- - -
It was with some trepidation that Jaune led his closest friends to the stables. Ruby was bouncing alongside him, beaming like the sun. Yang and Pyrrha kept pace just behind him, Weiss walked on his left side, while Nora, Ren, and Blake brought up the rear.
They soon reached the paddock, where Orleans was calmly drinking some water from the trough. She perked up as she spotted Jaune, and trotted up to put her head over the fence. Jaune reached up and scratched his loyal mount behind her ears, which made her neigh happily.
"Are you sure ya'll wanna learn to ride on Orleans?" Jaune asked. "She's a bit of a challenge for beginners-"
"Come now, Jaune," Weiss smiled, "She is part of the team, after all. We should know how to ride her just in case something happens."
"Exactly!" Ruby said with a nod. She crossed her arms under her chest. "And as your fellow team leader and bestie, I think all of us learning how to ride on Orleans is the best!"
"How will I be a Queen without a noble steed?" Nora added. She hugged Ren tightly. "Aside from Renny, of course!"
"She's still pretty tough," Jaune added, patting Orleans on the back of her neck, "I could always make an appointment at the local ranch and get us a few non-Aura unlocked horses to practice on-"
"Come on Stud," Yang said, leaning in with a grin, "She's got to get used to us some time. Besides! I'm no stranger to having something big and powerful between my legs~."
She added a leer as she leaned in more closely to the blushing Jaune.
"Or I won't be if we just-"
"O-Okay! Okay! That is quite enough!" Weiss sputtered, pulling Yang away. Pyrrha looked rather relieved. She gave Jaune a small smile.
"Besides," she said, "Weiss and myself do have some equestrian experience. We can help you, Jaune."
"Pretty please?" Ruby begged, her eyes wide and shiny.
Jaune sighed, damning his weakness. He patted Orleans on the side of her neck.
"All right," he said. He turned to Orleans and looked her in the eyes. "We're gonna teach our friends how to ride."
Orleans snorted, looking irritated. Jaune shook his head.
"It ain't gonna be like I'm sharing you! Just... Teachin' them so they don't get hurt." He lowered his voice. "You're still my number one gal, promise."
Orleans considered things... Before neighing in reluctant agreement. Jaune gave her a soft smile.
"That's my girl... One more thing. Go easy on 'em..."
Orleans scowled. Jaune's eyes gained a glint of mischief.
"But not too easy."
Orleans whinnied. It sounded like evil laughter. Jaune turned to his friends with a smile.
"So! Who's first?"
"I will!" Weiss insisted, narrowly beating out Ruby, Yang and Pyrrha. It was rather impressive for the slight young woman, Jaune would admit. She gracefully jumped the fence, and without any issues, got up and mounted Orleans.
She sat elegantly on the saddle with the reins in her hands. Jaune raised an eyebrow at how she was positioned though.
"Uh, Weiss, I don't think side saddle is the best approach-"
Weiss smiled demurely at Jaune and shook her head.
"Now Jaune, I'm perfectly capable of handling things. I was trained in how to ride a hooOOOOOOOORRRRRRSSSSE-!"
Orleans bolted and leaped right over the fence, galloping and bucking around in a circle so quickly she began to kick up dust devils. Weiss hung on for dear life, screaming as her entire body left the saddle and bounced up and down... Before she let go and went flying into a hay bale.
Jaune did his level best not to laugh, while everyone else didn't bother. Except for Ren, but his lips were twitching in a mighty suspicious way.
Jaune walked over to the sputtering, hay-covered Weiss.
"You all right, Weiss?"
He helped her up, and kept his face stony and neutral as he beheld the many straws in her white hair. She fumed at Orleans.
"Oooh...! That... She did that on purpose!"
Orleans whinnied and shot her an undeniably smug look. Jaune chuckled, though he patted Weiss on the shoulder reassuringly.
"She does that. Throws me every once in a while, too. Just to remind me that this here's a partnership, and I ain't her master," he said kindly. "Sure you don't wanna try a normal horse first, Weiss? Ain't no shame in it-"
Weiss' eyes blazed.
