It was only when the sky darkened and the eye of the sun ceased its stinging glare that she was allowed to step outside. The entire day she had been confined to the gloom of the cavern chosen to house the Nightshade and his family, hidden from both sight and touch of light.

The sun had a grudge against her, it seemed. It had become apparent after her very first encounter with the dawn, a meeting that left her a burned and blinded mess forever denied the world of day. Only once had she been allowed to lay eyes upon the brightness of the world; it would forever be engraved into her memories as an image of colorful beauty lined with pain, a perfect blend between all that was good and all that was bad in this world.
No one had deemed it fit to tell the young filly why she couldn't look at the sun or walk beneath the warming light. It might be that they found her pain to be reason enough, but for the lithe fawn it only woke more questions. Why did it hurt, why would the sun want to hurt her, had she done something to make it angry with her? The lack of answers was frustrating, like an itch akin to that of skin peeling from her tender nose and knees or the slithering lions tail; areas where the coat were especially thin and the burns had become more severe.

It was with a look of discontent spread across the developing features that the little lady slipped from her mothers side and escaped into the cool night wind, a shadow among shadows. Fearless and naive she avoided the presence of her father and sister lest they might stop her and with the small heart pounding in her chest Nao began her exploration of the valley of the aurora. Cloven hooves made little sound as they carried her on a tripping path over cold rock, across gradually thawing meadows and through thickets of barren trees, stubbornly prolonging this already endless spring by refusing to open up their buds to the warmth.

Intoxicated on this newfound freedom and oblivious to the passing of time, the foal didn't realize that she was nearing the entrance to her miniature world until another shadow emerged from the darkness, taking the shape of a tall, dark stallion. Instantly entranced by the tall stranger, the daughter of the Nightshade followed him with dual-colored eyes as he slowly walked deeper into the vale, treading with the ease of someone knowing where they were headed. Only, he didn't seem to be very good at it. Each step seemed slow and a bit strange, as if something hindered each movement. Intrigued the filly broke out of the thicket and inched closer, puffy tail threading excited loops through the air as she sidled in the direction of the unicorn. She wanted to know who he was, what he was, why he was limping through her home as if he owned it, whether he was nice or not so nice. She wanted to know his name and if he knew of her and if he knew her parents, and she really wanted to know what the smell was that came from him, the one that was a bit spicy and ticklish and made her nose itch as if she was about to sneeze.

Piercing the darkness her blue-brown eyes roved hungrily across his frame, staring unabashed at the muscles and battle scars and the charred skin of his flank. Oblivious to the danger the daughter of night appeared in front of the deadly steed, eyes wide and with an expectant smile on her lips.

"Hi! I're Nao, whats yar name? Somethy smells really funny, why yar limping? Did the sun get mad at you too? I went to look when it got up and chased night but he didn't like it and made my skin hurt really much and then my nose fell off but mommy said it would be alright and then FenFyr had to go home but I had to stay in the cave all day and it was really really boring and then Avi.. reac.. mm.. aaah, itchy.."

The speech ended in a muffled jumble as the girl began to scrub the nose against the inside of a long front leg, frenetically trying to put an end to the stinging itch of the nose. Once she looked up again the soft skin of the muzzle looked like it was peeling, velvet hairs mixed with thin white flakes of skin that quivered in the nightly breeze. The girl didn't seem overly bothered though, instead focusing on the giant stallion before her with ears pricked forth in childish enthusiasm.