"Land ahoy!" Hau shouts, leaping off the boat.

Isabelle groans, "I was sleeping!"

"Don't get mad at Hau." Miracle scolds her, "I might not be able to understand you but, I can see your annoyance; I will not stand for it!"

Isa rolls her eyes and trips Miracle with her tail, "I will not be bossed around by a child." she mumbles before closing her eyes.

"But she's our trainer!" Peanut squeaks.

"And I'm a superpowered seal. I could kill Miracle if I wanted." She leaves us with that morbid note.

Moana the murderer!

"Stupid Primarina," Miracle grumbles pulling herself off the ground.

Everybody follows her off the ship leaving me with Holly, Rotom, and Honey.

"Bzzt! What are we gonna do today on Seafolk Village?"

I nudge Holly, "Wake up."

She bats me away with her paw, "Maybe later." She mumbles.

I rip the covers off of her, "What about now?"

She peeks open an eye, "Fine."

She struggles to her paws, "Alright...just one paw after the other..."

She takes small steps and about five minutes later, makes it down to the docks where Incineroar is waiting.

"Uhhhh, why are you here?" I ask.

"Isabelle told me to wait for you." He mumbles.

I take a look around and only see Lillie and Miracle.

"Where's Hau and Gladion-"

"Where's the Profezzor!?" Rotom butts in.

He shrugs, "Beats me. I think they went to go eat...again."

"Well, what's on today's to-do list?" I ask.

He points at Hapu, "I think she's going to show them something to do with the Mudbray."

"Really!? I wanna know then!" I say running ahead.

"But you're a Salazzle. Why should you care?"

I stop in my tracks and cross my arms, "Because Rudy is my friend!"

"Don't you think you should be more worried about Holly?"

"She's not helpless," I say angrily.

He shrugs then gets down on all fours, "If you want to see the Mudbray so bad then we can go down to Poni canyon. I think the race is being set up around there."

Yeah, waaayyy past Poni canyon. I'm sure we're out in the middle of nowhere.

There is a whole stable, racetrack, training track, corral, I could go on but I won't.

It's basically like a racehorse paradise.

Hapu looks pretty happy though; there are a bunch of people around with their Mudsdale all of which are crowded around Whisper.

"Ain't it great?" Hapu asks Miracle, "This is the trial that I'll be settin' up on Poni Island!"

Miracle tilts her head, "A race? This far from Poni?"

"You betcha! It'll be great!"

"But, if Whisper will be in them, how can anyone expect to win?"

"Whisper's an old soul. Strongheart has beaten her and so has Little Cloud; I'm sure Rudy could do it too."

"Yes. The Blind Mudsdale could beat three award-winning racehorses."

Incineroar scoffs, "Gee! She's so negative."

Honey shrugs, "I just want to see some races! I'll be hanging around here, see you two later."

So much for teamwork.

Miracle sighs, "It's not very fair..."

Holly pats Incineroar's shoulder, "Issac-"

"Pfft Isaac. That's cute." I say mockingly.

He rolls his eyes, "Great. Thank you, Leafeon, for telling her my name."

"I thought Isa told you." She says to me.

I shake my head.

He sighs and rolls his eyes, "Well, that's all nice and good but, you two have work to do. Follow me."

Poni Grove is...terrible.
I hate it.
Too much grass, not enough space to run around.

"Welcome to the place I call home." Issac pads over to a large Royal Poinciana tree, "I used to live here before Hunter and Isa showed up."

Bright red and yellow flower petals dance in the wind. They spin all around us, doing loop de loops and cartwheels.

Holly stares at the petals as they fall.

"This thing is said to be good luck. And love. Don't abuse it. Bye."

He walks away into a nearby tunnel.
Well that was...helpful.

"Well, I guess we're all al-"

My breath hitches.

Holly is batting at the flower petals as they fall around her. One of them even lands on her nose and she lets out the cutest little sneeze.

But, that's not why I stopped breathing when I saw her.

The way the sun shines on her fur, the way the petals dance around her.

The small giggles as the petals brush her fur.

The way her amber eyes shine in the sunlight.

Her smile.

Her smile is the best thing.
She could bring a forest to life with that smile.

"Nightshade!"

I snap back to reality.

Holly is staring at me, her cheeks a light rosy pink, "Uhh, did you hear what I was asking you?"

I chuckle nervously, "Nope. I-I didn't actually."

I walk over to the tree and she points up at one of the branches, "Do you see that pretty Hibiscus flower? Do you think you could get it for me?"

"I can't climb trees."

"Well, neither can I."

