The neverending story....

The water felt so refreshing, she sank to her knees and laid down in the stream, stretching over on her side, resting her head on the bank and let the water flow over her, washing all the soot and dirt out of her silvery coat.  She felt safe with the eagles, standing guard above her and her mind began to wander over the day's events. 
 
A soft throat-clearing broke her train of thought and she jerked upright.  The female eagle tipped her head and gave her a kind look.  "Oh, I'm sorry!" the little mare exclaimed and heaved herself up onto her feet and gave a good shake.  She clambered up the bank and stood, dripping below the eagles once again.  "Could you tell me, what is that?" she asked, looking back at where the invisible shield had been.  "I was trying to get down to the meadow and ran into something, but I can't see anything?"
 
"Only those with permission can go beyond." said the male eagle.  "You were sent by the porcupine which means .............

 
"You were sent by the Porcupine, which means you are in great need.  Our friend only tells those who are; how to appease us and win our favour." replied the Great Eagle.
The two huge birds of prey chewed the Saffron and seemed to be having a very quiet, private conversation.  It seemed to be about the mare as she saw them stealing looks at her and occasionally nodding in her direction.  Having now gotten out of the water, She stood patiently, as her Mother had long ago taught her that being impatient with birds was very rude.  So she stood dripping in the shade of the great oak and waited patiently.  Her silvery tail swished occasionally from side to side, but it was more out of habit than anything else, for there were no flies under the seemingly sacred tree.
 
Finally the Great Eagle fixed her with a fierce eye and asked, " What brings you here?"
 
The question was so far from what the poor mare expected all she could do was stare at him open-mouthed.
 
"What I mean to say to you, Mare, is; why are you here?"
 
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't understand at first," she explained in a rush, " There was a fire and the canyon was burning everywhere!  The herd was scattered and then I thought of my mother..."
 
"We know of the fire, Mare!"  Interrupted the Eagle.  His mate brushed his great shoulder with her head and looked imploringly up at him.
 
"We know the circumstances which bring you here."  explained the Eagle, somewhat more gently.  "What I mean to say is, What are you looking to find with us?"
 
"Well..." the mare began, somewhat uncomfortably, "I was..."  She started digging with her hoof in the soft turf under the tree.  The mare was feeling foolish asking these great birds about a magic lake.
 
"Go on dear," encouraged the she-Eagle, "Tell us how we may be of assistance.  Our prickly friend doesn't often send people to us for help.  Those he does send are usually in great need."
 
"You know about the Porcupine?" exclaimed the Mare in surprise!
 
The great birds make a chuffing, almost chiruping sound (if chiruping would not be too undignified for such a bird), which the mare took for their laughter.
 
"Yes, dear.  We've followed you all the way from the burning valley.  We saw the Angels.  They're rarely seen around here," she replied revrently.
 
"My herd, my family..." the mare began and saw the great birds heads droop in sadness. 
 
"I'm so sorry..." began the she-Eagle and couldn't continue.  Her mate covered her for a moment with his wing.  Then he addressed the Mare,
"These are the way of the Prairie, the mountains, and the forrests.  We live and we die.  You are alone.  However you seek something else.  What is it you seek?"  His fierce eyes turned one at a time upon her, as birds, like horses must do.
 
It took a moment for the mare to compose herself.  She then related the tale her mother had told her about the magical lake.  The birds once again consulted quietly between each other. 
 
Then the great Eagle raised himself up quite reagally and looked down upon the poor mare before him.
 
"There may be such a lake.  However it is very far away from here.  You must cross the great desert, which you are much the way across  now.  Once you have found your way across the desert there is a forrest and heath of great beauty.  The horses are very few to be found there.  However, those that are there are kind and wise.  The lake you seek is in a deep valley.  The sides of it are very steep and the lake only sees the sun for two hours a day.  Even in the middle of the day it reflects the stars as if at the mid-term of the night.  This would be the lake you seek, if any."  The Great Eagle paused for a moment and considered the mare for a moment.  It was as if he was making up his mind about something.  He seemed after a moment to come to a decision.  His demeanor was kinder, more conciliatory
 
