ORIGIN

Of late, Delphine had come into a breadth of powers though more than it was an actual realization (not unlike counting inventory) it was more of an innate knowledge that sparked with each new spell. She had wanted to explore her magic further but at each bend, a new distraction awaited. With a heart as fickle as her own, it came as no surprise that she succumbed each and every time to the new attractions be it a potential acquaintance/friend, another disappointment or even the sheer act of exploration. The caverns, though small, constantly brought with it something new, something fresh and she was merely an eager recipient for all that'd come to unfold. Finally she found time for herself.

Within the ruined city, the young mare found a suitable clearing where there was just enough targets for the purposes of practice yet not too much to prove a collateral danger. Her power had a tendency to backfire, much of it attributing to her lack of concentration but with her still expanding list of self-inflicted injuries, Delphine found that she bore no desire to take on any additional chances or risks. Without pause, her emerald eyes shuttered closed and she delved to her core where her power lay untouched. There, she was combatted with the familiar push and pull that came of an exchange between her natural life force and a desire to expel it from her being. Searching for the balance was the most difficult part and if in solitude the task proved trying, she could not imagine what it would be like in a high-intensity situation. Delphine could no longer forsake practice.

POST-ROLL EDIT:
As she drew from her pool of energy, her vision splashed with earthy tones and instinctively, she reared and slammed upon the ground. For the sake of warm-up, she'd chosen a spell she was familiar with and as her momentum met with the earth so too did her power shatter and spread. The space around her trembled and quaked. Debris danced involuntarily. Then came a clattering of rocks that tumbled forth from an elevated slope. Delphine smiled, brimming with an optimistic fervor for what was a good start to a long day.

Eager to test out her newer spells, Delphine fidgeted restlessly as the grounds shook still from her residual powers only just bleeding into slight shivers before fading altogether. There was no doubt that the sable steed was glad for her first success but what would consequently matter was if she could follow-through with the rest of her abilities and that was a far more tedious task than anything else. Nonetheless, she had faith that so long as she put her mind to it, she could accomplish anything and even if she did in fact fail, there was something to be learned from it. As long as none of those things constituted broken bones.

She shot a contemplative gaze to her surroundings, noting the rubbles and broken structures and deeming nothing of immediate threat before deciding she could try her hand at a spell she only had the briefest understandings of. Where most casts required outward expulsion, this one seemed to demand the exact opposite. It was the equivalent of creating a blackhole with her magic, thereby sucking in the earth rather than destroying it. In truth, she could not begin to imagine what the purpose of such powers were for but at the very least she wanted to say she had tried and succeeded.

POST-ROLL EDIT:
Mimicking the self-same process of her earlier pebblequake, this time Delphine maintained her focus inwardly, churning and boiling the power until she began to feel a pull from around her and then it stopped. Rather than to say she failed, it simply never put its foot past the door. If anything, she'd been teased by the potential for its success but was just as soon to be disappointed though it was not to say that she did not have power enough but that she knew not how to execute it properly. No matter, she would try and try again until she wore success upon her sleeve and perhaps from it all, she would pull a souvenir as she had the diamond she'd gifted the dingo. The dingo... Delphine frowned and shook her head of the very dangerous path it nearly took in thinking on the inexplicable.

Again the young mare forced herself to a steady calm, first breathing in and out with a slow inhale and a long exhale. Only once she felt her heart settle did she deign to tap into her pool of energy again, this time seeking to stir the magic into a slower, more controlled pull rather then the frenzy from moments ago. As it all seemed to come down to finding the right balance, a harmony of sorts between what her corporeal form could expend and how much it was allowed to take, Delphine tried once more to capitalize on the sudden pull that buzzed around her. She was, her physical entity as a whole, calling to the earth and how thrilling it was to know that she was so interconnected to this world they lived in.

POST-ROLL EDIT:
The barest sound, a hushed clatter, rushed across the ground and ground itself firmly into her side, stubbornly rooting itself there in a blatant denial of gravity's laws. Her head craned eagerly to reap her reward except when she saw it, there was nothing but disappointment etched along her delicate features. What it was very much resembled a rock, a very tiny rock that could fit in Booker's hand if it so pleased. Why she had managed to draw this to her rather than anything else was far beyond her but if the magnitude of her power would draw a multitude of rocks to her form, Delphine no longer felt so certain that this was a project she wanted to embark upon. Yet still this could not be it. To what purpose did this cast play to and how could she utilize it properly?

Perhaps she could make one more attempt though there was a danger in tapping too much into her powers at once.

As with all the times before, her eyes close and she paces her breathing knowing that one of the two foundations of a successful cast comes from peace of mind and ease of heart. When she taps into her reserves one more, the process of creating the pull comes easier the third consecutive time in a row and she feels the earth beneath her feet beckoning to her, or she to it. This time around she will succeed, she must. The young mare simply could not accept the results the second time around, if she did it was conceding to a fairly difficult spell that caters to the purpose of sticking rocks against her body. She refused to believe it.

