Her Eyes Reflect The Stars

by Lynwood

I Follow My Family Into the Village

I follow my family into the village. The sand is soft and warm, not like clouds at all. It cradles my hoof with every step, giving way just slightly and clumping in the edges of my coat.

A group of ponies has gathered at the edge of the village. There are all colors and all kinds, including the wingless ones. Some wear strange, ornate headdresses that poke up into the sky, and all of them have slings of beads and glinting metal bangles around their necks and legs and even their wings.

My uncle strides up to them, and one, a smooth-sided yellow stallion, steps forward to greet him. He bumps my uncle's hoof and greets him warmly, and does the same with my cousins. Then they step aside, and my uncle looks to me.

"Come here," he says, "come and introduce yourself."

"Ah," says the yellow stallion, "what's this? Another member of the family, eh, Storms? How many are you hiding up there?"

I feel a nudge on my backside. When I look, my mother nods her head. "Go on, it's alright."

I swallow and step forward. "Greetings, sir. I am Shines With the Wind."

His eyebrows raise. "And polite! I take it he's not one of yours, eh?"

My mother steps forward as my uncle snorts out a laugh. "You know me too well. No, he's Glitter's."

The stallion looks towards her and bows, taking her hoof and touching it to his forehead. "Ah, Glittering Waves. Beautiful as ever, of course." Finally, he looks back to me. "Young stallion, you are very lucky to have such a kind and generous mare for a mother. My name is Creates with Stone and Wood. Welcome to our village!"

Then the stallion, Creates, waves his hooves. "Come, come. Do your business, and then we can reconvene, yes? Have you any tales of the Will of the Ocean?"

They begin a back and forth as they walk more further into the town. My cousins follow, speaking to a few of the villagers like they are old friends. I content myself with following in my mother's tracks as she joins Uncle and the stallion's conversation. I don't bother to listen, I'm too busy looking around the town.

It's incredible. I've never seen so many structures, so many ponies. They've decorated every surface, hanging strings of colored cloths between buildings splattered with arcs of colorful paint. Everywhere I look, ponies are talking, trotting, even singing. I'm bombarded with new smells, some woody and gentle, others so pungent my eyes threaten to water. I even detect the unmistakable scent of a roasting fish coming from one of the thatch-roofed huts.

As we near the village's center, I spot something that captures my gaze completely. There's an orange mare standing with a group of ponies, set aside by a complete lack of any beads or bangles save for two bangles that bunch the end of both her mane and her tail. She's wearing a pair of bags on her back and an absurdly-shaped hat on her head, and her cutie mark is a trio of small, red blobs.

She turns and looks our way, meeting my gaze after a second. She looks nervous, out of place, but she smiles at me and waves. I hesitate, then wave back, feeling a little better, and hurry after mother.

This place may be strange, but mother was right. The ponies here seem plenty friendly.

Comments

[TheArchive]

Ooh hello, Applejack, I wonder what she's doing here. I'm trying my best to keep everything in mind, but there is clearly weird time/dimensional shenanigans going on, haha. Needless to say, trying to figure out where the characters are and when they are is making my head spin.

[FOXTrot2]

His eyebrows raise. "And polite! I take it he's not one of yours, eh?"

Okay, this made me laugh. Good to have some humor in between all this mystery and intrigue.

As we near the village's center, I spot something that captures my gaze completely. There's an orange mare standing with a group of ponies, set aside by a complete lack of any beads or bangles save for two bangles that bunch the end of both her mane and her tail. She's wearing a pair of bags on her back and an absurdly-shaped hat on her head, and her cutie mark is a trio of small, red blobs.

I wonder if she's a visitor... Or simply lacking in status.