The frozen lake cracked beneath his feet, and he gasped. It was imperative for him to get on the other side of the lake and save his beloved horse, but the spring was melting the ice rapidly and he didn’t know what to do. He remembered about a documentary he watched a while ago and went on all four to distribute his weight equally. Relieved to touch the solid ground again, he rushed to the stables and pulled Ben out from the flames. The animal was terrified, but Adam always had an apple in his pocket and managed to calm him despite the fire spreading all around them.

“It’s all right, old boy, we will make it home safely...somehow.” Adam told the animal scratching his head, but his confidence melted along with the fence that was turned into ashes.

The horse made a run for, but the flames was blocking its way from all directions and with all that snow, the smoke became unbearable suffocating Adam who was trying to calm his friend, but he began to choke and shortly, his vision became blurred, and everything was spinning around him. When he finally opened his eyes, the fire was out, and a gorgeous creature was gently nuzzling him.

“What happened? Where am I?” he mumbled trying to clear his mind before suddenly jumping on his feet and starting to look for Ben.

“It’s all right, my friend; we’re both safe now.” the white creature replied freaking the man out of his boots. “Don’t be frightened, it’s me, Ben.”

“But...you don’t look like the old horse I’ve known all my life, and you...talk! How?”

“I was never a horse to begin with, but now it’s not the time for stories. Let’s go home.”

For some reason, Adam felt ashamed to ride that beautiful creature, so he walked beside it, looking back at the destroyed stable from time to time to make sure he wasn’t having a weird dream of some sort. The wooden bridge was still standing which was a good thing because the river swirls were extremely violent after being completely frozen for over four months, but the silence between them was frustrating for the man. He wanted to say something, but didn’t know what, so he just sighed deeply and carried on contemplating at the recent events while gazing in the distance at the muddy road ahead. As soon as they could see the ranch, the white creature changed into that old horse again.

“It’s best to keep the old appearance for now. There's a lot going on as it is, I don’t want to make things worse.” Ben said with a smile in his voice.

“Right.” Adam mumbled leading him to the training area. I’ll better see how everyone’s doing, then you and I will have a serious conversation.”

“As you wish.”

While checking on his pets and the other animals on the ranch, Adam called all his workers to make sure they were safe grateful that he didn’t have a family to worry about. He never had time for anything else than work. Sure, he had multiple occasions to make a family of his own, but after a while, the ladies were getting bored of him working all the time, and were leaving without even saying goodbye, so in the end, he stopped trying. Thinking about all those things, he felt a trace of regret for not having any kids. They would’ve loved to see old Ben turning into a mighty, white horse with sparkly hair that could talk. Anyway, it was too late to think about that. He checked the entire house again to make sure everything was in order, then headed for the training area where Ben was waiting for him.

“How’s everything?” the horse asked enjoying a few carrots.

“Good. Everything is good.” Adam mumbled chewing a straw he pulled from a haystack. “So, who are you?” he added visibly troubled by the thought of talking to a magic horse because nothing in his life has ever been out of the ordinary.

“Do you remember the day you found me down by the river when you were a boy?”

“Sure, I do.”

“I was being chased by the grey man who locked us up into his castle and stole our magic. Before he could get to me, my parents used the little magic they have left to send me far away from that place, and when I landed on the grass, I saw a herd of horses on the other side of the river, and I disguised myself as one of them. Earlier, when we were surrounded by fire, I had no choice but to become myself again to save you, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth in the first place. I thought I was protecting you from thinking you have gone mad.”

“It’s okay, I understand. The question is what are we going to do from now on?”

Ben didn’t reply. His heart was heavy, but it was something he had to do, so he hugged his best friend and Adam understood that their time together had come to an end.

“Are you sure you can’t stay here? If the others have no magic left, you’ll be captured too.” he mumbled in a last effort to convince Ben to remain a horse.

“I am the only one who can save them now and it is my duty to do so.” Ben replied with sadness. “Besides, if I will stay here with you, I won’t have much time to live anyway.”

“True, you are kind of old.” Adam admitted then they both started laughing.

“Don’t be sad, I will come to you when you’ll need me the most.”

“What if you’re going to need me? How do I find you?”

“You just need to go back to the river where you found me and touch the grass. It will lead you to me. “

“Then I shall see you again, my good old friend.”

“You sure will.” Ben confirmed turning into that white creature and flurrying away leaving sparkly dust behind.