While anticipation and apprehension made a prickling sensation run up and down her spine, she would put all of her faith in her deity and believe that she truly had been blessed with her first taste of magic. Naturally, the mare sought to try this out and to strengthen it; if she and the Qian were to make a stand against the Sun God, she would have to have faith in her own abilities. Presently, she had none, given that she had not had the chance to test out her powers. The only bit of magic she possessed was the bit of ice that the strange creature from the Deep Forest had threaded into her mane; it had not melted any great deal yet, and seemed to have stopped melting completely when the Goddess of the Moon had blessed her with the gift of darkness so that she would never burn.

It was odd to think of herself as a creature shrouded by the black cloak of darkness; such a pearly, bright creature shrouded in such a thick dark gauze would have been a shame, had the Goddess not crafted the darkness to be equally as beautiful and appealing as Couth's natural form. She flew toward the Heart of Helovia without the use of her magic, with only the cooling sensation of ice against her neck. The air grew warmer and her wings glistened with a fine sheen of sweat when she landed.

She squealed as her hooves touched the ground, lifting a fine mist of ash. Her nostrils flared as she breathed in the caustic scent of smoke and decay, of burnt flesh and fear. Her flanks quivered and she rolled her eyes back to look up to the sky- cerulean but pale, as though even the blue of the sky was fading against the sun's constant shine. It was midday and she could hardly stand the feeling of heat that engulfed her, but she would not be overtaken by her surroundings; She focused. Her eyes closed, and when they opened, rather than being a cool shade of blue, they were black. The white wraith became engulfed in a shifting, feathery black cloud so that none of her pearly white pelt could be seen. Instead, she became a Couth-shaped cloud of black, impervious to damage from heat and flame.

And like a dragon who felt nothing of fire's cruel touch, she stepped toward the flames.

Couth allowed the cool touch of shadow to slowly fade away from her form, reying instead on the cool touch of the ice in her mane to keep her from feeling too hot. Now that she had had the chance to feel the strength of the power she had been given so she could rely on it when she needed it most, she turned and began to walk away from the heat alongside Mirage, matching her stride for stride. Their differences became obvious as the shadow gave way to show Couth's pale, creme coloured skin, but still both mares moved with a fluid gate; even without wings, Mirage practically floated across the ground when she walked.

She dipped her head, deeply flattered by Mirage's words. She had hoped that Mirage felt the same, that they were kindred spirits, even though Couth had arrived with doubts that she would find others with the same beliefs. "You are a sister to me, Mirage," She said. "I feel Akaith's presence when I am alone, as well," She said. And it was comforting- she suspected that the dragon kept an eye over all the members of the Qian, so that they could all be linked. The pale mare hoped that she too one day would find a familiar companion in a dragon, though whichever creature her soul guided her to would be just as accepted and loved.

"I agree. I do not thirst for war," She said. "Though I will not shy from it. Nor will the others who follow you," She said, reflecting on the others who had promised to follow Mirage. Naturally, her thoughts drifted to Maskan and Madyrn, and a faint smile hovered on her features. The thought of Madyrn reminded her that she meant to find out more about Mirage's own favoured stud. "So what can you tell me about your Vikram?" She said, brushing her shoulder gently against Mirage's.