The filly was falling for every word, and the Dark Empress was pleased with her work. Perhaps she had more mothering instinct than she had thought, to be able to gain the youngling's trust. But then again, perhaps the little striped one was just too trusting, something that Sno had never had a chance to be. "Neither you nor Sinny will be harmed," she promised, her voice a silken blanket wrapping around the flicka. "It is my job to protect you all, dearest, and I promise you that I take my job very seriously." She gazed calmly into the youngling's cool blue gaze, so open, so trusting, so innocent.

She had grown quite close to the filly now, and their conversation seemed all the more private for it. Like a mother and daughter. The shadow-mare found herself thrust into memory of she and Sno, though they had never had any such conversation. Sno had been born into racism. It was a part of her, never needing to be explained. So this question was new, and one that she was not entirely prepared for. But she quickly assimilated an answer. "Do you know of the gods, little dove?" she asked. "When they created the world, and those who resided in it, they made we unicorns into royalty. Equines, those without crowns, were always meant to serve our wishes. But they have lost their way," she added, adding a sad dip to her voice, as though she truly cared for the lost souls. "They will never find their place in the world unless we remind them."

Equines were easy to explain - the only difference between the higher race and the lower was the lack of a horn. Pegasi, however, were different, their mutilated bodies having no explanation available. "As for the pegasi... one of the gods played a joke once, creating a mutant equine with the wings of a bird. They did not expect such a mutant to live, much less to have children of its own, but it did. They are unnatural, you see, nor do they have a place in our world. They belong elsewhere, and the gods have left it to we unicorns, the true rulers of the land, to send them there." Little did the filly know, she was speaking of the afterlife - she would easily send them there with no qualms.

The Lady lowered her maw to gently touch the filly's, blowing a gentle breath into her nostrils, a greeting of affection, of sorts. The creation of a bond. "I would be honored to teach you, little one," Psyche told her solemnly, gracing the youngling with a smile. She would, of course, corrupt the creature, probably send her mind into the swirls of chaos that littered Sno's thoughts, probably break her beyond repair. But she would teach her, and that was what the little one had asked for. And perhaps she would even come to care for the striped flicka. She cared for Sno, after all, and was proud of her accomplishments. Farai would be a daughter to the Empress - but would that be a good thing?

[W/C | ---]

Walk walk walk.
"Talk talk talk."
Think think think.