//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Rose-Tinted Glass // Story: Cloaked in Comfort // by EpicGamer10075 //------------------------------// This... was never a position Oleander even conceived that she’d be in before. In a fancy diner filled with Reindeer, on a date with a lovestruck clothier, and wearing a bloody dress—one that somehow matched her palette despite it not being made for her. And so, despite all the questions whirring about her mind, she was already quite flushed, and had been since she arrived at the café, entered alongside her date, where they sat down opposite each other upon cushioned seats at a round table, one draped in smooth crimson and lit by a chandelier above them, then finally sputtered out her drink order to the waiter. The tension and awkwardness brought about by the silence that now reigned between the two Ungulates was deadened somewhat by the other voices that bubbled around them, other couples of varying sexualities but the same species being on their own dates, though possibly a bit distracted with the Unicorn inside with them. Though.. whether that was of hatred or admiration, Oleander didn’t know. Perhaps she would be more focused on potentially quite important questions like those if the doe across from her wasn’t taking so much of her attention... Cashmere was wearing a dress of her own, one she had undoubtedly made herself, especially with the colour that was identical to that of her usual scarf, which was still laden over part of her dress. The touching cloths made it clear that they were different materials, the scarf more threadbare and the dress far smoother, further evidenced by how the warm light from around glinted off of it. With the glasses adorning the Reindeer’s snout, it was clear how much she was shaking from the light glinting off their lenses shimmering back and forth; somehow, despite the utter lack of experience Oleander had here, and the general environment being far more tailored to the other Ungulate, Cashmere still ended up being the one that was more nerve-wracked about the whole situation. Not that Oleander wasn’t nervous about this whole thing, but she was more... bewildered and flushed, was all. Velvet had tried to preempt that—quite vivaciously, actually; once she had heard of the date being secured, she had hounded her for hours on etiquette, manners, and romantic endeavors, with pointers about how to use various utensils, the proper respect to give to the staff, and ways to flirt. Needless to say, Oleander was far more uncomfortable with that than her current situation. Especially given how Fred had saved her from it, and managed to sum up the whole thing with; ‘Don’t make a mess, don’t be a dick to the staff, but still be who you actually are. Nobody likes talking with a creature that’s shaved themselves down to the lowest common denominator, except Velvet.’ Even with that comment thrown her way, Velvet was still willing to give her this black and amaranth dress she was wearing at the moment, but still didn’t provide an answer as to where it came from. Still, with the way Cashmere’s eyes seemed drawn to the sleeveless piece, she seemed to like it. Approaching hoof-steps on wood brought Oleander’s attention back to the world around her, and towards the waiter and his Winter Sprite arriving back at their table, the dainty and smartly-dressed buck carrying a silver platter in one of his hooves. Setting the platter down on the side of the table, he took one of the porcelain mugs and spoke, “Black Tea for Oleander,” As he set the mug on the table before the Unicorn next to the silverware resting there, then did the same for the other mug to Cashmere and said, “And Virgin Eggnog for Cashmere. “Now, madams,” He went on in his professional, yet polite tone while his Sprite flipped open a small notepad, “Have you decided on your meals?” With a deep inhale through her nostrils, Oleander telekinetically grabbed her menu—which she had barely even skimmed earlier due to the foreign words inside, and already having an option in mind as recommended to her by Velvet—and levitated it over to the waiter as she replied, “A-a grape jelly ‘Mun-ki’.” With no visible reaction to the definite mispronunciation of that word, the waiter and his Sprite turned to Cashmere, who gave her menu back as well and responded with a faint strain of awkwardness, “My usual, please. But, um, h-hold the glaze.” That did get more of a reaction out of the waiter, who seemed a bit surprised with a raise of one of his eyebrows, but only for a moment as his Sprite noted the treats on their pad, and the waiter’s expression returned to normal where he spoke, “We will be back with your orders in a moment.” Giving a short curtsy, he and his Sprite then headed off deeper into the restaurant. Squinting a bit in intrigue, Oleander looked back over to her.. date—she still had yet to get used to that term—and eyed her curiously for a moment, with the Reindeer seeming to deliberately keep her gaze averted the the intensity coming from the other Ungulate’s crystal-blue eyes while taking up her drink and sipping lightly from it. Shaking her head in bewilderment, Oleander sighed quietly and leaned back into her soft chair, eyes looking over to the windows at the front of the building, where the orange and purple light of dusk could easily be seen in the sky outside. “Question...” She asked, almost absent-mindedly, though paid enough