Dark watched Tabitha hurry by on her pursuit. She had said something about flying. That was just as well. She had wings, she should know how to use them.

Dark had a horn. She planned to use it, and the skull attached to that and the brain interred within that skull. She had work to do.

She clopped on the door that led to Spring's domicile, and no answer returned. She expected that.

Time had passed for politeness. It was time to make the situation clear. She reached for the knob with her magic, wrapping it and giving a jiggling twist. It was locked, of course.

Her magic seeped into its delicate workings and her brows raised. Whatever or whoever had constructed the lock, it wasn't familiar to her. Everything about it was subtly off, but the mechanism itself? It was still a lock, with tumblers. She knew what she had to do.

She began playing with those tumblers, zeroing in on the desired shape before she gave it a triumphant twist. The knob was turned and unlocked. No mere lock would bar her way forward. "In the name of Princess Luna, I am entering. If you wish to prevent this, answer your door."

The door swung outwards suddenly, sending Dark hopping back half a step as a strange humanoid emerged with fire in her eyes. She was dressed predominantly in green. She had badly swollen glands. A disease perhaps? No, Tabitha had the same condition and didn't seem bothered by it. A biped thing, perhaps? Dark's exposure to bipeds was limited. "Who are you?" demanded the figure as she pulled the door shut, standing beyond it but the way sealed for the moment.

"I am an agent." Dark nodded.

"It's always a pleasure to see one that understands their place." The creature smiled in a devious way. "Agent, who do you call master, or mistress?"

"I have two." Dark raised a hoof. "Highest is Princess Luna, below her, Miss Tabitha Taylor, to whom I have been assigned. At the behest of both, I am here."

"So sincere. So frank... I will either adore you or despise you, though both isn't impossible... What is your name?"

"Dark Vision. Miss Spring, why have you taken action against Miss Tabitha Taylor?"

She raised a brow. "Is that what Tabitha informed you?"

Dark hesitated a moment. "No. She has adjusted to your interference, but interference it remains. I would know the why, if you would?"

Her expression changed subtly, the biped, that 'elf' seeming to see something in Dark. "Why would a fellow crafter of the arcane bow before a powerless, if magnificently virile, specimen?"

Dark took a half step back. "She did not lie then. You are drawn to her."

The elf narrowed her eyes. "That beast is filthy as she is randy. She's claimed me once, but I'll win the next..."

"And yet, you remain?" Dark raised a brow. "Surely you could select another residence, if you wished?"

She gripped her forelegs more firmly, no, on bipeds, forelegs were called arms. She clenched her fingers. "I am a visitor. I can only rest in certain... places. This is one. The next is some distance away. I won't let a depraved beast send me away so easily, even if she laughs at me and the life she quickens."

Depraved? Tabitha had a fair number of flaws Dark had seen, but depravity did not seem among them. She set that aside though. So the elf wished to be coy in matters of romance? That was not her concern. "Why did you change her as you did?"

"She was owed a favor and planned to hold it over my head without end."

Dark sat on her haunches. She didn't seem to be in--

The elf was suddenly behind her, an arm around the pony's neck. "I've answered enough of your questions. Mare, you'll answer some of mine now."

Dark was still a moment, feeling the pressure of that arm against her furry flesh. The elf seemed quite serious. "As you wish."

The pressure lessened. "It's good to see you know your place. You are very... proper." She said it as a compliment and scornful all at once. "If you were told to depart by Princess Luna, what would you do?"

"I would leave." Dark raised a brow. "I would never provoke her."

"Nor I, and yet..." She wobbled a hand even as she straightened. "I should be clear. You have the power to see me ejected."

Dark did. She felt confident in that fact.

"I don't want that." The elf leaned forward towards Dark, now in front of her. "What do you want to keep you from interfering with that?"

It was easy. Too easy. Dark was no fool. She was being offered a heavy favor, and one with equal weight in the elf's eyes would be demanded in kind. Dark tapped a hoof on the ground. "Let us begin with the basics. This place is sensitive. Do you swear to not work against it?"

"I do." She nodded. "I can't even claim that one. I'm no beast or raider. I made that oath before coming here."

That was a good step... Dark nodded. "Tabitha's actions reflect on this place. She is its Caretaker, as I have heard your kind say."

"She is," agreed the elf. "Caretaker and foul beast."

"Beast or not--" Dark didn't think Tabitha was a very good beast. "Will you leave her to her work?"

"No."

Just like that? Dark raised a brow. "I presume you have a compelling reason for that?"

