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Run. Run. Run. Keep pace, keep rhythm, keep speed.
All she knows is to run. Hundreds of hooves punching into the earth like the beat of a drum, all running together.
One. Two. Three. Four. Each hoof strikes the ground separately at a gallop. When they are all tucked underneath her body is the fleeting moment when she is free from the constraints of gravity.
She is barely touching the ground, and when all four hooves leave the earth together, she may well be flying like the pidgeotto soaring high above her. She can hear their cries drowned out by hoofbeats as she races underneath them. But they will never be able to keep up with her. Sometimes, she thinks that no pokémon will ever be able to. She relishes that thought.
She watches the tail in front of her flicker like a wildfire, dancing in the push and pull of the wind they have created together. She can hear the rapid yet steady breaths, in and out, in and out, all around her. Each breath a stride taken, all four hooves and a flight stage.
She can feel the flex in her pasterns every time she touches the ground, and the way they rebound when she takes off yet again. It is that pounding on the soles of her hooves that give her energy, that fuel the fire streaking behind her. It is the very essence of life itself.
When the herd runs together, it is not a competition of who is the fastest, despite what the humans might tell you.
A herd that runs together is the closest bond of all.
Their drum beats to the rhythm of their family.