attention to see Cashmere perk up at the word, “Why do desserts seem to be the only thing on the menu, when we are supposed to be at dinner?” Blinking a few times in response, Cashmere righted her glasses and replied tentatively, “E-eh, it’s a.. more figurative, really. ‘Dinner’ i-is just... more synonymous with ‘date’ than.. a-actually meaning that type of meal.” “...Right,” Oleander muttered back dubiously, but didn’t bother pressing it further. Of course, that just left the two back to their continued silence. Flaring her magic to lift her own drink to her maw and more loudly slurrp a portion of it down, finding it oddly soft for Black Tea, then just letting it float in her aura just below her maw, she let out an irate breath through her nostrils; now that she’s had a bit of time to get used to the environment and stop flushing so hard from the doe across from her, the talking of all those other creatures sifting about in the background proved to be more grating than ever. Rather suddenly, she darted her gaze back over to Cashmere, who jumped just a bit at it, her drink sloshing a bit in her mug, then bit her lip and shuffled back just a little in her seat. “Cashmere,” Oleander stated to her, getting her gaze to lock more firmly onto her own eyes, “Velvet was quite adamant that the whole idea of this ‘date’ was for us to talk to each other about... something.” Taking another deep sigh as those cursed shimmering eyes and shaking lenses pointed at her, she continued, “I can’t... fathom what about, with this environment, but...” She shrugged, pointedly gesturing with a hoof for the other Ungulate to answer her implied question. “Oh, r-right...” The Reindeer replied, taking another dainty sip and fidgeting a bit in place, “Well, we are s-supposed to.. get to know each other better, a-and, understand each other’s pasts... what m-makes us who we are.” “Our pasts...” Oleander muttered back, closing her eyes for a moment as she recalled the dark depths her own past has gotten to. “Is this just...” She started, then set her tea back down on the table and took a breath before opening her eyes back up, and leveling a stare at the other Ungulate, “...General things about each other, or is.. the goal of ‘romance’ supposed to be important here? I still don’t really understand what the deal really is...” She trailed off for a moment, taking her eyes off the Reindeer across from her and looking around the rest of them that surrounded her, where she added, “What exactly does ‘knowing each other better’ supposed to help with?” Cashmere seemed to need a minute to think about that, and quietly set her drink back down in the meantime, but eventually returned softly, “There’s no ‘goal’, Oleander...” The Unicorn turning only her eyes back towards her, the nerves in her voice came back somewhat as she elaborated, “I-it’s just a different type of.. r-relationship, really. Romance and f-friendship... They both have understanding b-between those involved, and well, i-it’s just...” She sighed deeply, “It’s just enjoyable, is all.” Rolling her eyes in near-exasperation, Oleander let her eyes flee again and groaned quietly, “Right, right; subjective things... Can never bloody understand you...” Oh, how she sometimes really wanted to go back to a life with a real purpose to it, rather than continue on with vague platitudes for continuing to live... Not that Cashmere was a pain to talk with, but with all of the things she’s supposed to deal with as a ‘normal’ Ungulate, she could never reason with herself about why she would do any of them. “Guess I’ll let you take the reins, then...” She muttered back over to the Deer in assent, taking her mug back and pushing it back up to her mouth before taking another long slurrrp from it. “A-alright...” Cashmere stuttered back, sounding a bit surprised, but then cleared her throat and asked, “Is.. there anything t-that you’d like to know about me..?” Oleander shrugged instinctually, and with some more time passing, hearing another sip from her.. date, she replied casually, “Well, really the only full thing I know about you is that you’re a clothes shopkeeper, so I can really only ask what it’s like in that place.” “Oh,” The shopkeeper in question started, sounding a bit off-put by the dull line of logic aimed at her, but quickly regained some enthusiasm and spoke, “Well, I quite like it. I know you may.. find it rather cramped, especially spending several hours straight in there, but I have things to occupy my time.” Not getting a response other that the Unicorn nodding in acknowledgement, she went on, “I.. do like having a morning trot around town before I settle in, and that’s on the six days I actually spend there, with only four of those where I actually deal with customers. Usually I’m simply working on orders or other products, cutting and stitching together cloth and the like, or reading magazines from other cities to catch on what’s ‘in’ at the moment.” Nodding slowly as the words made their way into her mind, Oleander then paused at one of them, and baffledly requested; “‘Magazine’?” “Mm,” Cashmere grunted, seeming to understand the confusion while she took another sip of her Eggnog, “It’s a small.. not really book, but a pack of papers really, that has catalogues some things that are popular in Reindeer culture at the moment. Popular Deer, stories of all sorts that are making the round, and yes, clothing that’s quite popular at the time. “A