A Wary Encounter
Nightshine woke up with a start. She’d landed in the middle of a small forest a couple hours before the sun had risen. She hadn’t felt safe on the ground, especially with all the little critters and not so little creatures making noises all around her, so she had wearily climbed up into a tree just like the one back at the orphanage and had fallen asleep rather quickly. Her muscles were so sore and tired that she was barely able to make it up there.
She made sure to keep a good grasp on the thick branch she had slept on as she stretched. Her wings felt so sore, especially since she had been forced to keep them open for so long. For one as inexperienced as her, she had no idea what to do going that high so she had kept them open the entire time. She hadn’t even tried to flap for fear of losing altitude. A thestral with a fear of heights was surely unbecoming, but she had tried her best to remain brave. Being brave meant never giving up.
She couldn’t help but let loose a big yawn as she rubbed her eyes. Nightshine stretched her sore wings out as far as she could and winced; she figured she would need many days before she could recover and try to fly back home. For now, though, more pressing matters were at hoof. For starters, as the sun started to set, its light shining on a slant through the leaves above, she felt her stomach grumble loudly. She brushed some of her mane out of her face with a hoof, then slunk back down to the ground, taking care to stay as silent as she could.
She found an old trail not so far away. It looked like it hadn’t been used in quite some time as the forest had already reclaimed some of the path. With her view of Canterlot and the sun obscured, she didn’t know which way to go. Everything looked the same either way; nothing but more bushes and trees.
Hoping to figure out where she was, she looked around until she found a tree tall enough to see over the rest of them. Even though her limbs were weak from hunger, she still found the strength she needed to haul herself above the canopy. She pushed aside a couple branches of leaves, finally feeling the warmth of the sun grace her fur. Nightshine smiled at the small comfort, though it faded once her eyes fell on what she thought was the mountain that Canterlot rested upon.
Nightshine squinted and leaned forward, using her other hoof to shield her eyes from the setting sun.
She knew she was far from home with how far Canterlot was off in the distance; she could barely make out the mountain that the city sat upon. She looked at the mountain to the right of what she thought was Canterlot, then looked back at the one before, trying to figure out which one was which. They all blurred into one mass so many dreadful miles away.
She felt her tummy growl; it felt like she’d last eaten ages ago even though it’d been at most a day. She climbed down as carefully as she could then found her way back to the path. Small red berries lined the opposite side of the path, making her eyes go wide. She scrambled over to them and held them up to her eyes. She’d never seen them before, but food was food in her eyes; she’d eat anything if it would quell the pain in her tummy.
However, right as she was about to shove some in her mouth, a stick breaking a little ways down the path behind her startled her. With only a couple seconds to spare, she leapt behind the berry bush, scrambled up the closest tree and wrapped her legs around a thick branch, the berries once in her hoof laying across the path. Nightshine winced as she realized her mistake much too late. She prayed that the one around the corner would pay them no mind. She hid her face and tried her hardest to still her nervously-twitching tail.
She heard the hoofsteps come to a halt beneath her. Nightshine peeked over the edge of the branch. She saw a long shadow from the setting sun lay upon the path just beneath her, the shadow of the pony’s head encapsulating the berries she once held.
The pony chuckled, revealing a deep, seasoned voice. “You know I can see you, right? You can come down from there,” they said. “I promise I won’t hurt you.”
Nightshine inwardly groaned. “What gave me away?” she asked, looking down at him with suspicion. He was an older sort of fellow that wore a short gray beard and a large brown saddlebag that looked stuffed to the brim. She didn’t move from her spot in the tree as she eyed the black pegasus up and down.
“Though I may be getting a bit old in years, mine eyes are still as sharp as a spear!” he said with a grin. “And it was your twitchy tail; not many things your size live in the trees in these parts.”
“What is this path? Where am I?”
“You don’t know? You’re in one of the many forests outside Bitsburgh. Where did you come from?” he curiously asked. “We don’t see much of your kind around here.”
“C-Canterlot,” she admitted.
