Cloaked in Comfort

Chapters

Prologue: High No More
Chapter 1: Blizzard of Emotions
Chapter 2: Warming Up Anew
Chapter 3: Rose-Tinted Glass
Chapter 4: Shattered Boundaries Betwixt

Prologue: High No More

In those few moments, there was nothing, yet there was everything.

The booming, deafening noise that bore no texture, and brilliant, blinding light that was naught but a void of colour.

But only for those moments before it all swiftly retreated, leaving echoes and reflections behind amongst the crystalline cave they stood within.

There was already some light before, honourable flames and dark auras helping where ancient torches couldn’t, but now it was more visible than ever; the six mortal Champions and their companions strewn about the cave, and the phantasms they fought now ceasing to be, with that which gave them power sealed away shredding them asunder into the the winds of magic that wafted through this place.

The Hold was sealed, and the Predators were defeated. The Champions had succeeded in their mission, and now…

They were all simply left in dead silence.

The light had faded, that which already was before the reckoning of the Predators having been weakened by the battle, so those that remained were left to look amongst each other, not a word leaving their maws for some time between a moment and an eternity.

However, it was eventually broken by the faint sound of pitiful whimpering.

Pom was the first to react, eyes immediately darting down to one of the four small pups near her, and she cried out, “N-nae, Ruff!”

With the silence broken and their attention now brought onto the wounds that covered them all, Tianhuo was swift to regain her lead. “Oleander!” She called out towards the dark Unicorn from her position right before the Hold, having been the one to seal it with the Prophet’s Key. “Summon back our supplies!”

Oleander sharply reacted to the first statement, looking all the way across the cavern at the Longma amidst the ancient temple-exterior-like wall where the Hold was placed, and she herself had to gasp out a pained breath, having just been crushed underneath a massive phantasmal tail. At the second statement from the Champions’ leader, she shook herself and flared her magic, letting it flow through her horn so that the appropriate pocket dimension was reached into and the large and well-organized bag of medical supplies and high-nutrition foodstuffs was retrieved. Holding it aloft in her magic, the Unicorn tossed it forward a great distance as the half-Dragon darted forward on a flap of her flaming wings and caught it.

With her senses returned and attention back off of her, Oleander couldn’t help but let herself relax into the cool, rocky ground. She felt the hot bruises on her underbelly almost sizzle at being compressed so, and the arcane lacerations across her coat spark with the waves of magic that wafted invisibly through the cavern, though she didn’t care for any of them.

She was exhausted, and besides, she had her own companion to help with her wounds.

“Grnnh!” She grunted out as she felt a familiar dark claw rest upon her withers and the pair of thin scars that tore down her side there. “Nnaaaghh…” She groaned, feeling the darkness leaking into her pores and surging them with life, making them regrow the flesh and fur that was slashed away, all while letting the darkness that sat within the wounds itself to get sucked into the even darker arm that reached out from the tome that rested open upon its spine on the cave floor.

The Demon that dwelled with the Unicornomicon did not speak; a rare treat for Oleander, really, and one she especially appreciated at that moment with the exhaustion weighing her down so heavily. She could still hear the sounds of her fellow Champions, Tianhuo and Pom tending to the others’ wounds first and their own last, but they left her to her own thoughts for the time being.

As for those thoughts though… She may have found them more terrifying than they beasts they had just vanquished.

After all, those beasts were the reason she had fought so hard for so long, with thirteen years of her life—that was only just more than twice that long—lived under a pact that was only now satisfied. Beyond the fighting, her life was made of simple spite, with no given reason to care for the trivialities others may have found so attractive, and the threat that always loomed over her kept pushing her forward at all costs.

Now, she had nothing. No cursed pact to seal a Demon by her side, no reason to keep pushing for more knowledge and power, no threat she could always use as a reason to push back a suggestion of having fun… and no drive to do anything now, as her purpose had been fulfilled.

The loudening clops of hooves alerted Oleander that someone was approaching, and the tamed crackles of flame told her who exactly it was.

“You did well, Oleander, and the entirety of Foenum cannot thank you enough for your help,” Tianhuo spoke to the Unicorn, who wasn’t able to lift her head after the pain of her healed wounds.

“Hmph. And me?” Fhtng—or rather, Fred—replied in his cursed voice in place of her own silence.

A beat passed, the Longma no doubt looking over at the open tome, its amaranth pages glowing humourously, before she said, “You have proven your worth beyond being a Demon, Fred.”

“Ah, a glowing review, I see,” He tutted back playfully, and Oleander could hear the roll of his not-even-physical eyes.

Another beat, then Tianhuo addressed the Unicorn, “…Oleander.”

Blinking a few times so that her vision could return to her focus, she saw the jade hooves of the hybrid before her, making her look up towards the face of the creature that owned them. “What,” She uttered out, not able to afford even enough energy to make it a question.

The Longma kept her gaze upon the other Ungulate for a time, then spoke measuredly, “What will you do now?”

Oleander blinked a few more times in bewilderment, needing to process the question as coming from notoriously pragmatic creature before her, but then her gaze fell as she comprehended it. “...Good question...” She muttered out half-heartedly, knowing just how little the answer mattered to herself, “Probably go back to the Order and take them over or something.”

“I know it matters to you more than that,” Tianhuo responded without a pause, making Oleander grumble into the ground and Fred snort.

Neither needed to comment as to why that was so, but the Longma did follow up, “This is why I asked, Oleander. You see no reason to remain in this world, as your logic-driven reason does not understand the subjective reason the rest of us live for.”

The Unicorn pulled in a sharp breath through her nose and glared up at the other Ungulate, but her will quickly faltered as she recalled how Tianhuo had explained how she already knew her servitude to her Empress had no ultimate goal, yet didn’t need one like Oleander had believed.

“I believe finding a place to live beyond that empty glade and the callous Order would be a good start,” Tianhuo stated, pulling the other creature’s attention back up to her face, “No doubt we all could host you and our people would welcome you, though I am aware most of our homes will not be to your tastes. Paprika’s highlands are hardly a home, and Huoshan would leave you delirious from the heat; Arizona’s prairie are of, as you described them, ‘bloody illiterate morons’—” A snort came from Oleander, and Fred laughed for a moment, “—And Pom’s meadow is full of those that may fear you more than the Predators. So...” She trailed off, letting the only remaining place unspoken, and a deep sigh came from the Unicorn.

“I don’t think I can make a living amongst snooty Reindeer that charge a thousand salt for a bloody hat.”

The Longma sighed lightly; “You know Velvet is somewhat an outlier, and that price the upper end of Cashmere’s stock.”

“And you can make out with Cash; she still oughta have that crush on you,” Fred added helpfully from the side.

“Oh, shut up,” Oleander shot back in exasperation, glaring over at the Unicornomicon for a moment, then back over at the Longma.

“Regardless of it all,” Tianhuo added carefully at the Unicorn’s look, “I do still recommend you first return to Order and speak with them. While you are unlikely to persuade them, you can still achieve closure on your past.”

Rolling her eyes and sighing, Oleander could only return, “And how do you think that will happen? We’d only get into an argument, and I’d probably end up killing a bunch of them.”

“Not like that’s a bad thing,” Fred commented, a hint of undying fury seeping into his voice and the glow of his eyes, “Good riddance for their ancestors sealing me in a damned cave for so long.”

“Nor were they of any objective use,” The Unicorn added pointedly towards the other Ungulate, “So I hardly imagine I could feel any regret for ending them.”

