The King’s black pet was sleeping in a big thicket when he was woken by the sound of a voice singing. He sleepily raised his head, blinking towards the early rays of the sun that was filtrating through the forest. He wanted to laugh at the sun, mock it for the fact that he had lost his grip on the world. But the Monster was still halfway asleep and had trouble knowing if the urge to laugh was a dream or an actual feeling.

He shook his head and as he tore himself from the warm embrace of sleep he heard the last line of the song very clearly. “I don't want to see you scooping up the field mice and boppin' 'em on the head." The words were strange and he didn’t understand them, but on the other hand - most words were strange to the black stallion. He knew a few and he learned more, but once and a while he forgot them again - mostly he just repeated words and sounds like a parrot - without knowing their meaning.

The Monster yawned and unfolded his front legs. When he got up he shook the last feeling of sleepiness from his body and sniffed the air to locate the source of the singing. He found a intoxicating scent of a mare and also the scent of the Edge. Humming the tune he’d just heard he picked his way through the forest. Yellow leaves had fallen from the trees and they rustled under his sleek hooves. He didn’t need to go far and soon he saw a dark mare on the ground. She was about his size with red mane and red highlights in her tail.

Her scent made his head spin a little, but the warm season was over so his instincts weren’t pulling on him as much as they otherwise did. Had it been the season of Birdsong the Monster would have probably just jumped on her. He had smelled the mare before - at the herdmeeting, but he hadn’t really seen her - he hadn’t really seen anyone on the herdmeeting but Snö and Mauja. It had been too many unicorns for him to notice individuals.

Curiously he leaned forward and saw a little fluffy thing in front of the dark mare. The Monster’s tangled tail whipped behind him and his muscles twitched. Then he sprang forward, jumping over the crouching mare. The rabbit bolted. A snort erupted from the Monster's nostrils as he landed just where the little animal had been. The black stallion started chasing it through the forest a happy grin twisting his unnaturally wide mouth.

[ooc; not proof read, will fix errors later x3]

He crashed through thickets, bushes and smaller trees - trampled rotten stumps and anthills in his pursuit of the bunny. He had no idea what to do with it if he ever caught it, it was just a mad instinct that drove him. The mere movements of the little animal made him want to chase and chase and chase it until it stopped running. It was not the instinct of a horse, but then again the Monster was more predator than horse. He ignored branches hitting him in the face, he didn’t mind the muddy water splashing up on his legs and barrel when he ran through creeks - the only thing he cared about was to get to the bunny.

He was vaguely aware of the dark mare behind him, but when he suddenly got a whiff of her scent he lost his concentration on the bunny and the little animal turned quickly to the right and was gone in the forest. The Monster needed a few strides to stop and by then the bunny had probably found a safe hiding spot under a root or maybe in its own burrow. The black, ragged brute sniffed the ground, but he soon lost interest and turned his attention to the mare. He cocked his head to the side, looking at her with eyes that were open and, in a sense, soulless. It was easy to see that the beast’s intelligence had quite the limit and that his understanding of the world was somewhat flawed.

He took a few steps towards the mare, sniffed her at the base of her neck and the without warning he pivoted around and started plowing through the forest again. He’d seen a bird in the corner of his eye and was now chasing it - head turned to the sky and legs carelessly working under him. The black rope dragged over the ground, dashing between his front legs in a sort of foreboding dance - it would only be a matter of time before he stepped on it and fell.

The beast then exploded out of the forest and into the clearing where they’d had the herdmeeting. He was still watching the bird, but in the middle of the clearing it happened - the rope got stuck under his left hind hoof and the tug of the loop around his neck was so violent that it tore the skin of his withers. He fell, face first, to the ground. Much like he had done at the herdmeeting. Then came his hindquarters and he tipped over and he tumbled around - ending up sitting on his haunches - face, withers and back hurting quite a bit.

For a while the beast just sat there, seemingly trying to understand what had happened. Then he shook his head and turned it towards the mare with the red mane. He’d stored her scent now in his memory and would never forget it, but for the moment he’d only labeled her “Edge member” without any more personal thoughts of her. Maybe with time he could rename her scent as “friend”, but for now she was just someone with the scent of those he wasn’t supposed to attack. It was the first thing Mauja had taught him and after that lesson the first one he’d met with that scent was Snö and her scent was now labeled with feelings the Monster couldn’t even explain. She was very precious to him and when he didn’t follow her father around it was Snö who he trailed after.

Suddenly the Monster’s ears pricked up as he heard the name the girl had given him. Thais. he didn’t know what it meant, but he connected it with her wanting his attention. And there she came… with a strange creature which kind he’d seen only once before. The black beast’s ears fell back on his neck and his red and yellow eyes rolled when he watched the machine. If it hadn’t been for the fact that he’d seen Ulrik’s mechanical wolf at the herdmeeting, the Monster had probably freaked and attacked the machine at Snö’s side. It was very strange to him, the metal wolf and it had no normal smell he could store, besides the scent it did have made his nose burn. He didn’t like it, but since it seemed to belong to Snö he guessed he had to tolerate it.

When Snö had touched his shoulder he stood up. The rays of the sun illuminated his dirty and scruffy coat, but the Monster didn’t care about that. He turned to Faelene and smiled. He bumped his nose against the point of her shoulder and then he looked to Snö as if to say: “Look what I found!” He froze suddenly, seeming to remember something and then he started humming the tune that the dark mare had been singing. He giddily walked in a circle around her and then he stopped again, looking from the grown mare to the young filly.