His answers were awaited with almost childish anticipation. There was something intense about her gaze as she studied him, unabashed and almost aggressively unconcerned about things like manners. Shadow was a country girl after all, more used to the silent company of deers and wild boar than that of chatty horses. Why would anyone ever take offense by honest curiosity? It was excused in foals, so why not in those of older age when they stumbled across something that was new and frightening.

At least he answered with more thought and interest placed into the reply than Cirrus had. The healing mare that had brought the crow into the desert had seemed puzzled by the ignorance of the short pegasus, and her words had left Shadow more bewildered than before. Hector appeared much more thorough, though whether he appreciated her curiosity or not was left for anyone to guess. It didn't bother her much. Neither the edgy smile he gave her nor the statement of least concern could keep the questions from flowing freely off her tongue, and it was with fearless intrigue that she nodded after his explanation. A mix, then. A piece of each race, a fraction turned into something whole and complete... It made the dark mare feel as though she was the strange one, for not having a horn herself.

But then, even as she found herself starting to settle into some kind of understanding of how this part of the world worked, he asked a question that forced th young girl to pause and think. A well-shaped head tilted to the side in a birdlike manner as her gaze traveled out across the as of yet unfamiliar landscape, as though she would be able to find an answer written in the cold sand.

Did it matter? Was it important whether he had a horn while she didn't, that some had wings while others did not? Well...
"It's not that it's very important" she mused and looked back at the big stallion, who upon closer inspection appeared to be at least the same age as her, if not even younger. "It's just that I've never seen a horse without wings in all my life, and then I stumble in on this place and all these new things fall down on my head. I don't really know what to think, is all." The ebony wings shifted as the shadow gradually started to relax, eased into a kind of wary comfort by the kind look on Hectors face.

"It makes it harder to get along with others, don't it though? We who have wings usually fly where we are headed, so that makes us faster and hard to keep up with. And how would anyone who hasn't flown be able to understand how lovely it is, how much it means to us?" Was it possible for her to understand someone who had spent their entire life bound to the earth? To the raven the unicorn in the cave had seemed slow and exposed, flightless as she had been. How did they survive without being able to fly away from dangers?

Shadow would have loved to ponder these matters for much longer, though the question she had been asked was calling for an answer. Was she afraid of him? The first trace of a smile slipped over her sooty lips, quick as mercury or the flash of lightning. "Should I be?" she asked in return, the ghost of playful teasing coloring her foreign accent as she measured the young tribrid.

"Would you use your magic against me, Hector, or spear me on your horns?" A lurching feeling of unease at the thought passed without coloring her expression. She wasn't sure, in all honesty. He was big and strong, he knew things that she didn't and weapons she didn't possess. Perhaps she was... but it was a fear mixed with fascination in that case, the kind one feels when the earth trembles at the force of a thunderstorm. It was one she didn't mind facing, with all the reckless bravery that only youth possessed.