and you will have my heart for all the time Ayr took to exploring. Eridanus was beautiful, peaceful, and full of life, but the biting curiosity took hold of the foal as she found herself leaving quietly, hoping not to disturb poor Elspet, who seemed all too protective of her. She wasn't ungrateful, of course-- she loved Elspet and how fiery she was, but for a time, she only wanted to explore. She was sure that Elspet would understand. It was surprising to her, however, when she found that the caves outside looked nothing like Eridanus. When she turned the corner and entered Polaris, however, she felt that there was a different kind of life, here. There wasn't a lot of plants compared to her home, but it was teeming with magic and energy. What could be here? What could live here? Ayr flicked her tail with excitement as she stepped forward, cloven hooves clicking melodically against the cave floor. There were lights and crystals and all sorts, here, and the sound of running water somewhere further in the distance. There were plants, too, she could see-- different from the large ferns and trees in Eridanus, but plants. Ayr paused, leaning down to chew at a leaf delicately, before she continued on. Soon enough, she came to a strange discovery-- a hunk of blue, glowing rock jutting out of the ground. The Spire. It crackled with electricity, dangerously, but for a moment the unicorn stood transfixed, watching with her long, delicate ears flicking curiously. There must be others here, surely...? Others like her and Elspet, who would want to explore and come by and see this? Ayr looked around, anxiously, searching for new gembounds to meet.

The buzzing feeling consumed the fawn, filling her thoughts and beckoning her to it with a strong compulsion. It made her feel more alive somehow, dulling the colors and sounds she had seen thus far in comparison to the way she felt here. Her skin tingled, especially on her head, and she was suddenly conscientious that the gemstone antler on her skull was full of life and… excited? The feeling added a spring to the fawn’s step, a further spritz of joy in the already effervescent youth. She made her way through these unfamiliar caverns, taking in each new sight with wide-eyed interest. But it was something else that drew her attention, here at the heart. Yet, as she approached it, she realized she was not alone.

For a moment, she mistook the creature to be that white fawn she’d met in Orion, nearly a cycle ago now. For Karma, it had been a literal lifetime ago, and time seemed to move ever faster. She realized after a moment that the scale was wrong, however, and that this unknown gembound was rather larger than he was. She paused for a moment, hesitant, but as she saw the creature snag a leaf in passing she considered that it must not be too keen to eat her.

The bouncing, energetic steps she had taken to traveling in brought her closer to the unicorn, curiosity increasing as she went. “Hello,” she called out as she approached, not wanting to spook her as she had accidentally done when greeting a new hatchling before. She paused a short distance away from the stranger, never quite totally stationary in this room.

The energy, it seemed, was just too strong. "What are you looking at?"

@Ayr

and you will have my heart for all the time She saw the other gembound seconds before she called out, half-turning with another flick of her whiplike tail. She was right- there were other things here, and this creature looked just a bit like she did. She moved to step closer as the fawn approached, though she found that she only managed to move three of her four legs before Karma was upon her and bouncing on the spot. "Hello," she replied pleasantly, her voice clear and musical like a bell. "What am I...?" Ayr trailed off, turning again to look up at the spire. She had... no idea what it was, or how she could really begin explaining it. Her ears flicked, quiet for a moment, thinking. "This," she said, nodding up to the crackling blue Spire. "I'm not sure what it is, but it's.. interesting, isn't it? Blue, and beautiful." A part of her wished, privately, that Elspet had been here to see it with her. Perhaps she could bring her over later, however, and show it to her. The unicorn turned back to the fawn, good-naturedly still. "Have you seen it before?" She asked. "I... assume you do not know what it is, however?"

@Karma

“Definitely,” she said, nodding enthusiastically. It was quite beautiful, after all, and blue, and she sensed that this thing was the reason she felt tingly all over. Karma’s violet eyes wandered up the spire as she thought this, taking the thing in with a sense of awe. The whole thing seemed sort of dreamlike, between the feelings of warmth and energy, the sweet sound of the unicorn’s voice, and the ethereal beauty of the spire. “No, I haven’t. I’m not sure what it is,” she replied to the other’s question, shaking her head in a disappointed sort of way. She didn’t know, but she was quite inclined to find out. “But it almost seems… alive? It’s different than the other rocks.”


