//------------------------------// // Memories Resurfaced // Story: Operation: Ponies // by Sammy LeDerp //------------------------------// The party that lasted well into the evening left Quatre a very groggy and sickly feeling pony the next morning. He woke up lying down on his stomach with his legs spread out across the bed. The room smelled intensely of chocolate and he could hear the others downstairs talking. His eyes flickered open like shades that struggled to rise, and he came to see that he had drooled all over his pillow. The room spun in front of his face and his stomach churned something horrible. Quatre attempted to lift himself out of bed, but instead his front legs gave in to his body weight and he fell crashing on to the wooden floor. There he found the cause of the strong aroma---a basket full of chocolates, right at his bedside. With his nose inches away from it, the smell crawled into his nostrils like bugs. He instantly felt nauseous and rolled his body away from the basket until it finally hit the soft surface that was his carpet. He lay there on his back with his wings out, staring at the ceiling. Quatre could barely remember what happened to him yesterday, and he was sure he didn’t drink. Just the thought of alcohol made him gag. Quatre rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of this feeling of sickness. “Princess Luna came to stop the party…” Yes, that’s correct. Dear Luna had come right as she raised the moon and interrupted the party. She had ordered all of the ponies to retreat back to their homes. “That all makes sense because of everything that’s going on with the Abyss,” mumbled Quatre. He removed his hooves to look back up at the ceiling with his big, blue eyes. “Yet to me, she didn’t feel strong at all. In fact, all I could feel from her was sadness---” The doorknob to his bedroom turned and Quatre moved his head to see that Trowa was there. Half of his body was inside the room. He sighed, and Quatre felt a wave of relief wash over his friend. The alicorn blinked his eyes rapidly and actually went over what he had just experienced. Wait, how can I feel his feelings?, he thought to himself. And Princess Luna’s feelings…how could I feel her’s as well? “We were afraid you weren’t going to wake up at all,” said Trowa. His speech broke Quatre out of his mind. “It’s so late in the morning. It’s very uncommon for you to be sleeping at this hour.” “I feel absolutely awful,” Quatre gurgled. He was finally able to get himself into a sitting position on his rug. “I can barely remember anything about yesterday. No one forced me to drink alcohol, did they?” “No, not at all,” said Trowa, shaking his head. At this time, he fully entered the room and walked up to his friend. “It seemed you had eaten too many chocolates and had gone sugar crazy. You were flying all about the party come the end of it and you were just shooting your magic everywhere, turning miscellaneous objects into frogs. When Luna stopped the party, your body finally gave and you went into a sugar coma.” Quatre groaned with embarrassment and covered his face with his hooves. With his own hoof, Trowa rubbed the other’s hair. “Don’t worry,” he said in a comforting voice. “No one was upset. They all thought it was extremely funny. Even Pinkie Pie loved what you did.” “That’s not the point!” moaned Quatre, shaking his head. He didn’t want to show his face, even to Trowa. “I didn’t know I was doing that at all! I can barely remember what happened yesterday! Why would I even eat chocolate like that? I generally eat so well!” “Hey, our little buddy’s up!” The joyous black pegasus that was Duo hopped into the room, startling even Trowa on his silent entry. He noticed that something was bothering Quatre and jumped right on over to him. He nuzzled his head hard against his, until Quatre started laughing. Duo’s bangs were tickling the side of his face. With a smile on his objective’s face, Duo had stopped to witness it. “There, that’s better now!” he said. “I don’t even want to see a sad or upset look on your face right now, because we’ve got a job to do!” Quatre wiped away the tears that had formed under his eyes because of his laughter and looked at Duo. “What do you mean by that? What job?” “There’s someone waiting for you downstairs,” said Trowa. He tapped his chin with his hoof, looking quizzically around the room in search of a thought. “I believe she said her name was Applejack.” With that, Quatre got up on to his feet and nodded. He started his way out the door and down the stairs, with Duo and Trowa in his trails. The front door to the house was open, and the first thing he noticed was the quietness that was leaking in from the outside. It sounded as if barely any ponies were roaming the streets, for there weren’t the sound of hooves trotting or voices talking. As he got to the stairs and turned to the couches, he saw that Wufei and Heero were sitting down on them, along with Applejack. No one was saying a word. He noticed right off the bat something