"You may not pass through our valley." He said gently, "  If you do so, you will never wish to leave.  To do so would not  be a kindness to you as your sorrows would become such a burden to you as to be finally unbearable.  Thus we send you on.  However, help will always be at hand.  Continue along the cliff face for about three leagues.  There will be a dark crevasse in the cliff face.  It's narrow, very difficult for a creature your size to pass through, though the deer make it, so you might.  If you can get through this divide, it will take weeks off your journey and there's water on the other side.  However, do not make the decision for the crevasse lightly as once you enter you cannot ever turn around to the very end.  The alternative is to follow the cliff face for a week.  It will take you to the great desert.  Then you must turn to the setting sun and follow the edge of the hills on your right.  In time, you will come to the heaths and forrests of which I told you earlier."
 
"God speed and keep you," said the She-Eagle as they took to wing and sailed away on the wind.
 
The mare was overwhelmed with the task ahead of her.  All the same she turned her head back toward the cliff and started following it.   She decided to make up her mind about the crevasse when she saw it.
 
So, still weary, sorrowful, and dejected, she plodded sadly along the base of the forbidding cliffs.
 
Several days later...

Several days later she found her hunger could no longer be ignored.  She was tired of stumbling in the shale and debris at the bottom of the cliff.  There was precious little grass to eat and what there was had been dried by the sun to brittle tastelessness and she had so little to drink!  But below her she could see abundant brush and some tufts of grass in the shade of the Chaparral.  So she made her way down the slope, leaving the path appointed to her.  There was some water, rather muddy and slightly brackish, but water pooled up under some of the larger brush a short distance from the cliff-face.  Around the edge of the pool was abundant grass, however it was somewhat stunted and bitter to the taste.  Thus she didn#%92t eat or drink much there and moved on after soaking her tired feet in the cool mud.
 
Wandering further out into the now sparse Chaparral, she looked up to see two birds circling very high up.  This reminded the mare of her purpose and she looked back to the cliffs.  It was alarming to see how far away they were!  As she examined the Cliff-face from this distance, the Mare noticed that the cliffs were curving slightly away from her.  This explained why she was unable, whilst following them, to see very far ahead.  However, now she could see down several miles of the Cliff-face at once.  And so she received her first view of the dreadful cleft.  It looked like a thin black line, or crack in the cliff-face.  In fact, even from here she could see that the leading edge of the cliff was somewhat closer than the edge she had been following.  Like the whole mesa had shifted sometime in the far distant past.  Just the thought of such a cataclysm, made her shudder a bit.  As she nibbled the few tender leaves of brush that there were to find, the Mare instinctively made her way back to the cliff and the ominous chasm that divided its face.
 
[font="ms sans serif"]Not far from the Cleft, she found a thin stream of clear water feeding into a tiny, dimpled pool.  The water was clear and cool as it was in the shade of tall Chaparral.  The grass surrounding this pool was sweet and delicious, unlike what she had found earlier.  As the water seemed to be dribbling out of the cleft, the Mare followed the narrow little stream.  Before long she finally stood before the appalling reality of what she must do!  The cleft stood dark and forbidding before her.  Two horses couldn#%92t have walked abreast in this narrow chasm!  Her first instinct was to run away just as fast as she could.  However... the little stream did issue from the cleft, and the breeze blowing out of it was cool.  The mare stood for quite a while undecided on whether to enter this forbidding corridor.  The words of the Eagle came to her, “[/font]However, do not make the decision for the crevasse lightly as once you enter you cannot ever turn around to the very end.”  Thus, she knew that this already frighteningly narrow chasm would get even narrower.
 
After standing in that cool shade, with the water of the thin stream tinkling along the rocks and pebbles at the cliff-face, the Mare came to a difficult decision…..   

The mare decided to enter the crevasse and attempt the crossing!  However, she decided that to do so, she must be as provisioned as possible.  So she turned away from the cliff and followed the little streamlet back to the little dimpled pool and the lush grass around it.  Thus she rested and gathered her strength for the hard, likely hungry road ahead.  It also gave Glimmer some time to gain some courage for such an adventure.
 
