The mare herself was not one to be cowed. Before the great bellow and thundering steps of the dark brute interrupted them, Peyote saw the challenge flash like fire in her eyes. Instant rage was upon her, and he flicked his tail out behind him in brief uncertainty, even as his excitement heightened. It was fun when they fought back, even if it meant he was highly more likely to fail at taking them. His targets were meant to be the quiet and the demure, those who would be so frightened by his aggression they couldn’t stop to call out, they’d flee instead, and he could harness their panic to guide them the way he wanted them to go.

It was very, very clear this pretty little potential trinket was not going to be one of those.

Before the pair of them could fully size one another up, the large stallion’s approach was caught by Peyote’s surveying, and he snorted loudly as the beast entered the clearing. One back hoof drug back against the mulch of decomposing, dead pine needles and drew his body even further away from the pair of Forest residents.

Leave and do not return. The beast commanded, drawing Peyote’s bright, watchful blue eyes away from where they had hungrily trailed the mare he hadn’t had a chance to snatch. He looked instead at the great large stallion who was angrily addressing him. Tell your boss you are not allowed here.

What a strange thing to say…

Peyote frowned, visibly appearing briefly perplexed at what he was told. The mare, the thing he’d thought he should snatch back, left into the underbrush behind the stallion. Peyote was not a warrior and he knew when to pick his fights. He huffed a loud breath of irritation at the large stallion for spoiling his fun, stomped one of his front hooves, then flicked his tail as he turned himself about and started for the direction he’d come. In case he was going to be chased he picked his gait up, knees pulling high to his chest, gaze glancing back over his shoulder to survey the other stallion. If he didn’t need to run, he wouldn’t, but if he was going to be chased out of the Forest, he’d run as fast as he could.

And the entire way back to the Lagoon, Peyote would wonder why a herd leader could have him tell the Lagoon Boss what to do and who was and wasn’t allowed to be preyed upon. Why was the new boss listening to the rules of the herd leaders? None of this made any sense, not by the way Peyote had been taught.