There was a quiet sound in the middle distance and Megaera, put on high alert by the arrival of the stallion and his serpent, was quick to hear it. A laugh? Her ears led the way as her dark head swiveled round to see the new creature approaching. The dappled mare was a bit taller than she, and of a slender, angled build but there was and ease to her gait that Megaera sensed immediately. Where normally she might have been agitated by the presence of another assailant, she calmed, feathers on her wings smoothing to her sides. Sharp eyes followed as the grey mare stopped and acknowledged Gaucho. There seemed to be a stiffness in her expression. The two had met before, surely, but there was something that suggested, at least to Meg, that there was something more that the formality of rank between the two.

As the grey mare turned and spoke to Megaera, there was a change in her features and without conscious thought, her body relaxed even more and stilled as the other mentioned her home. Her expression shifted from suspicion to puzzlement, these two apparently were from the same herd, he being the head of it, and the grey mare had called it a family with no indication that it was not exactly as she meant it. What a strange concept that was.

And what a strange land this was, its inhabitants even stranger. she thought as the dark bird descended from the trees and perched itself on the cloaked mare’s back. is it a bird? it was certainly shaped like one, but it seemed to large and shimmered in the speckled light. Standing next to the stallion, Gaucho, with his odd markings and his snake, this new arrival with her glossy cape and strange bird didn’t look out of place at all. Yes, she had her shard of bone and she herself was the Pegasus race, but these horses and this land were more than that, seemed to have a deeper understanding and connection to the magic at the heart of the world and even their creatures seemed more than pets.

“Megaera.” she started in reply to the mare’s greeting, the steady tone of her voice not exactly matching the hesitancy on her features. In truth, she was so taken aback by such a friendly welcome that she didn’t quite know what to do. Kindness had been so rare to her growing up, and never had she experienced it from such a complete stranger. She should have met it with suspicion, but the mare seemed so genuine that, almost against her will, Megaera was set as ease. "Well met, Africa; and you, Gaucho. If not your Dragon’s Throat, then what is this place? It’s not one I’ve traveled before.”