Tianhuo’s expression was more pensive, and she exhaled before responding, “I can understand that much, but sparing them is not what I ask of you.”

“Good.” “Good.”

Oleander and Fred’s voices came out in concert, and they both laughed amongst themselves a bit as they realized the implication that amongst all their differences and their changes on their quest, that was still something they could agree on.

The Longma noticed it as well, and sighed. “...Though perhaps I should,” She added tentatively, but then closed her eyes for a moment, took a breath, then opened them back up to look at the others. “The years apart have no doubt eroded your memories, Oleander,” She addressed the Unicorn in question, “And you must speak with them once and truly understand why you shouldn’t be living there, not just accepting the belief you imparted onto yourself all those years ago. I cannot possibly know the true reasoning behind their exile of you or the reason you were so invested in darkness, but you can, if you try to find it back there.”

Oleander ‘hmph’ed at the idea, but assented to it with a shrug, as she knew she had somewhat idolized those moments of her past as a clear picture for what rules she should follow at all costs and which to buck off a cliff.

Silence returning between the three creatures, they were free to notice the four sets of approaching hoof-steps (and six of paw-steps) and the accompanying voices between their owners. Turning their gazes to those in question, they noticed the bandages across their forms and the rips and chips on their accessories, but also the conversation that they beheld being light in spite of it all.

“...so Cupid just asked, ‘Vhat’s with all zee frosting, Veexin? I deedn’t know you vere a baker,’ and Vixxy just leaned back and,” Velvet leaned her head back and sighed dramatically, going on through her conversation with the three other Champions near her, “She said, ‘I don’t need to bake a pie, Cupeed; zis frosting vill be going on yours.’” The Reindeer grinned while others responded in their varying tones; Arizona with a befuddled head-tilt, Pom with a shocked and hearty blush, and Paprika and Linen, Velvet’s Winter Sprite, with high-pitched giggles.

“Wait, you ain’t say nothin’ a pie ‘fore that...” The Cow replied, sounding genuinely baffled at the supposed non-sequitur.

Velvet grinned even harder and laughed, raising one of her hooves to tousle with the younger Ungulate’s mane, making Arizona puff her cheeks out in a pout. “Oh, deer Ari,” The Reindeer replied mockingly, leaning down to speak into her ear, “You vill understand vhen you are older.”

The Cow groused and swatted the hoof off her head, tersely muttering back, “Ma ‘n pa have been sayin’ that fer a bunch of stuff already! Ah don’t need ya addin’ to the herd!”

Laughter passed between the three other Ungulates near her, with Pom a bit more stifled as she kept her bandaged dogs reined in, but they all calmed down as they arrived before the two remaining Champions.

“Hm,” Velvet grunted as she observed the faint marks still lingering on Oleander’s body, “I vould ask for zhat healing as vell, but I already know it vould be worse...”

“You have no idea...” Oleander scoffed back, pointedly looking away from the citizen of Reine.

Letting a beat pass, Tianhuo then asked of the others, “I take it you will all go back to your homes when we get out of this place?”

“Yeah,” Arizona replied somewhat enthusiastically, but it faded into exhaustion while she continued, “Been away from ma ‘n pa fer a long time, and Ah don’t really like walkin’ ‘round caves like this.”

“Of courze, of courze,” Velvet returned, standing up as high as usual, “I simply muzt return to Reine and get zhis flith off of me, and be praized as I should be.”

Sarcasm and amusement rolled through the other Ungulates for a short while, but then with the silence returning and the next implied turn belonging to Paprika, she just let out a short few chirps and purrs. Velvet’s eyes nearly rolled up all the way into her head in a silent groan, though Fred let out a chuckle and a garbled... noise out of his pages, to which Oleander promptly smack him with a hoof in the front cover. “Ow, okay fine, I’ll stop!”

Snorting, the Unicorn let the group’s attention then go over to Pom, who smiles nervously at it and stutters her answer, “I-I jus’ wanna live with my doggies in peace, ‘s all...”

“And for you, mizz wings-of-fire?” Velvet asked of the Longma in her most neutral tone.

“I will indeed go back to Huoshan; my presence as the Captain of the Royal Army is needed,” Tianhuo returned, sounding as dutiful as always, yet now with a bit of wistfulness in her voice.

The Ungulates had their usual reactions of bemused respect, but Oleander was soon to cut them off with a heavy sigh. “And I shall be headed back to the Glade to beat up High Priestess Lovecraft. Then...” She sighed, even heavier than before, and with a look from both Tianhuo and Fred, she continued, “I’ll probably move to Reine for a time. Don’t have anywhere else to live, after all...”

As expected, Velvet grinned and replied haughtily, “Oh? I don’t suppose zhat it’s because of moi?”

“Please,” The Unicorn sneered, “You’ll sooner find Cashmere macking on me in a back alley.”

“I like that visual!”

Smack!

“OW!”

Author's Note

I’m definitely interested to see how this story goes.
I’m used to experimenting a bit with how I write, but this one is quite important, as I’m testing how I can schedule a story being written, like how so many other longer-form fics have been done so.
As such, I’ll be attempting to release this story in four chapters (plus this prologue) on every Saturday, with a more contained length per chapter and a better plan going into things.

A couple extra notes; High Priestess Lovecraft was always a character existing in Oleander’s backstory, but we didn’t get her name until recently. I likely still wouldn’t have included it if I didn’t feel that she’d be relevant here.
Similar idea with Linen, but they aren’t actually named anywhere. They likely do have a name, as with Cashmere’s Cap and Stronghoof’s Vetr, and given how relevant they’d be in the future, I believe it’s good for them to have a name.

Chapter 1: Blizzard of Emotions

Once more, a void was out to consume Oleander.

The one before was brief, but this one was eternal and all-consuming, not a moment spared from the agonizing white all around her, its freezing winds biting into her fur and tearing away her dwindling energy. She had long grown numb to the pain of this cold, and that made it yet more difficult to plod through the ever-deepening snow, which must’ve only been possible by Fred’s dark tendrils sinking into her legs and forcing them along, but she couldn’t be sure as she couldn’t even feel her legs.

She knew well this could’ve been avoided by waiting it out; both of them knew it was coming, after all, and Fred had insisted in a tone she’d rarely heard from him to stay put, but she pushed on regardless. She hardly wanted to stay longer near the Grove than was needed, and she had found herself in the depths of the Tundra before the blizzard even begun, and her usual spite and stubbornness kept her from simply teleporting until her horn was too frozen over to do so.

The frigid cold slowing her thoughts certainly didn’t help, either.

Oleander’s mind slowly fell back to that damned argument with those endlessly-damned fools, and the one she still couldn’t tell was a puppet master or a puppet herself.

“You could at least show some respect for the Ungulate that saved all of your useless lives,” She stated towards High Priestess Lovecraft, who was staring back as dispassionate as always behind her alter.

“Your existence is no boon to us, Tainted One,” The ‘Holy’ Unicorn spoke, her composed words echoing through the large and nearly desolate temple, “The Predators cannot penetrate this Sacred Grove, protected by the Holy magic we alone hold.”

Oleander scoffed at those words. “You alone, hm?” She bit back, the ‘above-thou’ tone she’s always had directed at her now coming from her. “Don’t you have any care for other Ungulates? Ones with their friends, family, and loved ones getting ripped to shreds by these same very Predators?”

