You kinda hate north.

I mean, you liked it well enough at first. The clearing of your birth, once an entire mystifying universe, shrunk and shrunk the longer it held you. Soon enough you knew it like a king knows his country, only instead of love you just wanted to leave. Probably something really good past those trees, right? Past that pond? Way too big a coward to go looking on your own, you just thought about it and gamboled closer to Mama, leaping over grasses and testing your new legs. Turned out they're pretty good as far as legs go, fragile as glass matchsticks on the outside but long, springy, possibly fast. Between nursing and napping you never had a whole ton of time to test them, but hey, here it sure comes: a whole big test.

Those trees you like - they're far behind you now. The pond - bye bye! You've seen so many things in the past few days you feel like your brain might explode. Actually, it's a bit overwhelming. Your exuberance fades the farther the three of you go; first you cling more to Vesper. Then you cling to the most certain safety of Mama's side, lingering in her shadow and reshuffling, reshuffling your fluffy wings. The feeling of them tight against your sides offers a little comfort against the vastness of the world, but really you miss the clearing. You miss the grass and the first scent of sunlight and even that weird flashy thing that made noises at Mama while you learned to walk.

Mama makes noises, too. You don't understand them yet, but you like the sound of her voice. It draws you the same way sunlight draws the sapling, water the creeping root. For these last several miles you stick near her side and listen, internalizing the sound of the notes, the welcome singsong of her tone. You don't try to mimic yet the way your sister does, but you are learning - in your own way. By the time the world's crown of bare mountains parts to grant you entrance home, you're just a shadow on the tail of the starry mare, quiet and tired, ready to nap. But you're much wiser than the babe you were.

You stop when Mama stops, your delicately shaped head turning to face her. Blinking, you take in her voice and turn to stare at the valley spreading out ahead of you all. It's big, too. And you don't know it, but soon enough you'll probably find your way around here as well as you did the clearing. A little spark of something burns its way into your chest, a bubble of renewed energy, and making a playful rear, you bound out of Mama's shadow to meet the world.

Your family.

Not ready to do it alone yet, you quest for Vesper and try to get alongside her. She's been with you from the start, and you're sure as hell not gonna lose her now! Lipping playfully for her mane, you try to give her a nudge of let's go! before you turn back to whatever awaits, ready to meet it head on. Maybe north's not so bad, after all.