History Fridge / TheHorseAndHisBoy

** There is also the fact that it's a ''voiceless'' donkey: every Narnian talking beast has been told from pretty much the time they ''learned'' to talk that if they really screw up and behave in a manner that is bestial, then they'll lose the ability to speak. Which is what happens here - so any of them could have [[WorldBuilding predicted]] Rabadash "had it coming": for being a metaphorical jackass, he becomes a literal one.

** There's also another aspect to it. Aravis' older brother -- the only member of her family she seemed to care about -- was killed "in the Tisroc's wars." She probably justified it by thinking that the Tisroc wouldn't have sent him without carefully considering the situation and weighing all the risks. Then she witnesses Prince Rabadash getting permission to take two hunded men on a risky expedition for no guaranteed gain (they ''might'' take Archenland, but the Tisroc's main goal is to distract and/or get rid of his hot-headed son). Even before the attempt goes awry -- none of those men apparently survive the Battle of Anvard -- she sees that the Tisroc doesn't care about the cost of human life and will blithely throw soldiers away for his own convenience.

** The scene of Rabadash [[ForcedTransformation turning into]] a donkey is a ShoutOut to a similar scene in Literature/{{TheAdventuresOfPinocchio}}, where the exact same thing happens to the proto-delinquent boys who are enticed to go to the land of toys. Except in Pinocchio, the change is permanent from the start, and part of a scheme to sell those donkeys into slavery that will end with their CruelAndUnusualDeath - symbolising that if you are up to no good instead of becoming a useful member of society, you'll at best end up a beast of burden and die young. You see this most prominently with Pinocchio's friend Candlewick. Here, by contrast, Aslan [[ScareEmStraight scares Rabadash straight]] with the ''threat'' of the fate above while adding a measure of mercy by letting him regain his old form just once. He also warns Rabadash not to venture too far from Tashbaan (as he would have to do to make war) lest the transformation reassert itself permanently. One almost wonders if Lewis [[AuthorAppeal felt sorry for]] the boys in Pinocchio and wrote Rabadash as a sort of Candlewick that got away after all (even if it took nothing less than DivineIntervention).

* Bree and Hwin were both captured at a young age and spent years pretending to be ordinary horses; as Bree in particular was a prized war-stallion, it's quite likely that he at least was forced to be a sire for other horses that Tarkaan Anradin owned.
** At least he wasn't gelded.

** There's another aspect to it -- Aravis' beloved older brother was killed "in the Tisroc's wars." She probably justified it by thinking that the Tisroc wouldn't have sent him without carefully considering the situation and weighing all the risks. Then she witnesses Prince Rabadash getting permission to take two hunded men on a risky expedition for no guaranteed gain (except to cool the prince's blood and possibly get rid of him). Even before the attempt goes awry -- none of those men apparently survive the Battle of Anvard -- she realizes that the Tisroc doesn't care about the cost of human life and will blithely throw lives away if it distracts Rabadash.

!! Fridge Logic
* Bree tells Shasta that his master Anradin is decent to his valuable horses but cruel to his slaves. This gets Shasta to agree to release him and go with him on the journey to Narnia. But given that Bree desperately needs a human rider so that he doesn't look like a runaway horse, could this have been a MotivationalLie to get Shasta to come with him?

* Bree and Hwin were both captured at a young age and spent years pretending to be ordinary horses; as Bree in particular was a prized war-stallion, it's quite likely that he at least was forced to be a sire for other horses that Tarkan Anradin owned.

* More of an averted Fridge Terkjerker, but several members of the Narnian Embassy (with the exception of Corin) must have known about the existence and kidnapping of Cor, Edmund and Susan included (as the twins would have been born after they ascended the Narnian thrones). They must have felt terrible after realising that they had the long missing son of their friend and ally in their custody for a few hours and might have been able to bring him home, only to have him vanish yet again with no clue as to where he'd gone (at least until the dust settled and they learned it was destiny at work all along).

** The scene of Rabadash [[ForcedTransformation turning into]] a donkey is a ShoutOut to a similar scene in Literature/{{TheAdventuresOfPinocchio}}, where the exact same thing happens to the proto-delinquent boys who are enticed to go to the land of toys. Except in Pinocchio, the change is permanent, and part of a scheme to sell those donkeys into slavery that will end with their CruelAndUnusualDeath - symbolising that if you are up to no good instead of becoming a useful member of society, you'll at best end up a beast of burden and die young. You see this most prominently with Pinocchio's friend Candlewick. Here, by contrast, while Aslan warns Rabadash not to venture too far from Tashbaan (as he would have to do to make war) lest the transformation reassert itself permanently, he [[ScareEmStraight scares him straight]] with the threat while adding a measure of mercy by letting him regain his old form this once. One almost wonders if Lewis [[AuthorAppeal felt sorry for]] the boys in Pinocchio and wrote Rabadash as a sort of Candlewick that got away after all (even if it took nothing less than DivineIntervention).

