She was playing up the far end of the creek near the waterfall and she obviously wasn’t aware that the colt was also there down the other end, she was kicking, jumping and splashing which was what the colt was hearing before. There were two questions on the colt’s mind that confused him, one: Where did she come from? She clearly wasn’t from his dad’s herd so why was she here? And two: Where were her parents? Especially her mom, she couldn’t be here by herself, could she? The colt shook his head to remove those questions then nickered out to her, he then began trotting to where the filly was playing so that he could play with her.

When the palomino filly turned to see another horse, a foal like her, she quickly grew timid and shied away from him, the colt whinnied to her and tossed his head playfully as he wanted to play and make friends with her, but the filly didn’t want any of it. She backed up a few shaky steps then quickly turned and took off galloping through the bushes away from the colt, he looked at her confused before realizing what was wrong, the filly was shy! And his highly energetic attitude wasn’t helping.

He sped into a gallop trying to catch up with her, she was fast though, she finally came into the clearing, the colt following shortly after. He skidded to a stop and backed up when the filly hid behind two mares, it seemed clear that the two mares were sisters, one being the filly’s mother and the other being the filly’s auntie, the filly’s mother was a palomino while her auntie was a buckskin.

The mare nuzzled her filly while the filly’s aunt took a step towards the colt aggressively at first, but when she realized it was just a foal who was chasing her niece she took one step back and lowered her head to seem less threatening to the colt. Just like the filly, the two mares were practically skin and bone, they were obviously doing it tough on their own, it’s no wonder the palomino filly wasn’t getting enough milk… The palomino mare clearly wasn’t getting enough food so there isn’t much for the filly. The colt took another step back and cautiously scanned the two bigger horses, then looked at the filly who was still hiding behind her mother. Suddenly, leaping out from the bushes behind the colt came his mother, then his father, and the rest of the herd.

The mare standing protectively in front of her colt while the stallion jerked his head aggressively towards the two mares trying to back them up, the buckskin mare reared at the stallion to protect her sister and niece, the colt saw the palomino filly cowering back in fear, so he bellowed at his father to stop, the stallion grunted deeply in disappointment towards the colt for leaving the safety of the herd in the first place, the colt lowered his head and explained the situation to his mother and father about how he just wanted to explore the territory by himself, and how he saw the filly and wanted to play with her, and that the two mares weren’t trying to hurt him, they were just protecting the filly.

The colt’s mother sighed a breath of relief when her foal said that the stray mares weren’t trying to hurt him but she was still mad at him for leaving the herd and putting himself in danger, she nickered to the colt’s dad telling him that the buckskin and palomino mares were not a threat. They looked back at the three wary horses, and just like the colt, the lead mare and stallion quickly picked up how skinny the three horses were, the two mares and filly were so malnourished it looked like they were on their last legs.

The lead stallion suddenly felt bad for acting so aggressive towards them, especially the filly, his mare was right… They weren’t a threat, they looked like they’d barely be able to fight for their own survival, he lowered his head to show he wasn’t a threat and backed up until he was standing beside his mare and her colt, the colt’s mom and dad then looked at each other, she nodded thoughtfully first then he nodded in response before looking at the two mares and filly, the young stallion took one step forward, but the palomino mare and her filly took one step back while the buckskin mare stayed in place and pawed the ground timidly as she didn’t want to let the stallion have a chance to hurt her sister or niece.

The stallion could see this so he stopped moving towards them and spoke to them from where he stood, he offered them a place in his herd but the two mares weren’t into the idea of joining this random stallion’s herd, especially the palomino mare since she has a foal, her palomino filly wasn’t this stallion’s blood and she knew the stallions rules: In order to join another stallion’s herd a mare must get rid of their foal that they had with their old leader because the foal will be seen as an intruder or rival when they grow up.

The palomino filly stayed close to her mothers side as the mare went behind her sister for better protection, and the buckskin mare still standing her ground. The colt’s father taking a step back to give the two mares and filly their space and lowering his head to show that he meant no harm towards them, keeping his offer standing. The colt’s mother on the other hand stood there the whole time with their son, keeping a watchful eye on the three stray horses, her gaze turning soft and sorrowful as she saw how scared and fearful these three female horses were, as she had felt the same way when her and her foal were forced to leave her old herd, she had a feeling they were outcasts for the same reason. With this in mind, the mare boldly stood forward, the colt watching her and the other horses every move, especially the filly’s. As she walked closer to the stray mares and filly, her mate; The colt’s father seemed slightly worried about her getting too close to the strays and possibly getting attacked by them, but he had a feeling she knew what she was doing so he didn’t interfere yet.