When she finally ran out of film, Featherbrain approached him cautiously, and Dale squatted down. ““He crouched like that a lot on the beach,” Lyra said. “He seemed generally opposed to having his rump touch the ground, at least at first. It’s probably so he can be prepared for flight at a moment’s notice.” Twilight nodded. She’d seen him do that with Ambrosia, too. Featherbrain held his scent in, getting a good memory of it. There was a lot one could learn from scent, although many unicorns overlooked it, since it wasn’t polite to go up sniffing strangers. It was interesting to see that—once again—Dale did not reply in kind. Instead he asked Lyra a question.