It wasn’t long until I could start walking again. I didn’t know how long I had been out for, but when I awoke, the rain had stopped. I’m still wet though. After the storm swept me out of the sky, I was forced to the ground. I must’ve hit my wind during the fall because when I move it, it stings and aches. There is no doubt it is broken. There is the possibility I broke it when I hit the ground as well. I look up to see the sun almost halfway through the sky. It should be around two. I look around for my satchel. I look up at the trees, desperate to see the brown bag that had a heart pattern across the bottom. That bag had everything I need. Everything. So where was it? On second thought, where am I? What will I do? And is my wing really broken? I don’t know anything. All I know is that I’ll be grounded for a few days.
With every step, I could feel the ground getting harder and dry. I must’ve been walking for an hour or so through this jungle. I’m getting thirsty and hungry. I stop in my tracks and take a look around. I allow myself to rest and sit. I glance at my left and see a maze of trees. I turn my head to the right and see some more. And in front of me? What do you know? More trees. This jungle had stolen me from the sky and wrapped me in its puzzle. I’m going to die, I tell myself. It rings in my head. The same voice in my head comes out and urges me to keep going and not to give up. It’s almost as if an angel sits on one shoulder while the devil rests on the other. They keep arguing back and forth, but I decide to go with the good voice. I get up and start walking again.
I walk for a good half hour and think about giving up. But then out of the corner of my eye I see something. It’s almost as if it’s calling for me. I quickly turn to see what it ism and immediately start wincing at the stinging pain in my wing. But I turn my attention away from my wing and on to the thing. Water! I start to trot but it hurts so I stop and continue to walk to the pond. I feel smooth mud underneath my hooves. I look into the icy blue water and see a pony. I’m the pony of course, except my coat is no longer white. It is covered with the filth from the jungle. My hair is a crystal blue that reaches the ground. My eyes are grey and I have long eyelashes that protect them. Through my eyes only, I show a worried expression. I am nothing like the girl I remember, the last time I looked into my reflection was back in our cottage in Fillydelphia. This new version of me here in this pond is all scraped up. Her wing is broken. A scratch goes along her cheek. I’m shocked to see myself.
I lean my head near the water and drink. It is delicious. There are no words to describe it. It is- “Hey!” a male voice yells. Startled, I fly backwards. My wing throbs. I wince at the pain and look at my wing. A stallion comes up to me. He has a dirty gray coat and silky black hair that stands up- yet still flows. He is a pegasus. I stand up and look into the deep blue eyes he has. Where did he come from? And why did he decide to scare me like that? I think to myself. “Sorry I scared you” His voice is calmer and low now. “Sure you are” I doubt.
“Hey, I just didn’t want you getting sick.”
“What do you mean?”
“The water, it’s sickening.”
“But it tastes so good!”
“Feel free to get sick then.”
“What does it do to you?” I ask him. I don’t think it would be bad, but he changes my mind quickly. “You’ll grow weaker and weaker by the minute. Up until the point where you can’t even breathe. You’ll die in a matter of days.” he keeps the same fragile and soft tone as he speaks. I don’t know what else to say, so I stand their awkwardly. “You’re not from around here are you?” he asks. “No, I was just flying and got caught in that storm…” I answer.
“Do you need a place to stay?”
“Do you have a place I can stay at?”
“Come with me,” He smiles.
We walk for a while to a town. The town is surrounded by a stone wall, where in some places is covered in moss. The gate is golden, and locked from what I can tell up on this hill. The hill we are on is grassy and away from the jungle. We look down at the city below. “Why does it look locked up?” I look at him. “Welcome to Skylar. Where ponies are tortured daily. Where King Venus rules. And where no pony is allowed in or out,” he is happier as he adds, “But I’m not going to take you in here. I built a cottage a little bit away from here you can stay at.” “This is where you live… right?” I ask. “Unfortunately,” he sighs. “Then why are you outside the walls?” I’m still looking into his eyes. “Every day I sneak out and plan escape routes. I plan to rescue every pony that’s in danger. We can’t take this pain any longer.” He looks back at the town. I try to understand what he is saying. How bad is this pain? “Show me” I tell him. He quickly turns his head to look at me. He looks at the ground, then at the city, then back at me. “I’m going to regret meeting you and showing you this.”
We walk down the hill to the side of the town wall. There are now windows, gates, guards, or anything. I look around trying to find a hole or something. “How do we get through?”
“We fly”
“I can’t. I hurt my wing when I got caught in that storm”
“Not even over this wall?”
“I don’t think so”
“Hop on” he bends down. I stare at him. I wonder if he knows if it is safe or not. I have no control over what I do. I get on him and hold on tight. I feel us rise and I close my eyes. I’m nervous for what might happen next.
We’re up in the air when I finally open my eyes. I squeeze his neck a little tighter. Of course I’ve been up in the air a billion of times, but I’ve never rode a stallion like this before. We start to glide down, and I notice he is trying not to attract attention from the ponies below. I also take note of him succeeding. We land on a piece of land next to a stone house. I get off of him. He stands back up and smiles at me. I smile back. I realize I don’t know his name and I open my mouth to ask. “Let’s hurry up and get inside before King Venus knows there is an outsider in here.” He starts walking to the house. I follow him and watch him push the door open. We walk inside and he closes the door.
