Common

The snowflake stallion seemed unperturbed by her tension, and his relaxation allowed her to settle, bit by bit, into his company. She remained unable to be quite as chill as he outwardly appeared to be, but it was a far cry better than the tightly wound coil she had been moments ago. He also seemed willing enough to answer her question, and each new revelation of the places he'd been sparked a flicker of interest in her golden eyes. Or, at least they did until he named the final location with obvious reverence.

She recoiled as if stung, her whole body flinching away from his, her ears pinning, lips pressing tightly together as she looked away from him. It was, perhaps, silly to hold a grudge against a land, given that a land could not harm her and had - even in her mother's own words - not been the reason for her absence, but Rethe still hated it. Hated the name - the Badlands, as if the beings that had named it had known years in advance how terrible it was. "No," she said curtly in response to his question, her hide shivering as if a particularly detestable fly had landed on her coat. "And I never will."

Which was a grand old thing to say, but considering she had chosen to come to the Commons, it was certainly not a thing she could guarantee for herself. "I don't see how you can live there," she said a moment later, twisting her head back to fix him with an accusatory glare. "That place ruins lives, you know. I grew up without my mom around because of it, so I don't know why anyone would want to call that home."

Of course, blaming the Badlands for the choices her mother had made was unfair, but it wasn't as if Rethe didn't also blame her mother. They were equal opportunity culprits, as far as she was concerned. Her muzzle wrinkled as she fixed the pretty stallion she'd been so hopeful for seconds ago with a piercing look. "Is that jerk, Rafe still around?" He has been the reason this whole dumb thing had been started, at least in her own, very skewed view of the situation.