When I led Jay into the stables, May went absolutely insane. She butt her head up against the stable door, baying and huffing, stomping her hoofs. Jay's ears swiveled in her direction, his head raised. I led him over to her. May rubbed her head up against Jay. Sometimes I forgot that May was Jay's mother, and that she would most definitely calm her worried colt. I rubbed May's nose and kissed her between the eyes before leading Jay to his stall. Jay seemed calmer, but his unseeing eyes were still wide. We went through the usual process of me kicking my heel against the wood so Jay could step over it, though it seemed rather silly considering what we had just done. But none the less, we made our way into the stall. I untacked Jay and grabbed brushes. It was getting dark by the time I started grooming him, but I didn't care. The lights in the barn flickered as I brushed dirt and mud off of his glossy black coat. I cleaned rocks out of his hooves and combed straw and clumps of dirt out of his hair, all while muttering words of comfort to him. The horses in the stalls around us were beginning to fall asleep, and Jay's milky eyes were beginning to close, but when I patted his back and slipped out of the stall, Jay let out a pleading nay. I turned around to where he was looking at me as if he could see me. Pleading me not to leave him. I laughed slightly, setting down the bucket of brushes and rubbing his cheek. He nuzzled me, reminding me of when he was little. Sometimes I forgot just how much he relied on me. I heard King snort and stomp his hoof on the other end of the stall. May bayed at him angrily, causing Sissy to huff indignantly. Lee snorted, his tail hitting the bars. Pine nickered at Sissy, causing King to ram himself against the wall to shake Pine's stall. I went around snapping at the horses, soothing the ones caught amidst the argument. Sometimes I wish I could understand horse language. That way I could understand all their family disputes like this one. I went back to Jay's stall with his special harness. It worked sort of like a thunder vest for dogs, keeping him comforted, but it had extended sides so that he wouldn't run into anything. He had one when he was little, but never seemed to like it very much. I let him sniff it before I placed it on his back. I didn't strap it up, I just let him feel it. His shoulders twitched and his tail swished uncomfortably. This wasn't going to work. He stomped his hoofs and shifted his weight. When the harness started to slide, Jay was temporarily confused, thinking it was me on his back, so he hurriedly shifted his weight again and stood up perfectly straight, staying perfectly still. I rubbed his shoulder and he turned to face me. I kissed his nose and pulled the harness off. I gave him a hug before pulling a chair up outside his stall. I sat down, leaning my head against the wall. He stuck his head out between the bars. I rubbed his nose and we both drifted off to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I woke to a bucket of cold water. I jumped awake and Jay gave a startled snort. I gasped as I sprung to my feet. It was Alex, one of the stablehands. I slapped his arm as he laughed.

"What was that for?" I snapped, wringing out my hair. He snickered and Jay shook water everywhere.

"You slept with the horses!" He laughed.

"So?" I questioned, wiping water out of Jay's eyes. Alex just laughed. I rolled my eyes and picked up a scoop, shoving it in Alex's hands.

"Make yourself useful while I feed the horses, why don't ya." I ordered. Alex didn't stop laughing, but he made his way into King's stall to clean it out. I patted Jay and walked over to the storage room, cutting open a stack of hay with my pocket knife. I threw the hay into the wheelbarrow and grabbed a pitchfork, then wheeled the hay through the barn. Being wet and dealing with hay isn't a good combination. By the time I had fed all the horses, my clothes were an uncomfortable half wet half dry, and I was practically covered in hay.