Again, Ginger was getting ready to ride, but with a more anxious look than before.


    Was he really doing this? Had the situation escalated to the point where this was the only conclusion and solution? Who would have thought?


    Well, Vess and Fai had seen it coming. They were watching him right now, the former grinning mischievously.


    With a cough that wasn’t a cough – hoping to delay the inevitable even by a little – Ginger resigned to his fate. He would be riding today. There was no way around that. Even riding in a cart wasn’t going to cut it.


    ‘I bet Ancor would have enjoyed seeing this,’ he thought and he prepared to get on his ride.


    It wasn’t Zeng who was going to be his steed, however.


    It was the damned, grinning pony!


    The pony in front of Ginger whinnied and a bushy white tail smacked him in the face. It was a command to hurry up.


    Bwoon was a very rude creature, Ginger concluded.


    “I get it, I get it!” he cried and stroked the pony’s golden furs. A moment later, he jumped onto Bwoon’s back and grabbed her reins. He took a moment, a part of him hoping the pony would buckle. She didn’t, of course. In fact, she barely budged at all. She shook her head and her thick mane slapped Ginger’s nose.


    The boy sighed and looked pleadingly at Fai.


    The man with the grizzled hair had been right, and frankly, he seemed glad that his assumptions were spot-on.


    As it turned out, the golden spot on Ginger’s back – where Bwoon had infected earlier – had been more than just a beautiful intermittent glow. In that state, Bwoon was still capable of perceiving the world, even though, as Fai later explained, she didn’t use Ginger’s senses to do so.


    She was more horse than the horses at the farm. She could influence them in ways even Vess had never known. When Ginger had tried to ride Zeng, Bwoon had threatened the poor gelding, somehow making him refuse to yield to Ginger; that was why the black horse had fled from the boy.


    The threatening part was merely conjecture on Fai and Vess’ part though. What Bwoon did to Zeng wasn’t tied to Sorcery, so it was hard to parse with magical logic.


    It wasn’t only Zeng who was coerced into leaving Ginger steedless.


    Fai and Vess had tried with all the horses that were outside including Silver Stroke. They all dashed away as soon as Ginger tried to ride them.


    Bau, the roughest and most murderous of them all – thought to have been a garron in his past life – was called as the finalist to the experiment. Surely, he would not be bullied by a pony. Right?


    But the mighty horse was left cowering too after falling prey to whatever influence Bwoon expelled.


    “This is new territory for all of us,” Fai had said. “Bectorials come in different varieties, even if they aren’t too common. I imagine Bwoon is not only awakening her own brand of abilities as a half-Bectorial, but also qualities normal horses don’t usually have access to. This must be one of them – the ability to impress her will on other horses.”


    “But as for why she’s sticking with you, and perhaps even insisting to be your steed… Well, I imagine it has to be tied to you being a hybrid yourself. That, or she’s in an abnormally good mood.”


    After Fai’s assessment, Bwoon had swiftly poured out of the brand she had marked on Ginger and stood firm and still in front of him. Her intent was clear.


    You will ride no one but me.


    Ginger had been unwilling. He wanted to ride a horse, not a pony. Bwoon’s back barely reached his waist. If he were to ride the little thing in public, even residents of the Wild would give him shaming looks.


    The dragonling had argued that the little pony couldn’t support his weight and would likely collapse of exhaustion midway through their journey, but Fai had reassured him that Bwoon was much stronger than she looked.


    “Believe me. She can handle it,” he had said with great confidence.


    And indeed, Bwoon could. Ginger, seeing it for himself in real time, hesitated to frown. Perhaps the pony had some supernatural ability to see from the back of her head too. She wouldn’t appreciate having an unwilling rider.


    Bwoon neighed, her grin ever wide.


    “How does it feel?” asked Shan.


    Ginger sighed.


    “She’s… sturdy,” he said.


    “There we go.” Fai nodded. “Now, we’ll see how well she’ll tolerate you on the road.”


