Those Who Ride

by Mitch H

Lessons

The next day dawned very early, in the heights east of Pentos. The khaleesi's household was still sorting itself out, but Jhiqui was a steady hoof on the tiller, for all of her youth, and once she'd asserted her dominance over the khalzafra, things had settled down.

Sunset had been very impressed by Jhiqui's methods; they didn't draw blood or leave welts, but certainly got results. She'd noticed some of the side-glances among the zafra, though, and pondered whether interfering in the inevitable retaliations would affect her status in the herd.

She rather liked Jhiqui, but did she want to become the handmaiden's minion, her crony? Or did she want her to become hers instead? She'd have to think about that.

Sunset thought about her magic, and its infuriating refusal to cooperate. She'd dreamed last night of fire, of eyes in fire. Lavender, hypnotic eyes glowing in the heart of a blaze…

They finally got back onto the road well after the rising of the sun, with the khal staring sulfurously at his bride's laggard zafra. The rest of the horde was on the move around them, and they were shaming him before his followers. He hadn't actually lessened his dignity by laying about him with a hrazef-orvik, but the horse-whip certainly creaked with his agitation as he wrung it in his powerful grip.

The khaleesi looked up at her irate husband, clearly not sure how to calm her stallion. Sunset was too far away to hear what her mistress said to her lord - she was busy trying to get the beddings and salves packed away in half-deranged bags pulled partially out of the luggage - but she heard the khal bark his brutish laughter, and relaxed a bit inside.

Sunset would not be easy in the presence of the lord of the Dothraki for a long time, if ever. The memory of that great arakh's passage over her horn, of that spray of life's-blood…

No, not for a long time.

By the time the sun had reached its daily zenith, they were many miles away from that first road-camp, and the slight ripple in the plain which Sunset had thought to be heights were fading in the western distance. The horde passed between two little walled urban outposts - they were too small to be called 'cities', Sunset thought, but a bit too large to be mere towns. She wasn't sure who to talk to about their identities, their stories. The other handmaidens were neither local, nor particularly curious. Irri in particular was contemptuous of talk about okrenegwinn, stone houses.

Sunset eventually gave up her attempts to orient herself in the new, strange geography, and listened to Jhiqui and the khaleesi repeat words at each other. The pale little princess was not a natural at languages like Sunset, but she was stubborn, and patient. She sat on the back of the cart, reciting verb conjugations in a somewhat-systemic manner.

"Zalat, zalessa. Anha zalok, kisha zaloki, yer zalo, yeri zalo, me-"
"Yer zali, khaleesi," corrected Sunset absently from her trailing position behind the cart, staring down at the rutted track the cart was bouncing over.

Jhiqui looked over the edge of the cart from her cross-legged seat inside at the unicorn trudging just behind. "Tiny witch-horse is correct, khaleesi. Yer zali, yeri zali, me zalo, mori zali."

"But it's zalat, isn't it?"

"Not matter, khaleesi. Is still 'at', not lat."

"Oh, fine. Yer zali, yeri zali, me zalo..."

To be honest, Sunset was a little bored. She'd figured this out the night before. Sunset was ready for a new challenge.

---

Sunset found herself desperately desiring a return to that ironic boredom, as she spun on her rear hooves, darting looks to her left and right as the herd-men surrounded her as the sun kissed the western horizon. Her vision blurred and jumped as adrenaline-fueled panic juiced her reflexes.

Ahego and two other herd-men had sprung the ambush on Sunset as she and Irri had gone down to the creek to fill their water-hides. The khalasar had chosen to settle into camp for the night along a well-watered creek-forks in the middle of a relatively unpopulated stretch along the edges of Pentoshi tributary territory. The handmaiden's water-vessels lay abandoned by the creekside as Ahego and his new cronies closed in around the two of them with lassoes in hand.

Irri shouted irritation at their affrontery. But the Dothraki handmaiden didn't have the gravitas to drive off the young stallions, and they just ignored her outraged shrieks as they separated Sunset from her, and tried to pen the orange unicorn against the creek. They sprinted back and forth, swinging their damned ropes, trying to catch their horned target, herding Sunset against the creek, keeping her from escaping to more firm and higher ground.

Sunset fought through the exhaustion of a dozen hours plodding behind the khaleesi's carts, and coiled her aching body as she looked back and forth between the herdsmen. The smaller one cast again, and she sprung to the left, dodging just enough to avoid the noose.

Her caution served her well, as the larger one grabbed for her outright, dropping his rope. Sunset punched him in his stomach with her left fore-hoof, using his momentum to fling herself backwards, her tail flagging behind her, just barely slipping through his grasp. Her assailant fell flailing into the creek in front of her.

She caught sight of Ahego's lasso dropping down behind her, almost too late. She jerked her head aside, and the rope dropped across her withers instead of her head.

Sunset spun and grabbed the rope in her teeth, and yanked, hard.

Ahego fell into the creek as well, raising a great splash, and prompting a chorus of outraged yells from the other zafra and assorted Dothraki lined up along the creekbed, trying to get their own water-jugs and hides filled.

A bloodrider showed up just about then, and shouted everyone still. Sunset stood warily, her head low, her useless horn aimed at the nearest herdman. She didn't know why she was bothering with the bluff, her magic didn't work, and the apes didn't know to fear her nonexistent magic, anyways.

"Fools! We all must drink from this stream!" the bloodrider swept his whip downstream to indicate the enraged clots of zafra and Dothraki and the churned-up creek-mud.

