Fantasy steps

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

The hybrid pegasus-unicorn filly Fantasy trotted lightly over to the river. Altering her course, she angled herself along the riverbank and continued on until she found a place where the river widened out more and there was moving water in the center, with ice bordering the edges. Stepping delicately out onto a mass of rocks, she looked down at the frozen ice, lifting a hoof, and tapped lightly. Drinking was such a hassle in winter.

She then lowered the long golden horn on her forehead and began to touch the ice experimentally. When she found a spot she knew she could break, she lifted her hoof again. With a cracking sound, she brought it down upon the ice below the rock she stood on. It broke, and with a huff of pleasure she lowered her head to drink.

[T i G E R]

Mehheh, I'll bring in Benjamin for now, and then maybe later I'll bring in Sandra, my ordinary horse. That okay?? Or something else?



Benjamin had been swimming around the surface of the water. He was quite cold, but he didn't like being in the bottom of the river, so up he'd come. He didn't notice the ice cracking until the tip of a strange long horn penetrated the surface. With the aquatic equivalent of a yelp, he swam backwards quite a bit before tentatively coming forward again. His orb-like eyes stared glassily up at the nostrils and tongue. "Hel-lo," he gurgled amiably. "You, glub, scared me there. Glub. How do you glub do?"

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

((OOC| Sounds good!))

The palomino filly realized there was a disturbance in the water before she spotted the goldfish - equines having poor eyesight in the area directly in front of them. With a snort of alarm she half-reared and turned the motion into a sideways leap, landing with her hooves together and her wings out, eyes rolling, on the next rock over.

[T i G E R]

Benjamin blinked owlishly up at the equine before swimming around in a circle, inside the perimeter of the hole Fantasy had made. "Glub," he said, sounding a little deflated. He stared up, but all he could see was a lot of light and reflections. You could hardly see anything unless it was directly on the surface of the water. Disappointed, he continued swimming aimlessly. "Glub," he said again. "What a pity. Glub. How annoying that we can, glub, only swim around inside the water. Glub. We probably, glub, miss out on a lot. Glub. Judging by how many things come here to drink. Glub." Then he realized he was talking to nobody but himself and stopped. He sighed – it escaped as a stream of small bubbles, popping on the surface. "Are you coming back?" he called, wondering if the thing could hear him.

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

Once over the initial shock Fantasy settled, hooves clicking upon rock as she shifted position. Her ears flicked, hearing the faint, high voice, distorted to her hearing by the water. Cautiously, she extended her neck, wondering what on earth it was speaking to her. She caught a golden flash and snorted softly. "Fish. A fish." Her nerves calmed, she stepped back, turning her head so she could see Benjamin out of one eye. Curiosity shone there.

[T i G E R]

Benjamin's orb-like eyes focused slowly as the murky shape became more and more defined, though 'defined' for him wasn't exactly the same as how another creature would view it. To him, Fantasy was only a constantly changing blur of color and movement – but then he was used to that. He heard her speak, the words a little distorted as he heard it through the surface of the gurgling water. "Glub," he said resignedly. "Yes, I'm a fish. Rather small, compared to you, judging glub by your voice. So what are you?" The words were gruff, but his voice was friendly. He was friendly by nature. "And what's going on up there today?" he added curiously.

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

Fantasy was still tossing her head wearily, her creamy mane spilling out over her neck. Well, why not have a conversation with a fish? It certainly did not appear to be a dangerous fish, despite her fright. Fantasy tilted her head to see him a little more clearly. "I'm..." That was always a difficult question for her to answer. "A horse." Sort of. She doubted he knew anything about types of equine than she did types of fish, though. "And... well, it's cold. Winter, you know?"

[T i G E R]

"A horse," Benjamin repeated, blankly. "A... glub... horse. Okay." He didn't want to admit it, but he honestly had no idea what that was. It was irritating, not being able to see anything clearly up there. It seemed like such an interesting world... So he said, "Well, that's really cool. Glub. That you're a horse!" He hoped it sounded sincere.