    And with that, it was time to leave. Ginger didn’t like how awfully calm everyone was being about this though. Heck, even Bwoon was behaving like a normal pony. She didn’t start galloping all around the field at freakish speeds like before.


    While Shan and Fai were preparing their horses, Ginger decided to see how easy – or hard –controlling Bwoon was going to be.


    Oddly, she was very compliant. Following Fai and Shan’s instruction from earlier, Ginger whipped the reins lightly and the pony began at a trot. She allowed him to steer and at times, she even adhered to the slightest instruction he gave by speech.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ‘Did Vess really train all these horses this well? Fai did say Bwoon was trained, but how can she understand speech?’ the dragonling asked himself.


    It was all vexing.


    While the pony’s ability to handle his weight and still be able to run as quickly as she wanted could be attributed to her Bectorial half, it was also bizarre. Ginger knew onlookers wouldn’t see all the mystical stuff about the horse though – only abuse.


    Vess came over after he finished dosing all the horses and let them all out into the large field.


    “Well, this has been a most unusual day,” he said. “The dubious halfling astride a golden pony. It has a nice ring, don’t you think?”


    Ginger frowned at him. He imagined Reiss would have rolled on the ground laughing if he heard it. He swore right then that if he managed to lose the pony after this Hunt, he would not speak of it to his friends. Ever.


    But then again… weren’t they planning to join the Stalwart Stallions too?


    Groaning, Ginger made Bwoon draw closer to Vess. He might have looked like some impressive pony lord addressing his subject. Well, the pony was the lord in this case. Ginger even hesitated to dismount.


    “What were you injecting into the horses?” he asked the caterpillar, prompted by the syringe he saw in one of Vess’ hands.


    Vess put it away and began taking off his dirty, black gloves.


    “Ha, you wouldn’t know, would you? I’m only now realizing that you’re not just a halfling but you’re also new to Ravi,” he said before sighing and answering the boy’s question begrudgingly. “It’s the Neel-Rye vaccine. Horses are particularly sensitive, and while that is an indispensable trait for them as steeds, it can be a detriment to them as horses – animals. There are countless illnesses that can latch onto them; parasitic organisms too. The vaccine prevents that. We lend these horses for all sorts of purposes.”


    “You do?” Ginger asked, brows rising.


    “Of course we do. How do you think I make a living? Fai doesn’t pay me from his own pockets.”


    Ginger supposed that made sense. He had underestimated Vess’ abilities. Even though he was shunned by most, it seemed some people were more than happy to approach the horse farm and tolerate him all because they trusted Fai’s brand. The man had said he had many farms, after all. He must have had a great reputation.


    Bwoon snorted right then. She seemed eager to get on the road. Ginger could understand, but he wished she would stop grinning.


    Speaking of the pony, he had been about to ask why she hadn’t been injected but surmised on his own that perhaps she likely didn’t need it… anymore. Instead, he asked:


    “Where did you get Bwoon?”


    “Long found her somewhere. I never cared to ask where, but apparently, her mother was dead and Long had to cut the pony out of her.”


    Ginger wished he’d never asked. But not because the story was too bleak for his ears. No. He simply didn’t want to start… feeling things for the pony. It hadn’t ended well the last time he had a loyal ride. Unfortunately, even he knew that as long as everything went smooth on the Hunt, that was bound to happen. Well, if things went bad, it would likely happen faster.


    Shan and Fai came over soon. The former was riding Silver Stroke, her duffel bag strapped to her saddle. The latter was riding a stallion that looked a lot like Zeng, only with a white tail and no spots over its eyes.


    “We’ll be on our way now, Vess. Take care,” said Fai with a dismissive wave.


    Shan rode Silver Stroke around the caterpillar, narrowed her eyes, and said her own piece:


    “I’m going to tell Long that you’re reading.”


    Vess got hot about that all of a sudden.


    “You can’t prove it!” he cried, but it was all too clear: he had lost. Shan rode away, following after Fai.


    Bwoon began after them. As she did, Ginger turned to the caterpillar and waved.


