First Encounter
Calypso didn't really think much about it at first.
Since she constantly crafted new things almost every week, finding gems laying on the floor in her cottage wasn't much to bat an eye at. She'd wake up in the morning, crawl out of bed, try to rub the sleep out of her eyes and end up almost stepping on it before she could even process being awake. She thought maybe after she came home with her purchases the previous day, perhaps something she bought from the craft shop had slipped out of her bags. Without another thought, she'd throw it in her bin of craft supplies and go about her routine.
That was until it kept happening over and over and over again, for many moons.
There was no way that she could be dropping things constantly, could she? Some days she would even double or triple check her bags after bringing them home to make sure there was no rips on the bottom. She would make sure that all of her bins were closed and crafts were in place and untouched. Nothing in her day to day life had changed at all. Yet somehow, these gems kept appearing.
What could be happening inside her home that made these gems show up every single week? // Artemis and her colony had been living on the grounds of this cottage for many generations. Though relatively small, the colony was very well organized and efficient in keeping everyone healthy and safe inside the walls and crevices of the house.
Her colony also had an unspoken rule to stay away from other creatures business, especially the unicorn that resided in the home. The colony workers found their resources by scavenging outside and at the small town just a few hops away from the cottage. No other lint in her colony had actually dared to step foot inside the home.
Well, except for Artemis.
Who could stop an innately curious little creature? While Lintlings are known to be rather inquisitive, most know their bounds to stay out of harms way. It could put not only themselves, but their entire colony at risk. But Artemis had an itch to explore that had to be scratched, and one day through a small hole in the wall she peeped to look inside.
Artemis was in awe. There were so many different colors, shapes, objects that she couldn't comprehend. So many beautiful crafts and items that adorned shelves. But the one thing that had fixated her attention was a work bench and shelf with endless amounts of craft supplies.
This creature is just like us! It crafts too!
Artemis wanted to learn more about how this mysterious unicorn crafted. There was no way that she could pass up an opportunity to learn how those beyond Lintlings create new things. Perhaps this unicorn has magic that can create new unicorns, just like her species can? Perhaps this unicorn has a unique, never before seen way of creating new items and objects?
Artemis wanted to be directly involved in this observation, too. Every week when she'd go out with the other lints to scavenge for new items, she would pick the items she felt could be imbued with the most magic to test what would happen with the unicorn.
She would sneak inside the cottage at night and drop the gem delicately on the floor as to not disturb it, and swiftly run away. The next day, she would spy from a hole and observe what the giant creature would do. She enjoyed this -- almost too much. // It was the second gem this week. This morning while grabbing some coffee, Calypso eyed on her carpet yet another shiny new opal, waiting to be picked up and placed in her bin of crafting goods.
She was so tired at this point. She felt like she had lost her mind trying to figure out why these gems kept appearing out of nowhere, as if they had just somehow blown in through the window on a blustery day.
Maybe she just needed some fresh air? Calypso finished reading a new book she had picked up from the library this week, and got ready to leave the house to go on a walk.
As she turned the corner to the door, she froze in her tracks as she saw a tiny creature standing right on her carpet, holding a gem in its tiny paws, ready to place it down.
It turned to look her and almost looked faint -- it let out a tiny squeak, fumbled with the gem until it slipped from its fingers and scurried away into the hole in her wall.
Calypso couldn't process what was going on. How could-- why could this creature be the one leaving all of the gems inside her home? It couldn't be stealing her things, because last she checked she was in excess of supplies to work with.
It was all too much to handle. She took a deep breath, exhaled and walked out the door. // Artemis was so excited to drop off this gem that she had discovered, that she had forgotten that she had already left a gem just a few hours prior. She scurried quickly through the walls and popped up to peek through the hole inside, making sure the coast was clear. Scampering out to the carpet, Arty excitedly looked at the gem one more time before readying to place it down.
Until a giant shadow loomed over her. It was the unicorn.
Her tiny critter brain short circuited instantly. She froze in place, terrified of the creature towering over her. It said nothing -- it just stared right back at her, almost as if it was in shock as well.
Suddenly adrenaline kicked in, and in a panic, she dropped the gem and scattered off into the walls as fast as she could.
All she could function to do for hours after the encounter was stay curled up in her nest in a constant state of anxiety. She understood now that this was the reason why the colony does not dare to encroach on the territory of giant creatures, for the sake of their safety and the colony. She knew she had doomed them for good. Soon the unicorn would have another creature rid them of their home one way or another.
She knew they would most likely be exterminated.
It took Artemis until dusk to pull herself together and form a plan. Perhaps, despite the communication differences, she could convince the unicorn otherwise? She did not know how she would do it, but knew that if she didn't the future of her colony was unknown.
Quietly she left her nest and scurried through the walls to the hole in the cottage. Interestingly enough, there were no traps or hindrances for her to come inside.
Taking a deep breath, she carefully crawled down the hall, until she reached the corner and peered into the living room of the house. There, the unicorn was sitting at its desk, deeply reading a book that Artemis did not recognize from its collection. She tried to get a closer look, and observed something on the page - a drawing of a Lintling!
But Arty wasn't convinced. Was the unicorn perhaps reading about ways to rid of her species? She trembled at the thought, anxiously watching the unicorn. She had to do something!
She mustered up the courage, readied herself to scamper around the corner and approach the unicorn --
The unicorn abruptly muttered something out loud: "So these creatures are just trying to be friendly? It was just giving me gifts.. I guess they aren't harmful after all." Arty paused behind the corner. The weight of a thousand lints was lifted from her and all she could do was sigh quietly in relief, knowing that the lives of the lints in her colony were no longer in danger.
Maybe not all of the giant creatures are as bad after all? // scented ponies are a closed species and lintlings are a semi-open species a part of pillowing-pile on deviantart! https://www.deviantart.com/pillowing-pile https://www.deviantart.com/scented-ponies
