//------------------------------//
// Summer 
// Story: Fey Breeze 
// by Masterweaver 
//------------------------------//

	Some bastions had withstood the test of time, their arches and anchors remaining even as magic faded from the world. Others were not so lucky, being battered away by wind and weather and wants of humanity. And to be fair, this side of the world had been avoided for the most part, even then; toying with gods and starfolk was best when your point of retreat was an ocean away.

But her pet had grown up here, and it was here that Winter Lights had decided to insert herself. Here, where the legends had twisted to be unrecognizable, here where one god strove not to be a god, and to prevent the others from being such. Not a place of old power, no, this was a realm for new blood to prove itself. And her point of entry, so protected by forest and fang, let her move between realms like a whisper between hungry ears.

She approached the great stone with cool anticipation, a rise of her fingers bringing the block of ice behind her to a pause. "A moment, mortal. You have met gods, angels, monsters, demons. You have seen the flow of magic through your world in many ways... a few more then most, I shall admit freely. Now, I give you a chance to see something that few in this age have known. Understand, we are not as powerful as those you know--not in the sense you know power. Yet we are greater, for we dance freely, taking from gods and demons as easily as from animals, and rare do they even notice. Do not think our frailty a weakness; do not think our trickery a crime. We are beyond you. And you will find that we can take control of your fates easily enough."

With a whisk of her fingers, she wove a glamour, hiding the ice-bound girl as a broken tree, before she brought her hands together and knelt at the stone. "Atar amin naa sinome. Lle raktuva amin, maaramin namo vanya."

Light speckled across the stone's surface with no clear origin, forming patterns and whirls, and then a song bound into a form--great, tall, powerful, looking down upon her with both care and caution. "Rise, my daughter. I see you are well."

"Well enough, father." She stood, smiling with her blackened lips. "Better even, now that you are here."

"You have anticipated our arrival?" asked his adviser, stepping forward.

She smiled, head bowing. "But of course! Such great members of the winter court, stepping forth to the world in which I work, it is always worth remembering. And my father besides." She took the taller figure's hand, lightly brushing it with her lips. "I invite you to Earth, my lord."

The taller figure quirked a brow. "Invite, you say."

"Aye."

"Not... welcome."

Her blackened lips quirked into a predatory grin.

The advisor's eyes widened and he whirled--finding the light on the stone had fallen back to its usual foresty nature. And then she was upon him, ice encasing his body, and he tried to unweave but she had only left one aperture, blocking it with a canister whose outer surface was cold iron and whose inner the false bone.

Her father rose, intent on striking, before a great lance of pain shot through his arm. He tried to unweave himself but--something held him--something entangled his magic, forcing him back to the material realm.

"What... what is this?! What have you claimed from darkness?!"

She sealed the container, hanging it from her hip, and turned to her father. "Reflections are always so fascinating. Some are perfect, and some are not. And the ones that are imperfect find their own... existence. They grow. They become. And some twist in stranger ways."

Her eyes tracked her father as his form began to twist, warp in agonizingly audacious ways. "Crystals resonate, even at their smallest level. We know this, it is how we punish the spring court, and so common across so many worlds. So I ask you this: what happens when a crystal is born from creature, when domination and hatred are snapped off and splintered, when the mindless lust to rule is crushed to powder and set adrift on the winds?"

The color split on his form, merging and swirling as rods formed on his limbs and plates burst out of his back. He fell to what had been his knees, but now resembled nothing so much as writhing tail. "You... have poisoned me. You seek to kill me!"

"Kill you?" She threw her head back and chortled. "Father, you are kin! You raised me! Nay, I shall not end your life." She stepped back, once, twice, watching his face melt off the bone beneath. "Oh, do not doubt I could do it. We both see your mind slipping away. You are becoming bestial, filled with the need to destroy those that could rise against you. In time, perhaps, your intellect could resurge, and you might even be able to do so."