"No! I-I will not back down from this challenge," she insisted. "I-I'm not just some frail little princess who quits when things get rough!"
"I guess we'll see about that," Yang laughed. She caught Orleans' reins, and led the horse back towards the fence. She smirked at Weiss.
"But first! My turn," she said. Jaune coughed, especially when he saw Orleans' calculating expression.
"Ah, Yang, maybe you could use a refresher-"
Yang mounted Orleans, straddling her back and holding the reins with a grin.
"Come on, Stud! I've ridden my motorcycle plenty! I'm sure Orleans isn't too different," she said. She winked. "You tamed her, after all~. And Bumblebee is plenty temperamental!"
Orleans snorted. Jaune took a deep breath.
"One: 'Tamed' ain't the word I would use," Jaune said slowly, "And two? Yer Bumblebee's got nothing on my Orleans."
Yang's eyes narrowed and flashed red.
"Oh really? We'll just see about that. I can handle her just fine!" She kicked Orleans in the side and swung the reins. "YAH!"
Thirty seconds later... Jaune was fishing Yang out of a large rain barrel. The bombshell blonde coughed and sputtered, as Orleans trotted cheekily nearby and their friends laughed.
"H-HEY! NO FAIR!" Yang growled.
"But I thought you could handle it!" Weiss said mockingly.
"With how you ride Bumblebee, I'm not surprised Orleans didn't want anything to do with you!" Ruby giggled.
Even Blake smirked broadly. Yang growled and shook her fist at the showboating Orleans.
"You're gonna pay for this you walking glue factory!"
"Now now," Jaune chuckled, "easy. That's just her nature is all."
He pulled Yang up by her hips, and set her down next to him. She blushed furiously, but didn't pull away as he let her lean on him. Jaune sighed.
"Sure we can't just go to the local ranch? I've got friends there-"
"N-No Jaune, it's perfectly all right," Pyrrha said. She mounted Orleans next, and patted the back of the horse's neck affectionately.
"I'm sure Orleans is just having some fun, and we shouldn't begrudge her that," Pyrrha said with a small smile. "We should treat her with respect, like any other member of our team."
Pyrrha gently goaded Orleans. The horse stood still as a statue. Pyrrha frowned.
"Orleans? Come on, let's go. Please?"
She again gently goaded her. Orleans didn't move a muscle. Pyrrha sighed.
"Like I said, you've had your fun. We need to train. Please move?"
She dug her heels into Orleans' side. The horse still didn't budge. Pyrrha's eyebrow twitched. Nora snickered. Jaune cleared his throat.
"Orleans doesn't like it when you're too soft. You gotta command her proper like."
"Let's go!" Pyrrha insisted. Orleans still didn't move. Pyrrhas scowled.
"Giddyup!"
Again, nothing. Pyrrha gripped the reins more tightly.
"Go! Let's go!"
Jaune sighed. He left Yang (who pouted) and walked up to Orleans' side. He pulled his hand back.
"Come on girl. GIT!"
He slapped her rump. Orleans let out a deafening neigh, reared up on her back hooves, then shot off so fast she nearly blew Jaune off his feet.
"There we goooOOOOOOOOHHH MYYYYY!" Pyrrha yelped.
Orleans used her Semblance and galloped right up into the air. She ascended very high, and then dove like a falcon for the ground. She galloped into the trees, fast as lightning, as Pyrrha wailed the whole time. About ten minutes later, Orleans burst back through the trees, sans her rider. Jaune glared at Orleans as she trotted up, smug as can be.
"Orleans? Where is Pyrrha?" Jaune growled.
Pyrrha jogged into view a few moments later. The Spartan was panting, covered in mud, branches, feathers, and soaking wet. She glared hatred at Orleans.
"You... You... YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING FLEA BITTEN HORSE!" Pyrrha yelled. She then immediately covered her mouth in embarassment.
