The weathered mare jumped as pearly legs entered her field of vision, jerking her head up with a start. Feathered wings unfurled, the down raised like the hackles on a frightened cat until she looked twice as broad, but no sooner had the shadow laid eyes on the stranger than she began to relax again. A racing pulse settled fairly quickly, though there was a glint of suspicion lingering within the purple gaze as she scrutinized her opponent. There was hardly reason to be overly wary of someone who was only a quarter of a hand taller than herself, and considerably more slender to boot. That they painted a picture worthy of beauty and the beast was perhaps the least interesting part, because in Shadow's mind she was not playing the part of the beast.

"And you just look wrong" she returned in a drawl, gaze touching upon the useless wings that had not only been displaced to flutter behind the ears of the rude mare, but had been shrunken as well. This girl was clearly malformed, and as much as Shadow wanted to feel compassion and empathy, all she could muster was a sort of vague pity. It It probably wasn't the girl's fault that she was crippled, and it might be a perfectly good reason why she was being rude to a complete stranger, and so Shadow ought not get upset even though she detected the insult in the casual words.

Coarse strands swished testily as she swatted away biters from her flank, the dull pelt itching from persistent attacks as well as from sweat and grime trapped where the old fur had yet to let go. She was feeling it now, all of the discomfort that thus far had been ignored in favor of the pleasure experienced by sating her hunger, and it hardly made her tongue any softer.

Shaking her head in exasperation over the cruelty of the world that would make creatures with wings yet unable to put them to good use, the ebony mare lowered her head back down towards the grass, the tempting greenery calling for her attention in far greater capacity than the striped one had managed. Tucking the her own wings - big and black and useful - against the sides she moved to step around the stranger, already about to start grazing again while hoping that the insolent brat would simply disappear if she didn't look at her.

"Go back to whatever fairy tail you came from, why don't you."


@[Maren]