“Our Order is not to interfere with other societies of Ungulates,” The High Priestess replied as calmly as possible through her composure, “We are to be sufficient on our own means, as are they.”

“So all nations ought to be only out for themselves, huh?” The other Unicorn retorted sarcastically, sneering at the ‘good’ Ungulate before her, “Surely you know what happens from that belief; even the pettiest of resource squabbles can turn into wars.”

Lovecraft closed her eyes and sighed. “Do not speak to me as if I am unaware of the connotations of our ideology.” Looking back, and nearly glaring at the cursed Unicorn multiple steps down from her, she scathingly stated, “Other Ungulates only fall prey to these wars by the dark impulses of fury and greed within them. We have purified ourselves of such emotions, and as thus, have no stake in the foolish battles those tempted by darkness are to fight.”

Oleander paused for a moment, examining the words. “No ‘stake’?” She muttered out, incredulous, “Do you really think being devoid of emotions makes you more deserving of life that everyone else? And—” She went on, not allowing the other Ungulate to reply, “Even then, that’s not a life anyone cares to live. You may have purged yourself of anger and lust, but you’re also incapable of feeling other emotions like, I don’t know, happiness!”

The Pure Unicorn’s eyes fell to the floor, and she slowly shook her head. “You do not understand... Being cursed by the Demon has rent purity from you, Oleander, and you cannot anymore comprehend our Sacred Duty.”

“Please,” Oleander scoffed once more, her deadpan gaze leveled at the so self-assured Ungulate, “I have no idea what ‘duty’ you could be serving by being so damned callous, but I still know that the Longmas also have a sense of duty, and for them, it both makes sense, to serve their nation with honour, and hasn’t rendered them emotionless and uncaring for others.

“I may have thought I was better than you before,” She went on, her tone growing composed and assured, “But now I know I am. I actually care for others,” She stated, glaring evenly at the other Unicorn, “I’ve fought tooth and nail to save them from unfair deaths,” She spat, stomping forward a few steps towards the High Priestess, “I’ve even tried to reason with you here, leaving the Demon—my friend—behind to not blind you with his presence,” She moved even closer, her booming steps echoing through the temple while Lovecraft watched on, “And yet you still sit here, claiming your ways are best.”

Finally, her steps stopped just before the stairs that went up the altar, and Oleander let out a heavy sigh and said with exasperation, “I’m done fighting you...” The subtle squint of the other Ungulate’s eyes was clear enough evidence that she hadn’t expected mercy. “You’ve already taken so much from me, and while I may so wish to rip you limb from limb... that won’t help any of us.”

The Dark Unicorn turned around to face away from her previous mentor, trotting back over towards the gaping maw of the temple, the massive double-doors she had thrown open still in that position. “No more of you, Lovecraft!” She shot back at the other Ungulate while not breaking stride, “You will never hold a strand of control over me ever again.”

Her words for a short while amidst the empty place, and she continued forward, eager to leave it all behind. However, the High Priestess suddenly spoke to her, “Very well.”

Oleander stopped in place as she heard those words of assent, of acquiescing to someone other than herself about an ideology not her own. Her neck craned around her let her eyes stare incredulously at the Pure Unicorn, whose expression was oddly... peaceful.

“Our Order is not to interfere with others,” Lovecraft elaborated in turn, her tone as sage as ever, but not quite as condescending as usual, “And despite our possible qualms about your dark nature and having abandoned us so, I shan’t give into temptation. You are no longer of our Order, Oleander, and you are free from both our rules and our safety. Do as you wish.”

When Oleander’s expression remained for a few more seconds, only changing with a suspicious squint of her eyes, the High Priestess stated, “Do not mistake my statement as simple mercy, Tainted One. You are and have been exiled from our Order for your betrayal of our tenants, but beyond our Sacred Grove, we have no jurisdiction. You will be at Fœnum’s mercy.”

Blinking multiple times, the shocked Unicorn then closed her eyes in contemplation. The High Priestess and her Order, while a place strictly upheld by ironclad rules, also held those rules firm for those outside of them. Perhaps they expected her suffer outside of the secluded safety of the Grove, but given her own experiences...

She opened her eyes and stared with determination into Lovecraft’s own. “I’ll take that chance.”

That was the end of their conversation, after which she had promptly left the Grove and then the Woodlands as a whole. It wasn’t long before she arrived in the Tundra, and the blizzard had begun.

The blizzard she was still within.

“Oh,” She rasped weakly, with her voice even further drowned out by the raging winds that must’ve gotten even stronger than when she started to lose herself in her thoughts.

Oleander could barely see a dozen steps before her amidst the whipping snowfall, her hoofsteps falling half the length of her leg into the endless white abyss below, and the horizon only broken up by the occasional pine tree, which itself looked little more than a spattering of green and brown under the constant buffeting of white. She couldn’t feel her hooves and legs sinking into the snow, and she couldn’t feel the freezing gales against her body, it all having gone so numb that she knew she wouldn’t be able to walk if not for Fred forcing his control over nearly her entire form and moving it for her.

All things considered, she was practically completely possessed by the Demon, and perhaps that would be for the best; this sensation of the cloying white all around her seeping into her mind and suffocating her thoughts wasn’t all that pleasant, and simply blacking out and leaving herself without a thought for some time would spare her some pain. It was certain to happen at some point soon, and perhaps... it would be best not to wake back up.

The High Priestess’s words still echoed in her head; her statements about Oleander’s emotional foolishness and the merciless world of Fœnum rung true, both having trapped her there at that very moment. The Dark Unicorn’s words in turn, were quite petty and stupid, with her final challenging statement as short-sighted and spitefully rebellious as she was when she first left the Grove.

The only difference now was how she had no more purpose; no Predators to slay, no Hold to seal, and no other Champions to fight. Truly, what could she do in this world, and why would she ever bother with it? Any of the blithe platitudes about finding happiness within one’s community would ring hollow for the Ungulate that had lived apart from them for nearly a decade and a half, and no job within could ever be properly suited to her skill set; she was stupid and rebellious, after all, and trained in dark magics rather than any traditional task like cooking or drawing.

There was hardly a doubt in her mind that living with other Ungulates would take quite a lot of adjusting, and there would be many problems caused in the meantime, problems that the Ungulates already living there wouldn’t have to deal with without her. Really, the world of Fœnum was better off without her, as her life’s purpose of sealing the Hold was already complete.

Unfortunately, she remembered after a moment the one creature that may still want her around, as they kept pushing her through the blizzard in spite of no pact holding them together with her any longer. Fred would likely not appreciate her dying so anticlimactically, and keep her alive with whatever dark magics he could muster—not to imply it would be of any trouble to him, of course; he had already revived her multiple times in the past with no ill effect.

Oh, and there were her fellow Champions that she had grown to become friends with, who would all likely mourn her in their ways... Tianhuo’s funeral pyre and stoic gaze, Arizona fighting through her denial, Velvet’s sharp shouting about how disappointed she would be, Pom bawling her eyes out with her puppies, and Paprika... doing whatever Paprika would do.

And... of course, Cashmere.

Oleander knew well of that Reindeer’s infatuation with her, even after only having spoken a scant few times, as Velvet and Fred were all too eager to tease her about it. However, it was always confusing as to why she was so infatuated with an Ungulate that was so stupid and eager to throw her life away...

It really ought to be best that she fall into this endless white sea that suffocated her so, her thoughts slowing into a muddled crawl with any remaining ability to sense the outside world fading. For only a short time she beheld no connection to the world around her, unfeeling, unseeing, unhearing, but still forced thoughts through her frozen mind; why, after all of this time, after everything she did with the other Champions, was she still so stupid?

