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~!~ The day breaks, brilliant, clear as glass, the absolution of sun not yet awake, the world still bathed in blue. Out for an early morning stroll, your airy hooves dauntingly lead you down a different path, your mind hungry for exploration, curiosity catching you as you round the bend to discover a new way to walk. However, somewhere down the path, stones grow beneath you, brambles appear from nowhere, and you feel caught, stressed between the two extremes, choked with pain at your hooves, thorns at your side. Stuttering unevenly, you lurch forward, the twigs tearing at you as you stumble past each. Speeding up, traveling at a lopsided canter, trying to get away from the clutches of each bush, your eyes widen - where are you? And suddenly, you burst out into a meadow; large, rolling, brilliant. Motion grinding to a halt, breath sharp and fast, you shiver quietly, feeling the soothing, lush grasses cushioning your aching hooves. The endless hemline of trees and mountains breathes lightly in the gentle breezes, cooling and lifting your torn mane off of your neck. A light silvery mist hangs over the meadow, shrouding it in a veil of beauty and mystery. Just a hint of euphoria, a tiny taste of what real utopia might be, you step forward, noting a small stream nearby. Approaching, you lean down to get a drink from the bubbling rivulet, gurgling and splashing round its banks, playful and bright, pure crystal spilling down from the grandfathers of mountains borderlining the territory. The lush, thick grasses cushion your weary legs, and you sigh in content, this place somewhere in the depths of the forest a hint of paradise undiscovered. Or is it... Raising your eyes ever-so-slightly, satin muzzle drawn back from the mountain stream, you watch the faintest hint of something dark mirrored in the delicate waters, atop the reflection of a cliff high above, startlingly clear in the brook. Shifting your gaze, craning your neck skyward, twisted to see what might be atop the jutting stone, your eyes discover a mahogany stud, strong and brutal in appearance, figure stark against the opaque glow of the sky revolving above him. So there was life here... but who was it? ~!~

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~ Herd Members ~

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