lot of my work still is.. custom-made for specific customers,” She continued, her tone mixed, with hints of indirect exhaustion peeking through, “Especially given the unique traits of them. Pomfy needs larger clothes.. Cupid asks for other textiles like, banners and flags, and Vixen requires... other materials.” Both of them blushed a bit, the implication need not elaborated further, but Cashmere shook her head to clear the air a bit and say, “T-there is also what I have to deal with.. with the customers themselves. Those three are very amicable,” She added quickly, sounding a bit anxious as she worried over her words for a moment, then went on, “Well, Cupid is a bit stricter with his stakes, as is Donner with his suits. Blitzen, though, is quite a pain and very arrogant... likes to argue about things...” She tilted her head side-to-side in a so-so manner. “..How about Velvet?” Oleander interjected while turning her eyes back to her.. date, her voice a bit sarcastic at the similarity between the two mentioned Deer, but with some genuine curiosity. Taking a deep breath and rolling her eyes good-naturedly, Cashmere laughed and replied, “She’s... a bit difficult, yes, but is more understanding of what I have to deal with.” Another silent moment passed between them, with both the Unicorn and Reindeer taking another slurp and sip respectively of their drinks, and through it they kept their eyes on each other, faces flushing just a bit as they did so. With her drink clacking back on the table, Cashmere slowly opened her mouth to resume her train of thought, but the sound of approaching hoof-steps turned both of their attention to the waiter arriving again at their table. Settling his silver platter back on the table, the waiter then picked up one of the dishes, setting it before Oleander and next to her silverware while saying, “A grape-jelly Munkki for Oleander,” Before then doing the same for Cashmere’s dish and saying, “And a cinnamon-plum Vínartera, with no wine-sugar glaze,” With that dish resembling a layered cake of sorts. Tilting her head a bit in bewilderment at her dish, which very much resembled a donut, then giving a weird look at the ‘wine glaze’ that wasn’t on the other dish, Oleander looked over to the platter that still held a pair of wine glasses for whatever reason... Looking back up to the waiter, Oleander then planned to give him a polite nod of sorts, but a short gasp from Cashmere pre-empted her, sharply pulling her attention back to her to see the sparkling eyes on her face. “Now, madams,” The waiter spoke, and the Unicorn turned back to him to see the light smile on his face, clearly more genuine than his usual demeanor, “Lady Comet has wished to present you with an addition,” His eyes moved over to Oleander, pulling a small breath from her as she pulled just a bit in her seat, “As thanks for your deeds against the Predators.” With a hoof, he presented his Sprite, who was floating off to his side as usual, but now held in its arms a large bottle of a dim red liquid that was likely wine, its opening sealed by a cork, and its width wrapped in a label in that Winter Sprite language Oleander hadn’t yet managed to decipher. The Sprite then moved over to carefully place the bottle on the table before moving back to its owner’s side, letting both Ungulates at the table eye the bottle itself, one with slightly grim curiosity and the other with wide, starry eyes. “Now,” The waiter then said in a somewhat playful tone, careful to not startle them while he moved both of the glasses from the platter onto the table next to the mugs already present, his Sprite also taking some weird metal.. thing out of its coat and putting it there as well. “Is there anything else I can do for you, madams?” Glancing back at him, Oleander then looked over to her date, who was too busy leaning towards the bottle, utterly taken by it... Shaking her head, she looked back to the waiter and replied tentatively, “No, that’s alright.” Giving a sharp nod and a slight smirk at the state of the other Reindeer, the waiter and his Sprite then turned away and headed back off into the restaurant, leaving the Ungulates at the table alone once more. Of course, that just left Oleander with a bit of confusion as to the bottle, specifically with why some random Ungulate cared enough to gift it to her, why they did so during her date of all times, why they sent another Deer to do it for them, and why exactly Cashmere found it so captivating... “..Cashmere?” She uttered, faint worry in her tone, though mostly just bewilderment. Thankfully, her words did get a reaction out of the Reindeer, making her blink a few times as they found their mark in her mind, then forcing her to shake her head vigorously to clear away her stupour, and finally look back over at the Unicorn across from her. “U-um, s-sorry about that...” Cashmere managed to say, flushing quite heavily in embarrassment while her eyes were unable to look back at Oleander’s own. “I...” She tried to start, but trailed off, with thoughts clearly whipping through her mind, unable to congeal into a full statement. Eventually, Oleander just decided to cut it off by stating quite curtly, “Why exactly were you so interested in that bottle?” The Reindeer’s gaze was blank as it locked onto Oleander for a moment, but then she smiled in mild guilt and realization, and spoke, “Eh, well, t-this vintage is q-quite old and.. v-very rare, so...” She