The Magical Herd

The breeze carried the scents of flowers and leaves and wet earth. You close your eyes and take a deep breath of the air. You eyes open almost instant when you feel something fly right into your face. You step back and see it was a little equine struggling in the winds. You hold out your hand so that she can land on it.

The red mare whickers a grateful thank you. "My name is Parly. Thank you for helping me out there. I forget sometimes that I shouldn't fly at this time of day because of the wings. But I was hungry and went looking for flowers without thinking."

You tell her that you don't mind holding on to her until the breezes die down a bit. She looks up at your face happily. "Thank you, you are most kind."

You ask how she came to live here with the other magical creatures. "I was a gift from Realm Keeper Heather to SunBlind who lives here. I chose to live here in the forests because there are many flowers that I enjoy all year round. Wildflowers are very much my favorites."

The two of you chatted about the various varieties of daisies and cornflowers and how to tell which would taste the best. Then suddenly Parly cries out to you, "STOP!" And you stop dead in your tracks, barely moving enough to breath. You look down and seefour small equines almost under your foot about the size of your thumb. Absolutely tiny. You reach down and pick them up, though one mare made it difficult by dashing around in various directions before you could catch her.

The smaller stallion trembles a bit, but relaxes when he sees his friend Parly. The shy paint stallion finally gets enough courage to look up at you and smile. In a small voice he says, "Hi, I'm Pindaz the Ja'alek from the Corsagé Meadows". The mare then settles down after having cantered a few circles around the palm of you hand. "I am Rihai, that means ribbon-hair." she says and then makes a little curtsy.

The third to speak was the other stallion. He makes a graceful bow, "I am Brewat, which means Breaking Waters in your tongue." He then nods to the mare with the delicate wings. "And this is Pixie. She is a rescued Ja'alek. Her parents were stolen from our home and then genetically engineered to have mutant foals. Pixie is one of those offspring. As you can see, her name is already a familiar word to you." Pixie fluttered her glittering wings but allowed Brewat to do all the talking for her. She seemed to be very close to this stallion, perhaps he was the first of her kind she'd met other than her parents. Perhaps he was the one to have rescued her. But either way, somehow you knew it wasn't your place to ask.

Finally, after getting a bit impatient, Parley was able to continue with the conversation your were having about flowers. The three Ja'alek added their own thoughts, Pixie keeping even these thoughts to herself.

Suddenly you heard someone say, "And don't forget about the violets. They're my favorite." Looking down at the ground you see a small red equine.

"Hi, I'm Tryst, a Butterflea! Oh, and buttercups are nice too, as well as the Lily of the Valley. So small and white. But best of all is the Poinsettia. Of course I might be partial, being a Christmas gift to this Realm and all."

Reaching down you pick up the butterflea and all three of them discuss the good and the bad of all kinds of flowers, most of which you had never heard of before.

Suddenly they all stop and look at your shoulder. You turn your head and by twisting a little you were able to see the tiny mare that had settled herself there. She was another Ja'alek, but a little different from the rest.

She had bat-like wings, glittering red eyes and a tiny horn on her nose. Red swirls mixed with the black of her coat. She spoke barely above a whisper but you had no trouble hearing her. "My name is Wigdea. I prefer Nightshade and Wolfbane." And with that ominous comment she flew away leaving everyone in a confused silence. No, this mare was certainly not like the rest.

At last the breeze died down enough for Parley to fly safely so you place the group of tiny equines on the ground. As you watched, Parley flew overhead and scouted out flowers and danger, while Pindaz, Rihai and Tryst followed along on the ground, soon disappearing in the brush. Still, you had to wonder about that mare with her preference for deadly plants.