Exploitation & Exploration

in my thoughts i have seen rings of smoke through the trees, & the voices of those who stand looking. So far, the Rift had been fairly good to Otem. She had come through the portal unscathed, had kept her companion, and had been given? (had Kaos given her the leaves that now bloomed in her mane? Otem liked to think that he had, if only to make up for what had happened to Isopia) oak leaves, and now the dapples on her body glowed with a soft golden light all on their own. This world had taken away all that made her special (there was no Earth God here, of whose lineage mattered to anyone), but it had also opened up a new world where there were no expectations for her. Was she Isopia's daughter here? Every day it seemed less and less so. There was no Dragon's Throat despite the fact that there had been talk of forming a pseudo herd comprised of former members, and although her Father was still quite impressive, he was not a Sultan here. Tamlin had called her a princess, but she really wasn't. Here, in the Rift, she was just Otem. And that could mean anything. "What do you think these do?"  Otem asked Pandora, looking at a Yenda Puffball. The tribrid narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at the rather harmless looking circular things. "Last time we had a healer ... this time we have ...?" The filly turned her ram-horned skull around, looking to see if there was anyone else around. "Anyone?" She called out almost pleadingly, really wanting to try the puffballs to see what they would do, but not wanting to die alone in the process.