A Light in the Darkness

“Should we stoke the fire?”

Morana looked over to Sidra, then to the fire. Darkness was creeping in around them as the fire died, and both had been lost in their own minds. Where flickering flames had still danced now stood only embers and ashes.

Shade had glided down from his tree, and perched on Morana’s back, and Sidra’s cat had curled closer to her as the warmth from the fire faded. It seemed the dark of the night brought everyone closer together.

“I don’t mind the dark,” Morana said, her mind shifting back to that dark place within her mind that she had seen twice now, and The Other.

“Nor do I… but I do mind the cold,” Sidra said teasingly. “I’m not you, I don’t have frost covering my coat at all times.”

Morana laughed at that, the dead giveaway of her Icy region home. No matter how warm it got, the frost seemed to remain.

“Perhaps a bit of warmth would be welcome,” Morana admitted. It was a chilly night in the Windy Region, a sure sign that the warmth of summer had given way to the playful nip of fall.

Using her telekinesis, Morana lifted more fallen wood from the trees around them and added it to the fire. A bit of pyrokinesis from Sidra, and they had themselves a merry blaze again, the darkness receding to the trees around them.

“I don’t know how dark nights and cold weather don’t bother you,” Sidra griped.

Morana snorted. “You lived in the north of the mountains, it gets cold there too!” Mor pointed out.

“That far north there were always thousands of stars in the sky, and gorgeous auroras. There was a lot of light. But besides, there's a reason my land is further south,” Sidra laughed.

“Not a fan of dark spooky nights?” Morana teased.

“Not when all this has happened,” Sidra admitted. “And with Aberfa’s dreams? I’m not sure what to make of it, to be honest. Melione certainly was good at putting the fear into it.”

Morana shook her head. “I don’t know what to think about all that. Certainly something to deal with… in the morning,” she replied.

Sidra snorted and nodded. “In the morning we set out to try and figure out what’s going on?” she clarified. “Together?”

Morana shrugged. “Why let the chaos stop? Besides, we worked well together,” Mor admitted. “We might as well do so again.”

Sidra smiled. “The darkness isn’t so bad when you have a friend,” Sidra pointed out.

Morana shook her head with a laugh. “I suppose so. The darkness never bothered me at all though.”

“You Icy Region Quirls are weird,” Sidra snorted. “Having no issues with the cold or dark. My best time was in the desert.”

“Why didn’t you move there then? Plenty of sun, lots of warmth?” Mor asked.

“Because the mountains called me home,” Sidra admitted. “I can get a vacation land in the desert.”

The two mares looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.