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A trill of laughter cut through the air as he agreed to her request, shaking from his neck a chain filled with amulets and other trinkets. It was hard to drag her eyes away from the shiny clutter, but it helped that Lochan pulled it beneath an outcropping. With a thankful nod toward the oldest cerndyr, Ovi took a deep breath and watched Ashamin closely, his kind black eyes reflecting only the slightest hint of moonlight.

As his voice pressed through the distance between them, wrapping about her ears and causing her to wonder at how many battles her newfound friend had seen, Ovi gave a careful nod. What makes them weak and what makes them strong... Eyes narrowing, the tiny mare focused upon her adversary, the red side and golden markings, the exotic horn and split-colored face. As her eyes continued to adjust to the stallion's movement, Ovidius attempted to make a list of the things she saw that could be of use, hoping her inexperience didn't shine through too heavily.

Slightly too-large ears were perched upon her friend's head, presenting a possible hold for her teeth. Though, as the gold-limned lass pursed her lips, she remembered the height difference that would make such a feat nearly impossible. She huffed; it was not often that she thought of the inconvenience of her stature, she tended to feel bigger than the biggest creature, she tended to feel on top of the world. With a shake of her head, the onyx mare made herself focus once more, her stream of thought becoming more of an internal monologue.

Alright, you can do this. Now look here, longer hair on his neck, probably not the best place to bite or kick, Her molten gold eyes traced Ashamin's near-silhouette, noting the knobby knees and the sharp-looking hooves, I should stay away from the hooves, but who shies away from a good kneecap bruising? A soft smile graced her lips, her good humor and infectious nature inescapable even to her own self. It didn't take too long for the inexperienced mind of Ovidius to finish her quick catalogue of Ashamin - and it didn't take much longer to deduce that, even with her pointed appendages, the experience, height difference, and mass of experience that Shammy no doubt held in that magnificent mind of his put her at a large disadvantage.

With a defiant tilt to her chin, Ovi chased her doubt away, only to be distracted by the shining forms of Rakt's swift-spirits racing toward her. Mouth popping open into a silent laugh, the thin mare took a step toward the small gathering of stardust creatures. "Hello!" She whispered to their deaf ears, face alight with wonder, "Look at you! You shine so bright!" She would have said more, would have walked over and bathed in the light of their existence, but was interrupted by Ashamin's voice.

Head snapping up as she remembered her place, Ovidius' aurelian eyes widened in shock and fear as her friend raced toward her. The fear was not for herself, however, it was for Ashamin, approaching with a quickness aided by magic and not making any move apparent to the girl that he would avoid her spikes. Head lowered with his gem glowing against the light of the moon, Ovidius only had time to bark out a panicked "Shammy! No, you gotta be careful!" Before she attempted to leap out of the way.

Unprepared as she was and with the addition of Ashamin’s shoulder knocking into her side, Ovidius lost all semblance of balance, falling face-first toward the sand.

Despite the soft texture of sand when dry, sand coupled with chilly water makes for a rather resilient surface, ending in a sickening crunch as the tiny mare’s forwardmost nasal bones were broken and smashed beneath the weight of her own mistaken lunge. Gasping from the pain, Ovidius only succeeded in inhaling sand and water, giving life to a violent and painful bout of coughs. Tears and blood streaming down her face, the tiny mare struggled to her hooves, knees scraped bloody by the rough sand and vision clouded with pain. She winced at the bruise on her left side from Ashamin’s impact before tossing her body in the direction of her teacher. One step, two, three, and she hoped she was close enough.

With a grunt, Ovi swung her horned skull toward what she hoped was Ashamin’s left side. Whether or not she would puncture his flesh was unknown to the girl, her vision remained blurred with tears and her body continued to be racked by coughs, choking on pain and blood and water. Whatever came of the wild and undisciplined strike mattered naught to her; she’d already embarrassed herself to the point of no return.