And We March (Open/Joining?)

[writtenphoto]

Epona sighed. The moment she'd found out she was carrying a foal, she'd ran off from Lake Vesta in a rush. Seeing as that the coming of strangers brought a newfound fear in the protection of her foal. Although she was in no such hurry to find a place to have this foal, the only time she would feel a threat to her child would be when it was born. All of the strangers that might go peeping at the foal when it was born frightened her.
She was really starting to wonder why her mother had even had the guts to raise her at the Lake, although it did make sure she didn’t grow up to be shy. That was the only advantage to it. Epona did love Lake Vesta, but it scared her to stay any longer.
Epona took a weary step into the mud, feeling her right front foot sink into the mud, she pulled it back quickly making a frightened squeal.
"This mustn't be a good place to raise a foal. He or She could easily fall into this mud and suffocate or die from loss of food."Epona sighed, standing in front of the mud she pulled her feet back from.
"You really shouldn't talk about dying so much... It bound to jinx you in some way."
She lowered her head tucking it into her chest and bringing her right foot near the mud, pawing it gently with her hoof. It made a ripple, splashing a little bit of mud on her hoof.
Epona brought her head back to normal and layed her foot down on the part of ground she knew was safe.
"If this place seems as dangerous as it seems to me, than dangerous things shouldn't bother me? That's stupid logic, that is idiotic to have such thoughts, a dangerous place is safe? From Dangerous horses maybe, but not water lurking ones."
Epona looked at the trees. Thinking of returning to Lake Vesta to drink the water she deemed sacred to herself. Maybe the Dangerous things won't notice your going to be sluggish later on? You've only just found out your carrying a foal, its not that noticeable as it should be later on.

OCC: WHOOO, Personally i've always had a thing for swamps XD

[skibbereenfarms]

'Stay out of trouble now, dear!'

Rosemary was giving her daughter her first taste of freedom, simply by letting her walk just a bit further ahead of her. Even Rosemary was worried about giving Luciole this privilege at first; the filly was still so young and inexperienced, and Rosemary knew at any time a predator could emerge. However, her time in Yacare has taught her about the important things, such as the times of year when gators were most likely to be spotted. Rosemary could feel the seasons changing, and she knew the gators tended to go into hibernation when it got too cold. Knowing that they wouldn't be lurking in the shadows and eying her daughter, Rosemary felt a bit better about allowing the filly to explore her home a bit more. She was only able to give Luciole one bit of advice before she bolted; "Stay out of trouble now, dear!"

But in reality, how could she not? There were so many new things out there to discover, and the best way to find them was to get her hooves dirty. Well, Luciole had that one down. As she trudged along the edge of the swamp, she encountered quite an interesting substance; mud. It was brown, it came from the ground, and it stuck to her cloven hooves and legs when she walked on it. When Luciole first stepped in the strange substance, her little hoof made an imprint in the mush when she lifted her leg back up to examine it. "'Das strange!" she exclaimed excitedly. Luciole then proceeded to make a few more stomps in the mud, splashing the substance around and allowing it to climb further up her legs. What a delight!

She didn't think something could distract her from her fun, but it did. Hearing a voice not to far off, Luciole whipped her head up straight and looked around. "Wassat?" she asked herself, as if she were expecting an answer from someone. The voice was definitely not her mamma's, and it wasn't any of the other mares she and her mamma lived with. Luciole kept herself quiet for a moment, listening as carefully as her father did when he was expecting a gator to come by. From behind she could hear her mamma calling out for her. "Luciole!" Turning her head back, she responded. "O'er here, mamma! Dere's someone out dere! I'mma go see!"

That was one quality that Rosemary didn't exactly appreciate about her daughter; she was rather spontaneous. The mare, still a bit far off, pushed herself into a quick trot to chase after the troublesome filly. Luciole, on the other hand, decided to explore. She too moved into a trot, and though the mud threatened to suck her legs right in, she moved along rather quickly. Within no time, the stranger was within Luciole's sight, and Rosemary wasn't too far behind. The filly stopped to examine the stranger from a distance (and to let her mother catch up). "Who is 'dat?" Luciole asked just as Rosemary caught up to her.

