I waited near my sister's bed. I placed my hoof on her forehead. It was still hot and sweaty. My sister, Red Glazing, had caught the plague, like many of my other family members. I had lost my mother, father, and my younger seven brothers and five sisters. Red was the only younger sister I had left. At least my older sister, Ocean Water didn't get it yet.
Ocean came into the room. "Dinner is ready."
I nodded and went downstairs. As I ate, I asked, "Ocean, do you think Red can escape the plague?"
Ocean looked up at me, a bit surprised that I asked that, since I've always believed Red would recover. "We'll just have to wait she see," she relied.
After I ate my dinner, I went up to Red's room. I fed her some of the soup Ocean made. Other ponies thought I was crazy to go near Red. They always thought I was strange too, mostly because of my name, River Eye. They thought I had a weird name, and often bullied me about it when I was little. Anypony who's near a pony who's infected with the plague will have a chance of catching it themselves. But I never did, even though my mother had when she was taking care of the infected. All of Loomina, my homeland, is infected with the plague.
I checked for Red's heartbeat, but I couldn't sense anything. I checked again, but I still couldn't feel anything. I gasped, letting the rest of the soup crash onto the floor. The plague had claimed Red.
I stood by Red's grave, which was buried near the rest of my family. The whole village mostly attended the funeral. They all had sorrowful expressions on their faces, but also with a little of suspicion. I knew they all wondered how I could stay alive when I was always with Red day and night. They were all expecting another grave stone next to Red's that had River Eye written on it.
After the funeral, Ocean said, "you have to leave now, River."
I was confused. "Why?" I asked.
"Because the other ponies in the village are doubting you. We all know that a mortal pony cannot not be claimed by the plague," Ocean responded.
"But I am just like them," I said.
"No," Ocean began. "You are different. Mother always knew this about you."
I felt a pang in my heart at the mention of mother. "What did Mother know?" I asked.
"Remember the time when you were a filly, the time when you saved the deer?" Ocean said. When I was a filly, I had these sudden images in my head that something is going to happen when I closed my eyes. And when I open my eyes again, I saw it was coming true. My mother told me it's just my imagination, and that it can happen to anypony. One time, I saw a deer running from something that was threatening it. It wasn't looking where it was going, and ran too fast. knew it was going to drown in the fast river. So I did the most stupidest thing I could think of, I ran straight for the deer, and pushed it. Of course, it fell unconscious, and I got a broken leg, but it survived. That was the time I also got my cutie mark, a fiver with an eye marked in the middle.
"That was just a coincidence," I said. "It was only my imagination.
"No, it was not. Mother knew there was something special about you, she told me to protect you, and I promised her I would," Ocean began. "River, you're psychic."
"What?" I questioned.
` "It's in our blood, it's a gift," Ocean said.
"Then why didn't you or Mother get it?" I asked.
"Because it sometimes skips generations. And there's more than just seeing into the future, you can do magic, and live forever as well. There is witch blood in our family," Ocean explained.
I was unable to digest this all. I couldn't believe I could do magic, even though I was an earth pony. "But why did Mother hide this from me" I asked. "Why didn't she tell me about my talent before? I could've helped others, maybe I could even stop the plague."
"Because she didn't want you to worry. You could've been hung or burned if anypony found out. It was best to keep it a secret until you leave," Ocean explained.
"Leave?" I questioned.
"Yes, leave. Look, we don't have much time. You need to travel far away from this village as possible. Ponies have already became suspicious. Go, run away before it's too late!"
"But what about you?" I asked. I certainly didn't want to leave my only sister.
"Don't worry about me. I may catch the plague, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is you. We need to get you out of here really soon"Ocean helped me put on my saddlebags that contained my items. I ran from the back door, I ran and ran as fast I could, far away from the village. Tears struck down my face, as I ran without direction. I never saw Ocean ever since.
It had been a few months since I ran from the village. I got stranded in a forest, but I learned how to survive. Plus, the animals are really nice. They're the only friends I have now. They also help me find food. And in return, I look out for them with my psychic powers.
