Once, on a distant planet called Hunorr, in the galaxy called Dellix, a woman lived. Not many people lived here in the small town of Aries, but it held the full human population of this faraway world. This was the planet called Hunorr. The woman I spoke of was Sarah, the beautiful ruler of the small population.




In this world, horses were held high and thought of as gifts from their God, Toltiss. Every Ariesian owned several of the beautiful Gracings, and all were taken care of specially.



Queen Sarah was in the stable with the groom, Red. "How long will she be?", Sarah asked hushed and caring. "At least until morning,"he told her. Sarah's favorite mare, Dancing Fairy, was giving birth. Dancing Fairy was a crimson sorrel and the foal's sire was the coal-black Cobaltion, Sarah's favorite stallion. Imagine!, she thought. A foal from my two favorite horses... What color will it be!?! A crimson and black paint? Or will it be just one of the parents coloring? She would just have to wait and find out.



In the morning, she went out to see her newborn foal. When she got there, she was amazed. The foal was a pure white filly! Her tiny, nimble black hooves dazzled in the low orange sunlight, and Sarah grinned, her light skin pale from the strange shock.






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Three years later...



The little white filly was grown. Sarah had just finished the mare's training. The mare was Rose, and her name was from the huge rose fields that she loved.

Rose was on the trails for the first time with Sarah on her back, long curly blonde hair flying in the wind. They were headed toward the waterfall that had the special rose patch that Rose loved. When they were there, Sarah dismounted and picked handfuls of blooms, braiding them into garlands. She wove the rose garlands around Rose's neck, hocks, and tail. Sarah went to a tree partway into the wood, and picked a sweet apple for Rose. When she got back, she was amazed. Rose had grown huge, feathery, angel-like wings! Sarah's mouth fell open in awe. Stories had been told for centuries of magical abilities brought out in Gracing horses by their favorite things. The roses gave Rose magical wings!



Sarah mounted Rose, being careful not to bend the cool feathers of the wings. She egged on her horse, galloping down the trail out of the forest. They took off, swooping amid the low clouds. A few long, lean blue bird-like creatures cawed, their cloud-like bodies coming nearer and nearer to the mare and her rider in the sky. Antromesh, the predators of the Gracings! The twosome dove steeply, losing their pursuers in the cover of the clouds. Swiftly, they flew into the village. Sarah took the garlands off after showing the tiny village her miracle, amid many looks of awe and whispers and laughter. She then took the garlands off and put them in her snakeskin pouch, the one that every Ariesian wore about their middles. They held anyhting the person would need if there was an emergency. Then she went to her adobe hut for a rest.



Sarah was awakened by screams and the roar of fire. Cook's fire must have caught the sage! The other eleven villagers freed all the horses but each's favorite and mounted this one, riding away from the savagely burning village. Sarah rode Rose, but barely managed to get the garlands on in time, burning her ankle on the way out of the roaring village. Wings sprouted from the white horse's withers, and Sarah hopped on. She flew off and thought a moment.

When she was away from the flames, she halted Rose midair and said loudly, "Rose, can you spray water?" A long, spiraling silver horn sprouted from the forehead of the slender horse. Water flowed quickly from the tip of the horn. Sarah turned Rose around in midair. She put out the fire, directing Rose over the small clay-brick buildings. No belongings or homes were harmed too much to repair. What needed rebuilding was quickly done with help from all, and the horses were once more caught.

Rose and Sarah both lived long lives, as the greatest heroes in the history of Aries, which had never before needed a hero. Aries was, you see, the final village on the face of Hunorr. Though Toltiss blessed his creation of humankind, they led to their own downfall, burning the stables in the end. There were no screams; there was no time. The word human on Hunorr no longer held meaning, and the Gracings were wild from thereafter. Rose had led them away, but turned back when the rest were free, in order to stay with her Sarah in both of their last moments.













THE END...





Of both story





And Aries, Which





lies yet in





ruins on the





face of Hunorr.