Autumn Days

Crisp amber leaves lined the path, the first of the autumn season. The brown tipped ones that curl up slightly at the edges, the first to be cast off from the sprigs of trees. The air was cool, the kind that almost catches in your throat and reminds you autumn is well on the horizon. Thankfully it hadn't rained yet, allowing the leaves to stay full and not disintegrate into the characteristic leafy mush. A single squirrel skittered between the bushes, searching for a soft spot of earth, to bury it's winter stash of nuts and seeds. Two magpies chittered from the branches above, their calls zigzagging down through the leaves. 

A gentle rhythmic crunch of stone and leaf grows closer. The gentle blowing of breath. 

In his flowing wonder, a stallion came trotting through the field. His dark feathers swished rhythmically with his movements. He snorted, the evening air stirring his energy to the edges of his nostrils. Little tufts of hair stood upright on his neck, his cream mane roached to a neat peak. A flash of white bled into it's tidy row, as his smooth shoulder marking influenced the hair on his collar. He held a matching cream tail aloft, soft and sleek, bobbing like a cheerleaders pom-pom. A single small braid waved within it. Tied with a blue ribbon and fastened with a silver bell. 

The magpies croaked their disapproval, who was this intruder? 

The stallion's strawberry lipped ears found the pair before his gem blue eyes could. He swerved his muscled quarters to a halt and peered up at the corvids through his dark eyelashes. He flexed his creme grey neck and let out a warning blow up to the trees. The magpies hopped from branch to branch, calling their displeasure. He shifted his hooves on the gravel, craning his neck to keep sight on them. His dapples rippled over his body as he swivelled. The magpies dove down, half heartedly attempting to urge the cob on. Their iridescence flashing in the late light. The stallion stood firm, seemingly unsure if the birds were actively attempting to attack him. He watched them loop around him, swirls of black and white. His ears tracking their flutters. He calmed when it became apparent they had no intention of making contact with him. He chittered back to them quietly, bobbing his head slightly. 

Picking up his feet, he leant straight into a smooth lope. He left the magpies to settle back to their perches. Turning his head around to watch them as he continued on, he pulled his legs up into a powerful yet playful buck. His feathers fanning out underneath his cannons. Muscles flexing and pulling underneath his ombre coat. His heart pumped strong, sending blood reliably to the tissues. (I'm literally falling sleep writing this aaaaa)