Deep in the dungeons was a group of horses who somehow got stuck with each other. Shadow was wondering how he ended up in another one of these messes, especially with Phantom at his side once more. Why couldn’t the stallion just leave him alone for once in his life? 

His blue eyes scanned the other two that were with him though, they seemed to be an odd couple. The fluffy one with the deer tail, at least that’s what he thought it was, seemed to have a weird energy and it kinda freaked him out a little.

The bright orange stallion caught his attention though. Whenever the darker one would look over at the two he’d snarl at him until he looked away. Weird thing for a horse to do but whatever, he didn’t really have a reason to care. He just hoped that the two wouldn’t mess this up for him. Phantom would just do whatever he said so he wasn’t worried about the grey.

That brings us to the current situation now though. As they traveled together Shadow had them all stop, a figure seen in the distance. 

“What is that, a monkey?” Phantom shot a look at Shadow as he asked and Shadow glared daggers right back.

“Be quiet or else you’re gonna find out what it is here in about 5 seconds.” The black stallion whispered, eyes fixed on the creature ahead. It seemed to not have noticed them, and the breathing pattern of said creature gave away that it was asleep.

At least that’s what he hoped anyway. Meanwhile Desiree and Daravna were standing behind the other two, eyes fixated in front of them. The puck shook herself off, dust collecting on her back from the rocks around them.

“Daranva, what do you think? Shall we try and sneak past the beast to see what’s on the other side?” The stallion nodded his head, a slight smile appearing on his muzzle. 

“Yes.”

She nodded back and started her way forward, nudging Shadow as she walked past. Daranva followed close behind, a snarl appearing once more on his face as he watched Desiree nudge the black stallion. Nobody else was allowed to touch her, but apparently that meant she was allowed to touch others. Rude.

Phantom saw the look on the orange stallion’s face as he watched the two ahead of him and he held in a laugh. “Come on Daravna, it’s alright. Shadow doesn’t let anyone in anyway so you’re safe.” The orange stallion looked at him, confusion replacing the anger that was there just a few moments before.

“How?” 

The grey stallion cocked his head at the other’s question, how was he safe? “Shadow barely lets me be his friend, he’s got no interest in romance or friendship. Also it’s really easy to tell when someone likes someone else.”

Did Daravna like her? He just wanted to protect her from harm, that’s it. Others were not safe, never knew what they wanted. He didn’t think that was what liking someone was.

“No. Not safe, no one trustworthy.” With his short answer he continued to follow Desiree, shooting a quick glance at Shadow and Phantom as they passed. The black stallion seemed to understand what the plan was without a second thought and started to follow behind, motioning to Phantom to follow.

He nodded and started behind Shadow and the four crept as quietly as they could towards the creature. The soft breathing could be heard from in front of them and the rise and fall of the creature’s chest made the grey uneasy. As they got closer the group could see that there was no hair on this thing, and the way it looked was almost human-like. 

Shadow’s tail flicked ever so slightly, the only indication that he was also feeling uneasy. Desiree and Daranva showed no emotion as they walked, moving as they would on a stroll through the forest. Maybe she was used to these kinds of things; maybe monsters didn’t scare her.

Phantom’s thought process was cut short though as he heard a new noise beside them. It seemed the creature was stirring and it wasn’t going to be too pleased to see a group of horses right next to it as it woke up.