Groggily Rei walked back into the Dragon's Throat. She had not been able to muster up enough energy to fly back home. A living and breathing oxymoron the freckled pegasus brightly trudged on the outskirts of the Throat. Feeling a bit nervous walking through the night not long after the mountain lion attack she trotted in the direction of a figure draped in shadow whenever she saw it. Safety was in numbers after all. There was no question in the mare's mind on the matter of the figure she rushed towards being friend or foe; Rei knew no strangers.

"Well," she fell into step with the stallion, "You seem like somebody who could use a friend." Rei tipped her ears to the sides slightly and tilted her head, an expression that was more befitting of a dog than a pegasus. Rei was covered from head to hoof with soot. Patches on her wings were still quite damp and her lower legs were darkened by mud. Her current appearance was one that gave the impression of an endearing mess. But boy, did she feel like a conquering hero returning home. After hours of work she had set out the fire in the Thistle Meadow. Joyously she had stood in the God sent rain before taking a brief nap sprawled across the ground where the plush grasses dotted with wildflowers had cradled their slumbering savior.

"This isn't my usual look," after a short pause she slyly grinned "I decided to go for something different today." Chuckling brightly she turned to face the stallion, "Are you a member of the Dragon's Throat?" Looking to the sky she tossed her head brushing away the buzzing mosquitoes that flitted around her head. "There are so many herd members that I haven't met and it seems as if the number steadily grows. Helovians seem to be as innumerable as the stars that glimmer above us. Isn't it interesting how we all find our way here? It is as if the land beckons to those who have found themselves in the low dips of life."

Her voice softened with a mixture of sadness tainted further by regret, and hope that flourished with possibility, "Helovia is a home for healing."

A gaping yawn, comical in the shadow of her solemn words, overtook her pensive expression. Sheepishly she looked to the equine beside her, "I'm tired. And my name is Rei." A joke was tucked away in the two short sentences. It was one with a dry sort of humor to it and Rei was too tired to think clearly enough to deliver it well but she her final mission for the night was to bring a smile to this seemingly glum stallion's face. Or was he maybe just tired also?

"What is your name? I'm sorry, I suppose I should have asked that sooner."

Rei jerked stopping dead in her tracks with the stallion's harsh tone. Should she continue with him? Or leave the grouch to himself? Sighing she decided she would stick to it a bit longer. With tiredness adding to her sensitivity, she felt tears prick the back of her eyes. Tossing her head she chased them away. The pegasus would redeem herself, she would not leave him with the impression that she was just some chatty fool.

"I'm sorry." It annoyed her that her words came out sounding so meek. Wasn't he the one that should apologize? She had been in the process of pulling out the welcome wagon and he like a broody ill mannered bull had crashed right through it. Leaving the welcome wagon as a pile of cluttered wood. And judging from the expression on his face she gathered that he didn't care very much.

"I talk too much sometimes. I didn't mean anything by it. I would have gone straight for sleep myself but you seemed down. I thought I'd stop by and give it a go at cheering you up some." Rei's words came out hesitant and choppy. A blush spread across her face. What if he wasn't in need of cheering up? What if this was just his usual mood? She did not know how to approach him. Really she still debated on if she should be. But she clutched at the slight glimmer she had thought she witnessed as it brightened his otherwise piercing gaze. He had looked much more friendly in that moment, and not all of his words had been ill mannered, so Rei stuck around.

Falling quiet she watched the ocean reach for the sand. The waves fondly brushing its frothy fingertips against the shell littered sand, before reluctantly falling back again. Her eye lids began to droop and the tenseness of her body position softened as she lightly began to doze off. As he head began to lower she kept an ear cocked to the side in the direction of her reluctant acquaintance.

Rei smiled at the change in the stallion's tone of voice. With ears perked back up she lifted her head. Not too high, she thought to herself, show interest but not too much.

"Lightning struck a tree and it caught fire in the Thistle Meadow." Modestly she looked down at her hooves. She was proud of her efforts but she did not want to sound as if she was bragging. "No one else came, so I put it out. There was an entire family of foxes that fled from their den. I hope that they found somewhere to stay the night."

Rei stood awkwardly in place, she was still curious over his name and wanted to know more about him. This wasn't somebody who struck her as simply being a cold hearted stallion. He had cared whenever she had overreacted at his words. Surely there was a softness towards him if her reaction affected him.

While he looked out over the ocean Rei quietly looked him over. His facial marking was incredibly unique. Surely it could be a namesake?

It is a spiderweb. Webber? Spyder? She squinted at his shoulder as she glimpsed another odd marking. A tree? Helovians and their strange markings. Her freckled brow came together as she fought through the fog of exhaustion in order to think of tree related names. Unable to think of any she decided to give him a name herself. After all he couldn't simply be referred to as 'stallion' for forever. Spyder. Spiders can be creepy one moment and strangely cute the next. Rather suitable. Rei nodded her head in satisfaction with her decision.