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[writtenphoto]

Epona snorted through her nose, breathing in deep of the new scents and letting her ears run forward and back to hear the sounds. Epona did like to tease birds every once in awhile. In fact, most of her time as a foal was taken to running towards flocks of white birds near the lake. Lake Vesta really did bring fond memories.... Wait.... What was that sound?
Epona flicked her ears back and forth, the sound of a young voice was being tossed back and forth with a adult horse, in her mind. Epona found that she had already proclaimed the voice of the mare the mother, well the adult horse. The sound of mud started to go back and forth in her ears and it made her take a few steps back on the ground she deemed safe.
What if this... this sound was from a predator, already sensing she was going to be heavy with foal and slow later on. Maybe the sounds of the horses were just hallucinations? Epona lifted her head into the air and smelled the air, her pale mane rustling slightly from her sudden movement.
She tried not to stutter at the very least, but it was hard at the amount of being frightened.
"Who'ss ttt-hhh-ere?
The sound of mud being disturbed made her eyes wide. What if it wasn't a predator? What if it really was a horse? When the sounds of mud did stop, they were very close behind her. She didn't want to pin her ears, what if it really was just a mare and foal? She held her head near her chest and closed her eyes praying to the great mother. Whispering under her breath.
"Plll-eeas-ee greattt mothh-eerrr."
I don't want any harm to befall me and this foal.
Slowly Epona turned her head, seeing two figure. She felt her heart start to go at a slower rate, seeing the mare and foal.
Thank you great mother. I really do thank you. You must give me this luck from not faltering a moment in drinking the water of the lake that is the very gift of this land.

OCC:Don' mind the crappy writing, my muse is really down

[skibbereenfarms]

Rosemary could tell that the voice sounded nervous, but Luciole on the other hand was still so eager to go up to this stranger. Just as the filly took one more step forward, Rosemary moved in front of her daughter, a tender yet disciplinary eye watching over her. Luciole pinned her ears, still a bit unsure of what exactly she had done wrong. The filly remained silent for once, though she remained entirely curious as Rosemary turned her gaze to the nervous stranger up ahead. The poor dear, she was practically trembling! With one last glance at her daughter, who was now standing right behind her, Rosemary turned to this stranger and decided to - slowly - make her way forward. She moved through the mud with much ease, though once in a while her hoof would get a little stuck. Getting used to the swamp was a process, but Rosemary was handling it quite well. She couldn't say the same for this stranger, who appeared to be stuck in place. The swamp was no problem for Luciole of course, as the filly walked happily alongside her mother.

Rosemary stopped a few feet before the stranger; since Luciole wasn't paying attention, the little filly ran right into Rosemary's hind, spooking the mare a bit. The mare gave another glance to her daughter, though this time a smile accompanied her. Luciole gave a little smile back, moving forward a bit yet still choosing to stay at her mother's side. Turning back to the apparently frightened mare, Rosemary stuck her head out a bit, attempting to reach out to the mare for comfort. "You alright, dear?" Rosemary asked, attempting to get a good look at her eyes. The mare offered a smile, adding, "you seem to be a bit stuck." Luciole gave a little chuckle from her mother's side, attempting to hide the obvious grin after her mother shot her another glance. Rosemary attempted to get more information from this mare. "Do you have a name?"

[writtenphoto]

The mare approached rather careful to Epona, That in which made her nerves start to lighten from her mind.
The question was that of one she was expecting, Are you all right? Well of course not, her feet were half consumed by mud that she had been wading through the last few hours, and right now she was just frightened by a Harmless mare and her foal, thinking they were a predator of some kind.
"Ah yes, i do seem to be quite stuck, so far from that, yes i am quite all right" She said lifting her hoof slightly forward to point at the mud that was splayed across the land.
"But i suppose that this land is quite filled with it isn't it." She said quite joking like, partly to show the mare she was friendly, and one to calm herself down from her fright.
"Oh, My name is Epona." She said, finding herself smiling a bit from the foals laugh.
The mare seemed quite alright, being as she had come to the area in which Epona had gotten stuck pretty much.
She was also glad that she wasn't showing at all, it would most likely dwelve into the conversation of how she most likely didn't try and go through the mud even more than she would if she wasn't even carrying a child.
A thought sprang to her mind while waiting for the mare to respond.
"I'm quite forgetful, forgetting to ask your names. What are your names?"
Epona lifted her head, looking around the area, in which she had been staring at her feet the whole time. It was a very pretty land in fact. Covered in murky water and green trees. Well i suppose that all this cover would make a nice home for a foal to be hidden from various harmful things.
She noted the foliage as a possible place to give birth. Of course living here would be easier as time took. But it might be slightly harder if she wasn't excepted into the herd. Which she highly doubted that no one would allow her. Who wouldn't want a mare that wasn't pregnant with one of the horses in the herd? Quite valuable from her time of watching and listening to horses by Lake Vesta

OCC: Yet again, my muse likes to die XD