Yes, Glimmer was the mare#%92s name.  She had hardly heard her name as only her Mother spoke it to her.  Mother had named her thus because white horses were very rare in the herd.  They were considered to be more than a little special.  Little Glimmer was the pride of the herd, especially of her father the Master Stallion.  All the same, she rarely heard her name.  Horses on the Mesas and Prairie kept their names to themselves.  Not so much secret as private.  It was impolite to use another horse#%92s name unless one was on very close relations with them.  Yet, Glimmer so wished someone to say her name.  It would have been quite some comfort to her current loneliness.
 
After two days of good feed and rest, the Mare was ready to continue her journey, her restful, though somewhat melancholy respite was over.  She once again turned her attention to the dreadful and dark cleft in the Cliff-face and Mesa.
 
Returning once again to the tiny rivulet that issued from the Crevasse the mare once again followed it to the dreaded passage.  She stood on the verge of the darkness and allowed her vision to adjust.  As the mare looked forward, she could see the path was rather smooth and sandy.  Also, the little rivulet vanished rather soon upon entering the great cleft.  Looking up she was astounded to see the stars shining brightly in the middle of the day!  She spun around and saw that the sun was high in the late morning sky, yet it was twilight in the great crevasse.  She shuddered at the strangeness of it all.  In fact, upon discovering this very unnerving attribute of the crevasse, the Mare almost lost what little courage she possessed.  All the same, she gave herself a great shake and timidly continued into the crevasse.
 
At first the going was very smooth.  It was cool and the breeze was pleasant.  However the Mare soon discovered that the Crevasse was narrowing.  Not rapidly, however the walls were growing gradually closer.  There was no grass, no ferns, no green thing to be seen anywhere in there.  There was just the silence, the soft breeze, the sandy floor and the twilight.  Then she noticed that the light was going as well and the sky, was also growing ever darker with brighter and brighter stars.  She blindly picked her way carefully along and then the moon peeped over the side of the great cleft.
 
Glimmer stopped in astonishment and looked up at this new phenomenon.  Little did she know, the moon only shone in the great cleft like this just a few days of the year.  It was the same with the sun, just a few days of the year would it shine into that great dark cleft.  Thus the Mare was blessed with a light at night in her journey through the Crevasse.  She travelled all night that first night.  Indeed it would be the only one that would have been possible.  However, towards morning the moon moved beyond the opposite side of the great Crevasse and she was once again in darkness.  The road she was travelling was indeed sandy, however it was not smooth.  There were unexpected hollows and rises.  At one point, she fell face first into a depression with a pool of water in it!  The water wasn#%92t cold per se, but it was rather a surprise.  Being that she#%92d been without a drink for nearly twenty hours, it was a pleasant surprise.  However, she found that getting back up was more complicated.  The Crevasse was very narrow here.  The mare remembered what the Eagle had told her about not being able to turn back.  Due to what she had just fallen down, she couldn#%92t even manage to back out!

It was then that Glimmer realized the great danger of this passageway.  This was also a water way.  All horses know to stay away from narrow canyons on the edge of the Mesas, hills and mountains of the Desert and Prairie.  This was for good reason as many-a foolish youngster, attracted by sweet grass in a narrow and steep canyon, was found drowned by a flash flood… and it was late autumn.  The short and often violent first rains of the season would be soon starting.  In fact, it was one of these that had started the very fire that sent the Mare on this very journey.
 
The mare scrambled up the rock slope on the other side of the pool.  This was no small feat as it was slick with water and slime.  All the same she made it up.  The very narrowness of the Chasm actually aided her.  When she slipped, the Mare found she could brace her buttocks against the wall and then gain somewhat better footing.  Once the top of the slope was reached, there was a deal of shale and debris and then back to the sand again.  But there was another surprise awaiting her upon clearing that rise.
 
It was the sound of falling water.  Since the twilight had grown a bit lighter, as it must now be mid-day of her second day of Cleft-travel, she could see that there was a slip of brighter light a good ways ahead.  Also, the Crevasse was widening considerably.  In fact a short ways past the shale and debris, it got wide enough for three horses to walk abreast and it just kept getting wider.  Then she came to the pool.
 
