Trickling water sparkled and immediately caught her attention. The way that it dripped down into the stone, turning into a gentle trickle as it gathered. She sniffed it. Tentatively extending the tip of her tongue to taste the liquid. Something was alive in the liquid, whispering to her softly, drawing her deeper into the cave. It promised comfort, warmth and adventure. The water was almost spicy, laced with something electric in its sensation. Zapping into her nervous system. She touched it once more, you know just to be sure - that this was really real? The walls of the cave were covered in rough rock faces, they glistened with a layer of frozen water. Her reflection was stretched strangely on the wall. She dipped her head, shook it, then lifted a foot watching the non-perfect version of herself perform the same actions. She snorted, and it echoed deeper and deeper into the cave. The trickle of water gathered into a small stream here. Her hooves tapping and splashing it, the water touching her skin felt warm. It drew her onwards. Before long the tunnel opened up into a wide room. The light in the room was blinding, brighter than she had ever seen the light from the sky. In direct contrast was the darkest feather she had ever seen, it was long and delicate. Beautifully intricate in its prismatic shine. Approaching the pedestal nervously she sniffed the feather, the soft wuffs of her breath moved the delicate strands of the feather. It reacted to her presence almost immediately, a soft blue glow emerging from the feather. It jumped and twirled in the air, she reached out to it to play with the dancing feather. It launched itself, and stuck to her face. She reared and spun trying to remove it. The essence within her reacted with something in the feather and it put her body into slumber and encased her in magical ice. She stood like a statue, unable to move - the feather maintaining her life force but preventing her movement. The blue light of her essence drifted outwards from the cave. Severyn was stretching her wings, soaring overhead admiring the landscape below. An alarming blue beam shot up into the sky. It had not been there before. She stretched her wings and flew closer. As a cave came into view it was clearly the source of the strange blue light. She knew this region well, this was very unusual. The very fact this cave was seemingly frozen, caused her alarm. She hated strong weather, in particular storms. Being inside of a claustrophobic frozen cave was almost as bad as a storm. Her curiosity overcame her concern; in particular she wanted to make sure that nothing was amiss within the cave itself. Her pale cherry reflection was visible on the walls, it was an eerie experience to be able to see herself from multiple angles. It did nothing to reassure her that the decision to investigate was a wise one. The glowing light was becoming stronger, the entire situation felt unnatural. It smelled like magic was thick within the cave. The cave itself was real, but there was something else going on. Her heart sank as her pale blue eyes caught sight of a statue of a child. The filly’s pale coat was similar to her own, the fear visible in her eyes. It was a distasteful thing, who would want to immortalise something so horrific? The magic smell was stronger here, specialising in illusion Severyn was able to see hidden clues that would be otherwise unable to be detected. She sighed softly and focused her mind, hoping that her magic might be able to tell her who or what was responsible for this statue and why it was using light to draw her in. Highlighted on her body was a black feather, probing further, Severyn could sense emotion…The statue was alive. She needed to help. If only Atlas were here! Fire was perhaps exactly what she needed! She feared that the delay in getting Atlas would mean it would be too late to save the filly. That doesn’t mean she couldn’t use the knowledge of her partner's skills to her advantage. Clusters of thick black rocks were stacked around the edge of the room. Picking up a few of them she began to strike them together. “Be still. I Know you are real. I will help you.” she spoke softly with determination. Blue lights emerged between the rocks in small sparks. With great effort she struck them together once more, sparks of electric magic falling onto the frozen filly. Blue light that flickered like fire roared as it touched her frozen body, slowly freeing her. Dove shivered, her body was frozen with fear and overwhelm. “Dont touch that” Severyn instructed, as she pulled the filly closely to her body. The warmth of her protection was welcome and comforting. Dove pressed her soft nose against Severyn’s coat in thanks. Severyn buried the feather in a heavy pile of rocks, she focused her mind and used illusion magic to hide its presence. She nudged Dove onwards and they emerged from the cave. With one last spell, she made the image of enormous rocks and snow to cover the entrance to the cave. No one else would ever touch that damned feather if she could help it.