The Future: After the Endby StelsunDarkstarChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 1Just another ordinary and peaceful day in Ponyville. Ponies and non-ponies are walking around the streets, nothing to worry about. But this day was the day that changed the life of one single filly. "Well, dear, this will be our new home. Welcome to Ponyville!" The mare said to her little colt in a cheerful tone. They walked true the town and looked around with inspired expressions. "Mommy, i guess you were not wrong about this place!" The little colt said happily. "It looks so happy and perfect." The mare looked at her son and smiled. She then continued talking with him and ask small questions. Then they stopped walking when they reached the old Ponyville Schoolhouse. The mare looked at the building while still smiling peacefuly. The colt looked at the Schoolhouse and then at his mother. "Uh, mom? Is THIS the place where i'm gonna study?" The colt asked the young mare in pure confusion. "Of course, sweetie! Why do you ask?" The little colt thought on what to say, then said the thing that was on his mind. "Well, i saw a huge school-looking building back there, mom. And i just thought that i'll study there." The young mare raised an eyebrow. "Uh, well, this school is a.. so called... 'School of Friendship'. I planned for you to study in a normal school where you're not going to be distracted by lessons about friendship. You'll make normal friends in this schoolhouse, so there's nothing to worry about." The colt looked at the schoolhouse once again, the building looked just like the ordinary school that every filly would go to. "Now let's go sweety." The mare continued. "We need to get you registered!" They entered the Schoolhouse. The two ponies noticed right away a purple pony mare, pink mane and tail and three cheerful flowers for a cutie mark. "Excuse me?" The mother asked. "My son is new here, and he would love to get accepted here." The purple mare turned around, facing the new ponies. "Oh, i'm sorry, i didn't notice you two! So, you're new here?" "Yes, we are." The mother mare answered akwardly. "That sounds great! What are your names, if you don't mind?" The purple mare asked kindly. "My name is Violett, with double t's. And that's-" "My name is Winder." He interrupted his mother. "Sorry mom." "What interesting names you guys have!" The mare giggled. "I'm Cheerilee. But you, little one can call me, Miss Cheerilee." Winder thought for a second on what to say. "I'd rather just call you 'Cheerilee'. It's not a problem, right?" "Nope. Not at all! Alright, anyway, if you want your son to get accepted, just please, uh.." The teacher walked towards one of the drawers and got an unsigned document from there. "You just need to sign up here! Nothing more." Cheerilee hooved over the paper to Violett's hooves. Then she gave her a pen to sign up. Done! "Am i now a student here?" The little colt asked. Cheerilee looked at Winder and answered. "Of course, little one. We'll see eachother again tomorrow!" The teacher smiled. "Oh well, it's time for us to go! Winder?" Violett informed her son. "Gonna say goodbye to the teacher?" Winder looked at his new teacher. "Goodbye, Cheerilee." "Bye, it was realy nice talking to you!" While the two earth ponies walked, Wander started asking his mother. "Hey mom, i was thinking. Where are we gonna live now?" Violett thought and thought, then answered her son's question. "I've already bought a house for us, dear!" She stopped walking and poined her hoof to East. "It's ooovver there! Just five more minutes and we're there. Got it?" She said with a cheerful smile. "Yeah, i got it." "Good! Now come on, we have more things to do!" The two ponies already got home. The house they now lived in was quite old, dusty and covered in webs, possibly even forgotten by the residents of Ponyville. "C'mon Winder! Bring me the broom, you'll use the mop and bucket filled with water!" Violett yelled from ceiling part of the house. The young colt ran over and threw the broom to his mom. "Thank you, sweetie! Now do your part of the job!" Winder started mopping the floors of all the rooms in the house, it wasn't that big of a deal, because the house was a small one. It really took him two hours to clean all of the floors, same for his mother. "Winder!" The mother mare yelled again. "Yes?" The colt filly answered. "If you're done mopping the floors, go get the second broom and sweep around the front yard! If you don't do it, then.." The mare silenced akwardly. "Uh, you just need to do it, okay?" Winder understood his mother, got the second broom and ran outside. One more hour has passed, and Winder has already finished his job. He sat on a bench close to his home to rest for a bit. It was getting late so it was reasonable that much less of the residence were anywhere to be seen. The silence made Winder feel a little lonely, even tho he could easily just go inside his home and talk to his mother. Suddenly, the colt heard somepony's hooves galloping. Winder looked up to see where did the sound was exactly coming from. And then he found out. They weren't really visible in the dark, but Winder was able to recognize that they had a pony-like body type. "Hello?" The mysterious pony-like figure said worringly. Winder thought that whoever that was, they got somehow lost. "I.. I'm right here!" Winder informed the stranger. "Can you see me? Are you lost?" Winder noticed that the figure shaked their head for 'no'. He got up from the bench and carefully walked towards the stranger. "Here, grab my hoof, i'll take you home." The stranger was able to see the little colt's hoof and grabbed it calmly. "Thank you." The stranger whispered. Winder carefully walked the stranger to his home. When they got to his home, the colt knocked on his front door. "Mom! It's me, i'm home!" Violett, Winder's mother opened the door in shock. When she saw her son she calmed down a little. "Ah, Winder, sweety! You scared me!" Violett looked a little disappointed. "Why didn't you told me that you'll be home late?! You could made me lose it, if you didn't come back today." "Mother.." Winder was about to ask. "..Is it a problem if we let another one to stay the night here?" Winder's mother was confused. Then her son introduced her to the stranger he 'met' in the darkness. "Oh my, okay then." Violett didn't see the stranger really good, but still she allowed the stranger to stay the night if they really got lost. The whole town, including their house was dark today, no lights were on. Only the homes with unicorns didn't had that problem with the dark, because they had their magic to produce light. Pegasy and earth ponies used candles or lanterns. No lamps. Maybe there was some sort of electricity crisis, who knows? Violett lighted up a candle for better vision. But then, after the light spread across the living room, both Winder and Violett were kinda surprised. Surprised to