one hundred miles an hour...
It wasn't long before he heard hoof steps approaching and as his head swung around, brown eyes took in the grullo mare as she approached. She had a confidence to her stride and a purposeful look in her eyes, but she came across as friendly and kind. At least, she wasn't charging at him with ears pinned, trying to drive him anywhere. That was a plus, at least. Giving his tail a gentle flick, the painted stallion turned to face her with an amiable expression, pricking his ears and tilting his head as a welcome smile crossed his lips. She smelled of Luthien, one of the islands he unfortunately only got to visit once and it wasn't for a good reason.
A lone ear slipped back as he recalled the great war that ravaged the islands and how Cullen had called on him and the other Lagoon stallions to fight. At the time, he only knew the Lagoon as his home and the other stallions as his brothers. He didn't care for the way they treated mares, but Cullen had been kind to him and offered him a home so he felt he had to prove his loyalty. Shenzi tried to warn him, telling him he had no fight in the war and no reason to go to battle for the Lagoon leader but Collision went ahead anyway and had regretted it every day since. He went to the Forest, but he didn't hurt anyone. In fact, that was how he met an ally of the Forest, Kendry, and instead ended up conversing with the other stallion before deciding he needed to leave the battle and the Lagoon behind him.
He came back for Shenzi but didn't make it far before the Peak took everyone captive and he ended up staying there for months. That was how he met Rhadra and the rest of his story unfolded. So many memories wrapped up in one island's scent. The mare wasn't familiar to him, so he could only hope she didn't recognize him from the war. He didn't run into anyone else but Kendry that day, even though he'd been looking for others to help when he'd come to the Forest.
She gave a gentle whicker before introducing herself as Aallotar. She mentioned the Prairie and Collision's ears pricked. He didn't know that herd name. At her question, he dipped his head. "Pleasure to meet you, Aallotar. I am Collision. As most do, I suppose, I came here to see where my skills might be needed. I am in need of a home, it would seem." He smiled at her pleasantly, wondering if she would smell the Peak on his coat. He didn't have to swim anywhere to get here so it wouldn't have washed off in the ocean. Would she have need of a stallion in her home? He knew the relations when mares were in power were sometimes strained, like they thought most stallions only wanted to take their power from them. And they probably weren't far from the truth, but Collision wasn't one of those stallions. He only wanted a place to call home, somewhere to fit in. Somewhere to protect. Somewhere to settle and perhaps find a family of his own.