Autumn Twilight [o]

[E!]

Ekala blended well into these cool blue autumn twilights, her dark blue roan coat fading into the blue oncoming of night. Something about the magical time between day and night made her feel beautiful, a daughter of this time. She was, indeed, a lovely looking mare - stocky but well proportioned, with lovely milk brown eyes and a deep blue coat, but in this time those looks seemed enhanced, and Ekala was enjoying herself thoroughly.

She had been spending most of her time looking after her young foster daughter, and the two of them had been slowly grazing their way toward the Brindle Bull - or at least Ekala had been making her way there with her filly following. The Brindle Bull appealed to the lovely blue roan mare, for reasons she could hardly explain. Grazing was picky, and the winds were cold on the granite tors, but Ekala had felt the need to be at the Brindle Bull.

The two brumbies, herself and Eumina her foster daughter, had yet to find a stallion to provide protection - not that they needed it. Ekala was a mare of the bush, she knew her way around. However, she longed for the company of a big, kind beast.. and had been wanting a foal of her own. It was too late in the year to be impregnated, but Ekala was content to wait until spring if she had a pleasing stallion.

One thing that had stopped the blue roan mare from finding a stallion was the great fear Eumina felt toward them. Eumina spoke barely a word to Ekala herself, and she respected that, not pushing the filly too hard to speak, but her fear of others needed to be overcome. Ekala intended on finding a warm hearted, kind voiced stallion, to join his herd and perhaps rid Eumina of some of the fear she felt for other brumbies.

It was a good plan, but for it to succeed, she needed to find a stallion. In this moment of blue twilight on the Brindle Bull, would be a perfect time for the first part of her plan to come about.

[Tiggs]

Where Ekala’s dark coat blended, Eumina’s stood out. The majority of her coat was a pale red, with a dark dorsal stripe and similarly dark mane and tail. Her face and legs though were covered in stark white, and her eyes were a crystal blue. She had grown into her legs a little more since Ekala had found her, but she was still a willowy filly, and seemed she would never lose her fragile frame even into her second year.

Come Spring, she would be two years old, ready to leave her herd if she had one. Eumina was dependant on Ekala though, and it was unlikely the filly would cope well on her own. Even with the constant company of the blue roan mare, Eumina was flighty and spooked at most things and when they saw a stallion in the distance, Eumina would take off, often hiding until Ekala would find her.

But when all was well, Eumina followed dutifully after Ekala. She never asked where they were going, never questioned it, never questioned anything or even spoke much at all, in fact. She certainly had never explained her fear of stallions, or how she had come to be separated from her mother in the first place. By now, Eumina hardly understood the fear herself. All she knew was that when she saw a stallion, she had to run because they were going to chase her, and she didn’t want them to catch up.

Thankfully, Ekala never pushed her, and now in the fading evening’s light, Eumina was relatively calm for once. She trotted primly at Ekala’s side, snatching the occasional mouthful of long grass or shrub. Being so nervous, the filly did not eat as much as most, and her sides were worryingly slim for the upcoming winter. Only when she was at ease did she risk straying from her constant vigil to graze.