was wrong. It was like a splash of water hit him from her direction, and it made him cold and worried. She was sitting solemnly with her cowboy hat on her lap, circling her hoof around its rim. Her green eyes shot up at him as he approached her, attracted to her sadness. Applejack put on a smile to try and cover up her feelings, but it was already too late to do even that. “Howdy there, Quatre,” she started. She held out a hoof for him to shake, which he took eagerly with a concerned look about him. Trowa and Duo sat on the other couch to watch them. “Ah don’t think ah introduced mahself to ya yesterday, but ah’m Applejack.” Quatre nodded, not saying a word. He wanted her to speak without him forcing her to do so. Applejack sighed, shaking her head. “Ah hate doing stuff like this, but ah need to,” she said. Applejack took in a deep breath and sighed once more. “Ah’m sorry, but ah didn’t want to say anythin’ until ya came down. There’s somethin’ goin’ on in town. A fever of some sort, ah dunno. The stuff spread overnight like fire catchin’ on to dry wood. All the little ones have it. It’s gotten so bad that some of ‘em have been sent to the hospital to be looked at.” Duo gasped dramatically, looking wildly around the room at his other pilots. “That’s terrible!” “It explains why it’s been so quiet this morning outside,” said Trowa, nodding his head. “What if it’s just food poisoning of some sort?” asked Wufei, waving his foreleg at every word he said. “You all had so many vendors yesterday giving out free food. Does anyone even check if it’s all of good quality before the food is given?” Applejack shook his head. “Our food makers here make the best of the best. Nothing would have gotten through.” “But why do you need my help?” asked Quatre, pointing to himself. “My medical experience only goes so far, and---” Applejack put out her hoof into the air to stop him. He took that sign to be silent and put his own back on the ground. “Ah’m not sayin’ ah want ya to fix anyone,” said Applejack. She put her hat back on to her head, adjusting it so that her ears were sticking out so she could hear. “Lots of things are goin’ on. There are some ponies out there that can’t pay for their filly’s hospital bills. Mayor Mare is holdin’ a fundraising talent show event in two days to raise some money to help make sure every filly can be looked at. This is what ah need yer help with.” She looked at every pilot at first, but then looked back at Quatre. “The Apple family would like to buck a good chunk of our trees for apples to sell at the event and sell ‘em for cheap. Every Bit will go straight to the fundraiser. But mah big brother, Big Macintosh, is out of town out in Appleloosa. Mah Granny is too old to do this, and ah’m not letting mah little sister Applebloom do anything. She ain’t sick, but her friends are. Her job until all this blows over is to stay on the farm and relax.” “It sounds like you’re shorthanded,” commented Heero. “You betcha ah am,” said Applejack, nodding her head. She adjusted her seating to cross her legs. “If ah try to do everythin’ by myself like this, nothin’ ain’t gonna go mah way. Ah need some help buckin’ ‘em, and ah need some work done on the roofs of the house and barn. Twilight said to come see ya’ll. Quatre, would you and your friends be able to help me today?” She looked at him with such weak eyes; Quatre knew he just couldn’t say no. He nodded with a confident smile, to which she threw her arms around his neck in a great, big hug. Quatre fumbled his legs a bit, for he really didn’t expect her to react like that. “Thank ya so much, ya have no idea how much this means to me!” “We can start right now if you’ll take us to your place,” said Heero. Applejack got back down on the ground, leaving a very red Quatre. “Absolutely! Let’s head on out!” With Heero and Wufei getting off the couch, everyone gave Applejack the position of leader as they left their home. The streets of Ponyville were practically empty on this very cloudy day. The shops and stands were open, but there wasn’t a sign of activity surrounding them. The ponies that the group did pass didn’t give them the usual friendly smile, nor was anyone really talking. They all seemed to be on a steadfast goal that they must reach, as some were seen speeding home with their saddle bags filled with items. As Quatre and the group walked by some homes, agonizing coughs from young ones could be heard coming through the walls and windows into the streets. Without anyone really stopping to chat with them, it didn’t take the group long to get to the country side. It was here that the wind seemed to pick up just slightly, which was made apparent by the movement of Applejack’s hat; yet it was not enough for it to signal any form of a storm. They walked up and down the grassy hills until Sweet Apple Acres could be seen resting atop of one the hills. Beyond that seemed to be acres of acres of fully grown apple trees, covered with plump red apples. Somewhere off in the distance on the farm, a