Sparrows scattered as the thundering hooves overtook the slight incline. He tossed his head and kicked up the grass in spirit. As he reached the top, he slowed to a stop and filled his lungs with the fresh country air. He closed his eyes and felt the gentle wind at the top of the hill run though his blue and green hair.
The sun was warm on his yellow back, and made his skin appear brighter than usual, as he stretched and looked out to the green valley beyond him. He was impressed with its size. Only in the far distance could he see the rocky cliffs at the east end of the Dream Valley.
Axle had grown up on the west side in the rolling hills. He had never been this far in his life. His parents lived a modest life as sharecroppers and had never seen the need, or had the resources, to travel widely. But now, as his father retired and his eldest brother inherited the land, he was off to seek his own fortune.
Axle did not begrudge his brother for inheriting the land. In fact, he relished this chance to see the world and do more with his life than spend it among the same ponies year after year. Besides, he had plenty of money to see him through until he found suitable work and a home for himself. Although the land was given in its entirety to his brother, his father's life savings was split equally between them.
Eventually, he planned to invest it in a home and seek a wife, but for now, he carried it in the small knapsack across his shoulders, along with only a few days' supply of food.
He took another deep breath and trotted into a small woods at the bottom of the hill. He was headed in the direction of Dream Castle, or rather to the town surrounding the castle. It was his hope to find a trade or profession that interested him. That way, even if he chose not to settle there permanently, he could take a newly learned skill elsewhere to find work.
In his parents farm, he'd always been the handyman type. He annually inspected and repaired the plow his parents used to till the fields; it seemed something was always going wrong with it. His project last summer was to build a new wagon from scratch in the time for the harvest. He'd always been interested in things with moving parts, and he seemed to have been born with the knack for it, as indicated by his wagon wheel symbol, and thus his given name.
As Axle pondered blacksmithing, a terrified scream suddenly echoed through the trees, silencing the birds momentarily, and sending a chill through him. Immediately following the scream was an angry roar, and he took off in a dead run, knowing someone was in trouble.
As he ran, he followed the sound, and identified it as a mountain lion. He had grown up in this hilly terrain and was very familiar with the fact that it was prime mountain lion territory. Although he had never run into trouble with them himself, an outsider may not know how to avoid them.
The ground split and soon he was running along the top of a short cliff, only abut ten feet high. But from here, he could see the purple pony in the red cloak, and not far behind was the mountain lion, just as he expected.
The pony glanced behind her as the lion gained on her. She was already extremely out of breath and unfamiliar with the land. She rounded a cluster of trees, hoping to lose the puma, but instead she came face to face with the wall of the cliff. She halted and desperately looked for a rock to jump to, but there were none large enough to support her weight. She turned to face the puma, and was out of ideas.
Sweat poured down her face and he chest rose and fell quickly. Her heart leapt as a few seconds later, the puma rounded the cluster of trees and jumped toward her, claws outstretched. She screamed again and closed her eyes as a shadow fell across her from above and landed directly on the mountain lion.
Stunned, the lion rolled out of the way of the attack. Axle stood in front of the frightened purple pony and a split second later, the attack was directed at him. Axle was prepared though and whirled around on his front feet, kicking the puma in the shoulder with his powerful hind legs.
The puma flew back and landed on her side. She quickly stood up, every hair on end, and sized up Axle again. He snorted and pawed the ground, in an attempt to intimidate her, he puffed up his chest to make himself look larger than he was. It appeared to work, as she thought better of a second attack and slowly slinked away in the direction she had come, limping slightly from her bruised shoulder, but no worse for wear.
When Axle was sure the puma wouldn't return, he turned his attention to the frightened purple pony and was stunned. The red cloak had fallen from her face, and there in front of him stood a unicorn! She had white hair with a small red streak in the front.
Unicorns were extremely rare (or at least in those days they were), and Axle had never seen one himself. As they both stood catching their breath, Axle realized that he was staring. He cleared his throat and introduced himself.
The purple pony stepped forward, having calmed down considerably. "I'm Powder. I... I don’t know how to thank you."
Axle smiled gently, "There's no need for thanks. I grew up in this area, and I'm familiar with how to handle mountain lions. More than likely you just came to close to her cubs; they won’t attack otherwise."
Powder nodded and sat down. Although she had caught her breath, she was now exhausted. She pulled the red cloak off of her; she was soaked with sweat underneath. Axle noticed the white snowflakes on her flank, but quickly diverted his eyes before she saw him look. Axle took the cloak from her and hung it in a nearby tree to air out. He had a million questions running through his head, but he didn’t want to be impolite.
"So," he said casually, "What are you doing around these parts?"
"Well, I think I'm... lost," she admitted.
"I can help you find your way out," he offered. "What direction did you come from?"
"I didn’t come from a particular direction," she answered flatly, looking at their surroundings. Axle looked at her askance, what did she mean by that? Powder noticed his curiosity and realized her answer must have come out a little terse. "I winked here," she explained.
"Winked?"
"Yes, it's a unicorn power, when you jump from place to place."
"Oh," Axle nodded, but he still didn't understand. Powder smiled; it was obvious he'd never been around a unicorn before, and these things are impossible to explain in words. She changed the subject.
"If you do know your way out, I'd be forever grateful if you'd show me."
Axle nodded and smiled. Now, she was back on his level. "I'm headed southeast, in the direction of Dream Castle, is that alright?"
"Yes. Once I get out of the woods, I'll be able to get my bearings better."
Axle took her cloak from the tree and his knapsack, which had fallen to the ground in the fight, and flung them over his shoulders in very masculine way. "Shall we?"
Powder nodded, and followed him southeast. As they walked, Powder told him a little more about herself. She was from a small village that had two other unicorns besides her: her mother and her great-aunt. She took instruction from them to hone her magic skills.
After about an hour, they reached the edge of the woods, and came to a stop. Axle took the cloak from his shoulders and draped it across her back in a very gentleman-like manner. Powder knew they must part ways; and she still felt that she hadn't properly thanked him.
"Really, there's no need. You were in trouble and I was just doing my duty."
"Yes, there is a need. You saved my life. I have to do something for you." She chuckled to herself as she had a thought. "I could offer you three wishes." Axle couldn't help but laugh. "You're not a leprechaun..."
She smiled, knowing he was just teasing her. "I know, but it's the least I can do. Besides, you seemed interested in unicorns, so it would give me a chance to show off as well," she winked her eye at him.
Axle considered as he realized she was serious about it. There wasn't anything he needed right now. He had a sack full of money, and a full life ahead of him. 'Although,' he thought to himself, 'I never know when I will need something. Having a wish ready to be granted might come in handy one day.' He asked her if he could save the wishes for another time.
She agreed, and reached into her cloak. From a pocket in the side, she produced a small flute; from it's size, it was more like a whistle. "Just blow on this, and it will summon me from anywhere."
He nodded and accepted the whistle. Powder walked carefully up to him and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you again," she whispered, and his heart leapt having her that close. He smiled as he watched her walk away, swishing her white tail.
Powder smiled to herself with her back to him, and was almost giddy. She couldn’t believe she had had the courage to kiss him like that. She sighed, as she knew that someday, she would get to see him again.