The large, mainly black, equine stood on the hill that marked the tree line of the forest. He stared out to the large, open field before him. Then he looked past the grass and narrowed his reddish brown eyes at the sight of the houses of the small town. Humans lived there. He hated them. All of them. Children, especially. It was all that little girl's fault...
“Daddy, is that my pony?” the little girl asked, her brown curls bouncing as she looked from her father to the oddly-colored horse in the testing lab stable. She looked excitedly at the large Freisian-Lippizan mix with the freshly implanted Gemsbok horn in his forehead.
“Yes he is, sweetie. And as soon as he's all recovered, he's yours to take home,” the company owner replied, admiring the glorious work his scientists in the genetic experimentation department had done. The first successful interspecies implant ever done in the thirty or so years since he had founded the labs.
The equine inside the cage-like stall glared at the human male, hating him for what he had ordered. Then he turned his attention to the little girl and flattened his large, furry ears back against his massive head as he decided that it was the girl's fault. It had to be her fault. All of it. His head ached terribly, his vision blurred every now and then, and he wasn't able to stand quite yet. Furthermore, after the surgery, his food had somehow begun to taste and smell bland, terrible, even. He had stopped eating it several days before. He didn't know whether it was because his head felt too heavy to lift to the feedbag, or if it was because the humans had somehow done more than give him the hideous growth protruding from his forehead. That didn't matter. It was all her fault...
He shook the memory away and then winced at the sharp pain that arose from the base of the horn that had been implanted into his forehead. Grey hooves clattered against a rock as he staggered and leaned against a tree to regain his footing. His vision began to blur, and he squeezed his eyes shut tightly and then opened them. Somehow, this action had relieved the pain, and also helped to straighten his vision out. The horse remained leaning against the tree, the cool, rough bark feeling rather nice against his hot, sweaty skin. He looked up to the sky, staring at the summer blues and whites above him. His black fur absorbed the heat from the sun quickly, and that only added on to how terrible he felt due to dehydration and starvation. His heavy head drooped a bit as he looked around the field. He narrowed his eyes angrily as he noticed that the horn was obstructing his view.
His sides moved in and out as his breathing became a little labored. He knew he had to eat or drink something soon, or his condition would become critical. He winced a bit as he lowered his head to force himself to take a bite of grass. His teeth closed around a clump of green blades as he pulled them out of the ground and chewed them. He gagged a bit from the sharp pain that suddenly jutted into his head and spit the grass out. He closed his eyes and remained leaning against the tree, resting his head against a thinner one next to it. His white forelock ran into his eyes, cutting off most of his vision. He locked his knees in place and lowered his large head as he felt himself grow tired.
It was dark out. The former horse's eyes didn't pick up any movement or outlines in his stall. He was lying on his side on the cold floor, staring off into a black void. He then tried to pick his head up to look around, instantly regretting it as a terrible pain shot from the base of the horn all through his spine. He relaxed the tough muscles in his neck and a sigh escaped his large, powerful lungs. It wasn't long before his ears picked up a slight tapping sound with a slow, steady rhythm. It became louder, and then stopped at the gate.
He closed his eyes as he heard the lock on the gate click. The door creaked open and he heard something be placed on the floor. The scent of hay and an apple filled his nostrils as the sound of footsteps approached him. He didn't move, and laid still.
A small beeping noise could be heard as the intruder played with one of the many machines that surrounded the horse. A sigh escaped the intruder's throat as footsteps moved closer to the horse, who had managed a perfectly relaxed posture. The footsteps stopped directly in front of him and the animal tensed up slightly.
Reddish-brown eyes opened widely as cold metal stethoscope touched his chest. He whinnied loudly and stood up with a start, rearing and lashing his large hooves out, hitting machines, the gate, and the intruder, who fell to the ground with a heavy thud. The horse's sides heaved in and out and his heart raced as his spooked frenzy caused him to run. He ran out of the gate, and rammed against several machines as he raced out of the area, narrowly avoiding walls, staff members, and equipment scattered through the lab area.
