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Follows Immediately after 'Opening Up'

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---

Renegade hadn’t returned for days, and Aikane was growing nervous. Her heart soared at the slightest of noises, and plummeted when the stallion failed to appear before her. She knew it was foolish to allow herself to hope, but she believed he would come back. If he didn’t? She didn’t want to think about what would happen to their little band of mares that she had come to know and love.
She kept watch nervously, casting glances towards Arwyn, Io, and Story. All three were near to bursting; they would have their foals any day now, she was certain of it. Pandia, too, was starting to show the first signs of pregnancy. Her twins, Persephone and Lilith were ecstatic at the prospect of a younger sibling.
The foals were growing like weeds, having shed out their baby fluff for a thick winter coat long ago. Persephone and Lilith were just a tad shorter than their mother now, Inanna and Andromache were close on their heels, and even though Lluka was the baby of the group, he had long surpassed the fillies in height. And as the foals grew, so did tensions it seemed.
Lluka was starting to walk the dangerous line between colt and stallion. Under Dusana’s careful nurturing, he had grown to become very respectful and polite. Yet he would soon be too old to justify keeping in the herd, and even Aikane was growing nervous for the timid boy. She wasn’t sure how much compassion Renegade would show him.
That wasn’t all. Andromache and Lluka had grown even closer as they aged. It wasn’t uncommon to catch the two sneaking off from the herd to spend time together- much to the dismay of Inanna, who was upset that her best friend was ditching her for a boy. She wasn’t the only one upset either. Lillian had never liked Lluka and Andromache’s friendship, and her distaste had only grown.
Aikane watched the fleeting forms of Lluka and Andromache as they stormed off to play in the woods, snow flying from their hooves as they galloped off. The little mare twitched uncomfortably, her gaze drifting over towards Lillian, who was glaring after them. The bay mare’s eyes lingered for a moment before shifting towards Dusana, and Aikane couldn’t help but cringe as she watched her approach the other mare.
“Aren’t you going to do something?” Lillian asked, her ears pinned back. Dusana blinked up at her in surprise, not expecting to be bothered while she was hunting for grass to eat. Her surprise melted into confusion and she tilted her head.
“What do you mean?”
“Lluka’s behavior is completely unacceptable, running off with a filly at all hours of the day! You must know how inappropriate this is at their age-“
“It’s a foal crush, Lillian. I wouldn’t worry about it-“ Dusana replied, her tone soothing and smile friendly.
“A foal crush?! You’ve got to be kidding me. One day, Lluka is going to run off with my Andromache and never return!”
“And that will be Andromache’s choice. Lluka would never force her to go with him. He wouldn’t take her anywhere if she didn’t already want to go.” Her friendly smile was quickly fading to annoyance as she stared down Lillian. The bay splash met her stare in turn, lashing her tail angrily.
“You can’t know that for sure! This is your first foal- things change, and suddenly the ‘sweet’ colt you could trust turns around and tries to steal the herd! I’ve seen it happen before and it will happen again unless you stop this behavior. If he hadn’t insisted on bothering my daughter-”
“This is also your first foal, and I’ll have you know that Andromache approached Lluka first. The rest of the herd knows it too. It seems like you have some insecurities you need to work through, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t take your issues out on my son.”
Lilian could do nothing but stare at Dusana in shock as she watched the dark mare walk away. Her ears flattened and she opened her mouth to retaliate when Arwyn stepped in front of her.
“I think that’s quite enough, Lilian.”
“You’re okay with letting her allow Lluka to behave like this? He’s a threat to this herd!” She shouted. The previous argument had drawn most of the mare’s attention, but with her yell, all eyes were on her. Dusana whirled around to face Lilian, ears flattened to her skull.
“How dare you-!”
The pounding of hooves distracted Aikane from the scene before her and she turned to peer into the forest behind her. She saw nothing, and for a moment, she thought she might’ve been mistaken. She strained to hear more, and yes! There it was!
“Someone’s coming!” She called out. She stared into the forest, and before long she saw two figures approaching. One of which was very familiar to her.
“Renegade!”
The large black stallion thundered out of the tree line, and Aikane finally realized who his companion was. It was the heavily pregnant mare they had found at the river just before he was captured!
Aikane’s excitement was cut short as she heard the whistles of humans coming from the trees and saw the panicked look on Renegade’s face.
“Run!” The mare called. The herd didn’t need to be told twice.
They darted out of the clearing and down a steeply sloping hill, startling Andromache and Lluka who had been deep in conversation. They leapt up and darted away, not sure of the trouble, but unwilling to stick around to find out. Aikane dogged after Renegade’s trail, using his large form to her advantage to move quickly through the deep drifts.
Slipping and sliding down the hill, the band of mares finally came to the edge of the forest that overlooked a large, flat expanse of open terrain. Aikane paused as the herd rushed past her to turn back. Through the trees she could spot the humans and their horses hot on their trails. She leapt forward to chase after her herd, ears trained back to judge how far behind they were. The thundering of hooves fueled her adrenaline as she chased after the herd.
