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“Willow, you are absolutely glowing,” Hugo chuckled as he watched the stunning black mare walking over to him by the fence. A soft nicker came from the mare as she got closer.
“I think you mean I’m rolling. I need this baby out, right now,” Willow said, lifting her head to nuzzle the lovely stable manager who comes to check on her all the time these days. It felt like she had been in foal for years with this one, but she knew it was just her being worn out. The little one growing in her belly would be dropping any day now.
“Not to worry, sweetheart. Your stomach dropped about two weeks ago. Everything is going as planned,” Hugo assured the mare. He sneaked in between the planks of the fence to join the horse in the field to take a closer look.
“I do bring news for your baby,” he explained as he let his hands slide over her sleek body. Her ears perked a bit.
“Is he or she sold already?” Willow asked, lifting her head, and looked in the direction of the Tigelaar’s castle on the top of the hill.
“More like given away as a present to your owner’s son. Baxiana wishes to give your baby to her boy, Fiyero,” Hugo explained. Both of them sighed at the same time.
“Throwing money at their child isn’t good enough anymore? Handing Animals over like they’re property is the next thing?” the mare asked, then lowered her head when she realized she was speaking too loudly and unkindly about her owners.
“I thought you didn’t mind them,” Hugo asked, satisfied that her belly seemed fine and her milk was coming in as expected to.
“I don’t. I really don’t. They are not unkind. Just… there. You know what I mean? This is my baby. I don’t want my baby to be handed over to a rich child who knows nothing of horses,” she explained.
“Fiyero is a kind boy,” Hugo pointed out as he came to stand beside his friend. Willow was quiet for a beat.
“He is,” she agreed quietly,
“But he is rebellious and restless, and I have not seen him in the stables for going on two years now. Rather than caring for their child, they hand him a foal,” Willow huffed,
“How old is he even now? Thirteen?”
“He is fifteen. Don’t worry too much about it. Of all the rich brats in the Vinkus, that boy is not even close to being the worst one. He’s just… aloof,” Hugo said.
“He’s aloof because his parents don’t give him the love and care he needs,” Willow said.
“Then you help him. I am certain he will visit soon knowing his future horse will be born soon,” Hugo suggested.
“Right. Let the rolling pregnant mare raise two kids,” Willow practically rolled her eyes, but decided to try and be positive about it and focus on her own baby for now.
A few days passed and it was early in the morning when she knew it was time. Her baby was coming. She nickered in the lush fields. Pawing at the green grass under her favorite tree in the fields. Walking in circles for a while before settling down. From there she could see most of the rolling hills and mountains of Vinkus. It was a beautiful day. The sunrise in the distance, the trees in the forest surrounding most of the field keeping the sun at bay for the time being.
“Willow…” a voice startled her and she looked from her belly to the young human coming closer.
“Oh, Oz, you’re foaling! Oh! Hugo!" the boy cupped his hands in front of his face and shouted towards the stables in the distance.
“Shush now, child. I am fine. Horses in the wild foal without help all the time,” Willow tried to assure. The other horses in the field were trotting up close as well, but at the same time giving her some room.
“Sorry,” the boy apologized and came closer. Willow recognized him now. Fiyero Tigelaar must have had a growth spurt at some point because the boy was a lanky young man now. A boy forced to grow up far quicker than most spoiled children. Maybe that was why he had shown more kindness than most when he was younger.
“Are you really okay?” Fiyero asked and knelt down beside her.
“Well. I am about to press out a foal the size of you so while I am fine, it is not a day at the spa,” Willow said, exasperated.
“The size of me seems a bit much,” Fiyero countered, reaching out and patting the mare on the neck.
“Uh-hu. Want to switch?” Willow warned as if there were even any way to do that.
“Not even a little bit,” Fiyero grinned, looking up as Hugo and a vet came huffing and puffing up to them.
“Had to lay down all the way out here, didn’t you, Willow?” Hugo huffed, but laughed a bit too. Relieved that the day was finally here and seemingly going as normal.
“You know I love this spot,” Willow defended. From then on, the focus was on one thing. Getting her baby out. It wasn’t her first time foaling, but it was always painful. She laid her head down in the grass and pushed. Then she was surprised when the young boy knelt behind her neck and soothed her. He ran his hands down her neck and through her mane. Encouraging her to keep pushing.