And then, finally, there was naught but void.

“Hfff...” Fred sighed as he dropped Oleander’s body just beyond the gates to Reine, “I never thought keeping a mortal alive could be so exhausting.” The dark tendrils of his form pulled back out of the flesh and muscle of the
literally frosted-over Unicorn, retreating back into the Unicornomicon so that its cover could close back up.

Behind him, the blizzard had died down somewhat, the lesser snowfall now allowing for a decent amount of visibility, where multiple buildings could be seen just inside the city, and as for one of them...

BAM! “OLEANDER!?”

The door to the building was blasted open, Velvet rushing out towards the fallen Unicorn and the Demon by her side.

“Velvet,” He greeted her somewhat grimly, but only getting a glance from her, as her focus was far more taken with the Ungulate at death’s door.

“Vhy vere you out in zis blizzard, you idiot!?” She couldn’t help but shout hysterically, grasping at the body that was even colder than her own icy hooves. “How are you not even dead yet!?”

Fred cleared his non-existent throat, drawing the Reindeer’s attention back to him for a few more moments, where she then sighed in realization and begrudging acceptance. “Ve must get her inzide now!” She shouted out to the Demon, who just nodded and unfurled the cover of his tome once more, reaching out with a massive dark claw and grabbing Oleander’s form, and with Velvet frantically leading her, they both entered into the much warmer building where they could finally rest.

Chapter 2: Warming Up Anew

Perhaps Reine really was different than she expected.

It wasn’t quite the snooty, snobbish place Velvet’s demeanor had implied it would be, though it certainly was rather upper-class and a bit over-the-top. It had its charm beyond that though, with the light, fluffy snow that covered the grass and buildings, which themselves were made of a sturdy, yet visually pleasing pattern of logs and planks. The general hue of the city was quite cool and felt a bit chilly to even look at, but happened to be quite calming in the natural colours strewn apart, being quite a departure from the suffocating greens, stale whites, and muted greys Oleander was used to.

She may have wanted to take things at her own pace, but Velvet would be Velvet, as per usual...

“...And you can see ze frozen pond Dancer loves to skate on over zere,” The Champion Reindeer called out, her and her Winter Sprite gesturing towards a large body of ice a few dozen meters in front of them, the brown and purple Reindeer sliding along its surface with a content smile on her face. “I vould ask her about you, but she haz already said how afraid she iz of you, so we vill move on.”

Turning to the side to head down another street, Velvet continued on through her tour, which was had already been going for a good hour and a half by this point, getting some of the other Reindeer in the city to speak with Oleander and see if they were alright with her living in Reine.

“Not a great idea to bring that up, huh? Even with all of the other Deer that accept me,” Oleander muttered in return, somewhat tired and exasperated by the tour, especially how Fred wasn’t alongside due to Velvet’s insistence (Oleander had her suspicions as to why, of course). “I am surprised you actually respect her mindset, Velvet,” She added, more pointedly at the Ungulate by her side.

“Oh, puh-leeze,” Velvet scoffed back, waving off the accusation with her usual pompous posing, even despite Linen giggling a bit next to her, “I do know vat I say doez to otherz. I’m not Bleetzen, after all...” She ended with a grumble, clearly still a bit frustrated with that particular Reindeer after what happened more than half an hour earlier.

Oleander rolled her eyes at the comment; she too remembered the frozen statue that quite burly and arrogant Reindeer had been swiftly transformed into after declaring that ‘the foolish evil Unicorn shall always be banned from Reine!’ “Saying that after what happened with your father was pretty stupid.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me...” Velvet groaned with a roll of her eyes and another laugh from her Sprite, whom she promptly slapped with a hoof.

Shuddering and wincing lightly while taking a deep breath, Oleander muttered back, “Agreed.” While her initial impression of the Jarl and quite built Reindeer was primarily intimidation, not at all helped by the cutting questions he asked of her in that oh-so-serious tone, eventually he just broke and grappled the Unicorn in a hug so tight that her ribs screamed out in agony, only drowned out by the much larger Ungulate’s sobbing. Despite the general annoyance he clearly felt for his daughter, saving her life a few times meant more to him than anything.

Looking back around them curiously, Oleander sighed and asked of the Reindeer beside her, “Now where to?”

“Oh, zis will be ze last one,” Velvet returned with a light grin, clearly aware of the other Ungulate’s exasperation.

Still, that didn’t stop Oleander from retorting, “Good. I was wondering how many more random Reindeer you were looking to gloat about me to.”

Velvet let out a hmph in response. “I thought you vanted to learn about ze Deer around here, hm?”

“The relevant ones, Velvet; you know I don’t like to waste time,” The Unicorn shot back with a somewhat deadpan look at the other Ungulate.

Velvet, of course, just scoffed at that. “Don’t think I don’t know zat, Oleander. And really, we all have already talked about zis—” Oleander rolled her eyes at the incoming statement that had already been repeated to her many times before, “—not everyzing needz to be a chore you do for otherz, sometimes you muzt simply do zem for yourzelf.”

Sighing with force, Oleander nearly glared at the Reindeer and spat, “I get that, but I don’t really see how I can enjoy killing my hooves and talking with so many other creatures, regardless of the purpose of it all.”

“Maybe,” Velvet assented with a shrug, paying no mind to the look she was getting—even if her Sprite did, “But you might in ze future. “Keeping up-to-date vith Cupeed vill be important, and Veexin...” She laughed a bit, blushing faintly despite herself and averting her gaze, Linen doing the same, but with even more shame, “Vell, ze use zere is obvious.”

“Obviously...” Oleander muttered back, blushing a bit herself through her glower as she recalled the... varied selection of ‘toys’ that particular Reindeer had in her shop, even offering a few ‘special deals’ to the Unicorn that helped save the world.

“Anyvay,” Velvet reined the conversation back in, and stopped trotting forward, prompting both of her companions to do the same, “Ve are here!” She gestured with a hoof to the large wooden stall some paces before her, which seemed to be occupied with a number of random items along with a Reindeer working through them, and it held on top a sign that said—

“Of for the love of Faust...”

—Cap’n’Cash’s, in big, bold letters carved into its wood.

Velvet cleared her throat daintily and leaned towards the other Ungulate, and spoke teasingly to her, “Now, Oleander, let me give you zome advice.” Oleander kept her gaze on the sign, her irritation growing into fury while Velvet continued, “I know you don’t know or like my couzin zat vell, but pleaze don’t brush her off. Don’t overzink vat you say—” She went on condescendingly, tapping a hoof a few times against the side of the Unicorn’s head, making her eye twitch in turn, “I know zat big brain of yours gets tweetsed very eazily.

“And, no dark magic,” The Reindeer added, the smirk more audible than ever in her voice as she leaned closer to Oleander’s ear and whispered, “At leazt, not until you two get een bed~.”

A sharp inhale from the Dark Unicorn made Velvet and her Sprite quickly pull back, one with a smirk and the other a quite frightened look, and then when Oleander whipped her head around to glare at them, they already darted away on a quickly-formed glaze of ice, hastily skating away while the Deer’s chortling could be heard echoing across the cityscape. “Damn you, Velvet!” Oleander swore out in rage, “I knew that’s what you were bloody leading me to!”