It wasn’t until she had nearly caught up that she noticed that the human’s weren’t chasing them anymore. She slowed down once more and cautiously turned to see where their pursuers were. To her surprise, they were all standing at the edge of the tree line, staring after them. Why weren’t they chasing them?
A whinny caught her attention and she spotted the herd resting a little ways up ahead. She trotted over to catch up, rushing up to Renegade and Arwyn.
“You’re alright!” Aikane said breathlessly. She watched as the large stallion trembled, his sides heaving as he tried to catch his breath. He nodded his head, unable to answer her verbally.
“Everyone’s here,” Arwyn said. Aikane’s eyes widened and she pressed her muzzle to the older mare’s neck.
“Are you alright, Arwyn? You’re not hurt are you?“
“I’m fine. I just need to rest,” she said softly, nuzzling her. “Io, Pandia, and Story too. We all need to rest, even if only for a little bit.” She said. Aikane turned her gaze to the pregnant mares who were huddled together. Muse fretted over them like a mother, offering soft words of comfort where she could.
The herd seemed to release a collective breath, and a few even laid in the snow to rest despite the biting wind and snow that was blowing across the field they were in. Aikane couldn’t shake her unsettled feeling. Why hadn’t the humans chased them? It seemed strange that they would suddenly stop like that, especially when the herd was so close to being caught.
“You must be Aikane.” An unfamiliar voice made her jump. She turned to spot the mare that was with Ren, who laughed softly.
“Yes, I am.”
“Renegade told me a bit about you. My name’s Wren.” She said, smiling at the shorter mare. Aikane felt a bit of heat rise to her face at the thought of Ren talking about her with Wren. What had he said?
“It’s good to meet you. Wren and Ren… that’s a bit confusing,” she admitted, smiling sheepishly. Wren shrugged and smiled good naturedly. The mares chatted quietly, with Wren recounting the story of how she and Renegade had escaped. Aikane listened intently, but was distracted by movement at the corner of her eye.
Her blood ran cold as she spotted Lluka and Andromache cautiously approaching Renegade. This wasn’t going to end well, she just knew it. She watched as Lluka lowered his head in submission to the huge stallion, who looked at him with disinterest.
“Renegade, I… I just want to thank you for letting me stay with the herd. I know not every stallion is so forgiving and gracious enough to protect another stallion’s foal, so I just wanted to thank you…”
“And?” He asked, looking between the colt and filly.
“Andromache and I were talking recently, and we are both about that age where we could go off and join a different herd. I was hoping to get your permission to take her with me?” Lluka’s voice shifted up an octave, betraying his nervousness.
“I told you!” Lilian cried, forcing herself between the two youngsters. Lluka stumbled away, shocked at her outburst. Dusana, who had pointedly been as far from Lilian as possible, rushed to his side.
“Lilian-“
“I told you! He’s trying to steal my daughter!” Lilian spat, turning on Dusana.
“Mother! I want to go with him. I’m old enough now, I made this decision for myself!” Andromache said, reaching out to comfort her mother. Lilian shook her off, and the filly stepped back in shock.
“This is your fault! If you had enough sense to raise your son right, he would’ve left my Andromache alone! He wouldn’t have filled her head with empty promises and silly fantasies of starting their own herd!” She snapped. Dusana stomped with rage, squaring off with her.
“Do you hear how deranged you sound? Your daughter is making this choice for herself, and you blame this on me? What is wrong with you?!”
“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? I want what’s best for her! I don’t want her to run off with a stupid colt who won’t live up to her expectations. Do you really think he can protect and provide for her? He couldn’t even fight his own shadow! I don’t want her to regret her decision when he inevitably leaves her in the dust- just like his father left you!”
Dusana recoiled and froze, as if she had been physically struck. The glimmer of tears shone in her eyes as her gaze narrowed on Lilian. Without warning, the dark mare charged, barreling into Lilian.
Aikane leapt forward, quick to try and intervene, but was sent stumbling back by a pair of hooves that went sailing past her head. Renegade bumped her out of the way, ears pinned back, but he didn’t move. The pair of mares fought viciously, tearing and ripping at each other, and the herd could do nothing but watch, lest they be injured trying to separate them.
Crack
Aikane jumped, her ears going askew. The noise had been so soft, she almost hadn’t noticed. A moment later, she heard it again, coming from beneath their hooves. It was almost as if the sound was being dampened by the snow on the ground.
She and Renegade glanced at each other in confusion. What was-
The ground quaked and heaved beneath them as an ear splitting crack shattered the atmosphere surrounding the herd. Suddenly, Aikane knew why the humans had not followed them.
She was assaulted by the memory of inky blackness and feeling utterly alone. The feeling of being so, so cold, and the burning of her lungs as she struggled to breathe.
This wasn’t a field at all.
It was-
A horrified squeal pierced the momentary silence, and Aikane could do nothing but watch helplessly as the ground opened up underneath Dusana, pulling her into the depths below. The herd scattered away from the rapidly growing hole. They scrambled to a safe distance before turning back to stare at the dark water.

