[private] and its harder than you think

[Nashua]

Nashua had been eager to get his young fledgling back to Taiga.

The world around them was starting to wake, and the striped pegasus could hear the stirring on the branches. There was the careful breaking of detritus as horses began to move, (the snapping of fallen twigs, the crackling of dried leaves) perhaps sensing the coming storm as Nash had. There was no real danger in the Common Lands and yet the Northern blood pumping through his veins insisted that there would be no safer place for Bolder than the stronghold of their home.

But his youngest son - perhaps the quietest of the triplets - has always been curious and observant.  His copper ears flick back and Nash knows that his child has found something, and the quick trip back to the Redwoods will take longer than he hoped for. But the way that the young colt watches through the trees gives chestnut stallion pause, because the boy's expression begins to brighten much like the stardust that radiates from the approaching mare.

She is an unearthly beauty, something that should make Nashua uneasy, because the memories of the Eclipse and its darkness are still fresh in his mind. But as she approaches the pair, the winged stallion finds something familiar in the pitch of her eyes. He knows them somehow, but Nash looks away, not wanting to appear rude or intrusive. His son makes it easy as the young pegasi marvels at the gold halo glowing above her pale head. Bolder smiles; he's never seen another horse with one before. "It's alright," the adolescent tells her as his silver eyes drop to rest appreciatively on her face. She has wings like them as well and Bolder assumes that she will understand what he is talking about.

Bolder spreads his russet-colored wings wide, grinning at their new friend. "We were learning to fly by the stars," he tells her, and then settles them back against his dark sides. His father finally reaches him and the young horse turns his head to glance back at Nashua. "Da says there is nothing like flying when the sky is awake," Bolder adds, thinking that wandering a forest while it sleeps and soaring the stars while they light might not be two entirely different things.

He thought that they were both, perhaps, searching for something.

The older stallion dips his head in greeting, "I apologize if we disturbed your peace." Nashua says, glancing down at beaming Bolder before looking back to the mare with the gold-tipped wings. "This is my son, Bolder, and I am Nashua."

@Ryatah