surpress a laugh.

"Do you come from a land of two-leggeds?" Rain quizzed.

Quazaar suddenly looked at them, now he was the one who was confused.

"Two-leggeds?"

"Yes." Spirit picked up the conversation. "You know, tall, hairless creatures, flat faces, walk on two-legs?"

Suddenly Quazaar nodded. "OH! You mean humans!" He ended with a hearty laugh. "Yes, yes...I come from a place with many, many humans. I owned hundreds. But, I released them all into the wild when I had enough of cleaning after them. They just make their droppings any old place, filthy creatures..."

Again, Spirit and Rain found each other's bewildered gazes. Clearly this horse was far more unusual they they thought.

"So..." Rain continued. "You've never lived with other horses, then?"

Quazaar shook his head. "Nope! I am a blank slate! Ready to learn from you all I can possibly memorize--and that's a lot--and in exchange, I shall teach your youngsters all I know about the universe."

Spirit sighed, eyeing the stallion with uncertainty. It was highly unnatural to allow a full grown stallion to join the herd, for obvious reasons. But Quazaar seemed so clueless and harmless. With a weary eye-roll, Spirit nodded.

"Fine. You can join my herd. BUT, you can NOT breed with any of my mares."

"Oh please!" Quazaar laughed. "I wouldn't dream of it! I've hardly conqured trotting; let alone breeding!"

"Well, keep it in mind!" Spirit snapped. "All of these mares belong to me. You are not allowed to breed with ANY mares in my herd. Do you understand that?"

"I understand perfectly! Thank you, Spirit, you shall not regret this!"

"Oh...I think I will." Spirit said with a chuckle. "Well, come on, then."

With that, Spirit and Rain turned and led Quazaar toward the herd. Rain leaned over to Spirit and whispered.

"I hope he's not dangerous."

Suddenly, Quazaar shouted from behind them, "Hey! You guys have long, bushy things coming out of your butts, too! OUTSTANDING!"

Spirit shook his head and laughed. "I have a feeling he's not."

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High Commander's Log:

"I have successfully infiltrated a Family Unit, also known as a 'herd'. The leader came off a bit abbrassive at first, but I think I won him over with my charm and dashing good looks. I believe his mate has a thing for me which she hides under a layer of low-key hostility. Although I can't blame her for finding me attractive; I am gorgeous, after all. The only important rule in this family unit is that I am not allowed to mate with any of the stallion's mares. This will be a simple task...since he said nothing about me going out and finding my OWN mare..."