done a lot of things wrong; loving you being one

It isn’t a mare who approaches. He’s big and walks right up to her, all confidence and youthful vigor and Hollis flinches back, heart in her throat at the unexpected appearance of a male. She knew they were here, but so far has been able to avoid the presence of any of the stallions she was warned lived among the Peak. She’s so terrified by his approach that she misses all the obvious signs he is only a foal, young enough that he can’t have reached yearlign status. She takes a terrified step back before she can stop herself, stumbling in the stream and barely maintaining her balance. She can’t stop though, a panicked retreat out of the water and onto the opposite bank before his voice filters through the static in her head. It’s young, squeaky and not the smooth tones of a grown stallion.

Hollis freezes, all four legs planted firmly in the ground, shaking as she fights off the instinctual urge to run. He’s asked if he can join her, and Hollis wants desperately to say no. She wants to tell him to leave, to never bother her again and she wants to flee back into hiding. Climb the mountains that surround them, secret herself away in an isolated valley and never, ever emerge again. Better to live as a hermit than to have her facade of safety yanked away again. But…but she cannot. She’s still so new here, unsure of the politics of the Peak herd, unsure that she has a long term place here. And this colt might belong to one of the leaders - driving him away may offend them, and Hollis cannot risk that. “Um,” she finally says, after she’s realized she’s been silent and staring for far too long. “You’re already here, so I guess it’s alright?” Her voice is hesitant and she trails off at the end, wincing at how vulnerable she sounds.

It’s a child for heaven's sake. She shouldn’t be so afraid that she can’t even speak to a colt. Will she avoid every single person for the rest of her life? Hollis doesn’t want that; she wants to return to being the confident, bubbly filly that she was a lifetime ago. She wants friends, she wants sisters, she wants a life. She can’t have that if she has to run every time she meets someone of the opposite gender. And what better place to start practicing, than in a safe land such as the Peak, with a harmless colt? So Hollis takes a fortifying breath, closes her eyes for a moment to settle herself. “I’m Hollis,” she offers hesitantly. “Who are you?”