* When Aravis first meets Queen Lucy, the two strike up an instant friendship, despite Aravis being a Calormene and a complete stranger. This is not merely due to Aravis' ordeals and Lucy being an AllLovingHero, but because they feel a natural kinship. Lucy, as the youngest of four siblings, has always felt somewhat marginalized and neglected, and Aravis of course, being promised to a much older man she doesn't even know, definitely knows what oppression is like. They are also much alike, both being tomboys in largely male-dominated societies (though Narnia is vastly more egalitarian than Calormen). But the reason Aravis latches on to Lucy so swiftly and strongly is because Lucy shows that a woman can [[LadyOfWar be]] a stalwart fighter on par with men, (and be highly admired and respected for it), yet still maintain her femininity and love for fancy dresses and such. And one can't help but imagine that Queen Susan and Lasaraleen would also get along famously, though for diametrically opposed reasons.

** The scene of Rabadash [[ForcedTransformation turning into]] a donkey is a ShoutOut to a similar scene in Literature/{{TheAdventuresOfPinocchio}}, where the exact same thing happens to the proto-delinquent boys who are enticed to go to the land of toys. Except in Pinocchio, the change is permanent, and part of a scheme to sell those donkeys into slavery that will end with their CruelAndUnusualDeath - symbolising that if you are up to no good instead of becoming a useful member of society, you'll at best end up a beast of burden and die young. You see this most prominently with Pinocchio's friend Candlewick. Here, by contrast, this is present in the background as [[ScareEmStraight a warning]] - but because it's Aslan doing the transforming as a warning instead of the real horrible fate that the warning is about, the change is ''not'' permanent. One almost wonders if Lewis [[AuthorAppeal felt sorry for]] the boys in Pinocchio and wrote Rabadash as a sort of Candlewick that got away after all (even if it took nothing less than DivineIntervention).
** There is also the fact that it's a ''voiceless'' donkey: every Narnian talking beast has been told from pretty much the time they ''could'' talk that if they really screw up and behave in a manner that is bestial, then they'll lose the ability for speech. Which is what happens here - so any of them could have [[WorldBuilding predicted]] Rabadash "had it coming": for being a metaphorical jackass, he becomes a literal one.

* When Aravis first meets Queen Lucy, the two strike up an instant friendship, despite Aravis being a Calormene and a complete stranger. This is not merely due to Aravis' ordeals and Lucy being an AllLovingHero, but because they feel a natural kinship. Lucy, as the youngest of four siblings, has always felt somewhat marginalized and neglected, and Aravis of course, being promised to a much older man she doesn't even know, definitely knows what oppression is like. They are also much alike, both being tomboys in largely male-dominated societies (though Narnia is vastly more egalitarian than Calormen). But the reason Aravis latches on to Lucy so swiftly and strongly is because Lucy shows that a woman can be a stalwart fighter on par with men, (and be highly admired and respected for doing so), yet still maintain her femininity and love for fancy dresses and such. And one can't help but imagine that Queen Susan and Lasaraleen would also get along famously, though for diametrically opposed reasons.

** The scene of Rabadash [[BalefulPolymorph turning into]] a donkey is a ShoutOut to a similar scene in Literature/{{TheAdventuresOfPinocchio}}, where the exact same thing happens to the proto-delinquent boys who are enticed to go to the land of toys. Except in Pinocchio, the change is permanent, and part of a scheme to sell those donkeys into slavery that will end with their CruelAndUnusualDeath - symbolising that if you are up to no good instead of becoming a useful member of society, you'll at best end up a beast of burden and die young. You see this most prominently with Pinocchio's friend Candlewick. Here, by contrast, this is present in the background as [[ScareEmStraight a warning]] - but because it's Aslan doing the transforming as a warning instead of the real horrible fate that the warning is about, the change is ''not'' permanent. One almost wonders if Lewis [[AuthorAppeal felt sorry for]] the boys in Pinocchio and wrote Rabadash as a sort of Candlewick that got away after all (even if it took nothing less than DivineIntervention).

** There is also the fact that it's a ''voiceless'' donkey: every Narnian talking beast has been told from pretty much the time they ''could'' talk that if they really screw up and behave in a manner that is bestial, then they'll lose the ability for speech. Which is what happens here - so any of them could have [[Worldbuilding predicted]] Rabadash "had it coming": for being a metaphorical jackass, he becomes a literal one.

** The scene of Rabadash [[BalefulPolymorph turning into]] a donkey is a ShoutOut to a similar scene in Literature/{{TheAdventuresOfPinocchio}}, where the exact same thing happens to the proto-delinquent boys who are enticed to go to the land of toys. Except in Pinocchio, the change is permanent, and part of a scheme to sell those donkeys into slavery that will end with their CruelAndUnusualDeath - symbolising that if you are up to no good instead of becoming a useful member of society, you'll at best end up a beast of burden and die young. You see this most prominently with Pinocchio's friend Candlewick. Here, by contrast, this is present in the background as [[ScareEmStraight a warning]] - but because it's Aslan doing the transforming as a warning instead of the real horrible fate that the warning is about, the change is ''not'' permanent. One almost wonders if Lewis [[AuthorAppeal felt sorry for]] the boys in Pinocchio and wrote Rabadash as a sort of Candlewick that got away after all (even if it took nothing less than DivineIntervention to do it).

