Let me explain something to you first - perhaps it will make what happens next a little more clear. Whence first Phae came to Helovia, her timidity was obvious. She was young, and she was frightened - her only trait that was more apparent than her fear, was her vanity. The stallions of her previous herd wasted little time in recognizing her natural beauty; her subtle but alluringly sooty coat and the odd pattern of spots which haphazardly freckled her shoulders and the corners of her eyes. Her sparkle was in her simplicity, for unlike many Helovian's, Phaedra had no mystical markings or unusual colours. She looked like a gypsy - beautiful and untamed, and therein was the crux of her power over men. She allowed them to believe they had tamed her. She used them, in much the same way they used her. In the beginning, it was for protection: she would use her natural charms and abilities to her advantage, and allow powerful stallions to covet her like some shiny bauble - hidden away and for their eyes only. Occasionally, it wasn't just their eyes that took her in, but that was fine - she told herself it was she who was dominating them, just as much as they were dominating her.

In the beginning, it was merely for protection...but then something else began to blossom. Quickly, the timid self conscious mare began to enjoy the attention, and to feel validated by it. Why, she wasn't shallow and vain...no! she was beautiful and desired! And so, her hatred of females too blossomed, as the attention from the males around her began to swell. And so you see, Phaedra never really grew out of her fear, she only learned how to mask it, by finding self validation in the wandering eyes and lusty calls of men. But look at her now - she is not the shy girl who first came here; nay, nay! She is Phaedra of the Grey. Phaedra the spy, who needs no protection and yet....yet still she seeks the company of men. Still she tries to allure them - she even risked her pregnancy under the curse of the moon-bitch for powerful siren magic. She has a home, and a family, and yet she is not fulfilled. Only the thrill of her seductive games temporarily leave her feeling satisfied.

And so you see, she has learned how to be beautiful, but she has not learned that it doesn't matter.

---

The last time Phaedra had ventured to the Heart, she had encountered a rather odd sort of unicorn, who had been the first victim of her magic. Victim? She thought with a small snort, rolling her eyes. Victim? Hardly. Her magic enraptured those it touched, transforming and enhancing their surroundings and distorting their reality until the golden-girl utterly consumed their focus - doesn't that sound delightful?! High above, a wave of telepathic energy hit Phae's mind, knocking the thoughts of Sin clearly out of her mind. Stella, who was high above, coasting on thermals, was suddenly projecting multiple images of what appeared to be a lumbering...tree?

"Willow?" She murmured under her breath, as her svelte body began to move at a faster pace, towards the supposed-Lignea that Stella had identified. As the creature of Stella's insistent mental-barrage comes into view, Phaedra finds herself instantly intrigued. You! She thinks, identifying not Willow, but one similar. Does she know his name? She can't remember - and of course, it wouldn't do to ask. Hesitation does not give her pause, even as her pace slows. She tosses her head; simultaneously causing her forelock to falling in a cascade of ripples down her slender pink muzzle, but also to give the impression that she had only just noticed him. "You!" She called, aloud this time, her voice wonderfully practiced to sound both flirtatious and coy at the same time.

Flashes of their meeting prior flooded her mind - her instant attraction to his...his bulk; his foreignness. He was natural like her, yet...yet so different. The first time, she had found him alluring and yet even now, she couldn't quite remember why...But as we all know, feelings need no memory, or rational discourse to carry on, and incite a certain spreading warmth. Striding forward lightly, Phaedra spread her wings slightly, allowing the carpal joints to rise above her shoulders, and extending her primary feathers forward, as if trying to capture the heat. She paid little attention as she moved to be even with his shoulder, an intimate 3 feet away, focused solely on the fire, as if that was her real reason for coming here in the first place.

Slowly, so as not to attract too much attention to what she was doing. Phae arched her neck ever so slightly - making it look as though the movement was merely to pull her nose away from the heat of the Heart. In all actuality of course, it was to accentuate her fine Arabian curves. With the same feigned motives, her hooves distanced themselves from another other, as she continued to make subtle arrangements to emphasize her lean and attractive confirmation.

As she is making these adjustments, she is constantly wondering what he is thinking; but more specifically, what he is wanting. In her tenure as a seductress, she has learned the types that many stallions prefer, and has become adept at picking up their signals and subtle indications but....but with you, she thought, casting a cursory glance his way, and allowing for a brief moment, her hungry eyes to fall upon his bark as it gently melded into flesh. You, are a goddamn tree, sugar.

Join the waves in the ocean?
Or let my soul fade away, in the dark?
Cause I've gone astray,
& all my flowers turned to dandelions.