You head with Nick into downtown, to the building with soft thumping music coming out through the thick walls. A stern guard stands watch in front, arms folded. He glares at you as you come up. "You ain't on the list," he begins without prompting. "Get lost."

Well, shoot, that was fast... "Razzamatazz said--"

"Oh." He huffs and steps aside. "Head on in. What happens in the Masquerade stays there."

Nick chuckles at that, staying close at your side. "Alright..."

You feel like you're the one playing guard, leading him inside past the scary doorman.

Inside feels like a charged but grungy punk sort of place. Most people are chatting quietly with each other, easily going unheard over that loud music.

"You look lost." A sauve looking 30'sh year old man has you fixed with a look. "Where'd you wander in from?"

Nick pulls you back, suddenly brave. "We're looking for some twins."

"Only one of me," laughs the stranger. "World couldn't handle two."

Working on impulse, you flick your vision from normal to spirit. Oh... The entire place feels like the back room of a slaughterhouse that should fail every health code they had and cause a few new ones to be drafted. The man, previously handsome, was covered in bugs and rot. Nothing in that place looked... good.

An icy shudder runs through you as your spirit sight reveals the true macabre nature lurking beneath the club's stylish veneer. The once-handsome stranger is a horror of decay, the lively patrons now ghouls and spectres.

Swallowing back dread, you maintain a neutral facade. Whoever these monsters are, they clearly wish to remain hidden. An unwise place to cause offense.

"Apologies, my companion misspoke," you say evenly. "An associate of Razzmatazz suggested we meet someone here. The farseer twins?"

The bug-riddled figure smiles widely, displaying a distinct lack of decay befitting the rest of him. "Razzmatazz, is it? Haven't heard that name in an age. You've caught me intrigued..."

He sweeps an arm towards shadowy booths along the back. "Seek the silver mirror. The twins will know what you seek." He leans closer, and you smell earth and centuries-old bone. "Do return and regale me with your story sometime, my dears..."

Skin crawling, you steer Nick wordlessly towards the booths. He glances back with an uneasy chuckle. "Friendly fellow." At the booths, patrons leer hungrily through you. One wall holds a prominent silver mirror. Nick's reflection shows your true forms - two ponies on guard. "Is this it?"

You nod grimly. What awaits on the other side? With hands clasped, you step forward together... into the unknown.

Nick and you land on the other side, falling to all fours without being asked. The music is gone, the beat along with it. You're in a room that feels like it belongs to a roomy cottage, not part of a seedy bar. "Coming," calls a gentle female voice.

Nick laughs tensely. "Well... we're in it." He flicks his tail with obvious nervousness. "Can anyone walking past that mirror see us?" He turns back to see nothing. There's no hint of where we came from."

"No." A... crone? Is there a better word? She fit much of the sterotypes, wrinkled, mildly monstrous, but entirely friendly at a glance. Even in the spirit realm, she seems harmless. "You only see what you need to see in that mirror, and most of those who come past it have no need for us."

"Do we have guests?" A second pops her head out, but for as old as the first was, the second looked like she belonged in kindergarten. "Ooo, horsies!" She darts around the first to get at you and Nick with a big smile.

You exchange bemused glances with Nick as the unlikely pair appraise you both. The gleeful child and wizened crone seem an odd duo, but one matches the viscountess' description.

"Greetings, honored seers," you say politely with a slight bow. "I am Sally, and this is my friend, Nick. The viscountess Razzmatazz sent us to you."

"Razzmatazz!" crows the younger, clapping excitedly. "Haven't seen her in simply ages."

The elder hobbles over, squinting. "Let's have a look at you dearies..." Bony fingers tilt your chin left and right as she peers critically into your eyes. At last she nods. "Yes yes. Such bright souls behind those eyes...so much unfolding all at once!"

She pats your cheek fondly before returning the amulet's scrutiny. "Curious, curious...does Razzmatazz believe we can unravel this knot for you?"

Unsure, you explain the situation as best you can - the healing, the wings and marks, the veiled senses of destiny. "I confess I'm quite overwhelmed by it all. But the viscountess felt you may offer insight?"

The two confer in whispers before the crone responds. "Insights we may offer, but know that clear answers often lie not at journey's start...only time reveals their shape."

She draws a card from her robes - an image of sunset. "You stand at a threshold, dear one. What dawns next depends greatly on the choices made in this moment."

The child bounces excitedly. "Oh, it's so delightfully interesting! What ever will you do?"

Nick steps forward with a light clop. "Look, I know things are... Wait, do you even know what we are?" He gives an equine snort. "Two little horses just show up and you're alright with that?"

"No." The older reaches to brush one of your wings. "It's not every day a princess comes calling. I'm being rude. Royalty deserves a snack, at least. Do you prefer something sweet?"

You color faintly at her almost babying words. "I'm alright, thanks. Princess?"

Nick curls, as if to protect you with his body. "She's just caught up in this." He hitches. "And it's my fault. I'm... sorry." He looks to you. "I'm sorry."

The little girl suddenly grabs Nick's round equine cheeks. "Aw! Such a good horsie. She needs a brave horse friend or two. Will you stay right by her side?"

