Different horse, not Dusty

(Alright, just making sure!)

Dusty trotted into a meadow that he had visited many times before. It was a more hidden meadow and was surrounded almost entirely by shrubbery. Close by to the meadow was an almost equally hidden pond that Dusty knew was a nice place to hang out at. Slowing down as he entered the center of the meadow, Dusty sniffed the ground below him and nipped at a few blades of grass. The grass was always sweet when he came here, seeing that no other horses came here so the grass had time to grow. He began to graze quietly and his tail naturally flicked at a few flies that buzzed around him. The colors of his tail gave the slight illusion that it was flicking at a fast speed, but it was only flicking occasionally. The sunlight above him shone down on his buckskin coat and made the white parts of it look as if they glowed.

(Hope that's enough lol)

(Yeah, that's enough! :) )

Raven's hooves carried her into the meadow. She didn't even think about pausing to make sure nobody else was there, because nobody else ever was there. Carelessly, she strode out into the clearing towards the pond. Then she froze. There was another horse with a gorgeous buckskin patterned coat standing with his back to her, grazing. Slowly, she began to back up, making sure not to take her eyes off him, while also trying not to run into anything or make noise. Her black coat would surely stand out in a bright green meadow like this and she didn't want him to find out she was here. He was obviously a lone stallion, and although she knew she had the strength to fight one if they became dominant and agressive, she was not looking for a fight today. Then she stepped on a small twig right at the edge of the forest and it snapped under her hoof. opps, she thought. But instead of running, she froze, maybe she wanted to talk to someone, even if it wasn't a pleasant interaction.

Dusty grazed peacefully and quietly as the sunlight above him warmed his pelt. His ears flicked occasionally and caught the noises of birds in the distance as they sand their songs. Suddenly they perked up hearing a twig snap nearby. His head shot up and he looked the direction where the noise came from. His eyes landed on a majestic black mare with a few white markings on her. She seemed to be alone, but why? It took Dusty a moment before he recalled the stories he had heard from a few herds about a mare that looked like this. She does look like a shadow, he thinks as he stares at the mare, and she was quiet like one too. Well- that was until she snapped that twig. He turned slowly and cautiously so that he faced towards the mare, not wanting to spin around too fast and scare her or be unprepared for an attack. What was she doing here? Was this her home? In the back of Dusty's mind the warnings of the other horses called to him, but he pushed them aside. You should never judge a horse before you actually meet them, he thinks.

Raven watched as the stallion head snapped up and he carefully turned around. His expression was fairly easy to read. She could see him go from defensive, to, wait was that fear? Interesting. Finally his expression changed to one of curiosity. Her many years alone had taught her to read other horses expressions, and to keep her neutral. Nobody else need to know how she was feeling. She didn't move an inch, she just watched the stallion with her surprising, and stunning blue eyes. The sun beat down on her back warming her, it felt good, but she wasn't in a position to relax right now. She didn't pin her ears though, as she normally would, trying to scare any newcomers off. This one was different. He didn't charge her or attack or run away for that matter. He just stood, watching her.

Dusty watched the mare with curiosity. He was unsure if he was to run away like other horses said to or fight the mare. Or maybe he was to stand his ground and hope that she would leave. His brain had other ideas and instead he called quietly to the mare, nickering at her softly. This showed that he wasn't planning on attacking and instead was kindly greeting her. The mare didn't seem like she wanted to attack him either. Well at the moment she didn't seem to want to attack him. She wasn't acting like how the other horses had told him that she acted. Not pinning her ears or pawing at the ground means she isn't going to attack, he thought, and they said that she seemed to want to attack anyway. Maybe they were all paranoid and she actually isn't agressive. Dusty's ears were in a calm posistion and he seemed calm over all. Sure, deep inside of him he felt both terrified and ready to attack, but he tried to not show his fear as much as he could.

Raven didn't know what to do. The stallion had geretted her, but how did she greet him back? Normally horses would have attacked at this point, and she would swiftly beat them, drive them away, and move on. But this stallion didn't seem to want a fight at all. Nor was he defensive if this was his territory. She sorted what she thought would come out as a gruff hello to the stallion, but it came out in a beautiful whinny. She hadn't even known her voice could do that. She blinked in surprise, careful to keep her expression neutral.

His ears perked up at the mare's whinny and admired how beautiful it was. Maybe this mare wasn't as bad as he thought she was. Dusty took a small step forward towards the mare. He watched her every movement as he stepped, watching to see if she was ready to attack or to run. His stepps were soft and cautious and Dusty made sure to look as least threatening as possible. He wasn't in the mood to fight, he honestly just wanted to speak to this new mare and possibly become friends. Friends are the best way to survive out here with anyway, he thinks, travelling alone can be dangerous. Atleast having some company would make it better.

Instinctivly Raven's body tensed up and her ears pinned back as the stallion got closer. Then she felt embarrassment as she realized he was not walking towards her threateningly, but rather, friendly? She relaxed but took a step backwards towards the forest.

"Who are you?" She asked. Not that his name would mean anything to her. She didn't know what else to say though, and so far he hadn't started a conversation. She has no idea where this was going to go and her brain kept telling her this was a bad idea, that she was better off on her own.

Dusty stopped as he saw the mare tense up and her ears pin back. He hesitated for a moment when she asked who he was. Should he tell her his name? Would there be anything wrong with telling her it though, he thinks before thinking about it for another moment. "My name is Dusty," he says finally to the mare, "I'm a lone stallion. I travel around looking for a place to stay permanently. And you are?" He tilted his head slightly to the side as he asked the mare the question in return. He stood a few steps away from her and didn't move closer, since she had gotten tense when he did the last time.