The pegasus learned the rhythm of the water before beginning her march into the water; adding her own stumbling staccato beat to the steady pounding of the waves. Theirs was a beat that had been around for centuries yet her impromptu entrance into the ocean's song was accepted. Even of it was only temporary Rei was a part of the ocean. She too was infinite. A surprised laugh sprung from her mottled lips as fish flirted with her submerged skin.

"Feeling brave?" her movements were carefully made with deliberate steps. The company of the fish was enjoyable she didn't want to startle them; they were daring enough to brush against her but she assumed that any unexpected movements would cause them to scatter. "I do believe that I have made friends."

Once she was far enough from the waves she un-clenched her wings from her sides dipping them in the water watching as the water lapped up the dirt and soot from her feathers. It was as if the water was eager to taste the flavors of life that came from inland. Once the ocean had cleaned her body claiming the bit of land she had carried with her as its own she headed back in the direction of 'Spyder', but not before mumbling a goodbye to her fish friends. It could be considered a silly gesture, but Rei simply couldn't be rude to those who had welcomed her into their home so graciously.

"Lace." allowing the name to drawl out on her tongue like a delicacy Rei simply stated the name that she had wanted to know so badly. 'Spyder', hmpfff, what kind of name is that compared to Lace? she now scoffed at the name that she had given him. "I think that it suits you well."

"Much better than what I was calling you!" Rei's following laugh contained a tinge of anxiety, she was making progress with Lace it was not a "Mentally I was referring to you as Spyder. Because of well, the obvious reasons." Worried about how childish her statement sounded she ducked her head suddenly looking quite interested in the ground at her hooves.

The mare certainly had an air about her that could be taken as being childish. But in reality it was simply the untainted heart that she carried so openly. The world hadn't yet sunk its daggered truths into her hide. It was likely that even whenever the time came and it did have her in its clutches that she would stay as she was.

Rei was as bright and as true as her namesake.


"I waited to name her until you got back. I was thinking that we should call her Ray." Fondly the ebony mare watched her daughter at play; the spotted foal had been in relentless pursuit after a butterfly for some time now.

"Ray?" Herlov wrinkled his nose in a display of distaste for the name. He placed a heavy value on names, as the stallion believed that a character grew into a name. Herlov wanted to get her name right.

"Yes, Ray. She is our ray of light in this mess. Our daughter is an opportunity for Lytninia! If anyone is capable of possessing the outrageous degree of hardheadedness to convince everyone that we are all equal despite differences in color it would be your daughter." Leridana playfully nudged the few-spot stallion. Growing serious she went on, "That filly is the first glimpse of sun that I have glimpsed in a seemingly endless night."

The filly that their conversation revolved around made her was carefully making her way to her parents. Her small chest was about ready to burst with pride over the butterfly that now rested on her velvet nose. All of that persistence had paid off.

"Mffeet mah" the pegasus "daddy!" Unable to withhold her excitement at meeting her father the final word was a shout combined with a giggle. Sending the startled insect fluttering. Herlov extended his muzzle and held his breath hoping that the butterfly would land on him. Here was the first memory his foal would have of him. It had to be special. The stallion was disappointed as the butterfly flew past him.

With the sensitivity of a child Rei moved to comfort her crestfallen father. The speckled muzzle of a daughter brushed against the equally mottled muzzle of his daughter for the first time. They are hard to catch! I will chase another this way and then you can catch it!" Herlov felt every fiber of his being fall in love with the foal that was now in pursuit of a butterfly.

"'Ray' suits, but it is too common for her. She is something special." The breathless tone of a doting father had entered his voice, and was to never leave again, "How about like this?" Using his hoof Herlov made scribbles in the sand, he had picked up on writing some while watching Leridana's father do so, but his strokes were still quite shaky.

"R-E-I"

"Rei?" Leridana turned from Herlov and watched their daughter bounce on spindly legs towards them once again. "I like it. Rei it is."


"It must be nice to have purpose. Sometimes I feel no different than how those waves must feel. Constantly crashing against the shore, reaching for and yearning for more; yet they always find themselves where they started. I don't want to be a wave. I want to be the wind!" She tossed her head in the wind encouraging the ocean breeze to tussle her mane. Eyes closed in the bliss of feeling the salty breeze kiss her face Rei paused before saying anymore. "It is not the best of metaphors. But I don't know how to put it into words." Rei laughed at her own awkwardness but she left her words where they had fallen. She had promised herself that she wouldn't blow her second chance with Lace and she stayed with him, but also allowed him to have his space and moments of quiet.


@[Lace]