saltyearthmango

The herd traveled in the direction the tree had pointed out to them for a long while. Eris and Kama were conversing quietly between themselves, Safi trailing behind them beside her aunt and taking in all the sights and sounds. Truly the forest was breathtaking, filled with so much wonder even if it hurt her eyes somewhat. It was hard to make out the finer details given she had never had the best eyesight but the vibrant colors was enough to make up for it. With each step she was being reminded to not step away, wanting to go and smell the hundreds of flowers she could see as they walked, and it was always replied to with a deep pout. No fun! Why couldn’t she explore?! At least Cricket seemed to be having a blast, the finnick following after them as she leapt excitedly through trees and bushes, chirping with every bounce as she barreled through the foliage. Safi had been so focused on everything else she didn’t realize when she slammed into Kama’s tree-trunk thick legs, letting out a

Eris had been utterly certain that his daughter was going to get them killed. The trees kept moving until one of the biggest ones seemed to stop. Had it heard her call? The stallion stepped a single hoof in front of his daughter, prepared to go scorched earth if absolutely needed, but the tree just looked at them. If he could call it looking, given the tree didn’t actually have any sort of eyes to actually look at them with. His ears flicked back when one long root lifted, pointing deeper south, and he all but gaped at the fact it had- “Thank you, Mister Tree! Or Miss Tree!” Safi’s smile was huge as she nodded her head to the massive tree, its root falling back down as it began to meander off once more. “Did… did that tree understand her?” Leto asked as she approached, watching that tree wander off with a look of awe shimmering in her black eyes. “There’s no possible way-” “Well, why not?” Safi turned to them, flicking her tail matter-of-factly as if they were the weird ones for

There were two things Safiya had come to understand. One, auntie Leto could eat grass now, which seemed to be a strange thing for her, and the other adults were clearly weirded out by it. Two, this forest was so. Incredibly. Boring. There was nothing but tall trunks and tree after tree after tree after miserable tree. She couldn’t even play a game of ‘I spy’ because everything looked the exact same. She’d hoped for something to break the monotony of the forest and instead just ended up dragging her hooves as she grew so incredibly bored of the scenery. “Are we there yet?” She groaned, throwing her head back dramatically and catching the small smile pulling on her uncle Kama’s muzzle. She scowled at the stallion, puffing her cheeks out in her annoyance, tail lashing behind her. “You certainly aren’t lacking your mother’s impatience,” Eris sighed heavily from her side, side-eyeing his daughter who just whipped her head around to face him. “Well sorryyyyy that this place is so

There was something wrong with her. Leto knew it, and she knew everyone else knew it. Something was fundamentally wrong with this place and not a single one of them wasn’t on guard - besides the young Safiya, who was still considering this nothing more than a new adventure. The first thing Leto had noticed was just how empty she had felt. That yawning nothingness in her very being seemed to grow bigger and bigger, threatening to consume her very being, and yet for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what it was. Nothing about the world around them felt terribly odd - maybe somewhat more vivid enough to burn her eyes with the only reprieve being the few hours of night, but the smells and sounds weren’t something she wasn’t already used to. It was different from the wintery paradise she called home but otherwise nothing felt truly changed. The birds still sounded the same, the babbling brook nearby just as loud and obnoxious. And the weather. Leto had never been bothered by any

One minute the trio had been surrounded by intense heat and snow, the temperature fluctuating in ways that was almost uncomfortable, and the next, one after the other, three bodies were crossing a threshold, soon becoming five as the last of that cracking stone fell from underneath a tiny hoof. Colors assaulted their senses, the world changing from a wintery wonderland to… whatever the hell was surrounding them. Eris was the first to raise his head, letting out a heavy groan as he blinked, dazed, trying to come to terms with his surroundings. Kama was the second, quickly shuffling to get to his hooves and staring in disbelief at the grass that had formed a makeshift nest for him to land in. He pushed his hoof against the grass, watching as it returned to normal form in quiet fascination as well as confusion before his eyes raised to find the other two. “Where are we?” Eris croaked as he got to his hooves, stumbling somewhat and nearly falling into Kama. The giant stallion stood still