“That’s it. Your baby is coming, Willow,” Hugo laughed happily as the vet helped with the last bit of the birth. Then finally, when she raised her head again, there was a black, wet little thing in the grass. All legs and big ears.
“A beautiful colt,” the vet announced with a bright smile on his lips. The two men and the young boy admired the little foal who was trying to figure out what this new world was.
The young boy spent the whole morning and midday down in the fields with them. Only ever leaving to grab something to eat.
Willow was standing again, licking her wobbly little colt as he tried to get used to weird things called legs, when Hugo approached later that day.
“How are you two holding up?” the stable manager asked the mare, rubbing her neck like a man who truly loved the Animals he worked with.
“Exhausted, but grateful. He looks like a healthy little colt, doesn’t he?” Willow asked proudly.
“He is wonderful,” Hugo agreed, letting the little one sniff him.
“I got to say, I didn’t expect young Tigelaar to be here today,” Willow said, looking back to the stables where she could see the young boy had been joined by his father. She had no clue what was being said, but something about it just didn’t seem as heartwarming as she had maybe expected.
“It’s his birthday. You gave birth on his birthday,” Hugo explained,
“I didn’t expect him to be here either, but here he was. I think his parents are upset that he has been spending most of the day down here.”
With that, both of them looked towards the stables again and saw Fiyero wave at them before reluctantly following his father to wherever he was being sent off to.
“Well, it was nice to see him again,” Willow admitted. He had been very helpful and supportive of her during the birth.
A few days passed and it was a sunny evening when Fiyero showed up again. He had climbed up to sit on the fence and watched the horses for a long time before Willow even realized he was there. She was running around the field with her colt running close to her side. Ears perked up and short tail in the air as he explored the world alongside his mama.
“Young Tigelaar. It is good to see you again,” Willow nickered as she trotted up to him.
“It is good to see you again too. How are you and the colt doing?” he asked, watching as the little thing dared to come closer to sniff his boots.
“We are quite good. He sure likes to run,” Willow chuckled and nudged her baby’s butt as a little encouragement to get familiar with the boy.
“I am sure you know why I have been coming here,” Fiyero said quietly, carefully climbing down from the fence so not to scare the foal.
“I hear you are my foal’s future owner,” Willow nodded. Watching as the foal gave the littlest whinny as he sniffed Fiyero’s hand.
“Yeah. My parents couldn’t be bothered to do something for my birthday, so they gave me an unborn baby,” he chuckled a bit, stroking the foal over the back and scratching his butt. Something the foal immediately loved.
“Don’t worry. I very much intend to take care of him,” Fiyero said, lifting a hand closer to his face to study the little fur left behind on him.
“Is he… blue?” he frowned, moving to the side to let the sunlight hit the baby across the bum. Sure enough, the foal looked like a shade of blue in the sun.
“Odd, is it not?” Willow sighed, relieved that the young man really did seem quite loving and caring. She nuzzled her baby’s fur and nodded.
“A blue vinkus horse for the vinkie prince?” she asked.
“I guess,” Fiyero laughed,
“How is this possible?”
Willow had no answer for that.
As summer passed, Fiyero came and went. On the day he was leaving for a while for school a distance away, he brought a carrot for Willow.
“I wanted to ask you a favor,” Fiyero told the black mare.
“What is that?” Willow wondered while snacking on the lovely carrot. Her fuzzy baby was curious about the vegetable, but too young to eat it himself yet.
“Would you want to give him a name for me?” Fiyero asked. Which made the mare drop the carrot in her surprise.
“You want me to name him?” she asked.
“He is your baby,” Fiyero said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Sure, but it is very unusual for us to name our own children. Our owners do that,” Willow explained. Fiyero shrugged, glancing back over his shoulder to where his driver was shouting for him back by the castle on top of the hill. He waved back dismissively before turning back to Willow.
“Unusual doesn’t mean it can’t happen. It would mean a lot for me if my horse would have a name given by his own mother,” Fiyero smiled. At that Willow bowed her head for him.
“It is an honor, Mr. Tigelaar.”
“I will be very curious about what name you come up with when I return in a few months,” Fiyero grinned, bidding goodbye to Willow and the foal before he headed off.
School went like it usually did. The first one never worked out. Sometimes the second one did, but not this time around. Third time was the charm and Fiyero stayed at this school for the remainder of the year before the holidays allowed the students to travel back home.