trailed off again, though this time with an implied finish. “So whoever this Comet is clearly appreciates me helping to seal the Predators,” Oleander replied with that very finish, though with a bit of vagueness; sentimentality was never exactly her strong suit, after all. Cashmere nodded in turn, then looked back down to the bottle—only for a second before she sharply looked back up, realizing something. “‘Whoever’,” She muttered, then took in a breath before adding, “Uh, Comet is the.. owner of this diner.” “Oh.” Oleander suddenly found the idea of the wine being delivered to her in such a fashion and at such a time far less vexing. Nodding in comprehension at the comprehension, Cashmere looked back once more at the bottle, staring it in wonder for a short time, but as she seemed to realize that her date wasn’t making much note of it, smiled a bit and gestured to it as well as the odd metal thing next to it, saying, “W-well, you may do the honours..!” Rolling her eyes good-naturedly at the excitement, the Unicorn recalled the tea still floating in her magic and put it back down on the table, before then pulling the bottle over to her and then did the same with the device, but the way it was presented made it seem somehow related to the bottle, and with it somewhat resembling a screw, though with a large.. handle? of sorts on the top. “Um...” Cashmere murmured, getting the other Ungulate’s attention back on her, where she tentatively said, “You.. don’t know how to use that, right?” “...I don’t even know what this is.” “It’s a bottle-opener...” The Reindeer answered, still careful with her words, but sounding very genuine. “It is self-explanatory... Looking back at the supposed ‘bottle opener’, Oleander still couldn’t fathom what exactly she was supposed to do with it. Maybe she could use it to break the bottle, and that would count as opening... Regardless, she had a better way to do it! Setting the stupid screw-thing back on the table, she rolled her eyes at the visible bewilderment coming from her date, and then grabbed the bottle and its sealing cork with separate blobs of magic, then with a quick pressure spell on the latter... POP! crack The swift sound of the cork getting ejected from the bottle, though still held in an aura of magic, was followed up by the faint noise of something cracking, making both the Ungulates at the table start in surprise, then look down at the bottle itself. And sure enough, there around the rim of the opening, was a thin spray of cracks that came down from the opening itself and stretched a few centimeters down its neck. “Hm, a bit too much pressure then...” Oleander quietly noted to herself, then rolled her eyes and muttered more out loud to her date, “Whatever.” Placing the cork on the table, she then grabbed both the wine glasses and filled them one by one, the crimson fluid pouring out and glinting off the light coming from around it, filling the glasses up to about eighty percent of their max volume. Placing the bottle back on the table and awkwardly putting the cork back into its opening, the Unicorn then levitated one of the glasses over to the Ungulate across from her, putting it back beside her mug, while the other glass remained next to Oleander herself, who then finally eyed it with a bit of skepticism before raising it to her maw to take a sip. Instantly, the overripe and very sweet flavour shot through her mouth, and she quickly pulled the glass away from her in near-disgust, but with a bit more of a balanced aftertaste, with what felt like some sourness and bitterness in it. “Hm, it’s alright...” She muttered back, looking at the liquid in the glass as she raised it before her face, but then a sharp spit-take and rough coughing forced it down and yanked her attention over to the Reindeer opposite her. Coughing a few more times, then tilting her head back up see Oleander’s curious and worried gaze on her, Cashmere muttered in return with a mix of disbelief and begrudging understanding, “Y-you haven’t.. had wine before, right?” Oleander shrugged, though kept her gaze on the other Ungulate, still a bit concerned about that coughing fit, but just replied with, “I’ve stolen a few bottles before, but never really cared for the taste.” Glancing back down at the glass in her grasp, she added, “At least, this one is better than the ones I’ve had before.” Cashmere still retained her surprised expression in the peripheral of Oleander’s vision, and only after several seconds of gaping did she close her maw and look down to her own glass of wine. A small portion of it had just been removed by her spit-take, but still... “That’s far more than should be in there...” Oleander snorted and laughed for a few seconds at that, and drowned her laughter with a large and noise slurrrurrrp of her wine, smirking at her date all the while. The even more shocked expression on Cashmere’s face only amused her further, and when finally done taunting her, smacked her lips a few times and stated with laughter still in her voice, “I don’t care.” Cashmere continued staring back at her in shock, but this time it lasted a bit shorter before her lips turned into a smile and laughed somewhat despite herself, eyes remaining locked on her date as a light flush came upon her face. “I—heheh..