Phantom Horse

There was a knock on the door and I opened it slightly to see Ginger's dirty blonde hair and grey misty eyes. She smiled as I opened the door wide enough for her to come in. She walked in with a little dog carrier full of dog stuff and arms full of too. Once in she set them all on the floor next to the couch and looked up at me with excitement, "So where’s the new pup?"

I laughed and shook my head, "Before you get too excited. He's not a puppy but he's not fully a dog. He's a fox."

Her eyes widened, "Are you kidding me! I've never seen once up close before! And they're illegal to keep."

My eyebrow rose, "They're illegal to keep?"

A frown crossed her face, "Yeah. But I promise I won't tell anyone."

I let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks Gin." I looked over my shoulder as I called out, "Ballad."

Ginger's eyes widened as a little reddish orange fox with a white snout and a white tipped tail. Underneath was also all white. Ginger's mouth was wide open as she kneeled slowly and reached her hand out shakily, "He won't bite me will he?"

I let out a soft chuckle, "Not unless you plan on torturing him to death, then I think not."

She giggled as the fox slowly and hesitantly walked closer and closer. They were less than a feet away from each other. Cautiously but at the same moment loaded with excitement and meeting and being so close to each other at the same time. Her hand softly made its way onto his muzzle and she jolted a bit which made Ballad jump a little but they both slowly went back. She gently slid her fingers forward from his nose to his forehead. His eyes closed and tilted his head as she began to scratch behind his eat. There was a smile on Ginger's face as she looked at the red fox before her. Ginger's eyes flickered to my own light blue eyes, "He's really sweet? Why did you call him Ballad?"

"I don’t know. The name Ballad just kind of came to mind." I let out a chuckle as my friend was amazed at Ballad.

Her eyes had so many emotions, "That's sweet. I wish I could have thought of a name like that for mine."

Smiling I said, "Maybe one day you can think of a name for a future pet."

"Yeah, oh and how are you horses?" Ginger asked as she stopped petting Ballad and stood up.

I smiled, "They're great. Want to go see them?"

"Sure, I'd love to. Is Ballad able to come outside?" Ginger asked as we headed towards the back door.

I looked at her, "Of course. He's free to roam the land."

Her eyes widened, "You mean he won't runaway?"

"Nope." I said as I looked down at Ballad.

"Luna, how much longer will she be here? Not that I don't want her to leave. It's just hard no to talk to you because I know you can't talk back when she's around." Ballad yipped softly, trying not to attract Ginger's attention.

I held up my finger to him meaning to give me one minute. He just nodded as we walked out the door and the horses trotted over and neighed as they saw Ginger. She walked over to them and began to pet them. I kneeled next to Ballad as I whispered, "I don't have a clue. I think she will want to go riding with me on a horse before she does. Then play with you for a while longer since she's never been so close to a fox before."

Ballad looked at Ginger then back at me, "I think I'm getting use to humans since you can shift shape into a unicorn. I'm surprised there are still mythical creatures in this world. From what my mom told me was a long time ago when our ancestors were born there was mythical creatures. As years went by Humans and all Mythical creatures got even more hostile towards each other. Then finally the war started."

"Yeah, about a while back mythical creatures all formed some sort of alliance and chanted a spell to hide us from human eye. Now the only ones that can be seen are magical or have asked a magical creature to do so." I said letting out a sigh.

"You seem sad?" Ballad said worriedly, "What's wrong?"

I looked over at Ginger who seemed still intent on the horses then looked back at Ballad, "I'll tell you later tonight after she leaves."

"Okay, well I'm going to go see what your human friend brought for me." He said with a sly grin.

Chuckling I warned, "Leave the food and the treats alone."

Ballad gave me a toothy grin, "As you wish."

He swiftly turned around and walked on inside with his tail making zig zags in the air. I couldn't help the smile that crossed my lips. I looked over at Ginger she was attached to Star Fire. Star Fire is a chestnut mare with a star on her forehead. She was always Ginger's favorite. I walked slowly over to the two of them and smiled at Ginger. She looked at me and pouted, "Can we please go riding?"

I let out a small laugh, "And I'm guessing you are going to ask me if you can ride Star Fire."

She stuck out her bottom lip even more and held her hands together, "Pretty please."

I couldn't help but laugh. I wrapped my arms around my stomach as I gasped out, "T-t-that d-doesn't w-w-work with me."

"Fine." Ginger grumbled as she crossed her arms and looked away with a pout.

Chuckling, "I never said you couldn't."

Her eyes widened in excitement and she looked at me, "Really?"

"But I never said you could." I bit my lip to hide the smile, I loved to tease her.

Her eyes darkened, "Stop teasing me."

"Awe, I'm sorry. Can't I have a little fun since you pull the pouty trick on me?" I said as I grinned at her.

Ginger just shook her head, "its okay."

"Yes you can ride Star Fire. Just be careful. She hasn't been ridden for a while." I said smiling at the excitement rushed back into her eyes and she took off towards the barn where the tack is.

I turned towards Star Fire, "If you’re okay with that?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm kind of attached to that girl. It still doesn't get to me why her parent's called her ginger if she’s a dirty blonde though." She neighed as she stared off towards where Ginger disappeared to.

Sighing I followed her gaze, "I don't know either. Maybe because they thought that an ingredient would suit her. Or she could have died her hair or something."

"You should ask her that yourself. It's not that bad of a question." Star Fire neighed and started heading towards the barn where Ginger's at.

I just shook my head and looked for my horse. He was the same color as me. A pure white stallion, but he had a bit of grey around his muzzle and feet. I whistled a few times and I heard the sound of feet making its way towards us. Cloud pranced around the horse barn and trotted over to me and pushed his head against my chest. I laughed and rubbed Cloud's head, "Hey boy how are you today? I didn't see you when I got home and took the herd out for a run?"

"Sorry, I was over where the grass was. I heard you had a run in with wolves. I'm sorry I wasn't there." Cloud looked up at me and his eyes showed that they were sorry.

"It's okay Cloud. It's done and over with. Now let's go ride." I said as I smiled at him lovingly.

He just moved his head and we walked towards the barn where Ginger was trying to put the tack on Star Fire who was shaking her head at the human. I walked over to her and helped her put the saddle on Star Fire and her bridle. After that I walked over to the wall and grabbed my tack and started to tack up Cloud. When I finished I lead him outside and climbed up on the fence and hoisted myself up onto Cloud. I looked over to see Ginger following suit. Then started to trot our horses out into the forest.