He'd come to this enlightening realization that morning, when he'd woken rather early and decided to go for a run. The sky was an odd mixture of greys and pinks, hovering just on the edge of day and night. The air was frigid and piercing, practically biting at the tips of his ears. The natives called this season Orangemoon. At home they'd called it Autumn. Either way, it was cold as fucking hell.

I'm lost, and cold too.
He'd doused himself in water from one of the fall's pools to spring himself into full attention. He'd regretted doing it immediately, as now there was literal frost gathering on the bridge of his nose.

I'm just completely lost.

Standing on a rise overlooking the whispering current of a smaller waterfall, he'd let his mind wander. Looking around at the sleeping herd, at the large variety of bodies curled in rest and awakening, he realized that he envied them. Because they knew who they were. They knew their place was here, in the Falls. He'd chosen to stay and become one of them. So why did he still feel like he didn't have a place in the world?

I'm a lost mess.

He'd seen a god. A literal god had descended upon the herd meeting to speak to the herd. Not only that, the god had appointed a new leader alongside the Czarina he'd initially encountered. This land was controlled by higher powers, and he didn't like it one bit. In his minds eye, he saw Isopia shifting the earth, creating creatures out of rock and stone. And the golden dragon that traveled with her. This land stank of magic. The air was saturated with the unimaginable. It was so different, so new , and he felt so lost.

But he had no intentions of letting that stop him. Whirling away from the crest of the waterfall, he thundered through the small stream that fed it, picking up speed as he went. He turned away from the herdlands, seeking wilder lands, perhaps even the forest where he had initially landed. He pushed himself harder and harder, letting his mind go empty as he focused on the wonderful straining of his muscles.

It had been so long since he'd done this. He'd almost forgotten why he used to wake up earlier then his fellow Guard just to feel the wind in his mane. He had always been swift, and strong; those had always been his defining characteristics. And he felt good. And he forgot, for a moment, that he was lost.

He smiled as he felt his muscles scream in agony, pushing himself until he was galloping as fast as he could. His eyes watered, the frigid air tore at his locks, but he felt truly free. It had been so long since he'd challenged himself like this. Finally, when his breath barely came and he could run no more, he slowed to a rocking canter and turned back towards the lands from where he had come.

Returning to the Falls, he was greeted by a a sight that managed to taken even his breath away. The sun was finally beginning to rise, and the sky was painted with streaks of blood red and striking pink with the ascending orange orb in the center. He felt a smile stretch across his face, watching the light streak across the land and bounce cheerfully in the fall-fed pools. The world was waking up, and he was watching it happen.

I may be lost, but at least I'm lost in a beautiful world. He remarked. The world here is so good. So different from back home. Here the world was so pure, so beautiful. Here, people lived harmoniously, despite the gods that ruled over them. Every part of this land spoke to him. He listened. He did not move, nor speak. He simply stood, silver coat blazing like embers in the light of the bright sky.

Because it was for that one moment, standing there beneath the waking world, that the lost man found himself again.

He'd been a hero once. Standing in beneath the red sky, the frigid frost of night caving before the warmth of the rising sun, he could almost seem himself as that youthful knight again, returning from a battle, ready to tell tales that would not be forgotten for the ages. He would prove himself again to this herd, now that he was once again a warrior. He'd-

"Oh," someone spoke behind him. He whirled, not really startled as much as worried that he had done something wrong. Perhaps Isopia was coming to chastise him for his crazed morning run? She seemed like the type. But no, he was greeted by a draft-built unicorn. Ugh, and I was having such a nice morning. though he bemoaned the loss of his nostalgic daydream, he was a part of this herd now. He'd already spoken to a few people; this would only be drop in the ocean.

He cocked his head, not truly attempting to hide the hostility dancing in his golden eyes. The woman was a bit smaller then him, built more like a brute then a lady, and definitively not to his tastes. He did not attempt to hide that either. "Good day." She'd dove directly into introducing herself, which was to his eyes both out of tact and intrusive. Clearly, she had never lived amongst nobles, or she would have known that a good charade often made one more interesting. "Are you now?" He could not help his arrogant smirk. "And how are you doing?" Was he mocking? Just a bit. Maybe teasing was a better word. Whatever the word, he was simply amused by her direct greeting. Most people would have seen that he was lost in his thoughts and would have had simply let him be. Perhaps next time he should find a large banner and paint LEAVE ME ALONE across it in big red letters. Then it might would be more evident.

His voice acquired a fervor akin to the woman's own. "Well, if you did not mean to intruuuude, then why did you?" Now he was being an ass. And he was enjoying it immensely. Oh, he had missed this sort of useless banter. He did not have to be rude; any lesser man would apologize for their hostility. But he was no lesser man, and he would not act like one.