She huffed in anger hard enough to see her own breaths in the brisk air as she glared over towards the rapidly retreating figure in the distance, but she suddenly shivered as she remained locked in place, the air ringing even colder than before now that she was alone in front of that damned Reindeer’s shop.

While she may have loved to ignore it and shove off to deal with that fool another day, Velvet certainly wouldn’t let her get away with it, and drag her back as soon as possible, so...

Exhaling another huff, Oleander turned back to the shop and, shivering again in the cold that was settling in, grit her teeth for a moment before stomping over towards the stall.

After a couple paces of glowering, she closed her eyes and growled to herself, and let her hoofsteps echo out loudly enough for a short while so that the other Ungulate could hear her as she approached, which did manage to get a response in the form of a pleasant, though a bit tired voice, “I’ll be with you in a moment, deer...”

However, when she pulled open her eyes returned her sight to the stall, Oleander sharply stopped a few steps before it as she saw the Reindeer in question, who, while really just sorting through some hats and the like on a high-up shelf while atop a step-stool, was leaving her backside pushed out a bit more than strictly necessary. And, as Cashmere continued to be watched, she was absent-mindedly humming a little tune while wiggling her hips back and forth, unintentionally giving the Ungulate who had just arrived quite a nice view.

Oleander swallowed as her eyes lingered there for a moment, then she blinked a few times as she actually processed the sight, where she finally sharply shook her head before looking around her to make sure nobody else noticed her shame. Thankfully, the only other creature around there was Cap, and they were oddly sleeping on the main counter of the stall, seeming to be exhausted for whatever reason, if the fraying on their extravagant coat was any indication.

Eyeing the Sprite warily for a moment, Oleander recalled every interaction with the tiny creatures to be that of utter subservience to the Reindeer, so to see one sleeping while their owner likely needed the help...

Looking back to said owner, the Unicorn hardly knew what could’ve gotten Cashmere so exhausted; she didn’t exactly look busy, and the rest of the city was pretty calm and normal, save for the few (a.k.a. many) that were interrupted by Velvet’s tour, so...

Of course, as her eyes focused on the shopkeeper, her own exasperation with the other Reindeer let her attention slip back down to Cashmere’s dancing plot, which now that she really examined it, seemed to wobble just a little with each swing. Even from the distance between them, Oleander could tell it was quite soft and fluffy, no doubt from living a luxurious, peaceful, and pampered life in Reine, one that was quite opposed to the isolated and starving life the Dark Unicorn had lived for so long, as well as the incredibly strict way she was forced to live before that.

Perhaps she was somewhat jealous of the other Ungulate’s relaxed and carefree lifestyle, but with all the spite she’d spat over the years, and nearly dying from a bout of it after arguing with the High Priestess, she really couldn’t be bothered to care at the moment. Especially not if it gave her such a good view...

Not even bothering to try and take her eyes away from Cashmere’s swaying flank, the two of them were left in silence for some time while Oleander’s mind started to process some other facets of the situation, like how she felt oddly warm despite how cold it was, and the tune the Reindeer was singing being irritatingly catchy, and how... perhaps... she might grow to enjoy this life of peace?

In a moment of mental weakness, the words Velvet teased her with came shooting back into Oleander’s mind, and subconsciously heeding them regardless of their merit, a pair of words flew out of her mouth and into the stall.

“Nice ass.”

Cashmere’s reaction was immediate; a loud gasp flew out of the Reindeer’s mouth and she shifted back in reflex, inadvertently pushing her away from the shelf she was holding onto. Letting out a short cry as she realized what just happened, Cashmere quickly flailed her forelegs as she started to fall backwards off her stool, and then all too soon, landed on her back with a hearty thump! on the wooden floor below.

Of course, Oleander didn’t make much note of all of that, as she was too busy with her face being set on fire and her mind melting from shame—did she really just say that!?

Her attention did get dragged back more towards the other Ungulate as she blinked a few times from the shock her impact, but then swiftly rolled over and put her hooves beneath her, and finally jumped up and gaped at the Unicorn before her with true shock. “Oleander!” She cried out, making the Unicorn in question look back at her in bewilderment, but only before reacting with surprise when Cashmere stumbled a bit over hooves as she scampered forward and around the counter of her shop, then darting over and glomping onto her.

Oleander had pulled back a bit as she tried to react to the sudden movements from the other Ungulate, but had barely moved before she felt her ribs creaking under the pressure the dainty Reindeer was hugging her with. Gasping a bit in shock at that, the other sensations of warmth around her form—especially in this cold weather—and the sounds of teary sputtering made her flush heavily from embarrassment.

“Y-you’re here, O-Oleander...” Cashmere uttered out in a exhausted mix of joy and relief, only furthering the other Ungulate’s flushing, “I-I was so w-worried... You n-nearly died...” She trailed off for a moment, sniffing while her eyes started to shimmer from the overwhelming emotion pouring out of her, where she leaned her face into Oleander’s chest, letting her glasses fall off her snout and clack down onto the ground below while her tears sunk into the Unicorn’s fur.

“You saved the world...” She went on, her tone slightly breathless for a moment, but then it came falling back down as she said, “Velvet told me you wanted to stay here when she first got back, a-and...” She trailed off, hesitating, before then pushing her face back up to look Oleander in the eyes, who was staring back with her embarrassment dying down and being replaced with concern. “I-I thought I was stressing myself and Cap out enough before you got here...” She laughed faintly, but with no humour as she let the silence hang, her eyes flitting around just a bit, seemingly trying to find something to say, but never coming up with anything.

Within that silence, Oleander was also left speechless as she realized exactly how worried Cashmere had gotten about her, with the slight bags under her eyes and Cap actually sleeping just now making sense to her. However, it didn’t answer the main question she had behind it all...

“Why..?” Oleander muttered back, her tone utterly baffled amidst the other emotions flitting about her mind, as was her expression as she looked into the other Ungulate’s eyes and asked, “Why do you care so much about me..?”

Gaping slightly for a moment as she processed the question, Cashmere then quickly snaps her maw shut and darts her eyes away. “E-eh, well,” She started to try, sputtering in place before licking her lips nervously and continuing, “Y-you’re unique.. and dark... it’s cool, I-I think...” Flitting her eyes around, only occasionally rising up to meet the other Ungulate’s gaze, an odd, somewhat embarrassed smile came to her face as she spoke, “Your mane, is unique—i-it moves on its own, and your magic... so different from us.. and powerful.”

Closing her eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath, Cashmere steeled herself and looked up at the Unicorn, who was now eyeing her with a more flushed gaze, though no less baffled. “Y-you’re so strong, Oleander...” She breathed out in awe as she stared into those crystal-blue eyes, the incredible dark magics brimming just under their surface, supported by spite and determination. “You kept a Demon... tainted your very essence... forced away anyone and anything that stood in your path... and y-you worked with the other Champions to save the world from the Predators...” She trailed for just a moment, her voice incredulous and starstruck, where she then finished with added ‘no duh’, “How couldn’t I love you?”

That word struck Oleander for a moment; love. She, a creature born of light and turned to darkness, having sided with a Demon and lived her life out of spite, was not just loved, but loved for those very reasons? It was stupid, foolish, and illogical, but... she had no way to say if there was any subjective reason to it, and as she was trying to get better at dealing with that...

“So..?” She questioned tentatively of the Reindeer, who just blinked and tilted her head in lack of comprehension. “What exactly does this mean? Are you simply going to follow me around and act like a doofus in my presence, all the while everyone else continues to tease the both of us about it?”