A speechbrick rose in her hands, even as he growled at her. "But time is something that I shall not grant." And with a flick of her fingers, her plan was set into motion.





"Lass, ye be just as helpful as yer Equestrian counterpart. If nae more so."

Fluttershy giggled, watching the small forms flitting about the copse where she herself had rooted not so long ago. "Well, it's no trouble at all. I'm just happy to help." She managed--just barely--to hold back a small squeak of joy as she watched some of the tiny fairies finish setting up a roost. "So, how did you meet my, uh, counterpart?"

"It was durin' the migration," Seabreeze explained casually. "There be plants in our region of fae we cultivate, but fae being what-tis they can mutate rath'r quick. Bringin' base pollen helps control the shifts, and we've long had a deal with the ponykin for such subject."

"Oh. So she traded pollen with you?"

"Ach, no. We already had the pollen. She took care o' us when we were split oof the rest and ensured we made it back." The blue figure rolled his eyes. "Equestria magic tain't exactly friendly with Fay."

Fluttershy blinked. "Really? I thought it would be. I've heard a lot about harmonic resonance--"

"Tis exactly why it is unkind to us!" Seabreeze shouted.

She flinched.

He noticed, and took a breath. "Harmony is good if ye already be singin' the notes," he explained. "But fer Fay? To have our magic molded to such pattern? We are the reweavers of self. It is like... it tugs at us, e'ry moment we be in that realm. A lucky few can sing along, but fer the rest of us we are made mute, fer we dinnae speak the right tongue."

"Oh... my." Fluttershy rubbed her head. "I didn't realize it was so horrible for you."

"Nae, not horrible. Icky. Draining. But not... horrible." Seabreeze shrugged. "Here, there is some similar--Equestria magic, wanting us to sing--but there is also something powerful, watchin', and so the ponyspells are hesitant to sing wi'out its permission. And the powerful thing, tis not demandin' of us on the whole--though," he admitted wryly, "I sense it would strike fast an' hard against an individual that caused far too much strife."

Fluttershy glanced at her fingers. "I'm... not sure I understand."

"I hath heard magics of realms compared to different wines, save that instead o' drinkin' them ye be swimmin' in them. This realm be havin' magic more appeasable to the Fay, that be all ye need to know for now."

The girl nodded, her eyes following a yellow and green pair of... well, fairies. Fairies, like the stories, all working together, and she was helping! It hadn't exactly been her dream to do this--well, not in a defined sense. It was more one of the traditional 'wants' that culture applied to girls, like ponies and princesses and... a lot of things about Equestria, actually.

...huh. She'd have to compare notes with Sunset about that.

Still, for Fluttershy at least, this was something worth remembering. Something she felt she would have wanted, even without the various cultural pressures.

Something Seabreeze said niggled at her though. "You... said you were reweavers of self?"

"Aye. Fair be it, rare do we speak o' this outside Fay." He gave her a look. "I hope ye not be seekin' to do so yeself..."

"No, no no. I've had my share of mindwarping back when I was a tree." Fluttershy took a breath. "It's just... my brother... He's been acting strange. I took him to a friend, and she said his water chakra changed, but that was a few days ago. Do you know anything about that sort of thing?"

"Mmm, aye." Seabreeze landed on her shoulder. "I meself have formed a bond of light wit' verne'melamin Flameshadow. We exchanged the sparks what which let us know sight." He put a hand to his brow with a faint smile. "Wondrous day, that was."

"Oh." Fluttershy blushed faintly. "I'm sure... she?"

"Aye."

"She must have been very important for you to do that."

"Love is always important, aye. Though I must be quick to say exchange o' sparks is common fer fay--only tis the fact that it be the spark o' light which make it so personal."

Fluttershy blinked. "Different sparks are... more valuable?"

"Aye, o' course!" Seabreeze buzzed up to her face. "Only thing more precious then ye spark o' light is ye spark o' magic! Those below can be given as even trade, but those two--careful thought must they be given."