One time, I sat by a flowing river, trying to see into the future. It's a weird thing that I could easily see when I'm near a river.When I started to get focused, trying to envision the future, I felt surging power up my forehead. When I glanced up in the reflection of the river I saw an eye, the one marked upon my flank, glow a vibrant color of white. Then it started to hurt, a lot. It burned into my flesh. I screamed, rubbing my forehead, and ended up rolling away from the river.
When I looked up, I saw a pair of orange hooves. When I looked even farther, I saw a pair of blue looking at me. It was the eyes of a mare.
"Hey, there," she said. "My name's Rose Blossom, what's yours?" She asked.
"River Eye," I said. I put my hoof on my forehead, feeling for the mark, but it was completely gone.
"Oh, so you must have a big talent in seeing," Rose said.
"Seeing?" I questioned.
"I saw your power when you were tumbling here. That vibrant mark of an eye on your forehead means you've got lots of raw of power. But you need to practice using it, because it could get out of control and become a danger and a threat to everypony, including you."
"How did you... Know?" I asked. Did this mare think I was just some random gifted pony who had the ability to see into the future, or did she think I was an actual witch?
"Oh, I know you're an actual witch," Rose suddenly said, as if she were reading my mind. "And I can read minds too. I'm a witch like you."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes, really. And I can help you control your power. I know a nice village which doesn't have anything against witches. If you would like to come,I can teach you how to maintain your abilities.
That offer was tempting, and I would really love to learn how to control this power, especially because it hurts, a lot. But then I wondered about my animal friends. I grew attached with them, and them helped me live in the wilderness. I know I can't leave them, even if it means sacrificing the way to control my power.
"Oh, you can visit your animal friends, and care for them. The village isn't that far," Rose said.
Oh yeah, I forgot she could read minds.
"Okay," I accepted the offer.
And Rose was right, her village really isn't that far from the forest. The villagers are really nice to me. It turns out there are some witches who live here too. They help the villagers with chores by using their magic, or by healing them if they're hurt or sick. Rose had been so nice to let me stay in her house until the villagers help me build mine. After my first day, I continued to visit my animal friends daily.
A couple of years have passed. I really love living in the village, this is one the of the best things that happened to me.
Chapter 1: Falling Into Equestria
Run. That's all I thought about. Running without a thought. Running as far as I can, as far from them. It had been centuries since I found the village I call home, and everything was fine. Well not now. The ponies have found about about the witch population expanding, and there were too many witches for them to just mercilessly kill. A lot of witches are good, except for the old hags who have issues. Now that the population has tripled, there have been more bad witches. Now the ponies are killing every witch, one by one. They found a way to tell the difference from a pony and a witch.
They intruded my village, and killed everypony know, even the little ones. As much as it pains me, I know I can't stay in my homeland any longer. I have to find someway to escape.
I could hear the hoofsteps of the witch hunters behind. me. I had to think. Fast Maybe I could hide somewhere while I wait for them to leave. Lucky for me, I was being chased in the very forest my animal friends live in. They've helped me stay alive this far. Arrows flew in the air, missing me by an inch. I looked behind me, the hunters gaining on me. I should've looked where I was going, because next thing I know, I crashed into a tree and passed out.
...
When I slowly opened my eyes, my vision started to adjust. I shook my head as thoughts flew into my mind. I was suddenly alert about the witch hunters. "NO!" I screamed, rolling over and jutting my hooves in the air.
"Eep!" A voice said. I turned to see a lavender alicorn staring at me with a frightened expression.
"I think she's just reacting because she got knocked out," another voice said. I looked to see a green and purple baby dragon looking at me.
I got up. "Where am I? And who are you?"
The fear from the lavender pony's face was gone as she stood up to introduce herself. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, but you can call me Twilight. And I'm the princess of friendship. This is my number-one assistant, Spike. You're in Equestria," the pony called Twilight explained. "What's your name?"
"River Eye, but you can just call me River," I said.