Blinking a few more times, quiet snorts of amusement started to come out of Cash’s mouth, and they slowly grew louder and more frequent until she was breaking down in raucous laughter, tears forming again in her eyes, but now for a completely different reason. Some of her amusement did seem self-directed, evidenced by the slight guilt attached to her laughter, but surely falling back onto pragmatic speech wasn’t that humorous, was it?

Not that Oleander was about to cut it off, as while she generally regarded the Reindeer’s crushing ways as being kind of annoying, being hugged like she was while Cashmere laughed so... It was hardly unpleasant...

“O-oh-hahaha!” Cashmere sputtered for a moment amidst her laughter, seemingly trying to say something, but not getting anywhere with her unruly chest-heaving and eye-tearing. Eventually though, after some more seconds had passed, her mirth started to fade, and she pulled one of her forelegs out from around Oleander to pick up part of the scarf around her own chest, then use it to dry some of her tears while her noise quieted down a bit.

“O-Oleander...” The Reindeer then managed to say through some short bouts of giggling, and she released her scarf to look the other Ungulate in the eyes, “I t-think a lot of this i-is my fault... I-I thought you might be a-able to pick up on what I wanted of you, b-but... I didn’t realize just how.. i-inexperienced you were w-with talking with others...”

Giggling just a bit more, Cashmere smiled fondly at the Unicorn, letting those tainted pools that have seen far too much, yet been exposed to far too little peer back into her own clearer rose-tinted ones for a short time. Eventually though, she took a breath and elaborated, “I-I’ve been acting like a fawn t-this whole time.. This isn’t how love is.. supposed to work, Oleander... So...”

Closing her eyes for a second, Cashmere then opened them back up to look back with newfound determination and passion, and she asked with the same zest, “Will you go to dinner with me?”

Oleander returned the gaze with a hearty flush and partial understanding, and replied hesitantly, “Dinner... A-as in, a ‘date’?”

“Yes!” The Reindeer cried out in momentary excitement, but quickly reined herself back in, “Yes. Y-yes, that’s correct.” Clearing her throat and flitting her gaze away awkwardly, she looked back and then asked, “S-so, uhm, w-will you..?”

Seeing the clear passion and energy in the other Ungulate, Oleander was now able to tell how much this ‘love’ meant to Cashmere, and with her new intent on life being to find more personal reasons to live...

Closing her eyes and letting the blackness settle around her vision, Oleander debated the consequences of what she could do in that moment: the clearest answers were of flat-out rejection, which felt... wrong, somehow, and acceptance, which would undoubtedly lead to things she couldn’t prepare for. Of course, there was also the option to flee, which was truly cowardly, or she may instead try to replace the event with something else, which ought to be far more complicated than what was actually necessary here.

But, when she began to really think about what Cashmere may feel about it all... the look on her face and the tone in her voice... so excited and expectant, undoubtedly for Oleander to accept, though for reasons she knew not... She would be crushed if Oleander did anything else, and she didn’t deserve that.

Opening her eyes back up, the Unicorn was met with a slightly impatient and antsy-looking Cashmere, despite only having paused in thought for some seconds. So, with the emotional well-being of her... ‘friend’, was it?, on the line, she spoke plainly, “Sure.”

That got quite the reaction out of the other Ungulate, and for a moment, Oleander thought it was a negative, but then beyond the even tighter hug that threatened to crack her ribs again and over the high-pitched squealing that echoed around the streets, she managed to hear a hyper-enthused chant of ‘Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes...’

Laughing lightly despite herself (and the pain it caused with her compressed ribcage), she mused that perhaps this whole ‘caring for others’ thing wasn’t too bad, after all.

Chapter 3: Rose-Tinted Glass

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...

Chapter 4: Shattered Boundaries Betwixt

A long groan echoed out as Oleander found herself waking up once more. She had long since gotten used to not recalling how she fell asleep, but for some reason, this occasion felt far more abrupt and out of nowhere...

She felt the eternal blackness of sleep slowly leave her vision, and the numbness of unconsciousness slowly leave her body, allowing her start to feel the world around her. There was a soft warmth against one of her sides, and a cool briskness against the other, all the way from her tail up to her head—

“GAH!” She suddenly shouted as she felt a sharp pain spike in her head, quickly returning senses to her body and whipping one of her forehooves up to press against her forehead. “Owwww...” She grumbled to herself, feeling the incredibly intense well of sharp fire echoing through her head, making her press her hoof into her forehead to try and curb it, to little avail.

Letting her head fall sink down into a pillow, she started to feel that she was in a bed, the warmth coming from under her, and cold from across the rest of her fur, where a blanket should have been covering it. Groaning, she slowly peeked one of her eyes open from under her hoof and managed to see the room around her, and it... wasn’t like what she expected.

Letting a few more seconds pass while the intense pain fade into a slightly duller throbbing underneath, Oleander opened both of her eyes and looked before her at the decidedly green curtains, which were distinct from the light blue ones she recalled seeing the couple nights before. Thankfully, they were closed and barred any more light from coming inside, as even through the thick fabric, the light of day coming through the window still made the pain in head worse.

Looking out across the rest of the room, she found that while the general dark wooden architecture of the room resembled the guest room she slept in before, this room was far more decorated with random paraphernalia; small statuettes on top of the dresser, stacks of paper and cloth on another table, and some paintings strewn across the walls...

One thing was for certain; this was not Oleander’s room. But, with her agonized mind trudging through her thoughts, she couldn’t figure out who exactly it belonged to from just those things themselves. And so, as she looked further around the room, her eyes fell down onto the bed she was still resting upon, where she finally saw another Ungulate beside her!

Sharply pulling away, the pain in her head flared and she was forced to close her eyes again to try and curb it again. Taking some deep breaths and letting the pain ebb a bit once more, she opened her eyes again and looked at the creature laying on their side beside her, who while quite cuddled up in the blankets, still had the pair of teal antlers on their head quite visible, easily signifying them as a Reindeer. Their eyelashes generally implied that they were a female, as did the daintiness of their forehooves that peeked out through the top of the covers, which also exposed some of her floof, which as it was slightly below average in volume and a light cream colour on top of her faintly reddish-tan fur...

“Oh, dammit...”

Of course it was Cashmere. Even through the cloudiness of her memories, Oleander could still recall that she had been on a ‘date’ with the Deer, talking about things that... she could really only recall that she didn’t want to talk about, and she had started to get intoxicated there as well. However, when they had left... there wasn’t much of anything Oleander could recall after that.

Groaning in irritation, she then shuddered in... no, she shivered; it was still rather brisk in the room, after all. And returning her focus to the sleeping Reindeer next to her, she could see that the whole blanket had been swiped away to cover the already floofed-up Ungulate, leaving the dramatically less fluffy Unicorn to shiver from the cold room around her. She was certainly keen on ripping away that blanket with her magic to actually let herself be warm, but as she kept holding her hoof to her forehead, she sharply remembered that using magic with a headache wasn’t a good idea—she had learned as much the hard way on multiple occasions.

Groaning yet again, even more annoyed now, Oleander turned back around to lay on her back, glaring up at the ceiling while she tried to think about everything that must’ve happened; clearly Cashmere had decided to take her home after their date, and most likely, in that lovestruck fool’s way, gotten the intoxicated Unicorn to sleep in bed beside her. The very idea that she could be so easily manipulated under the influence of that alcohol grated at her, as she was supposed to be intelligent and aware, unable to be bent to anyone’s will, unlike the whimsical and retarded Paprika and the boorish and moronic Arizona!

