An Orphan's Dream Life.

by CreeperZone

A New Reality

Stories, Nightshine loved stories.

Her adventure to Earth gave her a sense of absolute wonder that she’d never known before. She sat in the church, listening attentively to the stories the priest told them: stories about a giant defeated by a young brave man, stories of entire seas split in half, stories of a god and his people. Back when she first came to Earth and stayed in the church on her first night, she told the priest all about Equestria, all about Celestia and Luna and how their were the goddesses of where she was from.

The service was coming to a close, The priest finished the final prayer and everybody stood up, Nightshine hopped down off the pew, looked up at Richard who was sitting next to her.

“Blueberries?” Richard asked her already knowing the answer.

“Blueberries.” replied Nightshine with a smile.

After church her and Richard would normally go down to the grocers and buy something nice, Nightshine loved the Blueberries they grew here and always got some.

The sun was sitting high in the sky, Beaming its golden rays on the town. They walked out of the church and walked along the dirt-marked pathways lined with grass up the town. The sun glistened on the windows of the buildings as they walked by, Nightshine found the coloured pane windows especially dazzling. The heat was (as always) scorching and air thick as it was humid. They arrived at the grocers, a humble little shop stocked with everything essential for daily life. Bread, carrots, lettuce, apples and many other produce that came from their farm stocked the shelves. There were sweats on the counter top beside the store clerk. Tools and firewood were put off to the back of the store. Fabrics and plain clothes were in the center isles, along with a loom. Nightshine and Richard walked in and heard the bell jingle as the door pushed past it.

Nightshine went to the fresh produce and picked up a basket of blueberries with her mouth and started walking up to the counter. Richard went and picked up a bag of hard candies and walked up to the counter. Nightshine fluttered her wings enough to lay the basket on the counter and smile at the woman that was working there. Richard took out his wallet and handed over several dollars. Nightshine thanked the store clerk and flew up to bite the handle of the thatched basket that was filled with little blue spheres of fresh juicy deliciousness.

They left the store, nearly brushing past another customer that was just entering. A park bench waited in the center center of town surrounded by lush bushes and trees. They sat down onto the ridged wooden bench, Richard peered up around the park while Nightshine's attention was fixed on the blueberries. Putting her muzzle into the basket she started to gobble up the blueberries. Richard chuckled at Nightshine when she lifted her head to reveal her mouth was completely covered blue.

“Hey, did you hear about how the Thomsons’ son made th-” Richard turned his head up as he was interrupted by an unusual sound coming from up the town.

The sound was a low rumble combined with earth being ground. A shiny metal box-shaped thing rode along the ground being moved by four wheels made with some black, soft looking material covering the outside with metal beams holding it up from the inside. Nightshine's eyes opened wide. She had no idea what she was looking at, but whatever it is, it looked awesome. Nightshine, not prepared to have her mind blown any further, watched as it rolled down the dirt pathway stopping parallel to them. It opened its black-tinted windows to reveal a person inside. A living human being! inside of this... whatever it was! This left Nightshine's jaw thoroughly dropped. Richard looked more baffled than impressed and he stood up and went to the man inside of the metal cart that moved all by itself.

“Can I help ya, sir?” Richard didn't even seem fazed by whatever it was, which made Nightshine realize she should also get a closer look.

“Ah, yes. I am here to speak with the mayor of this town. This is the Amish town of Wingston, correct? I'm here on governmental duties.” The man spoke from inside his metal container.

Nightshine hopped onto the ground, galloping up to it. She gave a look back to the bench making sure the berries remained in their spot.

“Mayor's in the big building over there.” Richard pointed to its direction further down the town at the house peeking above the rest.

The drivers head turned back to thank Richard but his eye was caught by something else, he found himself staring eye-to-eye with a astonished, green-maned, black-coated bat-horse with a mouth covered in blueberries.

“Ahh, tha- umm... h-hello..?”

“Howdy! I'm Nightshine! What’s this thing?” she put her hooves against the door of the car.

Richard concerned of what the stranger will think, crouched down to Nightshine's level

“Nightshine, what did I say about introducing yourself to strangers?”

“I know, I know, but do you know what this is? It’s like a cart with the wheels bu-”

“Nightshine!”

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

The stranger had a hard time forming a reaction to this. The words “IT’S A TALKING HORSE!” did blurt out of his mouth in the end.

“Actually, I'm a thestral, but people just call me a bat pony!” Smiling, she fluttered her wings to show their bat-like texture and properties to the stranger until Richard glanced back at her to stop. He then stood up and went to the car window.

