Rift did not want to be here. He did not like the scents, the sights, or most of all, the horrible little humans that came to his stall and rubbed his nose. Irritably he snorted as yet another human foal reached up to pat the numb and sore bit of flesh between his nostrils. The filly gasped and dragged back her hand, her face contorting into a fearful snarl.

"Mummy! The horse is mean!" she wailed, and her mother scooped her up in her arms, emitting noises that were meant to sooth, but only antagonized Rift even more. He uttered a shrill whinny and thrust his head at the pair, stomping and fussing in his stall. Gods, there weren't this many humans at his home! Why couldn't he go home? He threw back his dial and neighed, jumping slightly to lift his forelegs a few inches from the ground. He landed heavily, shaking his head. He was normally a very well mannered horse, but he was young, and this was his first horse auction. He had never liked barns either, his humans had never made him live in one.

"Oi! Rifty, c'mon buddy, it's okay, it's all okay," the young stallion looked eagerly over his stall door at the familiar voice. His favourite stablehand, Jackson, was walking down the aisle towards him. Rift uttered a nicker and reached out affectionately for the young man. Rift didn't find Jackson to be the cleverest human, but he was gentle and friendly, he knew how to handle horses. Jack had tried many times to teach Rift how to live in a stall, a quirk of the man that Rift utterly despised, but the farm owner's daughter, Jessica, had always taken him back to the pasture, telling Jackson that a prized horse should be pampered. Jessica's horse was a nasty, spoiled creature, Jackson always whispered to Rift; and Rift had to say, Lilly was no lily.

Jackson reached the young horse, and stroked his neck slowly, letting his chin rest in his other palm. The horse's warm breath caressed his arm softly. He rested his forehead against Rift's cheek, and sighed deeply.

"Well ol' boy, I've bin fired. Yesiree, yah heard me correct, I bin fired. Turns out 'lil miss Jessica hated me a helluva lot more'n she let on. Got me fired, said it wuz my fault yah ain't stable-trained. Well, it is, but on'y cuz that little snot always stopped my attempts to train yah to this. So, yah ain't the on'y one leavin' Willow Grass Stables." The young man sighed again, and the cremello colt perked his ears forward. Why was Jackson unhappy? Rift didnt understand any of what Jackson had said except "Jessica", and "Willow Grass Stables". Was Jessica taking him back to Willow Grass? Rift balked at the idea, he didn't like Jessica, her voice was too whiny.

"Well, s'long buddyboy, I hope yah enjoy yer new home, when yah get it." With that, Jackson's hands left Rift's neck, and the man began walking away. No, no, come back. Rift shuffled in his stall. He laid back his ears, signalling his anxiety. What the hell was going on?

Rift stared mournfully at the main barn door, where Jackson had vanished into the human herd. He nickered sadly, tossing his head. He wanted out! He kicked the door with his hoof, before backing up, pressing his hindquarters into the back of the small rectangle. His brown eyes flicked through the dark barn, scanning the few other horses within the lines of boxes. None seemed as fidgety as he was, but all were older than him, and it probably wasn’t their first time here. The humans all mingled, talking, laughing, and approaching the horses. Two young females, perhaps the equals of yearlings, passed by his stall, giggling and chattering. He watched them go, still backed against his stall. He didn’t see the woman until she was right in front of him, and then, he didn’t really know what to do. At first, he’d thought it was Jessica, but then her scent registered in his mind, and he realized it wasn’t even someone who’d been near Jessica. She didn’t seem unfriendly, and she was certainly not noisy, which made her okay in his books.

Hesitantly he stepped closer to her, still nervous and miserable, but content for now to have a quiet human paying attention to him. She kind of reminded him of Jackson, but hopefully she was brighter than him, and wouldn’t make Rift live in one of these horrible boxes. He reached out gingerly, sniffing around her face and mane, and then sniffing her clothes. She smelled like a lot of things, but mostly she smelled like horses and hay. He liked this human. A little more confident, he stepped up closer, until he was inches from the stall door, and nickered quietly at her. His cremello coat looked white in the darkness, but the dim lighting gave his coat a goldish gleam.

Rift flicked his ears forward; her voice was nice, very quiet, like someone with horse sense. He loved people with horse sense. He saw her fingers going to her pocket and he snorted eagerly, he knew what that meant. Treats! Jackson had given all the horses treats every two weeks, or sometimes when they did things exceedingly well. He was just a stable hand, but occasionally he trained or helped to train the horses. Rift shifted on his stout pillars, nosing at her jacket curiously. As she lifted her hand to his mouth, he caught the scent of mint, something he didn’t often get. He put his nose into her palm and lipped the small disc into his mouth, crunching it between his teeth joyously. He looked at her with calm brown eyes, and let his ears relax, a sign that he was comfortable.

//I like you.// he thought.