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Once upon a time there was the Animal Kingdom. It was said the animals all lived together in harmony there. The Kingdom was ruled by the Horse King, who had been given the unquestioned power to do what he wanted to improve the Kingdom, and ensure everyone lived together in harmony.
But not all were liked in the Animal Kingdom. There was Wolf, who was big and strong, and had sharp claws and teeth. But Wolf just wanted to be left in peace, so this made him nervous. But not everyone was scared of Wolf. He had Rabbit and Deer as his friends. Rabbit was caring, and she loved gardening. Deer was more hot-blooded, and he was unsatisfied with how the Kingdom was.
One day, Wolf, Deer, and Rabbit were at the market. The market is where the animals came together to sell their crops, so it was also a big meeting place for the kingdom.
“Ugh, everything is so expensive now,” complained Deer. Then, out of nowhere there came a shout!
“Help, thief!” Cried Sloth. They turned around to see Big Bear running away carrying an entire sack of gold coins. Without thinking, Wolf ran after him, and tackled him to the ground. All the animals looked at the sight with awe.
“Wow, you have done such a good job Wolf," said the Horse King, walking into the market, followed by his royal knights. The knights dragged Big Bear into the Kingdom Jail.
“Would you like to come to my tower for dinner?” The Horse King asked.
“I must accept!” Wolf replied.
That afternoon, Wolf went to where the Horse King lived, which was a tall tower that rose above the Kingdom. Wolf walked past the gates, and climbed up the many steps of the tower. He found the Horse King at the top with lots of food and gold!
“You’ve been taking our food and gold!” Wolf realized.
The Horse King looked up.
“I will tell everyone in the Kingdom this!” Wolf shouted.
“You cannot do that! I am the King!” The Horse King replied.
And so the Horse King sent his knights after Wolf! He ran as hard as he could, but the knights caught him and brought him to the market. And all the animals were ready to throw him in jail, but then a voice shouted over the crowd!
“Please, let him speak!” Shouted Rabbit.
“Fine then, explain yourself Wolf!” shouted the animals.
“The Horse King has been stealing our food and gold and keeping it for himself!” Wolf pleaded.
“This is serious! He told us he would use it for the Kingdom! We must investigate this!” The animals decreed together.
So the animals went over to the Horse King’s tower. They opened the gates, they walked up the many steps of the tower, and they found the Horse King surrounded by all of their gold and food!
“What are you doing with our food and gold?” said the animals. The Horse King looked up in shock.
“I’ve been using it to improve the Kingdom!” The Horse King replied.
“You haven’t been improving the Kingdom! You’re not a king! You’re but a thief!” the animals shouted back in unison. The animals all lunged at him, chasing the Horse Thief around the room. They chased him down the stairs of the tower, then past the gates, through the market, and out of the kingdom entirely.
Returning to the market, the animals were wondering what to do next.
“Now that we have gotten rid of the Horse Thief, what do we do now?” Asked Wolf.
“We should pick our new leader together!” The animals decided!
“I can be the leader!” Deer declared.
“But what if he decides to steal from us too?” Sloth asked.
“Then we’ll just kick you out too, and put a new leader in!” said Rabbit. She smiled, knowing that they would not need to kick Deer out.
“Hooray!” The animals cheered.
And so, now that they had picked their new leader together, the animals worked together to improve their village. The food and gold was returned to the animals it had come from. They agree to use their gold together to help dig a new well. The Horse Thief was never seen again. And that’s how the Animal Kingdom ended. In its place rose the Animal Village. The end.