dog’s barking could be heard. As they walked passed the barn and approached the little farmhouse, the pilots soon realized that amount of work that needed to be done. Dozens of boards to the roof of it were missing, for they had fallen right on to the ground. Comparing it to the damage that that barn’s roof had was almost nothing, because it seemed to be missing even more. Three red toolboxes with a single hammer and multiple nails in each were placed right at the front door of the house, where Applejack had walked up to one to touch it with her hoof. “Ah dunno just what in the hay happened to this place,” she sighed. “Ah woke up to this. We didn’t get no storm last night, so ah don’t understand this at all.” Duo walked up to her and put a reassuring hoof on her back. “Don’t worry, we’ll fix this place right on up.” Applejack smiled and nodded. With her teeth, she bent down and picked up the toolbox that was right there by her by the handle and walked up to Heero with it. She placed it down by his leg, and did the same with another one for Quatre. Since Duo was right there by her, Applejack just gently pushed a toolbox to him. “Ah wanna have ya’ll three work on the roofs,” said Applejack. “You three look like you’d be pretty darn sturdy up there on them rooftops with your wings and footin’.” She then turned to Trowa and Wufei. “You two can come with me. With your strong legs, we’ll be done buckin’ apples in no time. Ah’ve already got buckets and carts out by the trees out in the orchard waitin’ for us.” Trowa and Wufei looked at each other with cocked heads, their mouths scrunched up in thought. It was the yellow pegasus who raised his hoof to propose a question. “What exactly is ‘bucking’?” asked Trowa. “Ya’ll don’t know what bucking is?” asked Applejack. She received two shakes of heads. “Ah guess ya’ll don’t really get this farmin’ life out in Canterlot, huh? Ya just kick them trees and make the apples fall. Ah know ya’ll are pegasi, but ah find this more efficient than flyin’ around them trees.” “So we just aggressively attack trees?” asked Wufei. He didn’t even wait for a response. He turned around and started walking in the direction of the orchard with a fast pace. “That’s fine with me.” With a silent flap of his wings, Trowa was in the air as he went to catch up with his friend. Applejack was on it too with a hurried walk, when all of a sudden, there was a huge gust of wind that came out of nowhere. It whipped her hat right off of her and it started to fly away. She noticed the absence of her dear friend and stopped to look around to see where it went. Duo flew into the air and caught it with his forelegs, descending to the ground before the wind current blew him somewhere else. He put the edges into his mouth and walked up to her, then sat down on his rump with the present in hoof. “Here’s your hat back,” said Duo. “You should be careful with it on this windy day.” Applejack looked behind her to see that Trowa and Wufei were so far away from the house. They had almost made it to the apple trees. With a smile on her face, she shook her head and pushed the hat into Duo’s chest. “Ya know what, ah’ve really gotta catch up with yer friends,” she said. She turned and started a graceful trot, following their path. “Ya can keep it fer right now!” With his newfound object on his person, Duo wasn’t sure what to do with it. He looked down at it and tried to imagine him being something of a cowboy, riding a great steed towards the sunset, with gun holsters and everything. He mischievously chuckled and put the southern hat on his own head, as Quatre and Heero walked up to his front. “Wow, that looks pretty cool on you, Duo!” shouted Quatre. He tapped the edge of the hat so that it would go down over Duo’s eyes. “It’s really your style!” “What are you, some sort of space cowboy?” asked Heero, with his usual tone of annoyance. Duo lifted the hat off his head to adjust it a bit. “Well, maybe I am some sort of space cowboy!” He looked up at the sky and scratched his chin. “Though I’ve got to admit, I now have this strange craving to ride a motorcycle.” “Well, don’t get carried away with your fantasies,” said Heero, as he walked away from Duo to the house. He was going for one of the toolboxes. “We’ve got a sub-mission to complete.” Duo got on to his legs and stuck his tongue out in Heero’s direction, for he took the advantage that he was doing it to Heero’s backside. Quatre sighed, shaking his head with a smile. “Heero and his missions,” he muttered. He sighed once more, and then brought the other toolboxes over to himself and Duo. “Come on, let’s get this done for Applejack, Mr. Space Cowboy.” Duo, now filled with joy again, picked up a hammer and grinned. “I’m the best space cowboy ever!” __________________________________________________________________________________ With their quick speed and strength, the fixing of both buildings was done in less than an hour. Quatre took the lead once more and guided his friends through the process of efficiently