There was a rush of warm air not so far away, but her drowsy mind didn't immediately process it as any kind of threat. Instead, it was like the wind in a fond memory, comforting in its familiarity. It was a wind from a time before she knew that there was such a creature as a pegasus. But that was a time that was more complicated, more horror story than fairy tale, and she tried to let it fade back into the depths of her mind before it could haunt her further. Now, she was simple. She knew her place (sort of) and she was whole (almost) and the pain was a distant memory (usually). She was infinitely grateful for the approaching sound of hooves that shook her back to reality. She blinked heavy eyelids once, twice.

Momentarily, the figure of her daughter appeared to her, years younger and winged like a bird. Her addled brain shot the message to her eager heart, but as quickly as it soared, it went crashing to the ground. Another blink, and the shape of her Kyrie rolled away like a morning fog to reveal the little pegasus. She inhaled on the stab of pain in her chest, then exhaled it all in a soft chuckle. It was all she knew. The icy cold of her disappointment was quickly melted by the warm relief of companionship. She fired off a little prayer of thanks to Spark God, who she'd once heard credited as the patron of "fortuitous meetings." Assuming this meeting was fortuitous.

Maybe she should have known to scramble to her feet, but Cheska found herself far too weary to panic at the sight of a lone filly. She was not the first young one Cheska had found alone. The culture was different here, and foals wandered alone and unafraid. In fact, there were more young ones here than she'd seen in many moons. She'd had at least a few years on nearly every one she'd met. Maybe it should have made her feel old, but instead she was embracing her inner child. All her stories had come back to her like she'd heard them yesterday. All her silliness and naïveté was flooding in again. Maybe part of her missed that jaded, quicksilver tongue of hers, but mostly she was grateful for the new beginning.

She gave the girl a quick twice over. Once to ensure she hadn't missed any particular sign of danger, then again to check her for any injury or distress. "Hello, miss," she finally replied. Her voice was husky from disuse, accent scraping every word. "How's the weather up there?" She didn't pretend it was a particularly clever joke.

She cocked her head, partly to signal her attention, partly to make room for the winged wonder to settle down beside her, should she wish. She should have been more wary about exposing her delicate, unmagical flesh to teeth and hooves and potentially dragons, but her experience had left her soft and inattentive. "What's a little lady like yourself doin out here all on your lonesome? Won't somebody be missin you?"

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tags] @[Spice]