The train squealed to a halt as it pulled into the station. Bright Burst yawned and rubbed an eye, sleepily reattaching the wagon to her back before stepping off. She heard a quiet snore from the wagon, which put a small and drowsy smile on her face. The path into town was dusty and covered in pebbles. There were a few faint lights coming from the heart of the town, but the two were already passing some small buildings.
They slowly entered was seemed to be the town centre. A mare slowly approached them from the shadows.
“You two look lost. Kids shouldn’t be out this late.” She smiled a bit. Something about her was...unsettling, to say the least. It was hard to tell whether she was wearing smudged eyeliner, or if the bags under her eyes were just that bad. It could've been a combination of the two. Her coat was pale and looked cold to the touch, yet neither of the fillies wanted to test that. Her mane was a wild purple mess that matched her eyes that scanned the girls up and down
The most unusual parts of her, however, were her horn which curved back, and the small wings on her back that looked incapable if flight. She grinned down at the fillies and tilted her head. “Don’t you know there could be strangers lurking about?”
“Are not you a stranger?” Bright rolled her eyes a bit, trying to shrug off her uneasiness.
“Oh, right. I'm Seance. There, now I'm a friend.”
“Well, Seance, I am looking for the orphage.”
“Do you mean orphanage?” She snickered at her ignorance.
Bright's face went red. “Y-Yes. There. Please show us.”
“Well...I guess you did say please.” She giggled and started to walk away. Bright followed hesitantly. She noticed a small black cat was quickly padding alongside the mysterious mare. Even in Coltsenia, those were signs of bad luck.
Their walk lasted for quite a while before they reached a large house. It leaned slightly to one side, and the paint was peeling off the old wood. A few toys laid abandoned on the lawn. Bright slowly reached the door and knocked loudly. It creaked open, and an older mare was standing there, drowsily looking at the filly and her wagon.
“Are you a runaway?” She held back a yawn.
“Um… No, my parents are...dead…” She glanced around, looking for the pale mare that brought here. She was gone.
“Alright… I suppose you're looking for a room? I'll let you stay tonight until we get everything sorted. Leave that wagon outside.”
Bright blushed, feeling bad that she seemed to be disturbing the poor mare. She removed the wagon and helped her sister out. Carrying the smaller filly on her back, she entered the warm house. The mare lead them up a flight of weathered, stained stairs.
“You'll have to stay in Nova's room. She's a bit...off...but it is what we have.” She figured the fillies wouldn't mind, considering it was this or the street. They came to an old door, decorated with two pictures sloppily taped up. They were drawings done by what was clearly a young pony, maybe younger than Lit Wick. One was of a blue pony with a purple mane, and the other was of a pitch black pony. There didn't seem to be a face on it, or even a mane. Being rather exhausted, Bright Burst didn't seem to notice at all. She slowly opened the door and looked around the remarkably bare room. It had a few more drawing scattered across the floor along with some markers, and four beds, one of which was clearly occupied. As Bright trotted in, the mare closed the door.
Moonlight lit the room fairly well. Enough for Bright to find a bed to her sister and herself. She carefully tucked her sister in before getting in her own bed. She fell asleep almost instantly.
Sunlight filled the room only a few hours later, waking up Bright. She saw her sister, who was sleeping peacefully, and the other filly, too. The fourth, supposedly empty bed looked particularly...slept in, for an empty bed that is. Bright tried to ignore the fourth bed as she got up, stretching her sore legs. She looked out the window, which gave her a good view of the town. There were already a few ponies trotting about. As she admired the quiet and friendly feeling of their soon-to-be new home, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in.” She said in a stage-whisper-esque voice. The mare from last night opened the door.
“Good morning. I came to wake you all up for breakfast. After that, you'll fill out some paperwork and we'll get you ready for adoption. You may call me Ms. Joy, by the way.”
“Is...your real name..?”
“It's what you may call me.” Ms. Joy looked a little offended before leaving their room. Bright shrugged and went to wake her sister. As she turned to the bed, she saw the filly sitting up and staring at her with pale yellow eyes.
“Uh...hallo…” Bright said hesitantly.
“Are you my new roommates?” He voice was soft and distant. Her eyes seemed eerily vacant and dull.
“Y-Yes, I am Bright Burst, and my sister is Lit Wick.” She held back a shiver.
“I'm Nova, and that's Shadow.” She said, gesturing to the supposedly empty bed.
“Oh? Is it a…Imagine...friend?” Bright struggled to find to find the right words. The filly's blank face suddenly turned grim, almost angry.
“He doesn't like when ponies call him that.” The room went quiet, and suddenly seemed much colder. Lit Wick whined softly as she sat up. The mumbled something in Coltsenian.
“Hallo, Wick, let's eat.” Bright spoke quickly and rushed her sister out of bed and out of the room. Nova soon followed, her expression turning cheerful and light as she trotted down the hall.
