Death is Invetible...

[Zodiac]

Zodiac was impatient. He was tired of sitting around looking pretty, waiting for some equine to come along and ask to join his herd. Now he knew from the beginning that wasn't going to happen, but it was worth a try. Especially when he was not in the mood to go gallivanting after some upstart mare. And then the King heard something. Just a breath on the wind, but it was enough to make him get up and go. Powers, the wind called to him, your powers await. And Zodiac knew just where to go to find these 'powers'. Although he couldn't guarantee he'd actually receive one, he could at least go back to his land without one knowing he'd tried. But Zodiac had no intention of doing that. He was notorious for his determination, and today was no exception. Even though he was facing Mother Nature herself, he was firmly convinced that he would not leave here without a power. She didn't have any reason to argue with him. Once he'd gotten a herd and had taken over the Light lands, maybe she might regret her decision. But surely she wouldn't care. Rindle was just a grain of sand in the marvelous beach of the world. So-called marvelous, actually. There was plenty of pain and suffering in the world. And plenty of it was caused by the Darks. And the Dark Lord wasn't ashamed. He enjoyed it.

Stepping carefully onto the moist grass beside the large pool, Zodiac glanced into its crystal clear depths carelessly before studying his surroundings for any sign of movement. He didn't like to be surprised, especially when he was in a grouchy mood, like today. Let's just hope Mother Nature doesn't creep up on her subjects. Lashing his ebonite cords, the Dark King snorted impatiently and glanced again at the circular waters before him. They showed Zodiac nothing, and another impatient snort issued from his nares. Maybe this was a bad idea. He drove that traitorous thought out of his head. Of course it was a good idea. It showed the world he truly was above the common equine. Equines below him were powerless, and helpless, against his wrath. And it would be nigh impossible to overthrow him. Unless, of course, the challenger received a power of his own. Then the fight might be more complicated. If he did get overthrown... But that wouldn't happen. Zodiac had every faith in his fighting ability and powers were just an added bonus. No equine could best the Dark King in a fight. And if he did lose (which was impossible) he could just run off, away from any angry equines (who would get blown to bits if they tried to attack him) and one day step up and take his rightful place once more. He had it all worked out. Nothing could deter Zodiac. Nothing. Except...

Waiting. Waiting was the one thing he could absolutely not stand. He was the most impatient equine in the world and waiting was number one on his 'death list'. Unfortunately, he couldn't kill time, so Zodiac was forced to wait for certain equines who couldn't be bothered to hurry up just for a King. And then he would release his wrath on them, and whatever he had been waiting for would have gone down the drain. Idiots, the whole lot of them. There were very few equines who could match his intelligence, or at least who he had met. The world was large, but he didn't care. Those who had met were the only ones that mattered. And then only a small amount. Perhaps only a few mares could match his intellect. No stallion could hope to compare. Zodiac does think a lot of himself, doesn't he? But don't mind him. He usually keeps his opinion to himself, unless faced with a rather stupid equine, which, unfortunately, happens a lot, so actually, the King does get to express his opinion a lot, doesn't he? Suddenly turning his attention to the present, Zodiac glanced suspiciously about him, as if expecting Mother Nature to creep up on him. He decided against speaking and waited for her to find him and grant him his power.

[»liliha.]

