I stood there my hands in chains as I had tired out myself from my thrashing from minutes before. Only ten minutes, ten minutes and the people of my town had all but made up their minds. Guilty for Witchcraft, I was tired and the angry eyes casted on me were enough to make sob as I looked down I heard the judge pound on his gavel.
"This young heretic is here by sentence to be burned on the stake, for Witchcraft and for the murder of Janet Warsoul. In which we found both the young girls near a bear with Riley Davenport patting the bear and malicious smile upon her face as the bloodied remains of Ms.Janet being devoured by the bear. We as people of God and the Holy Spirit see this young girl be casted out from life as we burn her body and soul. An eye for an eye!" The judge shouts as I sobbed the hisses of the town people poured into my mind as I continuously thrashed about.
"Take the evil witch away and prepare the fire as her final resting place shall be the bottom of a shallow grave where we throw the rest of the wicked witches away." The judge slammed his gavel as I felt the hands of two men drag me I tried getting away from the grip only for the bigger man rise his hand and slap me. The force pushed me to the ground as I laid there my face aching as the two men grabbed me and dragged me away. I was tossed into a cramped and cold cell, my mind raced with the thought of my impending execution. All I could think about was my dad, he tried his best to break me out and he paid the price with the exile of town.
He surely wasn't old and still ripe for his age, but he needed his daughter. He needed me with him, though now I sat here awaiting the painful death of being set on fire. I could only imagine my skin melting off my muscles and being charred to crispy bits, rocked back and forth on the ground of the cell hear the shouts and the orders of the townspeople preparing my death.
I closed my eyes and laid on the cold ground but as my head laid there I saw a small rat. It's eyes red as it approached me, though without fear it rubbed my face with its tiny paws. Even if the rat was infested with disease I knew that me getting infected wouldn't make a difference though, the rat didn't bite me nor did its fleas jump on me. They stayed on the rat as I pat its head, the same happened after the bear killed Janet. Janet was antagonizing the bear, running towards it with its cub nearby and when the cub fell behind its mother Janet kicked the little cub I was about to scold her, but the bear charged us. I think the reason why the cub stayed behind was because of me, but if it really did does it mean I'm to blame for her death. Am I really a witch?
I could still hear Janet's screams as the bear enjoyed feasting on her remains. Though for some reason the cub approached me, not afraid nor was I afraid of it. I pat the cub and hugged it as the mother turned wanting to kill me only to stop when she saw the cub sleeping in my arms. The only reason I was whispering to myself as they said I was singing a lullaby to the cub trying to get it to sleep. Though as soon as the townspeople arrived they saw only the bear and me mumbling to myself, when the townspeople approached, the bear ran and swiped her cub. I was left there to face the consequences of a mere mistake.
Though people wouldn't care if it was merely an accident and Janet was the one who angered the bear, I'd be punished for it even if I said everything that happen they'd accuse me of Witchcraft. There was no way in leaving myself unscathed, I'd have to face the consequences of an accident and them not knowing I was innocent.
"Run free Dirty Fella, at least I'll know you weren't hurt by these loons." I sighed and looked at the floor to see a piece of chalk, taking the piece I began to inscribe on the walls.
Here Lies Riley Davenport,
September, 15, 1684 - November, 22,1692
Innocent and treated like a criminal
I sighed and stayed quiet hoping I could block out the pain that I'd endure.
Later...
It was time I was judged, the two people from before tied me to the stake my arms tightly bounded that I couldn't move, my legs were bounded so tightly I couldn't feel them. I looked up to the pig headed man as he gave me one final slap before the townspeople shouted swear upon swear at me, all it was, was white noise. My eyes were closed as I simply hummed a gentle tone, they wanted to hear my screams they wanted to enjoy torturing me. I couldn't give them the satisfaction of my pained wails, I looked to my neck to see the necklace my father gave me. One thing they didn't know was that my necklace was valuable and my father gave it to me as a good luck charm, wherever I end up I'm sure it would be ten times better then here.
