There were few places in Helovia that Murdock had not yet been to. He was adventurous by heart, forever curious and captivated by a desire to explore. When he was younger, his expeditions had found him more trouble than it had treasures, which was something his mother had always told him he would grow out of. She was far too optimistic. However, the Rotunda was one place he had not yet had the opportunity to visit, and what could possibly go wrong at such a civil and sacred place?

It was much farther south than he had originally thought, but the journey had been worth it all the same. He had spent far too much idle time wandering familiar forests and scouting the skies over his former homeland. He was floating about in oblivion with nowhere to belong now that his ties with the Foothills had been severed. He was a free spirit, unbound by laws though they were what had kept the pieces of his sanity chained together. What would he do now that he was alone? He had nowhere to call home, no one to run to when the skies grew dark.

A short flight over fields and dense woodland brought him to a small clearing that concealed a small white building. Its construction was extraordinary, much unlike anything crafted by the hooves of his kin, a remnant of some forgotten civilization. He landed roughly at the edge of a stream, rear hooves slipping on the damp bank into the shallow water behind him. Pale columns held up a roof of colourful stained glass through which sunlight filtered, illuminating the cracked floor beneath the pillars. He slipped through the curtains, soft fabric brushing across his skin as he stepped onto the stone platform.

He stood in the center of the Rotunda, enjoying the cool air and the shards of bright colour that spilled across the pale stone around him from the glass ceiling above. This was a peaceful place, hidden from suspicious eyes and lost among the sheltering trees. He stood in the silence until the quiet consumed him, filling his mind until his ears ached to hear a sound. Soft splashes suddenly broke his reverie, drawing his attention back to the stream. He remained hidden behind the curtains and stepped away from the entrance so as to remain out of sight. He dipped his head to a space where the drapes parted slightly, allowing just enough room to see who, or what, had joined him.

She was from the Basin. He could tell not from her appearance, but her scent. He knew their scent well by now. He had often consorted with their ranks and though the two souls dearest to him hailed from their lands, he had developed an unfavorable opinion of them as a whole. He had been scarred and beaten, mentally and physically, by the unicorns that dwelled there. But still, Murdock had never been one to hold a grudge. He had never been the type to fall prey to prejudice as of course, things were not always as they seemed. Whoever she was, she had a clean slate in his mind.

He drew his gaze away from the gap in the curtains, stepping softly further away from the entrance to the other side of the structure. Here, he remained quietly, wings folded patiently at his sides. The mare would likely get a shock out of seeing him there, concealed in a shower of coloured light with his teal markings glowing dimly upon his coat. He would cherish the look of surprise upon her face with childish delight, if such an expression were to present itself upon her pale face. Despite having spent five long years in this curious world, his mind, it seemed, had never left his childhood.

"talk talk talk"