Blue and Gold

“I’m not being turned out with the others today?” Bluejay asked, watching as Kodi approached his stall with his saddle, saddle pad, and bridle in his arms.

“Well, you’d be alone if I did that. Rox took Dux out to California - something about her dad wanting to talk to her? - and Lover decided to take the twins and Andler out to explore the woods. I guess you could hang out with Sourdough, but I don’t think she’d be very good company… Anyways- So I decided that we could go out for a ride, Barkley too, of course. I know a couple of places that look nice this time of year, when the snow’s kinda sorta starting to melt but not really.” Kodi explained, fumbling open the latch on the stall door and pushing it open enough to squeeze into. He turned and propped the saddle onto the door, revealing Bluejay’s grooming kit in his hand.

Bluejay nodded in understanding and preemptively lifted his left foreleg as Kodi put down the grooming kit and retrieved the hoof pick, earning a ‘thank you’ in reply. Kodi spent about 30 minutes grooming and trimming up the shoulder manes that would be underneath the saddle and blanket before finally tacking up.

“How does the girth feel?” He asked, gently tugging at the piece as he asked.

“It’s alright, not too tight.” Bluejay replied and Kodi nodded, lightly pulling his head down so that he could pop the reins over his horns.

Kodi then turned around and slid open the stall door all the way and lead Bluejay out into the aisle and indicated for him to wait by the stall door as he walked away. Barkley, who had been laying in the stall’s bedding, jumped up and raced out of the stall and up the aisle after him. While Bluejay waited, Cheeps made an appearance, fluttering down around the stallion’s head to perch between his horns for a moment before flying up to the feeder hanging in the stall to take a drink.

Kodi returned carrying a handful of items, all of which he affixed in various places to Bluejay’s saddle. Once he was done and had started to mount, Cheeps fluttered down and flew around his head as well, though quickly retreated to the warmth of his nest box after the greeting.

“I think he’s getting restless being stuck in the barn all the time, will it start to get warmer soon?” Bluejay asked, looking over his shoulder as Kodi settled into the saddle.

“Mmm, maybe. It usually doesn’t start to get warm until a little later in the month, though.” Kodi replied, gathering up the reins. He gave Bluejay’s sides a squeeze and the stallion snorted, moving forward up the aisle.

Once they were outside, Kodi whistled to get Barkley’s attention - he was off sniffing around by one of the fences - and the dog came running back excitedly. He pranced about Bluejay’s hooves, tail wagging.

As they trekked through the woods, Bluejay began to feel uneasy - the light fog that usually shrouded the forest floor seemed absent and the usually dulled colors of the forest seemed more vibrant. His muscles twitched under his coat and he glanced over his shoulder to look at Kodi, who had an odd look on his face as he looked around. There was definitely something off about the area they were in.

Bluejay turned his head back forwards and nickered, calling Barkley back to the pair. The dog returned quickly, taking up a place at the stallion’s right foreleg and sniffing the air. From his back, Kodi shifted and retrieved the walkie talkie he’d brought with him from the right side of Bluejay’s saddle. He gave Bluejay another squeeze to keep walking while he lifted the device and the stallion reluctantly complied.

He then stopped short once more as a burst of air swept over them and the scene around them changed completely. Slowly, Bluejay looked around with pinned back ears and took a step backward, “You’re seeing it too, right?” He questioned.

Kodi lowered the walkie talkie once more and looked around, narrowing his eyes slightly, “I’m definitely seeing it. It’s like this place just winked over top of Black Wolf. What the hell-” He tested the walkie talkie, earning a burst of static, and sighed. “Well, the walkie talkie isn’t working here, so we’ll just have to find another way out.” He shifted, replacing the device where he had gotten it from and taking the reins into both hands again.

They spent another moment observing the landscape - a lush green meadow extended for as far as the eye could see, with pine trees dotting the landscape and a slew of wildflowers all over in different colors. Mountains rose up and stretched out in the background and some of the various rock formations that were around were streaked through with various colors.

Kodi leaned forward, giving Bluejay a reassuring rub on the side of his neck before urging him forward. Barkley wuffed softly as he followed before turning his nose to the ground and sniffing about.

After several long minutes of walking, and of seeing some unusual animals wandering about, Barkley began to huff and make small barking noises, looking around as if he sensed something. Kodi blinked, leaning back in his seat to halt Bluejay and looking down at the dog, who was intently staring at some sizable bushes further ahead. Bluejay followed his gaze and took a deep breath as well, suddenly pricking both ears.

“What is it? What do you guys smell?” Kodi asked, looking around.

“Another horse up there in the bushes,” Bluejay replied quietly, straining to try and see anything. He felt Kodi shift on his back and heard the soft ‘snap’ of an item being opened and rustling as something was pulled from the saddle and turned his head to look.

Kodi held a pair of binoculars up to his eyes, one finger toying with the roller in the middle.

“Can you see anything?”

“Possibly?” Kodi paused, removing the binoculars from his eyes before putting them back, “Okay, yes, I definitely see something. It’s gold. See how close we can get before it spooks or something.”

Bluejay snorted softly, lowering his head slightly and moving forward slowly. Barkley followed along beside him, the dog’s fur partly stood on end as they got closer and the strange horse’s smell got stronger. Once they were around 40 feet away, the bushes began to rustle and the horse stepped out, turning to look at them in mute interest with pricked ears. Bluejay blinked. It somewhat resembled a Desert, but something about it was still different. He also didn’t recognize the markings that covered it. It was gold from horn to hoof, though - that much was discernible.

