My thoughts are the cold kind,
I've got storm clouds brewing behind my eyes

"I can teach you about herbs sometime" she had said a few days earlier, as she came knocking at the Basin in search of the young filly. "It'll be fun, I promise". But the more Erthë thought about what she was about to do, the less 'fun' she thought it was. What in the high heavens brought the Lady Moon to give her such a horrible task? To 'get lost with a friend', it seemed like such an innocent and easy thing to do but in the end, didn't it turn Erthë into a villain, a really really poor friend indeed? She was bringing this already troubled girl on a trip that might cause her both worry and fright as it was, and then she'd try to make sure that they got lost?  

If Bathsheba ever forgave her for this it would be a miracle indeed.

Despite her internal worries however, despite her tender left side where soft pink skin peaked out through gashes in the sleek white coat (the horrible wounds had healed quickly thanks to the efforts of Tilney and Ultima, but no magic in the world would make the hair grow quicker) and her fear of running into the molester that had disfigured her so, Erthë couldn't help but look forward to the day - or days, if things went 'well' - she would spend with Bathsheba. Their relation might be rocky and peculiar, and the girl might not be the most companionably sort out there, but neither was she. Having company on her wild adventures was new and different, and perhaps that in the end was all the Lady was intending.

"So, how do you feel these days?" Erthë asked as she ducked in beneath the evergreens that marked the beginning of the Deep Forest, the dazzling blue of the late-autumn sky and its pale, golden light left behind along with the Thistle Meadow, replaced instead by the faded green gloom beneath the dense canopy.

"I'm sorry about the whole mess at the Throat... I really didn't mean to leave you behind, I hope you know that."

She glanced back over her shoulder with a small smile, at least partly to make sure that the younger girl was keeping up alright. Despite her crooked joint and mauled leg and the constant pain that caused her to limp, Erthë was able to get around rather quickly in dense woodlands such as these. This forest, well any forest really but this one in particular, was as much home to her as the Edge; her mother had brought her here on several occasions when she was a foal, and though it had been some time since last time Erthë believed herself able to navigate quite well.

But this time, she wasn't supposed to do that. She was supposed to lead them astray, lose her own bearings and (she assumed this was the main point) work together with Sheba to find her way out again. That was well and good... but first of all they had to get lost, which was a chore in and of itself. "The deepest part of the Deep Forest", the Moon had said. Hence, Erthë directed them towards the center of the forest and lead on, stomach roiling with unease about what she was doing.

Erthë

And my heart will be blacker than your eyes
when I'm through with you