Nick blinks in surprise, then gently nudges the child's shoulder with his muzzle. "I don't need to go far to be by her side. And as long as she'll have this pony around, wild horses couldn't drag me away."

He smiles wryly at you. "We already stared down a vampire together. At this point, following you into destiny's great unknown sounds like a heck of an adventure." Sobering, he continues. "But yeah...I don't fully get everything happening either. As long as you want me around, I'll be there with a steady heart and an honest word."

The elder seer chuckles. "Such a noble steed! Small wonder our fair visitor keeps your company."

Clasping your shoulder, she adds gently, "The cards suggest you stand poised upon the cusp of magnificent things, should you seize their tide. But take care - not all that glitters leads toward grace. Discernment must guide blind ambition."

She smiles, patting your cheek fondly. "Yet nobility illuminates your essence, dear one. Stay true to that spirit, no matter the prominence."

You spread your new wings. "Does it have to do with this? Or that?" You direct a hoof at your glowing mark. "I didn't have these before."

The child lunges under your wing, hands on your strange new mark. "It's nice."

"It is nice." The smile on the hag's face was sad. "Too nice... But that is the fate of your kind. Will you share it? Perhaps... you will overcome it."

Nick gently swats the child's hands away. "You have a lot of questions and few answers."

"Yes." The crone leaned back. "It can feel that way, but I've said a lot. Little ponies, you rise together, or fall, alone. Which will it be?" She levels a wrinkled finger at you. "Your crown dangles off one of your ears. Put it on properly, if you wish."

Her words ring with portent, though their meaning hangs obscured. Glancing at your equine ears, no crown dangles there. Yet clearly this is figurative - she implies destiny awaits should you choose to grasp it.

Nick watches you intently as you consider the crone's charge. Whatever this "crown" represents, wearing it means embracing leadership and authority over your people.

Are you prepared for such a mantle? It would be a grave responsibility, yet also profound purpose. Perhaps this moment, this choice, is the true threshold upon which you stand.

The childishly ancient seer regards you with quiet expectancy, as does Nick. The decision of whether to leave the crown dangling unclaimed or seat it firmly upon your brow rests solely with you now...

As the silence stretches, you feel a strange quickening in your pulse. Time seems suspended, with all paths still potential. But it cannot remain so forever - eventually one must walk forward into the unknown, for good or ill.

With a deep breath, you steady your thoughts. The ignorant deride fortune as fickle, but perhaps the wise know her simply shy, awaiting invitation's kind grace to unveil her noble face.

"Can... I think?"

"Think." She waves you away, and you go away, just like that. You hit the ground on a human rump before the covered mirror. People around rise with surprised alarm. The loud music is thumping, and the smell of smoke is in the air.

You're back in the bar, and its residents don't seem pleased to have you or Nick back among them.

Your pulse quickens as unfriendly eyes turn your way. Beyond the decayed glamour you saw before, these spirits seem far from friendly company. Best make a discreet exit before offense takes root...

Rising casually, you extend a hand to help Nick up as whispered speculation ripples around you. He glances about warily but takes your cue, moving for the exit.

You pass the well-dressed spectre from before, his sunken features twisting in a hungry smile. "Leaving so soon? Pity..." As you brush past, his fingers graze your wrist, colder than death.

Suppressing a shudder, you maintain a placid facade. "Another time, perhaps."

The double doors open onto blessed daylight, the club's miasma shut behind. Only when several blocks away do you release a shaking breath. Nick steadies you, brow furrowed. "What the hell was that place?! You looked like you saw a ghost!"

Composing yourself, you choose your words carefully even here. "Let's just say that establishment caters to an...eclectic clientele. I believe the less said of it, the better."

He studies your haunted eyes, then nods soberly. "I think I catch your drift. At least we got what we came for, yeah?"

Rubbing your wrist pensively where spectral digits brushed, you reply, "After a fashion, though I confess their words perplex as much as clarify..."

You trail off, feeling suddenly exposed in this public space discussing arcane matters. "Come. Razzmatazz will wish a report regardless."

As you distance yourselves from that house of decaying vampires, the weight of the seers' opaque prophecy lingers cold upon your mind.

Nick bumps against you. "We never got that snack she was offering, or lunch. I say we get something to eat at least. That place was a total bust."

You can't help but laugh at that. "Seriously, you're hungry?" But the distraction feels welcome. You head off with Nick to get that food. "Seriously though, crown?"

"I'll follow your orders, my liege." He dips his head in a faux bow as the two of you walk towards a corner store offering prepared meals. "Just be gentle, and I'll fight to the bitter end."

"A crown comes with great responsibility...am I truly ready for such a burden?" you wonder silently. To guide an entire people would require immense wisdom and discernment - do you possess those qualities deeply enough yet? Or would embracing leadership now be premature?

You had to make a decision, but that could wait until you picked your choice off the glowing menu over the bored-looking man. Keeping him waiting didn't feel very fair. "I'll take that." You pointed. Would that all decisions were so simple.

Author's Note

Right to the twins. What could go wrong?

Dang it, the vampires came back for an encore. Alright, it's really choice time.

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