Humans shouted and tried to cut him off, shouting and waving their arms in an attempt to drive him back to his "stall". He snorted and stepped backwards, bumping into a table and knocking over various chemicals, tools, and beakers. The noise spooked him further and he reared and kicked a few times, his strong hind legs knocking a table through a ceiling to floor glass window. The horse whinnied and grunted as he galloped through the opening, running as quickly as he could across a small field, and into the forest as he ignored the searing pain in his skull.
He snorted as the memories flooded back to him. How long had it been since he had escaped? Hours? Days? A week? In his current mental state, any perception of time he possessed had deteriorated, much like his stomach had to be from going without food for so long. He kept his knees locked in their position to prevent himself from falling as he leant against the tree for more support. His eyes closed and his head sunk lower as the darkness of sleep took over his body.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
The horse awoke, startled, and looked around.
How I wonder what you are.
He unlocked his knees and took a few steps towards the source of the sound.
Up above the world so high,
He stepped onto the edge of a hill and looked down into the small valley, overlooking the little town.
Like a diamond in the sky.
His gaze turned downwards a bit, almost directly below his hill.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
Snorting, he flattened his ears against his head as he felt a surge of rage come over him.
How I wonder what you are.
It was her. The girl that had brought his pain and misery. The girl who had caused him to be taken from his home, and to get the monstrous, ugly thing implanted into his skull. He gritted his teeth and snorted as he pawed the ground angrily, dragging his heavy, draft horse hoof across the earth, pulling up grass and soil. His sides heaved in and out as his pulse quickened, getting angrier and angrier as he stared down at the child, who continued to sing as she picked flowers from the field.
His muscles tensed, and his legs quivered as he was tempted to run and trample her, knowing that, with his size, it wouldn't be a problem at all. He snorted again as he glared down at the child, blinking as his vision begun to blur yet again. Her high-pitched voice irritated his sensitive ears, making his anger build up more and more. Eventually, he could no longer take it.
He whinnied loudly as he reared up and stared down at the girl. She stopped singing as she looked up at him. Her green eyes lit up as she stood and smiled.
"Pony!" she shouted. She stared up at her previously missing birthday present happily. "You came back!"
His nostrils flared as his front hooves hit the ground. He reared slightly and pawed the air angrily. His large, grey hooves slammed down on the ground, crushing a small stick and getting chipped on a rock. He snorted and shook his head before charging at the girl. His sides pumped in and out and his heart raced as he ran.
The girl laughed and held out her arms to hug her "pony" as he ran at her. He whinnied angrily and stumbled a bit as his head started to throb around the base of the horn. He snorted and shook his head, lowering it to straighten his neck out. When he was about to raise it again, something smacked his forehead. He stopped and opened his eyes fully as he felt something slide off of his horn, lessening the weight that had been suddenly added to his head.
He shook again and then looked down at the ground as something warm ran down his forehead and almost into his eyes. A slight, metallic scent arose into his nostrils as he saw the girl, lying on the ground with a large puncture wound in her chest. He didn't move and continued to stare at her as her chest slowly and barely rose and fell. She stared back at him as she took several shaky breaths and her arm rose a little before falling back to the ground as her small body went limp.
The horse stared down at her blankly. He didn't know what happened, and then turned his gaze upward to the horn protruding from between his eyes. It was stained crimson. The same crimson as the blood coming from the little girl's chest. He looked down at her again as something warm dripped onto his nose from the tip of his horn, and then trickled down to his lip. His tongue slid across his lip to clean himself off, and a metallic, salty taste greeted it. The equine blinked and licked his lip again and again until the taste disappeared. He snorted disappointedly and then looked down at the girl, the source of the scent of the salty red liquid. Tilting his head curiously, he carefully lowered it and sniffed at the wound on the girl's body. It smelled like the salty, metallic liquid that had dripped into his mouth earlier. He licked at it a few times before it stopped flowing, and then nibbled on the bloodstained cloth of her shirt.
His teeth cut into something underneath the shirt and he pulled his head away. He looked at where he had bitten and saw a piece of flesh hanging loosely off of her body. Curiously, he took it in between his teeth and pulled it off of the corpse. He slowly nibbled at the piece of skin and swallowed it after it had become a small pile of mush from being chewed with his flat, grinding teeth. The draft mix then lowered his head again and pulled another piece of flesh from the girl's body. He chewed and swallowed it more vigorously this time. Then he tore off another piece and ate it. And another. And another. And another...
