Harsh, dual-colored eyes, one a burning-gold and the other a frozen-silver, stared up at the silent night sky, counting the stars that glistened in the thick, dark blanket of the heavens. One, two, three... For a long while the brindled sentinel stood, stationary as a statue made of frozen stone, allowing the frigid breeze of Orangemoon to sweep through her and settle into her bones, making her feel heavy and light all at once.

Four, five, six...

A soft breath pushes past the confines of her ample bosom and furls from her nostrils, cascading upwards in an opaque mist before disappearing into the heavens, but the Soldier's eyes are focused only on the night sky.

Seven, eight, nine...

Tonight, her rage was lessened. It was weaker, softer, far more gentle, subtle, and tamed than it normally was. The demon beneath her skin, the darkness incarnate that lived within her very soul was silent, but Rhiannon could feel it itching beneath her skin, claws digging and dragging at her very being in a demand to be set free, to be unleashed, to tear things apart. Over the years, Rhiannon had learned to hate a myriad of things, from changes in the weather to certain, pathetic individuals, but this thing that resided within her... Oh, how she despised it.

One day she would lose control of the demon within, and few things frightened Rhiannon in such a caliber as that realization. One day, she should snap, and the Brindled Devil would live up to her ominous name.

Ten, eleven, twelve...

Slowly, the horned Soldier took a step forward, joints and ligaments groaning in painful protest to being jostled from their frozen mounts. One hoof dipped forward in the snow, her muscled weight causing the powder to crunch beneath her frame, then another step, and another, until the brindled demon began to wander through the night. She had no destination... Simply to walk until exhaustion took her.

Thirteen, fourteen...

The fifteenth star never crossed her path, never crossed her mind, for something else entirely snapped Rhiannon from her the internal warfare of her mind. Something sweet pulled her from her wistful reverie, and the mare's strong head snapped upwards, ears swiveling forward at attention as a sound so beautiful filled her head, stealing away everything. No demons, no darkness, no anger filled her head, and for once, there was blissful silence... Save for the siren's song that tugged her forward as though a noose had been fitted tightly around her neck.

Rhiannon breathed in sharply, hooves leading her forward, helpless against the song played out before her, the crimped, unruly strands of her frosted mane and tail swaying in the frigid breeze. Her eyes, normally so harsh and remote, were filled with nothing but genuine curiosity, and it was with brief realization that she understood where her legs were taking her; to the hot springs.

Arriving to the soothing pools of steaming water, the brindled Soldier's eyes traveled from the shoreline to the expanse of the pool, and there, beneath the moonlight and the shimmering stars, bathed a figure so positively decadent that Rhiannon almost wondered if she had died and gone to heaven. The mare's dark lips parted, dual-toned eyes wide as she stared at the she-goddess, eyes unabashedly roaming every inch of strawberry roan and carnation speckled white of the bathing beauty, absorbing every strand of silvery tresses that floated within the steaming water from root to end.

".... Holy fuck." The words escaped Rhiannon's lips before she could so much as think about her lack of eloquence, but in the end, she didn't care. Holy hell, holy fuck. Was she dreaming? This had to be a dream. Never in all of her years, never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined such a delightful creature standing before her, wet and glistening beneath the moonlight and oh, so divine...

And just for the taking.