Equestrian culture loves cutie marks. Filly Starlight Glimmer hates them and never wants one. So, she leaves Equestria.
Time passed, and the water rose around Starlight. Drop by drop, it leaked in through the cracks in the walls and floorboards and dripped from her hasty blanket ceiling, stranding her in a puddle an inch deep and growing deeper.
Her hooves were soaked. She was standing up, but hadn't managed to keep her belly fur from getting wet... and her legs were getting stiff, too. Walking all day, she had practiced. Standing still for hours, while cold and tired? That was a different story entirely.
Still, there was nothing she could do but survive it. Failing wasn't an option; she didn't want to die. Her saddlebags were useless. Her blanket was in use. Her paddle had failed her, and her horn wasn't yet feeling up to registering as an organ she possessed. So she stood, eyes closed and ears flattened to avoid brushing up against the dripping ceiling, and waited.
The boat rocked around her; at least she was still moving. She would get... somewhere. There was somewhere she could go. Somewhere better than this. Wasn't there?
Unable to see the world around her, Starlight listened. The song of billions of raindrops hitting a placid surface and lending it turbulence hissed like static in her ears, magnified and echoed by her container. Some wetter thumps sounded, the noise of droplets striking her blanket like a drum. Heavy plops were mixed in, these from the moisture that seeped through and landed in the lake at her hooves.
She could hear her own breathing, too, cold and ragged. Her lungs didn't want damp, evening air, but that was all she had. She imagined she heard her heartbeat, but it might have just been in her head. She could also hear voices, like those of her parents at her old home.
Her ears folded harder, and she fought back a sniffle. Her flank was bare, having not been repainted since it was last washed clean, leaving the reason for her exodus staring blankly back up at her. She was blank. And she wanted to keep it that way.
Did she really want it bad enough to leave behind all the ponies she had ever known? She told herself she did. She told herself leaving someone behind wasn't a very big deal at all. It happened all the time. If only she could do that without becoming lonely. At this rate, she would-
Thud!
Something heavy rammed against the crate, causing it to jolt and knocking Starlight onto her side. She wheezed silently as the water bit through the remainder of the dryness she had, kicking her legs uselessly, unable to stand. The crate was moving. Wherever it was going, it was taking her with it... and there was nothing she could do but lay there and go along for the ride.
Suddenly, there was a scraping against the bottom of the crate, and Starlight felt it tilt as if on an incline. Her ears wiggled, picking up more phantom voices.
"I got it!"
"Yay, we got another one!"
"I wonder what's inside this time!"
"Hey, look at the top!"
Starlight's cover was whisked away, exposing her to nail-like streaks of falling rain... and was swiftly replaced by three wide-eyed faces.
"A filly!" one gasped, clearly shocked. The others mimicked her expression.
"Is it alive?"
"Look! She is! She blinked!"
"Look on her head! She's got a horn!"
"Woah! A unicorn?"
"What's a unicorn doing up there?"
"Forget that, I bet she's freezing! We need to do something!"
"Willow, you have foals! Don't you know what to do?"
"My house is clear on the other side of town!"
"Mine's close by! We can take her there!"
"Should I go get anypony?"
"No, help me get her out!"
Strong legs reached down, grabbing Starlight and hoisting her out of the crate. She wasn't deposited, instead held against the chest fur of a grown mare who had evidently been standing in the rain for quite some time. Part of her wanted to say something, but her brain refused to make the necessary connections to put thoughts into words... or even to form thoughts at all. Had Starlight been able to think, she would have frightfully realized that she wasn't able to think anything at all.
The mare who was currently holding her had a silvery coat, which reflected well in the dim light shining through the clouds. Another looked brownish, and the third was so wet she couldn't tell. Had she swam out to push Starlight to shore? The filly couldn't tell that, either.
The brown one was rummaging further in Starlight's boat, seemingly oblivious to the rain soaking through her coat. "Girls!" she called, lifting her head. "Look! Saddlebags!"
She lifted out Starlight's pack, hanging them from one hoof. Feebly, Starlight stretched out a hoof of her own, reaching for them.
