[private] the future's so bright it's burning

[Beldam]

The changes caused by the springtime sprinkle of magic continue to go unnoticed by Beldam - subtly changing her black eyes to ones of obsidian, altering their shine from life to the flat, emotionless dullness of minerals. Obsidian lines the daggers that form at the end of her tail too, but she pays so little attention to that appendage, even if it is flexible enough to reach around so she could look at it. She is still more foal than monster, at least in her own eyes. The spikes along her back are still rounded and less intimidating than they will be in a year or two and there is more of her soft coat showing in places that will once be covered in thick, kretationous armor. The young girl is beginning to understand that she is other - at least in the eyes of her peers. Not many of the other horses she has seen eat the way she was taught by her mother. She hasn’t quite made up her mind yet on whether she should be ashamed of her nature or not and it is with those thoughts fumbling through her head that she stumbles across another filly drinking water (this, at least, she has determined that she shares with all living creatures - which is a relief). Beldam is momentarily transfixed by the play of light and rainbows and when the jewel-decorated filly lifts her head she attempts her best smile. It no longer lights up her eyes the way it once had, thanks to that tricky little gift, but she still thinks it does - still thinks it is so easy to see that she means no harm. “Hi there! I like your rainbows. Can you do that all the time?”

@vallebeth

[vallebeth]

Her hope of finding a companion is just beginning to fade when another voice calls out to her. Her ears tilt forward as she swings her head around to look for the voice’s owner. She is shocked to find the strange creature standing at the creek’s edge. Her blue eyes widen just enough to communicate her surprise, but there is little fear to be found in them. She hesitates, not quite sure what the other means when she mentions rainbows, but then she glances down at the mist swirling around her feet. Oh, those rainbows!

She carefully picks her way across the slick rocks, the memory of her vision still fresh in her mind, and eventually joins the younger girl on the banks. Everything about her is peculiar, from the glistening yet lifeless eyes to the tip of her sharp tail (which has that same polished look as the eyes), but Beth could not care any less. The prospect of making a friend is too overpowering, so she dons her own wide grin to greet Beldam.

“I don’t think so. It’s only happened when I’m near the water so far. But I can do other things!”

Ordinarily, she would not expose herself this way, but she doesn’t want the other girl to feel like an outsider, like she’s the only one with an unconventional appearance. So Beth closes her eyes so tightly, concentrates so fiercely, that her face wrinkles in places that it usually does not. Eventually a small, but thick and dark shadow materializes above her and she opens her eyes, which now brim with excitement. She turns to look and sure enough, where the darkness falls over her back, the glittering ropes no longer sparkle in the sunlight.

Instead, her flesh looks as though it has died and has begun to peel away from the rest of her body. She giggles loudly and, no longer focused on what she is doing, the shadow winks out of existence and her flesh begins to mend itself. She looks back to Beldam, hoping to see her own delight mimicked on the filly’s face.

“Neat, yeah?”

Vallebeth

image by strigif0rme | GIF
@Beldam

[Beldam]

Beldam’s awe of the rainbows isn’t diminished when she finds out the filly can’t do them all the time, just near water. Even a temporary gift like that is beautiful! She’s quite fond of the way her galaxy marking shifts around, but most of the time it is on her face. Her mother quickly tired of the ‘okay now where is it’ game and she couldn’t possibly just stand in the water, twisting around trying to see her reflection all day.

Though she has certainly done that.

She’s excited at the prospect of seeing what else the filly can do and waits with held breath. At first, Beldam is a little startled - and then she is worried for this filly - but when a small giggle escapes the filly her worries dissipate and she’s able to enjoy the moment. She is smiling, a big warm smile, even though there’s no change whatsoever in her flat eyes to actually display it. It encourages her to step forward to get a better look, her prehensile tail flicking a little behind her as she does - eyes wide. She would like to touch that rotting skin, to see if it is just an illusion or if it feels as delightfully gross as she expects that it will, but the shadow passes and the gilded filly is back.

“That is amazing!! I bet you taste disgusting.” This is spoken with a fondness that expresses it as a compliment - which it absolutely is. A true term of endearment - knowing a flesh-eater (even a baby one) is not interested in trying a bite. “Does that happen at night too?”

@vallebeth

[vallebeth]

Her laughter, which had subsided as she’d waited eagerly for the dark filly’s response, returns shortly after it is given. There is a slight touch of wariness layered in the sound, but mostly there is amusement at the idea of tasting the rotted flesh. Such a concept is unfamiliar to her, having no carnivorous tendencies of her own, but that does not stop the intrigue that rises at the suggestion. For a moment, she is so pleased to be making a friend that she considers attempting to wreath shadows across herself once more, just to offer Beldam a quick taste, should the other girl so desire. However, her mother’s panicked voice mumbles incoherently in her mind, so the thought is brushed aside just as quickly as it had manifested.

Instead, she focuses on the question posed by the other girl. “Yeah, it does. I don’t usually show anyone,” she says, as if she’s had the opportunity to show someone other than her mother. Loneliness flashes briefly in her eyes as the little white lie falls from her mouth, but it soon fades and she presses on with a slight tilt of her head, “but I just feel like you’d be someone who might appreciate it!”

Her eyes drift over Beldam’s figure, attempting to fully absorb the unique appearance. Again, she notes the expressionless eyes, but this time she notices the stars sprinkled around them, and she is quite dazzled as their arrangement changes as she watches. Her gaze skips back to the tail that still twitches occasionally behind the filly and before she can even think to stop herself, she asks, rather bluntly, “How come your tail is so… pointy?” She knows that Bible’s tail does not like that, and though her own tail is still exceptionally short, she is pretty sure that hers does not either. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.. have you poked anything with it?”

Vallebeth

image by strigif0rme | GIF
@Beldam