strong red hooves
he was at a wedding when he heard. he was a photographer, and a good one to boot. when he heard he took the first train home, and paid the drivers to double time it. his name was red hawk, a strong somewhat skinny, and short for a stallion. he was of a dark red color, as it showed his native genes. he looked out the window as he nervously awaited arrival. in the sky he saw 9 hawks circling, riding the thermals. he smiled remembering how he was named after a hawk when he was born, his father saw a hawk in the tree above the shack where he was born. eventually he made it to the hospital, where his mare lay. water whisper, a large green mare with curled brown mane lay in the bed with a small colt in her arms. he looked down at the young one. Red smiled as the young, overdue ten pound colt reached up and made a cheerful coo. he held out a hoof and the colt grabbed on with his own as an unbreakable bond was made.
"hello" red began,
"hello many hawks..."
the young colt grew up fast. after being dropped on his head by his big sister, he was officially crowned as a hawk, as the family joked. eventually he got old enough to speak and showed a great curiosity for nature. the hawk family was naturally talented with nature as they where earth ponies with some buffalo genes, making them able to almost speak to creatures and plants. he was taught to take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but hoof prints when in the woods. he was taught to respect mares and elders. he was taught to never fight unless forced to resolve a situation with defending himself, as well as how to kill quickly, and not to deny doing so if he had to. the stallion had done his job almost to its fullest, and had done it well, that is until that one day...
he was sick. VERY sick. many hawks thought nothing of it because red almost NEVER got sick, and even when he did, he just bucked his way through it, until he got better. he truly was his hero. when whisper finally got him to go to the hospital, he was-int the brilliant red that he normally was, neither in color nor character... he looked and acted... drained. many hawks kissed his father goodbye and went back to playing call of cutie 2 on his computer. later, the hawks family friend miss cookie counter showed up at their farm. they never did forget it either... the look on miss counters face,
"you all need to come with me..." she said.
"something terrible has happened."
they almost lived at the hospital over the next three days, it was almost unreal for hawks seeing his father like that... like, at any minute he would leap right of the table, and start playing with his yo-yo, or tell a funny joke, or do a cool trick... but, alas... he was lifeless in more than one way.
"he is brain dead" the doctor explained
"he will not wake up, and at this point his body is all that is alive. there is nothing we can do... im sorry." so what... this was it? ha ha, funny, OK now where are the cameras? this is a joke right? he cant be dead, he is DAD! dad never dies, or even gets down when he is sick at that! any minute he would leap through the door and yell
"just kidding!" and then they would eat ice cream and watch cartoons... just like old times...
"hawks." all of his thoughts were broken, hearing his name he broke away from the shock.
"would you want to?"
"huh?" he replied still recovering from what was to be a permanent shock.
"do you want to say goodbye?" his uncle wounded hawk asked. slowly, he nodded. and so he went to see him one last time.
so there i was. looking down at my idol... my hero... my father, the mightiest of all super heroes, lying on a bed, getting ready to die. how could this happen? i mean, i haven't even got my cutie mark, i haven't even learned to shave! i need him... but... oh well. i looked down at the hospital bed, just like my journey had started, i looked to my dad one more time and picked up his hoof. no... this is wrong, this is-int red at all. the red i know is well... RED! this body is pale... lifeless... limp. and so... i say goodbye.
later, they had unhooked the machine, and the families found themselves in the chapel, that is when hawks realized he had a true friendship from his best friend ammo count. the dark green colt with the buzz mane, as he always wore a canterlonian army hat. it added a very personal flair to his ego. to the point that the town actually had a "dress like ammo count day" wearing camo and an army hat. when he finally made the connection, it was as he looked over to see that ammo was actually crying on his shoulder. the toughest colt he knew... was CRYING... to be able to open up like that? true friendship. and so, eventually he had to walk away from his father, and into his horse-shoes. but every now and then he remembers those strong, red hooves.
end.