“Hmmm.” Karma took a few steps closer to the thing, terribly tempted to reach out and touch it. Some semblance of self-preservation stopped her, but it didn’t prevent her from wondering how badly it might hurt for just one little touch. “Do you think it hurts?” Spying a mushroom, the fawn decided to test a theory. She concentrated on it for a moment, reaching out to pluck it from the stone it grew upon, but it simply wiggled a little and remained stubbornly rooted in place. She scowled at it, but remained in place, hoping her new friend hadn’t noticed. Stupid mushroom.

@Ayr

and you will have my heart for all the time Alive. That seemed like the correct word for it, yes. Ayr turned her head back to the Spire, watching the crackling light for a moment. "Other rocks...?" The unicorn parroted quietly, mistified for a moment. "Perhaps it is similar to our own stones, but have you ever seen another's stone do.. well, that?" Her suggestion was accompanied by another nod of the head to the pulsating spire. She herself had never seen anything like it, even as far as gembounds' stones went. They glittered and shone, but they did not quite glow or pulse like this gigantic rock did. Speaking of which, they weren't generally as big as it. Unless, perhaps, there was something under the ground? Ayr looked down to the cave floor, suddenly a little guilty that she had been walking so carelessly, but her attention was soon gripped once again by the fawn. "Hurts?" She asked, quizzically, but not unkindly. "I'm... not sure, is that something you would really want to try out?" Judging by the gentle shake of a nearby mushroom, Ayr realised the answer would be something along the lines of 'probably not.' "Perhaps it might be best if we leave it alone?" The unicorn suggested. "If it is alive, it may not appreciate being prodded..."

@Karma

Having given up on the mushroom, Karma was again looking inquisitively at the spire, ears turned to the other to make clear she was still listening. When she mentioned gemstones, however, she paused, turning back to Ayr with a wild sort of curiosity in her eyes. Could it be? Could this massive thing be just the stone of a truly massive thing? It was a mind-boggling concept. It was really scary but at the same time really freaking cool. The unicorn brought up a good point, however. “No, I don’t think I have,” she said, thinking hard. “But what if it’s… such a big gem… because it’s really strong?” In the end, her question seemed to be to herself as much as the other, and she suppressed a little shudder. “Maybe not,” she said hopefully, “that would be a really big gem.”

“Um… no, I guess that’s probably not a good idea,” she said, side-eyeing the stupid mushroom for a second. “But sometimes, when I touch things, I can see things that I couldn’t before.”

Karma hadn’t even considered the possibility that she might be annoying another creature, though that might be because the thought rarely crossed her mind regardless of her company. “Oh,” she replied, disappointment evident. “I guess you’re right. I just wish I knew what it was.”

@Ayr

and you will have my heart for all the time With this point raised by Karma, Ayr was a little taken aback. If the size of a gem dictated how strong a gembound would be, then it would make sense in the unicorn's head. Elspet was very powerful, and Elspet's gem covered almost all of her head. Karma had a similar sort of gem, too-- it came right out of her head and it was fairly sizable. Dubiously, Ayr eyed her own gem. It was tiny in comparison to Elspet and Karma's gem, and practically minuscule compared to the spire. Did that mean she was not powerful? The unicorn flicked her whiplike tail, turning her attention back to the fawn. "I don't see why not," Ayr replied gently, even after Karma corrected herself. "How many others do you know? Their... magic, it's all connected to their stones, isn't it?" It certainly felt that way at least, especially to Ayr. She had only been able to summon a few plants, however, so far. "I think, if it is a... someone, it may be.. stuck. Perhaps angry that it can't get out, she continued, gazing upon the spire once more. She felt a twinge of sadness in her heart at this very thought. Surely, if it were a living thing, it would need help. But where to even begin trying to help it...? Ayr took a breath, looking back to the deer. "You see things?" She asked, quizzically. "What kind of things?" Slowly, the unicorn dipped her head. "I wish I knew, too," she admitted softly, though her voice remained quietly melodic. "I wish I knew of a way to help it, but... well." She sighed. "My name is Ayr. Who are you?"

@Karma

Oblivious to the concerns in Ayr’s mind, Karma was pleased to find that the other agreed with her. She became a little self-conscious, however, when asked her about how many others she knew. An adventurer such as herself should have met plenty of others on her missions, yet the fawn had encountered surprisingly few other gembounds. Among those, she knew about the magic of even fewer. “Well,” she said, pausing as if she had to think about how many she’d met. “I’ve met four others, and I think theirs came from their stones. I think mine does too.” Her brow furrowed as she looked over the unicorn, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t yet seen her stone. “Where is your gem?”

