[open] the drought was the very worst - any

[Elouise]

-----------she lost him but she found herself, --------------------and somehow, that was everything The dappled mare is caught in a daydream; her eyes are open, but she is not focused on any of her surroundings. It is as if she is in another place and time all together, remembering Beqanna as it was when she first found this land many, many years ago. She thinks of the horses she knew back then, friends, lovers, even a few enemies. Moriarty, Starlace, Infection, Lacrimo, Ferras… Where were they now? What had been their fate? Were some of them still here, in this new version of her old home? Maybe some of them had done like she had, left Beqanna and started a new life somewhere else. Had some passed on? Surely some had; not everyone she knew then had possessed her gift of longevity. An icy gust of wind jolts her from her thoughts and she glances around quickly, a bit startled. She can feel her heart pounding in her chest, and for the first time she truly feels like a stranger in what used to be her home. The Meadow she stands in is the same, yet different, as is the air all around her. It tastes different, smells different, feels different, as winter runs its frozen fingers through the tendrils of her mane. She knows not of what has transpired since she has been gone, but it is obvious that it was momentous. Elouise is not unaware of the fact that this land is not your typical plot of dirt; it is alive, it has a mind of its own. Sometimes, it is angered by its inhabitants and it lashes out. When the dappled mare had first found her way to Beqanna, the ground had heaved and the three kingdoms had been ripped apart into six. Did those lands, her old home and the others, even still exist? She wouldn’t be surprised if the answer was no. Horses dot the landscape before her, even in the cold of winter, and she watches them silently. She observes as they interact with each other, and she imagines their relationships to each other and the conversations they are having. The bay pegasus and the dun mare who were huddled together and speaking in hushed tones, were they perhaps lovers being reunited after one had been stolen away to a rival kingdom? Or simply acquaintances hoping to ward off the cold with some shared body heat? Was there some epic back-story of love and loss and yearning, or were they just meeting for the first time? The sound of hooves crunching through snow nearby steals her attention from the mystery couple, and she sees a mare covered in splotches of smoky black and white making her way over. Elouise offers a soft smile, acknowledging her companion's name with a dip of her head. "I'm Elouise." Should she be concerned that Nayl seems to read her so easily? There's that word again. Stranger. Once upon a time she ruled over a chunk of this land, now she is just another unknown face passing through the Meadow. Nayl asks about her previous home, and Elouise is once again hit with a wave of nostalgia; she can practically taste the sand in her mouth as she answers, "I used to live in the Dewdrop Deserts. Do you know of it?" She is unaware that the kingdoms she knows are long gone, that the woman she is talking to is a Queen, but she holds onto a sliver of hope. when i was drowning, that's when i could finally breathe e l o u i s e