find out that the pony-like stranger was in fact a kirin. Chapter 2Violett and Winder were both surprised that they let a real kirin filly inside their home. "Oh, uhm.. I didn't think of you being a.." Violett has started to feel akward. The little kirin faced the mare and spoke up. "You don't have to worry Miss. Even a single house is safe when there's a kirin around!" The filly smiled innocently, while Violett and Winder were still a little confused of the happening situation. "Did you said.. ki.. rin..?" Winder asked in pure confusion. Then the little kirin faced him and answered his question. "Yes, you heard me right! It's really common for us to get confused for regular ponies, so it's not a big deal for me. Also, thank you guys for accepting me to stay the night. I could just go home by myself if i had enough magic, but.. Haha! I guess that's how things went for me." The kirin sat on the wooden floor with tilted head. "So, you say that your magic is too weak?" Violett asked with concern. "Sorry if this sounded harsh, but isn't there supposed to be somepony teaching you how to use your.. horn, to produce magic? I'm not an unicorn, so it's reasonable that i'm not really familiar with those things." "Hey, we didn't got your name?" Winder pointed out. The kirin filly got up in surprise and told them her name, RiverLight. She explained that her name was given to her, because her parents shared love for rivers, and water in general. So they would go to one specific river close to their home village everytime when they're free. "Wow, you seem to have a pretty peaceful family." Winder assumed. River's pupils got a little smaller, she felt kinda uncomfortable, but she kept things cool. "No, they're not really 'peaceful'. They're more of an.. energetic kind of parents that won't shut up, if you know what i mean!" River laughed as she said that. Everyone went silent for a moment. Then Violett got up and went to the closest window to open it. The wind was howling and the air was warm. Really strange for a summer night. "So, how did you got lost, River?" Violett asked, while closing the window. River looked at her with a neutral look. "Well, it's kind of embarrassing, but i'll tell you." The mare Violett sat close to her son and said in a calmed and relaxed tone. "We're listening, go on!" RiverLight felt a little bit more confident with telling them her story. "Um, it pretty much started after i finished my friendship lessons at the.. School of Friendship, but i also had extra lessons at the normal schoolhouse. Right after i was done, i ran as fast as i could to get my train. My parents were supposed to wait for me at the other station. And.. of course, i missed the train. I could just use my magic to teleport to the station, and i did tried, but it didn't work. Even tho i DID had magic lessons, it still didn't work for me.." River paused for a second to take a short break from talking, then she continued. "After i realized that i have missed the train, i, of course, paniced. Then i started to run in different directions. I was so scared to ask the other ponies-unicorns if they can teleport me back home, or the pegasi, dragons, griffins or even changelings to give me a flight to home.." Violett stared at the kirin with a sad expression, trying not to tear up. Winder was feeling the same, except that he was a little calmer. Suddenly, Violett interrupted RIver as she was just about to continue telling her backstory. "My! I'm sorry dear, i just forgot to check the time!" The mare galloped towards a small drawer, where there was a tiny clock, just placed there. The little clock said '12:00am'. It was already getting late, and Winder had school tomorrow on top of everything! "Okay fillies, time for bed! River, you can sleep with Winder, understand?" RiverLight nodded in agreement and she, together with Winder, walked up the stairs, onto the second floor, where the fillies's bedroom was located. "Good night, mom!" Winder yelled across the room, so his mother can hear him. Then he recieved an answer from her. He wrapped himself and River with the sheet made out of old bear fur. "Hey River, would you like me to light up a candle?" He wispered. River opened her left, tired red eye and answered, even if she didn't want to. "I'm good, Wind. Let's sleep now.. We're all tired. . . " She fell asleep. Winder sighed akwardly, as fell asleep too. The next morning was pretty hard. Winder woke up first and tried to wake River. She was really taking sleep seriously. But after a soft slap in the face with his hoof, the kirin opened her eyes in shock, like she had a nightmare or something else. "Come on, we have school." Winder informed her. RiverLight got up, with low effort, then brushed her mane and tail, washed off her face and shined her hooves, her parents taught her that when she's at someone else's home, it's polite when you shine your hooves even one time a day. "Kids, quick, grab a éclair and run!" Violett said in a high tone to the two fillies. They indeed hurried and grabbed an éclair from the plate that they were placed in. On their way to school, they talked to eachother like every normal filly. "What exactly are those.. éclairs? I like them!" River asked curiously. She really enjoyed the éclair that she took from the plate. "Well, as far as know, the éclairs aretypes of pastry. I like to call them 'carrot dogs made out of sugar', if you get what i mean." Winder then smiled at River, who didn't really understood anything, but nodded in agreement. The two fillies continued walking down the streets of Ponyville, where every single creature was welcome. River stared around while walking because it was her weird habit to stare at the villagers, even Winder found it weird. "Wait!" River stopped. "This is not the direction leading to MY school!?" Winder stopped too and started sweating. He knew that he has to tell her the truth. "Uh, i thought that your school is just an excuse to get distracted, so i decided to lead you to my school-" RiverLight was furious at Winder. She wanted to curse at him, but at the same time she didn't, because she was afraid of the pony races splitting up again because of them. "Do NOT call the School of Friendship a tool for distraction! Oh," She started whispering. "be thankful that i'm not taking a beat on you, because i would be the reason the pony races would split up again. Got it?" Winder nodded, he understood that it'll be a really bad idea, even on accident to make a creature of other race really angry. "Winder, listen, i'm already late for friendship classes, you're already late too." The two fillies looked at eachother with akward expressions. "Well, uh, then would you like to skip?" Winder asked the young kirin. River, feeling down for being late, agreed, because she was afraid of the consequences. Then the two galloped into a different direction, far from the two schools. "Where would you like to go?" The earth colt