Claire snorts and flicks her tail. “Geez, really? You’re a horse! You’re, like, literally made for walking.”
“Walking!? Is that…what you…call it?” You wheeze as you trudge over to the pond and dunk your muzzle into the blessed waters of life.
The mare’s tail swishes again, but she soon joins you in drinking. After sucking down what feels like gallons of water, you lift your head and eye the field nearby. It looks rather unkempt, clearly ignored by whoever owns the property. “Hey, we eat grass, right? Maybe there’s enough food here.”
Claire’s ears flick back, but she takes her time drinking. When she finally finishes, she walks past you, muttering, “Worth a try, I guess.”
Both of you enter the field, inspecting the greenery and feeling downright silly. Grass is grass, right? Not knowing what else to do, you lower your head and nip at a random stem. The plant bends away from your lips as if taunting you for your inexperience. You grunt in annoyance and try again, this time getting several blades in your teeth. With a pull, you manage to get a mouthful of…dry, tasteless fibers that poke at your tongue like needles. “Blah! Yuck!” You shake your head, trying to spit out the offending plant matter.
“Ha ha! Amateur!” Claire mocks, prancing in a circle, head up high. She seems to realize what she is doing and stops, looking away in embarrassment.
“That was the most horse-like thing I’ve ever seen,” you snicker.
“Shut up!”
“So, are you going to eat or what? You’re the one who was saying you were hungry.”
“I’m getting to it!” She insists, ears flicking with annoyance at a passing fly. Turning away, unintentionally giving you a good look at her horsey rear, she tries her first bite of grass. With satisfaction, you hear her gag. “Ugh, this is worse than those health cereals!”
“Yeah, this grass does seem a little brown. Maybe we should try something greener.” Spotting a healthier bush closer to the woods, you go over to it. The first thing you notice is the pleasant smell coming from the plant, and your mouth waters. Still being cautious, though, you only pluck off a few leaves. Immediately, your eyes widen. “Hey, this is pretty good! Kinda sweet.”
“Really?” Claire moves to the other side of the bush and samples some. “Ah, much better!”
Having found a suitable meal, the two of you quickly strip the bush of a good chunk of its foliage. A few low-hanging branches also provide some good morsels. It surprises you how different this feels from eating human food, aside from the obvious lack of dishes and utensils. Eyeing a few leaves mere feet above your head, your mind is struck by how limited you are without hands. Then again, in just a single hour of travel, you had covered far more ground than you would have as a human without a car. Nevertheless, the trade hardly seems fair.
Suddenly, your ear swivels at the sound of a click. Freezing, you turn to see what had made the sound. Beside you, Claire does the same.