For Fiyero this meant returning home to an empty castle, so of course he did what any rich young man would do. Invite his large group of friends from school to celebrate. Naturally, this just led to basically the whole school coming to the party.
He wasn't quite sure where his parents were. Which was probably why he was able to sleep until noon the next morning. The castle was a mess with hungover students lying all around the place. A couple were even floating around in the inside pool on some odd floating devices.
Fiyero didn’t care about any of that. He just got dressed and headed down to the stables.
Willow first saw the young man trudge through the fresh snow when she stuck her head out of her stable. The air around him suggested that he was troubled.
“Welcome back, Mr. Tigelaar,” Willow greeted, stepping a little aside to let her foal join her by the stable door to look out. The colt had grown quite a bit, but it was still a bit of a stretch for him to get his head over the door.
“Thank you. Just call me Fiyero, please. We are friends, are we not?" Fiyero smiled and paused as he seemed close to throwing up before he seemed to settle again.
“Fiyero it is,” Willow nodded her head,
“Let me introduce you to Feldspur,” she nickered and loved how the young man looked fondly at her baby boy.
“Feldspur! I love the name,” he smiled, letting his hands rub the soft black muzzle of his foal, but that made the foal pull his head back inside and toss his little head around.
Fiyero frowned and held a hand to his face and tried to get a whiff of his own breath. Then made a gagging face too.
“Oh dear. That explains it,” Fiyero sighed, shoulders slumping.
Willow hummed lowly and nudged the young boy’s shoulder.
“What troubles you, young man?” the mare asked. Noticing that guests were finally leaving the castle up on the hill.
“Nothing at all,” Fiyero waved it off,
“Don’t worry about me.”
“Someone has to,” Willow countered. Fiyero sighed and shook his head.
“Not you. You have Feldspur to focus on. Really. I am fine. Just hungover.”
So there wasn’t much she could do about that. Not when the boy didn’t want help. She would still look out for him when she could, of course, and make sure the time he spent at the stables was good to him.
The new year came and Fiyero returned to school.
By the time he returned home for summer, it was close to Fiyero’s 16th birthday and Feldspur’s 1st.
“And he returns!” a lanky, fuzzy yearling with a mane that kept flopping from one side to another greeted Fiyero on his return. The mane was not quite long enough to lie down like his mother’s, but not quite short enough to stay upright either. Feldspur had grown into a lanky yearling with fuzzy, baby fur still covering him. And he was unmistakably bluer than ever. Unlike any other horse he had ever seen.
“And he speaks,” Fiyero gasped as he came to the fence to check out his growing horse.
“I was told that is usually how it works,” Feldspur hummed, tilting his head at the youth. Quite frankly, the young boy was still a bit of a stranger to him thanks to him having to travel for school, but it was good to see him no less.
“You look wonderful,” Fiyero said, smiling, climbing over the fence to join the horses in the field.
“I know, right?” the blue horse trotted around him in circles to show off to his owner. Feeling delighted when he made the young boy laugh. His mother had told him everything she knew about him over the past year. That he was a troubled boy, but a good one. So that he had to promise to look out for him and expect the same in return.
“I’m big now. Come on. Get on me,” Feldspur encouraged. At this Fiyero balked.
“Are you insane? You are one year old, Feldspur,” Fiyero snorted.
“So?” the horse trotted over and nudged his butt against the boy. Causing him to stumble a bit.
“So? We don’t ride horses before they are 3, preferably closer to 4,” Fiyero pointed out. Feldspur stopped and directed both ears in his direction.
“Is that so?" the yearling said.
“You are still growing. Riding you now would hurt you. I don’t want to do that,” Fiyero lectured him. The prideful colt softened a bit as he studied the boy. Seemed like his mother might have been right about him. He didn’t realize that he couldn’t be ridden already, but the boy seemed to know it.
“Four is so far away,” Feldspur complained and nudged his friend’s chest. Fiyero wrapped his arms around his head and hugged him.
“Hopefully that gives us time to get to know one another better. Outside school,” he sighed.
“How is this thing called school going anyway?” Feldspur asked as they walked across the field together.
“It’s… what it is,” the boy shrugged.
“I have no idea what that means,” the colt pointed out. His life was contained in this field and the surrounding areas whenever he had been taken out to walk alongside his mother when she was ridden.
“It means it’s not great,” Fiyero sighed.
“You don’t get along with people?” the horse asked.