putting everything back together so that they wouldn’t come off again. Duo insisted on wearing the cowboy hat for the duration of the job, even though it kept on escaping his head just as it did to Applejack because of the force of the wind. He seemed somewhat proud of it, and it gave him a good swing in his flights. At one point, the accessory flew off and hit Heero right in the face as they were repairing the house. Both Quatre and Duo were sure that the hat was going to be ripped in half right then and there, but to their surprise, it wasn’t. Heero had calmly placed it back on Duo and continued with his work of hammering boards. As the morning turned into the afternoon, the three pilots had finished the roofs and were met on the ground by Applejack, Trowa, and Wufei. All three of the ponies had huge carts filled to the brim with red, delicious apples that they had effortlessly trekked back to the house with. As they unattached themselves from the carriers, Applejack quickly surveyed the buildings by glancing at them. “They both look great!” she yelled. “Ah’m impressed with ya’ll! Nothin’ like having three strong stallions do a great favor for ya!” Met with this compliment, the three being addressed weren’t sure how to respond. Heero just scratched his head and nodded. Quatre instantly started blushing and kicked the ground with his front leg, digging a small hole in the dirt. Duo smiled, and yet again, put the hat into his mouth and walked up to Applejack. He placed it on her head with no objections from the mare this time. She turned to look at Trowa and Wufei, who were now flying above the carts, moving the fruit around, inspecting the quality of the apples. “And ya’ll are one of the best buckers outside of the Apple family ah’ve ever seen!” Applejack said with pride. Both pegasi briefly looked up from their new job to respond to her in unison. “Thank you.” “Now, would ya’ll like something to eat?” asked Applejack. She walked up to the front door and opened it with her hoof, inviting the others inside. “We don’t have much, but ah can make ya’ll sandwiches.” With his magic, Quatre levitated all of the toolboxes above his head and nodded. “Thank you, that’s very kind of you! I’ll bring these in with me as well.” “Nah, ya can just leave ‘em out here,” said Applejack, as the others filed inside. “They’re just tools. Ain’t nothing gonna happen to them, ah promise.” Quatre carefully placed the boxes back on to the ground and hopped his way into what was the kitchen of the Apple family’s home. It had a tiled floor with plain white walls, but even with this it gave off the sense of a home. Pictures of the family were strung up in frames, and one with a great width hung above the table. Dozens of ponies were in this photograph, and labeled on the frame in a gold plate was titled ‘Apple Family Reunion.’ The others had already squeezed themselves into the very small wooden table by moving more chairs from the nearby living room to that location. Duo patted on an empty cushion chair right between himself and Trowa, signaling for the white one to sit down. Quatre did as he was told and flew on to the seat, wiggling his body down into the tight fit between body and table. As he did this, Applejack was moving things around inside her refrigerator and came back with a large jug of something foamy and orange. She left the table and returned again with jugs for each pilot. Quatre caught a whiff of the liquid that was inside the container and put both hooves up to his nose to cover up what he considered to be a foal stench. “Is that alcohol?” he asked with a nasally voice. Applejack began pouring the drink for each of her guest. “You betcha! It’s the family’s secret cider recipe. Big Macintosh makes this stuff and has a glass every day after he’s done workin’. Helps relax ya.” As she approached Quatre, he wildly swung his arms in protest. His rapid motions nearly smacked both Duo and Trowa in their respected heads. They took each arm and pinned them to his sides. “Please, I-I really don’t like alcohol,” said Quatre, shaking his head. “Would you happen to have apple juice? I’d much prefer that.” Applejack looked at him funny, and then put on a smile. “Sure, I’ll grab you one of Applebloom’s juice boxes.” She went back once more to the fridge, and Quatre calmed down quite a bit when he watched her pull out a green juice box with her mouth. With her head tilted, Applejack walked up to Quatre with his request and tossed it on to the table. She went back over to the cabinets and began searching through them for food that they could all eat. Quatre let out the blast of air that was clinging in his lungs as he used his magic to remove the straw from the container. “That was a close one,” he said, as he poked the straw through the designated hole at the top of the juice box. Everyone at the table exchanged the same look of confusion as they simultaneously gripped their jugs with their hooves. Quatre leaned his head into the table to suck on his straw, humming quietly