Saturn Attempt 2

Rian counted the grooves in the thick wooden beam above his bed for the four hundred and sixth time, arriving at the same conclusion he did the first four hundred and five times: he simply did not care how many lines were in it. He lay flat on his back, empty of the tears that had first come when he'd made it back to the top bunk of the Eights-to-Tens dormitory and buried his face in his pillow, oblivious to the mud on his boots that streaked across the pale blue Academy bedsheets. Finally cried out, he'd wiped his face on his pillowcase and flipped over. He'd been numb and still ever since.

How could it have all gone wrong? He'd braided the purple ribbon into the buckskin stallion's mane so tightly that he was sure it'd take scissors to get it out. He'd been slightly deflated by the prospect, as he'd seen the beautiful tributes other students had made from their ponies' preserved Pónikötés Napja ribbons and thought that a cut-up purple ribbon wouldn't quite do, until he'd realised that once the stallion was his, he could take as much time as he wanted to get the ribbon out of the pony's mane. Buoyed by the idea of infinite time with his pony-to-be, he'd begun planning the first things he'd do with his new pal. 

It had all come crashing down when the wranglers had driven the pony herd through the field gates and he'd caught his first glimpse of the stallion. Perched eagerly on the fence, he watched for the flash of bright purple among the black-and-white strands of the pony's mane. Finding none, his face had crumpled; he'd been so sure! Mistress Lyon had seen his disappointment and been quick to assure him that there would be another chance in a week's time, but it hadn't been enough - especially when he'd seen two of his fellow Eights leaping about with excitement as their ponies came in still wearing their bells.

"Rian!"

Rian's bunk bed frame shook as two boys, a Twelve and an Eleven, clambered onto the top bunk. He hurriedly wiped his face again, making sure there wasn't any sign of his tears left.

"Istenem, Rian, you've been crying?" Nolan said as he crashed down onto the mattress, immediately cross-legged.

Rian scrambled to sit up. "No," he lied.

"Don't worry about it. We won't tell. Anyway, I heard about your pony," Nolan said.

"Yes, I lost the ribbon you gave me. I'm sorry," Rian replied, downcast.

"Tch, that's the least of our concerns. We're here-" Nolan said, gesturing to the other boy and lowering his voice several levels, "because we have a plan to get you that pony."

"How?" Rian said, voice flat. "There isn't another Pónikötés until next week. The others will be far ahead in their training by then."

"A week is nothing to those who wait," Nolan said sagely, getting the quote wrong. "Stop your moping and listen. Go to sleep with dark clothes on tonight. We'll come for you. We'll explain the plan then. Don't scream, or you'll ruin it all."

Rian's eyes widened. "Okay."