“Kodi? Do you know what it is? Why it’s sparkling like that?” He asked softly, twisting his ears back.

“I think,” Kodi started, lifting his binoculars back up to get a more detailed look at the markings, “I think it’s the poecilia mutation? I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never seen in for real before. Other than that… I don’t know what type it is. I don’t really keep up with all the Society’s updates and stuff, Rox does though, so maybe when we get home we can ask him if he recognizes what type of Ballator it is.” He lowered the binoculars again, this time returning them to the pouch that held them to the saddle.

“Oh, maybe it knows the way out? I don’t speak horse, though, can you ask?”

Bluejay snorted and took a few steps closer, nickering lowly to the other horse. The horse regarded them for a moment more before squealing, whipping around, and bolting off.

Barkley was the first to move, chasing after the golden horse with excited barks, and Bluejay felt Kodi flinch in the saddle.

“He says we have to catch him if we want him to show us the way out.” Bluejay grumbled.

“Oh, thank God. At least chasing was wanted, now I don’t have to feel bad about Barkley running off like that.” Kodi leaned down, taking the reins up again but leaving them loose enough for Bluejay to stretch out and run, “I guess we better chase ‘em then.”

Bluejay gave another snort and started off at a trot before breaking into a full gallop once past the bushes.

For a bit, the gold horse and Barkley remained out of view until Bluejay crested a small hill, where they could see the two sprinting across the plain ahead of them. Bluejay slowed a bit as he descended the hill so that he wouldn’t slip, speeding up full force once more at the bottom. The gold horse was fast, even going at a slower pace to give them time to catch up for their game of chase, and Bluejay was unsure he’d be able to keep up if the horse decided to use his full speed. Still, it might be easier to catch him than to go wandering around aimlessly looking for a way home.

The horse led them all throughout the area, and it wasn’t long before Bluejay and Barkley both began to tire out and slow down, though the gold horse continued on until he noticed that they weren’t behind him anymore. He pranced in place and nickered across the plain, to which Bluejay snorted back.

Kodi shifted and patted him on the neck through his mane, blocking too much of the cold radiating off his body to chill the sweat that had formed there, “You okay?”

Bluejay nodded, heaving a breath as he walked slowly towards where the gold horse waited, “Just out of breath.”

The gold horse watched until they got closer, then he turned and bolted once more with a splash echoing after he disappeared from view. Bluejay’s ears pricked and he raised his head, cresting the hill to find a stream flowing ahead of them. The gold stallion stood way on the other side of the stream, watching them silently as Bluejay and Barkley approached and both lowered their heads to drink.

When they looked up again, the horse was even further away.

“Do you think you can give it one more push?” Kodi asked, leaning to the side to look at Bluejay’s face.

“I think so, I don’t know about Barkley though.” He replied, looking down to the collie who was still breathing heavily.

“Hmm…” Kodi straightened up again, “Okay, we’ll follow at a walk for a while and see what happens.”

Bluejay nodded in agreement and ushered Barkley around to his side. The water didn’t look deep, but he knew that water could be tricky and he didn’t want to risk the dog getting carried away in the current. Barkley wiggled in between his forelegs, keeping pace with him as they crossed the stream. The water wasn’t too deep, but it was rather chilly and sent a jolt of cold up Bluejay’s spine as he crossed and he was all too pleased to be out on the other side. Barkley moved out from between his legs and paused, shaking his whole body off and sending droplets of water flying off his belly fur.

He then looked up at Bluejay and wuffed appreciatively, moving to the side to let the stallion pass him and head after the gold horse once more, who had remained in his place and continued watching them. Bluejay’s pace remained slow and his head held slightly down, allowing Barkley to keep up with him more easily.

“What if we don’t catch him and he doesn’t show us the way out, though?” Bluejay asked after a few minutes. The gold horse had begun to wait until they were a certain distance away, then he would gallop off and wait once more.

“Then we give up and go look for the way out on our own.” Kodi replied, dropping the reins around the horn of the saddle and stretching his arms above his head, “I don’t even know how long we’ve already been here though, which is… making it difficult for me to decide if we should abandon the chase or not.” He continued.

Bluejay didn’t reply, but he understood what Kodi meant - other than the exertion he was feeling, there were no indications as to how long they’d been there. The sun hadn’t seemed to change position since their arrival, but he was sure they’d been there for at least two hours, if not more.

After following the gold horse for a while longer, Bluejay gave a startled jump when the horse appeared directly in front of him and gently touched noses, causing him to stiffen and blink. Barkley gave a confused whine as well, looking between the two.

The horse nickered softly, swishing his tail over his sides before turning and beginning to walk away with his head up high.

Kodi blinked, leaning down to look at Bluejay once more, “Uh, translation please?”

“He wanted to thank us for indulging him in his game, but because we appear to be so tired he’s decided to show us the way out without making us catch him.” He replied, pushing Barkley with his snout to follow the gold horse.

He led them to a thicket, which he stopped ahead of and motioned for them to continue through a narrow passageway. Bluejay nodded in thanks to the horse, stopping at the passageway to nose Barkley through. As the dog entered, he turned his head around to thank the horse again only to find him gone.

“... Well, that was an experience. Come on, we’d better head home.” Kodi said, gently urging Bluejay to follow Barkley down the path.

The stallion nodded, pressing on after the dog - who waited about halfway through - and hoping that, somehow, the other side would be home.