Thursday―
Today was kind of worrying.
I went to pick up Symphony from school today, and I found myself staying there later than I should have because she wanted to show me the soap sculpture she'd made in class, and what kind of self-respecting mother says no to that? She made a little model of the town out of a bunch of bars of soap, and even though she got a lot wrong, she got a lot right, too. Our house was in the right spot, as was the fishery, and the docks, and the schoolhouse, and her little friend Leaf's house. I was honestly astonished because she's got a lot better sense of space than I do. Maybe she'll be some sort of urban planner in the city someday! I hear that it's set to grow for decades, so who knows?
Anyway, we left and headed for the grocery store after that. I only mention that we were there a little later than usual because I ran into Heavy at the store. He looked distracted, and when I asked him what was wrong, he told me a pretty concerning story.
Apparently, he'd been tending to their front garden when a mare had wandered into town. Because they're pretty much as far south in Sleepy Cove as you can be, he's almost entirely sure that he was the first to see her. She looked haggard, with tangles in her mane and tail and deep bags under her eyes, like she hadn't slept in days. When he asked her what was wrong, she told him a story.
The mare had been having horrible nightmares, so scary she was afraid to sleep. The dreams had told her that something bad was going to happen to the town she lived in, Shoreside, so she'd been having trouble doing much of anything without being scared. And then... something had happened. Apparently, something really, really bad. Or at least, that's what she thought. She'd flown away as fast as she'd been able to the second she saw "it," and refused to elaborate any further, just asking to be shown to the closest place to eat.
He brought her to the tavern, staying with her because something was obviously terribly wrong with the mare. He said she wouldn't stop twitching and looking around. He also helped her pay for her food because she barely had any bits on her. In return, she warned him, telling him to get him and his family out, to go north as fast as they could.
Then she'd walked out of the tavern and flown off. She didn't even tell him her name. Super weird.
He brushed it off, saying it was probably nothing, and how he hoped the mare would get help, but I could see the worry on his face. The mare, whoever she was, must have really spooked the big guy.
At least Symphony wasn't worried. To her, it was just a boring grown-up conversation being had by boring grown-up ponies. I felt a little envious when I saw how she was skipping on the way home.
I just I can't help but feel like something's not right.
Until tomorrow, journal.
―Silk Stream