POST-ROLL EDIT:
Her negativity fed easily into the failure to come as the pull jerked away rebelliously and left her with nothing but her status quo. She could have looked on the brighter side being that nothing terrible happened but in some ways, the emptiness was just as jarring as she shot her gaze to the floors and yearned gloomily for the severed connection. Why wasn't it working? What was she doing wrong? She admitted that a part of her was too rapt with the idea of success rather than simply throwing herself to the feeling of wielding her magic and casting it as she should. But how could she battle against the cogitations of her mind? There was no off switch, no means of derailing her train of thought. It seemed then the problem was not her use of magic but the obstacle that was her busy mind.

Having convinced herself to take a momentary break from her extensive use of magic, the young mare threw a glance to her right and then her left, wondering what she could do in the meantime. Ideally she would simply lay down and recuperate but her attention was not so easily rooted in an activity so mundane, instead, she ambled toward where she knew a water source lay to quench her building thirst. There a small, shallow puddle was overshadowed by an abandoned building, its reflective surface disrupted by an eager tongue and a wandering mind.

She was convinced she'd figured out the reasons for her failure but now she very much needed to excavate a proper solution for the problem. All the while, it did not seem so terrible an idea to ponder in tangent exactly how she intended to use any of her powers during unexpected situations in which she would perhaps be attacked or need to defend someone. Surely her opponent would not be so kind as to afford her the time and leisure to find her inner peace so the issue than became, how she could make it something that was more accessible and easily attained. In truth, Delphine had never considered herself a particularly anxious or antsy soul but the more she used her power the more she discovered contrary. The Gembound was a creature of very many concerns, the use of her powers being the least of them.

Her gaze flickered thoughtfully to the rippling puddle, watching as her reflection cleared to present her still growing features. Was she dissatisfied with her situation in any way? She certainly could not imagine so, she had been quite blessed since Baratheon's attack. Perhaps it was the lack of tumult that lent to her nervous disposition though that seemed highly unlikely. With a sigh, the mare turned her attention to her practice field, hesitant to return when she'd yet to find the answer she was looking for.

Delphine sighed inwardly, finally casting away any and all thoughts on practicing her magic until she found an outlet for the unrest in her heart and mind. She turned toward the abandoned building and walked through its skeletal ruins with reflection born upon somber features. It was true that she had not practiced magic in a long time but to say that her purpose today was for that and that alone would have been a lie, a self-induced deception to help distract from the things that transpired recently.

Most heavily worn upon her conscious was that of the dingo who knew not how to speak or, did she finally come to realize, understand the language they all spoke. It was the only explanation that fit why it was when they'd first met, the halcyon child immediately associated with the shiba inu who was so like her in appearance and reacted so contrary to her. The only reason Delphine hadn't realized it at the moment was because she herself had been too emotionally doused in the rejection so blatantly thrown unto her bosom. There were few instances when she'd been confronted with genuine fear and regarding each moment, the sweet equine came out emotionally scarred. She, who had more often than not, been received with some amount of affection from most Gembounds knew not how to confront renunciations of any kind. Not even one so simple as a natural fear of the unknown, something she should have understood better than anyone else.

Instead of thinking things through, she had allowed herself to fall into the rabbit hole of illogical sentimentalities and for it, she paid a heavy price. In her mindless pursuit to sate a craving, she had not only frightened but incurred a reaction that was more self-defense than aggression from the same dingo who had stolen away with her gift. How could she blame her when she'd been so insensitive with her approach? It hadn't helped that she'd severely wounded her in the process of a fight she could never have wished for.

Delphine was not a warrior. She had neither the heart nor aspiration toward violence and having tasted its bittersweet tang along her tongue, she knew for certain that she would never again inflict pain unto others unless they were of true evil intent or caught in the act of harming others. Never again.

Her hooves clicked against the rocky cavern floors in a metronomic tune that was lulling to the ears. It gave rhythm to her thoughts as she pondered on the irony of how she'd known even then, during her time in Eridanus, that she wanted to become stronger not for the sake of power but for the sake of protecting herself and others. When had she forgotten her vision from that point until now? How could she have allowed herself such failings and easy digressions? Again she felt as if she were but a child again, riddled with unswore questions ricocheting endlessly in the corners of her mind. Perhaps with age she would finally find reprieve or in others, ancient or new, she would discover pieces of a puzzle too large to distinguish even now.

Her eyes, glazed over in thought, passed the familiar frames of Orion's center, seeing yet unseeing. Many times before she'd meandered the never-ending labyrinth of the still-peculiar city, wondering how it came to when the other rooms were so clearly... Natural, if that was the right world. The room of stars had always seemed deliberate in some ways, as if it were constructed to appear this way whereas Eridanus was a wild, unkempt beauty. Her thoughts drifted to the words of the Lorekeeper, trying to fit the pieces of her story to their world now but it wasn't enough. She felt as if she were seeing through translucent waters, like the aquatic reservoirs of Cetus except not quite so dark.

