Fiona & Thunder

[Dawn]

A U T H O R' S N O T E

I wrote this story when I was young to give the Bella Sara horses a storyline. The characters still belong to Bella Sara and I wasn't really paying much attention to indents or paragraphs.
I also had to redo italics so notify me if you find a spot that should be italicized.

F I O N A & T H U N D E R

Fiona jumped across the desert. She was making an adventure of getting back to the Shahazar castle. She had gone exploring, and she was not worrying about what Aviva and Nasim would say as she got back. All her mind wanted to think was:

I am happy.
I am free.
I can run without being bothered.
I can feel as if I am flying as the winds race through my mane.
The world will let my spirit embrace this time.
Even as a magical North of North horse, I only have so much time to feel this way.
The world is expectant of me, and I can let go of that now.
Let it all go.
No one is waiting on me.
I can be myself, isolated as just me.
This is how I have to feel to live as such an important horse.
I believe now.

As Fiona arrived as the castle, she hardly knew she had. She could only tell because Aviva snapped her out of her thoughts."Fiona! Come to your senses! Where have you been? As Patron you should know not to run off like this. I hope your answer benefits all of Shahazar, because your absence has not," Aviva scolded.
"I-,"Fiona stammered, "I was- I was running." She sulked. This was not what Aviva nor any horse of Shahazar would want to hear.
"I'm sorry."
"You're forgiven, but Nasim will have to hear of this."
"Nasim?"
"Yes, Nasim"
Herd Shahazar's great leader was very strict, so if he heard Fiona was doing this, how far would he take it? Will he take away my high position?Fiona could not bare the thought of losing the chance to always be at the side of her great queen and king. She stomped her hoof out of the fury of her dark thoughts.No! They would never do such a thing! Would they... It's not possible. Aviva would step in the way if Nasim would so much as bring up this idea. AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH! Fiona ran away, not knowing what else to do. Maybe Bella?Fiona shook her head. Bella would be busy leading herd BellaSara. She thought she might know where to run. Valeryk. She had never visited the snowy layer of the castle. The place in which Herd Valeryk lay, the Midwinter Mountains, was a long way from her home in the Autumn Sands. She ran without enjoying it. She just ran. She didn't think that she would get tired, or stopped. It was just desert. Then it would fade into clear snow. She had always wondered if it was really that quick of a change of scenery. She stopped when she heard the eerie howling of the wind. It was a low, piercing, howl that sounded almost like the Valeryk Husky howling she heard every night when she had patrol, but that had been in small yips and howls, and this was a never ending moan. Soon after, she saw the white, glistening snow and the steep, treacherous mountains. She placed her hoof in the snow. Though it touched her short fur, she felt warm still, with her inner fiery warmth that had been given to her in birth. The truth was that Fiona had just appeared as a flaming figure at birth, she had come out of a fire when Sara threw her story into it. Why did Sara do that?The thought came upon her like the stabbing of a knife. Sara wasn't that smart, or maybe she was.She is the goddess of horses. She came to that conclusion just as she neared the beautiful blue castle. The sight made her heart skip a beat. And I thought my castle was pretty! she thought this with distaste. The thought that a castle could be better and more beautiful than Shahazar castle made fury swell up inside of her like a boiling cauldron. She slowly walked up to the door and pressed it open with her head.Greeting her was a short, shaggy, fluffy stallion that Fiona could tell was king Sleetmane. "Hello," she said politely. "How ya doing?" The stallion's easygoing words shocked Fiona. Nasim would never greet her with such a small and typical statement. The patron here must be lucky. "Thunder! There's a visitor, mind showing her around?" A handsome, tall clydesdale horse with black fur, a black mane and tail, and a lighting bolt-looking mark on his flank. "You must be Thunder," she said, suddenly blushing. Thank goodness I'm red!"Yes, I am, and judging by your Arabian breed you must be of Herd Shahazar."
"Yep"
"Follow me"
The black Clydesdale trotted in the direction of a group of columns. "This is where Sleetmane and Snowdreamer rule our herd," Thunder said. The blue columns shone brightly in the light. "Who's Snowdreamer?" Fiona thought aloud. "The queen," was the dark stallion's quick reply. Then he led Fiona to a room with a two foals. "Meet Spottie and Gracie!" Thunder said with pride in his voice. These were the page and jester of the herd and, judging by Spottie's hat, he was the jester, and the shaggy tan filly was the page. "Hi!" Gracie yelled. Fiona couldn't help falling in love with the sweet tan filly. "Hello!" She wanted to stay and talk with the two cute foals, but Thunder was already nudging her on. Suddenly, a white mare with roses in her mane appeared out of the vicinity. Snowdreamer, was her immediate thought. "This is Snowdreamer, who you'll meet soon later. Now I need to speak with her alone." The stallion walked into a shadowy room with the mare closely behind. Snowdreamer nudged the door shut, but Fiona could still hear them if she stood close to the door.
"I think the red mare needs to stay the night"
"Why"
"Thunder, it's getting dark"
"Where would she stay?"
"With you and me, of course. You know she's a patron, too, don't you Thunder?"
"No"
"Well, she is, and her name is Fiona."
Then Thunder came walking out towards Fiona. "You'll be staying the night," he said. Many, many "visits" later, Fiona fell completely in love with Thunder, but she told no one. No one would understand. Except maybe Thunder, she thought, but shook her head. Suddenly, Fiona heard the banging of hooves across the desert. It was Thunder. His black coat was stained with sweat. "Fiona," he gasped, "I love you." The words surged through Fiona's soul like a million horses galloping across her chest. She didn't respond, but by the look in her eyes Thunder got the hint. It was a secret they would have to keep, but both horses knew they would cherish their love until the end.