It spanned the Chasm from one side to the other.  The sides of the Crevasse were as steep as ever, so no going around it.  She could see the other side as the pool wasn#%92t terribly large.  The Mare figured it would take less than five minutes to swim it.  However, horses are instinctively cautious of water they know and terrified of water they don#%92t.  She paced back and forth for quite a while.  At length, she just plunged into the water. 
 
Whilst she was pacing the shore, the mare eyed the opposite shore.  It was divided into a shaley-debris field on one side and perfectly smooth sand on the other.   The Mare decided that there was something suspicious about that sand, no matter how nice it looked.  So she decided to make for the debris field on her left.  This was fortunate as the sand was quick sand.  Something she would find out later on.
 
Once The mare gained the opposite bank and scrambled onto the shore, she noticed the ground was curiously unstable.  As she stepped on the rocks they would move and slide out from under her feet.  This was very bothersome to her and she proceeded with extreme caution.  All the same, the Mare kept to the shaley side of the now widening ravine.  She was now in shade, though that of normal, sunlit shade.  The sun had yet to reach setting and would be shining in the narrow ravine shortly.  It was then that the Mare

noticed the absence of grass.  She was greatly disappointed.  However, she could enjoy a nice roll in the lovely white sand all the same.  Here it looked normal and snow white.
 
So, she approached the edge of the sand and stepped out onto it.  However as soon as she put her full weight on her left foot, it instantly sank up to the knee!  The Mare had quite a struggle getting back from the quick sand and was only saved because her hindquarters were not yet into it.  All the same, she fell backwards and badly pinched her tail.  So, without her lovely sand bath, though a bit wiser about sand, Glimmer continued her trek.
 
At this point, the Canyon turned sharply to The Mare#%92s right and Due West.  Now the Canyon was covered from side to side in deep green delicious looking grass!  Glimmer whickered happily and dashed carelessly onto the heath.  She was brought up short by the two Eagles swooping in front of her and baring their talons, they drove the Mare back from the grass, beating her with their wings!
“What are you doing,” demanded the enraged Mare, “I#%92m starving!”
“Did we not tell you, Mare, that help would be there when you most needed it?”  The Great Eagle asked her, turning his head sideways and glaring at her with his fierce eye.
“Would you have run carelessly into the heath, you would have soon perished!”  The Eagle explained to her.  “Under that grass is lightning sand!  You would have vanished in just moments, never to be seen again!”  He waddled over and grasped a fair-sized stone in his talons.  Then taking to flight, the great bird dropped the stone less than two body lengths from where he and his mate had driven the mare back from the grass.  The stone landed with a plop and the grass undulated like the surface of a pond.
“As you can see, the ground is treacherous here, Mare,” explained the great bird as he wheeled around and returned to the rock he originally perched upon.  “Follow the edge of the Sward, and eat your fill.  Don#%92t ever get more than a few paces beyond the edge if you value your life!”
The Great Eagle and his mate then took to wing.  But the She Eagle warned the Mare as she departed, “Take care when you come to the waterfall.  For you must jump it.  However, your left side, though higher, is much safer then on the other side.”  Her voice trailing away as they disappeared in the distance.
 
So, the Mare, chagrined at her carelessness, carefully picked her way through the delicious, though treacherous grass.  She in fact, would have liked to spend more of the day there.  However she heard thunder far in the distance, and remembered her terror at recalling the danger of such mountain passes in the autumn and spring.
 
It didn#%92t take long to come to the waterfall.  The grass grew all the way to the foot of it.  There was no pool.  The water cascaded over the short escarpment and just vanished in the pure white sand at it#%92s base.  On the far side, the sandy sward went almost up to the level of the rocky escarpment.  It would be just a short hop over the edge to gain the top.  The danger lay in crossing the sward to get to it.
“No fear there,” the Mare said to herself, “I can see what the She-Eagle meant.  It would be death to try for the other side.  But this side is almost as tall as my head!”
 
She had never needed to jump more than a rock or small log from the Chaparral surrounding her herd#%92s normal range.  This was considerably more than she ever thought she could do.  Glimmer decided to have a good meal and sleep on it for a while.
 
