she is too engrossed in her own explorations to hear much of the antics that precede her discovery, but when when an angry squeal reaches her ears, hellebore freezes. her uncertainty only lasts a moment though, as she spies a pair of figures through the boughs of soft green that sweep around her. With deliberate little steps she parts through the branches, approaching the painted fillies with great curiosity.

her dark eyes study them closely, admiring the bold batches of white that dance across their skin… they are larger than her, especially the one whose white is framed by rich brown, but she doesn’t feel afraid, only glad that she had dared to wander so far.

”i’m just exploring.”, she says with an air of self importance. ”what are you doing here?” She is half defensive and half accusatory in tone, though it is only because she feels slightly guilty for having run off…

when the smaller filly of the pair rushes to her she flattens her ears momentarily at the flutter of movement. They are quick to disappear into the bushy fluff of forelock but when the painted girl extends her white tipped muzzle they reappear quickly. hellebore extends her small dark muzzle to exchange breaths, feeling very mature. her expression lightens, a smile blooming across her face as her mane is mentioned, happy to receive the compliment. ”it’s just special i guess… i can run different too…” she lifts her head proudly as she searches for a clear path through the trees to demonstrate but to her dismay the foliage is too thick. with her luck, she’d embarrass herself by tölting right into a tree.

hellebore shifts her gaze back to the pair, realizing with some clarity that they resembled each other closely, though the one who had spoken first was obviously eldest. she doesn’t muzzle her curiosity, blurting out instead, ”i don’t look anything like my sisters… are you two sisters?”