“Actually, I get along with most, but most people are just superficial and want to be my friend or more because I’m a Prince,” Fiyero shrugged. Admitting more to the colt than he did to anyone else.
“Have you tried biting them?” Feldspur suggested.
Fiyero snorted. Well, what did he expect anyway? He was talking to a baby. What kind of advice would a baby have besides biting?
“I shall try that,” he shrugged and Feldspur trotted around happily for having been of help.
As they both grew up, so did their friendship. Fiyero would at some point start bringing Feldspur with him to the schools even long before he could start to ride him since many of the schools did have Animals working at them. It also exposed the young colt to the world, and he soon got to learn about life and how things worked in Oz.
The colt turned 2 and was a stunner already, with his long flowing mane and shimmering blue hair that covered his body. He still had that lean frame and coltish legs, though. So while they would train him to carry things on his back, it was nothing too heavy yet.
Fiyero too started to get the attention of the more mature type too as he got older. Being a rich, handsome prince with a stunning stallion at his side, it naturally got both men and women to swarm to his side. He became an expert at handling it too. Whatever trouble his mind was carrying didn’t matter. There was no one to fix it so why bother, right? None of these people were interested in being a friend or a lover for anything but his laidback, cheerful nature and good looks, after all.
After having turned 3 and 17, Fiyero and Feldspur visited Emerald City together for the first time. Fiyero had been there a couple of times before when he was a small child, but once his parents decided he was too much of a handful as a teenager, they usually went alone. This time, though, his parents requested he come visit them and so he did. He borrowed Willow for the ride, but naturally brought Feldspur along as well. The mother-son pair always left an impression when they arrived to new places.
“Son,” Marillot, his father, greeted him upon arrival to the Emerald City.
“Your horse is blue,” he said casually. Fiyero snorted, not very princely, and glanced back at Feldspur who also snickered.
"Father, I am overjoyed to hear that you are at least not going blind in your old age,” Fiyero chuckled, silently admitting to himself that he deserved the clip over the back of his head.
The stay at Emerald City was rather disastrous. It was the first time Fiyero and Feldspur found out that Horses could indeed get drunk. Neither his parents or Willow was impressed by the result the next morning. Finding their sons in the yard of a friend from one of Fiyero’s past schools that happened to live right outside Emerald City.
Said friend was tucked up close to Fiyero in a parked wagon by the barn while the colt was swaying on the side.
Fiyero was banned from visiting Emerald City in a long time by his parents, which didn’t bother him much since he hadn’t even seen the wizard once during the whole trip.
“Maybe you should talk to someone?” Willow asked when they were back home a week later. Lying in the field with the boy picking at the grass Feldspur was trying to eat.
“I’m fine,” Fiyero shrugged, looking wistfully towards the castle he called home.
“You are not,” the mare said quietly, sharing a look with her son over the boy’s head. It was that day the young colt realized that his owner was more troubled than he let on.
“It’s just—" Fiyero started,
“I was a disappointment to my parents when I was a child and I am one now. Rather than to be here and… I don’t know…” he trailed off. Never finishing what he tried to say and while Willow so dearly wanted to help, she couldn’t push too much either.
Feldspur being a Horse meant he did mature quicker. By the time he turned 4, he looked stronger and more than ready to be ridden. The only reason they hadn’t started sooner was because of Fiyero’s schools, which he kept dropping out of more and more often. A person with everything in order and in good headspace would not be acting this way.
The day came when Fiyero finally came home to learn to ride Feldspur. He was no longer just a colt. He was a proud stallion, and he looked every bit of it.
“You could loosen the girth a little,” Feldspur suggested.
“Mhm, what happens if you stop holding your breath?” Fiyero countered.
“I’m not holding my breath,” the stallion insisted.
Fiyero didn’t answer. Just waited it out and watched with narrow eyes as the horse slowly let his breath go and the girth hung loosely under his belly.
“You bastard,” Fiyero snorted and shook his head. Quickly tightening the girth enough so it wouldn’t slide around when he climbed the stirrup, but not tight enough that it’d hurt his friend.
“You’re more observant than you let on,” Feldspur pointed out.
“And you are more devious than you let on,” Fiyero said.
“I would very much like to survive this, Felds. Please don’t throw me off,” he scolded his friend, glancing towards Hugo, the stable manager, and Willow watching them.
“As tempting as that might be for you,” Fiyero muttered before lifting his foot to the stirrup and hoisting himself up.