Minutes passed as the fire began to get closer and closer to me, I began feeling the heat reach me the stinging feeling of the fire beginning to heat up the soles of my feet. Slowly the fire reached me as all I heard was white noise my mind no longer registering what happened, I continued humming but as I did it felt odd.
Why was I humming? Was it because I was experiencing purgatory or was it something else, sudden a wave of energy passed through me as the bounds tighten around me loosen. I looked around to see a forested area, it's clean air and gentle breeze pushing against my face as I looked at my hands. I wasn't bounded to the stake and my back was against a tree. I touched my chest, my head, my arms, everything where it was suppose to be. I took my necklace and looked at it the locket looked cleaner then ever, I had no idea what was going on, was I dead? Was I experiencing a new world?
As I rose I felt a gentle ache on my side along with tingly almost numb feeling on the ends of both my hands, I looked down and let out a horrified scream. My ring and pinky fingers were badly burnt as the leathery feeling of the skin replaced my smooth texture. My hands shook uncontrollably as I thought of what others might say.
I survived a witch burning, no way people wouldn't question that, especially with my fingers looking the way they do. I felt myself beginning to feel nauseous. The disgusting feeling at the pit of my stomach only fueled my mind with the horrible thoughts of what others would think. I had one thing I knew for sure was real, I was alive and I needed to go.
Two Months Later...
"Princess this is the child we were talking about, she's different from the others. As you can see she isn't pony or any other creature or species we've seen before." The orphanage caretaker informed as she showed me to the princess.
I shied away from the caretaker and princess looking to the corner as my hazel brown hair covered my face.
"May I speak to her." Celestia asked
"I'll see if she'd like to speak to anyone." The caretaker approached me and crouched down next to me.
"Sweetie the princess I told you about wants talk, would you like to speak to her?" Ms.Cookie Dough asked, I stayed silent and looked towards princess and saw her gentle smile and soft gaze.
"I don't know, will she hurt me like the other ponies?" I asked tears beginning to form as I clutched my hands.
"Don't be silly she won't I promise." Cookie Dough smiled and held my hand guiding me towards Celestia. I looked down not wanting to stare at the princess, the princess looked at my attire it looked ragged and dirty as if I was sleeping in it for almost a few weeks, which in reality I was.
My dress was a dull purple with rips and tears near the end and mud on the end of the dress, my shoes were worse as they seemed nonexistent. I had a purple hair band that looked clean and pristine.
"Couldn't you offer the young girl some clothing?" Celestia asked
"Unfortunately we couldn't, the clothing we have doesn't fit her. And we don't have much money to buy her a new set of clothing." Cookie said with a slight sigh.
"If I get new clothing the kids here will get mad at me. They've been really mean to me since I've got here, they call me freak and disgusting. I don't want burden Ms.Dough either." I looked down tears going down my cheeks.
"You're not a burden sweetheart I promise, Princess Celestia wanted to personally see you. She heard you came into the city a few days ago, and she wanted to talk to you." I looked up with a gasp and smiled wiping away my tears and letting out a sniffle.
"Um I don't have much to say Princess. I don't remember much about coming to the city, I only remember heard a weird old man voice saying 'I'll be back' and that's all." Princess Celestia frown and brushed my hair and kissed my forehead.
"Don't worry little one you're safe now." I smiled and nodded.
Hours passed as Celestia left promising to see me once more in the morning. Today I had begun my days in the orphanage, everyone around gave me looks of judgement which made me afraid, too afraid to even speak up when I wanted to play with the toys that the caretaker had given the children.
"Um excuse me." I said quietly as I approached a blue coated filly with a blue twin colored mane, she turned and smiled her smile was bright and wide.
"Hi!" She happily exclaims making me cringe and back up.
"Oh sorry. My sisters always tell me I'm too loud. I'm Sonata, what's your name?" She happily asks
"Oh I'm um Riley." Sonata happily and nodded.
"What a cute name! Oh do you wanna play house?!" She asks in return I nodded and smiled.
As the two of us began to play I felt happy I felt as if I had gained a friend, though the small moment of satisfaction didn't last as two boys approached us.
