Eventide is softly casting o'er the earth a magic spell,

And a love-song, everlasting, on the night wind seems to swell.

She had a secret. It was of a ticklish, wonderfully exciting nature, the kind of sparkly amazing secret she was dying to share with others. But for the longest time, no one had really been able to spare more than a few moments in passing for her and her secrets, and while the filly normally would have found that completely alright and natural, it had bothered her these past few days.

The season had changed just like Erthë had predicted. The sky was brighter now and the waters clearer, there was a bite of chill in the wind and each night the temperature wonderfully low so that the mists beneath the ancient trees froze and coated everything in fine crystals. Soon she would be a yearling, and it seemed that with her growing body, something had awakened within her. A secret something that she always had longed for but never thought she would come to possess.

It would seem Volterra had been right. Sometimes magic just blossomed within you, as a natural part of the body and soul.

But what was the fun of having magic if she didn't get to brag about it to anyone? Filled with restless energy and an undefinable urge to wreak havoc the filly took to the sky and headed away from her forested homeland, off east until the woodlands gave way for the purple-tinted meadow where thistles still bloomed despite the lateness of the year. Gliding back and forth high over the expanse of billowing grass, she smiled when pale eyes caught sight of a familiar figure down below. Erthë hadn't spoken much to the lady Agnodice, but they had come across each other here and there, in the Threshold forest mainly and she felt harmless enough to show off to. Intending to approach her openly at first, she began the descent - then broke off and veered away hastily, as she noticed what the mare was up to.

There was a pool below, a structure of rock and water connecting to the winding river that looked a bit too smooth to be entirely natural. Whether it was or not didn't interest her too much at the moment; what was more curious was the horse that was in it. It looked like a silvery hued filly about her own age, wingless yet lean and delightfully absent-minded. She couldn't make out too many details from so high above of course, but there was no mistaking Agnodice's entrance into the pool and the generally amicable mood to the scene.

It was utterly boring, and Erthë knew exactly how to liven things up.

Grinning mischievously to herself she angled her pale wings and lowered herself down until she was mere meters above the ground. With silent, careful beats she brought herself as close as she could get to the pond without being seen, then landed and sneaked the last bit, quietly blessing the Moon for the trees and shrubbery that littered the place.

Once she was close enough, still grinning, she breathed in deeply and held it while focusing upon the water in the pond. Slowly, with great concentration, she breathed out and willed the clear liquid to freeze, to slowly chill and slush and solidify around the bathing horses.

Eventide is softly casting o'er the earth a magic spell,

And a love-song, everlasting, on the night wind seems to swell.

This was decidedly not the kind of reaction Erthë had expected. Where was the screaming, the shouting, the squealing and chasing? Where was her chance to hobble off with a wicked laugh as the victims of her prank came running after her, cursing and promising hell and heaven in whatever order they preferred?

Instead she found herself faced with one girl squealing in delight of all things, while another looked like she was about to laugh. It was underwhelming. Anticlimactic, disappointing. She looked from one to the other and back again, and slowly a pout began to form on her lips that made her look exactly her actual age.

"You guys are no fun at all" she accused, and straightened herself up. A few droplets of water trickled down the pink of her nose, then froze - trapped between the chill in the air and the frigid temperature of the dove's skin.

"You were supposed to scream, didn't you know that? Do you get water frozen on you so often that it's not even weird anymore? Shouldn't you at least worry about what might happen if you get stuck in this place until the ice melts again?"

She huffed and ruffled up the feathers, almost insulted by their lack of reaction. Okay, so magic was common in Helovia but come on, it still didn't happen every day of every month of every year, now did it? If nothing else, couldn't they at least act surprised, so she got the pleasure of showing off?

The small one was at least sufficiently impressed, if not perhaps in the way Erthë had wanted. She appraised her over pursed lips, absorbing the sturdy built and exuberant exclamations with equal interest - it must be the size that did it because when she thought about it, the girl couldn't be much older than Erthë herself. Yet they were years apart in experience, it seemed, because it seemed a really silly thing to ask about. How she froze the water?

"I used magic, of course" Erthë replied imperiously and drew herself up into what she thought should be an impressive posture. "Don't tell me you've never seen that before. Everyone knows about it."

Oh, it felt so good to be in the loop of things! Erthë could totally see why Volterra had enjoyed showing off his magic and his dragon to her, if this was the feeling he got. The awed look on the girls face was worth Agnodice's smirks, did a marvelous job of smoothing down her ruffled feathers (and wounded pride).

"Who are you?" she asked, tilting her head in honest curiosity. "I've never seen you around before."

Agnodice had already introduced her, so Erthë felt no need to repeat her own name - what if it got worn out? That would be awkward.