asked the kirin. Both have found themselfs close to the Everfree Forest, once a forbidden place, where only the bravest, strongest and oldest were allowed to go, and now a place where only the youngest and weakest were not allowed to go. River looked around the branches of the huge trees, and spoke the up the things on her mind. "Maybe we should take a look at the ruins? I, personally have never seen them in real life, only in textbooks!" RiverLight really wanted to see those old and beautiful places, so Winder couldn't agree more, mainly because he kinda wanted to see them too. "Well, here goes nothing!" Winder said loudly in a cheerful tone. Both fillies then walked towards the mysterious forest, with no knowledge on what's gonna happend next. Chapter 3Winder and his friend RiverLight were walking thrue the Everfee Forest with no problem. They stared at the hanging branches of the old and young trees, vines, and pale green bushes. "Wow, this place is not that scary as i imagined." River gasped. In her textbooks she learned that this forest is scary at every glance, the books were half-right to her, because River found the Everfree Forest to be more interesting than scary or creepy. "Hey, Winder, what do you think?" Winder looked really interested. "It's nice, really. So, why did we come here in the first place, River?" Winder clearly forgot why he was here, in the Everfree Forest, but his friend, the kirin River, was there to remind him. "Uh, we're here to find and see the ruins? Did you really forgot about that?" River giggled while Winder blushed akwardly. An hour has passed, but the fillies were still walking and walking. Until Winder started to yawn, because he was clearly tired from getting up early. "You tired?" River asked her friend, he nodded in agreement, but they continued on walking. They walked and walked, until the tree branches started to block the sunlight. Winder's tiredness disappeared in suprise when he noticed that and immediately ran closer to River to not get lost in the darkness. "Hey, River!" Winder started to ask. "Can you please, at least TRY to make your horn glow?" River didn't answer his question, she was afraid to try, because the last time she tried that, she almost set a whole classroom on fire. "C'mon River, please! I can't see in the dark, nor do you! Just try!" RiverLight began to frown, she was getting mad at the colt. She didn't want to take any risks that involve around her horn and magic. Suddenly, Winder noticed a little bit of light coming from River, the light had white, pinkish and slight blue and purple shades. "River, are you.. alright?" The colt placed his hoof on her shoulder, then he stepped back. Her body was flaming hot to the touch. "River, your shoulder feels a little warmer that it's supposed to.. be?" The kirin looked back at the colt, he almost didn't believe his eyes at what he just saw, River's face was slightly different than before. Glowing white eyes, long and sharp visible fangs and glowing blue eyebrows. "RIVER?!" Surprised, Winder yelled in shock when he saw the different face of his first friend. He started walking away from her, but the mad kirin was walking towards the scared colt. "Stay there, you little pony!" The angered kirin said in a distorted voice. At this point, Winder really had no choice but to run. "Somepony, anyone! Help me, i'm being chased!" The scared colt started to cry for help. He ran as fast as his hooves can carry him. Tears has started to drop from his red eyes out of fear. "Please, River, leave me alone!" But River didn't even listen. Suddenly, Winder saw slight light in the near bushes. "Finally a way out! I'll be safe!" The scared colt thought. He ran towards the bushes and finally, he was covered with the sunlight once again. Tired from running, Winder sat on the grassy ground to catch a break and closed his eyes. But when he opened them again, he saw some unfamiliar ponies and non-ponies infront of him. All of them looked at the terrified colt with both confused adn surprised expressions. Then a tall, pale-purple griffon-like creature walked towards the filly. "You okay there, little colt?" The griffon-like creature spoke up with her feminine voice to the scared colt with a concerned tone. Winder looked up and down to the tall creature. "You look all scared and tired, what happend to you? Do you need help?" Winder then looked at the stranger's face, it looked just like a griffon's, but with a purple beak and long blue mane. Then he remembered why he was here in the first place and teared up again. The tall stranger got concerned even more, sat on the ground, close to the crying colt and started patting him on the right shoulder with her clawed hand. "Every creature," The stranger informed the others in the location. "go back to the school with the others, you know the way back, i-i'll stay here and comfort the little one!" The others nodded and agreed, then one by one disappeared out of their sight. "Hey, i'm Silverstream," She introduced herself. "what's your name, little one?" Silver smiled at the colt to calm him a little. Winder tried to stop sobbing and tell her his name. "I'm.. Winder, miss.." "Why are you crying, Winder? Did something bad happend to you? Is someone bullying you or worse-?" And just as she was about to finish her sentence, the angered kirin jumped out of the bushes. "Huh?!" Silver turned around, facing the kirin, who was hitting the ground with her flamy hooves. She squeezed her purple eyes a little. "Wait.." Silverstream sounded like she remembered the flaming kirin. "RiverLight?! Did you got mad again?!" After saying those words, River's anger slowly started to fade away. "Miss... Silverstream?" River's voice has finally turned back to normal. Then she saw Winder, sitting on the ground, with his sclera being almost as red as his eyes from crying. "Oh.. oh no, Miss, did i really bursted out again?" "Sadly yes. For the second time, River!" Silver got up, and walked towards the sad kirin. "Hey, River, listen. Why don't you go back home for... you know, to rest a bit?" Winder just stayed there, a meter away from the two and listening to them talking, he knew that deep down, his friend, RiverLight, didn't really want to go back home, but he couldn't really do anything, sense he barely knew everyone in Ponyville and the whole location around it. "River? RIVER!?" Winder jumped when he heard Silverstream's voice raising from shock, he got even more concerned about the happening situation when he realized that River has fainted. "P-please, let me take her home! I.. as far as i know her home is too far so.. can you place her on my back so i can take her to my home?" Silver just stared at him, confused and not knowing what to do or say first. "Please, Miss Silverstream!" While nerveously sweating, Silverstream took River and carefully placed her on Winder's back. "I can take care of her, she's my friend after all." Right before