She turned a corner, alighting the flights of stairs with far more ease than when she'd first met the lion by the name of Niru. Back then she had yet to fathom the strange contraption and how she could go about fitting her inflexible body and hooves upon its steps. Now it came easily enough as her svelte form shifted beneath the lighting of the gems above. Her gaze flitted up and her one thought stood to the foreground: yes, she wanted to protect this place, these people, her home.

She recalled the battle against the chaos dragon, the dark creature who had wreaked havoc within the caverns with little regard to its inhabitants. Back then she knew not the line between good and evil — even now she was reluctant to take a position in so ambiguous an ideal — but she thought she had grown a stronger understanding in the extremes that existed in their world. It'd given her perspective and at times, hope. Such as the time when Baratheon attacked her, in any normal situation, she should never have been able to forgive him for his lapse of mind and judgment but hers was a heart easily felled and in him, she saw a sincerity that she afforded everyone. That was Delphine. That was her naivety and she would rather see the world through her woolen eyes than to grow cynical and suspicious of everyone and everything.

In many that she'd met, she'd seen what the burden of reality had done to their psyche. The damage that could not be healed no matter the time or affection bestowed upon their persons. It frightened her to think that there was a chance that the world should turn its back upon her and in turn, she would lose the light of hope in her. Nothing frightened her more. She would go so far as to say that she would prefer death over the loss of her belief in the innate good that lived in others. It was just a simple fact that drew itself to closure as she circled and descended from the second floor.

Her attention flickered to the tower erect by the tunnel entrance. Though she did not enter, she knew that it — like its fellow structures — was hollowed out and designed in a way that she doubted was for her kind. She had tried before to theorize what kind of creatures most befitted these structures but given the myriad that surrounded her, it became an impossible task too easily abandoned for more interesting pursuits. Just like now, the mare passed it by in favor of another stroll through different paths and alleys. Peace, she knew, would not be everlasting here but a part of her would always hope for it and perhaps even fight against the potential forms of violence and war before it took unnecessary casualties. She thought on the brave warriors who fought against the dragon and vowed once more to practice for the sake of protecting those around her.

When she finally found herself in the clearing again, it was with a clearer mind and a determined glint to her emerald eyes. Though she still felt residual guilt for the violent act committed unto the dingo, she would only use it to further fuel her control and mastery over her magic and in turn, her most base reactions. Maybe then she would learn from Baratheon and apologize to her in a way that she would understand her intentions. If afterward the dingo desired still minimal to no contact with the mare, at the very least she could walk away with a clearer conscious. With that resolve tucked away, Delphine ground her hooves into the dirt and leveled her gaze into the distance. It would work this time, her magic. It had to.

POST-ROLL EDIT:
The pull came this time without contest, a vibrant hum that surrounded her like an aura. Then she inhaled and with her sharp intake, minerals, objects and magnetic debris emerged from piles, the ground and all around her. Delphine exhaled and it all rushed forth, not in the way of piercing her body but rather fitting itself snugly against the contours of silken flesh and sinew. She marveled at the sight of inanimate objects molding themselves to her form and realized and only then exactly what the use of this spell was. Unlike the one singular pebble that had stuck to her before, in one collective whole and of a seemingly metallic rather than earthen source, she donned a frankenstein armor. It made up for only a part of her shoulder, extending outward like an upside down wing. Not particularly beautiful to gaze upon, Delphine could only appreciate its practicality and shifted her one shoulder experimentally. To her amazement, the armor did not fall though it did click uncomfortably against its misshaped pieces.

Awestruck in silence, the mare wondered if she should try her luck further.

Her amazement was temporal though not in a way that it would prove a lost cause but rather that, she came to realize that her magic alone would not suffice in crafting armor. The fact of the matter was, she had never thought that such garbs were necessary but the further she reflected on the battle in Polaris, the more she seemed to recall a very well endowed panther and otter. Her gaze flickered to the now tattering and loosening pieces of her own makeshift defense and sighed a small sigh of disappointment. A part of her had already been mauling over how she could create a more uniform piece that was held together without the consistent use of her magic — an impossible venture. The other wondered if such preparations were even necessary.

What kind of an image would she be giving off traipsing about dressed down in armor? Prepared; bloodthirsty perhaps. Yet that was not the protectorate's image, that was not how a guardian should seem. She wanted to be ready should the defense of the weak and helpless ever become necessary but she also didn't wish to be perceived as a fighter or a warrior because she was not. If it were up to Delphine, she preferred the idea of spending the times playing and wandering in close proximity to one another. How she and Meredith spent their passing cycles was how she hoped most of her days would pass. A piece of the armor fell with her still waning powers and her gaze dropped to the floors where the magnetic debris clattered. It seemed a waste to simply leave the precious material there, ripe for the taking.

Wordlessly, the young mare began to collect the still falling pieces of her protection into a small pile tucked in a corner of an abandoned building. The place was suitable enough and if she were to return to emptiness, then there was nothing to be done of the matter. It simply made the whole creation process easier if she had the materials gathered together. It meant less needless use of her magic and more time saved. As of now though, she could do nothing but ponder still about whether or not this was the right path to go.