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 Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:16 am
  The herd had settled down to rest in the cave, and only when Trigger was certain that everyone else was safe and accounted for did he stop to have a drink from the small stream. The water was cool, and had a strange metallic taste -- not foul or unpleasant, but unfamiliar to the ponies who had come here from very different places.
Later in the night, when many were asleep, he stood guard over the herd. At first he stayed in the main cave chamber, not really sure what he was guarding against; were there predators here? Or other, perhaps hostile herds? The night was silent, though, and as calm as anyone could wish for. Even the wind outside had died down, and no longer whistled through the tunnels around them. Sighing contentedly, Trigger left his post and retraced his steps through the main tunnel that had brought him here; no doubt he could guard just as well (if not better) at the entrance than inside the cave itself.
Outside, the dark landscape was striking. With the sun gone, the mountains were no longer blood red, as they had been before. In fact, you could barely see any mountains at all; the moon was not out, so there was very little light to see by. But the sky… the sky above his head was a dazzling display of stars, like so many little pinpricks of moonlight.
He watched them a while, standing in dark silence, until he heard the sound of hoofsteps approaching.
“Miela?” He called softly, already recognizing the mare by her scent. “Come look at the stars.”
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Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:35 am
 Miela walked quietly over to where Trigger was stargazing, being careful not to wake the rest of the herd. The shadows partially covering her features. She trotted a bit forward so he could see her fully. She glanced upwards at the starlit sky "They are beautiful" she told him quietly and stood beside him in the cave entry way.
She shifted her gaze to Trigger after a bit "Though it must be nice to have some quiet time, especially with the start of the journey and the activities during the trek" she told him. She swished her tail to and fro and gazed out the dark night, it seemed a little more nerve-racking since there was small source of light and it was just bleak blackness at the same time it was a beautiful night especially with the stars twinkling. The night almost seemed romantic to any young couple out at night, but nope it was just her and Trigger, both of the same herd and that was as far as she knew.
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Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 8:05 am
As Miela spoke about quiet time and relaxation, Trigger nodded -- shaking out his yellow mane and giving a big snort of agreement. “It sure is! What a day.”
How far were they now from the grassy plains they had left? They had walked all day, at a relaxed but steady pace. There were no particularly old or young ponies with them, so they could afford to move quick… which was a good thing, he figured, if there was nothing to eat here but moss and prickly pears. No doubt that would change when they got to Big Thunder! There would be grass there, he was sure of it, and lots of shady trees to sleep under.
Ahh, he could use some sleep now. But not yet.
“I’ve been thinking.” He said after a while, the two of them still watching the stars. “About what you said before. Y’know, about needing to find things, resources and all that, without the help of others. And you know, I’d sure like to be the smartest, and know all the things there are to know, but… Misty, y’know, the elder of my old herd? She said I should listen to others. She said that a stallion who can do everything by himself makes a good loner, not a good leader. And… I dunno.”
He pawed at the dark ground a little, thoughtful. “What d’you think?”
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Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:08 am
Miela thought about it thoughtfully and looked at Trigger " well, in my honest opinion, i would have to agree with her on the points she made." She told him "as a lead stallion with some assistance from a female counterpart you do need to be resourceful on your own, because issues like having little variety in food, calls for you and your female counterpart to be creative and find a solution to the issue to keep your herd alive" she told him lightly.
"You just never know when issues of lack of food,shelter will occur, mother nature is mysterious like that" she said to him with a light smile. "It's a big responsibility to be a lead stallin, but right now its a learning process for you, and if you need help you can come talk to me and we can both find a solution" she told him lightly.
She gazed back up at the stars in the night sky twinkling their lights, she stretched a bit and smiled at how pretty the stars were, their new home would definitely be a wonderful place to stargaze at night.
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:56 am
Trigger nodded, thoughtfully. “Yes, I think I understand now.”
“It is, like you say, the role of the leader to be resourceful. But a lot of being resourceful is being able to depend on your herd. You’re right -- grass, water, weather, all those are things that can come and go as Nature wills it to. Sometimes there will be plenty, sometimes there will be little. But there will always be the herd. They’re like… the one resource you can count on. And all you have to do is listen, and let them help you where they best can.”
He looked towards her again, at the paler yellow star just barely visible beneath her forelock. “Like you. I know I can count on you to help me. I’m glad you came with me.”
He reached out to nuzzle her softly, white nose brushing against her honey-colored neck. It was only for a moment, though -- and then he pulled away, a mischievous glimmer in his blue eyes.