he took one step, the colt stopped and asked Silver another question. "Uh, Miss, what's the exit of the Forest?" "Oh, you can actually go this way!" She pointed at the same direction from where the other ponies exited earlier. "It's a shortcut, so don't worry. Anyway, i need to go too, because i have classes." Winder thanked the kind hippogriff and headed home, with River on his back. Chapter 4Winder's mother, Violett was still at home, resting on the couch. She knew that she had to do her other chores and buy new furniture for the house, but the poor mare sadly gave up and decided to rest for the whole day. Then she started to think stuff, she remembered that the fillies aren't here and that she's alone by herself, Violett then suddenly thought of trying to do something that "every mare her age" does, and that is, of course, finding a new partner. Ten minutes after she got her mane done, Violett finally got the courage to go outside and chase her dream. But everything crushed after the are saw her son at the door, with RiverLight at his back. "Winder?! Wha-!? What happend to you two?!" She ran towards the sad colt and his unconscious friend. Then she picked River up with her hooves and put her in Winder's bedroom upstairs. Winder sat on the floor, still feeling sad. Then Violett calmly came back downstairs and sat close to her son, just so she can talk to him. "Hey, sweetie, what happend back there? Did somepony bullied you two? Or.." "I angered her." Winder decided to tell her the truth. His mother raised her right eyebrow from confusion. Then the sad colt continued on talking. "We weren't at school, mom. We ran away, to the Everfree Forest.." Suddenly, Violett got up. She was mad. Mad, because her son literally skipped school with his best friend and ran to a dangerous place, forbidden for little creatures. She clearly wanted a full explanation from the poor pony. After an hour of Winder explaining the situation to his mother, she started to understand even more, but she was still mad at him. "Huh, i understand you, Winder." She patted him on the shoulder. "But you know that i can't just forget the fact that you and River skipped school together! So it'll be the best if i ground you for a week." "And me?" Both earth ponies turned around. They saw RiverLight, sitting on the last staircase and quietly listening to them. "Winder," She sighed. "go upstairs, i'll have a word with River." "So, uh.. How did my son.. angered you?" The kirin daydreamingly stared at the mare for a couple of seconds, then snapped back into the reality and calmly answered Violett's question. "Hm.. When i really think about it.. it was something really, and i mean it, like, it was something really REALLY stupid! He was asking me questions about my lack of magic, but i wasn't in the mood for that, so, i.. got mad, and turned into a.. nirik.." After Violett heard those words, she got confused. She has never heard of such a thing as a 'nirik', so she asked River if she can explain to her on what does that means. After two minutes of explaining, Violett grabbed her hat and decided to send RiverLight home. It was about time. Winder was told to stay home, to not get in anymore trouble. Violett and River were at the train station. "A ticket to Peaks of Peril, please." The stallion from the station gave her the ticket and both waited for the train. Meanwhile, to not get bored, Violett started to talk to River. "Hey... River.. How's it like, there, in Peaks of Peril? Is it.. "awesome"?" RiverLight didn't answer. She just stared at the railroad, blankly. Violett wasn't happy that the young kirin didn't answer, so she asked her again. "River, i think that i asked you something. How is it like, to live in a place like Peaks of Peril?!" River's ears twiched. The kirin heard her and akwardly answered her question. "Uh, wh.. well, Peaks of Peril.. The kirins there have a pretty interesting history. A long time, like, a REALLY long time ago, the kirins were free to talk and sing. But then, there was the discovering of the.. so called.. 'niriks'. The leader, our leader.. Rain Shine, forced the kirins to enter the Stream of Silence, which prevented them from talking or experiencing strong emotions. But then, some time later, two ponies from here, together with one kirin, helped the kirins find the cure from being mute and they.. kinda solved the problem with the niriks? As far as i remember they did.." All of a sudden, the two mares heard the loud sound of the train. They've waited two more hours for it to arrive. Now it was the time for RIverLight to go home. Her true home. "I hope to see you soon, miss Violett." River's last words as she entered the train and closed the door. Violett just smiled and waved for goodbye. After ten minutes, the train started. And River was now heading home. Violett was alone in the station. With no one around. It was time for her to go home aswell. When she got home, she looked around the front yard. The grass was short and beautiful. The neighbor houses were at their right places as always. Everything seemed perfect from the outside. Then the mare entered the inside of her home. The living room was dark, because the lights were off. "Hey Winder, sweetie! I'm back!" Violett took her hat off, closed and locked the door. It was really quiet. Violett decided to check her son's room, just in case. When she slightly opened the door, she sighed in relief. Winder was laying on the bed, sleeping. "I'm glad you're okay." She smiled, closed the door, went downstairs again and prepared dinner. Suddenly, Winder woke up with a yawn. He realised that it's a little late, so he got out of his room to see if his mother's home. She was still home, in the kitchen, still preparing dinner. "Hey mom! What are you doing?" "Preparing dinner, you feeling good now?" The mare responded. She was preparing Winder's favorite meal, carrot dogs. The colt smelled the amazingly cooked meal on the plate and took one for himself, because he was hungry like a wolf. "Mm! Those are good, mom!" The mare smiled as she sat on one of the dining chairs. "I'm glad you like them, Wind." Winder then swallowed the bite he took from the carrot dog and giggled happily. Some minutes later, the two earth ponies were done eating and out of boredom before bedtime Violett decided to teach her son how to dance, on which he failed. Both of them laughed. At bedtime, when the mare took her little colt in, he asked her something, out of pure curiousity. "Mom, will i ever see River again?" "Of course you will. It's not like she'll disappear one day, Wind! You just need to be patient." Violett said as she booped his little nose. "Goodnight, Winder." "Night, mom!" The mare smiled and closed the door. She headed to her bedroom and did her bed, ready for sleeping. "Maybe one day i should visit that place.. 