There was no sign of Dusana.

Stallion ID: 104 Renegade
In response to: Ice Breaks + Snowstorm + Stuck + Have 'fun' in water
Art features: Dusana
Story features: [15] Renegade, Aikane , Lluka , Andromache , Arwyn , Story , Pandia , Muse , Dusana, Lilian , Lillith , Persephone , Inanna , Io , Wren

Word Count: 2059

Aging: Lluka (2/3)
Healing: Arwyn i(1/2), Dusana i(1/3),
Pregnancy: Pandia (2/3)
Captured: -
Mare Steal: -
MS Pregnancy: -
Destination of Bachelor: -

Items you are using: -
Companion Animals: -
Members that own outside horses: -
Bachelor Herd: -
Collab: -

Rolls: Normal

Other notes: Can not receive any pregnancy rolls.

Reference: Trying to find it, give me some time

Description

Follows Immediately after 'Opening Up'

Zoom in to see the image better!

---

Renegade hadn’t returned for days, and Aikane was growing nervous. Her heart soared at the slightest of noises, and plummeted when the stallion failed to appear before her. She knew it was foolish to allow herself to hope, but she believed he would come back. If he didn’t? She didn’t want to think about what would happen to their little band of mares that she had come to know and love.
She kept watch nervously, casting glances towards Arwyn, Io, and Story. All three were near to bursting; they would have their foals any day now, she was certain of it. Pandia, too, was starting to show the first signs of pregnancy. Her twins, Persephone and Lilith were ecstatic at the prospect of a younger sibling.
The foals were growing like weeds, having shed out their baby fluff for a thick winter coat long ago. Persephone and Lilith were just a tad shorter than their mother now, Inanna and Andromache were close on their heels, and even though Lluka was the baby of the group, he had long surpassed the fillies in height. And as the foals grew, so did tensions it seemed.
Lluka was starting to walk the dangerous line between colt and stallion. Under Dusana’s careful nurturing, he had grown to become very respectful and polite. Yet he would soon be too old to justify keeping in the herd, and even Aikane was growing nervous for the timid boy. She wasn’t sure how much compassion Renegade would show him.
That wasn’t all. Andromache and Lluka had grown even closer as they aged. It wasn’t uncommon to catch the two sneaking off from the herd to spend time together- much to the dismay of Inanna, who was upset that her best friend was ditching her for a boy. She wasn’t the only one upset either. Lillian had never liked Lluka and Andromache’s friendship, and her distaste had only grown.
Aikane watched the fleeting forms of Lluka and Andromache as they stormed off to play in the woods, snow flying from their hooves as they galloped off. The little mare twitched uncomfortably, her gaze drifting over towards Lillian, who was glaring after them. The bay mare’s eyes lingered for a moment before shifting towards Dusana, and Aikane couldn’t help but cringe as she watched her approach the other mare.
“Aren’t you going to do something?” Lillian asked, her ears pinned back. Dusana blinked up at her in surprise, not expecting to be bothered while she was hunting for grass to eat. Her surprise melted into confusion and she tilted her head.
“What do you mean?”
“Lluka’s behavior is completely unacceptable, running off with a filly at all hours of the day! You must know how inappropriate this is at their age-“
“It’s a foal crush, Lillian. I wouldn’t worry about it-“ Dusana replied, her tone soothing and smile friendly.
“A foal crush?! You’ve got to be kidding me. One day, Lluka is going to run off with my Andromache and never return!”
“And that will be Andromache’s choice. Lluka would never force her to go with him. He wouldn’t take her anywhere if she didn’t already want to go.” Her friendly smile was quickly fading to annoyance as she stared down Lillian. The bay splash met her stare in turn, lashing her tail angrily.
“You can’t know that for sure! This is your first foal- things change, and suddenly the ‘sweet’ colt you could trust turns around and tries to steal the herd! I’ve seen it happen before and it will happen again unless you stop this behavior. If he hadn’t insisted on bothering my daughter-”