So, she set to the business of dinner.  Staying to the edge of the sward, the Mare slowly ate her fill.  She wandered along the foot of the falls and escarpment examining it closely.  Seeing another tuft of  grass further down the escarpment, right against the cliff-face, Glimmer went to investigate.  There she found a small break in the escarpment.  Very narrow, to be sure, but maybe she could make it up.  Problem was it was slick with water that was seeping down from above.  Deciding that there was no time like the present, the Mare made the leap, landing with her legs carefully bent.  She hit the slick rock and slid sideways into the rough cliff-face.  Scrabbling madly, she was able to make progress upward and exhausted, gained the top of the escarpment.
 

Above the deadly sward was a stone pool about twenty horse-lengths across and at least three times that in the other direction.  The pool seemed quite shallow however.  So the Mare cautiously waded out into the shallow water.  She paced a wide circle, ensuring it was safe, and proceeded to lay down and splash joyfully in the water!  It was cool and refreshing in the now warm afternoon sun. 
 
After her joyous bath, the mare stood and shook herself from head to hoof.  Then she carefully picked her way along the side of the pool.  Suddenly, the walls of the ravine fell away as she passed out onto the prairie.  And what a prairie it was!   The grass had to be higher than her belly and still green this late in the year!  Suddenly she heard the keen call of the Eagle above her head.
 
“You made it!  You made it,” the Great Eagle joyfully declared!   He was so jubilant, as to do a summersault high in the air just for the pure joy of it.  His mate circled much lower to the mare and she could see the kind bird#%92s eye twinkle as she too revelled, in her quiet way, in the Mare#%92s successful adventure.  “Keep to the West and North along the prairie, and you will soon see the forest and heath,” she called out joyfully, “God speed and bless you,” were her parting words, fading into the distance as she and her mate returned to their strange home.
 
The Mare now faced the Prairie and would have galloped joyfully into such deep grass.  But the deadly sward had taught her caution.  So, she made her way into the luxuriant sea of grass toward some large, brown, moss covered humps.
 
Had the wind not been behind her, she would have been spared the nasty shock and scare that awaited her at those, she thought, mossy rocks.  They were instead a herd of huge shaggy animals that rose suddenly in front of her!  Nothing in her past had prepared her for animals such as these!
 
They were dark brown, shaggy and had horns like the mountain goats, only shorter and straighter.  Yet, they stood as tall, some taller, than she.  Their bodies were massive with short necks and massive heads set with currently flashing little eyes.  One of the largest, truly a giant even among these huge beasts approached her aggressively and spoke.
 
“Okay skinny, one false move and I#%92ll flatten you like grass,” he blustered in his deep gravelly voice.  However, the way he was squinting at her seemed to give the Mare the idea the fellow was somewhat near-sighted.
“No fear,” she said. “I#%92m probably so terrified of you I couldn#%92t move anyway.”
All the beasts started to laugh in a kind of chuffing and puffing way.  Her comment seemed to put them at their ease.  As a matter of fact, they were actually terrified of her.  Never had they seen such a large and graceful animal such as her.  So, being rather cautious, due to their poor eyesight, these large bovines, Bison in fact, were much relived that she was not a predator.  The fact that she didn#%92t smell like one is the only reason the herd didn#%92t stamp her flat in the first place.
“All I want to do is cross this prairie to the other side where the forest is,” the Mare explained to the Alpha Bull.
“Very well, you don#%92t look like you could even do a deer harm.  So go where you like,” he agreed amiably, “there#%92s food and plenty for all here.”
A small calf looked around his expansive Cow-mother at the graceful newcomer. 
“Momma is this one of the big deer from the forest you told me about,” he asked in his sweet little voice.
“No Sweetheart, this is not any Deer that I#%92m familiar with,” his mother replied.  The exchange reminded the Mare of the recent loss of her own and she lowered her head in great sorrow at the memory.
“What#%92s the matter dear,” inquired the gentle-hearted Cow.
“M, m, my family…” began the Mare, “My herd are all… all… dead.”
There were sympathetic rumblings throughout all the herd of Bison.  They may have been a rough group, but they were at heart, quite kind.
“Maybe she could be part of our herd, Momma,” suggested the young calf.
“Oh, I don#%92t know darling,” rumbled his amused mother who gave him an affectionate buss, “We#%92re pretty rough and tumble for a lady like her.”  She turned to the Mare.
“If the Alpha Bull will agree to it, you can travel across the Prairie with us for a while, “she suggested.  “After all, there is some safety in numbers dear.”

