There was a quiet sound in the middle distance and Megaera, put on high alert by the arrival of the stallion and his serpent, was quick to hear it. A laugh? Her ears led the way as her dark head swiveled round to see the new creature approaching. The dappled mare was a bit taller than she, and of a slender, angled build but there was and ease to her gait that Megaera sensed immediately. Where normally she might have been agitated by the presence of another assailant, she calmed, feathers on her wings smoothing to her sides. Sharp eyes followed as the grey mare stopped and acknowledged Gaucho. There seemed to be a stiffness in her expression. The two had met before, surely, but there was something that suggested, at least to Meg, that there was something more that the formality of rank between the two.

As the grey mare turned and spoke to Megaera, there was a change in her features and without conscious thought, her body relaxed even more and stilled as the other mentioned her home. Her expression shifted from suspicion to puzzlement, these two apparently were from the same herd, he being the head of it, and the grey mare had called it a family with no indication that it was not exactly as she meant it. What a strange concept that was.

And what a strange land this was, its inhabitants even stranger. she thought as the dark bird descended from the trees and perched itself on the cloaked mare’s back. is it a bird? it was certainly shaped like one, but it seemed to large and shimmered in the speckled light. Standing next to the stallion, Gaucho, with his odd markings and his snake, this new arrival with her glossy cape and strange bird didn’t look out of place at all. Yes, she had her shard of bone and she herself was the Pegasus race, but these horses and this land were more than that, seemed to have a deeper understanding and connection to the magic at the heart of the world and even their creatures seemed more than pets.

“Megaera.” she started in reply to the mare’s greeting, the steady tone of her voice not exactly matching the hesitancy on her features. In truth, she was so taken aback by such a friendly welcome that she didn’t quite know what to do. Kindness had been so rare to her growing up, and never had she experienced it from such a complete stranger. She should have met it with suspicion, but the mare seemed so genuine that, almost against her will, Megaera was set as ease. "Well met, Africa; and you, Gaucho. If not your Dragon’s Throat, then what is this place? It’s not one I’ve traveled before.”

Megarea had survived on reaction; the instinct for aggression had been so drilled into her upbringing that she had known nothing else. If she had not fought, she would have been killed, if she had run, she would have wasted away in the frozen north plains of her childhood. Never before had she been presented with a third option, and it was taking her a while to come to terms with that. The stallion, clearly a warrior, had approached her calmly enough and had not reacted at all when she had flared. The grey mare, too, had approached with no indication that she had anything other than amiable welcome on her mind. They could be your friends. The thought was so quick, so quiet, that it almost went unnoticed by Meg. It might have been inviting, she might have wanted it, but it scared her just a little. She’d had a friend once, and before she could quite forget it, she thought of Tanna, and she remembered why her friend had died. The shimmer of fear, of guilt, might have shown on her face before Meg brought herself back to her present. Forget. Carry on.

She listened as Africa spoke of the Threshold, it seemed that she was not the only wanderer in these forests. This place she had come, Helovia the grey had called it, seemed so much larger than where she had come from. Certainly the world was the same size it always was, but the unknown seemed so vast. A wiser horse might have thought more soberly or cautiously about the dangers of distant lands, but to Megaera it was a challenge, and her mind, which was often jumped ahead to fast, was already imagining the places beyond; calling her to see, to go, to be. The young mare’s head swept slowly around, eyes fixed on far distant things, as though she could see the whole of Helovia spread out before her. This was a land-unexplored and she would make it her new conquest.

Gaucho spoke next; short words in a deep voice. Meg met his steady gaze and understood, as he offered more information about the dynamics of the region, that though his sentences were short he was not unintelligent. Perhaps the language was foreign to him, but he seemed to say what he meant, and Meg appreciated that. He even has a sense of humor, she decided, as he flicked his gaze up at the snake above him. Though she might not have been keen to be any nearer to the serpent, there was definitely something to be said for it being an ally over being an enemy.

Go with them. There it was again, and it surprised Meg more than anything. She wasn’t afraid of the world, and her freedom and solitude of the past months had been a blessing. But the idea of a herd, one that was a family, like Africa had said, one that meant protection, and safety, one that was home. Didn’t that seem like such a nice thing? But surely, it wasn’t like that, couldn’t work that way; that’s not how the world was.

Gaucho’s second stream of speech took a quizzical tone. Sun God? Meg had heard of Gods, but they had never been anything but legends to her. A skeptical chuckle escaped her before she thought better of it, might be best not to insult them. ”I mean," she started, covering her laugh, "I’ve never seen a God myself, Sun or otherwise." she intoned, giving her head a mild shake. "If gods exist, or ever have, they certainly wouldn’t waste their time on this world."

When Megaera had been told legends of her homeland, they had been spoken of with great reverence; the mighty battle between the frost gods and the storm gods had been her brothers’ favorite story to reenact in their play. The stories told of beings with great powers and control over the forces of the world, but they had been selfish, angry creatures, more intent on destroying that creating and hadn’t been seen for hundreds, maybe thousand of years. Whatever the case, the fabled gods of the tundra were just that: fables.

The earth toned mare had seen, in her short time in this land, that there were strange powers at work, but gods? The idea scared Meg. If they existed then they would surely be the malevolent beasts of the tales, causing havoc and chaos, the world as a toy for their own amusement. Yet these two stood before her, solid and presumably sane, and the dark one spoke of seeing a Sun God, speaking with him. The grey nodded in agreement, and Meg saw the delight and expectation in her kind face. When she had laughed at the idea of gods, Meg had seen the grey face fall, I’ve disappointed her. it was a quick twist in the gut, and an altogether unfamiliar feeling. It had been years since she had sought any approval, any form of friendship, but she felt it now. It seemed irrational and a little uncomfortable that in such an incredibly short time this mare’s opinion could mean anything to Megaera, but when she though she saw Africa’s lip quiver she felt her stomach drop. When Gaucho gave a stern shake of his head, a panic hit her.

All of the sudden, Meg felt like a foal again; desperate for acceptance and so fearful of angering any of the adults that the words almost as a whisper, a plea: "I’m sorry!” and then the feeling was gone, or at least she remembered that she was actually an adult again. Still, the adult was not sure what to do; none of her instincts seemed to suit. Run. But to where? Fight! There’s no danger. While her mind jittered back and forth, here gaze rose and met that of the black snake as it settled its scaled head on Goucho’s brow and the image for a moment held her fixed. She heard the stallion’s invitation dimly, distantly, eyes still fixed on the snake. "Yes!"

She heard her own voice and for a portion of a second it seemed as though someone else had spoken. She paused, blinked, her gaze focusing back on the stallion and she realized what she had said. It shocked her, puzzled her, but it was right, though she couldn’t ay what made her so sure. Her dark eyes flicked to towards Africa, a start of a smile breaking her face, “Yes." she repeated. "Your Dragon’s Throat sounds as good a place as any I’ve known, probably better. Her voice was steady again, strengthened by resolve and now amused more than anything else. She turned back to Goucho, Wait, who’s Mara? and she answered her own question. "Thank you Goucho, and you, Mara” she said, giving a small nod to each. "I would like to see your home, and maybe your Sun God, too.”