"Oh." Fluttershy nodded. "That makes sense... so, if my brother exchanged his spark of water with somebody...?"

"Hmm." Seabreeze fluttered around her, taking in her form. "I see were ye were touched durin' ye tree time, boot apart from that ye look to be tightly woven. If all ye kin be as such, it would take another to exchange sparks."

"He did say he met a new girl..."

"Aye?"

"Yeah, Winter Lights. I haven't met her but--Eeep!" Fluttershy crossed her eyes, trying to keep Seabreeze in her vision.

"WINTER LIGHTS?!"

"Um. Yes. Why are you on my nose?"

"Lass, if ye kin be bonded with that mirilien kuruni then he be the center of whate'r plan she have. And with how she be movin'..." He ran his hands through his pink hair. "I nary doubt it be one we will like."





Zephyr mumbled, shifting uncomfortably. "Mmmmnnn, oonf. What...?" His eyes opened blearily, moving in their sockets as he tried to figure out where he was.

"Oh! You're awake! Mistress had me prepare a meal for you." The clinking of ceramics followed the young voice, almost right next to him. "I hope you like stew. You do like stew, right? I've gotten really good with stew, it's water and various bits mixed in it. I'm still trying to work on making bread, it's a little hard with these ovens--but that's just because I'm not used to these ovens, the ovens themselves are totally fine!"

The boy shook his head, pushing himself up into a sitting position and turning to the speaker. "I'm sorry, I--"

He paused, taking in the long strapless dress the blue-haired girl was wearing, and the ornate white designs that swirled across the violet fabric in fascinating ways.

"I... don't exactly know how I got here," he continued, looking around. "Wherever here is..."

"The mistress brought you to her chamber." The blue haired girl fiddled with the golden chain that ran from her earlobe to the circlet she wore. "She said you... had a bond with her?"

Zephyr nodded faintly, still trying to absorb his surroundings. The room seemed circular--no, not circular, the walls sloped in and out, like a pinched cylinder. The floor seemed twenty feet across, and the chamber five times that in height--he wondered at the shifting light speckling down faintly to their level. Around him were bits of furniture--the delicate looking bed he'd awoken on, the hexagonal stand upon which the flower-shaped bowl of stew rested, a strange... smooth-curved thing that reminded him of a bird talon surrounded by a folding screen.

What really drew the eye, though, was the throne. A great pillar at the center of everything, running from floor to ceiling, gleaming shards of blue and green coiling up the back in the image of a great flowering vine. And at the base, a gently curved divot formed seat and armrests.

"...Hold on." Zephyr blinked, turning back to the girl. "The mistress brought me here?"

"She did. You were out cold." For some reason the girl giggled, before clapping her bangled hands over her mouth and letting her eyes dart left and right. "I--I mean you were unconscious! Yeah. Unconscious."

He leaned back, giving her an odd look. "O...kaaaaaay..."

She took in his expression, and slowly let her hands drop. "You... have to be careful around here. With words. Be exact, be precise." Her eyes moved up. "If you're not... things can happen. Oh, and never lie. The mistress hates that."

"Uh-huh. And... who is the mistress?"

The girl's eyes widened. "She--she said you had a bond!"

"...Wait... Are you talking about Winter L--?"

Zephyr was cut off when a peach hand pushed against his mouth. "She can hear you when you say her name! Any of her names! She can hear everything in here, she--she just only pays attention when summoned!"

"Or when I feel like it," purred a new voice.

The girl jumped back with a squeak, quickly prostrating herself on the ground. "Mistress! I, I am grateful for your presence!"

"I know, pet. I know." The newcomer sauntered to her, kneeling down and cupping her chin in a long, four-fingered hand. "And you've done so well with our guests. I commend your actions."

She looked up at her, golden eyes filled with worshipful adoration. "I... thank you... thank you mistress. I adore your praise."

"Oh, I know, pet. Why don't you seek more of it by, hmm, arranging material for our friend's clothing during his stay?"