I push her closer to the trunk of the tree, "Here. Let's make a deal. If yo-"

"Look, Nightshade!" She points to two flower petals, one red, one yellow, floating down to us, "The red is you and the yellow is me! We should make flower crowns, like the pink ones you make!" Her amber eyes shine, "Uhhhh...yeah, sure..."

She frowns, "Please stop staring. It makes me feel weird."

"I can tell. But, your cheeks are the perfect shade of pink for my new fabric."

She blushes furiously, "And yours are just the perfect shade of purple for my...uhhhh...blanket."

We both burst out in laughter. But I decide to ruin the moment by bringing her hopes down.

"Maybe later." She frowns, "But, I will get you that flower."

"Really!" She nearly falls over.

"Only if you at least try to walk."

She shakes her head, "I can't do that."

I scoff, "Whelp, no flower crowns for you!"

"Wait! I'll do it! I'll do it!"

Teaching someone how to walk again is like watching a baby only more painstaking. I always knew Holly was stubborn when it came to something she didn't want to do but sweet Arceus! I feel like I'm babysitting!
But at least I'm dealing with her and not Larry.

In the end, she still did take some strong steps.

I jump down from the tree and hand her the flower, "See. Now that wasn't so bad."

She places the flower on her left ear, "That way everyone can know about my wonderful girlfriend." She looks around as if to make sure nobody heard her.

"Holly, you don't have to-"

"I told you not to put that on him!" A voice shouts. It sounds like it's coming from the race area.

"Was that Miracle?" Holly asks worriedly, "She sounded mad..."

"More like furious." I say placing Holly on my back, "Let's go."

When we make it back to Miracle, we see that word of the Mudsdale race has spread fast. More people and Mudsdale crowd the place, I can barely get through all of them.
Not all of them seem especially happy.

"Hapu! What are you doing!?" A man shouts.

"You can't let a colt like him race! He's too young!"

I push past all of the angry people and see Rudy and Miracle standing in the middle of a corral.

Instead of the flower bridle that Rudy usually wears, there's a black thin one.

He keeps on opening his mouth in a very uncomfortable way.

I can see that there is a silver rod resting on the roof of his mouth.

He rears up on his hind legs and tries his hardest to get it off; his frightened, high-pitched, whinnies are drowned out by the crowd.

"Rudy!" Miracle yells trying to calm him down.

She finally gets hold of the bridle and rips it off of him, glaring at all the people screaming and berating insults at poor Rudy.

He paws at the ground with his hoof, snorting angrily.

Miracle pulls his face to hers, "Listen to me." She whispers, "It's ok. It's ok. I'm here."

His ears swivel in her direction and he calms down a bit.

A man in the crowd laughs out, "That thing can't even see! What makes this girl thing she can race with him!?"

"He's much too small."

"Looks barely a day old!"

"He isn't even broken in yet!"

Holly covers her ears, "What are they so mean to him?"

A girl wearing pink cowgirl boots slowly walks up to the corral.

Her long brunette hair flows in the gentle breeze.

Her soft green eyes shine with leadership and control.

Walking proudly next to her is Strongheart.

"Well, well, well." She says in a thick southern accent, "If it ain't little Miracle. What're you doin' in a place like this?"

Miracle says nothing, just glares.

"Speak girl!" She yells.

Miracle flinches, "I'm gonna race." Her voice is shaky with fear.

The girl laughs, "With that thing? Why-"

"His name is Rudy." The fear in her voice is replaced with anger, "He is not a thing."

The girl gives her a strange look then jumps into the corral, "Don't speak to me like that, girl."

The girl towers over Miracle.

She's like a giant.

But Miracle stares her straight in the eye, "Don't talk about my horse like that."

"Horse!?" A man yells, "He's barely a colt!"

He's not wrong.
Rudy is young.
When Miracle caught him, he was only about a year old.

"Stop repeating yourself!" Miracle retorts.

The girl places a hand on Miracle's shoulder, "Listen. I'm not tryin' to be mean. But you can't race with him. He's just too young."

Miracle pushes her away, "He can and he will."

"He's blind, sweetie!"

"I can be his eyes. We'll work as a team."

"Too jumpy. Too small. And too weak."

Miracle looks back at Rudy who is listening intently, "Rudy can do it. Can't you, boy?"

Rudy nods and neighs.

Miracle smiles and crosses her arms, "Maybe if these idiots weren't working with him he wouldn't have freaked out like that."

The girl places her hand on her hip, "You've grown some guts."

"I learn from the best." She smirks looking up at her.

The girl chuckles, "Alright. But, we all know this gonna be winning this race."

She raises her hand and the crowd chants Strongheart's name.

