As Cal moved towards her, Phae could not bring herself to raise her sunken gaze from the grass. She was far too fearful of who she would see standing there. Would it be a complete stranger? Or someone she knew? Would she see Sohalia standing there? Or Apollo, Tor, Levi...Tolio? Her appearance had been so distorted by the Goddess, that she wasn’t entirely sure any of them would even recognize her, in her current condition. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Stella playing the grass. The black and white bird with the brilliant orangey-yellow face, appeared to be pecking at some small bugs crawling in the grasses. They won’t recognize me, she thought glumly, But they’ll recognize her. Thus far, Stella appeared to be completely unaffected by her bonded’s sudden change in appearance. Was it because she was simply too young to understand? Or did their mental connection simply assure the young chick that Phaedra was still the same?

With a grunt of determination, Phae raised her head, wincing slightly as her gaze fell upon Cal. The old pegasus was a sight for sore eyes, literally. Not only did she appear wholly unfamiliar to the pegasus, but her scent didn’t seem to bear any relationship to The Grey, or the Throat, and given her lack of horn, she was definitely not of the Basin. All bases covered, she thought. So far, she had met 2 unicorns in the threshold, and 2 mares in the field, none of whom she knew. Maybe she could truly run-out the sands of time until this curse ended, and have none who knew her, be aware of her predicament? That was wishful thinking of course...but hadn’t wishful thinking got her into this mess, in the first place?

Her muddy green gaze watched the older mare drinking, before finally lifting her head to speak. Phae tilted her head slightly, intrigued by her odd accent. Shaking her head, Phae shuddered slightly at the odd feeling of not having a mane to move with the motion. “Nope. Free stream” She croaked, trying to stick to using words which didn’t emphasize her lack of teeth. From nearby, Stella trilled, making her presence known, flapping her wings slightly at Cal, before going back to inspecting the ground for bugs. Not necessarily wanting to ask the other mare her name, for fear that hers would be requested in return, Phae flicked her tail-bone, again shuddering at the hairless sensation. “You ‘rom around here?” She asked, feeling her gums click together and fail to say the ‘f’ in from.