An eager smile dominated the girl's face. "Right away mistress!" She stood, rushing over to a tree-like object from which hung numerous bolts of cloth, and began to peruse them vigorously.

Zephyr Breeze stared after her for a moment or two. Then he turned back to the lady. "Ah... Winter Lights?"

"Yes, Zephyr?"

He gulped. "You... look different."

"Oh? Ah, yes, you've never seen me without my glamour." She rolled her hand in a slight bow. "What do you think?"

It was... still recognizably her, he had to admit. The way she moved, the way she smiled... but she seemed to have elongated. Her ears and eyelashes extended, as though tugged by a great wind--in fact, her entire face seemed more pointed, sharp, no less pretty but certainly more dangerous. She looked taller--she was taller, actually, inhumanly graceful limbs and ever twisting locks together making her flow, more then walk.

"You look... beautiful," he finally replied.

"Oh, I know. But I did not ask how I looked." She ambled toward him, her hair rolling off bare shoulders in waves. "I asked... what you thought."

"I... think... that I have no idea what's going on," he admitted, "and I'm probably going to be reliant on you for answers."

She paused, tilting her head for a moment, then threw back her head. The sound of icicles in the wind reverberated around the chamber as she laughed. "Wise words indeed! You are truly an excellent bond-partner."

"Aha... ha ha." Zephyr put on an uncomfortable smile. "So, um... what is going on, anyway?"

"Oh, much is in motion. I stand to gain through loss, though there is a risk that I shall be revealed. And there is your sister to consider... Fluttershy, an interesting name."

The thin fingers reached into his hair, coolly gliding down the length of one strand, and plucked it from his head. She took her prize and stepped back, spinning it into a circle, and waving her hand over.

Zephyr's eyes went wide as an image of his sister appeared in midair, worry on her face as she watched a blue... bug of some sort. "Is... is that really her?"

"No, tis merely a scry." Winter clicked her tongue in annoyance. "And one of the spring court... I cannot afford to deal with her directly right now." Her fingers traced around the image of Fluttershy's head, murmuring in an unknown tongue. "That should prevent most of the possible problems... and I do believe she will be amusing."

"What? What did you do?"

"I have... arranged for your entertainment. So long as you are here, you can see your sister's actions; how she follows rules and what may happen should she break them. And know this: you are far safer here then you would be outside." Winter nodded toward the girl. "My pet can attest to that. She will tend to you till my return. I must away to the court, for opportunity shall slip by if I do not act swift."

And then Winter... disintegrated, transforming into shining dust and spiraling up around the throne.

The girl watched her leave, before turning to him. "You are truly fortunate to have bonded with the mistress." She shuffled a bare foot on the ground. "I... have yet to earn that honor."

Zephyr stared at her.

"...oh! Do you need anything? Mistress wants me to give you what you require." She blushed faintly. "I don't... know exactly what the limits are on that command, so, um--"

"Honestly I think I need to find a bathroom."

"Oh." She pointed. "Right over there."

He blinked, following her finger to the weird talon thing. "...that's a toilet?"

"Well, yes."

"...there's no bowl. How does it--"

"Just get in, shut the door, drop your pants, and sit down." Her blush grew. "And, uh, try to stay still. It, uh... moves."





"Gathered friends, lords, ladies. I bring ill news. My father... is dead."

Murmurs went through the crowd at her proclamation. She stood firm, she stood tall, her face still and stolid.

"I witnessed his demise. A group of mortals came upon him, decreed him a monster, and destroyed him with brutal efficiency." There was a quaver in her voice, a faint one, but still she stood. "I managed to avoid capture, though my father's advisor was entrapped. I know not what they would do with him."

Her eyes flicked across the courtesans, gauging their worry, their disbelief.

"My friends," she stated, "I know as well as most that it is... foolhardy to assume the worst of any based on the actions of few. Yet when I looked upon those who killed my father, I recognized the sigils they bore; they are renowned in that realm. One of us is dead. Another of us is captured. And what, then, will happen if we allow such transgression once more?"