So, Glimmer crossed the Plains slowly with the Bison.  She enjoyed their company.  But the wise old Mother-cow was right.  They really were a coarse group to be around.  One had to be very careful where they stepped in this herd!  All the same, travelling across the Prairie with the Bison was both leisurely and restful.  The mare found the taller grass wasn#%92t actually very good to eat at all, quite a disappointment!  However, the short grass that grew under it was delicious and quite filling.  In fact, in a few days, she felt that a regular diet of this stuff would make her as fat as the Bison!
 
A week or so later the grass began to get shorter and finer in texture.  A very old Cow approached her one afternoon.  “We#%92re reaching the edge of our grazing range now sweetie,” she rasped, “you will have to continue for just a few more days before finding more of your kind.”  She gestured with her head to the south and west, “over yonder is where they roam.  They like the mountain pastures and protected valleys that face south.”  She chuckled in a rumbling way that was common to her kind, “your people just don#%92t grow enough hair for your own good in the winter.”
 
So, a few days later the Mare bid her large, shaggy, friends good bye and turned south and west as the ancient Cow had told her.
 
The forest and meadows of the beautiful dark-brown Stallion were further than the ancient Cow remembered.  The mare stood in the lush meadow reflecting on the good fortune that had been hers since losing her family.  Suddenly he was at her side.  In reality, he had been watching her at some distance for quite a while.
“An apple for your thoughts,” he ventured.
The Mare looked up suddenly, delighted at such a turn of phrase.
“Are there apples here,” she asked in delight.
“Of course,” he laughed.  “However, I don#%92t think you came this far looking for apples,” he observed astutely.
The mare lowered her head sadly and went back to cropping grass without a word.
“I#%92m sorry, did I say something wrong,” he asked apologetically.
“No…  It#%92s just,” she haltingly began, head still sadly down, though not pretending to eat any more, “I came looking for an answer to a dream...  A way to escape all the troubles of the world.”
 
“Sounds good to me!  What#%92s wrong with that?” He asked enthuastically.
 
“Well… it just seems silly now.  But I simply don#%92t know what to do at this point,” she explained.
“I#%92d be happy if you could stay here with me,” the hopeful fellow ventured.
The mare looked at him with eyes full of love and sadness.  She knew he would be everything she would ever need…. Yet she had something as yet to do.
“Thank you.  You have been so kind.  I wonder if you would be patient with me for while longer as I have something to do before I can give you an answer,” she replied.
“May I accompany you?” he asked hopefully.
“I would be very grateful for your company,” she replied with relief.  Things just seemed more safe, more secure when he was around.
“What are you looking to find, what do you seek,” he asked her.
The question took the Mare aback a bit.  She took a moment to clear her thoughts and to think about how to answer him.   Deciding that the truth would be best, she replied, “I seek a lake in a deep valley in which the stars are reflected even in the middle of the day.”
“Oh… boy.  That lake,”  the stallion replied, looking more dejected than she had ever thought he could.
“What#%92s wrong,” she demanded, alarmed at his demeanor.
“I know where the lake you seek is located.  It#%92s high in the mountains to the west of here.  If we are to reach it we must leave now and travel fast.  The winter snows make it impossible to reach early on in the season and it is not reachable till late spring thereafter,” he replied.
“Then we had better leave immediately,” she replied.  Since he didn#%92t move, she asked him worriedly, “What is the problem with this place that it holds such dread in you?”
“It#%92s the place where my mother died,” he replied sadly.

Carry on, Studeclunker. It is all yours. I will be too embarrassed to post any more of my meager little paragraphs.
 

Oh gosh.   Now I feel like a heel.  Didn't mean to ruin everyone's fun.  Just... got a bit carried away I guess.  Sorry about that.

Studeclunker, no need to apologize for your talent. You are very good! I kind of thought I was doing pretty good, but compared to you, I am still in kindergarten. I am curious to see where you are going next with the story, so keep it up.

