May / June 100 Word Anonymous Challenge

[elvet]

This is the thread for the stories.

Theme: Time Warp with horse

Genre: Speculative Fiction

I (elvet) will be accepting entries until midnight GMT on Monday June 15. I will post a poll, and voting will will continue for at least 5 days. Please give your entry a title, otherwise it's quite complicated distinguishing between them when it comes to voting.

Please do not post replies here. PM Your entries to @elvet.
Any discussion may be continued in this thread.

 

[elvet]

Split the Difference

Equines are a lot brighter than one would assume. My dobbin, Blanco, communicated with me. His voice filled my mind with a desire to see the future of their species. He reasoned that, when humans took to the stars, the equines would be free to thrive as we did.

Telepathy aside, Blanco opened a wormhole with a circular movement of his head.

My mission was simple: follow it into the future and discover which species is dominant.

I walked into a bright light. I soon saw a city of floating skyscrapers and streets of quartz.

Then a centaur approached me.

 

[elvet]

Whose time is it anyway?

Edgly patted the horse and walked on back to the carriage. "Cab looks authentic."

Jude looked doubtful. "Really? Nineteenth century?"

Edgly signaled and the waiting drones descended to take photos and microsample the paintwork. The horse snorted loudly as they approached.

"No driver?"

Edgly studied the nearby treeline. "No passenger either… isn't Peartree Lane through there?"

"Think it belongs to our local Mage?"

"Well, time can travel differently here abouts, with a little help. Look, there's a plaque."

Jude leaned in. "That's his address."

Edgly grinned and took up her tablet. "Doesn't matter who he is, he can't park here."

 

[elvet]

Equinox

The Adjusters were all there. Equinox was finally being put out to pasture.
Human incompatibility with time travel had left horses to avert past disasters with the telepathy they’d developed.

Equinox was legend. He’d trampled Hitler to death, shut a wet market in Wuhan, and prevented the great oil war of 2050. Sadly, only parallel Earths benefited - time travel rules; Fortitude’s Earth remained a toxic furnace… but not for long.
Now was his last jump; Eocene era Australia, with every other time horse, as had been promised.

Equinox’s new Earth, free of the Human cancer, had been well earned.

 

[elvet]

From the top

“It's astounding
Time is fleeting
Madness, takes its toll
But listen closely
Not for very much longer-”

Four dancing hooves clattered in unison with two human feet but soon faltered.

“Stop!” Called Susan,”This is never going to work, sorry Ed, back to your stall for you, I’ll groom you later”.

“Problems dear?” Asked her father.

She watched as Ed trudged across the paddock to the stables.

“Not really Pops” she snorted, “Just a silly idea I had that didn’t work out” She said, while stomping her right fore-hoof in frustration.

 

[elvet]

One Revolution to Another

“Rider, halt!” The guard called. He stepped from his post and moved forward. “State your business in Boston.”

“Dispatches for General Washington,” the rider said.

“Go on, he set up his command post just down the road, someone there will know where to find him.”

The rider trotted down the road, as instructed.

BANG

A flash of light came and went. Boston had become a small town.

“You there, scout!”

The rider looked around, finding the voice.

“Hurry up, General Lee awaits your report!”

“Report?”

“Of Yankee defenses at Cemetery Ridge.”

“What?”

“The Confederacy depends on it! Hurry!”

 

[elvet]

No time like the present

I was busy in the bathroom when Georgeo, my horse, barged in.
“What are you doing?” I objected indignantly.
“Whi-i-i-nn-y-y whinny.”
“Are you sure?΅
“Whinny!”
“Yes,” I sighed, “of course you are.”
I rushed my business, grabbed some essentials and hurried outside. Georgeo was waiting. I jumped on his back and off we were. He immediately assumed his weird gait which somehow warps time and distance.
Suddenly we were on a muddy track near a farmhouse.

“Greetings! You sell royaal™ oats, I hear?”
“I didst. Only two sacks remaineth.”
“Whinny!”
“Sold!”
Only the best for good old Georgeo.

 

[elvet]

Fixing the Problem

Ephemera whinnied as she faded out of time. A wave of nausea hit as I, too, lurched into that liminal space between then and now. Just my luck that I had been in a bathroom, but the contents of my stomach would likely end up somewhere less convenient.

My kitchen, as it turned out. Not the worst place to hurl. This had to be the flashpoint, the moment the change would impact my world.

Now horseless, I raced to my computer. There—DannMcGrew had suffered a strange horse-related bathroom incident, and had not offered a challenge theme.

Mission Accomplished.

 

[elvet]

Seabiscuit

On a warm, sunny day fifty million years ago – of course, almost all days were warm and sunny during the early Eocene Epoch – a large number of small mammals, relatively new on the scene, romped through the jungles and rainforests in search of food, or scurried away from predators. Among these was an eohippus, whom we shall refer to as Seabiscuit. While reaching for a particularly tender and delicious leaf, Seabiscuit fell into a TimeScoop and wound up here. We successfully cloned him multiple times, providing fine racehorses for the amusement of my fellow robots. Here's your saddle, tiny human.

 

[elvet]

Johnny's time machine.

Mom felt the rainstorm approach in her bones. "If there's this strange heaviness in my back, that always means some kind of weather change is coming," she said, looking out the window. White Beach, the family's favorite, stood under the large maple, the rope loosely around her neck. The mare had recovered nicely after the illness. Rhinopneumonia was still devastating Kentucky, despite a leap in veterinary development. Suddenly the horse was gone. "Stop playing this remote, Johnny, bring her back right now. You will kill that poor animal. Who knows, what can be different back there."