She turned, looking toward the vacant throne, and took a single step. The court fell silent, the brazen action shocking them to the core.

"...We are close to this realm," she said coolly, laying the crown at the throne's feet. "Should any of those mortals break through, they would find themselves on our private estates, and if they acted...?" She turned, stepping away from the throne. "Lords, ladies, heed my call. I ask we siphon and stretch, that we make the path longer. Many of our bastions are off their road; if we move quietly, if we move quickly, we may yet take for our own."

For a moment, silence sung.

Then one stepped forward.

Another.

A third...

Winter Lights watched the court move her way. And beneath the glamour of a quietly mourning princess, she allowed a fanged smirk.





"You're sure that Zephyr came this way?"

"Lass, I be sure o' nae thing regardin' the lady he bonded wit'. She be seelie, ye ken?"

Fluttershy brushed aside a branch. "No, actually, I don't... ken. What's seelie mean?"

Seabreeze rolled his eyes, adjusting his perch on her shoulder. "The two kingdoms. Great powers of the court. With the unseelie, at least, ye know to expect hunters and fiends. The seelie, ye can trust naught but their word." He scoffed. "Tis why the Breezies stay out o' the affairs o' the kingdoms. It offers less protection, but at least we need not be watchin' every word spewin' from our lips every second o' every day!"

"Ah." Fluttershy nodded, carefully maneuvering around another root. "But you're... mostly sure Zephyr's in this forest."

"I know the bastion the winter court be usin' is this way. It be easier to track from..."

Seabreeze cut himself off, his antennae twitching as he looked around.

"Hide. Now."

Fluttershy gave him a curious look as she pressed herself against a tree. Her hand brushed against its trunk

Summer has arrived, plainwalker. Ware the wandering other.

and she felt it give with a slight groan, forming a small nook around her.

Mere moments afterward something green and translucent slammed into the ground in front of her. It took her a couple of seconds to realize it was a foot; the thing was as long as her leg, attached to a thick ankle and a knee at double her height. It was soon joined by its pair, the forest floor sinking slightly under its weight.

A faint sound, almost like a sniff, seemed to come above. Seabreeze put a hand to her lips, shaking his head slightly; Fluttershy tried to keep her breathing low and faint, even as the feet fidgeted. An odd clicking noise, like sticks being run across each other, clattered down to them; after a moment, the feet seemed to fade away from sight.

She watched the pits decompress, the surprisingly quiet thump of giant footsteps slowly growing distant. Every muscle in her arms was tense, as her hands clenched.

"...One o' the summer court," Seabreeze murmured. "Wit' a bond o' sound... and winter's glamour."

He shook his head. "This cannae be good. Somethin' must o' happened."

Fluttershy let out a slow breath. "Just to clarify--an invisible giant is walking around the forest."

"Aye."

"Any idea why?"

Seabreeze shook his head. "Nae. But if the summer court be walkin' through a winter bastion, somethin' serious must be goin' on."

With a small sigh, Fluttershy stepped out of the nook and looked around. "Well, we've come this far already... I really should have thought to call the girls before going after Zephyr." She paused. "Actually, I should have called my mother... or anyone. Why am I doing this alone?"

"Oy!"

"I mean, aside from the fairy companion who is very helpful in explaining everything."

"Better, lass." Seabreeze looked her over. "And if I be right... somebody's playin' a game with ye."

"...A game."

"Aye. Probably one o' the seelie--the one what took ye kin, if I nae miss me guess." He shrugged. "Ye be mortal, and toyin' with ye lot is one o' the ways they amuse themselves o'r the eons."

"And what if I don't want to play?"

"Then ye can walk out, but ye won't receive the prize." He sighed. "Which in this case, may well be ye brother."

Fluttershy reached for her phone.

"Don't, lass."

She gave Seabreeze a look. "Why not?"