DON'T apologize!!!  You just give me some time to catch my breath and I'll be back in full form!!  Can't wait to catch up!!!  GOOD JOB!!  (you need to do NaNoWriMo FOR SURE)
 
Elaine... inspiration, gurl!  Jump on in there!  I need ya!  []
 
Dana knows she's good.  []  lol

Glimmer stood stock still in astonishment for a moment.  He was so beautiful, but at the moment this beautiful stallion looked like a lost, dejected little foal.  His head was down, ears drooped and her heart went out to him.  The Mare shook herself a bit and sidled up to him, nuzzling his neck a bit.  “My mother, and all my herd are gone too.  You know that Mother named me Glimmer because she thought I would bring hope,” she confided in him.
“You#%92d laugh at the name my mother gave me,” the Stallion whispered back to her, with just a touch of an amused curl to his upper lip.
“No, I promise not to laugh,” she replied.
“You will, I know you will,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
“All right, give it up.  What horrible name did she curse you with,” Glimmer asked him, consumed with curiosity by this time.
“Mud Puppy,” he replied simply.
“MUD PUPPY!”  She exclaimed, “Why on earth, that name?”  Glimmer was trying very hard not to laugh, but the effort was great.
“Well… When I was born, it was raining.  We were protected in an overhang from a cliff and trees, however, shortly after my first drink; I tried exploring beyond the protected confines of the space Mother had chosen for my birth,” he explained, eyes still twinkling, “I fell into a mud puddle and she claimed that the mud and my coat were almost the came colour.  After that, when I got a bit older and would play with the other colts, I used to love playing in the coolness of the mud.  Hence… she called me Mud Puppy, “he ended just a touch sheepishly.
 
Glimmer nuzzled him on the neck again and whispered, “you know… sometimes the sun glimmers on the mud.”

He looked gratefully into her eyes and saw her suppressed laughter.  Hiding his own smile he gushed dramatically "Thank you SO much for not laughing!  I spent years overcoming the desire to live in swamps and eat cat-o-nine tails! Some of my best friends are turtles!"
 
Glimmer couldn't hold it in any longer and tossed her head gleefully.  She could really grow to like this handsome rascal!  "So..." she asked cautiously, "what do your friends call you?" 
 
The chocolate horse began meandering through the meadow, thus beginning their journey.  She found herself wandering alongside as he continued the name discussion.  "I started out being called Muddy, because that was my usual state of being."  Glimmer wrinkled her nose in distaste.  For one so handsome, Muddy simply did NOT fit.  He watched her reaction closely.  "so then" he continued "in the days of my youth SOME of my herd called me Puppy."  He watched her eyes look heavenward breifly then back with a shake of her head.
 
"no..." she mused as if to herself. "Wolves have puppies" She shivered slightly which alarmed the chocolate horse who drew closer protectively. 
 
"I wasn't much for Puppy, either." he admitted.  "But I DID enjoy it when my friends called me MP."  His chest puffed out a bit and he arched his neck proudly.  "MP's are police in the world of man.  I could be a brave leader when I get my herd." 
 
She took in his handsome lines and imagined him a fine leader, indeed. "So....do I call you MP?"
 
"If you want!" he playfully frisked a circle around her with much crow-hopping and trampling of grass.  She blushed when a loud blast of air escaped him. [] "actually, you COULD call me Police!  Or Po-Po for short!" 
 
She stopped and raised an eyebrow at him.  He was making fun of her.  Her eyes narrowed.  "How about I call  you PITA?" 
 
His frisking came to a screeching halt.  He cocked his ears in her direction and tilted his head.  "Why? Do you LIKE Pita?"  His face was so honest she felt bad for suggesting he could possibly be a Pain in the..... backside.
 
"No.  I was just kidding.  I don't really.  Just tell me what you want me to call you."  She looked at his lovely flaxen mane and tail blowing in the gentle breeze.  Such a contrast to the rich brown of his coat.  "I can hardly think of you as Mud Puppy.  MP doesn't do you justice either." Her voice trailed off thoughtfully.....

(NO FAIR WRITING A NOVEL AND POSTING IT IN DIFFERENT POSTS MR. SNEAKY!  You get on here and put bits and pieces like the rest of us!!!) 
Hunterseat wags finger at Studeclunker, secretly jealous of his mad writing skills.