Hello everyone! This is my first story posted here at fictionpress, but not my first story ever. I write Bones fiction over on the sister site, . Please enjoy, comments and criticism appreciated and loved!

--

I may be 14, but I'm not stupid. I know the whole 'Don't get into cars with strangers who have lollipops and puppies' routine.

I happen to like ponies, a lot, and I also think I'm adopted, but more on that later.

It was the Fourth of July. I was out of school, and I was at the Mashpee fireworks with my Mom and my little brother, Ricky.

I was bored, but Mom was watching Ricky. Not me.

It was too easy. I slipped sideways into the crowd, ducked under the arm of a furry, pink gorilla, and was headed for the ponies.

That, too, was too easy. They had closed down the pony ride for the night, so I climbed onto the platform that the make-shift stables were on and squeezed through a half open door.

I was in. I waited a minute for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. I saw compartments lined along the walls, about six of them, in the large rectangular space. Each had indistinguishable objects hanging off the gates and stacked around. Ducking low, I scurried over to the first stall. The indistinguishable objects were revealed to me as horse tack and feed as I got closer. Checking quickly to make sure I was the only one there, I clambered over the stall divider and dropped down right next to the stall's only occupant.

The pony snorted in surprise, backing into a corner away from me. Calmly, I stretched a hand out towards her nose. After a few seconds, I saw the panic in her eyes settle, quickly switching to curiosity. She sniffed my fingers and I laughed instinctively as her whiskers tickled my palm. That, apparently, was the wrong thing to do.

"Who's there?" A loud, athuorative male voice called. With a gasp of surprise, I ducked down, crouching next to my new friend. She nudged my shoulder, a questioning look in her eyes. Startled at such a human emotion coming from an animal, I did a quick double take before I put a finger to my lips in a gesture for her to be quiet.

"Hello?" Another voice called, this one raspy. Smoker, I realized.

"It's just me, Jim." The first voice replied. "I thought I heard somethin' in here."

"I'll check it out." The second voice – Jim – said, and I heard the tramp of work boots coming towards me. Pressing closer to the pony, I shrank as far into the corner as I could.

A flashlight – quite large and industrial from the size of the beam – danced in my direction from the general location of the voices. I held my breath, going against my instinct to either squeeze my eyes shut and pretend I was invisible or to scream bloody murder.

The beam of light swept into my stall and I froze. It scouted the walls first and for one terrifying second as the beam passed over me I thought I was caught, but the beam kept going and Jim's half-hearted search was completed with a sharp click of the flashlight being shut off.

"Nothin' down here." He called, locking the door I had come in before stomping back to his companion. "We should get moving anyways."

"Flip you for driving rights." The first voice, still nameless, said. I heard rustling, then the ping as a coin was flipped, and the smack as it was turned onto the back of someone's hand.

"Aww, come on Dave." Jim said, and I heard the coin being dropped back into a pocket, clinking as it rattled against other loose change.

"Nope. Fair's fair." Voice number one, AKA 'Dave', said smugly.

Jim chuckled stupidly. "Fair's fair. Funny, Dave, seeing as we work for a carnival." I could practically hear Dave roll his eyes. Footsteps followed, then the slamming of a door. For a few seconds I was in silence.

"Well," I said to the pony, letting out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding in, "That was exciting, but I really have to go-"

The revving of an engine and the floor lurching cut me off as I fell over sideways. The pony, obviously expecting the sudden movement, hadn't even stumbled.

"What the?!" I exclaimed, righting myself.

The floor, no, the whole stable, was moving. When I heard Dave beep the horn, I realized exactly what was going on.

I was in a truck that housed a bunch of ponies and I had no way to get out! To make this all even better, no one knew where I was.

Happy fourth, Ashley, My subconscious muttered evilly, Happy last Fourth of July.