—sh-should’ve expected that...” She then uttered out, sputtering a bit through her laughter. The Unicorn watched her date with amusement as she kept laughing lightly, and only after some more seconds did she calm herself down and right her glasses. With the calm now returned between them, lightened a bit now because of their laughter, they were free to keep their eyes locked onto each other’s, a pair of tainted crystal blue ones peering into the other rose-coloured lenses that couldn’t help but stare back with a deep passion underneath... Eventually, that passion started to get just a bit unnerving to Oleander, and so she flitted her eyes away, then down to her dish before her, and suddenly she remembered something she wanted to ask. “I.. can’t presume to know what language this thing’s name is...” She begun with a preface, letting the other Ungulate divert her attention back to more than just staring, “But I’m still pretty sure this thing’s literally just a donut.” Glancing down at the dish herself—where the hollow circle of baked bread speckled in white still very much resembled a donut, Cashmere nodded and gave a bit of a weird smile to her date, responding, “Y-yes, that’s basically right.” Giving a slight ‘hmph’ at Velvet deciding to keep that mundanity a secret, Oleander then picked the donut up in her magic and then quickly took a big bite out of it, smiling as she felt and tasted the grape jelly inside burst out at her bite, filling her maw alongside the well-cooked and seasoned bread. “S-so...” Cashmere started awkwardly, picking up her silverware and starting to cut into her.. Vinaterta thing, the solid parts cracking like a biscuit as she did so, “I think I’ve.. said a decent amount about myself...” Pausing her cutting for a moment while focusing on her date, she hesitantly finished, “So... I-I think it’s your turn...” Chewing her bite some more, then swallowing it down and putting the rest of the donut back on her plate, Oleander then peered a bit tentatively at her date, and asked, “..What do you want to know?” Taking in a bated breath while she cut a slice of her dish, Cashmere punched her fork into it and paused, looking into the Unicorn’s eyes and replying, “Your past.” Oleander instinctively took a sharp breath in and averted her gaze, but Cashmere was quick to elaborate, “Um, I mean, just... really what parts of it made you.. who you are now...” Taking a second before looking back into those rose-tinted eyes, Oleander couldn’t see anything other that innocent curiosity... and all things considered, that was the problem. “Cashmere...” She begun carefully, closing her eyes and exhaling a deep, almost somber sigh, and continued, “I don’t think you know what you’re asking for.” Leaning forward and putting her forehooves up on the table, leveling her gaze into the other Ungulate as she spoke, “I know how much you idolize me right now—but I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my past, ones that have... ruined me in more ways than I can properly understand.” Staring back, Cashmere’s own expression became somewhat perturbed by those words, and the weight in them made her set down her silverware, her fork still punctured into a slice of it, and she took a deep breath and replied relatively calmly, “It’s important to you, Oleander... And, I feel like, if we’re going to spend more time together, I should understand.. who you are underneath all the magics...” “‘If’,” Oleander repeated, emphasizing the word. “There’s no guarantee of that, Cashmere, even though I’ll likely remain in the city, and even then...” Sighing, she hung her head and said, “What exactly would that help with? It’s in the past; I’d rather move on.” The table was left in some silence for some seconds, the Unicorn left to ruminate in her thoughts, recalling all of what she had endured, most of it due to her own foolishness, and how she’d only gained any level of happiness with the other Champions helping her to live out of anything but spite. Suddenly, though, she heard the tablecloth rustling, and then felt as Cashmere reached across the table and grabbed her dark hooves with her own dainty pair, making both Ungulates lock eyes as she spoke with an underlying sympathy and passion, “Oleander. Your past is very important to you, and the knowledge of it is weighing on you. Nobody else but Fred understands what you’ve been through, but he, as an immortal, cannot truly get it. “You should feel free to talk about your mistakes,” The Reindeer went on, Oleander staring back with a light surprised flush, “We all make them, and I won’t think any less of you for getting this weight off your chest.” Somewhat distracted by the magic chill of the hooves holding into her own, Oleander had to take some extra time to digest the statement before being able to ponder it; part of the reason she felt better after talking with the Champions was that they understood, and while Fred may not have been able to comprehend mortality, he had been through everything alongside her, so how would a random Reindeer shopkeeper understand her better than any of them?! ...Sighing again, she realized she was being foolish and petty again, wasn’t she? She didn’t want to talk about her past; her own mistakes have haunted her for more than a decade, and it wasn’t so much about Cashmere understanding as it was about Oleander herself just being able to vent. Sputtering out a series of nods, Oleander spoke, “Okay.” Looking up over at her date, she found a blush on the Deer’s face, seeming to have finally realized she was holding her idol’s hooves. Rolling her eyes with a groan, she