Shiver

His looks didn't even register at first. It was his size that got her. He was just so big in comparison to her! Yes his coat glittered, but so did her own. Maybe in different ways, but it didn't seem terribly foreign to the young woman. The horn jutting from his forehead was strange, but somehow it seemed like it belonged there and so that too didn't seem foreign. The stallion admitted that harming her was not on his agenda and the tension that held Acacia's body trembling, yet rigid, began to ease. She believed him.

The giant beast gave his name and, yet again, promised that he would not harm her. Clearing her throat, the speckled dame flicked her ears forward. "Acacia," she managed finally. "My name is Acacia." Lowering her big blue eyes, she absently pulled one hoof lightly back and forth across the grass. "Apologies for my reaction. I get extra jumpy when I'm on my own." Not to mention she had negative experiences with random stallions in the past.

Taliesyn asked whether she had been chased from her herd abs the slender mare gave her head a shake, tri- toned mane swaying. "No, I left voluntarily. My best friend left before he could be chased away and I went with him. I... don't know where he is today, so I went off to explore on my own." She sighed, an expression of sadness taking hold of her chimeric face. "I should have stayed at the oasis. I'm too much of a coward for adventuring."