** The scene of Rabadash [[BalefulPolymorph turning into]] a donkey is a ShoutOut to a similar scene in Literature/{{TheAdventuresOfPinocchio}}, where the exact same thing happens to the proto-delinquent boys who are enticed by the coachman to go to pleasure island. Except in Pinocchio, the change is permanent, and part of the coachman's scheme to sell those donkeys into slavery that will end with their CruelAndUnusualDeath - symbolising that if you are up to no good instead of becoming a useful member of society, you'll at best end up a beast of burden and die young. You see this most prominently with Pinocchio's friend Candlewick. Here, by contrast, this is present in the background as [[ScareEmStraight a warning]] - but because it's Aslan doing the transforming as a warning instead of the real horrible fate that the warning is about, the change is ''not'' permanent. One almost wonders if Lewis [[AuthorAppeal felt sorry for]] the boys in Pinocchio and wrote Rabadash as a sort of Candlewick that got away after all (even if it took nothing less than DivineIntervention to do it).

** The scene of Rabadash [[BalefulPolymorph turning into]] a donkey is a ShoutOut to a similar scene in /Literature/{{TheAdventuresOfPinocchio}}, where the exact same thing happens to the proto-delinquent boys who are enticed by the coachman to go to pleasure island. Except in Pinocchio, the change is permanent, and part of the coachman's scheme to sell those donkeys into slavery that will end with their CruelAndUnusualDeath - symbolising that if you are up to no good instead of becoming a useful member of society, you'll at best end up a beast of burden and die young. You see this most prominently with Pinocchio's friend Candlewick. Here, by contrast, this is present in the background as [[ScareThemStraight a warning]] - but because it's Aslan doing the transforming as a warning instead of the real horrible fate that the warning is about, the change is ''not'' permanent. One almost wonders if Lewis {{AuthorAppeal felt sorry for]] the boys in Pinocchio and wrote Rabadash as a sort of Candlewick that got away after all (even if it took nothing less than DivineIntervention to do it).

* More of an averted Fridge Terkjerker, but several members of the Narnian Embassy (with the exception of Corin) must know about the existence and kidnapping of Cor, Edmund and Susan included (as the twins would have been born after they ascended the Narnian thrones). They must have felt terrible after realising that they had the long missing son of their friend and ally in their custody for a few hours and might have been able to bring him home only to have him vanish yet again with no clue as to where he'd gone (at least until they dust settled and they learned it was destiny at work all along)?

* ''The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'' ends not much longer after the end of this story, when the four Pevensies are still young adults. From the perspective of all the characters in this book, their great friends and closest allies simply disappeared one day, without a trace and with nothing to show what had happened to them.

* Why does Aslan effectively put Rabadash under house arrest with his punishment? Because the four monarches (the Pevensies) are going to vanish in the near future, leaving Narnia defenseless against a second Calormene assault if Rabadash launches one.

* ''The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'' ends not much longer after the end of this story, when the four Pevensies are still young adults. From the perspective of all the characters in this book, their great friends and closest allies simply disappeared one day, without a trace and with nothing to show what had happened to them.

** At least he wasn't gelded.

* Bree and Hwin were both captured at a young age and spent years pretending to be ordinary horses; as Bree in particular was a prized war-stallion, it's quite likely that he at least was forced to be a sire for other horses that Tarkan Anradin owned.

* When Aravis first meets Queen Lucy, the two strike up an instant friendship, despite Aravis being a Calormene and a complete stranger. This is not merely due to Aravis' ordeals and Lucy being an AllLovingHero, but because they feel a natural kinship. Lucy, as the youngest of four siblings, has always felt somewhat marginalized and neglected, and Aravis of course, being promised to a much older man she doesn't even know, definitely knows what oppression is like. They are also much alike, both being tomboys in largely male-dominated societies (though Narnia is vastly more egalitarian than Calormen). But the reason Aravis latches on to Lucy so swiftly and strongly is because Lucy shows that a woman can be a stalwart fighter on par with men, (and be highly admired and respected for doing so), yet still maintain her femininity and love for fancy dresses and such. And one can't help but imagine that Queen Susan and Lasaraleen would also get along famously, though for diametrically opposed reasons.

* When Aravis first meets Queen Lucy, the two strike up an instant friendship, despite Aravis being a Calormene and a complete stranger. This is not merely due to Aravis' ordeals and Lucy being an AllLovingHero, but because they feel a natural kinship. Lucy, as the youngest of four siblings, has always felt somewhat marginalized and neglected, and Aravis of course, being promised to a much older man she doesn't even know, definitely knows what oppression is like. They are also much alike, both being tomboys in largely male-dominated societies (though Narnia is vastly more egalitarian than Calormen). But the reason Aravis latches on to Lucy so swiftly and strongly is because Lucy shows that a woman can be a stalwart fighter on par with men, (and be highly admired and respected for doing so), yet still maintain her femininity and love for fancy dresses and such. And one can't help but imagine that Queen Susan and Lasaraleen would also get along famously.