to himself---or at least, he thought he was. Duo booped the side of his friend’s nose to get his attention. “Dude, how old are you? I mean, does it even matter how old you are at this point, actually? We’ve been through so much crap with everything---” He made a circle in the air to symbolize what he meant. “---and you flip out and lose your mind over alcohol?” Quatre finished his sip and looked at Duo. “Alcohol isn’t good for you. I’d rather not indulge in it.” The alicorn couldn’t have put it better, for Applejack was just about to learn what it was like to house four drunken Gundam pilots in her home. Being not very avid drinkers, it didn’t take long for those who drank the cider to become intoxicated. Soon the entire house was overrun by chaos and was practically flipped upside down, if it were even possible. Applejack, with the help of Quatre, ran all over the small building to try and capture the rabid pilots before they did harm to themselves. This was something very hard to accomplish, as Quatre knew he and his friends were professionals at getting themselves out of every situation. The others whizzed around the house without a care. As the two of them entered the once beautiful living room, with its magnificent furniture from past relatives, Applejack nearly cried. Quatre started rubbing her back with his hoof. They reached the center of the room and just stood there dumbstruck. Papers were everywhere, including old photographs and books. Single rugs had been kicked up against the walls. The furniture was flipped on to its side, and Trowa was seen jumping in place on the only chair that was placed in its upright position. “What in tarnation do you think yer doing?!” yelled Applejack, stomping her hoof on the ground. Trowa stopped his jumping and landed on the ground, not gracefully at all, as he usually would have. He stumbled up to Applejack and Quatre, tripping over his very legs. “Hey, hey, did you guys know I was a clown?” he asked them. Almost as soon as he said that, Trowa put his hoof up in front of Quatre’s face, shaking it. “Quatre, don’t answer that, the question’s for Applejack!” Applejack pushed the leg back down and away from Quatre. “Ah don’t care what ya were, do ya see what ya’ve done to mah house?” Her faced was suddenly smushed as Trowa pressed his nose up against her’s. He started laughing to himself, the smell of alcohol escaping through his breathe. “Hey, I’ve got a joke for you!” chortled Trowa. “Oh really?” asked Applejack, moving back so that she was sure Trowa could see the annoyed expression on her face. Trowa wouldn’t have it and he pressed his face up against her’s again. “Knock knock!” “Who’s there?” “Merry!” “Merry who?” “Merry Christmas!” Trowa lost it at his own joke and dropped straight to the floor, laughing hysterically. He clutched at his stomach as he rolled along the wood. Quatre could tell that Applejack was not amused at all, for he could swear that steam was coming out of her ears. Her entire face was lit up with rage. To try and leave the situation, Quatre looked around the room to see if he could find any more of his friends. Sobbing was heard coming from the kitchen and he walked up to its entry way, carefully peeking his head inside. Wufei was sitting at the table with his head in the folds of his arms, crying at the top of his voice. “Hey Wufei, are you going to be alright?” asked Quatre, wrapping a foreleg around the opening and on to the kitchen wall. The wails of despair grew even louder, and Quatre took that as a negative. He slinked back into the living room, where Applejack was now standing on top of Trowa, trying to talk some sense into him. He was still laughing uncontrollably, and she had his front legs pinned to the ground so that they wouldn’t move. “Listen, ya’ve gotta get ahold of yerself!” “But I have so many more knock-knock jokes! Don’t-don’t you want to hear them?!” In a clean whoosh, Quatre watched as a black blurr flew through the air at great speed, swooped down, and grabbed Applejack’s hat. She got off of Trowa’s body and was now feeling the blank spot on her head, looking around for the perpertrator. And that one pony would be Duo, as he skillfully kicked over Trowa’s former chair and stood on its arm rest, wearing the cowboy hat on his head. He started doing a little jig and was humming to himself. “Hey, give that back here!” ordered Applejack, pointing at Duo. Duo looked at her with lustful eyes and sat down on his ordained arm rest. With his imagination, he began playing an invisible guitar and started to sing. “Some people call me the space cowboy…yeah, some call me the gangsta of love…” After he said that line, he pointed at Applejack, who stood there with her mouth wide open. “Look girlie, it don’t look like you’re gonna get any from him right now,” Duo slurred, as he rocked his head back and forth, his braid whishing away. “Why don’t ya come right on over here and get some lovin’ from your pal Duo?” Applejack gasped, not knowing what to say to those words. She