Solace
. . .
Solace's daily patrol of Hyaline's scent-lines had once again morphed into something else. She had found the trail of what seemed to be a would-be visitor, but apparently, the other mare had changed her mind. The muddy tracks crossed over Hyaline's foothills for half a mile, only to return to turn back and return to the sheltered Riverlands. But Solace lost the tracks along the pebbly riverbank, and by now she was covered in mud from trotting across the damp earth.
"I guess she doesn't want to be found today," the gold splashed mare thinks to herself, wondering what the odds were that the equine in question was a spy. She decided to patrol the same stretch of foothills once dusk falls tonight but otherwise forgets all about the mysterious stranger as she slides into a quiet, deep portion of the river. The water is black and cool and swallows her readily until nothing but her pale head is above the surface. Few rocks interrupt the current, and Solace stretches out her broad wings, allowing the gentle waters to clean between each of her cerulean feathers.
She is completely relaxed until downstream and upwind she catches sight of a large stallion. He certainly isn't trying to be quiet, and when she moved he would be sure to spot her. So even though she was about to head back to Hyaline she decides to call out to the painted stallion, instead of getting "caught" slipping away.
He looks a mess, but he smells like apples, and that's not such a bad thing.
She propels herself toward the banks until her topline is out of the water and her hooves find purchase. "Hello," she says in a friendly tone, beginning to splash towards the stranger. She halts once she is just within speaking range with her usual casual, plesant expression on her face. "Which way to the apple tree?"
@[Chemdog]