Finally, he had made it. It had taken him nearly an entire season to make it this far south but now the crumbled stone houses of the Ruins rose up on all side of him. As the slender stallion picked his way through the narrow cobbled streets, he thought about this new place and all that it meant to him, and the future he wanted to build here. A future, that he convinced himself, would make up for the embarrassment of being thrown from his own homeland. He would need to find others eventually, as surely there were still others here. There had been so much debris on the old grassy road he used to get into town, and all throughout the forest and the ruins themselves that Silas concluded that a massive storm must’ve ripped through here not long ago. And while he could still smell the scents of others all around him, he had seen not a single other since he had left the last traveling herd he had stayed with on his journey.

He was not going to let worry dampen his spirits the way the rain had dampened his shimmering teal body, however. He had set out to find others, and he would. Lifted by his own optimism, Silas continued to walk slowly through the town, taking in every single sight this place had to offer him. The young stallion had seen human ruins before, but never so many, and not nearly as well preserved as the ones here were.

Upon making his way into the center of the town’s square, Silas let himself settle down beneath the magnolia tree. He had almost forgotten, in all his excitement, that it had been a very long time since he had last rested. He was quite tired, and this old tree provided much appreciated shelter from the rain. There was also a well from which he might’ve gotten a drink but the water, even with the addition of the fresh spring rain, looked a little too brackish to be worth the trouble of getting back up.

As he lay there beneath the tree, Silas already felt as though he had accomplished something great. He knew he had finally found the place where he’d have a chance to prove that he was more than just some spoiled mama’s colt. He couldn’t help but smile a little, his crystal blue eyes tracing the raindrops down as they fall. “So, this is home…”