For a moment he just sat there. Getting used to the brand-new saddle made specifically for Feldspur. Adjusting the stirrups and making sure none of his mane was stuck under the saddle.
“I’m not too heavy for you, am I?” Fiyero asked, feeling a rare kind of joy to finally be able to sit on top of his own proud steed. One he could proudly call his friend.
“I didn’t even notice you were on yet,” Feldspur joked, turning his head to nudge at his foot.
“Ready when you are,” Feldspur said and started walking forward. His ears moved back and forth as he got used to the strange weight on his back. It was one thing to have a saddle on or bags. They didn’t move. The person, however, was odd. Fiyero would naturally move and shift on top of him and his legs would be on either side of him. He walked up a steep hill and back down to where Willow was watching.
“Sweetheart, you don’t need to worry about balancing him. That’s what Fiyero does,” Willow explained. Noticing that Feldspur was naturally trying to figure out the best way to keep his owner safe on his back.
It was easy enough to find their groove. Once Feldspur trusted that Fiyero knew what he was doing, he relaxed more, and soon they trotted around the field. Laughing and cheering as they turned into a gallop. Racing across the fields while the other horses joined. It was the most amazing feeling Fiyero had felt in a long time. Raising his arms out, he closed his eyes. Making it feel like he was flying across the fields like a bird.
This time when Fiyero left for yet another school, Feldspur came with him. Now they were both ready to conquer the world!
Except it took less than one week before Fiyero was kicked out of yet another school.
“There is soon no school left in Oz for you, Fiyero. You can’t keep shoving your problems under a rug and pretend you’re fine. It’s not going to end well,” Feldspur mentioned somewhere along the way. Of course Fiyero didn’t listen. He was well into his 19th year in this life and the mask stayed in place.
Summer vacation of Fiyero’s 20th birthday and Feldspur’s 5th came and went. A massive event was held at the Tigelaar’s castle, and it was the first time Feldspur caught his best friend in the amorous company of another young man. Except Feldspur wasn’t sure of what he thought about the situation. He cared not for what kind of company his friend kept as long as they were kind to him. Problem was that this young man didn’t give the young stallion good vibes.
Feldspur was free to walk the lands of his owner because he would never just leave Fiyero after all. So he was close to the castle that evening when he saw the two young men. He minded his own business, but because of the bad vibes the other man gave him, Feldspur didn’t stray too far. They were in the gazebo making out when Feldspur caught the first words of resistance from his owner.
“Mind a break? My parents are literally right inside,” Fiyero gasped for air. His company was handsome in every sense of the word and an amazing kisser, but he was also a tad intense. Not to mention bigger than the prince. Fiyero was not new to sexual situations, but being within the view of his parents really killed off any interest in letting this go any further.
“So?” The young man brushed off Fiyero’s concern and leaned in again, crowding him before Fiyero could fully pull away. Fiyero went still for a moment, caught between surprise and discomfort, before turning his head aside and drawing in a sharp breath.
“This is inappropriate,” Fiyero said, firmer this time. The man finally took the hint and backed off with a grumble. Then he jumped when a huge, blue horse was right there.
“Problems?” Feldspur quipped, ignoring Fiyero's groan.
“What the hell do you care?” the stranger asked and got off Fiyero completely.
“Just looking out for my friend, is all,” Feldspur said, snickering as the other man just grumbled and headed back inside the castle.
“I don’t like him,” Feldspur said and looked at Fiyero. Preparing himself to be reprimanded by his owner.
“It’s fine, Felds,” Fiyero sighed and laid back on the bench for a little longer. Reaching a hand up and stroking his muzzle,
“Don’t worry. I can handle myself.”
Feldspur could only hope he could handle himself. The next day he seemed rough, but otherwise fine. Such did the summer continue. Feldspur would spend days on end with his best friend and those were the best days. Fiyero seemed genuinely happy on those days. They would visit the markets, swim in the lakes and join parties with both humans and Animals. The only time they were apart was when Fiyero found a girl or a boy—sometimes both—to enjoy the night with and Feldspur might have just spotted a beautiful mare there as well.
The summer went and the attempt at finding a school Fiyero had not been kicked out of yet was on again. His parents were frustrated to say the least and quite frankly, so were all of them.
So a few weeks into getting kicked out of another school, Shiz was next.