"Oh, that's an interesting name," Twilight commented.
"How did I get here?" I asked, still confused. The only thing I remember before I blacked out was crashing into a tree.
"I saw you falling from the sky, and ending up on my lawn," Twilight said. "You got a few bruises and scars, but I fixed you up. There wasn't anything serious," Twilight replied. "I was surprised to see a random pony fall from the sky. Where did you come from?"
"From my homeland," I replied.
"Which is?" Twilight asked.
"Loomina," I replied.
"Loomina?" Twilight questioned. "I thought you performed a spell incorrectly to land up like this. I've never heard of Loomina before, so you're not really from Equestria,."
Twilight's face brightened up. "Which means I can do research on this unknown world! I would have to tell Princess Celestia about my discovery. Imagine all the knowledge I would learn! All the other ponies I would meet in this new world..." The purple alicorn was lost in her daydreams.
I rubbed my head. Equestria? I must've jumped into an unknown portal. I've heard about other ponies getting lost in in unknown worlds when they don't even realize it, because portals can appear anywhere, and camouflage into their surroundings. But the scary part of it is that the ponies never came back...
Then I started to panic in my thoughts. What if I'm stuck here forever? What if I'm going to die? What if I don't know how to survive in this world....
"Um, River?" A hoof tapped me from my thoughts. "So, can you tell me more about Loomina? I'd love to take notes."
"Okay," I replied. At least it'll be something to get my mind off of things. And hey, maybe this pony can help me. "In Loomina, ponies and witches use to live together," "But after the great war, witches were being killed by the villagers. The witches were hidden from the villagers for a long time."I started telling the history of Loomina, just as my mother told me. Then I began to tell what had recently happened in Loomina. "But after centuries later, the villagers found a way to tell the difference from a pony and a witch. They began to hunt down every witch until all were wiped out. There were only a few, rare survivors left."
Twilight nodded, while jotting down notes in her notepad. This pony seemed to like knowledge a lot. Then she looked up at me. "Thank you for telling me about your history, River. I just want you to know that you can trust me, and I can help you get back to your homeland," Twilight gave me a reassuring smile, and I smiled back at her. That seemed to melt away some of my worries.
"You can stay at my castle for the night until Princess Celestia figures out what to do," Twilight levitated some paper and a quill. "I'll write a letter to her now. But in the meantime, you can make yourself comfortable. Spike will help you if you have any doubts."
With that said, Spike walked in front of me. "I'll show you where you can stay," he led to the guest bedroom. It looked comfy and cozy. There was a soft bed with a thick, red quilt, and a closet and chest. There was also a bedside table with a lamp, and a bookshelf full of books. Then Spike led me into a different room. "This one's the kitchen, you can eat stuff from the refrigerator if you get hungry." Spike walked me over to a smaller room in the castle. "This is the bathroom," Spike told me. Lastly, Spike showed me a big, grand library. "This is Twilight's library. You can come here anytime you'd like. You'll need to know these rooms in order to stay here for the night," Spike explained to me.
"Thank you," I thanked him.
It had been a few hours since my unexpected arrival, and Twilight and I were discussing about Loominese and Equestrian culture. I understood most of the basic content Twilight had explained to me. I learned that this world is dependent on friendship and harmony in order to work together. I am fascinated at how welcoming these ponies are. They're better then the angry villagers back in Loomina.
"I understand that your world is not in peace, so maybe I can help," Twilight began. "Equestria and Loomina can become Allies together, and help put peace in Loomina. If you meet Celestia, she can aid you very much."
"Thank you for explaining to me about your world," i Said. I yawned , covering my hoof to my mouth. "But before we take any action, I would like to have some rest first."
"Oh! I didn't realize the time. I'm sorry for keeping you up so late," Twilight said,
"It's fine,"I said.
Me and Twilight went separate ways. I climbed into my bed, and snuggled in the comforting covers. I sure do hope this Celestia pony Twilight keeps talking about will help get back to Loomina. After a while, I went into deep sleep.