“Who is she?” a voice asks from behind me. I quickly turn around to see a unicorn. She has a yellow coat and a black mane tied into pigtails. Her green eyes glare at me. A filly comes from a room and stands next to her. She has a gray coat. Her mane is a deep blue that matches her eyes. “It’s getting late, you should take Moon Dust to bed” He looks at the yellow pony. “First tell me who she is and where you found her” The yellow pony doesn’t budge. “I found her out in the woods. I have to take her to the hospital now. I’m just getting some food for her first.” He walks into another room. The yellow pony looks at me. “What’s wrong with you?” she asks, a little calmer. “I just hurt my wing flying in that storm.” I tell her. “Well, I hope it heals well” she turns and goes into the room the filly had come from. The filly follows her. He comes back with food piled in a basket that sat on his back. He sits it on a nearby table. “Eat. You look hungry.” He looks at me. I go over and sit down. I eat like a pig, rather than a pony. “My name is Thunder Bolt by the way. But you can call me Thunder.” Thunder says. “I’m Northern Sparkle, “I smile, “but Northern is fine.”
We’re walking through the town now. I haven’t seen any of this ‘pain’ Thunder has spoken little of. “The girls in my house are my sisters. The older one is Prunus. The filly is Moon Dust.” He tells me. “They both look like you.” I say, not knowing of any other words. “Yeah, we’re all similar. Prunus is my twin.” He says. “I can tell” I smile at him and he smiles back.
We stand before another stone building. This building has more windows than Thunder’s. It’s weird saying his name. Before I knew, I’d always call him… well, Him or He. He knocks twice on the wooden door. I notice the heart pattern at the top of it. It is the same pattern as my satchel. The door swings open and a pony appears. She looks at me and then to Thunder. “Come on inside,” She says in a low whisper.
Thunder lets me go in front of him as I walk into the building. The pony’s sand colored tail sweeps back and forth. I follow her into a room that seems to be set up like a hospital. A table is in the middle of the room, with one end sticking to the wall. A white table cloth lies upon the table. A shelf is near the door, filled with bottles all different colors. On the side wall is a picture of a stallion. The pony stops walking and looks to us. “So Thunder, did you find her out in the jungle?” She smiles. “Something like that,” He smiles back. She motions with her head for me to sit on the table. “Does something hurt? Any problems?” she asks as I sit on the table. “I hurt my wing while flying in that storm a couple of hours ago” I answer. “Okay I’ll check it out” She says with a smile.
The red pony announced it isn’t broken and rest will heal it. We say our thanks and we walk out of the building. It’s getting darker outside and the noise from the town has died down. “So why were you out flying?” Thunder breaks the silence. “I was just out flying” I tell him. But it’s a total lie. I wasn’t just out flying; I was flying away from home. I had lost someone close to me and couldn’t take it any more pain. My parents were always arguing, almost on the edge to divorce. They didn’t understand that the three of us needed each other at that moment. “Why?” He smiles at me. I roll my eyes, “I just wanted to go out and practice flying.” I know he won’t buy my lie. “So what is this pain?” I ask, trying to change the subject. “How about we get some sleep, and then I will show you tomorrow.” He says. We walk back to his house, safe and sound.
I wake up to a wonderful smell. I feel so relaxed; thanks to the best round of sleep I’ve gotten in a week. I stand up and walk towards the smell. Prunus stands by a table, placing a basket of cherries on it. “Good morning Northern,” Prunus looks up at me and smiles, “Did you sleep well?” I smile back, “I did. Thanks.” Prunus gestures to the cherries, “Would you like some?” I look at the cherries that seem to be just picked not too long ago. “Sure” I go over and sit at the table. I really need to work on my manners, I think to myself. Moon Dust, the filly, comes into the kitchen and sits next to me. “Moon Dust, please be a dear and get Northern a drink” Prunus walks over to the stove. Moon Dust turns to me.
“What would you like to drink? Orange juice? Apple juice? Cranberry juice?”
“Orange juice will be fine” I smile at Moon Dust as she gets up and gets the orange juice out. Prunus is stirring something on the oven. “Where is Thunder at?” I ask her. “He goes to the jungle as early as he can so he doesn’t get caught sneaking around. He won’t be back until later today” She turns to look at me. “Oh, okay.” I say because I don’t know what else to say. Moon Dust places a glass of orange juice in front of me. “Thank you” I smile to her. Prunus turns back to the oven. “Remember not to mention Thunder leaving Skylar. He could get in serious trouble if anypony found out. Maybe even death,” Prunus says then adds, “hopefully soon we can all escape.”
“Of course I won’t. But are you sure it’s safe to say it in your house?”
“No, it’s not. But at least there aren’t guards and cameras in our house.”
“They could have voice recorders.”
“We can only hope they don’t find out.” She moves the pan from the burner onto a cooler one. There is a knock on the door. I watch Prunus and Moon Dust exchange looks. Prunus walks to the door and opens it. Two guards stand look down upon her. Thunder is between them. “This one is let off with a warning. Next time he tries to sneak out he’ll regret it,” the guard on the right glares at Prunus. “Y-yes” Prunus tries to speak. “You’ll all regret it” The guard on the left looks at Moon Dust and me. Thunder steps inside then looks to the guards. “I’m sorry, I was just testing out my wings and I guess I didn’t see I had gone over the wall.” Thunder lies. “I don’t suggest you lie again either,” the guard on the left glares at Thunder. “Thank you,” Prunus nods to them, gesturing them to leave. They walk away, without saying another word. Prunus shuts the door then immediately turns to her brother. “Thunder Bolt! Do you know how much we need you?! You can’t be careless!” Prunus screams to his face. Thunder frowns, “I’ll be fine Prunus.” He somehow managed to keep that low and calm tone. Prunus walks off into a different room. There is no doubt that this pain in the city of Skylar is painful.