“One thing’s for sure, Felds. My parents are annoyingly insistent on me trying every school in Oz. How many do we have left untouched?” Fiyero chuckled while they trotted through the dark woods on their way to the new school.
“No idea. Maybe two?” Feldspur suggested.
“I guess we’ll find out one day,” Fiyero shrugged, disinterested.
They would not.
Minutes after their conversation finally came the change Fiyero needed in his life.
Elphaba Thropp.
***
“I should have said something. Before she left,” Fiyero ran his hands through his hair as he paced back and forth in the stables.
“You should have broken up with Galinda before they left so that you could confess to Elphaba when they return,” Feldspur suggested. Maybe not the best advice considering it would be so soon after dumping her friend, but Feldspur had never seen Fiyero like this. He was so head over heels for this green girl and he didn’t want his friend to lose his chance with someone who could be so good for him.
“Look at the bright side. Now you can prepare better what you have to say so you don’t mess this up,” Feldspur suggested.
“Why would I mess this up?” Fiyero asked, pausing his pacing and looking at his friend.
“Because you never take anything as serious as this. A woman that made you stop up and think about what you’re doing with your life? You weren’t lying when you said she was magical. She has to be to get you to get your shit together,” the horse snorted. Fiyero didn’t laugh, though, and instead nodded a little.
“I suppose,” he sighed.
Fate would mess it up for him. When Fiyero stood on the steps at Shiz hearing Madame Morrible announce that his Elphaba was now an enemy of the state, he knew this was bad. Fiyero turned on his heels and ran to his room to grab his things before going straight back to the stables.
“You heard that, right?” Fiyero asked as he burst through the doors, spooking a few of the other horses, but Feldspur was ready for him.
“I did. Where are we going first?” the blue horse asked, standing still while Fiyero tacked him up.
“Emerald City. We have no way of knowing where she’s gone. Maybe Galinda will know.”
Glinda did not know.
In fact, she was so infuriatingly unhelpful about what had happened for the longest time. Worst of all, she had no idea where Elphaba had gone off to. When Fiyero tried to ask why she had just let her leave, Glinda would just cry into his chest, and he didn’t have the heart to push her away.
Fiyero regretted a lot of things that followed. He and Feldspur would travel all over Oz looking for Elphaba, at the same time trying to keep it a secret from the Wizard.
“So the wizard is the villain,” Feldspur sighed one day as they were trotting along a finished part of the yellow brick road. It was just a small stretch and so much left to go, but the road was well on its way.
“Glinda won’t admit to it, but who else is? We know Elphaba isn’t the villain Horrible Morrible is painting her out to be,” Fiyero said. They had left the city one morning a week ago without telling Glinda. He had an excuse ready. Visiting his homelands. Always worked.
The further along the yellow brick road neared its finish, the more desperate the situation in Oz was getting. The deeper Galinda fell into the rush of fame and fortune, the more she lost herself. The further away Elphaba slipped from his fingers. Even when he had been so close. Had he turned around that time in the woods, he would have seen her. Feldspur confirmed that she was ‘blending with the foliage,' but this time he had seen her. Unlike Feldspur, though, Fiyero could not turn around and look at her. He was the Captain of the Guards now. He had to protect her even from himself now.
It was the night before the wedding Fiyero had never asked for; he came to visit Feldspur at the stables. No one else was there now this late so it was the only time it felt safer to actually talk to his friend.
“If something happens to me, you have to try and get out of here, Felds,” Fiyero said, folding his arms over the gate to Feldspurs’ stall.
“What are you planning?” the blue horse watched him closely. He had seen his friend and owner struggle many times through the years they had been together, but the look on his face now was dark.
Like he had no longer any belief that this would end well for any of them.
“Just promise me,” Fiyero insisted.
“No. Tell me what you are planning before I promise you such a thing,” Feldspur countered, stretching his neck to brush his muzzle against his human’s shoulder. Fiyero sighed, lifting a hand to stroke his horse’s face.
“I am not planning anything. Just preparing,” he said.
“Preparing for what?”
“If Elphaba shows up anytime before or during the wedding, I will go with her and I don’t know how that will go down,” Fiyero explained,
“I just know I have to. I can’t continue like this. I can’t continue hurting Glinda. I can’t continue pretending that any of this is right. I can’t pretend that I don’t love Elphaba. I need you to be safe if things go awry,” he explained.