Orleans whinnied innocently. Jaune was frankly shocked at Angry!Pyrrha. As was everyone else.
"Now Orleans, that wasn't what I meant," Jaune admonished. Orleans snorted. He walked over to Pyrrha.
"You all right there, Pyrrha?" He asked kindly.
Pyrrha twitched.
"She smashed through a chicken coop," she hissed, glaring death at the horse. Orleans whinnied, unrepentant. Jaune sighed and patted her back.
"She uh... She does like to get rises out of folks," he said.
"No kidding," Weiss growled.
"Hadn't noticed," Yang seethed.
"MY TURN!" Ruby cheered. She hopped up onto Orleans with her Semblance, teleporting right into the saddle. She beamed and held on.
"All right Orleans! Remember all the sugar cubes we shared?" Her eyes narrowed.
"You owe me."
Orleans thought about it... Then using her Semblance, she blasted off like a rocket and sailed up into the sky.
"WHEEEEEEEE!" Ruby cheered.
Orleans then landed... Right in the middle of a gigantic mud puddle. Ruby yelped and with Orleans' added bucking, the little Reaper fell right off with a loud squelch.
"GYAH!"
Orleans again whinnied in evil laughter, galloping off. Ruby got up, covered in muck, and glared after her.
"HEYYY! TRAITOR!"
Jaune once again helped her out. Ruby glared angrily at the very smug horse, who trotted over to Blake, Ren and Nora.
Jaune's eyes widened.
"Wait, Orleans, don't you-!"
Orleans shook like a dog, spraying Blake, Ren and Nora with mud. Blake yelped and used a clone to try and escape, but she still got covered. Nora grinned and cheered, while Ren stoically endured the unslaught with an umbrella he produced.
"WOOHOO! AWESOME!" Nora cheered. "I'M THE MUD QUEEN NOW!"
At Jaune's look, Ren shrugged.
"Nora has taught me to be prepared," he stated.
"You..." Blake hissed as she glared daggers at the very clean (and smug) horse.
Jaune took another very deep breath.
"All right," Jaune said, "Once again, why don't we just go to the local ranch and-"
"Ohhh no!" Yang snarled, wrenching some mud and water out of her precious hair, "It's personal now, Stud."
"You're going down, Orleans!" Ruby growled, trying to look intimidating but failing rather miserably thanks to how cute she was and the mud still covering her.
"You pulled me into this and now you're gonna regret it," Blake hissed.
"I will have my vengeance," Pyrrha sneered, fists clenched as chicken feathers continued to fall from her.
"REVENGE!" Weiss growled.
- - -
Another three hours followed. Jaune stood there in the midday sun, exasperated. He looked over at Orleans, who was placidly eating some oats in her stall. He then looked over at his friends.
Weiss was crying about the filth all over her, ranging from mud to even more chicken feathers.
Pyrrha was done, so tired and so upset she just radiated anger through the dirt and grass caking her.
Ruby was passed out, but still kicked and growled like an angry chihuahua through the dirt and muck covering her.
Yang looked resentful and exhausted, her precious hair now full of muck, feathers, and twigs. One of which was on fire.
Blake was curled up in a corner and rocking back and forth, soaking wet and caked in mud, mumbling about "Not the water again! Not the water!"
Ren had not escaped unscathed-He was covered in white paint when Orleans crashed through a supply shed. He still bore it stoically, though one eyebrow was definitely twitching.
Nora beamed, covered in filth and wearing a broad smile.
"I think we're getting better!" Nora cried.
Jaune sighed. He turned a glare at Orleans.
"No treats for a week."
Orleans neighed in angry surprise. Jaune scowled.
"You know what you did," he stated firmly.
Contrite, Orleans snorted and slunk back to her oats. Jaune then turned back to his human/Faunus friends.
"We're going to the ranch first thing tomorrow," he stated firmly. "I will teach you all myself... Any objections?"
"I object!" Nora cried.
Everyone else shook their heads if they were able.
"Good!" Jaune said brightly. "Let's hit the showers."
Nora pouted.