The herds-men bowed their heads, dripping with river-mud. When did the third one end up in the creek? "If you must tame your horses, do it elsewhere, where we aren't setting up camp!"

"My lord Rahkaro" - had she gotten the bloodrider's name right? Use shafka, not yer - "I am not a horse to be tamed, I am member of khaleesi khalzafra, they have no right to halter me!"

"I do not need to hear from witch-horses! I don't care what you think, you qemmemmo vekhikh! My name is Rakharo, and I shall show you all what a horse-breaker is! You claim to be a wise-horse? Come away with me and we shall show these would-be horse-breakers how it is done!"

Sunset felt her ears lower in dismay, but allowed herself to be chivvied away from the streambed and the waiting water-bearers. She left the water-hides with Irri, and a scattering of curious onlookers followed her and the bloodrider off to the side, up and away from the low piece of land around the creek-bend.

The observers formed a loose circle of flat bronzed faces, losing definition as Sunset's namesake continued. There was still a brilliant blaze of clouds in the west, and she circled to gain the slight advantage of hiding her bright coat in the burning orange in that direction. The bloodrider uncoiled his whip, and trailed it behind him, preparing for the strike.

When it came, the whip-end was invisible in the gathering gloom, but Sunset felt it coming, felt the strike in the movement of the air. She was already springing into the air as the strike threw up a bit of sod under her hooves, and then after it the crack, slower than the whip itself.

A series of whip-cracks ensued, and she bounced back and forth as fast as she was able, only dodging one blow in three, it seemed like. Soon, her lungs were burning, she was covered in the stings of welts. No matter how hard she tried, Sunset was losing this - what was this? A demonstration of her personhood? She was just running - like an animal.

As the orange faded to red, and then dark behind her, Rakharo's whip-strikes slowed a bit. Just enough to - Sunset caught the recoiling whip in her teeth, and yanked with all of her fading might.

It didn't pull him off his feet, but she'd stopped the rain of whip-blows. The two of them pulled back and forth on the whip like a pair of dogs fighting over a rope of jerky. A bark of laughter from the observers in the darkness rang out, and a deep male voice ordered the bloodrider to hold.

"That's enough of that, my boy. Would your father be proud of you for whipping a tiny horse that was not even your property? Jhiqui has claimed this one, you don't want to offend her, unless you want gravel poured into your lamekh!" An older bloodrider - Cohollo was his name, Sunset thought - emerged from the darkness, ironically clapping at their rather shameful performance. "Go on, the lot of you, back to your tents, if you've bothered to set them up yet! The dance is over!"

Sunset slipped away with the audience, leaving the bloodrider Rakharo bow-headed listening to his elder chide him. At some point, the herdsmen had disappeared, but Irri was waiting with their filled water-vessels.

"Did you have fun, Sunset horse? Will we need to use the salves again on you?"

"No, Irri, I will survive. Here, give me some of those, water's always heavier than it looks." She'd already marked Irri down as one who was willing to let others do her work for her, Sunset knew how to get in Irri's good graces.

After they got the khaleesi settled down for the night, and Sunset had retreated to her own pallet to nurse her welts and think over what she had done that day, Sunset thought over the two confrontations.

She went over the moves she had made, the slowness with which she had reacted to the attacks. None of them had been seriously fighting with her, they'd been amusing themselves with the strange witch-horse. If they'd applied themselves, she would be hobbled in the remounts herd like all the other quadrupeds.

Sunset had to do better, find a way to be faster, more clever.

Tomorrow, she would start working on the problem. First thing to do, was stop plodding along behind the carts like a peasant, or a clerk. She needed to break herself down, if she was going to build herself up. She'd need to find that sprint speed in herself.

Then, after that, find Rakharo, for further…

Lessons.

Author's Note:

Thanks for editing and pre-reading help to Shrink Laureate and the general Company.

Comments

[Anachronon]

Interesting idea of a story. Never saw a GoT/MLP crossover where the one who crossed is still a pony. Who needs three dragons if you can have a witty unicorn with quite the punch? Daenerys already won the conflicts.

But the ultimate snark duell would be between Sunset and Tyrion.

And if the equine loving followers of hers find out about Sunset's power, then they all shall worship the sun.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Hmm. There's still a little magic in this world at the moment. I wonder if it's enough for prophetic dreams...

In any case, looking forward to seeing how Sunset scrabbles together a bit more status.

[fmriver]

The quality of writing is quite good! Hope to see more of it.

I almost didn't read it as the concept was a bit out of my comfort zone, and I did so after seeing a good amount had been posted, but I'm glad I did!

I can't wait to see her attend Daenerys more, become stronger by training like she used to see the royal guards do it, and then hopefully begin to get some magic back...

At some point she may begin caring for the litttle Khaleesi, and ironically push her towards recreating an equestrian type society?! We know she will go against slavery, but with Sunset there with experience in an actually functional peaceful STABLE monarchy... this may be her 'calling' right?

[Neece]

I wonder how will this go. Something tells me Sunset will become much more than a mere horned pony even before she gets her magic back. And when she does, well... Our Khalessy will have not three, but four dragons at her side.

[Mirvra]

8942676
More like three dragons and a Phoenix =P

that's what they do after all XD they rise again

[Follower of Chaos]

Hmm, well we have seen that a pony's physical attributes are tied to their innate magic. They were rendered weaklings when Tirek drained them or Starlight took their cutie marks, so maybe having no magic also took away Sunset's physical attributes and made her no more than a small, intelligent horse.

Damn, that makes things a bit worse for our favorite bacon haired unicorn. Hopefully her training pays off and she can kick some hairless, monkey ass.