I’m just a nobody.

I appeared out of who-knows-where onto who-knows-what isle all because some random human played a pretty song on that stick of hers. And naturally after I crash landed her first reaction was to whip out that fancy rope of hers and swing it at me while I was still disoriented. The loop swung around my neck and barely stopping to look at me, she started dragging me back towards the dockhouse.

Boats? Not having it.

But I sat still: maybe if I behaved she wouldn't ship me off to the Foreign Lands. You hear all sorts of crazy things about that place- they eat horses there, they say, all the water is salty and all the grass is dead. ‘Course, that’s all speculation, but I ain’t taking no chances.

When we finally got off that dratted boat I was in a whole new place. People bustled back and forth or sat still and chatted with everyone around them. There were a lot of horses, all being ridden, so none of them bothered to give me a second glance (providing they had honored me with the first). I was yanked past all the activity towards the Auction House.

There were more horses in auctions than I used to think were in the whole world. They all turned their noses up at me- trotting along beside them were foals of the highest blood and flying around them were falcons and owls and birds I ain’t ever seen before. The human handed my rope to the auctioneer and left me without a backward look.

Nobody bid on me, ‘course. What was one gonna do with a smelly little thing like me? So I held my head low until the foreign horse collector came by at the end of the day to pick us all up - maybe hundred horses in all - on that huge boat of his.

Well, ain’t we off to a bad start.

But the ship was much more spacious than I imagined, and each horse got their own stall. The boat ride was smooth, even better than that stupid little rowing thing we took to get to town. In the distance, I could see a large, green island, bigger than any place I’d ever seen. Well, ain’t that just great, I thought. They’re giving us one last look at paradise before we sail on past.

But the ship docked, and all the horses on board unloaded. We stood around at first, unsure - this was not like the stories our mothers told us to keep us in line. Eventually a few trickled into the meadow, others into the forest. I followed a group to the large, grassy plains on our right. A large pond was nearby. I stopped to sniff it- not salty. The grass was green and the sun wasn’t too hot. It was paradise, here with my new friends.

I used to be a nobody, but here, I can be free.

The Undesirables
It is hard for us, the unwanted horses of the lands. If we don’t have the rarest coat, or the flawless stats, we aren’t perfect. We are generalized like are owners are. We aren’t completely oblivious, either. We all know of the land of the Foreign Bidder. Some of the craziest horses try pulling our hooves and saying they’ve come back alive. It’s even worse being a wild horse, like myself, and hiding in terror, hoping your day isn’t today. It’s a small handful of us that ever stay with our captor, and never leave them. Almost all of us somehow end up in that terrifying place, because someone needs some quick cash. It’s not just us though.
Some of those pampered ponies we see sniveling at us get sent there for the worst too. It’s interesting the friends you can make during your final moments on the lands.
Some might argue, Foreign Bidder is a man with bad intentions, making us all do his dirty work until we can work no more. Other’s might think he’s not even a man, and all Foreign Bidder is, is something saving us from the suffering.
I wasn’t a desired horse. I knew I wasn’t. My captor looked at me with disgust, and named me, ‘Ugly’ because she couldn’t bother to look past my imperfections. I was naive, and completely unaware of what was to become of me. As I walked into town, I could see the stares of pity, and the burning, deserving glares. The more exposed I became, the bigger the fear that burned inside.
I was placed upon a pedestal, my captor had groomed me to look perfect, but even all the others there, sitting before me could see right through me, and I let my eyes fall, knowing all the judgmental things going through their minds. I was undesirable, and I knew it.
“Going once.. twice.. Sold to Foreign Bidder!” bellowed the Auctioneer, and I looked up at my captor to see a smirk on her face, with crude satisfaction. Someone led me away, and I was forced onto a black, rickety boat.
We sailed farther than any boat had traveled, and I stared at the fog. It was so thick I felt blind. After what seemed like days, the fog broke, and the sun shined so brightly I was stunned. We sailed into a cove, so large it looked like we sailed from across a lake.
Some men stood patiently, wearing beautiful clothing, while some that stood beside them were hardy, and a wretched sight, and I felt instant fear. Murmurs came from the men, grabbing leads and walking horses to their new bound fate. I watched a man grab my rope. He was plainly dressed.
As he led me to a barn, so big it seemed unreal, I could see faces I never thought I’d see, and I felt my heart beat again. I looked behind me.
Only if they knew what was here.
Paradise.

It was the stop of the floating stable that woke me up. It was quite noticeable when it stopped - the other horses stomped in their stalls and and whinnied. However, I did not know what it meant, nor had any guesses. I was too scared to really think about really anything at all, and still a bit groggy from my nap. The stable had been rocking side to side for so long that I felt strangely alone without the constant motions. When I had first gotten on the floating stable, it had not been moving. That felt so long ago and the memory of my mother and the human who gave me sweet oats was already fading, being replaced with the other humans who gave me normal oats, not the type I liked. They were always showing their teeth, something that I now understood was good, and I got petted, but I missed my sweet oats and my mother.
But then the door was opening and light flooded in. Surprised and a bit unsure, I took a step back, nickering in worry. A human stepped forward, some ropes draped across his arm. I recognized him as the one who had once given me a peppermint so I did not move from my place even when he put the ropes around my face. He seemed pleased and offered me another peppermint which I eagerly lipped up from his hand, already wondering what I could do to get more.
Then he was pulling on the rope and I followed him, eying his pockets and wondering if they were big enough for me to stick my nose into. The human never gave me the chance to, though, always staying a few steps ahead of me. The only thing that made me notice we had left the floating stable was when the sound of my hoofsteps changed. I was stepping onto something other horses called cobblestone.
Looking around, I was overjoyed to notice other horses around. In fact, there was a lot of other horses around! Some were pulling small human houses behind them, while with others, humans were sitting directly on top of them. There were many human houses and other buildings, all in different shades of brown and grey. Where was the green? But when the human guiding me took me behind some of the human houses I saw grass. Letting out a small snort, I stepped towards one of the pastures and grabbed a blue flower, eating it and savoring the sweetness. The human made a choking noise, something else I now knew was good, patted me on my nose, and garbled something in human-speech. He then moved away and opened a part of the fence, pulling me inside. Was all this grass going to be mine? Galloping forward, I could barely wait while the human took off the ropes. Now free, I tossed my head and let my mane blow in a slight breeze, quickly feeling at home.