Strongheart smirks, "Hear that, Rudy? The sight is truly spectacular."

Rudy flattens his ears and paws at the ground, snorting angrily.

Stongheart chuckles lightly.

The girl begins to walk away, "You've got two months to train that horse. See you at the race, Miracle."

Miracle waves, "You too, Harper."

What has this girl gotten herself into?

It's been a day since Harper showed up and Miracle was not kidding when she said she would race.

"C'mon! Rudy please." Miracle has been standing out here in the blazing heat almost all day trying to get Rudy to just let her put the bridle on.

She's going to pass out from flipping heat stroke!

It's about 100 degrees out here, I haven't seen her take a sip of water but it's just fine to rinse Rudy off.

If you want to be alive to race take care of yourself!

But, what do I know?
She won't listen to silly old me!

Hey!" Harper yells from the fence.

Miracle stumbles, "Yeah?"

"What the hell are you doin' kid? Tryin' to kill yourself on the first day of trainin'!?"

"I'm....it's working....I just need more time."

Harper shakes her head and chuckles to herself, "You dumb kid." She mumbles.

"TJ!" She yells startling a girl sneaking some water, "Take care of your girlfriend. I'm not a babysitter."

I spit out my water all over poor Peanut.

I wipe my mouth and smile nervously, "Sorry, P."

He sighs, "It's fine."

A tall girl, who's wearing the most masculine clothes in the world, along with a dark blue navy hat just struts into the corral and carries Miracle away.

"I didn't know Miracle had a girlfriend," I say taking a sip of water.

"She talks to her on the phone all the time. You would know if you weren't with Holly all the time."

"P, you're the only one who's around Miracle 24/7, don't judge me." I smirk, "Nerd."

Peanut sniffles, "I am not a nerd! Who hurt you?"

"What?"

"Nothing." He quickly bushes it off.

I frown and dump the bucket of water on him.

That was a very bad idea as the ink on his costume starts to smear and make him look like a spawn of Satan.

Like any reasonable person, I begin bashing him over the head with the bucket.

Good times.

Rudy's P.O.V
"Nightshade, please stop hitting me!" Peanut pleads.

"Stop running from me, P. Just sit still so I can kill the Satan spawn!"

What in the world is she doing to him?

I wait for about ten minutes until I hear people approaching.

A creaking sound from the corral gate catches my attention.

"That's him?" A young male voice says.
His voice is soft, and it has a childish, goofy, tone to it.

"Yup." This one sounds a bit older, but unlike his friend, his voice is laced with maturity.

His friend laughs as he walks up to me, "He's so small." He won't stop touching my face with his grubby hands.

I jerk my head back as the other boy tries to calm me down.

His touch is a lot better; at least he isn't grabbing me like I'm an alien from outer space.

"There ya go." He pats my head and slips my bridle on.

Thank Arceus it's not that stupid cold one.

"Good boy." The boy chuckles, "People just need to know how to work with you."

His friend just can't stop laughing, "August, you nerd! He's not a dog!"

"Everyone needs tender loving care. Isn't that right, Rudy?"

I nod my head.

"See, West, TLC never hurt anyone." He makes some clicking noises with his mouth to get me walking forward.

While August and West lead me away from the corral, I can hear one of them fumbling with some paper.

"What's on the to-do list?" August asks.

"Uhh, horse shoes, grooming, stable, food, and a test." He laughs, "And poop cleaning."

August sighs, "Grow up."

West snorts, "Let's do this junk tomorrow when the qualifying race is."

From all of the commotion and Mudsdale smells, I think they're taking me to the stables.

And wouldn't you know, my stable is right next to Strongheart.

"Ahh. If it isn't little Rudy." He says in his usual snarky tone.

"What now?" I grumble.

He chuckles, "So angry. I was only saying hi."

"You liar." I know that voice.
It's Little Cloud.

He snorts, "Stay out of this."

"Stop being mean to Rudy and maybe, just maybe, I'll leave you alone."

I hear some footsteps heading towards us.
I think it's Harper.
When she came up to Miracle, her shoes made the same clicking noise.

"Dad, how is Strongheart?"

A gruff voice replies, "Beautiful as ever, my dear. He's got this race in the bag."

Harper laughs, "He's got some competition this year."

"From who?"

There's a long pause then I hear some feverish laughter, "This small thing! He's blind! Barely even a year old!"

Come up with something better, please.

"But he's got spirit." Hazel says before taking Strongheart away.

"Finally. I thought he would never leave." Little Cloud says with a sigh of relief.

"Why were her shoes making that noise?"