'Peaks of Peril' huh? It sure sounds like a fun place." Violett thought to herself as she slowly started to fall asleep. Chapter 5Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 1Just another ordinary and peaceful day in Ponyville. Ponies and non-ponies are walking around the streets, nothing to worry about. But this day was the day that changed the life of one single filly. "Well, dear, this will be our new home. Welcome to Ponyville!" The mare said to her little colt in a cheerful tone. They walked true the town and looked around with inspired expressions. "Mommy, i guess you were not wrong about this place!" The little colt said happily. "It looks so happy and perfect." The mare looked at her son and smiled. She then continued talking with him and ask small questions. Then they stopped walking when they reached the old Ponyville Schoolhouse. The mare looked at the building while still smiling peacefuly. The colt looked at the Schoolhouse and then at his mother. "Uh, mom? Is THIS the place where i'm gonna study?" The colt asked the young mare in pure confusion. "Of course, sweetie! Why do you ask?" The little colt thought on what to say, then said the thing that was on his mind. "Well, i saw a huge school-looking building back there, mom. And i just thought that i'll study there." The young mare raised an eyebrow. "Uh, well, this school is a.. so called... 'School of Friendship'. I planned for you to study in a normal school where you're not going to be distracted by lessons about friendship. You'll make normal friends in this schoolhouse, so there's nothing to worry about." The colt looked at the schoolhouse once again, the building looked just like the ordinary school that every filly would go to. "Now let's go sweety." The mare continued. "We need to get you registered!" They entered the Schoolhouse. The two ponies noticed right away a purple pony mare, pink mane and tail and three cheerful flowers for a cutie mark. "Excuse me?" The mother asked. "My son is new here, and he would love to get accepted here." The purple mare turned around, facing the new ponies. "Oh, i'm sorry, i didn't notice you two! So, you're new here?" "Yes, we are." The mother mare answered akwardly. "That sounds great! What are your names, if you don't mind?" The purple mare asked kindly. "My name is Violett, with double t's. And that's-" "My name is Winder." He interrupted his mother. "Sorry mom." "What interesting names you guys have!" The mare giggled. "I'm Cheerilee. But you, little one can call me, Miss Cheerilee." Winder thought for a second on what to say. "I'd rather just call you 'Cheerilee'. It's not a problem, right?" "Nope. Not at all! Alright, anyway, if you want your son to get accepted, just please, uh.." The teacher walked towards one of the drawers and got an unsigned document from there. "You just need to sign up here! Nothing more." Cheerilee hooved over the paper to Violett's hooves. Then she gave her a pen to sign up. Done! "Am i now a student here?" The little colt asked. Cheerilee looked at Winder and answered. "Of course, little one. We'll see eachother again tomorrow!" The teacher smiled. "Oh well, it's time for us to go! Winder?" Violett informed her son. "Gonna say goodbye to the teacher?" Winder looked at his new teacher. "Goodbye, Cheerilee." "Bye, it was realy nice talking to you!" While the two earth ponies walked, Wander started asking his mother. "Hey mom, i was thinking. Where are we gonna live now?" Violett thought and thought, then answered her son's question. "I've already bought a house for us, dear!" She stopped walking and poined her hoof to East. "It's ooovver there! Just five more minutes and we're there. Got it?" She said with a cheerful smile. "Yeah, i got it." "Good! Now come on, we have more things to do!" The two ponies already got home. The house they now lived in was quite old, dusty and covered in webs, possibly even forgotten by the residents of Ponyville. "C'mon Winder! Bring me the broom, you'll use the mop and bucket filled with water!" Violett yelled from ceiling part of the house. The young colt ran over and threw the broom to his mom. "Thank you, sweetie! Now do your part of the job!" Winder started mopping the floors of all the rooms in the house, it wasn't that big of a deal, because the house was a small one. It really took him two hours to clean all of the floors, same for his mother. "Winder!" The mother mare yelled again. "Yes?" The colt filly answered. "If you're done mopping the floors, go get the second broom and sweep around the front yard! If you don't do it, then.." The mare silenced akwardly. "Uh, you just need to do it, okay?" Winder understood his mother, got the second broom and ran outside. One more hour has passed, and Winder has already finished his job. He sat on a bench close to his home to rest for a bit. It was getting late so it was reasonable that much less of the residence were anywhere to be seen. The silence made Winder feel a little lonely, even tho he could easily just go inside his home and talk to his mother. Suddenly, the colt heard somepony's hooves galloping. Winder looked up to see where did the sound was exactly coming from. And then he found out. They weren't really visible in the dark, but Winder was able to recognize that they had a pony-like body type. "Hello?" The mysterious pony-like figure said worringly. Winder thought that whoever that was, they got somehow lost. "I.. I'm right here!" Winder informed the stranger. "Can you see me? Are you lost?" Winder noticed that the figure shaked their head for 'no'. He got up from the bench and carefully walked towards the stranger. "Here, grab my hoof, i'll take you home." The stranger was able to see the little colt's hoof and grabbed it calmly. "Thank you." The stranger whispered. Winder carefully walked the stranger to his home. When they got to his home, the colt knocked on his front door. "Mom! It's me, i'm home!" Violett, Winder's mother opened the door in shock. When she saw her son she calmed down a little. "Ah, Winder, sweety! You scared me!" Violett looked a little disappointed. "Why didn't you told me that you'll be home late?! You could made me lose it, if you didn't come back today." "Mother.." Winder was about to ask. "..Is it a problem if we let another one to stay the night here?" Winder's mother was confused. Then her son introduced her to the stranger he 'met' in the darkness. "Oh my, okay then." Violett didn't see the stranger really good, but still she allowed the stranger to stay the night if they really got lost. The whole town, including their house was dark today, no lights were on. Only the homes with unicorns didn't had that problem with the dark, because they had their magic to produce light. Pegasy and earth ponies used candles or lanterns. No lamps. Maybe there was some sort of electricity crisis, who knows? Violett lighted up a candle for better vision. But then, after the light spread across the living room, both Winder and Violett were kinda surprised. Surprised to find out that the pony-like stranger was in fact a kirin.
