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[leucemic-god.livejournal.com]

Date: April 10th, 2000
Setting: Manor Grounds
Status: Public (complete)
Summary: How three horses came to be loose on the manor grounds.




Loki had 'organised' a ten kilo sack of carrots and a slightly smaller one of apples from the kitchens. A bit of a large snack for a single horse, but he planned on having his share of them as well. The doctor had said that fresh fruits and vegetables were very important for him after all and he could make one little exception to his decision not to shape change. That one hadn't been a doctor's order anyway.

He recognised the stables the moment they came into view as he rounded the house. There was a small enclosure right next to them that just screamed: Large grass-eating animals kept here. In fact, to anybody else the enclosure would probably have seemed easily big enough for a single horse, but Loki had his own ideas of how horses, and especially Sleipnir, should be kept. To a horse that had grown up running free all over Asgard this had to seem like a pitiful backyard.

What was even worse was that Sleipnir wasn't even outside. Poor child, locked up in a tiny box on a beautiful spring day like this! Well, not much longer, if Loki could help it.

A delighted grumble greeted him the moment he slipped through the door. Sleipnir's beautiful red head looked at him expectantly from behind the metal bars of a box in the back, elegant ears turned towards him and nostrils widened just a little to take in his smell.

Ignoring the unfamiliar white horse in the other box Loki rushed to greet Sleipnir, stroke the soft nose and scratch the dense, rough mane.

Sleipnir pushed his hand eagerly, pressed his lips into his palm to indicate that he expected food. A carrot quickly disappeared in the horse's mouth.

The white saw that and began to hammer a hoof against the wall.

"Beggar." Loki told him, but pushed another carrot into his mouth anyway. What the heck, he liked horses, even if this stranger had little in common with the sturdy, scruffy Viking ponies he was used to. He tried to scratch this one as well, but it was rather awkward with those stupid metal bars getting in the way.

"Now this just won't do." he informed the horses. "But don't you worry. I've got a much better idea. Just give me a moment."

He slipped back out and spread out the carrots and apples in the grass just outside the door. Paddock? What paddock? Why shouldn't the poor things enjoy their snack in freedom?

One last little delay as he searched for the bin. Plastic bags and horses weren't a good combination so he disposed of them properly before pulling back the bolts on their doors. Binky, though Loki had no idea that that was the white horse’s name, looked a little unsure about what to do with his sudden freedom, but then Sleipnir rushed past him and he followed and seconds later there was the sound of happy munching from the direction of the door.

Loki took a deep breath and transformed into his horse shape.

Comments

[leucemic-god.livejournal.com]

A wave of weakness washed over her. Shape changing took a lot of energy even though Loki had never realised it before he'd gotten sick. He'd always had energy to spare, but now ...

On slightly wobbly legs she stumbled outside to join the two larger horses. Loki wasn't a big horse, even for a Viking pony. She'd never seen any need for mass. Even her human shape was rather small for an Asgardian. Her quickness and wit had always served her better than weight and muscle. That had been Thor's department.

Sleipnir gave a soft rumble of welcome and concern when she stopped to pick up an apple beside him.

Binky on the other hand got a little excited and insisted on sniffing noses and exchanging shrill shrieks of excitement. It didn't bring any humans running, though, so that was fine with Loki.

The apples and carrots were delicious, but soon gone. The three horses exchanged slightly disappointed glances before continuing with the nice fresh grass outside. That wasn't bad either, Loki thought, but Sleipnir and Binky had other things in mind.

First one then the other they took a nice long roll in the grass and then with a happy neigh and a shake of his head Binky invited them to a race.

By then Loki was well enough restored to see the attraction of a little run and thus she took off after the two. Sleipnir took the lead as they reached the corner of the manor house. Binky almost lost his footing on the stone path by the glass house and slipped into a row of bushes that Sleipnir had gone around.

Loki had to either stop or jump, if she didn't want to run straight into him, so she pulled up her front legs and pushed off. The landing in a large flower bed was soft and her success encouraged Binky to extricate himself from the bushes and take another roll in the soft earth of the flower bed.

Meanwhile Sleipnir had noticed that he'd lost his companions. Abruptly ramming all eight hooves into the lawn he stopped causing chunks of grass and earth to fly in every direction, turned around and headed back.

They met up in the vegetable gardens where Loki was attempting to teach Binky where carrots came from. It was a little too early in the year unfortunately, though, and even more unfortunate about the peas and tomatoes that had been in the way, but a horse must do what a horse must do.

Right now Loki felt a strong urge to explore the grounds, by the way. There had to be a terrace somewhere, right?

With Loki in the lead the three set off again.