...Yes, she was being rather an asshole to her friends, but that wasn’t the point! And even worse, she didn’t remember any of what had happened after she arrived at this house, so while may have simply passed out, she may have also... done the unthinkable with that Deer...

She shuddered at the thought—truly shuddered, not just shivering this time.

Wanting to curb that train that thought as soon as possible, Oleander realized that Cashmere must’ve been in a much more mentally stable state if she had managed to bring her to her home, and thus she’d be more liable to recall if the two of them had done anything...untoward after they had arrived.

Looking sidelong over at the Reindeer, she knew of a simple and effective solution to make her wake up and answer her questions, but... somehow it felt wrong in this situation. Cashmere hadn’t done anything wrong—at least as far as Oleander was aware—and so simply slapping her awake seemed a bit too rough for the cuddly, comfy, and snoot-scrunched Deer next to her.

...Grimacing at her line of thought, she rolled back onto her side and moved her free hoof across the bed and grabbed Cashmere’s shoulder, then shook her somewhat.

Thankfully, that proved to be enough to wake her, as the Deer soon stirred in her sleep, mumbling faintly to herself and rolling over onto her back, gripping the covers closer to her chest for a moment as her eyes scrunched up further, then relaxed as she let out a squeaky yawn while stretching out her legs... and then finally popped her eyes open.

Oleander couldn’t help but watch the whole ordeal with keen interest, the minor facets of how the Reindeer was acting, all filly-like and uncaring for whatever may have been going on around her... it kept her eyes trapped on her the entire time, and continued to do so while Cashmere blinked a few times, and only then seemed to feel the hoof still on her shoulder, causing her to look down at it, then follow its leg up to the Unicorn beside her...

A sharp gasp came from her maw, which then hung open in shock alongside her wide-open eyes, and then she uselessly sputtered, “O-O-Oleander!” After only another moment of shock, she jerked away from the Unicorn’s hoof and started stammering out, “W-wha, w-why are we, I-I don’t, I didn’t, no wait...”

Somewhat tuning out the continued nonsensical ramblings of the other Ungulate, Oleander rubbed her head a bit, the noise flaring her headache just a bit, and let her free foreleg rest back on her side. Her eyes, though, remained trained on the frantic Reindeer beside her, worrying herself in a way Oleander has always found counterproductive—stressing out and flying between multiple problems had always been less successful than simply diving into one—and about every aspect of the current situation, not just the ones that were actually relevant.

But, as seeming to happen more and more often, those foolish impulses only held Oleander’s attention more, and she had yet to fathom why... Perhaps, as Pom had mentioned before... no...

Shaking her head, the Unicorn could tell the pain had faded more a bit now and finally took her other hoof of it, and then she called out, “Cashmere.”

“—a-and, I thought maybe w-we had—um,” The Reindeer in question suddenly stopped at the statement, and looked back over, though unable to lock eyes with the other Ungulate for long. “Y-yes..?”

Taking a breath in under the weight of her questions, Oleander decided to first ask, “Can you recall anything from last night?”

Cashmere took a moment to think, her eyes looking at nothing for a moment, but she did soon say, “Um, yes I-I can...” As she continued reflecting, one of her forelegs came up from laying on the bed and up to rub her forehead, and she grimaced and mumbled quietly to herself—clearly Oleander wasn’t the only one with such a headache after what happened last night.

After a few more moments, the Reindeer looked back over to the Ungulate beside her’s somewhat expectant gaze, and so she gulped and spoke, “W-well, we were on our.. date,” She said the term with a light squeak, clearly still excited by the idea, “And I know w-we talked about each—er, ourselves, t-there... And, we had.. wine...” She trailed off for a moment, then winced as she seemed to realize something. “A-a little too much, with our um—” She looked back up at the Unicorn and the hoof still on her head, “H-hangovers.”

That’s right; ‘hangover’ was the term for this type of stupid headache. Oleander hardly liked the taste of alcohol herself, but why anyone would ever drink it if they had to deal with this was beyond her. Regardless... “Then what?”

Clearing her throat lightly, Cashmere replied, “W-well, we argued a bit about.. um, y-you, mostly, but we did f-finish our dinner in s-silence...” She trailed off with a hint of somberness, likely just due to not being able to talk with her date, but only for a moment before she gained a weird, somewhat flustered and slightly perturbed expression. “I-it was only a-after we left that you... um, a-acted really drunk...” She only got more flustered as she trailed off once more, though didn’t immediately pick it back up as she curled up both her forelegs to her chest and buried them in her floof, seemingly kind of uncomfortable.

Taking a moment to brace herself for the no doubt dire actions she had performed in that... humiliatingly suggestible state, Oleander then asked, “..What happened?”

Eyes flitting back up to the Unicorn, Cashmere bit her lip and quickly darted them back away. “U-uhm, you were... a-a little clingy, but a-also kept swatting me a-away... Sometimes you w-were more.. desperate, and o-others more, a-angry.. usually you were b-both...” Sounding ever more conflicted about what happened, she took a breath and added, “I d-did make sure to get you h-here as soon as I could—and um, m-my house is closer than V-Velvet’s, so...” Glancing back over, she got an assenting nod from Oleander, then continued, “S-so, yes, and you.. w-well, you just passed out once you, uh, h-hit the bed, so...”

Taking a breath of mild relief, Oleander found herself asking, “So we didn’t do anything... untoward that night, correct?”

Getting a quick nod and ‘mm-hm!’ of confirmation, the Unicorn sighed once more and rolled back onto her back, letting her head and horn sink into the pillow... But with the odd silence coming from the Reindeer next to her, she glanced back over at her and saw her only looking more tense than before, heavily flustered and flushed, clearly very embarrassed about something, and that only made Oleander more suspicious than before... “We didn’t do anything untoward, right?”

Cashmere was quick to shake her head and retort, “No no! W-we didn’t!” She did sound genuine, but was still very tense.

“But..?” Oleander prompted, still not convinced.

“W-well, it, u-um...” The Deer tried, sputtering and flushing even harder, backing away just a bit in shame, but as the Dark Unicorn’s gaze bored into her, she eventually broke and snapped her eyes shut, spouting out, “I-I watched you sleep for a bit because you’re really pretty and look really nice when you aren’t super angry..!”

Oleander couldn’t help the fiery crimson that blew up on her face at that; the embarrassment at hearing that level of infatuation in that doe’s tone, and simply the idea of being found.. pretty... “Hmph..!” She snorted while looking away, both to hide that damned blush and to avoid looking at the foal-like fool that caused it, with her scrunched snout, overwhelmed hoofy-shivers, and high-pitched, impassioned voice... Gah! How it still stuck in her head regardless!

...And the more cheerful—though a tad guilty—giggles that came from the doe after certainly didn’t help.

“Um...” Cashmere then managed to speak after a moment of hesitation, sounding a little bit bolder now that the other Ungulate was the one on the back hoof, “D-do you remember.. what I said.. a-after we argued...?”

After... Oleander grimaced slightly as she managed to recall what they had said back then, her thoughts a bit clearer, now that there wasn’t quite as much pain blocking them; the two of them had argued about how ‘good’ or stupid Oleander was, points being made about her sealing the Predators and marching through a blizzard... but then, Cashmere had.. confessed to her...

