Moonflower: "Hey, how come ya got glowy eyes? Are you an oracle too?"

Lexicon Anathema: "Nh? No, I have dark vision. It's a common trait for creatures of the Underworld to have..."

As the conversation continues, you can't shake the feeling that your private meeting with Lexicon Anathema was no mere daydream. And while you can't seem to recall fulfilling your end of the deal, you ponder the possibility that you might know things you did not before.

As soon as you so much as think of the Elves, however, you realize that they are no longer as mysterious to you as they once were: you now know that they are a magical race of elks from High Earth, and that they once were caretakers of Yggdrasil.

Indeed, the Elves lived in the branches of the world tree which, before the dawn of time, reached the highest skies of the firmament. Their culture was that of order above all — of the others before the self. Everything, down to the smallest detail, had its designated time and place.

Together, the Elves worked to achieve the Seven Days of Idle Perfection, a state in which the world would reach such flawlessness that it needed no longer change. Absolute stasis, they prophesied, would bring about a satisfying end to all of creation.

This goal was constantly challenged by the Dwarves who loved to create new things, and who wished to enjoy the pleasures of life forever. To rid themselves of these imperfections, the Elves designed Fenrir, a great beast of Light given the purpose of dethroning the Dwarf King Odin.

Yet Odin, through the power of divination, discovered this treacherous plot, and marched upon High Earth as a preemptive strike against his would-be assassins. The Elves, quickly outmatched by the powerful sorcerer, offered a bounty of crystals to the Dragons in exchange for their protection.

The Dragons agreed, but were deceived: upon consuming the crystals, which were secretly enchanted, their minds were possessed by the Elves. Under their magical influence, the Dragons were bid to destroy Odin's realm, Low Earth, as retribution.

The dragonfire spared nothing; mountains were melted, oceans were dried, and all that once lived was turned to ash. In that moment, the skies of all Nine Worlds, then vibrant and bright, blackened with the countless souls of the fallen.

In the face of such destruction, Odin sacrificed his power to save the souls of the few Low Earthians who remained hopeful. Yet doing so weakened him, and thus when the time came to fight Fenrir, the Dwarf King was ultimately defeated.

Once the Dragons came to and realized what the Elves had done, they were thrown into a fit of rage, and set the world tree aflame. As the Elves fled to High Earth, one of the Dragons, Nidhogg, dove under the ground and tore out Yggdrasil's root of Light.

High Earth was thus severed from the Nine Worlds, exiling the Elves for all of eternity — yet the flow of Light magic was cut off in so doing, throwing everything off-balance. With the world tree in ruins, the land shattered and sank into the Abyss, marking the end of the true War of Fates.

All of that, you find, comes with a simple forbidden truth: the Elven bell could be used to reach the realm of Light through the World Between Worlds, but only back in a time when the Nine Worlds were whole. It is, given the proper knowledge, a key to High Earth. A key which, you realize, doesn't help much on your quest right now.

Still, you take a moment to consider that you now have this knowledge; you have learned about the Elves, the Dwarves, the truth behind the War of Fates, and even about the Emperor, Nidhogg. As such, you figure that if you did fulfill your end of the deal, then Lexicon Anathema must have decided to keep that for herself.

Moonflower: "Whoa! So demons and unicorns can have foals together?"

For no reason you can think of whatsoever, your attention snaps back to the conversation at hoof.

Lexicon Anathema: "Of course. All equine races are compatible with each other."

Moonflower: "Ohhh. But then the foals don't get glowy eyes?"

Lexicon Anathema: "It's one in two chances. Then, every time a progeny has foals with another pony without dark vision, the chances are halved again."

Honourshine: "Can unicorns have dark vision?"

Lexicon Anathema: "It's rare for a unicorn to be born with dark vision. Rarer still after thousands of years of intermixing, but atavism means it's possible."