"Hey look at the freak playing with the nut!" One of the colts happily shouted making the other laugh.
"I'm not a nut." Sonata pouts making her frown as the kids began circle around you two.
"Leave her alone you jerks! If you got a problem with me it's fine, but don't call her names. At least she isn't a loser like you." I shouted with anger.
"Haha the freak's protecting the nut!" I stood there, I didn't care if they called me names, I only cared about my first friend, Sonata looked at me with amazement. I turned to her and smiled as she smiled back.
"Kids that's enough!" Cookie Dough approached the children.
"Who started this!" She says with anger.
"The freak did!" The boy blamed me, but again I didn't care I only protected Sonata as a friend and someone I'd want to be close towards.
"I find that hard to believe this young girl has only been around for a few days now this is a warning, anyone who tries to make fun of anyone in this orphanage will not get dessert am I clear." Cookie Dough warned
"Yes Ms.Dough." They all said with regret and walked away from the two of us.
"So your teasing name is nut? Why?" I asked.
"Foals around here think I'm too happy and say I'm nutty. You're called freak huh. I wish my sisters weren't sleeping they'd put a hurt on anyone who'd make fun us." Sonata mentions making me smile back.
"Cmon we're gonna share a bed, I don't trust other foals to not leave you alone, plus my bed's close to my sisters." I nodded and held Sonata's hand following her towards the living areas of the orphanage.
"Here we are!" Sonata happily proclaims as she presents three beds that looked pushed together, the blankets and sheets had a color of pink and black both of which Dawn enjoyed seeing.
"My sisters and I sleep here and since the bed next to our huge bed is empty." Sonata began dragging the bed to right of her and pushing it next to the three. Her smile was widen making her increasingly excited as she sat and laid on the bed, Sonata did the same with the bed next to me. "You sleep with us."
"If anyone kicks you out of that bed you can always share my bed." Sonata giggles making her smile and nod getting closer to her and hugged her, I cried into her shoulder as she did the same. I earned a friend and by chance earned two sisters who'd be there for me no matter what. I noticed the older fillies waking up I presumed they were Sonata's sisters.
"What's with Sonny and why is she hugging that filly?" The purple coated filly asked
"I dunno maybe it's a new friend." The yellow coated filly informed smiling.
"Oh maybe I can give you some of my clothes, you look like me!" She says with a smile as she walks over to a drawer as I stood there, I was dumbfounded by how easy going Sonata was. I felt as if she'd make fun of me at my most vulnerable, but at the same time I felt comfortable around her.
She managed to take out the same colored dress as mine along with some underwear, I looked at my hands as they were dirty. I looked around my forearms to see scratches from prickly branches and Rose thrones that I walked through when I woke up here weeks ago. From what I remembered I woke up in a small village outside of Canterlot, it was called Sunset Village. The ponies there were nice they always gave me bread always made me feel welcomed, it was until a man bought the land and forced everyone to moved that changed my life. The new ponies weren't generous and made me beg and dance for their amusement, at the most I'd get ten bits.
The shopkeepers took one look at me and refused to sell me anything and when they did, I always saw them give the new village folk discounts and I had to pay double what they paid. It was heck and at times I felt maybe it was better that I died, then I met my friend. Or at least I thought he was my friend, from the very beginning he always told ponies to cut me some slack. Sometimes they did, other times they didn't. For awhile life was good, though he left he told me that he needed to go somewhere else and I couldn't go with. I asked him why, he told me his daughter didn't like me.
She thought I was replacing her as a daughter, I could never forget the stallion's last name Lulamoon. He was the nicest pony I ever met and he had to go away too, I didn't want to get close to Sonata and days later have her leave me. I wouldn't know how to handle it, my usual thing would probably be just to cry and go to sleep until the novelty of having a human around wore off and Ms.Dough threw me out because the Princess doesn't visit me anymore.
