Olic continued to stare at the mare long after Anetha had passed into a fitful slumber, slumped against her brother. The mare had just sat there, it's eyes locked on the ground with unfocused eyes. Every now and then, the eyes would dart to something with a strange sense of focus before going back to the ground and unfocusing once more. Olic could only guess that the newly sentient being was, like it's now former owner, what had happened to it. If it wasn't for the emblem adorning the mare's flank, Olic would have sheathed his daggers in it long ago. The emblem of the Nightingales could only mean that Nocturnal meant for this creature to assist him in some way. Some way that was currently unknown to Olic.

"Master?" came the thickly accented voice. Olic exited his musings to find that the mare was looking right at him. The rays of the morning sun lit up the confusion on it's face, "How did this happen?"

It sure mastered speech quickly, Olic thought as he pondered the horse's question. It was obvious that Nocturnal had a play in it, that much was obvious by the emblem on it's flank. The real question was why it had never happened before. Why, before now, hadn't a Daedra given thinking life to a creature? Surely it'd be easier to create servants in such a way than to convert already civilized beings. Still, he knew of the main player in the horse's transformation.

"Nocturnal, my Mistress, has apparently seen the need to give you thought and voice," he replied in a neutral tone. The mare took this information and looked back at the ground, seemingly digesting it. The mare then looked back at it's flank and the emblem there.

"That is the symbol of Her servants. It appears that She wishes for you to assist me in the task She has given me," Olic explained, preempting the question that was bound to come.

"What task?" It-she-asked, looking at the Nord. Said Nord looked at the Nightingale above the mare. Sensing that his gaze was diverted, she looked behind her and spotted the bird as well.

"I don't know."

A moment of silence.

"What's my name?" asked the mare as she looked back at Olic.

Olic laughed, "You don't ask the easy questions, do you?"

The lack of a reply from the horse made Olic's hidden smile drop as he pondered the question.

"What would you like your name to be?" Olic asked, hoping to deflect the responsibility. That and he was curious to see what the horse would come up with. The mare's eyes dropped to the ground.

"I... I think I wish... my name to be... Life Whisper. My name is Life Whisper," she replied with conviction as she looked at Olic with a fire of determination in her eyes.

"Well met than, Life Whisper," Olic greeted with a nod. He then glanced toward the rising sun, "Now I believe it is time to get some rest."

"If it's alright with you Master, I'd like to stay up and..." A subtle shift of weight displayed her excitement, "explore."

"Life Whisper, I am no longer your 'Master'. That is one of the gifts of thought and voice; that no other mortal being can ever truly rule over you," Olic explained.

"I... see. I will go explore than. Enjoy your rest Ma-... Olic," Life replied before she stood and walked out of the clearing. The bird was quick to fly from the branch and land on the horse's head. Life gave a short pause before continuing, a small smile on her face visible to Olic.

"To try to understand you, Mistress, would simply lead me to insanity," the bipedal Nightingale muttered as he shook his head and smirked behind his mask. Slowly, he drifted off to a state of sleep that he had acquired where he would awaken if his body suspected a threat to be nearby. Hs last thought was whether the newly named Life Whisper would be able to find her way back or not.

------

Life Whisper was in a state of euphoria. Her every sense was trying to collect and store everything around her. It was a difficult task as there was so much to discover; like how the sunlight reflected off the slow moving stream or the music the wind made as it moved through the trees. She observed how different the feeling of dirt was beneath her hooves now that she could actually think about it.

In her flurry of thoughts, she remembered back to the reaction of... Olic's sister. She frowned as she remembered her frightened look, the tears running down her cheeks, how she tried to bury herself into Olic. Was she truly frightening to look at or was her... transformation just too much for the little female to handle? Life opted for the second as Olic himself didn't seem too frightened. However, she thought, a smile gracing her face as she did, His face was obscured by that mask of his.

Life suddenly paused as her ears became erect. There was a distinct thumping sound in the distance. It sounded like if she were to kick her hooves against a tree. It was stranger still because it came at irregular intervals. This made Life think that something sapient, like herself now, was causing the noise.

"Maybe I should head back to Olic," she mumbled to herself. As she turned around to head back, she heard a caw from the bird on her head before it took off with a flap of it's wings... and head straight toward the noise. Remembering back to before her change, she remembered seeing Olic follow it through the woods. From what the memory served, she could tell that he had also treated the bird with a respect higher than normal.

Hearing another caw, she looked up to see the bird sitting on a branch a couple yards away. It cried again before taking flight once more toward the thumping.