“Now then! What’s all this talk about a female counterpart?” His tone had turned a little teasing, his golden tail flicking playfully behind him. “You know I haven’t got a mate.”
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 11:04 am
Miela nodded her head as well "that's good, you understand now."
She listened to him and nodded her head agreeing with him about everything he said "Mother Nature is like that, one day it might be a beautiful day the next it might be stormy and the food source becomes scarce, which is why it is important to understand that you need to be prepared for anything nature throws at you" she told him.
She glanced towards him "I'm always willing to help you out, it is after all a learning process and what good is a learning process when its just you. I'm glad that I came as well" she told him.
"oh, I know you haven't gotten a mate yet, I'm sure you will find one" she told him swishing her own tail to and fro. "There is lots of mares that are qualified to be your mate, you just have to find the right one" she told him returning the slightly teasing tone.
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Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:29 am
“Ok, Ok!” Trigger laughed, as Miela started going on about nature and it’s unpredictability again. “I got it now, we don’t have to go on repeating each other until morning. Maybe when I’m old and gray and keep forgetting things, but not just yet.”
He had a long way to go still, until he was any sort of old.
On the subject of mares, he shrugged his shoulders and pawed sheepishly at the dirt. “If they’re all qualified, how am I supposed to pick the right one? And it seems odd, anyway, to do all the picking. I’d want someone who actually… likes me, you know. Someone who likes me the way I am, but also someone who can help with the herd. And definitely not someone who wants to help, but… not someone who wants to be in charge just for the sake of it, you know?”
He raised his head then, and noticed that his eyes were getting used to the starlight now. A few more details were taking form in the night, and one thing in particular drew his attention… a silvery glimmer among the rocks some distance away.
“Hey, what do you figure that is?”
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Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2015 11:09 am
Miela shrugged a bit "As long as you understand how important it is, but okay I'll stop" she smiled at him her tail swishing to and fro idly. "Aha..even if you were gray and old you would still look pretty good to me" she told him before ducking her head sheepishly.
"well, I mean. I like you and you're quirks. At the same time since this journey started I have been helping the herd and letting you take most of the lead" She told him. Not many, people liked taking the lead she herself was trying to ease the weight off Trigger's shoulders in small ways, not in any significant but enough so he wasn't stress.
She glanced over as her eyes adjusted and gazed a the silvery glimmer among the rocks at a distance "I'm actually not sure..what that is" she said.
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Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:59 am
“You do?” Trigger looked a bit sheepish when Miela mentioned that she liked him (after telling him that he looked pretty good, at that). Did she really? Would she want to be his mate? Or was she just saying this all to make him feel better, or to tell him that he should go find himself a proper mate so that she wouldn’t have to do all the work of helping out?
He found himself feeling a little nervous all of a sudden, with nothing funny or clever to say. He… he liked Miela, he really did. She was calm and smart and caring, and she took the time to talk to him when he needed someone to talk to him. He could easily have her as his mate -- and as the herd’s lead stallion, he had a right to choose whoever he wanted! But it seemed kind of rude, to choose someone like that, or even ask the question out of the blue. If Miela said no, he’d be pretty embarrassed… and she might not even want to be his friend (or stay in his herd!) after that.
So he was glad, for the time-being, of the glimmering distraction he had noticed.
“Lessgo look!” Re-awakening his youthful enthusiasm, he picked his way over the dark path. The glowing got brighter and larger, until they were close enough to see that they were walking towards a pool of water in the mountains. But it wasn’t the pool that was glowing -- it was the flowers around it! They were big and shaped like trumpets, shining with the bright silver color of the moon.
“Well, ain’t that something.”
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Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 11:06 am
Miela blinked as he looked like was thinking about something really hard. She was curious but at the same time would not ask, so she was content with letting him think. She swished her tail to and fro, perhaps some other day he would tell her what he was thinking so hard about.
She followed close to behind him but far enough in case he suddenly stopped she would get his rump in her face. That would be so awkward, she blinked as they neared and looked around at the glowing flowers, she padded up beside him, her eyes twinkling at the pretty glow of the flowers "That is something I've never seen before" she told him.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 9:31 am
“Jeez, me neither.” He shook his head. “Well, I mean, I’ve seen flowers. But not at night like this, y’know? Don’t they usually all close up, like butterflies?”
To be honest, he hadn’t spent too much of his childhood looking at flowers (splashing in streams and racing with the other colts had always been more like his idea of fun) but he was pretty sure he was right on this one. It wasn’t like this was his first time going on a moonlit romp, and he’d never seen any glowing flowers before.