The elf put a hand over her lower belly. "Since you insist... That fecund stallion has already fertilized these fields."

There was silence for a time. Dark raised a hoof to cough into it. "She..."

"She did."

"And it worked?"

"It did."

"I... trust you have proof of this?"

"None that would compel you." The elf rolled her eyes. "I have yet to lie. Life buds within me, as filthy as its 'father', and besmirching of its mother. I am her broodmate, so I cannot be expelled from her life."

Dark's tongue ran across her lips as she considered that new information.

"Are you here, hoping, beast?"

Dark went rigid at that. What was the elf implying?

"If you move carefully, perhaps you could attract that stud, beast."

"I will pass." Dark shook her head. "I have no interest in such things while I remain Princess Luna's weapon. You're distracting from the point, elf."

"Spring Breeze."

"Hmm?

"I feel this is far from the last we'll speak. Names are appropriate in this case, as magic user to another. I am Spring Breeze, master of living magic, trained huntress, and broodmate." She rolled one of those hands as she spoke. "And you are?"

"Dark Vision, servant of Princess Luna, Warlock by volunteering and skill with magic."

"You won't say what kind of magic?"

Fair was fair... "I specialize in... magic's magic. Where magic runs into other magic, their interference and cooperation. Complex magic systems are where my strength lies. This building captivates my interest, as you might imagine."

"How fascinating." Spring crouched down, putting them at even level. "Perhaps she will seduce you in her own time." Dark doubted that. "I could think of worse fates than being tied to another weaver of the arts."

"You ascribe to her some very... dark, some would even say hostile, motives." Dark shook her head. "Do you truly believe her to be an aggressive beast?"

"Your snout has only touched the dry surface of a book," complained Spring with a soft grunt. "Learn to live a little, beast, and you would read between the lines. If it helps, I like her quite a bit. There is much to favor in that disgusting animal."

"You liked her enough to rob her of her original form?"

"She let me decide on the favor." Spring lifted her shoulders. "With every passing day, Tabitha grows fonder of that form. She will learn to favor it in all ways. You may not know this, weaver, but she extracted a promise from me."

"Hmm?"

"If she still finds disfavor in what I have given her, I have sworn to undo it." She smiled with supreme confidence. "By the time it is over, she will revel in the gift I've given her."

"And what gift have you given her?"

"Is it not obvious?" Spring stood up tall. "I presume you have some pride in your people. She has joined them. I threw her into your world, and she's not only adjusting, but coming to love it. She will live quite happily be as one of you, a pony."

Dark perked an ear at the strange creature, Spring. She wasn't sure how she should proceed. "For the moment, I will set this aside. I need to know more."

Spring's face split into a smile. "It's good to see someone willing to think before they act. Very well, let us put that matter aside for now. Will you leave my room alone? I pay--paid for--"

"You have no employment." Dark frowned a little. "Unless you have--"

"That's none of your business!" Spring put her hands at her hips.

"I'm afraid you are misinformed there." Dark shook her head. "It is my responsibility to know and to act, preferably before it becomes an issue. You can speak to me plainly, or I will be forced to act on what I can discover."

"Troublesome beast." She quirked a faint smile. "This may be why I am intrigued by your kind..."

Dark rose to her hooves. "If you find such fascination with us, why don't you abandon your... Why aren't you a pony as well?"

Spring's face deformed in quite a grimace. "The sun is a majestic thing, but I am in no hurry to become one. I am no beast. I'll leave that to the animals to have. It is bad enough one has claimed me as her own."

"Will you fight it?" Dark gestured at Spring's form. "You, a master of living magic. Surely you could banish any unwanted progeny, and you certainly did not--"

Spring put a finger to Dark's nose, quieting her. "I will bear this filthy child."

"But--"

"I am her broodmate. That is my fate." She grimaced as she said it, but she seemed pleased by the news, not put off.

Dark changed her angle of attack. "You do know she pursues another?"

"A stud like that? It hardly surprises me." She shrugged softly.

Dark raised a brow. "You don't mind that her attention doesn't focus on you alone?"

"I do have other matters to attend." Spring rolled a hand. "It would not do to have that foul beast lingering in the midst of my arcane endeavors. We will never have... the relationship that you ponies savor. Let her find another dirty beast to cuddle with casually."

Dark gave a slow nod as she began to turn. "You've been... enlightening. For now, remain as you are."

"I shall."

They left one another. Answers had been exchanged, but how much understanding? That remained to be seen.

Author's Notes:

It's about time Dark and Spring got together, I think. Hopefully this cross-racial chat won't cause too many typos.