It was a painstaking process as the two warlocks worked in conjunction, making just enough room for Kama as the largest to slip through even as he let out a grunt from the thorns scraping at his pelt. The three didn’t notice the tiny shadows that slipped in after them as the group moved past that great snow beast, Kama offering it one final look as Eris led the way. It was only when the red stallion let out a startled cry. It didn’t take long for Leto or Kama to catch up to him, and when they did they realized exactly why he had been startled. There was a strange light in the middle of a moat filled with lava, and it was so gods-damned hot that even Eris looked to be sweating. Both Leto and Kama couldn’t approach nearly as close, as even from a distance they could practically feel the heat all the way to their bones. It was startling to go from the sheer cold of the End to… this, and Kama wondered if their leader was considering turning back. “Eris-” The mare started, hissing at the

It was easy to see, as the trio followed those hoofprints, just when that strange stallion had become exhausted. The shuffling steps soon became determined bounds as they traced the path back. The entire time Leto kept her wits about her, eyes peeling for any hint of these so-called lights, only pausing when she nearly ran into Kama’s rump as the stallion had stopped directly in front of her. Eris, thankfully, had realized she had stopped, and she could hear the stallion questioning behind her before he seemed to fall silent at the sight before them. A brilliant statue made of ice and snow, unlike anything Leto had ever seen. The snow was densely packed, making up the bulk of the statue’s rather gigantic body. The tines on its grand head were just as massive and made of ice that shimmered like crystals, a pair of hooves to match. The long unicorn tail and giant mane were also made of packed snow, fluffed around the shoulders and legs, with eyes that glimmered like… gems? Stones? Leto

Leto had never been so weirded out in her entire life. Something about this stallion’s words made her skin crawl more than it usually did, her eyes watching him carefully for any signs of derangement that meant her herd would be in danger. Even Eris and Kama shared looks of concern over her shoulder as the strange stallion giggled about a dangerous place and… water? Had something bewitched the rivers? She racked her brain for anything that could possibly do such a thing as the stallion had dozed off, the only sounds his faint snoring and mumbles about being home instead of answers she needed. “If the river made him see strange lights, we need to investigate. This… doesn’t sound like a good thing.” Her ears flicked, listening as she raised her head to look at those tracks she had spotted before. Without hesitation she moved past the sleeping stallion, lowering her head to sniff at the hoofprints before glancing towards her herd mates. “We should follow his tracks, see where they lead.

The icy tundra had been quiet for a long, long while. After the hunt for the wolf pack that haunted the woods, the herd had settled into a comfortable silence. Days spent lazing about in the summer sun, noons hunting for the meat eaters in the herd, and nights spent huddled together for warmth and companionship. For once, the herd was completely united and at peace, even though their leader seemed… restless. Leto had felt a shift the season before and often stared off towards the horizon, as if her eyes were seeking something she could feel within her heart, uncaring about the quiet whispers from the herd that were concerned about something stirring within her magic. While the Blight had never harmed them or even seemed to desire to do so, it had always been a massive concern with a smaller section of the large herd - the regular unicorns, those who had magic and feared she’d somehow corrupt their magic, but those fears were usually calmed by Isana boasting that if ‘anything happened,

Leto had been less than pleased at learning the trio of dragons had gone off to hunt wolves of all things, but she really couldn’t blame them after having learned how close the small pack had been to the herd. With the addition of the foals, despite how much they were growing already - almost two for the eldest twins, and little Safiya was quick on their heels despite the terrible weather she’d been born in - Leto had earned the right to be wary of their surroundings, even going so far as to press the herd deeper south to avoid any travelers. Like she had no desire to entertain any newcomers, and the rest of the herd knew it. Kama couldn’t blame her, really. He understood it could have ended far worse than it had, with the new wounds on Cygo and Rumbleteeth that could have led another pack to them - or worse. The wounds had been mostly healed and wrapped by the resident Solar unicorn, who’d chastised them as could be expected, and it was the next day that Leto stepped up to where Kama