Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: penny@agora.rain.com (Penny Hutchison) Subject: [Little Rat][LH] My Little Pony Message-ID: Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1993 04:29:28 GMT [ADMIN] This happens two days before the Party. The sounds of muffled giggles and "hai-keeba"s came to ar'Elya's ears as she walked across the Lighthouse's garden path up to the practice yard. A large golden satyrlion was teaching two small children how to fall. As she drew near, he looked up briefly and brushed some mane out of his eyes. The leonine face face glowed with pleasure as he caught sight of his audience. "Hey, babe, wanna...practice?" he leered toothily. She smiled in return, "Not right now, 'Raf, but A'ree would." "Sure thing. We're almost done here. Kids, time to quit now," and the two rolling kids stopped as soon as they reached the end of the practice area. "Do your breathing practice for a while, and then the two of you have a special treat. ar'Elya's asked her friend A'Ree to come and she's bringing a pony like we talked about earlier." Little Rat grew very serious. "Does we gotta take care of it?" "That's going to be a part of it," ar'Elya answered. "We talked about you starting your warrior training, remember? Every good warrior needs a horse, and needs to know how to take care of a horse." "I dunno why. You can't do no tai-yo-do-ki on no horse," she grumbled tripping over the newly learned word. "There is more to fighting than unarmed foot combat, Rat. We need to teach you many different styles to complete your training. Besides, riding can be a lot of fun and it's a good workout." ar'Elya smiled reassuringly. "Awright. What do I gotta do?" "Remember that film I showed you and Kev about horse-care?" 'Raf asked. "Yep, but we don't got no stable..." Little Rat looked at 'Raf with skepticism on her face. "Sure we do, we just built it yesterday." "Good thing, too," retorted a voice from behind the children. Little Rat turned around, eyes wide. A tall, red-haired woman was striding up to the practice field, leading the most beautiful pony Little Rat had ever seen in her short life. His coat was the same color as ar'Elya's hair, and his mane and tail were black. He also had black stockings on all his legs, a black nose and large, lustrous eyes. Little Rat could barely contain her excitement, "Dat sure don't look like no city guard horse I seen before. Izzit okay if I pet him?" "Go ahead, but move really slow so he isn't afraid," the stranger advised. Little Rat walked carefully towards the pony, then reached out a thin, brown hand and stroked the glossy neck. She was startled by its velvety softness, overlaying hard muscle. Kev jumped up from the ground and started towards the pony, then turned to ar'Elya. "Kin I pet him, too? Do I help with him?" "Yes, Kev, you'll be learning how to care for him and ride him, too." ar'Elya put her arm around the boy. "But Little Rat is the one learning to become a warrior, and the primary care and responsibilities are hers, OK?" The boy nodded, then walked over to the pony and held out his hand, flat and palm-up. The pony wuffled the hand, then gave a disappointed snort as he found no treat offered. Little Rat giggled and Kev grinned. ar'Elya walked up to them. "A'ree, this is Little Rat and Kev. Children, this is my friend A'ree. She has offered to train you in the ways of a warrior, Little Rat. And both you and Kev will be learning riding and horse care from her." Little Rat tore her attention from the pony to look up into the face of the warrior. Steady green eyes looked back at her, framed by heavy copper hair that hung in a thick braid over one broad shoulder. The woman gave a small nod as if having made a decision, then spoke. "Little Rat, I offer to become your teacher. If you accept, I will teach you all you'll need to know to be a warrior. You will have to work hard. If I tell you to do something, and you don't understand why I ask it, ask me and I will tell you. I will never be angry with you unless you do something needlessly stupid that puts you or others in danger. Warrior training takes a long time, so we will have to work together for a long time. If you ever feel that I am no longer a good teacher for you, or if you know that we cannot get along, tell me, and I will do my best to help find a new teacher for you. Do you agree to this?" "If I sez no, is you gonna take da pony back?" Little Rat tried not to look anxious. "No, not at all. ar'Elya asked me to bring him, and if you want a different teacher, someone else will teach you horse care. I would never bribe or trick you into accepting me as a teacher. The pony is yours, no matter what your decision is. OK?" Little Rat's brow cleared, and she looked down at her feet and thought over what the warrior had said. After a few moments she looked up again and nodded decisively. A'ree spat into her right palm and held it out to Little Rat. The girl's brows rose, she then smiled in recognition of the old gesture, spat into her own small hand and slapped it into A'ree's open hand. A firm grip, a shake and the contract was agreed to and witnessed. "Now for your first lesson, and yours too, Kev. I will be giving you many instructions about how to care for your pony," A'ree told the children. "But the simplest way I know of, and the easiest for you to remember, is this old rhyme about a horse's request to his master, "Going up hill whip me not, Coming down hill hurry me not, On level ground spare me not, Loose in the stable forget me not, Of hay and corn rob me not, Of clean water stint me not, With sponge and water neglect me not, Of soft bed deprive me not, Tired and hot wash me not, If sick or cold chill me not, With bit or rein oh, jerk me not, And when you are angry strike me not." A'ree drilled Little Rat and Kev in this rhyme until they could both say it without prompting. "Put a tune to it, and sing it while you brush him down," she advised. "You'll not forget what to do once you have this memorized." A'ree handed the lead to Little Rat. "Now is the time you should name him, so he will grow used to it and respond to it when you call him. What is his name, little warrior?" Little Rat looked at the pony, "I think I'll name him..." Something caught her eye about the horse. Something it its eyes; they were soft brown pools of liquid kindness. They were gentle eyes that reminded her of someone from her past. "Iramus. His name is Iramus."