He dropped, a controlled fall, legs folding beneath him, his side hitting the ground with a solid ‘whump’. He used the momentum to roll onto his back, writhing like a trapped snake, coating his back in dust and leaves. It scratched that itch beneath his shoulder blades just right and when he finally went still, it was with his hooves hanging in the air, looking up at an endless blue sky.

A bird caught the air currents above him, hovering. He wondered what it would be like to fly. To be free of the earth.

Once Forgotten rolled against, this time over and up, stumbling a little, not as light on his hooves as he used to be. Was he getting old? He’d now raised two clutches, eleven foals, all unique and with their own challenging personalities.

He felt the weight of the experience, the extra tiredness when he woke up in the mornings and the stiffness in his limbs. But there was nothing he would change. He had been spending his years well.

Shadows darkened the world around him, the bending branches of many trees, ancient mangroves that blotted out the sky. The swamp was dark and sticky, an impressive heat. He was used to it now but he remembered his discomfort the first time he had arrived, leading his brothers and sisters into the unknown.

So long ago.

There was mud under his hooves, sucking him into place - and so he walked, feeling it pulling at him with each step.

“Once Forgotten...”

His ear perked, his breath leaving him in a quick rush, heart speeding up in his chest. Even now, after so long, hearing her call his name made him giddy with happiness.

Cue Queue was calling him and of course he would answer.

The stag sped up, racing through the Swamp. When hooves would not work or the space between the roots was too tight, he used paws and a smaller body.

“I’m coming!” He yelled back.

Rainbows raced ahead, carrying his message.

Then all of a sudden, he could go no further.

He nearly fell straight into it, just barely skidding to a stumbling halt before the edge of the cliff. It cut like a wound through the earth, the other side higher and further than anything he could jump.

As he peered upwards, he caught a glimpse of a form, black with vivid waves of green and orange, just before it disappeared from view.

He whined sadly, as he paced back and forth on quick paws, knowing that he couldn’t make it. He couldn’t follow. Not like this.

But what if he was something different.

He loved her.

He would follow her anywhere.

Once Forgotten stood before that great divide, yawning ever wider, and knew in his heart that Cue Queue would never go somewhere that he couldn’t follow. He just needed to find the way.

He couldn’t jump this.

So he simply stepped.

He flowed into the empty space and became weightless.

Below him the world was gone,  just endless darkness. Behind him there was also nothing. There was no returning. There was just a flickering glow ahead, one source of light in a very dark world.

A moth to the flame.

Ah, so that’s what he was.

He felt soft and pleasantly empty himself, as if he was floating, carried on massive wings, flapping slowly, without hurry or care.

Green and orange burned across his vision but he wasn’t afraid as he came to rest and found them gently warming. This whole world was Cue Queue. He’d reached her. The endless dark her body, cut through with bright flames.

There he rested, wings outstretched, patient and calm.

And then he opened his eyes, his head resting on Cue's back. With a soft and drowsy smile, he focused on her breathing and likened it to the gentle flutter of a moths wings.