It was night! Oh so dark save for the moon's light trickling along her equally lunar-pale back. She would swear her mother's unicorn blood made her nearly glow in the darkness, but before now it had always meant the shadows within a forest. Only the shadows. It was night now, and for the first time in her entire life, the moon kissed her hooves.

She was from a world where being a unicorn was far more than having a dull ornament lodged within one's skull. They were the keepers of the Magic, all of the magic. They were grace and power, immense power. And they only passed it on through other unicorns. Any and all faulty mistakes were killed at birth.

She was one such disgrace. Living and breathing now only due to her mother's cunning determination. She'd refused to allow a child made from true love to be murdered, and defied the laws of the ancients. And so, Münfaede was enlisted into a life permanently on the run from those that would enforce the death sentence that should have ended her before she began. What a life. She was a bastard, a filthy mutt that should not even exist.

But here she was, in this new world. Beneath a starlit sky. And whole! The powerful unicorn's magic was kept solely within their species with good reason. It was within her, permanently out of reach, but corrupted. It mixed and mingled with her sire's genes, and created the abomination that she was.

Until now, she had been cursed to take the form of the fox as the moon began it's ascent into the heavens. Always at night, each night. And like the myths of were-beasts, it was slow and painful. Excruciating. Either from the pain, or a part of the curse, she would lie vulnerable and disoriented for a time after, blinded by bewilderment and temporary memory loss.

As a child, her mother had branded her name within her mind. It was the first thing she could ever remember when coming out of her cloud of confusion. Moonfade. Her mother told her it was so she would always remember: she was in her true form when the moon fades. By dawn, each and every dawn, she painfully returned to the form of a unicorn.

But only a scar marked where her horn should have been, had she been of pure blood. Her thick forelock covered her secret, carefully concealing her from those that would hunt her. It was thick and matted from living alone all her life, and her sides were thin and malnourished. Horses were not meant to live alone. Without her nightly hunts on rodents, she was thinning.

Tonight, it couldn't dampen her mood. Because it was NIGHT! She'd raced across the meadow, a streak on the land like a swift comet. But the forest was always her home, a creature of habit. She wouldn't fit in a den any longer, but it was here that she had once thrived, haunting through on silent little paws.

She halted suddenly and listened, sensing something.. off. Silver eyes wide, ears forward and alert, she held as still as the frightened hare she had once hunted. Whatever was here, was most likely downwind from her, as she couldn't detect it by scent. Her fox's nose had been far better at that anyway. She turned her head towards that direction, watching carefully. However, her fox had better sight in darkness as well, and she was beginning to feel fairly vulnerable.

A blinding white beacon in the torrential darkness.

She could sense it, the fear in the air snaking like a heavy smoke from the forest creatures. Their sudden silence was warning enough, but so gradually she could smell the copper tang tainting the crisp air. Danger. At one time she had also been a predator, though a small and mostly harmless one. But she wasn't now, and her flight instincts forced her into smooth motion. She drifted through as a pale white ghost, trying to walk as quietly as she could but still keep a steady pace.

It wasn't enough. With a snap of a twig at her hind, she kicked out instinctively in fright. A vicious snarl spurred her into movement and she leapt forward. Just as she did, she felt claws pierce her flank as the beast grappled onto her, stealing away her chance at escape. She ran anyway, or tried to. The dense forest made it impossible to pace anything more than a shuffling speed-walk, and she was quick to realize the futility of it.

She stopped suddenly and threw her hip against a tree, trying to smash the beast's leg or at least force it to release his grip on her. Blood from the lacerations on her rump painted the rough bark with her scent.

OFF! she demanded uselessly, knowing wild animals could not understand her as they could her mother. She hoped the sharp command in her voice would be enough to break through its feral mind, but aside from gaining physical freedom, she had no idea what her next step would be. She couldn't run in this thick forest. She wouldn't make it back to the Meadow before it took her down for its feast.

The milky white mare spun around quickly to meet its eyes. She would have to hope heavy hooves would be enough against this fanged predator, as she readied herself in a loose stance. Prepared to dart to either side, she leveled her silver-grey gaze on him with wide eyes. Fearful determination met his hunger boldly, trying to predict where he would strike next.