"Here, oh maybe I think you should shower. Oh I know! My big sisters say that they're too big to shower with them. Aria says that I'm a baby because I can't shower alone and Adagio says I need to be mature. But you'll shower with me, right?" She asks with a perky smile, I nod and stayed silent as she let out a happy yay.
"Let's go! We can also share a towel!" She happy mentions as she takes the towel with her, as she dragged me towards the bathroom I looked around to see that there was a door to another side of the bathroom.
"That's the icky boys bathroom, girls and boys live in different rooms in the orphanage. It's connected just in case something happens, oh you should take off your shoes." Sonata points at my feet, I slowly reached down and removed the small strap from my black shoes. They looked like dress shoes and well they weren't really all that good footwear, my pinky toes stuck out on one of the sides of the shoes while the other had my big toe sticking out. Once I removed the shoes, I looked at the them and walked over to the trash can. I threw them away and looked at my bare feet wiggling my toes as I looked at the dirt and grim that accumulated. I heard humming as I approached the boys door, I turned it to see that it was locked from the side I was standing on. I let out a relieved sigh as I knew that boys wouldn't be spying on me or Sonata.
I looked around to see Sonata had taken off her clothes as I began to take mine off as well, I felt uncomfortable with my body with the scratches on my forearms and the dirt on my body I was afraid of what Sonata would say especially with the leathery burnt skin on my sides and ring and pinky finger. I sighed and approached the shower as Sonata smiled and gasped, I prepared myself for her to call me a dirty animal or mutt. But she didn't I looked up at Sonata to see her take soap and began to run my body down.
"Ew, I guess the last orphanage didn't take care of you. Hehe look at the water it's all black and icky, don't worry though we'll be squeaky clean!" She says smiling as I looked down blushing.
"Oh is the water too hot? Your cheeks look really red." Sonata's concern for me was a welcomed change to the topics of me being called dirty or animal.
"N-no it's fine, I'm just happy." She tilts her head before giggling.
"Happy about getting a shower? Maybe you'll be even more happy when we dry off and eat dinner, me and my sisters have this totally clean and super nice table. Aria found it when she and Adagio went out for an errand for Ms.Dough, Ms.Dough let us keep it as long as it was clean of spiders. Which it was!" Sonata mentions with a happy tone as she she clean my hair. I looked at the water to see that the mix of white soap and black water go down the drain and began to be replaced by the pure white soap.
"Oh looks like you're almost clean, Adagio reminded me to clean my face. She says that it could clean off pimples and blackheads, whatever they are. Close your eyes super duper tight and rub your face, and don't open them. Adagio says that soap stings your eyes when you least expect it." She giggles making tilt my head as I giggle in response.
"Yay! I made you laugh! Oh we should hurry, ponies get mad if we use all the hot water." Sonata with a quick face wipe cleans off her faces from any excess soap as she and I now feel sparkly clean.
"Umm Sonata, that's a really pretty necklace. Who gave it to you?" I asked I noticed that necklace a few times when she and I were showering, it glowed constantly every time I smiled and only dimmed when I was shy.
"Oh my sister Adagio gave it to me. She says it's really important that I don't let anybody touch it, I don't know why it's just a dumb old rock."
"Maybe it's something from your mom or dad, like maybe it's to remind you that your mom or dad is with you." I smiled as Sonata nods.
"Yeah maybe, but I never really got to know my parents. Adagio and Aria both told me that she was the nicest and cutest pony anyone would ever meet, what about your parents? Do you know who they are?" She asks
"Yeah, I knew who they were. My dad was always nice he gave me hugs when I was sad and sang to me when I couldn't go to sleep. I never really knew my mom, my dad told me she died after I was born. But he did say that he always sees her in me, especially when I wear my necklace." I walked over to my dirty clothes and removed a beautiful and sparkly diamond necklace. As I looked at the jewelry I couldn't help but tear up, I missed my dad it's been months now and I just wanted to hear his voice again.