"Ye saw through that glamour, but that dinnae mean she knows ye did. If ye break a rule, she'll give ye a penalty for cheatin'. Could be anythin'--a wall in ye way, a twist o' ye form, or some warpin' o' ye brother."

Fluttershy frowned, looking down at the giant footprints in front of her. "I'm starting to see why you don't like the seelie kingdom. Is there any way for me to contact somebody without going back and... and losing?"

"...Nae, lass. None that I can see."

She sighed. "Well at least you're here. Come on, let's... hold on."

With great care she stepped into the footprint, leaning down and brushing aside a few leaves. Embedded in the dirt, warped but still recognizable, was Tree Hugger's phone.





"Why is the princess involving the summer court?"

A lean figure looked toward the spindly one. "They are the ones most like to restrain mortals."

"Yes, but of what purpose is that restraint? We've claim to lay on the forest, why need we ensure mortals not intrude?" The spindly figure folded her fingers. "If anything, it attracts more attention."

"It is unlikely they shall true catch the outsiders. For the moment they wander the new border unseen, ready to take only those which wander too close."

"I would believe that were it winter that guarded. But summer? They burn in mind and soul. They will be ambitious, to the point of being blind."

The lean figure glanced around carefully, before leaning in close. "Strewth, it is as you say. Summer is our opposite, and I know not how the princess convinced even a modicum of restraint."

"She has always played all parts." The spindly figure shook her head. "They say her mother was summerborn."

"I've little doubt. Her father would adore... muchness. But at least he was wise in his flamboyance." The lean figure rolled her shoulders. "Still, the summer court has yet to cause issue, even if it is a bold maneuver by her. Perhaps she has gained their respect?"

"Or promised something to their appetites."

"A possibility, to be sure. Alas, without evidence, what can we do but wait and watch?"

"And scheme."

The lean figure chortled. "But of course! That goes without saying, my friend."





She knew the moment she crossed over. Everything looked the same at first, but the grass felt different under her feet, the light speckled glittered in an omnipresent manner, and the air that flowed across her neck-down tasted... lighter.

"Welcome to Fae," Seabreeze murmured. "From here, much changes."

Fluttershy nodded, pulling her hand from the stone and stepping warily away. She glanced at Tree Hugger's phone for a moment, before pocketing it. "Alright. So... basic safety tips?"

"Watch what ye say, and what others say to ye. Exact words are commonplace here. Be wary o' tha critters, too--they can be troublesome fer the Fay, even with our reweavin', and that ye cannae do that makes ye more o' a target fer them. Things are safe round the bastion, tis akin to the other side, but the further ye get the more things will... warp."

"I think I've seen this movie."

Seabreeze snorted. "Lass, ye may be in a story, but that dinnae mean ye can trust that it'll play out like always. Reflections are never the same, especially if they be aware. Stay wary."

"Oh, I will." Fluttershy moved cautiously through the trees, a hand brushing against the bark

A mortalborn dryad? What an interesting anomaly.

and pulling back with a gasp.

Seabreeze nodded. "Aye, the trees are more awake here. Everything is, really. With nae laws but our own, all can become as want, if they be able to stay that way." He tapped his chest. "Will in all sparks, ye ken?"

"I'm... not sure what you mean," Fluttershy admitted, carefully making her way through the forest and noting the various ways it seemed to warp around her. "Do sparks just act on their own or--?"

She gasped as something was smashed through the trees in front of her, pushing itself up with a cackling roar. The thing had a shape made of fire, but there was no--no flame, no smoke, it was as though the fire was contained in the form of a broad-shouldered serpentine form. And the creature that lunged on top of it was similar--it looked like it a six-legged crocodile snake made of water, but the frothy blue liquid didn't so much as drip, even as steam rose from the point of contact.

"Pures," Seabreeze explained simply. "Maybe one spark, maybe a dozen, but all the same." He nodded as the water creature bit a chunk out of the fire one, chomping quickly at the sudden burst of flame. "They're eatin' at each other's raw energy."