The brown mare looked at her, concerned. "Are these yours?" When Starlight nodded, she added, "Don't worry, I won't touch them."
"Hey, should someone keep watch?" the drenched mare asked, pointing over her shoulder at the river. "If a kid could come down this thing, who knows what next?"
"Amber, you're soaked!" the mare holding Starlight protested. "We'll get someone else to do it!"
"Well, I'll stay here until they arrive," Amber called back through the rain. "Now are you two gonna go take care of that poor thing, or what?"
The brown mare had approached Starlight gently, saddlebags carefully worn across her own back. "Do you know if there's anyone else with you?" she asked, ruby eyes shining softly.
Starlight's teeth chattered in response. Her chest lurched, and she heaved out a sneeze.
"I think that's about as good of an answer as you're gonna get!" Amber called from the riverbank, where she had repurposed Starlight's boat into a shelter of her own.
"Yeah..." the silver mare sighed. She leaned down and over until she could make eye contact with Starlight. "We're going to help you, okay? You're going to be all right, little filly. You're going to be all right..." Hugging carefully, she rocked Starlight back and forth over the ground.
"Willow..." the mare with Starlight's saddlebags huffed. "Wouldn't that be better done inside?"
"Yeah," Willow repeated. "Which way was your place, again? Over there?" She indicated a direction with her head.
"This way!" the other beckoned. Willow immediately kicked into a slow trot, moving as fast as possible while doing her best to keep Starlight from bumping and shielded from the rain.
As they walked, the leading mare drew alongside Starlight, smiling gently. "My name's Maple," she offered. "I wonder what your name is, little filly..."
Starlight couldn't answer. She was still too exhausted to register its importance.
"You're going to be quite the sensation around here, little filly," Maple continued, hopping along. "Maybe the most exciting thing that's happened here in years..."
Maple might have kept talking, but Starlight didn't notice. Safe in Willow's embrace, she finally closed her eyes... and blacked out.
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Maybe it's because I'm a paranoid mf'er, but I'd be worried I'd fall asleep in that boat and drift out into the ocean.
I'm interested to see whose company she's landed in, where unicorns are so rare.
There are three ponies from a small town who know each other, yet they don't remember where the others live? This sounds weird to me.
Someone find a kid drifting down a river and is named Willow? Is that an homage to the character in the fantasy movie bearing the same name?
8428843 Nah, it's just a common naming theme to this town.
Hooray for accidental references, though!
The title sums up my thoughs about this chapter.
8429774
Because willows always stand near river, bending as if in respectful attention...
I don't want to sound mean, but I skipped the last four or five chapters since I got bored by the she feels bad, she is bad, her hooves hurt routine and wanted her to interact with someone.
Civilization! And warmth! And hopefully good things!
GRDC: 3
Good to see she is getting help. I forgot but does she still have the explorers journal
And, at long last, we get somewhere.
Dialogue comes, and with it a rush of words and sensations that Starlight can't comprehend or process. Unicorns aren't unheard of, but they're special here. Let's see what comes from this.
-GM, master of !
Engrossed in the miserable adventure so far. Wonder what's going to be the pace now that that's over. Or is it?
Starlight just refuses to die. Inexperienced, but so intent. That said, this was probably the closest she came to actually dying, not counting the fall itself. At least then she got washed out before drowning. This here is just floating down an unknown river in a wet, slowly sinking box, forced to stand, unable to rest or sleep, soaked and cold for so long, under incessant downpour with horn out and no ability to get ashore by herself. Also, the story's making a great job of making me feel creeped out by rain. Would be surprised if she doesn't develop some phobia or PTSD after this.
18 chapters in, and finally we are graced with a line of dialogue.
10896858
That is what I was thinking.
Holy batman, dialogue!
I love how this chapter hits with that same [world expanded] feel that happened when Rainbow reached Windthrow in Austraeoh. Though you've really got your own compelling AU and writing style going here that I'm thoroughly enjoying so far.
FINALLY!
wait.... that’s the chapter’s name.