Light flooded in as Coal Coat’s eyes snapped open, causing the stallion to bring up his hooves to shield his eyes from the brightness.  It was then that he noticed a distinct coldness about his blanket, brought forth no doubt by the sweat that he could feel running down his forehead.  Despite the blanket’s warm embrace he shivered with the uneasy feeling that was nestled into the back of his stomach.  He took in a deep breath and let it out before sitting up, stretching his back after he did so.  “Nnnnnng.”  His groan filled the room as a few of the vertebrae in his back popped.

After standing up to shut the curtains, Coal Coat began to gather up his blankets that were now saturated with the scent of sweat and fear.  “That’s the third night in a row.”  He huffed angrily to himself as he tossed the ball of sopping wet cloth into the laundry bin to be done later.  The pile of blankets and sheets had grown to be nearly as high tall as he was something that he would have to resign himself to doing later tonight.  The stench really was getting to be too much for even the strongest of room-sprays, Haybreeze Ultimate, to conceal.

As he trotted out of the room the door swung shut behind him in a desperate attempt to keep the smell from the rest of the house.  It smelled like sweat, but it had some sort of unnerving undertone to it; something that reeked so badly that it burned his nose with its sourness.  Of course, he wasn’t allowed a moment to reflect on the burning in nose as his thoughts were interrupted by the rather loud rumbling of his stomach.