I followed the stallion's gaze to the land beneath us, orbs narrowing to better see the trail of a species of bird that I had never seen before. Quietly I watched the strange creature approach the bush, greeted excitedly by it's chick. A single aud flicked towards Bucephalus to listen to him speak as I watched the baby bird with a smile, slowly beginning to understand what he meant. I knew that many creatures were nocturnal, it only made sense that the majority of the desert creatures were the same. It certainly explained why I felt as though I never was able to see much around here but the same old piles of sand.

Glancing to the stallion, I smirked as he gave me two options of what we should do next. My curiosity begged me to stay and see the world through his eyes, learn from what he knew of these types of lands and hopefully take in a new sense of appreciation for the desert. But I would be lying if another part of me warned me to do no such thing. Mistakes of my past taught me lessons that mares should never be forced to learn, and the slow drop of my face as I tried to forget those lessons showed my concern. This stallion was still but a stranger to me, regardless of how friendly he was. A few days of acquaintanceship was hardly something for me to base trust off of, yet I had already put so much more trust into him than I was usually comfortable with.

I kept my attention to the birds as they speed away, watching the trail of dust disperse behind them as I thought. To be alone with Bucephalus in broad daylight was one thing, the sun's light brought a source of comfort and bravery to me. After dusk, while so far away from the safety of the herd, was something completely different. Dragon's Throat members were supposed to be family, right? They were supposed to put their trust in each other before all others, but how could such a thing be asked of those new to these customs? Would they really defend and protect each other to the death? Trust each other with their lives and spirits? It was a difficult concept that I could barely even fathom, and my gut instincts told me to go against them until trustworthiness was proven to me.

Once again, the wall that had protected me for years began to regenerate itself and block out the pegasus next to me. The inner battle was won by my lack of trust for stallions in general, having met my 'I'm comfortable with you' quota for the day. "I would like that, but perhaps we should save that for another night..." I said quietly, beginning to turn away from him and slowly stepping over the side of the dune. Hind legs tucked beneath me, forelegs stretching out in front of me to maintain my balance as I slid down the slope and allowed the sands to carry me to the bottom. I didn't want to be rude to the stallion, but I needed just a moment away from him to feel the release of anxiety. The small rush of adrenaline I felt while sliding down the slope helped, and by the time I reached the bottom a smile returned to my muzzle. Readjusting my posture to stand comfortably, a chuckle escaped my lips. That was fun! Glancing back over my shoulder, I looked back up to the top of the dune to look flash an apologetic smile towards Bucephalus. He was more than welcome to follow me, who was I to stop him? But I just needed to show him that I wasn't ready to place any more trust into him yet.