Artemis
First Generation
It was the village’s council meeting, which meant that every clan was to advocate for themselves. It was Artemis’ favorite day of the week, for the village praised diplomacy above all of her other contributions to the alliance. She dressed well, in cashmere and chiffon, and she combed her mane neatly but did not braid it. She waited for the clock to strike six.
Finally it tolled. The bell rang through the village, resonating over the hills. It took but a moment for the nearby clans to start arriving. Artemis stood patiently and waited for the bustling crowd to take their seats. The cloaked Mind Bending horses were quick to find their usual spot in the back, which never changed. The last clan to settle was the insolent Lightning horse tribe. Artemis was bothered by their unkempt appearance. They were uncovered except for some frayed everyday neck ropes. They always claimed it was part of their culture so that she could not chastise them for it. She couldn’t help but think about how inappropriate it would be regarded as in her tribe to leave the house uncovered-let alone go to a prestigious meeting where everyone else there was well dressed. Even the Mind Benders-though they always wore the same black cloaks, which was their custom-made sure to wash and press them the day before the meeting. But the Lightning horses were the Lighting horses-untamable, uncontrollable, and unwilling. She accidentally stared at their leader, Storm- a runty grey stallion wearing the same purple neck rope he’d worn since she was elected Council-horse. Maybe even before that, but she had never bothered with the clan until she was forced to now that she was serving the community. He looked back up at her, and she tore her eyes away, embarrassed.
“Welcome in, everyone. I’m so glad you could attend so we can express our opinions together.” She smiled brightly at the variety of faces looking up at her. “Let’s start with the Water clan. Aqua, step up and speak your mind.” A glistening blue gown began to rustle. The tall, elegant leader of the Water horse tribe slipped up to the podium. “Good afternoon, all. We hope we have served to your water needs this week. Our team has successfully conducted four nights of rainfall this week to counter the drought, and we’ve refilled the wells with fresh, pure water for you and your foals to drink. I open up the crowd for constructive criticism.” She looked like such a competent leader. Aqua had been the leader of the water tribe since Artemis was a foal, and she knew of her excellent guidance. One of the crowd members boldly raised a hand. “Can you explain the storm on Wednesday? We asked merely for you to counter the drought, not wash out our grain fields.” he demanded. “We dearly apologize. This was not within our control, it appears from our personal research on the situation the Lightning horse clan was responsible for the storm on Wednesday night.” Aqua replied. Hushed whispers began to spread through the crowd. Artemis shifted her gaze toward Storm. He hid his face.
“Please reserve your complaints about other clans until it is their turn to appear before you,” Artemis reminded the chattering crowd. “Thank you for your service to our community, Water horses. You are cherished by the people of the village. Next, I’d like to invite the Fauna clan to join me…”
The next few minutes of the meeting went by uneventfully. “Make sure to talk to us soon, the winter is coming quick and we would love to help heat your homes.” Blaze of the Fire horses told the crowd. He stepped down from the stage and it was time for the Mind Bending tribe to enter. Typically the Lightning horses went first, but Artemis wanted to be able to leave promptly after convincing the crowd not to let their feelings about the clan serve as an excuse to resort to anarchy. Reluctantly, she invited the mysterious group to join her at the podium. “Mind Bending horses, please join me up on stage.” she called out to the crowd.
Nothing could be heard for the next several minutes but black hooded cloaks dragging on the marble floors. They reminded her of the silks they had hung from the ceiling, representing every tribe: green for the Fauna horses, red for the Fire horses, grey for the Wind, blue for the Water, brown for Earth, a classy black for the Mind Benders, an absurd yellow chosen by the Lightning horses, and swan white for her own, the horses of Light.
One of the horses stepped up to the podium. The others circled behind her. Usually only the leader of the tribe would represent the tribe, but the Mind Benders had a unique announcement to make. From under the sea of black silk in Moon’s gown came another elegant black head with shiny, dark eyes. “Last night, we added another member to our clan. Please welcome Onyx.” the mare said in a deep, rich tone. The crowd erupted into cheers and clapping, rejoicing in the beautiful addition to their clan. The tiny colt giggled from excitement, having never been exposed to so much attention. Moon tucked him back into the cloak discreetly. The crowd’s applause quieted immediately. “As for our report, you know what we offer. Relief from pain. We have offered plenty of that this week.” she said solemnly. Swiftly she exited the stage without being excused, taking the row of the others with her.
“Finally, I’d like to invite the Lightning horses to join me.” Artemis nervously tapped her hoof. The disorganized clump of horses scattered themselves across the stage, their leader stepping up to the podium. Artemis felt uncomfortable seeing such a muscular but scarred body completely uncovered by her side. Nudity was not uncommon for her species, particularly on hotter days, and she was certainly no stranger to nakedness herself, but she wasn’t sure about seeing all of a sculpted stallion in the crisp fall weather at a formal occasion. She refrained from commenting and allowed them to make their statement. “I understand some of you were upset by the storm on Wednesday. Yes, our powers can certainly be destructive, and we sincerely apologize for any damages caused by them. You must understand, though, that Wednesday was the sort of day where you must have a storm-“ Artemis stopped Storm, knowing he was the type to ramble about cryptic things the crowd would never bother to try to decipher. “Yes, we accept your apology. What have you contributed to the village this week?” She looked into his eyes when she spoke, and saw that his feelings had been hurt because he hadn’t been able to properly explain himself. She didn’t care. The meeting time would have been wasted on him. He continued: “We’ve been working hard exploring and drawing up a map for the surrounding areas. There’s a lush, pleasant meadow located adjacent to a lake that is an absolutely splendid spot for us to expand to, in my opinion. My clan and I have been camping there part time to scope out for other communities, and haven’t noticed anything dangerous. I propose that we extend our borders and build new civilization in this natural treasure. It will provide a place for young foals to play for years to come.” Storm explained with sparkly eyes. A crowd member raised their hand. “Is another foal park entirely necessary? We already have a beautifully maintained garden in the village center, what more could our young need?” the horse inquired. “When I was a foal, we were able to play and run outside of these borders. I attribute those experiences I had in the wilderness to all of the connections I have with our community and the surrounding ones to it. But with the wars, these areas have been walled off. That’s no reason to dismiss the needs of our foals. The garden is a blessing, yes, but for the most enrichment, it would be best to have this territory,” Storm countered. “If you and your tribe were out there, why didn’t you alert the rest of us of the ambush coming from that direction that happened on Thursday?” Blaze boomed from the back of the room. “Well, Wednesday was the night of the storm. We were too busy creating it to be at camp.” He looked back at his companions nervously. “But the storm was unnecessary,” someone said. Horses started talking to each other in annoyance and the crowd’s hushed whispers quickly ballooned into an angry mob. Random objects and insults started flying from the crowd. Water from a gourd jug. “Your tribe has no place in our community!” A fresh Roma tomato. “Get off the stage!” “Order!” Artemis screamed. The mob refused to calm down. “Enough!” a voice thundered. The crowd looked back, silent. Moon was standing in the back with her hood off. Her exposed face was indescribably beautiful-elegant eyelashes, expertly sculpted face structure, and a shimmering diamond suspended by a chain from her poll. She lifted her hand toward the young stallions at the podium. “If your sorry tribe that calls themselves explorers can’t even predict an ambush, I’ll make it.” she boomed. Her hand swept up all of the shadows in the room and cast them up toward the horses on the stage. The Mind Benders promptly left the council and slammed the door.