put a hoof up to her mouth and just started making gibberish noises. In a hurry, Quatre got in front of her to block her view from whatever Duo was now attempting to do to attract the mare. “Listen, I’m really sorry about this,” he said, trying to spout out his words as quickly as possible. “I don’t know what’s gotten into them---well actually, I do know what’s gotten into them, but either way, I apologize! I warned them! I really did!” Suddenly there was a loud smack, and Quatre turned to face the staircase. Heero had tried to fly down the stairs, but his body slammed him against the sidewall instead. He rolled down the steps and landed at the foot of it all with a grunt. Upon getting up, he walked over to the corner where the staircase met the wall and placed something down on the floor that he was holding in his mouth. It was a red button, one that looked like it belonged on a wooly sweater. He lifted a hoof over it, teetering on his other legs. “I’m a trained assassin!” cried Heero. He threw his head back and gave off a short laugh. “This mission is over! Our cover is completely blown! I will now blow this whole house up with a press of this button!” “What in tarnation are ya talkin’ about?” asked Applejack. “Hey, hey, Heero!” yelled Trowa. He lifted up a hoof and started shaking it in the air. “That’s not funny!” The green pegasus let out a maniacal laugh and stomped a heavy hoof on to the red button. He jumped in the air with a yelp, giving off a mock explosion, and then proceeded to fly right out the front door. Literally. With his body, he took the wooden door right off its hinges and it was flung outside. Duo giggled to himself and started rubbing his head. “That’s probably the closest to an actual suicide attempt I’ve seen him do in a while,” he said. Now outside in the front, Heero flung himself hard on to the cold, hard dirt. He rolled himself a few feet away from the house, laughing all the way. He stopped at some point and landed on his back, allowing for his laughter to slowly cease. He could feel the blades of grass move around his body in a weird sensation, as the winds made them dance. Through the clouds, single rays of sunlight shot through, hitting him right in the face. In such a peaceful state, Heero had almost forgotten he was a pony. “Hey mister, are you alright?” Heero turned to see that a young filly, accompanied by a dog, was walking up to him. She was a yellow color, and had a bright red mane. In her hair was a big pink bow that was tied to keep her head in check. The dog that was with her was about her size. Something of a sheep dog it was, with its ruffled patches of white and brown. The dog reached Heero first and started sniffing his face. Frazzled by the sudden creature, he pushed it away with his hooves. “Winona, that ain’t nice to do to guests!” cried the little one. She had finally reached Heero and stood next to the dog. “Ah’m sorry about that. Ah was takin’ Winona out fer a walk ‘round the farm. Ain’t nothin’ really to do when yer sister won’t let ya leave.” It was like a shot down his spinal cord. Heero sprang up into a sitting position and started backing away from the filly and the pet. He had broken out into a cold sweat and was now breathing heavily, clutching at his chest. In his drunken state, he was mentally having a hard time keeping his bearings. Heero wouldn’t have known it, but his pupils were now the size of peas. He looked around rapidly, searching for answers, as a headache started to appear. Where was he? He was still in Ponyville, correct? Though he was sure of it, the comparison his mind made of this little pony with her dog, to the girl and her own puppy that was flashing before his eyes made him question everything. “Uhh…mister?” Heero pointed at the filly, trying to form words. “But you’re…you’re…” His hoof was grabbed by the young one, which somehow brought him back to reality. It calmed him down just enough for him to begin controlling his breathing. “Ah’m Applebloom, if that’s what yer tryin’ to say,” said the filly. She sniffed at his arm and stuck out her tongue. “Have you been drinkin’ mah big brother’s cider? Ah don’t understand why big ponies like that stuff! It does crazy things to yer head!” So her name was Applebloom. That’s right. And she was a pony. Heero sighed, finally fully coming back to his senses. The green pegasus watched as she walked up to his side to examine his cutie mark with a quizzical look about her. Loud crashes were heard coming from inside the house, which perked Winona’s ears up. With a quick bark, she ran right through what was once the front door to see the commotion. Now it was just Heero and Applebloom out there by themselves, with the wind flowing through their hair. With a smooth sweep, Heero picked the filly up and brought her into his lap, who at first struggled to be freed. She stopped when she realized that there was no intent of harm coming from the stranger. He held her close to his chest with his chin on top of her head. “My name…is Heero.”