Wild Berry Meadow No time

The herd weathered the beginning of summer in the shade of the forest. While higher grounds would have been preferred by the sorrel lead mare, she knew that Cedar wouldn't have done well with the rough footing. 

Day by day, the bay mare ailed, and Fancy saw in the hollowing near her hip and the arching of the mare's withers the telltale signs that Cedar had begun to shut down. Never did the creased above her tired eyes cease. She carried guilt that Fancy tried to dispel, to no avail. Even Silverbirch's antics failed to rouse her spirits. 

In the night, she left, as quietly as she could. Fancy slept in short spells, but awakened to count only @Selenia and Silverbirch within sight. She whickered softly, looking through the tree trunks, hoping Cedar might answer, to hear nothing in response. She nudged the palomino, and began to sniff about. 

"Wolf's teeth," She murmured. "She's left cover," She commented, noticing the faint trail of broken fern fronds that led toward the meadow. She felt thankful the mare hadn't wandered toward the North, where a pack had seemingly settled in the plains. "Cedar, you better be sleepwalking," She said, setting her teeth.

In her heart, she felt despair, but she pushed it aside. 

"I'll go look." With no herd stallion, they would be short on defense; if she could find Cedar and herd her back, they might have had a chance; but the lives of Selenia and Silverbirch weren't ones she was willing to risk.

Silverbirch was sick and tired of this forest grass. The ferns weren't particularly tasty, and whatever grass grew on the forest floor was often smothered out by the knee-high fronds. In little pools the light filtered down in the odd spot, where grass might persevere, but she couldn't understand why they stayed in the woodlands so much. The occasional trip to the meadow was a delight- but it was never easy. Start, stop, head for cover- all because a squirrel made some dead grass rattle. Sometimes they didn't make it to the meadow at all before Ms. Bossy Pants herded them back into shelter. 

To make things worse, Cedar dragged behind, and slowed them down. Silverbirch yearned to race on ahead, to go out into the open and kick up her heels- but those opportunities were few and far between. 

Wolves remained a constant threat- but one that they seemed to have avoided for some time. 

She snorted when the lead mare woke her in the middle of the night, but she took some interest in the disappearance of the downtrodden mare. She nosed at her mother's side. "Are we going too?" She asked, ears flicked forward in a plea.

selenia's eyes flickered to where cedar had been, pain tightening her expression. "we could go too, fancy. i don't know if any of us should be alone right now."

truth be told, she was anxious over the idea of fancy disappearing from view, reliant on the lead mare to choose their path as well as find good forage. with maplesmoke and cedar gone as well, she resisted.

but the dip of her muzzle would convey her deference to fancy's wishes, a willingness to stay put where they were if she saw best.

Before the sorrel could shake her mane and assure the filly that she would be staying in the forest where it was safe, the girl’s mother spoke up with an offering. In truth, she hated leaving them behind; herds were not meant to be split up unless divided by stallions who picked and pulled the mares they wanted. 

Without a stallion to go off looking for stragglers, they were left with bleak prospects, in Fancy’s eyes. 

She heaved a sigh, flicked her ears back and chewed her molars together but nodded and began moving. Her tail whisked from side to side. Each step she took was echoed by the sounds of others; she calmed within moments. 

”We need a stallion,” She sighed softly, speaking with a low voice as the small band pushed their way through the woods. ”Equus knows I can’t be both mare and stallion at the same time.” She wouldn’t likely be quick to forgive Maplesmoke if he ever came back- but she wouldn’t turn him away, either. 

At this point, they couldn’t turn anyone away.

Yes! 

The filly hopped and bucked, curving her neck so she could blow out an excited snort while her nose was between her ankles. She jigged sideways as she small band began moving, occasionally prancing on the spot in order to exhaust some of her energy. 

Fancy’s mood seemed rather flat. She said something Silverbirch found amusing, so she asked: ”Why can’t you be both stallion and mare? And who’s Equus?”