"Oh, believe me, glub, I know," he said, waving his fins vigorously in agreement. "Cold it definitely is. Glub. One tends to notice. When one is, glub, in the water all the time." He rolled his bulbous eyes, the effect quite ridiculous. "And there is a fresh ceiling put above one's, glub, head."

Further from the water bank, another figure stood, perfectly still, watching curiously. She stared at Fantasy, wondering what exactly the horned, winged horse was. The ordinary mare was waiting to drink from the hole that had been created...

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

The filly resisted the urge to laugh at the words she could barely hear the goldfish saying. There was something amusing about having a ceiling on everything. Especially to her, who was not bound to the earth at all with her long, graceful wings.

A moment later a shift in the wind alerted her to her own kind - or near enough - and she lifted her head from her waterhole, wariness back on her features. But the horse firstly was a normal one, which meant she could easily escape by flying if she was aggressive, and secondly, she was another mare - less of a territorial threat than a stallion might have been. Poised on her hooves ready for flight, she eyed the horse uncertainly.

[T i G E R]

The other ordinary mare's expression mirrored Fantasy's – uncertain and nervous, but not aggressive. Down below in the water, Benjamin stared upward, blinking slowly as the ever-changing shape of Fantasy's head suddenly disappeared from view. He sighed. "Those land creatures," he said to himself. "Easily, glub, distracted, they are." He swam in a circle, wondering if the 'horse' would come back or not.

Meanwhile, Sandra – the mare at the bank – blew out of her nostrils nervously, her ears pricked and her muscles tense. It wasn't an aggressive posture, only wary. The other horse had wings. And a horn. What was she? Her curiosity got the better of her thirst and she took a tentative step forward, staring at Fantasy's wings. After a moment of awkward silence, she snorted. "Hi," was all she managed to get out. She'd seen strange creatures before, but the familiarity and the differences of this horse surprised her.

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

Fantasy had no idea why Sandra was staring - she was used to both pegasus and unicorns, and indeed Sandra, with her lack of 'decoration' she thought the mare looked a little plain. Eventually she had to choose to answer or flee, so nervously, she flicked her ears in greeting. "Hello." She replied softy, keeping her senses sharp and ready.

[T i G E R]

Down below, swimming in circles and staring upward through the newly made crack in the ice, Benjamin gave a resigned sigh. "Glub," he said mildly. "Goodbye, then, I suppose. Glub." And he swam off, contemplating life in general and how small underwater creatures were so mundane and insignificant.

Sandra, on the other hand, was still staring at the other mare with curiosity on her face. Her usual nervousness kicked in, and she didn't move closer nor back away, merely staying still and tense on her feet. But the other horse didn't seem to want to hurt her, which relaxed her a little. "Um..." She cast around lamely for something to say. Maybe she wants to use my water hole. "Do you want to drink?" she asked meekly, stepping aside, and watching Fantasy the whole time.

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

Fantasy tossed her head slightly, her mane rippling along one side of her neck. "I - yes." She told the horse, lowering her head and finishing the drink that had been interrupted when she'd been startled by the goldfish. It have her an odd feeling to think of him swimming under the ice.

She lifted her head again and studied Sandra, but when she realized she was still standing before the waterhole, she shifted sideways in neat, small steps until she was a short distance away, gesturing with a nod for Sandra to go ahead.

[T i G E R]

Sandra was still for a moment, her ears perked and her body stiff, before she took a few tentative steps forward. She was wary, but not aggressive; still, she kept Fantasy within her (wide) peripheral vision every second, tilting her head slightly to the side to see better. She lowered her head and lapped at the water, but she didn't take much. It was so cold.

When she brought her head back up again, she felt familiarly uncomfortable. She searched around for something to say, to break the silence. "Um," she grunted, tail flicking. "Nice wings." She said it like a statement, but there was a question in the two words. How'd you get them?

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

She'd heard that before. In fact she was no longer certain if others meant it as an insult or a compliment or not. She bobbed her head, ears pricked to listen for any trace of hostility, but found none. "Thanks." She replied quietly, then gave the area a quick scan. The horse was older than she herself was, but she still found it odd she seemed to be on her own. "You have no herd?" She questioned, quietly, in an unobtrusive manner.