was a yellow-winged damsel clad in flowing white robes under her strands of pink hair. The other was a cyan-winged lady of war, whose tufts of multicolored hair stood out against her darkened armor. Both of them had shined so brightly, that the horses looked away from the two. "Good morning, three brothers," the robed maiden looked down upon the trio. "I'm Clementia, and my friend here is Verratia." Aside from the colors of their hair and the feathers of their wings, these seemingly-benign people were unlikely, to these horses, to resemble the terrible characters that they had mentioned. "As we're standing here, this road's gonna split into two." The armored angel drew out her sword, and began to point towards each path from the pavement fork. "The one of the left will take you to my path, the path that rocks ... " " ... and my path, to the right, leads to serenity and beauty." Her white-robed friend slowly raised her hand towards her left. "Can I turn back and return to where we once came?" Burr asked. After he had finished, thunderclouds began to form behind him, and the section of golden bricks under their shadow crumbled into more sand. The Houyhnhnnm was fearful that his section will crumble along and he and his friends will also disintegrate, when the rapid crumbling stopped as it nearly reached his section of bricks that he stood over. "No," Verratia said, with an unamused face. "Try doing it now, and you'll never see us or your friends ever again, as you'll be wasting the rest of your life wandering in circles!" After some thinking, the Shetland pony raised his head from an idea in his mind. "Well," he broke in, "which path has some tasty tuna sandwiches and cool water? My tongue yearns for their tastes." "Err ... " Verratia wriggled her chin as she tried to guess, and then she shrugged. " ... both of them?" "And the one with the most sandwiches?" "Both of them, I don't know?" The armored angel grinned sheepishly. "Let me take the left path!" Blackie stamped his hoof. "I've been longing for some adventure. If there are any races over there, count me in!" "Good!" Verratia smiled. She gently raised her sword, and the broken bricks moved into a straight line, raised as a causeway against the endless sea of sand around them. "Now, Blackie, go to the left, and you'll find those cool races that you've longed for!" "How did you know my name?" "Let's just say that we're your guardian angels." Even though the black Arabian stallion was unsure on what Verratia had said to him, he galloped away to the scarlet storm beyond and screamed, "Racetracks, here I come!!!" Schubert the Shetland pony was the next to decide. "I-I'll take the fields to the right," he stammered. "As much as I love sandwiches very much, I really hope Natalie will be there ... " The bright-robed maiden giggled and covered her mouth. "Yes, Schubert, you will find your way home once you reach there." The Shetland pony ran away along the rearranged path of now-chiseled golden pavement. The two angels then turned towards the last of the trio, who was still thinking of a definite choice. Would he pick the path to the left, and save his friend from certain doom? Or will he take the path to the right for a chance to escape any possible dangers? Verratia shook her head at his wasted time on his thoughts. She unsheathed her weapon and snapped her fingers, and the Houyhnhnnm was struggling to free himself from a torrent of desert sand. "You better think fast, Burr, before you'll become a mummy!" The armored angel roared into laughter, to her friend's horror. "Verratia!" Clementia spluttered. "Can't you please be nice to our guest, and give him another chance?!" Verratia glared back at the disapproving angel. "If you say so, softie." She snapped her fingers, and the white horse found himself on a collapsing island of pavement. "Now, there'll be no more second chances, egg-head," the armored angel threatened. "If you don't pick a road to go into by the time the last brick falls into the sand, it will always be the curse of Im-hoof-step's boring sandcastles for you!" There was no other way for the frightened Houyhnhnnm to get out of the crumbling platform, save for selecting any one of the two paths. Which one will he take?