Toby nodded and watched Westery walk away before he happily walked back to his spot. Everyone seemed to be happy, so he was all good. He paused by the stream to drink before flicking his ears. What Westery had said triggered memories. Toby suddenly jerked his head up, his eyes widened, and he gasped. All the pieces clicked into place. His father, Eagle, was a tall dapple grey stallion like him. Eagle had also told him that he had two brothers. Eagle had talked about one horrible brother, Menace, but never mentioned the other.. as far as Toby knew. But now he remembered that he had asked Eagle, when the stallion was on their deathbed, who his other brother was. Eagle had said it was a handsome, brave stallion that had tried their hardest to protect everyone... and then he had said West. West was the name. West. It couldn't be a coincidence! It couldn't be! Was he REALLY this famous Wild West's brother? Toby had seen Cali go into the forest and since she was the lead mare and daughter of this West Toby knew he had to talk to her. He charged into the forest, following the faint scent trail of Cali and another mare, then screeched to a halt as he spotted her. "Cali! What color was West? And was he tall? Did he look sort of like me?" Toby asked in a rush, his eyes wide.

(oh wait i did respond to you Wild. My last post towards you is on page 8 lol where Westery mentioned West's name XD)

California glared at the horse for a moment forgetting who he was. Letting her gaze soften back to normal when she remembered who he was, she looked at Navy when Toby asked about her father, assuming he knew West's name because of Westery. Her ears perked forward with interest as to why Toby was asking "Yeah, he was REALLY tall... As for his coat color? He's dapple grey, like me. Wait... Did you know him? Did you know my last!?" She asked eagerly, her heart felt like it was going to stop at any moment

West searched for a while, although he found pretty much nothing. Aaaand after a while he was dead tired again, so after resting for a couple minutes he trotted back. Nervous to see Mystery wasn't back, West waited about 5 seconds before heading off where she had disappeared. He quickly stopped as he heard a quiet cry, then a louder one, obviously Mystery. He accelerated into a cancer, which he quickly regretted, but he kept going until he reached a small clearing with spurts of green grass. And Mystery, safe and not hurt. West visibly relaxed, his ears perking. "This is great! Much better than what I found- diddly squat." He snorted quietly, lowering his head to eat a couple bites. "You've already eaten some, right? Make sure you get enough." He asked, looking slightly concerned, walking over to her and nudging her shoulder. "You definitely should get as strong as possible." West stated, sounding unmoved on the subject. He stepped back to let her graze at the slightly better grass and went to the more scraggly stuff to eat.

+++

Navy lowered her head slightly as Cali spoke, offering a small smile. "I don't need your sympathy, believe me. I just wanted to explain why I do what I do." She answered, nudging Cali's neck kindly. "I do want you to find your parents, of course I do. Family is important. And thank you for your support and the herds support. It means a lot." She said quietly, her ears perking with surprise as a grey stallion- no, Toby, came running up. (Your theory may or may not be correct...)

+++

(I hadn't realized you answered, I'm sorry!)

Toby flinched backwards, even though he was excited, as Cali glared at him. But her gaze softened and then everything sped up. As he heard her words he looked shocked yet still amazed. "Do you know who his father is? Because mine is Eagle's Revenge, a tall, strong dapple grey stallion with a single white blaze. Eagle had three colts, one being myself, one being a horrible cruel stallion named Menace, and one mystery horse that I never remembered Eagle mentioning UNTIL Westery said your father's name. I remember, my father, Eagle, was old, around 16. And when he was on his deathbed he told me that his third colt was a colt named Wild West. A brave, strong, handsome stallion." He stopped explaining, breathless. "I think West is my brother!" Toby finally squeaked out.

(Oh no, no need to apologize lol <3 i was only letting you know!)

(Lol cancer!? XD and another strong point about Flame's herd theory is when Mystery was a filly, her father was killed by Flame. Just like Nav-.. Waaaa a hot second..... Is Navy Mystery's little half sister!?!?)

Mystery glanced at West content that he was eating. She nodded as he spoke "Not yet, but now that you're here i will!" She said with a genuine smile, walking to the other side of him and gently headbutting his side "No no, you can eat that grass, it looks better. I'll eat this patch, i don't mind! To me, food is food" She spoke quietly before lowering her head and eating

_________ California

She grinned at Navy's response "Of course!" /// Cali's eyes widened in complete shock at what Toby was telling her, almost frozen as she stared at the stallion -Wait, Toby's basically saying he's my uncle!? Whaaaaaaat- She could barely believe this "Well i never knew my grandparents names... Until now I guess... And you're telling me I have uncle's!? I only ever met my aunt Promise, once a long time ago when she came to check up on dad... But i have two uncle's? I... Wonder why he never told me or Sol" She muttered at the end looking down. After a long confusing thought process California finally looked at Toby "So... You youngster are my uncle... It's so weird to think I'm YOUR Niece.. Sol is your nephew.. And Westery too? Ayayay" She said still trying to wrap her head around it

_________ Westery

She walked up the hill to Sol "Hey Sol! Much happening up here?" She asked beginning to graze

(Yay! Finished at last! My fingers are sore now haha)

(Hmmmm... yes yes yes and wow. Navy could be Mystery's half sister! *le gasp*. I never even thought of that xD, but it very well could be true if Navy actually came from Flame's herd!)