Feldspur understood. He didn’t want to, but he did. He knew that if Elphaba showed up and Fiyero went with her, it would be impossible for him to come get him.
“Unless I let you go now,” Fiyero said and straightened.
“What?” Feldspur lifted his head and watched as Fiyero put a lead on his halter.
“If I manage to escape with Elphaba, I will be a traitor. If you are still here, what if they take this anger out on you? I have to let you go now. Come on,” Fiyero tugged on the lead.
“Fiyero, don’t do this,” Feldspur felt his heart break. He wasn’t ready for this. He couldn’t just let Fiyero go like this. He had promised to look out for him.
“Felds, please. You know you are not safe here. I was awful to you for taking you to ground zero in the first place. You will be much safer if you escape to the Vinkus,” Fiyero explained,
“Look. I am not actively trying to give my life here. I will come and find you if this goes right,” he promised.
Feldspur stuttered, but reluctantly took one step out of the stall. Then another until they were both on the outskirts of Emerald city.
“I’ve failed you,” Feldspur said as Fiyero removed the halter from him.
“You have done no such thing. You have been my one constant friend these years. Hadn’t it been for you, I might not even have been here now,” Fiyero said quietly, wrapping his arms around the blue stallion’s neck and hugged him tight for a long time. Feldspur lowered his head and hugged his friend’s back to him.
“I will be reading the news for you,” Feldspur said. Each step away from him hurt more than the other.
“I know,” Fiyero swallowed,
“Please tell Willow I’m sorry.”
It was only thanks to years of practice that Fiyero managed to keep his face mostly stoic as he watched his stallion leave. Reminding himself that it was for the best. Neither the wizard or Morrible cared enough about a seemingly regular horse to go looking for it after he was potentially gone.
Feldspur returned to the Vinkus with an entirely broken heart. Willow didn’t even need to ask what was wrong when her son returned unannounced.
“My boy,” Willow neighed as a worn-out Feldspur came up to the fence.
“Hugo told me,” she tried to soothe her son by nuzzling him.
“Told you what? I have been on the road from Emerald City for days now,” Feldspur felt fear surround him. Had things really gone so bad in such a short time?
With a heart as broken as his own, Willow told him what Hugo had heard: the wedding between Fiyero and Glinda the Good had been interrupted by the Wicked Witch. Fiyero had fled with her, and by morning, Oz was calling him a traitor.
The next day, he had given himself up to save the witch.
“He is dead,” Willow cried. In the distance, the King and Queen stood in their gazebo, mourning the son they had taken for granted. The son they had given up on.
Feldspur couldn’t breathe.
It hadn’t worked out.
“He can’t be. Why did she not protect him?” Feldspur whispered.
“She was wicked, was she not?” Willow asked, not sure what to believe.
“She was… Elphaba. She was not wicked,” the stallion lowered his head. If he could cry, he would have.
“Elphaba was not wicked at all. The wizard is,” he explained. He would honor Fiyero by honoring Elphaba.
The news continued to come from Emerald city in the following days. A cyclone had left much destruction behind, but had never quite reached the Vinkus. A young girl from Kansas was said to have come with the tornado and with three friends, she alone had defeated the wicked witch once and for all. It made no sense to Feldspur. Something felt off about it all. Especially when Glinda continued to act like everything was fine.
Nearly six months passed, and Feldspur was never given to a new owner. Instead, he wandered the Vinkus without direction, unsure of what he was supposed to do with himself now. He missed Fiyero with his whole soul. It felt as if a part of him had been torn away—a part that had been with him since the day he was born, a part he had not been able to protect. And yet, in the end, Fiyero had protected him.
He was wandering the beautiful woods not far from home one day when he heard whispers from the birds. That the green witch and her lover had settled down in these woods.
“But Elphaba is dead,” Feldspur said, interrupting a couple of small, but chatty birds in the trees above him.
“Oh, but she is not, my friend,” one of the birds explained,
“She escaped thanks to her lover. Did you not hear how she supposedly died? By water? Such nonsense.”
Feldspur wanted to ask more, but the birds had already tumbled back into their gossip and no longer seemed interested in answering him. So he moved on, lowering his head and letting his nose guide him deeper into the trees.
The forest stretched wide around him, vast and seemingly endless. He and Fiyero had ridden through these woods during their summers together, and the memory tugged at him with every familiar turn of the path.
Still, he pressed farther in.
Then, at last, he caught a scent.