flipped her hooves out of Cashmere’s hold, settling them back on her seat while the other Ungulate snapped back to attention, looking her in the eyes as she repeated, “Okay.” Taking a second or two to process the single word, Cashmere then nodded frantically a few times in understanding and pulled back to sit fully on her side of the table with a stronger blush on her face, though leaving her date free to herself. “Alright...” Oleander muttered to herself, pulling her eyes upward as she pondered where to start... Well, like there was any better place than this one... “I ought to start with the Order of the Horn.” Glancing back over at the other Ungulate to make sure she was paying attention, she then kept her gaze away as she continued, “I don’t know how much you are familiar with religion, but the Order was... very into it. Nearly aspect of my life was controlled by them—strict regimens for reading, eating, sleeping, and the like—and we were bent and molded to fit these ‘tenants’ they saw fit, all in order to serve this ‘higher purpose’, and attempt to purge all sins and temptations from us. No bullying or stealing, no lying or hiding from your mistakes, and no.. curiosity, as that leads to trouble... as I can very well attest to.” Sighing deeply, Olander pointedly kept her gaze away from the no doubt gaping Reindeer across from her, preferring to look down at the glass of wine still held before her face, and then took a small swig of it before swallowing, and going on, “All of that was to ‘keep us safe from the dangers and trifles of greater Foenum’, as they said... and they were hardly wrong to.” Letting the silence hang for a moment, she swirled her glass about beneath her muzzle, smelling the scent of it wafting up, but still marched forth, “Going back to talk with them after sealing away the Predators helped put some things in perspective for me, and right now... I really can’t say that I was truly deluded into their beliefs back then. I was very much into the Order, of course,” She hastily added, not wanting the other Ungulate to get the wrong idea, “But, yes, I’m pretty certain that it wasn’t just a load of brainwashing. I was safe, and happy then, even if quite restricted by their tenants. I had as much food and knowledge as I needed, and no more... “But that wasn’t enough for me.” Oleander could recall the way she felt back then, and how it differed from the way she wanted to believe the she had felt while on her journey. “They weren’t able to purge my curiosity, and I was always wondering about what else I could learn, what magic was truly capable of without the arbitrary restrictions of ‘Holy magic’. It wasn’t that the Order kept me ‘trapped’ or ‘blinded’—no, I was just a greedy moron.” Sharply looking over to Cashmere, the Dark Unicorn found her looking back with a level of shock, though it was more subdued than she imagined, as instead it was just wide, surprised, and curious eyes... Pulling her eyes back away, then licking her lips and taking another swig of her wine, she then continued her story in a more grim tone, “Eventually I found a cave, one hidden away by glamours and sealed by spells, all made by the Holy magic of the Order. However, they were fading somewhat... Nearly any other Unicorn would’ve alerted the rest and fixed up the spells, but me... I broke them and went inside, just because I was curious of what they were hiding.” Squinting her eyes for a moment, she recalled an important detail that she forget, and looking back to the Reindeer as she was taking a sip of her dwindling glass of wine, she said, “Do note that at this point, I had no reason to ever believe that the Predators were ever going to come back—Fred was the one that told me about that.” Getting a short nod of understanding from Cashmere, she explained, “And thus... I had no reason other that curiosity to buck what the Order told me. “And because of that damned curiosity... I found something they had tried very hard to keep secret.” Letting the wine settle in her glass, she could see her reflection in its deep cerise surface, and the weary conflicted gaze of the tainted Unicorn looked back at her. “The Unicornomicon. An ancient book of cursed magic, created by Dark Unicorns ages ago, then got a Demon sealed into it by their Light opposites, where he remained under the protection of their descendants for millennia to come... until me.” A deep sigh exhaled through her nostrils, rippling across the surface of the wine as she pulled it back away from her face, looking out across the restaurant around her, all the innocent and ignorant Reindeer still just sitting there, not a care in the world for what lay in the Dark Unicorn’s mind... “Of course, the Order swiftly exiled me for obtaining and being tainted by that tome,” She spoke, only to the Reindeer across the table from her, now quite thankful none others were paying much attention to her, “And while I was granted the freedom I so sought, I was left in far worse shape, all things considered. The Glade was the only place I could call a home, and it was hardly much of one, simply living in a cave and foraging about for food... a-and the only knowledge I could get was from Fred, or peeking into other societies...” Looking back down to the wine, Oleander found its surface wobbling in an invisible current, the magic that held it shaking as she recalled those desperate years with no help but for a Demon that only wanted