As a general rule, Aerys never let her feet touch the ground.

She lived among the clouds, her large wings, a deep blazing red like the rest of her, kept her drifting loftily on the convection currents. Isolated among the clouds, she had no permanent home and no permanent companions—there had been a few here or there when it was convenient, but none had stayed past their destined point of travel. Aerys felt as if she must have circumvented the globe hundreds of times, landing on clouds to rest, perching on tree branches as the birds do to eat the leaves. Her existence was simple, foolproof, and sustainable—her impact on others was shallow, never getting in her way. She saw how the ground-walker’s petty dramas played out hundreds of feet below her, lover’s quarrels and eventual betrayal from companions. I have no place in a world like that, Aerys determined long ago. It is petty and cruel, all their wars and blood. Aerys was not opposed to violence, but found their territorial reasoning immature. How could one own the earth? In the air, everything was different. There was nothing to own permanently—clouds disintegrated, winds changed, weather forced migration. As if inside her thoughts, the wind blew cold across her body, rustling her wings and mane. Winter was coming, even though summer’s hold on the land kept the days warm even if the nights dipped the grass in frost. Aerys always seemed to manage to outrun winter, but this year she was late. A little worry tickled in the back of her mind—will I make it before the snowstorms come? With a roll of her neck she quickened her pace, her sorrel body looked like a bloody comet arcing through the midday sky; the sun’s light burned through her feathered wings made it seem to glow.

The ominous grey clouds hanging low in the distance did not bode well for her. While she could certainly fly in the snow and cold, it was a death sentence to travel long distances. The air is colder, the wind continually wicking away the sweat that is meant to cool in the summers cools too much and sucks away the vital heat from the body. Aerys sighed. Her instincts were screaming at her to land, something they’d never done before. Flicking her wings from flat to upwards, she slowed and drifted gently to the ground, riding the circular current. Giving one final flutter of her wings to ensure a gentle landing, Aerys touched down back hooves first before following them quietly with her front. She shook out her body before tucking her wings neatly to her sides. She felt out of place, her petite Saddlebred body felt defenseless and weak. Bright brown eyes nervously scanned the horizon, though the thick forest to her left and the mountains to her right blocked her view of the area. Tentatively Aerys took a step—the grass looked prickly and hard since it was dead but it provided surprising amounts of cushion for her hooves. This… is different, the sky-tamer thought, but not entirely unpleasant. Her velvet nostrils filled with new smells and her ears twitched, taking in all the different sounds that the solid side of earth had to offer. Twigs snapped, small animals huffed out their breath and chattered to each other quietly. It was also much, much warmer closer to the ground—wetness dripped from her defrosting wings. Keeping her small ears alert, she unfolded one of her bloody sorrel wings and began to carefully groom it. It’s certainly much easier to do this on a surface that isn’t constantly moving, Aerys reluctantly admitted. And perhaps there are no ground-walkers living here.

Little did Aerys know, she’d landed right in the middle of a bustling metropolis, an equine cultural melting pot.

Storm had never been tied down as a mother before. Being the free spirit she was, rage was her first feeling when she found out she was pregnant with a child. Storm wasn’t ready for maternity, and thinking herself to be the worst mother, she dreaded the day that the child would come. But the day he was born, there probably wasn’t a better moment in her life when her son, Kovoden met the world. A few days later, the mare realized that the boy was blind, and oh the hassle it would be for her. Reluctant to join a herd, Storm begged for an entrance to the World’s Edge, but it was no use. Thinking that she could just let him be raised in the security of other horses, and still with the thought she could leave and be free again, the gray mare was proven wrong. Now returning to the Threshold, a place she hasn’t been to in a long time, the woman was glad for a break. Leaving Kovoden sleeping in a field, Storm would soon return to him after going for a flight.


Drifting in the cold air, Storm shuddered in glee, stretching the giant wings she had awaited to use for so long. Heavy with a child, it was hard for her to go flying, and every second of her life she missed being airborne. But now, diminishing her serious self, Storm was now like a child, floating in the air, twirling, doing tricks. Winter was coming soon, and that would be a struggle for her, to keep Kovoden and herself alive, but now her mind was empty, only with the thrill of the flight. She would worry about survival later. Flapping down her powerful wings, lined with muscles, the mare was elevated into the air, met by a harsh wind, smiling, lifting up her head and emitting a cry of glee, she put her wings to her flanks, letting herself fall out of the sky, only to open her appendages at the last minute, breaking her fall into the canopy of the trees.


Powerfully pushing down, causing an updraft, Storm broke through clouds, racing at breakneck speeds in the air. Softly falling again this time, below the clouds to get a better view, gray-blue orbs scanned the ground, trying to see past the trees. Which horses were there to meet today? The afternoon sun starting shining again, catching Storm’s pelt making it shine a brilliant silver, contrary to the normal dark storm gray. Her tricolored mane gleamed with health in the light, while whipping in her face. In the distance, the mare spotted some low lying gray clouds. A storm to arrive! Unlike other horses, the woman loved storms and breezes, hence her real name StormBreeze.

Looking up from the ground, she finally spotted something…red. Flying closer to the object, she realized it was a sorrel mare, with powerful giant wings such as hers. Smiling, she decided to sneak up on her , and watched as the red fae gracefully landed. Hovering in the air for a minute, Storm watched as with wobbly legs the mare was unsteady on the ground. Lifting up one of her defrosting wings, she began to groom it. Finding it the perfect time for an entrance, the mare glided down gracefully, opening her wings, and landing while running. Looking at the nervous mare she walked up to her. “Hello there. The name’s Storm. Who must you be?” The mare said in a fairly good mood. Unlike other times, her face wasn’t stern, or seemingly angry, but now it radiated with joy, and Storm plastered a kind smile.