 

[elvet]

Outside eternity​

When it was discovered time was largely subjective, biochronetics became inevitable. Since experimentation on humans was strictly prohibited, subjects were animals, usually domesticated. Politicians and aristocrats released resources aplenty, trusting academia to cover their frequent reality spills, as so often before.

Dogs dashed off anywhen, and wagged back with sticks, or balls, but no explanation of who'd thrown them.

Cats dropped out of time completely, only returning for food and caresses.

The entire laboratory chimp population emigrated into an elsewhen without humans.

But equines transported their two-legged herdmates outside technology, where they could develop a new society, untimebound.

 

[elvet]

The Righting

Ride as the storm if you want her back!
Lash onward past her tiny grave, through the village and out along the road to the old farm.

Tether your stallion, rage down the door, and climb the stair entering that small, silent, room with the bed and cradle.
Lie upon that bed, praying with full heart.
Pour it out and pound with all the mother’s anger and despair in your soul until you fall asleep, exhausted.

And, when you awaken, go to the window.
See the young foal tied to the rail and hear the gentle chuckle from the crib.

 

[elvet]

Let's Do The Time Warp Equine

Welcome to the 2060 Olympics Freestyle Dressage final.

First in the arena we have Frank Enfurter on Rocky Horser, performing to music from an old show popular in the last century.

And off they go... Good synchronisation... Looking relaxed... Nice and straight...

Wow, I've never seen a horse jump sideways before.

And now Rocky splays out his right legs. Another original move.

Wait, he appears to have drawn together his hocks.

My goodness, now he's swinging his groin to and fro.

In all my years of commentating, I've never seen such lewd behaviour.

I wonder if they'll do it again?

 

[elvet]

Your Past, My Future

Because his new world was pain Llam took a moment to notice the man at his side sobbing quiet goodbyes.

Goodbye.

The word sounded like ending, but to Llam meant beginning. Over days weakness flowed like memory into strength, and soon the man took him riding around an empty castle courtyard.

Time passed among journeys over open plains; forays down shadowed forest paths that met chaotic battlefields hot with effort, breath, and death.

Many years later Llam woke to a boy with familiar fierce blue eyes standing in his shadow, who whispered, “Hello.”

Llam whinnied softly.

Hello.

I’ll miss you.

 

[elvet]

Return of the Army of Darkness

When the Book of the Dead is discovered.
"It's the Necronomicon."

And a spell is misspoken.
"You had, one job."

Evil will destroy the world.
"I don't want to die!"

It's time for heroes.

A cowboy with his talking horse, travel back to save their future.
"I said hey. not hay."

It's time to call Sam Raimi...........then...

Drop a chainsaw.
Clunk!

Drop an Oldsmobile.
CRASH!

Drop the palomino.
"Aiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee........" Thud!

Get ready for a Medieval Adventure, with strangers from the Wild West.

"Do all horses in the future speak where you're from?"
"Nope. Just me baby, just me."

 

[elvet]

Dead-end Survey

“Sir! The mounted explorers have returned from surveying 47C. They’re all dead!”
“Dead? You mean they warped home as zombies?”
“No, Sir, really dead. Their bodies were lying over the horses’ backs.”
“How did they die?”
“Unclear. There are no visible signs of trauma.”
“Have the bodies examined. And look after the horses. They must be upset.”
“They were agitated and snorting excessively, Sir. It sounded like… suppressed laughter.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Pardon me, Sir. But they left.”
“Excuse me?”
“The horses. As soon as we relieved them from their burden they somehow activated a warp-field. To 47C!”

 

[elvet]

Galloping into Time.

I was let out of my stall by an unknown person. I wandered around aimlessly looking for something familiar.

Then discovered I was on my favourite running ground and started to canter gracefully.

Eventually I felt like a good gallop was wanted so I sped up over the ground.

Suddenly a strange appearance happened in front of me.

The next moment I was galloping in a different time and enjoying it.

By the way my name is Shergar.

 

[elvet]

Cause and Effect

Sir Gilead emerged from the portal, shouting, “Close it now!” Bullets impacted as the portal collapsed.

“Did you get it?” the mage asked as Gilead panted.

Gilead nodded, “What are they?”

“The clockwork horses? Svengal’s personal army. Unthinking killers. They can sense the crystal.”

“Ok we... wait. Wasn’t Svengal born 5 years ago? Send me there.”

“I’ll need a few...” a portal opened in the manor.

“Now! Open it now!” shouted Gilead.



“Lucretia, a strange knight gave me this crystal and vanished. A birthing gift.”

A portal opened; clockwork horses emerged. No survivors. Creation murdered its infant creator and disintegrated.

 

[elvet]

Aye, but what dreams come?

"A knight Mare? But, Sirra, 'tis clear that females cannot be ennobled, even if we accept the species. A stallion knight might, just might, be tolerated."

"But dreams are outside time, and assures us that whence she originates, gender equality is assumed. That a male can do childcare, a woman sit in parliament, or a eunuch lead troops."

"Evil dream, where servants command nobles, Order's overturned. How may we learn its truth?"

"I find me Justice of this piece - without evidence, how say neigh? I forgo whip and spurs and, mounting, ride to dreamland observing her home myself."

 

[elvet]

Statues​

Time travel is easy. We all do it, all the time, usually advancing at sixty seconds every minute, but who hasn't shaken himself back into synchronisation with the universe at some time?

Horses do the same thing, suddenly nuzzling a colt after a period of immobility.

If you live in a city you've probably seen statues on horseback, military men caught in stasis as their mounts, weary of violence, stasised, and waited. For what? Outside time, change is not even a concept. But under the pigeon poo, they can retun to temporality anywhen, leaving a vacant plinth.