"Hey don't worry Riley, I'm with you. I know your dad misses you as much as you miss him. And you don't need to worry about anything while you're here. I'm always there for you, no matter what." Tears ran down my cheeks as I wiped them off, I sniffled a bit as Sonata put a towel over me. I felt a little shiver pass by me as I took the dirty clothes and looked at the garments, it would take a lot of work to get it fixed. I sighed and folded my dirty dress and put in the closet Sonata had her clothes in, I turned to Sonata and smiled as she laid out a dark blue colored Sunday dress. As I put it on, it felt a little tight around my arms, but other then that it felt good finally having clean clothes. I looked around and under the bed looking for stockings, my mom always gave me a pair when I finished showering. Though I didn't like em at first after awhile they felt like second nature to just wear them.
"What're you looking for?" Sonata asks tilting her head.
"Stockings, don't you usually wear those?" I asked tilting my head.
"What're stockings? Oh maybe Adagio and Aria know." Sonata takes my hand as she drags me towards the main room, I was bare foot as I felt much more comfortable feeling the soles of my feet touch the wood.
"Adagio Aria! My new friend has a question." Both girls turned to look at me, as I looked down and mumbled.
"Where do you keep your stockings?" My mumbling was soft as both perked.
"Stockings? Oh are you talking about those nylon stockings? We don't have those but we got the next best thing!" Adagio smiles as she gets out of her bed and reaches over to her drawer, she pulls out a pair of knee high socks as she examined them she shook her head.
"These are a little too long, give me a sec." She turns and exits her bed as I sat on Sonata's bed, I noticed a stuffed teddy bear on Sonata's pillow. One eye was missing while the other looked like it was about to pop off. I took the best and walked over to the closet and rustled around the pockets of my worn dress, I took out a small case of needles and threads as I turned to the bear and began to tie the button eye back on. I poked my finger with the needle only for it to not hurt, my father always told me that a lady needed to know how to see. I never saw the idea of sewing until buttons from my dress would come off and they needed repairs.
"Sonata, I hope you don't mind. I fixed your bear for you." Sonata turned and gasped as she saw the eye no longer hanging off by the thread of its fluffy fur.
"Wow! You're like a super duper genius!" She cheered as I smiled and blushed, I closed my fabric repair kit and put it on the bedside. It was a plain ol' box that had scratched off graphics on it, it use to say Boston Clothing emporium.
I looked towards Aria who looked me, I noticed that she gave me a harsh glare as I looked down trying not to look at her gaze.
"Look kid if you're gonna be around Sonata you better not cause any trouble. We don't need another brat to babysit." Aria's harsh words rang through me as I continued to look down not bother to anger Aria further. I simply nod as I saw movement in the corner of my eye, Sonata was giving an intense glare at Aria, something told me they had beef, and I shouldn't get involved. Minutes later Adagio arrived the socks perfectly cut to accommodate my size. Though the eldest sibling noticed the glare Sonata was giving towards her sister.
"What did Aria do?" Adagio asks as Sonata didn't answer only giving her sister the continuous stare down of death. "Riley, what happened?"
I was surprised to hear be called upon, I didn't know if I should answer but as I looked up to Adagio expecting a harsh glare, I only saw a concerned look.
"Um she doesn't want me to get to close to Sonata, she thinks I'm using her." I purposely avoided using Aria's name, but like karma, I felt her intense glare on me.
"Aria leave her alone, she's new here and she doesn't need you to constantly stare her down. You'll make things worse for our little sister."
"You seriously can't be falling for that sad kid act?! Cmon she's like any other orphan, I just don't want Sonata to be used because she's naive about the world. It's a dog eat dog world and the sooner we toughen up Sonata the better." Aria retorted crossing her arms.
"And Sonata will get there in her own time, but constantly glare at Sonata's friend won't help her toughen up. She'll just hate you and probably run off with Riley when she's old enough." Adagio had protected me from Aria, but what Aria said was kind of true. I was using Sonata for my personal gain, but at the same time I felt like she was my friend and I needed her help if I was going to grow up in a place like this. I needed ponies I can depend on, now that my mom and dad aren't around, it was me against the world. Hopefully I could have Sonata there by my side, I needed her as much as she needed me.
