For the first time since he was born, he is spineless but not in any other sense than what was his namesake.
The change in Beqanna had rippled across the land, through the horses, changing and shifting. Cactus had heard cries and pleas. he heard angry vices echoing with rage while others wept unintelligently. They thought they had lost so much...that this was all a curse. the copper stallion could only smile softly as she raked his teeth down his chest, scratched his head against his leg without fear.
He had never been so normal. Cactus was without the terrible spines that plagued him ceaselessly. No horse looked at him as though he was a freak. No one tried to poke him or get close enough to see if they were real. He was but a simple chestnut stallion taking a drink from the cool waters of the river, a smile crossing broadly over his youthful features for the first time in ages. For once the odds were in his favor. For once the fairies smiled upon him.
The spring sunlight felt good across his back. He could hear the birdsong and the man felt as though he could weep with happiness to fell grass against his lips instead of the spines digging into the soil. Cactus makes an effort to greet all the others that neared the water with an almost too friendly smile but he does not attempt to hide the joy that blossoms in his heart.
cactus