Chapter 2Violett and Winder were both surprised that they let a real kirin filly inside their home. "Oh, uhm.. I didn't think of you being a.." Violett has started to feel akward. The little kirin faced the mare and spoke up. "You don't have to worry Miss. Even a single house is safe when there's a kirin around!" The filly smiled innocently, while Violett and Winder were still a little confused of the happening situation. "Did you said.. ki.. rin..?" Winder asked in pure confusion. Then the little kirin faced him and answered his question. "Yes, you heard me right! It's really common for us to get confused for regular ponies, so it's not a big deal for me. Also, thank you guys for accepting me to stay the night. I could just go home by myself if i had enough magic, but.. Haha! I guess that's how things went for me." The kirin sat on the wooden floor with tilted head. "So, you say that your magic is too weak?" Violett asked with concern. "Sorry if this sounded harsh, but isn't there supposed to be somepony teaching you how to use your.. horn, to produce magic? I'm not an unicorn, so it's reasonable that i'm not really familiar with those things." "Hey, we didn't got your name?" Winder pointed out. The kirin filly got up in surprise and told them her name, RiverLight. She explained that her name was given to her, because her parents shared love for rivers, and water in general. So they would go to one specific river close to their home village everytime when they're free. "Wow, you seem to have a pretty peaceful family." Winder assumed. River's pupils got a little smaller, she felt kinda uncomfortable, but she kept things cool. "No, they're not really 'peaceful'. They're more of an.. energetic kind of parents that won't shut up, if you know what i mean!" River laughed as she said that. Everyone went silent for a moment. Then Violett got up and went to the closest window to open it. The wind was howling and the air was warm. Really strange for a summer night. "So, how did you got lost, River?" Violett asked, while closing the window. River looked at her with a neutral look. "Well, it's kind of embarrassing, but i'll tell you." The mare Violett sat close to her son and said in a calmed and relaxed tone. "We're listening, go on!" RiverLight felt a little bit more confident with telling them her story. "Um, it pretty much started after i finished my friendship lessons at the.. School of Friendship, but i also had extra lessons at the normal schoolhouse. Right after i was done, i ran as fast as i could to get my train. My parents were supposed to wait for me at the other station. And.. of course, i missed the train. I could just use my magic to teleport to the station, and i did tried, but it didn't work. Even tho i DID had magic lessons, it still didn't work for me.." River paused for a second to take a short break from talking, then she continued. "After i realized that i have missed the train, i, of course, paniced. Then i started to run in different directions. I was so scared to ask the other ponies-unicorns if they can teleport me back home, or the pegasi, dragons, griffins or even changelings to give me a flight to home.." Violett stared at the kirin with a sad expression, trying not to tear up. Winder was feeling the same, except that he was a little calmer. Suddenly, Violett interrupted RIver as she was just about to continue telling her backstory. "My! I'm sorry dear, i just forgot to check the time!" The mare galloped towards a small drawer, where there was a tiny clock, just placed there. The little clock said '12:00am'. It was already getting late, and Winder had school tomorrow on top of everything! "Okay fillies, time for bed! River, you can sleep with Winder, understand?" RiverLight nodded in agreement and she, together with Winder, walked up the stairs, onto the second floor, where the fillies's bedroom was located. "Good night, mom!" Winder yelled across the room, so his mother can hear him. Then he recieved an answer from her. He wrapped himself and River with the sheet made out of old bear fur. "Hey River, would you like me to light up a candle?" He wispered. River opened her left, tired red eye and answered, even if she didn't want to. "I'm good, Wind. Let's sleep now.. We're all tired. . . " She fell asleep. Winder sighed akwardly, as fell asleep too. The next morning was pretty hard. Winder woke up first and tried to wake River. She was really taking sleep seriously. But after a soft slap in the face with his hoof, the kirin opened her eyes in shock, like she had a nightmare or something else. "Come on, we have school." Winder informed her. RiverLight got up, with low effort, then brushed her mane and tail, washed off her face and shined her hooves, her parents taught her that when she's at someone else's home, it's polite when you shine your hooves even one time a day. "Kids, quick, grab a éclair and run!" Violett said in a high tone to the two fillies. They indeed hurried and grabbed an éclair from the plate that they were placed in. On their way to school, they talked to eachother like every normal filly. "What exactly are those.. éclairs? I like them!" River asked curiously. She really enjoyed the éclair that she took from the plate. "Well, as far as know, the éclairs aretypes of pastry. I like to call them 'carrot dogs made out of sugar', if you get what i mean." Winder then smiled at River, who didn't really understood anything, but nodded in agreement. The two fillies continued walking down the streets of Ponyville, where every single creature was welcome. River stared around while walking because it was her weird habit to stare at the villagers, even Winder found it weird. "Wait!" River stopped. "This is not the direction leading to MY school!?" Winder stopped too and started sweating. He knew that he has to tell her the truth. "Uh, i thought that your school is just an excuse to get distracted, so i decided to lead you to my school-" RiverLight was furious at Winder. She wanted to curse at him, but at the same time she didn't, because she was afraid of the pony races splitting up again because of them. "Do NOT call the School of Friendship a tool for distraction! Oh," She started whispering. "be thankful that i'm not taking a beat on you, because i would be the reason the pony races would split up again. Got it?" Winder nodded, he understood that it'll be a really bad idea, even on accident to make a creature of other race really angry. "Winder, listen, i'm already late for friendship classes, you're already late too." The two fillies looked at eachother with akward expressions. "Well, uh, then would you like to skip?" Winder asked the young kirin. River, feeling down for being late, agreed, because she was afraid of the consequences. Then the two galloped into a different direction, far from the two schools. "Where would you like to go?" The earth colt asked the kirin. Both have found themselfs close to the Everfree Forest, once a forbidden place, where only the bravest, strongest and oldest were allowed to go, and now a place where only the youngest and weakest were not allowed to go. River looked around the branches of the huge trees, and spoke the up the things on her mind. "Maybe we should take a look at the ruins? I, personally have never seen them in real life, only in textbooks!" RiverLight really wanted to see those old and beautiful places, so Winder couldn't agree more, mainly because he kinda wanted to see them too. "Well, here goes nothing!" Winder said loudly in a cheerful tone. Both fillies then walked towards the mysterious forest, with no knowledge on what's gonna happend next.
