No horsing around

Through the next few weeks spent there the girls had a lot of fun. But they had become quite antsy too. They still hadn't gotten anywhere with finding out what happened to the portal. Which also meant that they couldn't return home. And even if they did find a way to fix it Twilight didn't want to risk jumping through it. Not until they had figured out what had caused it to throw them into this world, and to prevent it from spitting them out in another different one.

Within this time frame though Spirit had finally been freed from his ropes. The bonding time that happened between Little Creek and Spirit had come to a point that they felt like could fully trust each other. Now that it had come to an end it was time for Spirit to go back to his heard.

The girls had joined Rain atop the hill that overlooked the village to give him their goodbyes. As bittersweet as it was, it wasn't to be as Spirit smelt something different in the air. Something that was too awfully familiar.

As he looked over at the village, the others looked over in the same direction. Coming over another hill in the distance they could see a group of men in blue uniforms riding in on their own horses. And they were heading straight towards the village. Without hesitation Rain galloped towards the village, knowing her home was in danger. Spirit galloped after her, not wanting her to face this alone. He knew full well what these men were capable off.

It wasn't Twilight's first fight, nor was it her first war. While the others might not have the experience, and they didn't have their powers in this world, they would just have to make do. This had become their second home and it was only right that they helped to defend it too. With a quick, knowing glance to each other before following after Rain and Spirit.

By the time they got there smoke had enveloped the village. The uniformed men began burning a few of the tents while other tore them down. The woman and children were running in several direction, trying to find somewhere safe to hide while the men that were armed attempted to protect their homes.

At some point Twilight had managed to break through the thick of the smoke and right out to the edge of the village. By the river near her there was a terrible scene playing out. One of the uniformed men, who Twilight could only assume was their leader of this barbaric group, held up some small metallic device. He pointed it right at Rain, and Little Creek who was on her back.

Then, as quickly as he pulled out the contraption, the man pulled the trigger and a loud bang echoed around them. Unsure of if this device was to simply scare them or hurt them, Twilight might not ever find out as Rain, along with Little Creek, fell into the river behind them.

With her ears still ringing, Twilight didn't have much time to react after that before Spirit bolted passed her and galloped head-on to the nab with the loud device. He was successful in knocking the man of his horse. Seeing that that Spirit was preoccupied with dealing with his own revenge Twilight noticed Little Creek, who was clinging onto a rock for dear life.

In a split second, and without much thinking for her own safety or life, Twilight jumped into the rapidly moving river. Twilight was much stronger than she looked and was able to swim against the current with ease, getting Little Creek onto her back, and brought the both back to shore safely.

By the time that they recovered Spirit had, after dealing with his nemesis, had jumped into the river after Rain. But, unlike the two of them, they were caught up much further down. The current down there was much stronger and they stood no chance against it. Twilight's heart dropped as she watched these two horses get swept further down the river.

Before Twilight could devise a plan she felt something jump onto her back. It wasn't an unusual, or unfamiliar, feeling as Spike had ridden on her back more times than she could count. But this wasn't Spike this time, but a human. And that human was grabbing onto her mane and yelling "Forward". As uncomfortable as it was to be treated like this there was lives of those two horses were much more important than spending time pondering on such things. Twilight didn't need any more encouragement from Little Creek before she raced off after her two new friends.

Her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest by the time they reached calmer waters. Thankfully Spirit and Rain seemed fine, for the most part. But they weren't the ones to reach them first. Those uniformed men had snuck up on the two horses. A couple of them lassoed ropes around Spirits neck as he stood there, trying to protect Rain. But these men weren't interested her, they just saw her as a lost cause.

As they dragged him away, Spirit crying out for Rain, all Little Creek and Twilight could do was watch from behind a boulder. It broke her heart, seeing this scene play out, but Twilight knew they stood know chance fighting back against them. She had already witnessed what these monsters were capable of. All they could do was wait until they no longer heard the cries of Spirit before they could come out of their hiding spot and attend to Rain.