“Look sir, I told ya where the mayor’s house is so go do your business, aright?”

The man, still confused and shocked, glanced back in the direction of the mayor’s home, “Y-Yeah I-I think you’re right...”

He kept his head forward, trying to force himself to not look back, fearing the heat might be getting to his head. He put his hand onto the gear stick and foot on the pedal, releasing the car to start rolling down the street once more. He left mumbling something about the people in this town being crazy.

“Nightshine! what did you go on an' do that for? I thought you knew not to go up to strangers like that!” Richard said after making sure the man was out of earshot.

“I do! It’s just... DID YOU SEE THAT THING? I mean it looked sooo cool! Do you even know what it was!?” Nightshine hopped up and down so energetically, she felt like a filly in a candy store.

“That there I believe is called a car”

“A car? Why have I never seen one before? Ooooh! Can we get one?”

“No. We don’t have cars and we won’t, ever.” Richard spoke in a tone that was unbeknownst to Nightshine. It was so strict and harsh, almost reminding her of Serenity's voice.

“W-why?” Nightshine's perkiness faded as she sat down on the ground. Richard went down on one knee and put his hand on her shoulder.

“We’re Amish, Nightshine, and cars would only pull our community apart. If we had cars, then people would start leaving.”

“But... but... but!” Nightshine's bottom lip quivered until she laid her head down. Nightshine understood what he was saying. Even though she was still curious, she knew she shouldn't make a big deal over it. “Ok...” she replied in a soft voice.

“Good. Now, don't we have some blueberries to get to?”

Nightshine moved her eyes up at him and smiled once more. They walked over to the bench they were sitting at and enjoyed the rest of their blueberries and sweets before heading home.

---

Nightshine looked out of the attic window onto the town. She had been asked to fly up here and get some paint for the chicken coop, but when she peered out of the cracked, dusty window she saw the car's tracks leading out of the town. The man from the big city had left after doing some governmental business, leaving his imprints on the dirt of the road. Her imagination spurred with ideas of the big city; If she wasn't told about cars, then what other wonders does it hold?

“Nightshine, did ya find the paint?” Allen shouted standing under the hatch of the attic.

“Yeah, it’s right here.” Nightshine went and picked up the buckets by their thin metal handles and walked back to the hatch, looking back over her shoulder to the window before flying down to Allen.

“Thanks, I'm gonna go paint the coop. If you wanna come along and help, I'd appreciate it,” Allen said while he picked up the bucket of deep red paint.

“Actually, I think I've got something else to do,” Nightshine replied and without hesitation she started walking down the stairs. She put on her saddlebags and left the house. Allen found this very peculiar; Nightshine always loved to help him do work around the farm. He decided she might wanna go play with the twins or something. Either way, he had a chicken coop to paint.

Nightshine trotted into town and followed up the road till she came to the end of the houses. She stood looking out onto the road, car tracks leading their way up to the horizon. As far as the eye could see, there were these two imprinted lines. Who knew how far they could go? Maybe they would never end? No, that would be ridiculous, but the entire concept of a car seemed ridiculous so Nightshine left no possibility closed. Anything could happen, which is when the thought of running away first came across Nightshine's mind. She thought about walking down the trail, leaving just like that.

This was a familiar feeling, wanting to just leave. That is what she felt every day when she was in the orphanage, but the difference was that this time there was nopony that could stop her. But was she seriously considering leaving her family, leaving this life? No, she wasn't going to leave them. Nightshine let out a sigh then turned around and started to walk back into town with her head down.

Nightshine raised her head suddenly and looked behind her at the tracks. She didn't have to leave forever, it would only be a day or two, just so she can see all there is to see in the city and then she would come right back. But what if Allen or Richard got mad? What would she do then? She could lie to them, tell them she fell asleep in the cornfield because she was really tired.

She sat down on the path and laid her head down on the dirt with her hooves on her ears. Nightshine has never been so conflicted on doing something in her life and this made her head spin. When Nightshine took a few breaths and raised her head she opened her eyes to see she was right in front of the store.

“Buck it,” Nightshine said to herself. She knew no matter what was going to happen after she left, if she didn't go, her curiosity would devour her from the inside every single day wondering what was in the city. And even if it turns out it’s a horrible place, with nothing interesting or nice there, it will still be an adventure, a story that her and her family could tell at the next harvest dinner, and Nightshine loved stories.

But, if she was going to go on a trip like this, she needed supplies. She turned towards the store and trotted in with determination, eyebrows crossed, a strong feeling of adventure in her bones. She picked gathered a bunch fruits and vegetables and put them in her saddlebags, then walked up to the counter and threw some money down alongside the bags.