+++

West nodded satisfactorily as Mystery said she would eat, but it was quickly followed with a sigh and an eye roll as she walked over to the grass he was eating at. "If you actually ARE pregnant then YOU are eating that green grass over there." He pushed her neck over towards the better grass. "Right there. Now remember how stubborn I am and accept your fate of eating the better food. I know, it's horrible being taken care of." He snorted, joking sarcasm plain in his tone yet his underlying voice was unmoving stubbornness.

+++

Toby blinked a couple times, wrinkled his nose, and groaned a little at Cali's words. Specifically the part about him being her... *shivers* uncle. "Nawwwww my brain isn't ready to process that, who cares about that TINY piece of information." He drew out the word, shaking his head before trying to move on. "Wait- I have a sister too!? Oh YEAAHHH. Eagle told me about Promise. Seal brown, wasn't she? Weird in a family full of Greys. And you REALLY don't want to consider Menace your uncle. He was named appropriately. I heard West had some pretty direct run ins with Menace- did he ever tell you any of the stories? And Menace killed my dad's whole herd soooo. I guess its a good thing Menace is probably dead... he was 2 years older than West, so he would be 18 now." Toby mused, the discoveries still hitting him hard. At Cali's next sentence he snorted, looking offended. "I'm not a youngster! How old are you, 3? 4?" He asked with a slight eye roll. "Not a youngster if you're asking. If West was asking, I would be." He then mused, trailing off into thought again. His brother was really 16? Wow. "Wait, that does mean- HA, NOW SOL HAS TO TREAT ME LIKE FAMILY." Toby paused at the beginning before grinning victoriously. "And yeah that'd mean we're like all related. Pfffft..."

+++

Navy was so confused.

(Hmmmmmkay.. 🤔)

Mystery lifted her head once again as West spoke, she sighed at his reasoning, but understood where he was coming from. She pulled her head away when he pushed her with a small grunt and started walking over to the greener grass "Hey, it's not such a bad thing to be taken care of! I actually do like that you want to care for me" She teased stopping at the grass patch "But you can't blame me for wanting the best for you! Which means I also want to take care of you. You may win now since I'm listening to you. But I'll choose my battles wisely" She remarked with a smirk before grazing what she could

_______ California

The mare also cringed at the thought "I'm just going to ignore that detail" She laughed. Her stance turning more serious as Toby told them about Menace, her head shaking slowly "No.. What a horrible being! How could someone like THAT be related!?" She asked sounding almost disgusted

ghost pinned his ers back as he took a step back before looking at the dead horse infrount of him her coat was black pure black ghost stared at the mare his sister he looked around fear in his eyes as he saw horses that he knew dead scaterd around he jolted up abd looked around he was back with the herd were he was before he saw the dead horses

West was pleased that Mystery actually walked over there- first step accomplished- but he had extra energy stored up for pointing out many more reasons she should eat that grass. Just in case she tried to be stubborn. As he had learned in his long years, when he had his mind set on something, no one was as persistent (COUGH COUGH STUBBORN) as he was. "Well that's good! Then we can agree on some things, like you eating the better grass." He smiled, though it turned into a dramatic sigh at her next words. "I can't blame you, but there's much less of a reason to. Am I possibly pregnant? No. Am I cared for by the most worrisome, stubborn, and amazing stallion ever? No." He grinned after that. "I'm pretty sure I can handle eating a little less grass." West flicked an ear, rolling his eyes a little at her last remark. "What battles? You would never dare argue with me." He said sweetly, his brown eyes twinkled as he lowered his head to graze. That night of rest really did help.

+++

Toby nodded in agreement, pretty much tossing his head up and down. Afterward he grew a little more solemn though. "Menace is a HORRIBLE horse. I heard, back when West was younger and had a smaller herd, that Menace tried to take it over while West was gone scouting new territory- and there's a little problem about even that. They look almost identical, even though they were born 2 years apart. Menace is the same dapple grey with the white socks and partial blaze/snip. The only difference- Menace had snake green eyes that always glowed with hatred. He got away with impersonating West for about 5 seconds though. First time he opened his mouth the mares knew this rude stallion wasn't West. After that he just scared them into obeying until West came back and fought him and beat him! So .. well I guess.. I always heard these stories about the great Wild West.. but I never got to meet him. Was he so amazing in real life?" At the end his voice got quieter, sadder. "I hope I'm able to meet him someday... he'll come back though, for you guys. If there's one thing Eagle said, it was that West was loyal and loved family more than anything." Toby smiled a little.