�Baka wench!� He cried as he turned to look at her.
Epona stood proud, but angry. She was in a fighting stance; legs spread wide, head bowed, eyes flashing. She shook her head in attempt to rid her drenched face of water, which still fell heavily from the sky.
Harusame watched her cautiously. This mare was a strong and brave fighter. She had the experience and calm that a good warrior possessed. He may have a tough time defeating her tact. Better to have her as an ally than a foe.
�Sorry.� He growled, avoiding her eyes.
Epona relaxed and eyed him skeptically. She looked him up and down, sizing him up should he decide to attack her. He seemed to be candid enough. She relaxed more, removing herself from her defensive pose. �For what?� She asked, still skeptical.
Harusame eyed her, considering. What was an answer that would satisfy her? She was a mare; they always seemed to enjoy compliments. Maybe he could weasel his way out of this with some brown-nosing. No, she was too tomboyish to care and too sharp to go for it. She would see right through his facade. Goddesses he hated apologizing.
�For �disrespecting� you and for lashing out at you.� He sighed.
She considered him for a moment. �Alright.� With that she headed back toward the castle, where there was a nice warm barn, with a nice cozy stall calling her name.
Lightening cracked once more, revealing a unicorn following a horse, who was almost five hands shorter than he.
***
Epona trotted up to one of the two guards, who were seated under an over hang by the gate of the castle, casually reading a book. The guard on the left noticed Epona�s approach and closed his book. He handed it to the other guard, and walked out from under the overhang. He motioned for Epona to follow him, and walked toward a large, elegant barn the color of the sun at dusk.
Epona just stared after him for a minute, twitched her eye, and walked after him muttering, �Link an Zelda had better get some better guards soon.�
Harusame rushed up to her, �Why?� He inquired.
�Duh, they totally missed the fact that you�re a unicorn!� She retorted.
�How do you know that?� He asked.
Epona paused and gave him a what-kind-of-baka-are-you look. �You don�t exactly meet a unicorn every day here. Thusly I�d expect a more shocked reaction from him.� She explained as they stepped into the barn. The guard, having opened it in the first place, closed it behind them.
Harusame stared at the rows of clean stalls. Almost each one holding an impeccably clean horse. One of the more prolific breeds in the barn was arabians. He noticed a few appaloosa, one of which a leopard appaloosa, and a few Clydesdales, more than likely for pulling the elaborate carriages at the other end of the barn.
At his entrance there was a collective gasp from the horses. This immediately turned into whispers of why he was there. He groaned and rolled his eyes at this reaction.
A young blonde hyrulian, wearing mainly blue, led them to stalls at the far side of the barn. He put them in adjacent stalls and left, Epona watched him leave with a condescending stare.
�Lemme guess, you�re upset because he didn�t notice I�m a unicorn.� Harsame said, circling the large stall once to see how much room he had.
�Precisely! What do I have to do to get it into their heads that you�re a unicorn!? Shove your alicorn up their rear!?� She cried, exasperated.
�Goddesses I hope not.� Harusame retorted before he took a drink from a lavender painted bucket in the corner of his stall.
�Well, if I have to, I will. That or I�ll figure out why they don�t seem to care.� Epona said before she grabbed a mouthful of hay from the corner of her stall.
�I vote for the latter.� He said, knocking his alicorn against the lavender wall of his stall. �Why lavender?�
�Zelda really likes the color but thought it looked silly on the outside of the barn so she just covered the interior.� Epona said casually, locking her knees and drifting off to sleep.
�It�s a silly color either way.� He muttered. �Now blue, there�s a good color. White�s good too, but technically that�s not a color.�
Harusame waited for a response but got none. This led him to look over to Epona, and notice she was asleep. He sighed, somewhat dejectedly.
Harusame closed his eyes and listened to the rain falling gently. It pattered on the roof, sliding down and landing of the ground. It plastered grass to the earth when fierce enough. But this was just drizzle now. It was enough to water the thirsty vegetation and make the world wet. But it wasn�t destructive or fierce.
Harusame found his breathing evening out, his heart beating slower, and his mind relaxing. The rain always did this to him when he paid enough attention to it. He was, after all, in control of it. At least, he was. All until he felt the need to cause trouble for Link and the horse beside him. He didn�t know why. He had always been a bit of a prankster, but he had never meant anyone any real harm before. That�s why he had surprised even himself when he had summoned that tenacious rainstorm.