She oozed from the portal, more shadow than substance in this realm. Gravity held no claim over her. She could practically taste the desperation that had drawn her. And innocence.

"Welcome to my domain, precious," she breathed. "I've come to offer you a gift. That which you most desire."

The fairy princess hesitated. "But I..." Her conflict was clear; she'd not yet learned to school her emotions, to keep them from her expression.

This one, the shadow vixen knew, had been kept in safety. Locked away from the harsh realities of the world. Locked away, too, from its joys. The fairy couldn't fully express what her heart longed for, but the vixen knew. In the end, it was always the same thing that she offered. She held out her hand, making that offer, in the form of a golden apple. The fruit shone with its own light, shedding a warm radiance through the shadowy clearing. A glow that caught the fairy's gaze and held it, as she'd known it would.

"What is this?" the fairy princess murmured, hesitantly reaching out.

"It is freedom, precious." She smiled, wide and wild. "A single bite will give you what you long for. A new world will open before you. It will be the most wonderful and the most terrible thing you can imagine."

A faint flush spread across the fairy's cheeks. She had already begun to reach out, yet she hesitated. "Will I... be able to come back? If I want it?"

"The door opens in both directions," she said, "and I'll be there to guide you. But you will not be the same."

Even so, the fairy reached to take the fruit. The vixen's devilish grin spread wider.

-=-

Seems like an appropriate time to post this dark fantasy piece.

-=-

Art:  firetally
The other side: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/47876313/