Fear Upon The Horizon: Rebirth

When they returned Lolk was no better than when she had left the temple. Spel did everything he could to try and talk to Lolk but she just shut him down with every attempt. Spel was nice enough to spare her interacting with Fact Checker. He grabbed her under her front legs and flew her into her room. Even after being set down he refused to leave. Eventually Lolk got him to leave and he promised to return with something to eat nearer sunset. It didn't matter to Lolk. She lay there on the bed and let the dread wash over her. Strangely the dread was accompanied by the same feeling she had when she'd first arrived. She sighed and felt her eyes start to close, she didn't bother to fight it this time.

It felt like only moments, the fatigue was gone in that time but it was only moments to her. A knock came at the door and she shot up. Outside the window she'd come in, the sun was nearly gone and the orange light of the late afternoon make the room seem like it was about to catch fire. She could smell something, spicy. She wasn't sure what that meant but the hungry thing had returned and it was making her mouth water. The knock came again.

"Enter." she said sitting up.

The door opened and Spel's orange head poked in. "Somepony seems well rested."

"I suppose." Lolk said not quite sure what he meant, but it sounded like a compliment.

"Hope you're hungry, 'cause I know I can't eat all of this myself." Spel entered fully now and the sound of something sizzling was instantly apparent.

On Spel's back, she could see two plates stacked high with something roundish with a white-ish brown handle on the back. The whole thing glistened and steamed as he strode over to the table next to the the bed. With the same precision as his sister that morning, or afternoon, set the tray on the table. Lolk got out of the bed and sat on the side of the table closest to the bed. What made her uncomfortable now was that he was setting up not only for her but for himself.

"I wish to be alone Cave Diver." Lolk said feeling her mouth water at the sight of the food in front of her.

"Well Sis' got the fort held down so I thought you could use the company, even if you don't know you do." Spel said pouring a red liquid into two challises. "Hope you like it, 'cause it's all we got."

"What is it?"

"Wine."

"Oh I like that!"

"Uh huh. So what happened in the temple? Did the Mother not talk to you?"

"No… She did…" Lolk out of some instinct, picked up the brown thing in a hoof. "She told me she wouldn't let me come home."

"Oh… I'm sorry Lorthalis."

"Y-You can call me Lolk if it's better for you."

"Okay, Lolk. Well… Since you're not goin' home, why don't you stay here?"

"What would I do? All I have ever known was well…. " Lolk sighed and took a bite out of the brown thing and she lost all track of her thoughts.

"You could work here. Sis might not like you much but I bet she'd appreciate the extra hoofs around here. Especially a unicorn."

Lolk had to drag himself away from the extraordinary feeling of her tongue tingling and the…Staly taste of the thing she was eating to figure out what he meant. She was sadly far too distracted by the taste to really so she had to ask. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well… There aren't a lot of unicorns 'round here mate. Magic would certainly make things 'round here easier on us."

Lolk knit her brow, she knew what a unicorn was but wasn't sure wh- She looked to the polished platter and saw the red horn sticking out from her tall waves of hair. She realized her hair was FAR more ostentatious than she had first thought. There was a dark red lock hanging freely from the rest of the white mane and a few more red stripes in it; two small ones next to one another sticking up in the back and one more that ran behind one of the locks hanging on the front of his face. It fell behind it and curved under it. She turned her head to make sure she actually had a mane behind the untamable beast in front and found it to be simple and short. She was annoyed now.

But being a unicorn… "Uh… My magic does no- doesn't work properly."

"What'd ya mean?" Spel asked taking a bite of his brown thing.

"Well… I tried using it before I got here and it just would not work. I do not quite know why I just can't use it."

"Well we're closed on weekends so maybe you could find something in the library?"

"I suppose…. What is this?" Lolk asked holding up her brown thing.

"Crocodile leg. Good eh?"

"Indeed." Lolk took a bite and smiled at flavor again.

"That's good."

"What is?" She asked with her mouth full.

"You smiling. You 've a cu- nice smile." he said with a smile of his own.

"Thank you. Yours as well." What was that feeling?

She shifted in place as she took a sip of wine. It was strange, she felt like pit formed in her midsection for a split when she said that. It made her feel incredibly uncomfortable. But that faded as they kept eating.

"So tell me more about this place please."

"Yeah! Sure." Spel said seeming elated for the change of subject.