Name: Ruby

Age: 4

Gender: Mare

Birth Season: Autumn

Body Type: Warmblood

Height: 15.3

Color: Red Roan

Eyes: Amber

Distinguishing Marks: Primitive markings which includes dorsal stripe and leg barring.

Genetics: A/a e/e nd1/nd1 N/Rn

Overall General Health: Excellent

PERSONALITY

Swamp witch. That’s what they called her. After leaving the quag, she chose to live a life of mostly solitude, and some interpreted this as communing with nature. In truth she was just choosing to survive alone, although she did revel in the beauty and physical pleasures offered by the world whenever she could. It did not bother her to be solitary, even if at times she quietly longed for companionship and intimate connection. While losing her herd was difficult, on the surface it did not appear to have traumatized her. After all, she had been raised to accept death, and now that she was intimate with it, she truly did not feel any fear. Her exterior stoicism was deceptive, however, because on the inside she felt intense emotion that spanned the entire spectrum of emotions. At first these feelings nearly tormented her in their strength and breadth, but instead of trying to escape them, she leaned into them and existed in a state of purposeful experiencing. It created in her an almost infectious sort of tranquility; there were times when it seemed like others could feel it radiating from her, which could make it startling on the rare occasions when she had a sharp tongue and hot temper. She had never lost that natural alpha's aura and could call it forth at will. Mysterious. Complicated. Yearning. Wistful. Forthright.

HISTORY

Ruby's origin story is not unlike many others. Her pedigree was royalty, the first offspring from a highly anticipated pairing of a beloved lead stallion and coveted lead mare. Her dam was regarded as the finest mare the quag had ever produced, an attractive specimen with a gleaming coat, flawless conformation, and fluid, ground-covering gaits. Her sire was both loved and feared and was considered by most to be a fair and wise leader. Her herd mates, and members of surrounding herds, all expected her to step into a leadership role someday. She certainly had the presence of a leader, being the sort of mare who could command respect with just a look. Bachelor stallions eagerly awaited the opportunity to court her, and the dams of colts keenly watched her growth, appraising her as a potential future mate for their sons. She did not disappoint, growing up sound, sinewy, intelligent, and by many standards, beautiful.

Her herd had called the quag home for as long as anyone could remember. The land had made them strong; the sucking mud had helped them to develop muscle, the alligators had forced them to hone their senses, and the thick mist that often blanketed the landscape had given them a superior sense of direction. Foals were captivated by the elders' harrowing tales of the five-year rain, passed down from generation to generation. The rains, they said, had flooded the quag and drove the herd to high ground. Those who could not flee, or refused to flee, would either become exhausted from treading water and drown, or faced a slower death from floodwater disease, where the flesh rotted off the living beast until fever mercifully took them. History has a way of repeating itself, sometimes in unexpected ways: None could have imagined a draught would bring as much, or maybe even more, death than the fabled flood.

She was in her second year when the draught began, and the vast shallow river, which served as the quag's lifeblood, dried up. Small shallow pools of stagnant water became breeding grounds for mosquitos, and a mysterious illness began to spread. It was common knowledge in the herd to avoid stagnant water, and Ruby's sire guided the herd to safety in dry thickets where naturally repellant vegetation grew. He instructed the young and old to roll in mud as a layer of protection from the insects, and they stood in tight groups to use their tails to ward off the bugs. Yet as the vegetation began to die, the herd grew weaker from hunger and thus became more susceptible to the illness. Surely, they could weather the plague, for eventually the stagnant pools would dry and the insects would abate. But soon there was nowhere left to hide, no living plants with repellant properties, and no mud to roll in. Their numbers dwindled rapidly as horses - even those in the prime of life - succumbed to the neurologic illness, and those who could not flee or would not flee, died.

The day her dam collapsed and could not get up again, Ruby's sire bade her to lead the remaining healthy horses out of the quag. Ruby begged him to come with them, but he refused to leave the weak and dying. Alligators had gathered, drunk off the smell of death and incensed by the loss of their habitat. Ruby thought defending the dying from the alligators was a nonsensical sacrifice, but no amount of pleading would deter her sire's honor. She swallowed her angry tears, determined that none should see her cry, and did what was requested of her. As the sun rose above the horizon on her third birthday, she stepped beyond the edge of the quag for the first time in her life. She and her herd mates had never known thirst and drank greedily from the fresh cool water that awaited in the lands beyond the quag. That evening, lightening seared across the sky, and thunder crackled deafeningly.

She watched mournfully from afar as the quag was set alight, quickly becoming engulfed by flames, whilst the first fat drops of a blessed rain dotted her back. She continued to watch for hours, unmoving, as the rain intensified and soaked her to the core, the wind whipping her mane and lightening illuminating her silvery figure. The following dawn, when the quag was mostly burnt and gone, its skeletal remnants smoldering in the rain, she quietly turned away and trotted off in search of a new life.

Art Credit: Drawn and colored by halloweendonkey based on my character design. Commissioned and paid for by yours truly.

I can't quite remember just what guided me this way.
- Unshaken, D'Angelo

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ruby