~*~
After days of walking (and occasionally running) through the woods, Echo finally made her way out. She had been absolutely terrified by Equestrian wildlife. It was so much more different, more hostile. She looked at the trail that was laid out in front of her. Knowing her luck, it'd lead her back into another forest. She decided to take a peek down the path to confirm her suspicions. Instead of seeing more trees, though, she saw a set of colorful caravans and tents. Echo glanced around and made her fur the color of a flower, and her mane the color of a tree. Her eyes shifted into a sky blue. With her disguise activated, she made her way down the path. As she got closer, she could hear laughing, and singing. She smelled smoke and food and the heavy scent of herbs and oils.
A filly glanced at Echo and gasped. She was rather funny looking. She was a light purple-pink, aside from her chest, rear, and hooves, which were a purpley brown. Her chest and rear had a feathered line of teal green. She had tiny wings the same color as her hooves with the inner feathers the same shade of green. Her poofy mane was almost the same size as her entire body. It was a vibrant lilac with a dark purple streak. Poking out of her mane was a curved horn. Of course, Echo had never seen all the types of ponies that inhabited Equestria. She assumed this was normal.
“Hiya! I’m Echo!”
The filly stared for a moment before calling out, “MAMA!!!!” Her eyes glanced around, and it seemed she was gone in the blink of an eye. An older green mare came trudging out.
“Da, Hum? Are you hurt? Oh! A guest! Privet, traveler.” The mare had a thick accent, sounding like she came from Marescow, and a horn similar to the fillies. She had no wings, however, she did have a puffy cat tail. Her curly blue mane had light streaks, showing her age. “My name is Charm, but they call me Mama.” She smiled kindly.
“Oh, how nice! Are you traveling, too?”
“Oh, yes! Ve are gypsy, ve travel and do shows.” She gestured to the array of wagons and caravans. There were many mares, all of them with curved horns and either wings, cat tails, or snake tails. “Ve are vhat are colled ‘vitches.’ You don’t look like you are from Equestria.” She smirked.
Echo blushed and looked around. “O-Oh, well, yeah. I’m from the Pinelands.”
Mama nodded slowly, understanding. “You are free to join us for a vhile.”
Echo’s fur turned bright pink. She squealed softly. “Oh, yes! I’ve been so lonely, and you all look so friendly!” Mama chuckled at her excitement.
“You vill have many friends.” She started to leave, going back into her caravan. Echo trotted further into the circle of wagons that was their camp. She saw a small fire, and went to settle down beside it. She was slowly approached by the filly again.
“So Mama told you, huh?” She asked. Although she was calm, she spoke quickly. Echo nodded in response to her question. “And you’re not scared? You don’t think we’re freaks? You’re not gonna run away? Or hurt us?” The questions flew out of her mouth rapidly, causing Echo to turn purple and yellow in confusion. She quickly shook her head.
“I would never! You all seem like lovely folk, and I love meeting ponies.”
“Oh, ‘cause my mom and dad said they were fine with how I look but then they didn’t try to stop all the ponies who wanted to hurt me where I used to live and I got hurt really bad and I was in the hospital and they said I might not make it ‘cause I couldn’t move and tell them I was okay but I got better and my mom and dad let Mama take me so they wouldn’t have to worry about me.” She explained, barely even taking a breath. Echo could only stare. “Ponies kinda scared me now ‘cause I can't tell who’s good or bad but you seem nice, I like you! My name’s Hectic Hum, but you can call me Hum!” Echo giggled softly.
“Nice to meet you, Hum. I’m sure we’ll be good friends.” She hugged the filly, who was shaking a bit.
“Mama says I need to work on relaxing, and that I’m living life too fast. But I like going fast. When you’re fast, nothing can catch you. In this world, you gotta go fast or make everyone else go slow. Going fast is easier, but technically I can do both. I have pretty strong speed magic. All witches have a special magic type, that’s what Mama says. Hers is charm magic. My big sis, Jest, just does small tricks and stuff. Like a mime! I dunno if it’s magic, though, she doesn’t speak Ponish well and I can’t speak whatever they speak in Prance. She’s nice, though. I hope someday I can know everyone super well but Mama wants me to focus on finding an act so I can join the show for real.” Hum’s rambling seemed like it would never end unless Echo stopped her.
“You remind me of the foals I watched back home. They loved to tell me lots of stories, even though I was right there with them. It was pretty funny.” She giggled. Hum laughed, too. It was followed by a yawn. It seemed that her energy wasn’t infinite. Echo softly pet her mane, letting her fall asleep in her lap. She missed the feeling of helping foals and having someone depend on her. It was nice to have something that resembled her home. When she was sure she was fully asleep, Echo carried Hum to Mama’s wagon so she could lie in bed. Mama sighed happily as she looked at Echo.
“You are a good mare, Echo. Ve vill be happy to have to wit us.” Her words made Echo feel warm and truly happy. For the first time since she boarded the ship, she felt like this trip wasn’t a mistake. She felt like she belonged in Equestria.