It was weird spending your entire life up to a point on instinct alone, and then one day that all changes.
Patches was an American Painted Horse Mare who lived on a farm outside of one of the towns where the Equine Virus was first reported. She didn't really pay it much mind, at least until a new stallion was brought into the farm and mated with her. Unknowingly they had brought an infected and transformed human who had in turn infected her.
The virus granted her human level intelligence, which was bizarre to say the least. She had to get used to it, but she was now more comfortable with it after the birth of her colt. A lot of infected started being sent to the Farm, and she had started to help the former humans get used to their new bodies.
She smiled as she looked up from her grazing to see her colt racing with a filly that had recently arrived. She had been abandoned by her parents after she had reached stage 5, they weren't sure what happened to her parents but she had been dropped off at the farm as they tried to escape the town.
The filly came in for a stop near patches and smiled up at her. "Did you see me? That was the fastest I've gone yet!" She said excitedly, the former human had come to love running and racing, she was a good kid.
"Yeah, I saw you," Patches said as she gave her a nod. "Go on, have some more fun Carrie, we still have a bit to go before we're needed?"
Carrie tilted her head a little. "What are we going to be needed for?" She asked. "I thought today was going to just be normal."
"Well, it was, but there's going to be some new horses coming," Patches said. "They'll be here in a little while, if you want to come of course."
She nodded and returned to racing. Patches smiled and went back to grazing.
After awhile the new horses arrived and they are...