"Hey! Wait up!" she yelled as she took off at a gallop after the bird. If Olic had deemed it worth following, than she assumed that she could trust it as well. Dodging brush and branches, she noticed that the thumping was getting louder and louder. She also noticed that more light seemed to be seeping through the further she went. The bird seemed to be making a game of it as it weaved around trees and dived to the ground before righting itself at the last second.

Life watched as the bird disappeared behind a wall of brush. Pushing harder then before, she burst through the brush and went blind as bare sunlight assaulted her eyes. Skidding to a halt, she whinnied in discomfort as she shook her head to clear her vision. When her vision cleared, she found herself looking at a field of evenly spaced trees and a brick red stallion with a work collar that looked at her with wide eyes that barely came to her snout. She was vaguely aware of the bird retaking it's perch atop her head.

"Uh... Hi?" she asked, questioning what made her speak. Maybe it was how similar this stallion looked to herself that caused a hope that he was also sapient in this strange, colorful world.

"Howdy?" he replied with a deep accent. The two remained frozen as they stared at each, both in shock with the other. Strangely, Life realized how dirty and messed up her coat, mane, and tail were. Stranger still, she felt ashamed at the stallion seeing her in such a state. She also found herself eyeing the muscles that rippled beneath his red fur and how his orange mane blew in the small breeze.

"Big Mac? Why'd ya stop working? Ya still got your debt to pay off!" came another voice in an accent similar to the stallion's. Is Big Mac his name? He seems a little small to me, Life thought as she heard the sound of hooves against dirt. The sound grew, indicating that the owner was getting closer. Removing her eyes from Big Mac, Life looked toward the noise and felt her jaw slacken. Trotting over to them was another horse but this one had an orange coat with yellow mane and tail, a strange hat atop it's head. It was even shorter than Big Mac and it's softer features made Life identify it as a mare. She noticed that this mare had a mark of three apples on her flank. A quick peek at Big Mac's flank, causing her cheeks to heat up ever so slightly (another new experience for her), showed that he had a picture of a half apple. A glance black at her own flank showed that the bird and moon symbol was still present.

"Why did you...stop...working..." the voice of the orange mare trailed off. Life looked back at the voice to see her frozen and staring at Life with her jaw almost touching the ground. Remembering what happened with Big Mac, Life decided to take the initiative.

"Hey?" she couldn't help the inflection of her voice that turned the word into a question. It was hard to sound confident when taking to a new species that so resembled yourself.

"Uh... Howdy friend. Who, uh... Who might you be?" she asked slowly, apparently still shocked by Life's appearance. Life smiled as she was now able to tell someone else her new name.

"I'm Life Whisper!" she exclaimed in an excited voice, the reactive motion of her head causing the bird to flare it's wings to stay balanced. If her jump was anything to go by, Life had apparently startled the orange mare.

"Well," began the orange mare, seemingly recovered from the startle. A smile appeared on her face as she fixed her hat, "I'm Applejack and the big fella there is-"

"Big Mac?" Life asked. She didn't know why she felt the need to interrupt but for some reason she had wanted to feel the name through her own lips.

"Eeyup," replied the stallion with his deep, baritone voice. Life saw the smile he wore and felt her cheeks briefly heat up again as she quickly looked back at the orange mare who was now identified as Applejack.

"May I ask where ya from partner? Ya seem mighty, uh, tall to be from around here," asked the orange mare as she shot Big Mac a look that Life didn't understand.

"I-" "You mustn't speak of Nirn, mortal. Lest Olic's task may fail before it even starts." "-don't want to talk about it," Life replied with a frown that was more to the voice in her head than the mare. Was that the voice of Nocturnal she had heard?

"It's alright sugarcube. I understand that some memories are best left buried," explained Applejack as she moved closer to Life. A reassuring hoof touched upon Life's foreleg, "Come on. Lets get ya fed and cleaned up, okay?"

Life nodded softly as she began to follow the small mare through the trees. A glance back showed that Big Mac was still watching her as she walked away. He offered her a small smile, which she returned before facing forwards once more. With a flash of black, the Nightingale dropped onto Life's muzzle and, surprising her, nuzzled her face before taking off to circle overhead.

Life saw the amused look on Applejack's face before the orange mare turned forward again. Life smiled wider as she looked up at the circling bird. Nocturnal had given her thought and voice and had led her to these small horses. If that came with being one of Her servants, then Life would gladly give her life to Her. Afterall, she thought as she looked back at the emblem on her flank, Service in Her name appears to be my destiny.