Chapter 3Winder and his friend RiverLight were walking thrue the Everfee Forest with no problem. They stared at the hanging branches of the old and young trees, vines, and pale green bushes. "Wow, this place is not that scary as i imagined." River gasped. In her textbooks she learned that this forest is scary at every glance, the books were half-right to her, because River found the Everfree Forest to be more interesting than scary or creepy. "Hey, Winder, what do you think?" Winder looked really interested. "It's nice, really. So, why did we come here in the first place, River?" Winder clearly forgot why he was here, in the Everfree Forest, but his friend, the kirin River, was there to remind him. "Uh, we're here to find and see the ruins? Did you really forgot about that?" River giggled while Winder blushed akwardly. An hour has passed, but the fillies were still walking and walking. Until Winder started to yawn, because he was clearly tired from getting up early. "You tired?" River asked her friend, he nodded in agreement, but they continued on walking. They walked and walked, until the tree branches started to block the sunlight. Winder's tiredness disappeared in suprise when he noticed that and immediately ran closer to River to not get lost in the darkness. "Hey, River!" Winder started to ask. "Can you please, at least TRY to make your horn glow?" River didn't answer his question, she was afraid to try, because the last time she tried that, she almost set a whole classroom on fire. "C'mon River, please! I can't see in the dark, nor do you! Just try!" RiverLight began to frown, she was getting mad at the colt. She didn't want to take any risks that involve around her horn and magic. Suddenly, Winder noticed a little bit of light coming from River, the light had white, pinkish and slight blue and purple shades. "River, are you.. alright?" The colt placed his hoof on her shoulder, then he stepped back. Her body was flaming hot to the touch. "River, your shoulder feels a little warmer that it's supposed to.. be?" The kirin looked back at the colt, he almost didn't believe his eyes at what he just saw, River's face was slightly different than before. Glowing white eyes, long and sharp visible fangs and glowing blue eyebrows. "RIVER?!" Surprised, Winder yelled in shock when he saw the different face of his first friend. He started walking away from her, but the mad kirin was walking towards the scared colt. "Stay there, you little pony!" The angered kirin said in a distorted voice. At this point, Winder really had no choice but to run. "Somepony, anyone! Help me, i'm being chased!" The scared colt started to cry for help. He ran as fast as his hooves can carry him. Tears has started to drop from his red eyes out of fear. "Please, River, leave me alone!" But River didn't even listen. Suddenly, Winder saw slight light in the near bushes. "Finally a way out! I'll be safe!" The scared colt thought. He ran towards the bushes and finally, he was covered with the sunlight once again. Tired from running, Winder sat on the grassy ground to catch a break and closed his eyes. But when he opened them again, he saw some unfamiliar ponies and non-ponies infront of him. All of them looked at the terrified colt with both confused adn surprised expressions. Then a tall, pale-purple griffon-like creature walked towards the filly. "You okay there, little colt?" The griffon-like creature spoke up with her feminine voice to the scared colt with a concerned tone. Winder looked up and down to the tall creature. "You look all scared and tired, what happend to you? Do you need help?" Winder then looked at the stranger's face, it looked just like a griffon's, but with a purple beak and long blue mane. Then he remembered why he was here in the first place and teared up again. The tall stranger got concerned even more, sat on the ground, close to the crying colt and started patting him on the right shoulder with her clawed hand. "Every creature," The stranger informed the others in the location. "go back to the school with the others, you know the way back, i-i'll stay here and comfort the little one!" The others nodded and agreed, then one by one disappeared out of their sight. "Hey, i'm Silverstream," She introduced herself. "what's your name, little one?" Silver smiled at the colt to calm him a little. Winder tried to stop sobbing and tell her his name. "I'm.. Winder, miss.." "Why are you crying, Winder? Did something bad happend to you? Is someone bullying you or worse-?" And just as she was about to finish her sentence, the angered kirin jumped out of the bushes. "Huh?!" Silver turned around, facing the kirin, who was hitting the ground with her flamy hooves. She squeezed her purple eyes a little. "Wait.." Silverstream sounded like she remembered the flaming kirin. "RiverLight?! Did you got mad again?!" After saying those words, River's anger slowly started to fade away. "Miss... Silverstream?" River's voice has finally turned back to normal. Then she saw Winder, sitting on the ground, with his sclera being almost as red as his eyes from crying. "Oh.. oh no, Miss, did i really bursted out again?" "Sadly yes. For the second time, River!" Silver got up, and walked towards the sad kirin. "Hey, River, listen. Why don't you go back home for... you know, to rest a bit?" Winder just stayed there, a meter away from the two and listening to them talking, he knew that deep down, his friend, RiverLight, didn't really want to go back home, but he couldn't really do anything, sense he barely knew everyone in Ponyville and the whole location around it. "River? RIVER!?" Winder jumped when he heard Silverstream's voice raising from shock, he got even more concerned about the happening situation when he realized that River has fainted. "P-please, let me take her home! I.. as far as i know her home is too far so.. can you place her on my back so i can take her to my home?" Silver just stared at him, confused and not knowing what to do or say first. "Please, Miss Silverstream!" While nerveously sweating, Silverstream took River and carefully placed her on Winder's back. "I can take care of her, she's my friend after all." Right before he took one step, the colt stopped and asked Silver another question. "Uh, Miss, what's the exit of the Forest?" "Oh, you can actually go this way!" She pointed at the same direction from where the other ponies exited earlier. "It's a shortcut, so don't worry. Anyway, i need to go too, because i have classes." Winder thanked the kind hippogriff and headed home, with River on his back.
