Chapter Text
One day, I decided to go see the circus in town. The circus has come here every year since forever, and its arrival marks the beginning of the harvest-end festival and the start of the Halloween season.
It is a traditional practice in this town. We dress like in old times. Lik med-evial times. Maidens, knights, and all those things involved with it. Fantasy-wise, I mean.
The red parade would officiate the whole thing. Horse-drawn wagons would go through the town, delighting the tourists and locals alike.
A row of three horses marches by their feet, lifting high in a Spanish walk. Their riders play their instruments, filling the air with a beat that was akin to a heart's.
The horses were what I was looking forward to each year. Not the costumes, the act, nor the dances.
The circus horses were beautiful things. Dark grey body with black feet, face, and mane. They were built lightly and had brown, almost amber eyes that glowed in the red lanterns of the circus.
Of course, you often wouldn't see the full beauty of them, for they were draped like a knight's steeds and hidden under the red fabric. I follow them go. Today would be the year I would get to go to the circus.
No parents or duties to hold me back.
The final day of the festival was Sunday. It was the day when the circus would keep its shows.
And it was amazing. It was like a masquerade ball, and Red Bull had a child. Acrobats and tricks, the stunts and the dances. The horses and the music. I was gripping the safety rail the whole time; it felt like my heart was trying to break out of my chest for the whole time.
By halftime, my hands were shaking, and I was in desperate need of a calming cigarette. So I wandered into the darkness of the eve, and what do you know, I found a rope pen full of circus horses.
I couldn't resist.
I entered the pen. There are seven horses in the pen. One was tacked up. It looks me up and down. Its ears flicer. Before slowly bending its front leg and kneeling down.
The other horses watch with keen eyes that seem to glow in the dark. Waiting for me to make my choice.
It must have been a divine trap for foolish old me, who mounted the Horna horse. The moment I was comfortably seated on it, it rose back to its feet and bolted.
The other horses screamed. Their cackling neins escort me into my destiny and early demise.
It ran through the darkness, me too afraid to let go. It leaped over rocks, fences, and roads. The voices of the people faded, the lights dimmed, the wind whipped my hair, the drums of the circus were in my head, beating along my heart, and it leaped into the air.
Over a still lake hangs a blood red moon. It has drawn its image on the lake's surface.
The horse dives into it.
I woke up with a startle and sprang to my feet. Or tried to... My feet felt weird, and I collapsed immediately. I breathe hard. As Isuport me by the elbows, my forehead against the cold ground.
I breathe for a long time. Exploring my lungs and how they were not, in fact, filled with water.
I swear I did drown. The water of the lake was deep and cold. In my dress, there was no way I would ever have gotten out of it.
But here I was. Dry as a bone and very much alive.
Something nudged me on the side. I slowly roll on my back. Over me looms a horse-creature. I blink slowly and rub my eyes to make sure I am seeing things for real.
The horse blows a hot breath over me. It smells a little like jet fuel. I reach out slowly. My hands hesitatingly placed on its chub. It was hot to the touch. Like a porcelain teapot. Unnatural for a horse.
Not that it looked like one anymore.
Its marvar curved ears had solved to its head. Forever bend back like it was angry... Or in pain.
Its head was white. Its eyes smoldered. In the dark, drilled holes in the horse-like mask, there was something lit at the bottom of them. It was a miracle that the tack was still on it.
It blew again. Letting out a long sigh. Hot air blew over my face. Normal horses breathe through their nose. This one breathed through its mouth. A solid jawbone seemed to fit into the white mask. It has no tongue.
I tremble as it uses the bridle to pull me up.
The horse didn't seem to mind.
It was taller than I thought, too. Its legs are unnaturally long and split in two like the hooves of Unicron.
It was still draped on the red cloth. The saddle was in place. The reins are around the saddle horn. It got saddlebags... Those I hadn't noticed in the first time.
The horse snorted impatiently and stomped its front hoof demandly. I follow the moment. The horse was covered in shell-like a rolly polly along its back and missing its mane. It no longer had a tail.
It was actually scary. No ears, no tail, and black pits for eyes, no soft lips. It was impossible to tell the mood of it now. I reach to pet it along its neck.
What in the name of Lufthansa is this?!
I look at my hands in terror. My black leather gloves had sunk into my skin. I look down. The boots had come to my feet. And the masquerade mask... The masquerade mask had grown horns. I can feel them.
My hands tremble, and my heart is in my throat. A cripling terror conquers my mind and threatens to bring me to my knees.
The horse nuges me again. I lower my hands from my face. (Or what's left of it.)
Slowly, the horse kneels again. Offering me once again a ride.
I blink. This is insane. I must be insane.
"Heh."
"Hehehhehehehheheheheheeh."
"HAHHAHAHAHAHAHH!"
Nothing matters, I guess. I drowned in the lake, and now I am a half mind.
I haul myself onto the saddle. The horse rises, and I adjust the reins. Its short brheats press against my legs as its chest expands and contracts.
I loosen the reins by pushing my hands forward to the sides of its wither, I lean my upper body forward slightly, and move my weight to the stirrups to stay in sync with the horse.
It rears up.
Blews a fiery smoke, and its screams echo in the cave. The mist that previously closed in seems weaker. Weak enough for the horse to leap into.
Tak tak tak tak tak tak tak. We gallop into the mist.