Fluttershy winced as the fire creature wrapped its tail around the other and swung it through the tree. "So, um... this is just predator and prey, then?"

"Could be. Could be they want ta merge. Or that they're pals and this is just playin'." He shrugged. "Ye be stronger and weaker then them, in ye own way."

"Oh?"

"If they have their wills disrupted, they will be unwoven. Nonbeing. Ye mortal shell gives ye an anchor, boot it also means ye will is nae as open as they be." He shook his head. "Leave them to it, I say. Pures be unsubtle, and ye be facin' a far more cunnin' foe."

Fluttershy nodded, continuing her trek; still, her eyes wandered to the elemental beasts, engaged as they were in their battle.





Zephyr's hand clenched systematically at his shoulder as he watched the circle still hanging in the air, bound by his own faint yellow lock and showing the image of his sister carefully, cautiously looking around the shifting landscape as she made her way... wherever.

"Why are you so focused on that?" asked the blue-haired girl laboring over the stove. "There's so much more in here then the scry on your sister."

He gave her a flat look. "Is anything more important?"

"Well... that depends on what you mean by important." She shrugged. "Can you do anything that will help or harm her?"

"...I don't think so."

"Then there's no use in worrying. You should be more like the green girl, she's taking this all in stride."

Zephyr's eyes unwillingly moved toward the figure she was pointing out. "Tree Hugger is encased in ice."

"And she's not complaining about it at all." The blue-haired girl clicked her spoon against the stockpot. "I get it, really. It's a big change, and you're still focused on the past. But you're here, now, and what you can do here? That's all that really matters."

"Really. So I shouldn't worry about my family, or my friends, or all the people in the world that might be affected because I was stupid enough to let some fairy lady--"

"Ut-ut-ut!" She pointed the spoon at him. "She's Fay, not fairy. Calling her a fairy is like calling you an animal." A shiver went down her spine. "I learned that lesson quickly."

Zephyr blinked. He took a moment to peer at the girl.

"...How long have you been with her, anyway?"

"Mmmm... I'm not sure. Time in fae doesn't move the same way it does in worlds. There are... twists." She rubbed her face. "I... I noticed I wasn't aging a while ago. I think it might be because the mistress likes how well I serve her."

"Do you like being her... pet?"

"She saved my life.... she taught me so much..." The girl gave him a look. "She's not the kind that beats you if you make a mistake. She's never so much as raised a hand against me."

Zephyr quirked an eyebrow. "Then... why are you so afraid to say her name?"

"I--I don't want to upset her." The girl turned back to the pot. "I was such a monster when she found me, I was so absorbed in my own delusions of godhood, and she... she tore that away. Her words made me realize, I was nothing. Nothing compared to her."

A happy smile formed on her face. "She is glorious. And I am blessed to serve her."

Zephyr flinched.

His eyes moved from her, to the frozen Tree Hugger, and back to the image of Fluttershy. "...I've been such a fool."





Winter Lights tapped the canister hidden beneath her glamour, watching the patterns that wove and slithered through the air in front of her. The fall court hadn't stepped in themselves, but that was easily circumvented; some trade agreements, a few bonds here and there, and she could have her own people work on siphoning through the bastion. Well, so long as they agreed.

Her ascension to the throne had been halted, a brief setback in her otherwise brilliant scheme. That was acceptable; in all honesty, she should have expected such foolishness from the courtesans, bickering and arguing for their own rights. Inheritance was nice, but it wasn't exactly earned. Even if she had respect, she was not respected... yet.

Well, not by her kin. Her pet... there was a different story.

She considered checking on the scry of her bond-partner's sister, if only to laugh at her foolishness, but... it wasn't as though she could do anything, even in the fae. The breezie guide might lead her to the winter court, and then what? Would she threaten to bring her god friend into the realm? An empty promise.

No. There was nothing worth fearing from her. Winter Lights was rising, and soon, she would meet her fate.