Chapter 4Winder's mother, Violett was still at home, resting on the couch. She knew that she had to do her other chores and buy new furniture for the house, but the poor mare sadly gave up and decided to rest for the whole day. Then she started to think stuff, she remembered that the fillies aren't here and that she's alone by herself, Violett then suddenly thought of trying to do something that "every mare her age" does, and that is, of course, finding a new partner. Ten minutes after she got her mane done, Violett finally got the courage to go outside and chase her dream. But everything crushed after the are saw her son at the door, with RiverLight at his back. "Winder?! Wha-!? What happend to you two?!" She ran towards the sad colt and his unconscious friend. Then she picked River up with her hooves and put her in Winder's bedroom upstairs. Winder sat on the floor, still feeling sad. Then Violett calmly came back downstairs and sat close to her son, just so she can talk to him. "Hey, sweetie, what happend back there? Did somepony bullied you two? Or.." "I angered her." Winder decided to tell her the truth. His mother raised her right eyebrow from confusion. Then the sad colt continued on talking. "We weren't at school, mom. We ran away, to the Everfree Forest.." Suddenly, Violett got up. She was mad. Mad, because her son literally skipped school with his best friend and ran to a dangerous place, forbidden for little creatures. She clearly wanted a full explanation from the poor pony. After an hour of Winder explaining the situation to his mother, she started to understand even more, but she was still mad at him. "Huh, i understand you, Winder." She patted him on the shoulder. "But you know that i can't just forget the fact that you and River skipped school together! So it'll be the best if i ground you for a week." "And me?" Both earth ponies turned around. They saw RiverLight, sitting on the last staircase and quietly listening to them. "Winder," She sighed. "go upstairs, i'll have a word with River." "So, uh.. How did my son.. angered you?" The kirin daydreamingly stared at the mare for a couple of seconds, then snapped back into the reality and calmly answered Violett's question. "Hm.. When i really think about it.. it was something really, and i mean it, like, it was something really REALLY stupid! He was asking me questions about my lack of magic, but i wasn't in the mood for that, so, i.. got mad, and turned into a.. nirik.." After Violett heard those words, she got confused. She has never heard of such a thing as a 'nirik', so she asked River if she can explain to her on what does that means. After two minutes of explaining, Violett grabbed her hat and decided to send RiverLight home. It was about time. Winder was told to stay home, to not get in anymore trouble. Violett and River were at the train station. "A ticket to Peaks of Peril, please." The stallion from the station gave her the ticket and both waited for the train. Meanwhile, to not get bored, Violett started to talk to River. "Hey... River.. How's it like, there, in Peaks of Peril? Is it.. "awesome"?" RiverLight didn't answer. She just stared at the railroad, blankly. Violett wasn't happy that the young kirin didn't answer, so she asked her again. "River, i think that i asked you something. How is it like, to live in a place like Peaks of Peril?!" River's ears twiched. The kirin heard her and akwardly answered her question. "Uh, wh.. well, Peaks of Peril.. The kirins there have a pretty interesting history. A long time, like, a REALLY long time ago, the kirins were free to talk and sing. But then, there was the discovering of the.. so called.. 'niriks'. The leader, our leader.. Rain Shine, forced the kirins to enter the Stream of Silence, which prevented them from talking or experiencing strong emotions. But then, some time later, two ponies from here, together with one kirin, helped the kirins find the cure from being mute and they.. kinda solved the problem with the niriks? As far as i remember they did.." All of a sudden, the two mares heard the loud sound of the train. They've waited two more hours for it to arrive. Now it was the time for RIverLight to go home. Her true home. "I hope to see you soon, miss Violett." River's last words as she entered the train and closed the door. Violett just smiled and waved for goodbye. After ten minutes, the train started. And River was now heading home. Violett was alone in the station. With no one around. It was time for her to go home aswell. When she got home, she looked around the front yard. The grass was short and beautiful. The neighbor houses were at their right places as always. Everything seemed perfect from the outside. Then the mare entered the inside of her home. The living room was dark, because the lights were off. "Hey Winder, sweetie! I'm back!" Violett took her hat off, closed and locked the door. It was really quiet. Violett decided to check her son's room, just in case. When she slightly opened the door, she sighed in relief. Winder was laying on the bed, sleeping. "I'm glad you're okay." She smiled, closed the door, went downstairs again and prepared dinner. Suddenly, Winder woke up with a yawn. He realised that it's a little late, so he got out of his room to see if his mother's home. She was still home, in the kitchen, still preparing dinner. "Hey mom! What are you doing?" "Preparing dinner, you feeling good now?" The mare responded. She was preparing Winder's favorite meal, carrot dogs. The colt smelled the amazingly cooked meal on the plate and took one for himself, because he was hungry like a wolf. "Mm! Those are good, mom!" The mare smiled as she sat on one of the dining chairs. "I'm glad you like them, Wind." Winder then swallowed the bite he took from the carrot dog and giggled happily. Some minutes later, the two earth ponies were done eating and out of boredom before bedtime Violett decided to teach her son how to dance, on which he failed. Both of them laughed. At bedtime, when the mare took her little colt in, he asked her something, out of pure curiousity. "Mom, will i ever see River again?" "Of course you will. It's not like she'll disappear one day, Wind! You just need to be patient." Violett said as she booped his little nose. "Goodnight, Winder." "Night, mom!" The mare smiled and closed the door. She headed to her bedroom and did her bed, ready for sleeping. "Maybe one day i should visit that place.. 'Peaks of Peril' huh? It sure sounds like a fun place." Violett thought to herself as she slowly started to fall asleep.