Not Fiyero’s. Not exactly.
Something different.
Something almost familiar.
“Feldspur. Is it really you?” a woman’s voice made him look around. Unsure where it came from.
“Up here,” the voice said and sure enough. Built into the slant of a hill and amongst the trees were something of a home. And below it sat Elphaba on a swing. The green girl. She slipped down from it and came closer to him.
“We were hoping you would find us,” Elphaba explained, reaching a hand out towards the horse, but he stood still. Unsure of what to think.
“Us?” he asked, looking around. Scared of getting his hopes up.
“Fiyero and I,” she said with a slight smile.
“Fiyero is…” he trailed off. Not wanting to say it.
“Fiyero is changed, but he is alive,” the witch assured.
“Changed how?” Feldspur asked and followed Elphaba when she started walking back to the remarkable home built into the woods. Climbing part of the hill before they reached something of a well-hidden door.
“They tortured him. They tried to kill him,” she said. She went on to explain how her magic worked and how the grimmerie would twist her magic when she tried to save not only Fiyero, but also Boq.
“A scarecrow?” Feldspur asked. Stood by the door, Elphaba nodded.
“He is beautiful,” she smiled,
“But different. Let me get him,” she said before vanishing inside. Feldspur remained where he was. Watching the shadow of her move to a bed, here she sat down next to what looked like a sleeping body. Running her hand through his hair.
“My sweet. He is here. Feldspur has found you,” he heard the witch whisper.
A moment of silence was followed by the body on the bed scrambling upright and looking back right at him. Fiyero wasted no time getting onto unsteady feet and moved to the door.
And there he was: changed almost beyond recognition, yet still unmistakably Fiyero. His hair was no longer hair at all, but hay, longer and rougher than it had been when he was human. His nose had turned brown, and even his eyes had shifted to the same earthy shade. His skin had been replaced with burlap, his ears had grown slightly pointed, and the clothes he wore looked like an altered version of the Gale Force uniform.
“Feldspur,” Fiyero said, stepping closer and resting one hand gently against his friend’s muzzle.
“Fiyero. I can’t believe this,” the stallion breathed. The scent was still his—familiar enough—but it had changed, tangled now with straw, burlap, and the strange magic that had made him a Scarecrow.
“I know,” Fiyero said with a soft laugh.
“It takes some getting used to.”
Elphaba came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Fiyero leaned back into her touch, then lifted one arm so she could move to his side.
“Don’t be mad at her,” he said quietly. “She saved my life.”
At the end of the day Feldspur didn’t care what his best friend and owner looked like. He was there. He was still alive.
“How come you have not come and seen me?” Feldspur asked, nuzzling Fiyero’s chest and chuckling since he smelled of hay.
“We have tried, but we are in hiding. Oz thinks Elphaba and I are dead. We can’t just wander around. We traveled through Oz during the night until we got here. We finally reached the Vinkus, but we have had to be careful not to be seen,” Fiyero explained, both he and his Elphaba rubbing his neck.
“I understand,” Feldspur nickered. Overjoyed that his friend was alive and… happier than he had ever seen him before. He had a purpose again. He had a home again. He had his friend again.
“You wouldn’t mind helping me build a little stable at the bottom of your little hill here, would you?” Feldspur wondered, relieved that he was welcomed. Elphaba even explained how she would widen the entrance door to their home so it would fit him as well. That way he could join them in the evenings inside their humble abode.
Feldspur did not know Elphaba well yet, but he quickly understood why Fiyero loved her. Without hesitation, she went back inside to fetch a sketchbook, then returned to them at the foot of the small hill. Settling onto the swing, she began drawing ideas for what Feldspur’s stable could look like.
Feldspur laid down in the soft moss on the forest floor and gladly welcomed Fiyero when his friend settled down against him.
“Are you happy?” Feldspur asked, moving his gaze from the Scarecrow the man had become to the witch on her swing hanging from below their home built into the hill. It was such a different life from what Fiyero had grown up with, and yet he had never seen that man more at peace.
“I got the love of my life and now I got my best friend back and a home in the woods near my home. I have never been happier,” he smiled.
“Finally,” Feldspur teased, nickering when Elphaba slipped off the swing again and joined her Fiyero and Feldspur. Getting comfortable with her two boys as she showed her sketches of the stables she would easily be able to create with her magic.
“I will be happy here too,” Feldspur said.