"Oh, that. Those are called spurs. Racers use them to make you go faster. They pinch a bit, but they're better than the whip." She was really silent after that.

"Well, let's talk about something else." I say happily, "Why aren't our trainers taking care of us?"

"They have to work too. Most haven't raced in years. So, we have the stable boys." She makes a humming noise. She's thinking about something, "The ones taking care of you, August and West, are the youngest. 17 and 18."

Still older than Miracle.

"Who takes care of you?" I ask.

"A fine lad named Lenny. He's kind and quiet but clumsy. From what I can tell, August and West work very well with each other. But they usually get the worst jobs." She moves uncomfortably in her stable, "No offense."

"I'm used to it."

I hear some nervous mumbling from outside.

"Oh! There's Lenny. See you at the test track, Rudy."

And just like that, she's gone.

But, I don't stay alone long, as I can hear August and West making some noise before running up to me.

"See, Hershel! Ain't he a beauty?" West pants, patting my muzzle.

"Mr. Jackson." August corrects him.

Hershel has the same scent as Hazel's father, but this time, he sounds less than impressed.

"Is this the girl's horse?"

"Yes, Sir." August yells.

Hershel places a hand on my face.
His hand is rough like sand paper and I feel like he's staring me down.

"No. He can't race. That girl is out of her mind. C'mon you two. I'll give you-"

"No!" West and August shout.

"I-I mean, Sir. No please, Sir." August stutters.

"What is it, boy!? Speak up!" His yells echo through the stable.

"Let us take care of him." West pleads.

"He's not racing."

"He can." August replies confidently, "I can see it, I can feel it."

He grunts, "We'll see. At the qualifying race tomorrow."

West and August sigh in relief, "Miracle's got a whole lotta work ahead of her."

"First she needs to learn what water is." August mumbles.

I snort which gains a chuckle from August.

"Alright, West. Let's clean him up."

After West and August take care of me, they introduce themselves to Miracle. And because I felt bad that she got heat stroke, I let her put on that stupid bridle.

"You have to wear it, Rudy." She sighs as she gets onto my saddle.

But I don't like it. There's this stupid metal thing that's on the roof of my mouth.

It tastes terrible and it hurts when she pulls on the reins.

"Let's go." She clicks her tongue and we take a nice, evening stroll through Poni.

West and August get along pretty well with her, which is nice because so far, they're the only ones, other than Miracle, who's actually supported me.

I sigh, this is only day one. If this qualifying race is such a big deal I don't want to know what the real thing will be like.

After that, I get to rest in the stable.
The whole place buzzing with excitement for the qualifying race.

All I can feel is nervousness.
All of these Mudsdale are much older, much stronger and much more experienced than me.

But, I'll work my hardest for the person who's always believed in me.

I gonna win that race tomorrow, I won't let Miracle down.

??? P.OV.
"Look at them." Tidal Wave growls looking out at the Leafeon and Salazzle.
"It's disgusting!" He spats.

"Oh. I don't see anything wrong with it. She looks happy, you should want the best for your daughter."

"She can have her happiness, just not with her!"

I wrap a pure pink ribbon around one of his white paws, "Calm down. You might have an aneurysm."

He sighs, "You're right."

"Now. I honestly don't see what the problem is. Don't tell me it's because they're both girls, that's a stupid reason."

"Well, half of it is that."

I laugh lightly, "You sound like your Father. But, tell me what the other half is."

"That Salazzle could mean death for WaveClan!" He yells louder than intended.

"We can't have that can we?" I whisper.

"No. Please help me. They're alone. We could kill them now-" He crouches, ready to pounce, but I hold him back.

"Patience, my son. Good things come to those who wait."

He looks out at them then back at me. He nods slowly, "Yes, Mother. I assume you would like to make a plan?"

I smile, "Exactly and I know just when to do it. Tomorrow, at the qualifying race. Let's see what threat she poses without a trainer."

Word count: 3579

Not much to say, just mostly an introduction along with a new threat. The next chapter will be amazing!
*whispers* I hope.

An apology: Alright so I know I promised more romance and cheesy stuff. At first, that was the plan but then I realized one: it would barely be enough for a chapter and two: it would have a BUNCH of padding. But I said I was gonna stick with it cause it would be a challenge and I love challenges. But then, I went to school, more specifically, History class. We've been watching the movie War Horse and I have never felt more inspiration strike. It was perfect! I could write more than one chapter on it. The only problem would be less romance and more, I guess, character development. (Which I love to write about btw). So I hope you're all not too mad that there won't be much (key word much) romance in the next up coming chapters. Or Isabelle. But don't worry, Rudy's little arc is going to be amazing.
I'm so excited!