“This is also your first foal, and I’ll have you know that Andromache approached Lluka first. The rest of the herd knows it too. It seems like you have some insecurities you need to work through, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t take your issues out on my son.”
Lilian could do nothing but stare at Dusana in shock as she watched the dark mare walk away. Her ears flattened and she opened her mouth to retaliate when Arwyn stepped in front of her.
“I think that’s quite enough, Lilian.”
“You’re okay with letting her allow Lluka to behave like this? He’s a threat to this herd!” She shouted. The previous argument had drawn most of the mare’s attention, but with her yell, all eyes were on her. Dusana whirled around to face Lilian, ears flattened to her skull.
“How dare you-!”
The pounding of hooves distracted Aikane from the scene before her and she turned to peer into the forest behind her. She saw nothing, and for a moment, she thought she might’ve been mistaken. She strained to hear more, and yes! There it was!
“Someone’s coming!” She called out. She stared into the forest, and before long she saw two figures approaching. One of which was very familiar to her.
“Renegade!”
The large black stallion thundered out of the tree line, and Aikane finally realized who his companion was. It was the heavily pregnant mare they had found at the river just before he was captured!
Aikane’s excitement was cut short as she heard the whistles of humans coming from the trees and saw the panicked look on Renegade’s face.
“Run!” The mare called. The herd didn’t need to be told twice.
They darted out of the clearing and down a steeply sloping hill, startling Andromache and Lluka who had been deep in conversation. They leapt up and darted away, not sure of the trouble, but unwilling to stick around to find out. Aikane dogged after Renegade’s trail, using his large form to her advantage to move quickly through the deep drifts.
Slipping and sliding down the hill, the band of mares finally came to the edge of the forest that overlooked a large, flat expanse of open terrain. Aikane paused as the herd rushed past her to turn back. Through the trees she could spot the humans and their horses hot on their trails. She leapt forward to chase after her herd, ears trained back to judge how far behind they were. The thundering of hooves fueled her adrenaline as she chased after the herd.
It wasn’t until she had nearly caught up that she noticed that the human’s weren’t chasing them anymore. She slowed down once more and cautiously turned to see where their pursuers were. To her surprise, they were all standing at the edge of the tree line, staring after them. Why weren’t they chasing them?
A whinny caught her attention and she spotted the herd resting a little ways up ahead. She trotted over to catch up, rushing up to Renegade and Arwyn.
“You’re alright!” Aikane said breathlessly. She watched as the large stallion trembled, his sides heaving as he tried to catch his breath. He nodded his head, unable to answer her verbally.
“Everyone’s here,” Arwyn said. Aikane’s eyes widened and she pressed her muzzle to the older mare’s neck.
“Are you alright, Arwyn? You’re not hurt are you?“
“I’m fine. I just need to rest,” she said softly, nuzzling her. “Io, Pandia, and Story too. We all need to rest, even if only for a little bit.” She said. Aikane turned her gaze to the pregnant mares who were huddled together. Muse fretted over them like a mother, offering soft words of comfort where she could.
The herd seemed to release a collective breath, and a few even laid in the snow to rest despite the biting wind and snow that was blowing across the field they were in. Aikane couldn’t shake her unsettled feeling. Why hadn’t the humans chased them? It seemed strange that they would suddenly stop like that, especially when the herd was so close to being caught.
“You must be Aikane.” An unfamiliar voice made her jump. She turned to spot the mare that was with Ren, who laughed softly.
“Yes, I am.”
“Renegade told me a bit about you. My name’s Wren.” She said, smiling at the shorter mare. Aikane felt a bit of heat rise to her face at the thought of Ren talking about her with Wren. What had he said?
“It’s good to meet you. Wren and Ren… that’s a bit confusing,” she admitted, smiling sheepishly. Wren shrugged and smiled good naturedly. The mares chatted quietly, with Wren recounting the story of how she and Renegade had escaped. Aikane listened intently, but was distracted by movement at the corner of her eye.