“Canterlot! That’s quite far for someone such as yourself.”
“How far away am I?”
“Many days on hoof, two by train, and one by flight. I take it that you flew here?” Nightshine nodded. “Quite a feat for one as young as you. What brings you out this far?”
“It’s, uh… a long story. I’m a little lost.”
“I’d say!” He glanced down at the berries that lay before him before he looked back up at her with a great look of concern. “Pray tell, you did not eat these berries, did you?”
Nightshine shook her head. “Nu-uh. Why? Are they poisonous?”
“Quite. Are you hungry? I have bread, some fruit, and water. It’d be a much better option than the alternative.”
“How do I know I can trust you?” Nightshine warily asked. “I don’t even know your name.”
“Ah, but of course, of course! My name is Star Shadow. Quite an ominous name, I know, but my father had high hopes for me and gave me a name fit for a warrior. Seeing how I turned out, I would say that it is quite ironic!” he said with a comforting smile.
“What do you mean?” Nightshine slid down the tree, though she stayed her hoof and kept her ground instead of approaching him. While she was very, very hungry, she still felt a little wary of the newcomer.
“Well, I am a weather pony! I’ve been leading my town’s team of pegasi in creating storms to keep our lands fresh and fertile.” He rummaged around in his saddlebag and pulled out a large blanket which he set upon the ground. “Will you join me for dinner? I usually read during my meals though it will be nice to have some company for a change.”
“Did you make a storm yesterday?” she asked, remembering her terrifying experience from the previous night. Her tone grew wary and cold.
“Sure did! We made it as big as we could and sent it on its way, just like every other storm.” he said. “I believe it went west-ish somewhere.”
She was hungry enough to not mention that Star might have had a hoof in her predicament; she didn’t want to upset him and lose out on the chance of having some food. She still felt wary of the pegasus in front of her, but he seemed friendly enough. “I suppose I’ll accept your generous offer so long as you give me directions back to town afterwards.”
“I can do you one better than that; I can take you myself!” He pushed half a loaf of bread with a couple apples over the blanket in front of her. “Once we’re done eating, of course. I know a place that serves the best hot chocolate in town, too.”
She sat down on the edge of the blanket and grabbed the food with a grateful smile. “Thank you, sir,” she said. Wait, if he made a storm far from Canterlot, he couldn’t have made the storm that brought me here… she figured, looking up at him with a bit more trust. My storm came from the south and blew me north-east if I remember my map studies correctly. “I’m Nightshine, by the way.”
“It is nice to meet you.” Star asked after a few bites of his half of the food. “So what’s your story?”
“Someone adopted me and I just found out that the pony he started dating is also my mom who gave me away at birth like I was nothing more than dirt on the road.” She fought back a fresh set of tears for the thought was almost too much to bear. “I just needed space, you know? To figure things out. I left a note saying I was going home, but… I was blown way off course.”
Star Shadow froze for a brief moment. “I see…”
“I want my daddy to be happy but I want to be happy, too. I don’t know if I can be happy around her knowing what she did.”
“Well… I can’t really speak to that. But could you live with yourself if you threw away the chance to reconnect with your mother forever? Could you really live the rest of your life with hate in your heart? It’s always easier to love than to hate.”
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More good
I sure hope this guy is on the level. Nightshine is right to be wary.
That’s super far away
That map. I see at least two nice jokes. Although I am worried about site B.
I bet no one noticed the nuclear generator to the east most side of the map and damn the girl is built to survive such a Distance
So fun fact about horses! The feathering you get near the fetlocks is caused by a particular gene, this gene is locked with another one, on earth horses at least. The gene for getting big. The image for the story shows a little feathering near her fetlocks...she gonna get big lol.
11582467
I hope for the same thing.
11582512
What about "stable 51" over on the west.
11583082
Area 51 all the way man now where's the SCP Fondation?
you cant have stuff in detrot
11583082
isnt stable 51 a nod to the FOE universe, like how vault tech became stable-tech