The late afternoon sun caught the brassy and auric hues of her short, shining coat -- even through the thin film of dust -- and gave her a sort of ethereal aura as she stepped into this foreign land a free individual...at least physically. Her head and the arch of her neck were impossibly still, but the sinews in her legs quaked with each step that she took; the thin, darker membranes of her nostrils fluttered with every heavy breath; her emerald green eyes, partially hooded beneath cream and gold lashes, were rimmed in white. Despite the inner turmoil that nearly left her unable to function, she pressed on, wanting to get as far away as she possibly could...before she changed her mind.

A painful shard of memory surfaced and she halted as everything went black -- a deceptively sweet, high voice whispered in her delicate ear, followed by a sharp nip of warning and foreshadowing what was to come, -- and her hide convulsed over her quarters. She snorted, coming back to reality suddenly, and tossed her head, pale mane flying, as if she could dislodge the horrible things from her brain.

In a near panic, she realized that this was as far as her shocked body would carry her. She stood, legs slightly splayed, stance rigid and sides heaving, her wide eyes bouncing from place to place.