Her blood ran cold as she spotted Lluka and Andromache cautiously approaching Renegade. This wasn’t going to end well, she just knew it. She watched as Lluka lowered his head in submission to the huge stallion, who looked at him with disinterest.
“Renegade, I… I just want to thank you for letting me stay with the herd. I know not every stallion is so forgiving and gracious enough to protect another stallion’s foal, so I just wanted to thank you…”
“And?” He asked, looking between the colt and filly.
“Andromache and I were talking recently, and we are both about that age where we could go off and join a different herd. I was hoping to get your permission to take her with me?” Lluka’s voice shifted up an octave, betraying his nervousness.
“I told you!” Lilian cried, forcing herself between the two youngsters. Lluka stumbled away, shocked at her outburst. Dusana, who had pointedly been as far from Lilian as possible, rushed to his side.
“Lilian-“
“I told you! He’s trying to steal my daughter!” Lilian spat, turning on Dusana.
“Mother! I want to go with him. I’m old enough now, I made this decision for myself!” Andromache said, reaching out to comfort her mother. Lilian shook her off, and the filly stepped back in shock.
“This is your fault! If you had enough sense to raise your son right, he would’ve left my Andromache alone! He wouldn’t have filled her head with empty promises and silly fantasies of starting their own herd!” She snapped. Dusana stomped with rage, squaring off with her.
“Do you hear how deranged you sound? Your daughter is making this choice for herself, and you blame this on me? What is wrong with you?!”
“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? I want what’s best for her! I don’t want her to run off with a stupid colt who won’t live up to her expectations. Do you really think he can protect and provide for her? He couldn’t even fight his own shadow! I don’t want her to regret her decision when he inevitably leaves her in the dust- just like his father left you!”
Dusana recoiled and froze, as if she had been physically struck. The glimmer of tears shone in her eyes as her gaze narrowed on Lilian. Without warning, the dark mare charged, barreling into Lilian.
Aikane leapt forward, quick to try and intervene, but was sent stumbling back by a pair of hooves that went sailing past her head. Renegade bumped her out of the way, ears pinned back, but he didn’t move. The pair of mares fought viciously, tearing and ripping at each other, and the herd could do nothing but watch, lest they be injured trying to separate them.
Crack
Aikane jumped, her ears going askew. The noise had been so soft, she almost hadn’t noticed. A moment later, she heard it again, coming from beneath their hooves. It was almost as if the sound was being dampened by the snow on the ground.
She and Renegade glanced at each other in confusion. What was-
The ground quaked and heaved beneath them as an ear splitting crack shattered the atmosphere surrounding the herd. Suddenly, Aikane knew why the humans had not followed them.
She was assaulted by the memory of inky blackness and feeling utterly alone. The feeling of being so, so cold, and the burning of her lungs as she struggled to breathe.
This wasn’t a field at all.
It was-
A horrified squeal pierced the momentary silence, and Aikane could do nothing but watch helplessly as the ground opened up underneath Dusana, pulling her into the depths below. The herd scattered away from the rapidly growing hole. They scrambled to a safe distance before turning back to stare at the dark water.

There was no sign of Dusana.

Stallion ID: 104 Renegade
In response to: Ice Breaks + Snowstorm + Stuck + Have 'fun' in water
Art features: Dusana
Story features: [15] Renegade, Aikane , Lluka , Andromache , Arwyn , Story , Pandia , Muse , Dusana, Lilian , Lillith , Persephone , Inanna , Io , Wren

Word Count: 2059

Aging: Lluka (2/3)
Healing: Arwyn i(1/2), Dusana i(1/3),
Pregnancy: Pandia (2/3)
Captured: -
Mare Steal: -
MS Pregnancy: -
Destination of Bachelor: -

Items you are using: -
Companion Animals: -
Members that own outside horses: -
Bachelor Herd: -
Collab: -

Rolls: Normal

Other notes: Can not receive any pregnancy rolls.

Reference: Trying to find it, give me some time