to bend her to his own will... “I...” She tried, but trailed off with another sigh. “Fred may be my friend now, but he was hardly that back then, eager to manipulate me into thinking I was happy outside the Order, and trying to make me indulge him further in sin, but... Foolish as I was back then, I was still quite stubborn. He only got so far before I resisted, and it only a matter of time before I became wise to his tricks...” Sparing another glance at her companion, she could see the perturbed and rather concerned look on Cashmere’s face, though the lack of true comprehension about the depths of what the Demon’s manipulation did to her were still clearly lost on the Deer. Deciding to leave the innocent doe to her thoughts on that part, Oleander continued her train of thought, “It took most of those thirteen years until we really gained the relationship we have now, so thankfully that madness wasn’t compounded when the Predators finally arrived...” Sneering at her own memories of how she acted back then, she took another swig of her wine, and then found that most of her glass had already disappeared down her gullet, making her groan quietly and roll her eyes before magically reaching for the bottle and pulling it over. Reopening the bottle and filling her glass back up to about the seven-eighth’s mark, she took a quick glance back at Cashmere, and smirked at the simultaneous ‘Please don’t do that’ and ‘Oh, you’ plastered across her face, and finally set the bottle back down. “However,” Oleander continued on, pulling her eyes back away from her date, “Despite the ‘purpose’ I had so long craved finally coming and allowing me to do something, I really only got into more trouble. I could never be around other Ungulates for long, always finding them ‘beneath me’—even so with the other Champions... and the Predators themselves were far more of a threat than I believed, leaving me injured quite a few times, and even killing me on a couple occasions. Thankfully, Fred kept that from sticking.” Taking yet another swig of her wine, Oleander started to feel a bit tingly in her head and oddly warm in her chest, and a faint gasp escaped her maw from the sudden onset. Taking a couple seconds to recall what she just spoke and how it could be interpreted by the simple clothier across from, she nearly smacked herself as she realized that death isn’t something most can just brush off. Shaking her head and trying to clear the weird fuzziness, she turned to look at Cashmere with the intent to ensure that the doe knew that yes, she has died before and, no, she didn’t much care for it. But, the way that the Reindeer looked back at her, head pulled back just a bit with her snout scrunched the tiniest amount from her worry, and with the glasses adorning that very snout and highlighting the inquisitive, wary, and passionate rose-coloured eyes behind them... For some reason beyond her comprehension, Oleander found herself unable to look away, her throat closing up with... anxiety? and preventing her from speaking. Eventually, though, Cashmere tilted her head curiously, the rest of her face gaining that expression, and it managed to snap the Unicorn out of her fuzzy-headed stupour. Shaking her head again, she muttered back while pulling her gaze away, “S-sorry...” Retracing her thoughts, she nodded and started again, “It.. took a while for me to realize how powerful the other Champions were, as well as the damage the Predators were causing onto innocent Ungulates. I know Stronghoof—” She pointedly glanced back at the Reindeer, “—Your uncle, was one of the main things keeping Reine safe, but other places weren’t so lucky. But, once I truly learned about... all of that, all of us Champions agreed we needed to work together to stop the Predators, not just picking fights with each other because we thought we were the ‘righteous one’ to seal them away, or whatever. “I was still the most distant out of them all, of course...” She went on, pulling her forelegs up and leaning them on the table, feeling a tad dizzy at the moment, “They may have liked bantering over campfires or... training with each other, but... I always preferred being alone. Studying, researching.. thinking..... They kept trying to get me to open up, Velvet liking to bother me, Arizona being all curious and dumb, Paprika... being Paprika, and Tianhuo.. being a bit of an asshole, but at least she was honest about it. Said ‘my isolation was only hurting myself’ and... I ‘wasn’t the simple hero I wanted to be’, as I was ‘only on that quest out of a duty to help others’... “She was right.” Oleander scoffed, scowling at her previous self and hanging her head somewhat. “I hated her for that back then, for.. knowing better than me, but.. how wouldn’t she? I’m a bloody filly living in the middle of the woods, my only friend a literal Demon, and she.. an experienced veteran of martial arts, military defence, war strategy, and a bunch of other things.” Peering down at her donut, only a single bite taken out of it and begging for more, Oleander didn’t feel any appetite to do so, and just looked off across the diner, back towards the windows where the dusk shown through, and she went further on in an almost whimsical tone, “And so, through their bothering, I slowly succumbed to their friendship, becoming better at understanding others and sympathizing with them, and managing to understand that my whole quest was initially borne from a