“Stuck…?” she echoed thoughtfully, following the unicorn’s gaze up the spire. She tapped a cloven hoof across the rocky ground for a moment, as if that might cue some sort of revelation about the nature of the thing. When that didn’t work, she turned back to Ayr, frowning softly in thought. She cheered up a bit when her magic was mentioned. “Yea! I-” she thought for a minute about how to describe it. “If I think really hard, and then touch a thing, I can see other things. Like…” Karma cast her eyes around for a suitable victim, eyes catching yet again on the stupid mushroom. She stepped over to it and closed her eyes, focusing on the fungal nuisance. When she touched her nose to it, however, the only result was a cloud of spores releasing directly into her face. Snorting and coughing, she jumped backwards, and began rubbing her eyes on her knees in an attempt to clear the itchy speckles.

“Not like that,” she said finally, now openly glaring at the mushroom through inflamed eyes. “It’s usually others. Voices and faces.” The thought occurred to her that if this was a living thing, perhaps it had conspired against her with this fungi, and she was not interested in helping such a thing. “I’m Karma.”

HAHAHA this is why we don't do shrooms
@Ayr

and you will have my heart for all the time Ayr considered, and then nodded. Knowing four other people was certainly more than what she knew. In fact, it was literally double the number-- including this deer, Ayr knew two others. She was new, however. She hoped this would change. The unicorn half-turned, nodding to her tail, and more importantly, the blue-white moonstone gem wrapping around it somewhere halfway down. "There," she said softly. "It's quite small, and it's not.. quite as noticeable, as some others that I have seen, but you and my Elspet are the only two I have met, so far." Her tail flicked, briefly, and then fell still. She nodded faintly at the mention of something being potentially stuck under the ground, moving over to peer down after Karma as she began tapping the ground, waiting quietly for something to sprout out and announce it's... stuckness, perhaps. Nothing, of course, happened, and Ayr's eyes flicked back up to the fawn, quizzically. "Oh, I... see?" She smiled quizzically, not seeing at all. She stepped along after Karma to the mushroom, watching, and let out gentle, tinkling laughter as the mushroom released spores into the air. It was not an unkind laugh, of course-- rather quietly amused that it seemed so intentional. "Perhaps you should ask before doing it?" The unicorn stepped away for a moment, head bending down to the ground, speaking softly. "I have a different sort of magic, you see," she explained. "I can ask plants, very nicely, if they can surface and come out of the ground. There are many below, yes? They are just.. waiting, for that gentle nudge, and a kind word, until they show themselves." Gently, she placed her nose against the ground. "Is there anything down there, could you show our Karma what I mean..?" It didn't take long for the plants to respond at all-- almost the second that Ayr touched the ground, tall grass and tiny, white flowers sprouted from the ground, nuzzling her nose and growing around her face and hooves. Ayr smiled. "Thank you, that's very kind of you," she said, to the plants, before lifting her head to look back to Karma. "You could try again, perhaps, if you ask it first?"

@Karma

“Hmm. It’s pretty though,” she said, following the moonstone gem with her eyes as the unicorn flicked her tail. She shook her head when asked if she’d bothered to ask the mushroom first. She might have objected with some disbelief about whether or not plants and fungi could understand when she spoke to them, but decided that she didn’t want to discourage her new friend. With some effort, she suppressed the doubt in her voice as she answered, “I haven’t tried that before.”

She watched, skeptical but intrigued, as Ayr touched her nose to the ground. That doubt was quickly eliminated, however, as plants blossomed to life all around her. Karma’s eyes grew wide, taking in this beautiful scene. “Wow!” she exclaimed, lost for a moment in childish wonder. Perhaps there was something to what the other had said after all. Eager to try it, she looked back to the mushroom, making a substantial effort not to regard it angrily. “Alright. Will you… show me things?” slowly, she lowered her head, approaching the fungus with her nose. “… Please,” she added as a nervous afterthought, not entirely recovered from the spore cloud attack.

As Karma touched the mushroom carefully, she squinted, ready to jump back at any further assault. Kindness seemed to do the trick, however, and for a moment, the scene around her wavered. Dark shapes moved around them, conversations in whispers that the fawn couldn’t quite understand. Her ears twitched as she tried to catch one of them, not unlike water in the sense that she could almost grab one, but it slipped just as easily from her grasp. She had almost caught something when the vision melted away again, and all she could see was the mushroom before her. “Thank you,” she muttered dejectedly, at least grateful it hadn’t attacked her again. “Yours is way cooler,” she said, turning to eye the lush vegetation at Ayr’s feet with a bit of envy.

@Ayr