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

mesec</style>

I had gone against my very own words. I had wandered away from the safety of the Foothills, or at least what I hoped was safe, and I hadn't left a single trace of my departure behind.

I had to see if the threat was spreading, if it had moved closer to our home.

If one were to set out in search of me, it would be impossible for them to gather any sort of lead, for I'd taken to traveling by the shadows gifted from Mother at my birth. The shadows that consumed me, took me wherever I pleased, were still very much comforting to me despite the terror I'd experienced in the marsh just days ago. The creeping shadows there were of another type entirely, and I couldn't help but wonder if Mother was even aware of the happening. Did she care, or know if it was even worth paying attention to? Had it all been in my head? If it was something evil, was she prepared to defend the earth as she had obviously done during the endless night?

With a long exhale, I pushed the thought out of my head. As much as I wished for it, I knew Mother wouldn't leave her throne to answer me.

As the shadows gave way and revealed the light of day, I found myself standing in the thickest part of the southern forest. For a moment I kept stock still, nostrils flaring to take in the scents surrounding me and ears flickering every which way to assure that I wasn't in for a surprise. Here, my hair did not stand on end and the air was much lighter than it had been back in the marsh. Overall, the world seemed alright here; and I never thought I'd be so happy to hear the distant chirping of birds.

Unaware I had been holding my breath, I let it out slowly, pulling my wings from my sides briefly before settling them once more. "I'm alright," I reassured myself out loud, "I'm a shadow, after all; this is my job. I can do it. I have to." And with that, I picked up my feet and headed deeper into the forest, though it wasn't but a few minutes into my journey that a distantly familiar shape caught my gaze.

Stopping myself short, I looked upon the dark form of a mare from afar, my heart thrumming viciously within my chest. Could it really be...? There was no mistaking that this was Psyche, the very Lady of the Basin, but what was she doing so far away from the tundra herdland? My teeth ground together behind pursed lips, ears pinning at the memory of the hatred she'd harbored towards me. Oh, how I had tried to show her and the others that I wasn't so bad, that I only wanted to be a part of the family that was the Aurora Basin... But I had come to loathe her and every other fool who called the Basin home, who thought that a simple horn put them above the rest.

Horn...

Suddenly, realization had dawned on me. Narrowing my gaze, I strained my eyes to focus on the one that should have been protruding from the Lady's forehead, but try as I might, I saw no hint of the gnarled, branch-like horn. For a moment I wondered if I had made a mistaken, that this wasn't Psyche at all, but the four white stockings and myriad of feathers hanging from her black mane proved that I'd been right all along. I blinked slowly, wondering if this too was a trick, but dared myself to move closer just a second later.

"... Psyche?" I spoke up, voice softer than I previously would have liked it to be. I continued my approach until I stood but ten or so yards away, every weary of the Basin leader. My eyes ventured again to where her horn ought to be, again surprised to see that it was no more. "What... What are you doing out here?"

"talk talk talk"

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

mesec</style>

I waited for it, that sickly sweet, lie of a smile to cross the Empress' face. When her eyes turned to me, the twisting of her ears and the downwards jerk of her mouth weren't surprising in the least. For some time I thought I'd never be bothered again by the way one looked at me, but as Psyche glowered, I was proved horribly wrong. My wings pressed closer to my side in way of comfort, and suddenly I felt truly disgusting. I swallowed thickly and was about to say something more, but the spectacle that was happening before me was hardly something I could interrupt.

The black mare looked as though she were fighting that look off of her face, forcing her eyes closed and sucking in a deep breath. It seemed to work, for when she opened her eyes again, she looked completely different in my eyes. I didn't know what she was truly feeling at this moment in time, but she looked calmer, different, and without that ugly sneer on her face, I found she looked much gentler. A gentle Psyche... the thought alone was almost terrifying, but here I was, standing before the Basin leader and witnessing it.

For a moment, I didn't know what to say as she addressed me, claiming that she was simply wandering like some lost soul. My surprise surely showed all across my face, and only after assuring that my jaw had not fallen to the forest floor did I gather myself again, picking my head up a bit more and regarding her with a kind look despite all the hatred she had ever shown me. It was difficult, admittedly, but never did I want to fall into the pit of the bad guy or the vengeful one.

"W-Wandering?" I stammered then, genuinely confused as to why the dark Lady would be wandering aimlessly during such a tumultulous time as this. Was she not aware of the ascending darkness, perhaps? Had she been brainwashed? It made sense in my mind, for while she looked like the Dark Empress I remembered save for her horn, she certainly didn't act like it. "But... don't you know what's happening? Haven't you seen -- felt it? The darkness?" Without sounding absolutely out of my mind, I wasn't entirely sure how to descibe what I'd seen back in the marsh nor felt at the shores of the endless blue. "I know that... that our beginnings weren't so well," I went on, keeping my gaze upon Psyche's own and doing my best to gauge what she might be thinking of my words. "But there's something bad here in Helovia. Some sort of evil that far darker than the night that fell over us a few seasons ago. Please, I know where many are hidi--"

I was cut off by the sound of another, and my skin began to crawl at once when I turned my head to look upon the culprit. The painted stallion which stood before us looked as though he'd leapt from my coltish nightmares and into reality. His eyes were as black as the midnight sky, his side was slathered in an endless stream of blood, and his muzzle was nothing but exposed bone. Pure terror gripped at my very soul and instinct told me to run, but my hooves remained planted firmly in the soil. The decaying thing lunged forward only a moment later, lashing out with a set of impressive horns. I didn't know what this thing was, why a sickly cloud of green followed in its stead, why it looked the way it did or why it was suddenly attacking us, but one thing was for sure; I would not leave Psyche here in order to save my own hide.

"NO!! I called out, shoving myself forward and towards the demonic being, head dropped and neck curled, horn poised to go into our adversary's left side. Whether my attack hit its mark or not, I then took to the shadows unless I was stopped, disappearing only to reappear on the stallion's opposite side several yards away, ears flattened and prepared to launch another attack if I was able. "Leave, demon!!"

@[Random Event]

"talk talk talk"

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