Her void eyes though seemingly careless betrayed nothing of her chaotic mind that carefully took in every little detail that the alabaster mare did. Wondering why she shifted upon her feet so much and feeling alarmed that it almost made her own dainty hooves dance upon the grainy surface in this new found awkwardness. Why? This belle was not mother, on closer inspection she didn’t even look like mother, so why did she feel nervous. Like she cared about what this dappled femme thought of her. Mother had always said to cast away such feelings and emotions, at the time it had been easy hating the world, now after months of being on her own her heart and mind reacted in ways she did not understand. Loneliness had not touched her, or so her once confident mind had thought. Ghost rolled her tongue around her dry mouth and swallowed back the on edge feeling, this was just another test she could get through it, that was what she would keep telling herself anyway. Her greeting was returned with an equally stoic gaze and after what felt like a lifetime of awkward melting the other mare spoke once again, this time giving the young girl something to call her by before enquiring after her own label.

For a moment she remained silent, pondering the name in her head and adding it to her small list of other names. Mauja, Ophelia, Ktulu… Artemis. What was it with this compulsion to offer another their name, she knew nothing behind them, nothing about the creatures who had taken ownership of those names. There was one who never gave it, the strange dead colt and his tiger whom she had met upon the snowy mountains, he had eyes like her own. Vacant and careless. At least, that’s what she always thought her gaze looked like until now, her mind littered with this new feeling. A need to not be alone anymore, something she didn’t herself understand.

For the first time, the ebonite mare shifted her gaze to the ground below and slowly shifted the golden sand by her cloven feet whilst her wings ruffled into her sides. Finally she slowly lifted her inky head and took in the fresh sea air before returning to contemplate the grey mare once more. Her gaze had lost the intensity of a few minutes ago and instead was replaced with one of confusion. "I am Ghost… Just a Ghost." That was all mother had ever called her, she didn’t even know if it was her name, but it was the only thing she had and for some reason it felt nice to have something for others to call her by. She hesitated then, trying to find the words to fit the chaos that was her soul, her mind and her heart. Eyes lingered back to Artemis’ burn wounds and her brow furrowed "You’re injured. Can you make it back home?" Did it matter? The unicorn was nothing to her, but yet her own voice sounded foreign, concern laced it and her look of confusion was replaced with one of a mare who cared for the life before her.

Not that she could actually do anything, healing was not something mother had taught her and something that was not needed, if you were seriously injured you died. You were useless. At least, that’s what Ghost had always been told and had believed until now.