Much like a small childing hiding from strangers behind it's mother's legs, Pongo peeked out from beneath my stomach to carefully watch the young fire bird beginning to play in the sands after beckoning him out. Without a sound, he watched as she shaped and molded the sand. Ever so slowly, he took a few cautious steps out from beneath me, pausing for a second, then creeped a bit closer. Finally, he must have decided that the fire bird would not hurt him, and began to push at the sand with his nose , flinging it closer to the castle like structure to widen the base. Grains of sand covered his moist nose, but he didn't seem to mind using it as a shovel to play with his new acquaintance. Simply watching him brought me a sense of comfort and duty, encouraging me to fulfill my responsibilities in alerting Gaucho to my concerns.

Now that Pongo was happily distracted, it gave me time to return my attention to the burning stallion. "When the Earth God cleansed the lands, I partnered with a black pegasus that looked very much like Bucephalus, he went by the name Telesaan. Originally I believed it was simply a coincidence, knowing that there are many black pegasi in the world, some with similar markings and such. But, when we went to alert others, I found Bucephalus and Hertz in the Heavenly Fields. Before I could even introduce anyone, Telesaan charged them." My gaze left the intimidating figure of Gaucho, not wanting to falter in my confidence. So, scarlet orbs scanned the surrounding sands and shrubbery, trying to keep myself calm by also thinking about different uses for the plants around us. "He shouted something at the Chancellor, a word...a name...I'm not sure which. He had yelled 'Altan' just as he began his charge. I was able to intervene, rammed him with my shoulder to knock him off balance before he could reach them and put myself in the middle. Telesaan agreed not to fight because of the colt, and Bucephalus instructed me to watch Hertz while they left to discuss whatever it was they needed to discuss."

Now that the words were flowing through my lips, it sounded almost petty that I was telling the Sultan about all of this. So, some stallions had a little squabble, big deal. But I could not ignore that aching, nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that the entire story was not being told. The Chancellor was hiding things, just as anyone in the world would, but what if Telesaan came here? What if their little 'chat' did not go over as smoothly as anyone could hope? What if the Chancellor was injured, or worse, when I knew that I could possibly do something to put an end to it, to protect him before he had to protect himself? "Normally, I would let petty fights between stallions be ignored. Bucephalus has been silent, I have yet to really talk to him since then and I didn't question Telesaan afterwards. I know not what Telesaan is to Bucephalus, but he had every intention severely injure the Chancellor...Or worse...Had I not gotten to him first, had he not cared about a foal being in the middle...I don't know what would have happened."

My gaze glazed over as I spoke, the memory of the strange day flashing back to me and replaying in my mind on repeat. I could feel the bruising of my shoulder, the painful impact to shove the stallion away from the Morningstar, the look of sheer terror in the eyes of the Morningstar, the way he crumpled to the ground in shock. My voice choked slightly as the memory morphed into possibilities, potential outcomes that could have happened had I not been able to put myself between them, had I not reached them in time, had the blue-speckled stallion not even cared that I had gotten involved. Telesaan could have attacked me, he could have attacked Hertz, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't have, for I had only known him for one other meeting before that day. Scarlet blood could have splattered the lands, bones cracked and lives stolen. It wasn't until just now that I realized just how dangerous of a situation it was, just how horrifying the situation could have turned. In retrospect, it was foolish of me to step in. Brave? Perhaps, but damn foolish. Then again, if I hadn't...No, that's not something that I even want to imagine happening.

"What if...What if he is in...danger?"

With the words barely managing to break past my lips, I looked back to the Wildfire with a pleading look in my eyes. For a moment, I even looked up to the snake that was frequently settled in her antlers, looking to anyone that could give me the answers that I was looking for. For someone to tell me I was foolish, for someone to say that nothing would have happened or was going to happen. To say that Bucephalus would be fine and that this would all be forgotten. But there was no denying that fear lay in my eyes for the Chancellor, and potentially for the safety of the herd.