    “…Bye,” he found himself saying awkwardly. The caterpillar scoffed.


    “Ride, dubious halfling,” he said and turned back to the horses.


    …


    Even after they left the farm and reached the road streaming and meandering out of Proin, the three riders did not pick up their pace. Fai brought out a map and began mumbling to himself as he read it while Shan searched for something in her duffel bag.


    Feeling slightly awkward in the silence, Ginger brushed Bwoon’s thick mane. He didn’t know if she could even feel it, much less enjoy it. It wasn’t quite clear if she liked him or not.


    He continued to do it anyway. It felt quite good on his fingers.


    “I’ve never seen her behave so well,” Shan suddenly said to him. Ginger gave her a lopsided smile.


    “I wish I could say it was because I was special.” Shan smiled at that. Nothing made other people laugh more than self-deprecating humor. It had been hilarious when Ginger had thought the pony had chosen him earlier. The boy still cringed at that.


    “Aren’t you a bit special at school?” the purple-haired girl asked.


    “If getting teased and shunned makes me special, then I suppose I am,” he said, but with a firm face. He wasn’t looking for sympathy. Not from Shan, at least. The last thing he wanted was to appear weak in front of her. He felt…differently about her than someone like Caron.


    “It doesn’t bother you though.” That wasn’t a question.


    “No. Not anymore.”


    “Then that makes you special. Father and I know many species out there that don’t do so well when constantly pressured about their identities and genetics.”


    “Like Vess?”


    “Vess is one of the better ones.”


    Ginger considered. A slight blush rolled across his face.


    “I have friends that help me keep my sanity. I think they are the special ones,” he said. He couldn’t have taken all the credit. What would Ancor think if he heard his protégé was getting a big head?


    Shan laughed…modestly.


    “It’s like you’re trying to look down on yourself.”


    Ginger shook his head, his blush becoming blusher.


    “That’s not true.” He had wanted to reference how he had been bragging in his own mind about his talent at Sorcery in class last Stride.


    …But then he remembered that just minutes ago, he had been measuring his amateurish skill in Sorcery against Fai and Shan’s. Seeing how much better they were than him had made him feel a bit glum even though it logically shouldn’t.


    Right then, a carriage rushed past them on its way to Proin.


    On the wide road, somehow pressed flat and lacking so much as a pebble, grooves marked out four lanes, two narrower than the others.


    The narrow ones, with one on both ends of the road, were reserved for horses, and the wide ones for larger vehicles. The trio was riding in a single narrow lane. All sorts of vehicles had been streaking past them. Ginger was happy that most of them carried individuals who didn’t care to take a look outside.


    The further away they moved from Proin, the richer the surroundings got. Communities of strange, civilized creatures Ginger had never seen appeared on both sides of the road. Houses, wells, neat vendor stalls, farms, bridges as well as bold statues emerged, clean pathways branching from the main road towards them. There was chatter everywhere as the number of people grew and even riders as well. Some were far into the horizon, scaling hills and crossing rivers. It was enchanting.


    Beasts rode on beasts, some scarier than others. Some of the individuals the trio met were dressed like common men, but some might have been cosplaying as death’s mercenaries.


    After successfully steering the conversation between him and Shan away from his low self-esteem, Ginger asked Shan about the names of each peculiar race they came across. He was particularly interested in the identities and occupations of those who seemed rather… battle-ready in their attire.


    “There’s no shortage of mercenary work here in Ravi – hired hands. Freelancers with some combat skill or knowledge about certain dangerous zones sell their expertise. It’s not always dark though. Not everyone’s out hiring mercenaries to kill someone or steal treasure. Some hire them as exploration guides or to find missing persons. The Bureau can be highly inefficient when it comes to everyone’s needs,” Shan explained, a slight frown growing on her face.


    “The Bureau?” Ginger asked.


    But right then, Fai looked up from his map.


    “Oh. Look what we have here. Bad news with a deceptively bright glow.”


    Something bright was flying their way, shimmering in an emerald green. Indeed, it was a dark omen.