[roadkill-god.livejournal.com]

Horus was high above the mansion when he noticed the torn up garden and the horses running loose below him. I was a strange image, one of the horses had eight legs, and he was pretty sure there had been only two horses in the stable. He swooped lower, curiously following above the horses.

[leucemic-god.livejournal.com]

The shadow of a large bird swooped over her and Loki looked up.

It looked familiar, but her eyes weren’t particularly good in this shape. Ears pricked forward and nostrils widened. Yes, she knew that smell, that feel ...

“Whinnnie!” was as close to ‘Hello Horus, old chap!’ as she could get at the moment.

She added a happy little jump for good measure, but not looking where she was going she ended up on a paved path. Her front hooves slipped out from under her unexpectedly and she slid into a young tree.

Crack! But at leased it broke her momentum and she managed to get all four feet under control again. She bucked and kicked at another tree to cover her embarrassment.

[roadkill-god.livejournal.com]

Horus went higher as the horse slid into a tree and circled, finally recognizing the aura of the lead hourse. He was the one responsible for the war. He landed at the top of the tree and screeched at Loki, remembering the battle and the man on the tree. He didn't trust him.

[leucemic-god.livejournal.com]

Loki snorted and stamped her right front hoof. She wanted to greet Horus properly, ask him why he was behaving so oddly, but if she transformed now, he'd notice how much it exhausted her and she couldn't allow that.

Somewhere to her right Sleipnir once again dug his hooves into the ground while Binky was examining the outside of the glass house. Perhaps it was worth taking a look inside?

[roadkill-god.livejournal.com]

There were many reasons for Horus's odd behavior, mostly due to him not having been sane for the past few decades or longer, but it was debatable whether Loki would have gotten a real response anyway. He turned to look at what the horses were investigating, wondering what they were up to. Was Loki making trouble again?

Loki is confused because he doesn't realise Horus has cause to be angry with him

[leucemic-god.livejournal.com]

Loki saw Horus' attention shift and looked over at his companions as well. now this looked interesting. She trotted over to stand beside Binky.

They stuck their heads together, sniffing noses, regarded the glass house some more and then Loki went to find an entrance.

As far as Loki was concerned she was just spending a nice day with her son and a new friend. Had she stopped to consider the likely reaction of the manor staff she might have realised that this could be mistaken for causing trouble, though.

Re: Loki is confused because he doesn't realise Horus has cause to be angry with him

[roadkill-god.livejournal.com]

Horus shifted slightly on his perch, watching the horses try to figure out how to get into the little building. He settled in to watch, curious about the reaction that the horses would get once the others in the manor realized what they were up to.

[leucemic-god.livejournal.com]

The door open to the outside. Which meant it was rather tricky for a horse. It took several attempts to push the handle down and pull at the same time, but finally Loki managed to open it a crack. The rest was a little easier ...

[leucemic-god.livejournal.com]

The glasshouse wasn’t made for horses. There was much too little room to move between the plants and things got crushed or thrown off shelves at every step Loki took.

Binky, who’d followed her inside trustingly, was startled by the crash of a shattering flowerpot and jumped backwards to flee. He collided with a wall and glass shards rained down on him.

Ouch! Loki offered a soft grumble of sympathy.

Binky jumped forward again and right into the plants. Loki was about to follow her and calm her down when something fell over her neck.

“Got you!” Loki stared in surprise at an old gardener who had just slung a rope over her. “Now be a good girl and come along.”

She considered fighting, but in here she didn’t stand much of a chance and it was probably not wise to attract too much attention. If Odin came down here, he’d recognise her and demand that she turn back and then he’d se how it exhausted her.

She went along like a god little horse.

“Run back to the house and call the vet.” the gardener told a stranger they passed on the way out the door. “The big white horse’s hurt.”

Ups! Loki hadn’t meant to harm her new friend! One very sheepish looking little mare trudged back to the stables where the gardener locked her into a spare box mumbling something about having to ask about her owner in town.

She decided to remain a horse until she was sure all humans had left. Let them wonder later where she’d disappeared to. They wouldn’t find any owner anyway.

The vet arrived about half an hour later and Loki snorted in relief when he announced that Binky had suffered only superficial cuts and would be fine in a few days. They disinfected the wounds and put the gelding back into his box. Only Sleipnir was still missing. Apparently he was giving the humans a good chase. Loki would have grinned, if she’d been human.

[leucemic-god.livejournal.com]

Only after Sleipnir was back and the humans had all gone did Loki return to his usual shape. He lay in the straw until he felt strong enough to return to the house, then said his good byes to both horses and snuck out. It was already getting dark outside. The end of a perfect day.