The scent of murky pond water was faint and the entire atmosphere seemed to match the scent in its putrid, rancid, unpleasant tone. It was dusk still and the orb glowed red, looking almost as if it was an overripe piece of fruit, lowering in the sky as a swollen, mushy, scarlet-hued fruit falls from a tree. But now, the sun had nearly completed its sojourn to the other side of the world. The sky was grey and getting darker every moment. The moon was more visible now, shining as if it was trying to impress someone special. It's gentle beams cast an eerie glow across every surface it touched. Shadows bounced off of every corner, colliding with each and another to form a confusing mess of dark and light. The sight was nothing unusual. It played out his way every evening, the colors never differing much...the scenery never changed, spare a cloud or two and maybe the occasional blooming of wildflowers. The temperature was just now cooling off; however. That day had been particularly scorching, reaching the highest temps of the season so far, but now, the weather was quite comfortable...aside from a few bloodsucking pests. The air was sticky and moist. The pool of liquid, the guilty party that was to be blamed for the stench, stood alone, yet shortly after the last equine left, another approached. (Though this one was of the male gender.) The trees and other stationary objects watched with envy as the Hessian approached. He stood, in a dazed manner, with a confused, yet, maybe even frighten look upon his features. No, no, it was more of a suspicious and distrusting arrangement of those strong features upon his apex. As he commenced to cease his gazing around in a defensive manner, the small pond began to spin its waters in a whirlpool-like motion yet once again. The liquid contents of the pool began to churn violently. It looked as if there was a massive storm tainting the water, causing it to splash and slosh and break in such an unruly and ominous manner. Finally, a wave, surprisingly large in comparance to the size of the the lake raised itself over the bank. It crashed into the cold, hard ground, spreading quickly over the terrain and then rushing back into the pond, but some of the molecules of H₂0 remained, pushing and pulling, morphing into the perfect mold of a toad. It was quite astonishing...ironic that a small toad would appear after all of that commotion, but really, it was quite an extraordinary sight. The frog's small mouth creaked open, showing the soft, salmon colored tissue inside. The elastic-like tongue of the amphibian whipped out, licking the left eyeball of the creature and quickly disappearing back into the toad's mouth. Once again, the toad cranked his jaw open, releasing the quite unexpected sound of vocals...the soft, comforting vocals of a female figure none-the-less!

Greetings, Zodiac. I am Mother Nature. Your power shall be fire. I trust that you will treat your position and new-found power with the respect it deserves...you will not abuse it, i know.

Almost as soon as her lyrics ceased, a wave, much like the one that had given birth to the animal swept up the creature, carrying it back into the abyss, but not without the wind picking up suddenly, lashing the equine with spray. And with that, the small depiction of a delta slowly carved itself into the forehead of the creature.

[Zodiac]

Zodiac waited, feeling increasingly impatient, and at the same time, rather foolish, for he thought that perhaps it had been a bad idea to travel here. The back of his neck prickled, and the Dark whirled around, when there was a loud crashing noise behind him, and he turned around again, ivories bared. The water swirled around his hooves and Zodiac realized, with a twinge of anxiety, that that had been a wave from the clear, pristine surface of the lake. He studied it for a moment, and he detected the very faint ripples gliding serenely out from the edge of the lake, but they were soon gone. The King didn't notice the toad until he nearly stepped on it, and when he did, he wrinkled his nose in disgust. He had half a mind to squish it when it spoke, and the voice nearly made him jump out of his skin. Then he forgot it was a frog talking, as what it was talking about was far more important. Zodiac grinned as he felt his blood run cold, and a surge of electricity raced through him. He suddenly felt far more alert of his own surroundings, and he could see the tiniest movement and hear the slightest rustle of a leaf. This, he supposed, was the after effect of magic; it tended to do strange things to the user. Zodiac gripped his new power tightly with his mind, and he willed it to obey him, to bow to his will. After several minutes wrestling with it, he managed it, and then he directed it do something, as a bit of a test. Suddenly, fire sprang from his hooves, all four of them, and his mane turned to a glowing red, which he realized from the heat was also flame, and his tail too. His eyes began to blaze, and from his nostrils came some burning fire.

With a triumphant whinny, the King rose into the air, rearing, and struck thin air with his fiery irons, causing great arcs to appear where his hooves had been seconds before. Zodiac didn't realize in his triumph that the toad had vanished, but he didn't care anyway. He was now truly King, and the star which had minutes before been diamond in shape was now a triangle, singling him from all the rest. He was King! The flaming equine let out a sizzling roar, and turned. He trotted to the forest, quickly picking up into a gallop where he skillfully avoided trees and squeezed through the smallest gaps. His flames sizzled and burned, and some caught on the trees, though none managed to spark into a full-fledged fire, luckily for Zodiac. The King burst out from the forest and neighed again, his resounding call echoing across the lands, burning into equines heads, and terrifying them. They would never forget that triumph-filled call, and they would remember it the day the flame equine swooped down upon them and destroyed their freedom, their families, and their lives.