They moved closer, until the glowing petals surrounded their hooves and hocks. They were velvety-soft and shaped like big spreading stars.
“Maybe they are stars?” He wondered, lowering his neck to smell one. “Maybe stars grow here, in the mountains, and when they’re big enough they just float up to the sky, you know?”
He’d heard lots of different stories about how the stars were made, and none of them made any more logical sense than this one. He turned to look at Miela and noticed she looked much fairer now, light and shining like platinum… but just as pretty, one way or another. He wanted to tell her, but… would she think him to be blunt and boorish, if he did?
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:04 am
"I mean I've seen flowers too, but none like these ones" she told him thinking about it thoughtfully for a bit. "I suppose these sort of flowers close in the daytime and open in the night time" she said to him. Most of her childhood was enjoying the flowers and not so much playing around.
She glanced at him as the petals of the glowing flowers surround their hooves, she lowered and sniffed at the flowers, they smelled really good and they looked really pretty too. She thought about what he said about them being stars. "hmmm..maybe but then I've never really heard that many stories about where stars come from" she said honestly. She blinked as she sensed him looking at her and glanced at him tilting her head to the side a bit "something bothering you Trigger?" she asked him politely.
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Posted: Tue May 05, 2015 7:56 am
Trigger nodded -- he could definitely imagine these flowers blossoming under the moonlight, what with the way they seemed to fan out towards it and mirror its glow. “I guess so -- just because most flowers open in the day and close at night, doesn’t mean all of ‘em have to do the same thing. Some can just… do it their way, you know.”
That made him feel better, oddly. They were just flowers, or newborn stars, or whatever they were -- but they were up here in the mountains and they were doing their own thing, living life their way and not giving much of a damn about how things ‘normally’ worked. And that… that was sort of what his little herd was doing, coming up here against all logic and reason in the hopes that they would find some legendary paradise. It had been a hard trek so far, but the more he saw of the mountains -- the moonlit cavern and the cool stream and now this field of glowing flowers -- the more he felt that he was right in coming here.
“This is a good place.” He nodded, holding his head up with a sense of pride and gathering his scattered courage. “I can feel it. We will do well here.”
Miela was looking at him again -- but this time he didn’t shy away. “I was thinking… if we find Big Thunder, and if it’s good for the herd, would you consider being my mate there? Only if you want to, of course. Nobody needs to do anything they don’t want to, not in my herd.”
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 10:45 pm
Miela nodded her head as he made a valid point "that is a very valid point there" she told him lightly. She swished her tail to and fro as she watched the flowers a little longer.
She glanced around "Well, If you think about it this would be a good place to come on off hours when you aren't dealing with herd politics" she told him. She would need to map out the way to get here in her head and come here when she needed some time to herself away from the hustle and bustle of herd activities. She would make this place her own little quiet spot.
"I agree, it is a good place" she said "too bad we can't just settle here" she told him thinking about it thoughtfully. Where ever Trigger wanted the herd to settle they would settle.
She looked over at Trigger with thoughtful eyes "I would like that" she told him. She paused and smiled lightly at him. "Ah..but you didn't factor in that perhaps maybe.. I considered asking the same thing" she told him with a light playful wink.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 9:34 am
“I’m sure there are many special places like this, in the mountains. That is why it was a good idea to come here, see.” He nodded, feeling suddenly quite proud for having trusted Misty’s advice. “Other ponies do not come here, because they don’t know about all the special things you can find. They just think the desert is tough and dangerous. So chances are, we won’t have much competition here!”
He tossed his mane eagerly, pointing his nose at the moon. “Not that I’m afraid of competition, of course! If some other herd does come a-wandering, I’ll make it clear that this land is ours alone!”
Just as quickly as he had turned boastful, he then became shy and unsure -- Miela was looking at him thoughtfully after he asked her to be his mate, and he didn’t seem to know what to do with his hooves. He pawed at the ground a little and perked up again only when she answered.
“Really? You really mean that?” The stallion looked sheepish, but mighty pleased with himself. “Well, I’m sure glad to hear that! ‘cause I… I like you. A lot.”
He leaned forward and brushed his nose against the side of her neck, smelling a now-familiar (and rather comforting) scent. Then they wandered deeper into the moon-flower valley, tails swishing behind them.
“Ok, ok.” He spoke again, taking a few bounds to stand before her. “Do you want to hear a song?”
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