All things considered, she shouldn’t have been that surprised by it, but... just the idea that someone felt like that for her... It was inconceivable to her. Sure, Fred had been by her side for a while, but even beyond his manipulations, he was still a Demon having fun toying with a mortal. Yes, she had friends in the form of the other Champions, but their relationship was built upon mutual respect in battle, so anything beyond being at each other’s throats was always going to be a bit of a surprise. But with Cashmere? This lowly Reindeer clothier wanted to be romantically involved with a Dark Unicorn that abandoned her race, lived alone for more than a decade, and fought against beasts for the sake of what really only amounted to her own ego?

The bewilderment must’ve been clear on her face, as Cashmere awkwardly cleared her throat and tentatively said, “L-like I said then, you are a good Ungulate now... a-and...” She took a deep sigh, keeping silent for a moment until Oleander glanced back over to her, where she spoke back up, “And while y-you have made mistakes before, you’re b-better than a lot of them now...

“And...” She sighed again, this time with a loving tone as she locked eyes with the Unicorn, “That’s why... I.. I said that, O-Ollie...”

Oleander tried to keep her gaze firm on the Deer, but... That name, she had really only heard from Fred most of her life; sometimes in mocks and taunts, other times as genuine affection or worry, and while some of the Champions called her that as well, she hadn’t heard it from anyone else... except for, of course, Cashmere. The infatuated way she had said it back then grated on her, and she couldn’t stand it for long—not to say she could stand being around anyone for long back then, of course—but the way it was spoken now, still filled with such emotion, but now somewhat more intelligent and resolute.. it wasn’t as bad now...

A slow, almost dreadful breath came in through Oleander’s nose as she realized that she was starting to really get friendly with Cashmere. She recalled the time she had spent with the other Champions, how they appealed to her logic, slowly worn away her instinctual defences, and had her accept their help... She had fought it back then, still believing such ‘frivolities’ unnecessary, but now...

While she may not have been able to explain why doing things for any subjective sake was good, she was now able to realize that she was being an idiot.

As per usual.

Focusing back on the Reindeer before her, Oleander examined her for a moment and recalled her past actions; the warm-hued fur and light floof spoke well of her peaceful lifestyle, only supported further by her innocent and foolish desire for the Dark Unicorn and being unable to understand the depth of said Unicorn’s mistakes. But, despite that, her rose-coloured eyes had some intelligence within them, and she had good intentions with trying to get Oleander to move on from her dark past. And, she wasn’t all too bad to spend time around, even with the.. oddities being now forced into her life...

As per what she had learned from the other Champions, Cashmere was now Oleander’s friend.

...But, she couldn’t say it was more than that. ...Yet, at least...

“Alright,” Oleander suddenly spoke, watching as the Deer started a bit in surprise, “You are my.. friend.” Cashmere’s eyes opened wider in further surprise and awe, but Oleander still added with mild uncertainty, “And.. I’ll give you the chance to become.. more.”

Cashmere’s eyes widened yet further, and her maw hung open for a moment before quickly shifting into a big, dopey smile— “But!” The Unicorn interrupted her lovestruck behavior, holding up a hoof, “You will need to actually understand my mistakes. I know you’re keen on having me move past them—and I do appreciate that,” She added quickly, and took a deep breath while setting her hoof back down, “But, my mistakes are far too great to simply be brushed off. Even if it to grant me more happiness now...” She leveled her gaze the Reindeer, “You do realize that I am still quite capable of many of them, correct?”

Gulping nervously, the Deer let herself sink into the bed a bit, and muttered back, “W-well, maybe—”

Oleander stopped her by raising her hoof back up, “‘Maybe’?” Scoffing, she pulled her hoof down to cross her forelegs, and then retorted, “Cashmere, I nearly died getting to Reine. Remember?”

Cashmere stared back at her for a second, then flitted her gaze away in shame. “Y-yeah, I get it...” Sighing deeply as she sunk her head further into her pillow, she seemed to let her thoughts stew for a couple seconds before adding, “I guess we both have mistakes.. h-here...”

“Mm-hm,” The other Ungulate grunted in agreement, looking back at her.. friend, for a second, then rolling over onto her back, letting the silence come back over the two of them.

It was only for a moment, though, before the Reindeer chuckled quietly and said, “W-well, I guess maybe.. we s-should work together to h-help each other over them?”

A deep breath in, and Oleander let it back out in nearly a laugh. “Of course,” She uttered back, peering over with a somewhat wry grin, “That and nothing else, hm?” That made Cashmere laugh a bit herself, and blush and look away in embarrassment, but the Unicorn sighed and added more seriously, “That is a good idea, though. Hopefully we can keep each other focused, even if.. it’s you that’s more likely to have issues there.

“Regardless,” Oleander muttered with a tired sigh, then pushed herself up to sit on the bed, “We ought to get something done today.” She turned her head towards the window near her side of the bed for a moment, debating opening it to snap herself awake, but.. with the advent of ‘living for oneself’, she decided it wasn’t worth the pain of flaring her headache back up.

Still, she did pull her forelegs up above her and stretch them out, feeling them strain and burn a bit through the morning sludge, then even pop a bit to force her stress out, and she exhaled a relieved groan. Putting one hoof at her back and another on the back of her neck, she twisted the both of them about, feeling the spinal joints pop and crack for a few seconds, and when she relaxed her body back, it felt lighter and more flexible than she had just a minute ago.

While she wasn’t generally one to care to bask in the moment of such relief, it did feel quite a bit better than normal... Perhaps the regular showers and proper beds were really making their mark on her lithe, but slightly atrophied and malnourished body after all!

And, finally, Oleander moved to hop off the bed, but as she pressed her forehooves into the sheets and leaned forward, a sudden fumbling and flailing of cloth sounded out from behind her, making her quickly pause in place and jerk her head back around. “What—”

“No—perfect time—!” She managed to hear the Deer sputter frantically before—

Cashmere’s lips were upon hers.

It was such a foreign gesture to the Unicorn that lived alone in the woods, but empirically, she understood it was an expression of love. Of care, compassion, respect, adoration, dedication... and all for someone that spent so much time at odds with the world itself. Why exactly the little doe expressed all of those emotions for her so still baffled her, but.. now.... Now, she couldn’t find it within her to care as much.

She could feel warmth and softness of those lips upon hers, but still driven forth with the passion of the Deer that owned them. She could see, through her widened eyes, the slammed-shut eyes and flaming blush of the doe, so overwhelmed with affection and embarrassment. And she could sense the magic frothing off the Reindeer, the chilly aura of her antlers infused with emotion beyond compare, enough to nearly make the Dark Unicorn’s eyes roll all the way into her head from the wave of it all...

Beyond the simple meeting of mouths and the fountain of emotion, Oleander could feel Cashmere’s forelegs wrapped around her barrel from her side—and, as a moment passed and she regained her physical awareness, she felt her own forehooves still laying on the bed below her, now feeling quite awkward in the moment. What exactly was she supposed to do with her hooves in this situation..!?

Staying a moment while Cashmere only leaned further into her, Oleander found herself leaning back to keep herself on the bed, and pulling her own forelegs up her sides, then laying them across the Deer’s own legs. That felt... right, and as she felt the moment settle a bit, she found her eyes drifting closed, and through the darkening lenses, she had the ability the find the doe kissing her.. dare she say, cute.

Finally, her eyes landed closed and she leaned in. She may not have been ready to give her own emotions back as freely as Cashmere was, but... maybe all of this, with the subjective purpose, and living with others, and romance... it wouldn’t be so bad.