“All of this, please.”

“Are ya sure darlin'? What’re you gonna use all this for?” The store tender was suspicious; Nightshine never really went shopping on her own.

“Uhh...” Nightshine realized she was a terrible liar. She’d never had a reason to lie, so she had no idea how.

“It’s...” An idea popped into her mind. “Rats! They came and ate a bunch of our food. I was sent to get more food while Allen dealt with them.” Nightshine thought that sounded somewhat reasonable.

“Uhh, I hope everything’s fine, then.” The store tender was doubting, but she couldn't imagine Nightshine would do anything too bad. She looked through the bags and then took the money from the counter and nudged the bags over to Nightshine.

Nightshine bit down on the straps of the bags and bolted out. Once outside, the feeling of intense nervousness had turned to blissful giddiness. Nightshine jumped up and down in place, excited for the journey ahead of her. Her thirst for adventure would no longer have to be sustained by listening to stories. She was going on her own adventure now! Nightshine started to skip out of town thinking of all the possible things that she could experience! She was on her way out before she suddenly stopped just at the edge out the town. She turned around and looked at her farm.

“Don't worry. I’ll be back.” Whispering to herself, no one could hear this promise she made. She planned to keep it at any costs, but first, she had to know what was out there. Nightshine turned back to the road, the car tracks still reaching beyond the reaches of the world she knew. She stepped her right hoof forward, then her left.

---

Nightshine stepped her right hoof forward, and then her left, for what seemed like an endless cycle she had gone through a million times already. The town had dropped from the view below the horizon hours ago. Nightshine was already tired, but she was used to that being a workpony, so she carried on. The sun was at the brink of disappearing, making the sky that rich vibrant red colour with not a single cloud to stop the rays from reaching the earth. Nightshine was debating on whether to go back. She had already eaten a good chunk of the carrots and might not have enough to make it all the way. That was a problem, as she had no idea how much further it was to the “big city.” The only thing keeping her going was the fact that there were now more tracks, and they were imprinted deeper into the soil, this meant that there were more cars and that meant she was getting somewhere. So she stepped her right hoof forward.

The sun finally set and Nightshine was amazed, not for the sun, but what it showed once it was gone. Out in the distance, Nightshine saw a light illuminating some sort of building. It had a giant overhanging roof held up by archways. Nightshine forgot about her tiredness and started to run. This feeling she had right now, the feeling of escape, the feeling of freedom rushed through her veins as she rushed forward, gaining speed. She loved it!

Nightshine watched the light as it drew closer. She was able to make out a sign, trying to read it as she got near, but it didn't seem to move at all. Nightshine was at full galloping speed trying to reach it, but instead of getting closer, when she pushed herself forward, a voice emerged from inside of her own head.

“You can’t leave this place! You’re too old to be adopted!” It was a strict, harsh voice and Nightshine dreaded the thought of having to hear again. It was Serenity.

“Wh-what? N-no, no! I-I have a home! I was adopted!” Nightshine tried to run faster, but the building just stayed where it was, she couldn't gain an inch towards it.

“Do you? Why aren't you there then? Why isn't your ''family'' here to comfort you and tuck you into bed?” Serenity's voice filled with malice and rage. “Why isn't there anypony to love you?”

Nightshine's world was falling apart beneath her hooves. The sky wore away like a fire dying out. There was nothing but darkness beneath her, she saw the building in the distance fall down into a thick dark fog.

“I-I just, I...” Nightshine had no answer, she wanted to say that she is loved but something deep down inside of her told her otherwise, She started to fall into the void, until she was enveloped by the darkness of her own mind. She kept falling, and falling, and falling... Then came the crash.

Nightshine woke up on top of a soft, linen seat, with two people looming over her, a man and a woman, eyes wide with shock and disbelief. She was inside of some small room, but it only could fit two seats in the front and a long seat at the back where she lay. The roof was very close and made of a shiny silver metal. There was a wheel in the front and glass panes on all sides. She was in a car.

“Do you think it's ok?” the woman said to the man.

“I don't even know what it is!” the man protested.

Nightshine could barely make out anything. Her eyes were squinted tight for she had not yet adjusted to the light level inside the vehicle. She had realized that it was still night time, the sun having set about a hour ago, and moon gently drifting into the sky. From the open door behind the man, she could see she was still on the road that she was travelling by. Nightshine's head was hurting. It soon became quite obvious that when Serenity was mocking her and the world was tearing away, that it was only a nightmare, and nightmares were just dreams turned into bad stories.

Nightshine hated nightmares.