Hooves the color of gold, yet hard as steel, tread lightly upon the spongy forest ground. An Orangemoon mosquito finds purchase upon a pristine hide, forcing a swish from a soft, fluffy tail. Of all the places upon my Father Earth's land which I could have chosen to take my respite, I'd had to choose this one. It was dark, shaded from the sun, and infested with both insects and rot.

The crystalline white of my hide can feel no sun here and I, rather quickly, find that my feathers are forced to fluff from the imposed chill. The emerald covered trees, these trees, were once full of happiness and life. Now though, now they hold a sadness which is evident in their deep, gaping wounds and bended boughs. I shiver and think, "This land is not Father Earth's of design any longer, it has escaped, fallen through the the cracks, and lays dying in a gilded sort of putrification. Beautiful on the outside, but rotting from within." Shaking my blue and gold crown, I turn my darkened blue gaze away from the sad trees and find myself before the pool of water I'd been seeking. I throw my gaze up to the heavens, silently thanking the gods for providing to me once more(Though I certainly still had no clue as to why I had been led here)

I lower my head to the water and drink deeply, finding it cool and refreshing after my long travels, before I raise it again to look about this despicably dark clearing. It takes me several blinking moments before I finally realize what I'm seeing. The sun has come out from under the cloud cover (Brother Sun never was one to be outdone), and now filtered down from the treetops in swirling, gilded waved. I take a deep breath and smile. I had come here for a reason after all: to remember that even the darkest of souls can carry light deep within. And for a moment, I forget my pilgrimage back to the Veins, and simply take in the beauty I see around me here in the heart of this dark land.

"I"

I am not alone there long. It would make sense, I think, for this is clearly the only water source in the area of this forest.(Or at least from what I'd seen on my flight in)The steps are strong, purposeful even, comes the assessment. I could almost sigh at this occurrence. The sunlit moment had been very intimate for myself, and I hadn't wanted an intruder to come in and point out flaws.

Nonetheless, deep, swirling blue orbs open to find the beautiful sight not sullied, but improved. The figure walking towards my gilded white form is not a stallion, though I would have thought so from the power in the steps, but a stunning mare. Had I really just thought that? I'd never paid a spectacular amount of attention to the fawning fillies before, but this mare, she was special. It was not solely her beauty which entranced me, there were plenty of various beauties, but the fire which stood behind her eyes. It was the fact that she wasn't fawning over me, nor was she showing off. She was power, she was purpose, and she was fire all in one. In all my travels, I had never seen one like her. There is something unreadable in her eyes for a moment, perhaps worry or fear, but when she speaks none of that shows. you look lost And small but deep, rumbling chuckle is forced up my throat. I liked that fire.

"Perhaps a little, Fiery One, but aren't we all, at least a little?" comes my deep and rolling baritone. I motion to the water before us,"Though, right now, I've mostly stopped for a drink" and give her a smile, causing my pupil-less orbs to crinkle at the edges, before I finish with a question, "And you?" as I take another sip of the refreshing water, relishing in its cool embrace, a respite from the fire before me. What was I doing? How was I talking this well, this short, this composed. What was going on? I was bewildered.