She could feel the tides of emotion as they crossed his mind, reading them from both the expression on his face and the pace of the pulse beneath her lips. Sonorae knew that she could neither carry nor lessen all of his burdens, but that didn't mean that she didn't want to. From what little the freckled mare had gleaned from the rumors that wafted through Paradise, she was under the impression that Rougaru was rarely offered the kindness or understanding that he deserved. That other leaders looked at him and saw only the threat of his ability, and not the promise of it.

It made her heart ache for the kindness in him. She knew that he loved his herd, but she also suspected that each day being called a villain made it harder to see the light. And it wasn't that Sonorae feared she would lose him to the darkness forever - she had too much faith in him for that - but she feared the suffering it might cause him.

Thankfully, he warms at her question and she presses a soft smile into the chocolate contours of his coat as he begins to elaborate. It was easy to picture the then-young Rougaru and Monster facing off. Even during Sonorae's time, the proud tobiano mare had been certain of her own strength and had not allowed the simple fact that she loved Rougaru to dampen her own fire. On the surface, the two of them seemed like oil and vinegar, but that illusion was destroyed the moment one saw them together. They balanced each other in all of the right ways, and Rae hated that he was now missing that.

She didn't know Vanya well, but she found herself hoping that the overo mare would be strong enough to step into Monster's shoes.

"Perhaps," Sonorae echoed thoughtfully. It was possible that they would simply never learn the reason why Monster left, possible, even, that she would never return to them. "I hope she returns," she said softly, carefully, and then ruminated for a moment on what she had learned from her time on the islands. No matter how hard she tried, the memories of her youth had not returned. Those years remained blank and empty no matter how hard she tried to peer through the mist... and yet time kept going. Heartache, joy, fear... all of it eventually faded.

What mattered was the present, as hard as that was to accept. Living in memories of the past prevented you from living, and while Rae would never have chosen to have her memories wiped clean, she was also grateful in a way, for the lesson it had taught her.

"But until then," she murmured softly, her gaze rising to try and meet his again. "I think she'd want you to keep doing the things you feel are right. Monster may not have always agreed with you in everything, but she trusted you too." Sonorae didn't need to have a heart to heart with the long-standing Paradisian Queen to know that this was true. Smiling faintly, she shifted, moving so that she could press her muzzle into his cheek instead. "You're doing a good job, Rougaru."