selfish desire to prove myself, but only then pushing past that desire to truly serve out of a duty to help others...” Laughing a bit at the thickness of her sarcasm, she finally finished her story with, “And then, we banded together to seal the Predators back from whence they came, and we all went home, but I... was now left without a purpose.” Turning her eyes back up to see Cashmere still fixated on her every word, and absent-mindedly taking another drink of her nearly-empty wine glass, Oleander saw again the passion crystalline rose of those eyes and—sharply pulling her gaze away, she spoke almost timidly now, “All of us talked about what we were going to do after everything... All the others wanted to go home and return to their normal lives—to a degree, anyway—but, as for me... Velvet invited me to stay here, but Tianhuo knew it would be a good idea to first go back to the Order so I could... reevaluate what I ought to think of them. I had always thought they were the bane of my existence back then, hiding from the Predators and forcing me out because I wanted to do something about them... “Of course, it still took nearly dying once more from marching through a blizzard out of spite and fury to actually calm down and reflect about them,” She added, scoffing and scowling at herself. Shaking her head, she paused and looked up, rolling through all of her story to recall if she may have missed something, but then just shrugged and said, “That should be it. My life in a few thousand words.” Rolling her eyes, she gazed back to Cashmere one more times, and saw... admiration? Tilting her head, she prompted of her, “Well?” “O-oh!” The Reindeer gasped as she started out of her stupour, shaking herself and flitting her eyes about for just a moment as she regained control of her body. “W-well, um...” She tried, looking back at her date, “I... don’t even know what to say...” While the words alone may have humoured what Oleander would’ve imagined another Ungulate would’ve thought about everything she had done, something about the way it was said put her off... “Try,” She uttered simply. Staring back as the Dark Unicorn fixated her eyes upon her, Cashmere gulped, and then replied breathlessly, “You’re incredible...” Oleander pulled back in surprise at those words, but there was still more to come; “You’ve pushed through so much pain to get here, Oleander... Fighting past everyone that dared to try and stop you, and even.. dying..” She gulped again, her face a bit pale for a moment, “And in the end, still admitting when you were wrong and saving us all...” “..You really think all of this that simple?” The Unicorn questioned back, her tone firm as she eyed the doe across from her. Sighing, she figured, “Your infatuation with me is clouding your judgement, making you ignore my mistakes. Don’t forget that I nearly DIED trying to get here!” She ended with a light shout, pounding a hoof onto the table to punctuate it, uncaring for how it jostled everything on top and brought some glances from others in the building around her. “I know...” Cashmere replied, sounding a bit afraid and oddly.. excited, “But it’s still i-impressive, and you’re a good Ungulate now.” Oleander scoffed in return, glaring down at the Reindeer across from her. “Oh, shut up, idiot. You only care about me because of how stupid you are, as it ought to be clear that I am also pretty bloody stupid, and don’t deserve anyone caring about me!” That got that excitement out of Cashmere, making her avert her gaze while she begun to shiver just a bit, and as she pulled back and took off her glasses... were those tears forming in her eyes? “B-but...” She could only sputter helplessly while Oleander watched her with bewildered curiosity, “I-I still l-love you...” Oleander felt her face flush despite herself, and she forcibly retained a disinterested expression while watching as the Deer sunk her head to the table, resting her face in her floof and quietly sobbing. For a few seconds, her eyes remained on that heart-wrenching image, and she felt her gut turn at what she had wrought, but as she shook it off and flitted her eyes about, eventually landing on the bottle of wine. And slowly, the gears in her head turned... A loud, sharp inhale of breath went through her nostrils as she realized; “We’re intoxicated.” After a moment, she could see Cashmere’s head nodding in agreement while she kept her face against the table, and Oleander almost laughed out loud as it all became clear to her; their emotional states and increased infatuation with each other, lingering stares and the like... it was all because of that damned wine! Perhaps such an outcome was even planned by that Reindeer who sent it to her—Velvet had already set such tactics as a precedent... “Get up!” She then shouted at her date, grabbing her head in her magic and wrenching it upward it make her sit back up, “You’re making an ass of yourself!” Scoffing as she looked back into those tear-stained eyes, she shook her head and looked away, muttering back, “You usually aren’t this... confident or gay...” “Mmm...” Cashmere murmured as she raised her forehooves to wipe her eyes, “Is the alcohol... it lowers inhibitions...” Oleander knew the words, but the context... “What exactly does that mean?” Instead of speaking, Cashmere just let her hooves fall away to look at her date, and her expression looked both guilty and lustful, and for some reason, it felt ominous...