Down the River Fiume

Twinkle Star gave the old pony a feint smile.
“You saw my aunt. Her name is Regala. What made me lose my family also made the river flow this way; the eruption of the volcano in the land I was born… My old home. There was no prophecy behind the appearance of the river here. It was no sign. All it was… an accident. No-one could have known. Anyway… I am looking for my aunt. Do you know which way she was going?”

 The old pony thought for a while, and then answered:  “She was following the river southwards… The last time I saw her. Back to home, she said to herself. Back, but I cannot go back. It’s not home anymore without her. I don’t want to lose her too! Back south, you’re the only one I have left, Fiume… That is all that she said. She kept repeating it to herself… I still remember it. She looked so confused, so lost… It almost felt like she was in a completely other world. Other than that, I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen her since. No-one really comes here, you know. It’s such a remote part of the world here.”

“I see… I heard my aunt had lost her daughter that summer. I don’t know when exactly or how, but I assume she was talking about that. My poor aunt… She must have been through so much. I hope I can find her and take her home with me, so she can finally rest again.”
Home… Was the castle really her home? The new Friendship Lands? Is that where she would take her aunt?
“I see. I really hope you can find your aunt, young girl.” The old lady said. Her voice was softer now, much kinder. Twinkle Star got up.

“Thank you so much for your information, lady. If I find the ponies of your village, I will definitely send them this way. I will explain them about the river, about you, about the village. As a thanks for your help.”
Twinkle Star walked towards the door.
“Are you leaving already? You haven’t even finished drinking your tea!” The old lady yelled from the living room.
“I’m sorry, lady. I hope I can find your relatives and villagers soon, but I must go now. I have my own quest to fulfil. Thank you for everything.”

When she was out of the house, Twinkle Star felt relieved. It was not that the old lady scared her, or the little house did, but she felt that she had to explain so much more than she wanted to if she had stayed in the house longer. She walked out of the village as fast as she could. She wanted to leave it all behind her. It didn’t matter that everything looked clean, the town was still a bit eerie.

It was going to be morning soon, so it would be foolish to use her wings now; she could easily be seen. When she was out of the village she looked back upon it one more time. It was sad… They fled for Fiume, thinking it was a sign for them to leave their village… But the river didn’t do any damage to the village at all. There was no water damage to the wood of the houses, Twinkle Star had noticed. No water damage at all, because the water was too pure to do that.
“You’re a strange river, Fiume, you know that?” Twinkle Star whispered to the river.

She was walking alongside Fiume now. She didn’t really know where to go, except to follow the river downstream. She didn’t really know where the river would bring her. What was there in the south, anyway? Even though she had been travelling for so long, this part was totally unknown to her. Was there a kingdom here? No, Twinkle Star didn’t think so. The old lady had no pendant and Kiyoi’s town wasn’t in a kingdom either.

Kiyoi… Twinkle Star hadn’t thought about him ever since she had left him. Was she forgetting about him already? Could she really move on that fast? But the tears in her eyes revealed that it was not like that. She hadn’t forgotten about him at all, she had just pushed her memories away.
“You’re doing it again Twinkle Star. Focussing on that what isn’t here yet, forgetting to live in the present, forgetting to enjoy your memories. Forgetting what you have learned…”

She shook her head and began to gallop. She was used to the feelings she had now. Or rather, the feelings she didn’t had. She pushed her feelings away. She ran away for them. She had always done that. The memories of where she grew up, the memories of the ponies she had met, what use were they to her anyway? They were in the past… But she hadn’t been able to forget her mother. Not again. She knew she couldn’t run from this anymore. She couldn’t run from her feelings towards her mother, or her sisters, or the new Friendship Lands… but then why would she have to run away from her feelings towards Kiyoi? She stopped galloping now.

“Why am I running away?” She asked herself.
Doubt was taking over her. Was it really wise to run away? She didn’t know what she would find. She didn’t know if she would find her aunt, she didn’t know if her mother would really take her for what she was if she would return… Did she really want to return? Kiyoi’s face appeared in her mind.
“Hey pretty…” the wind was whispering in her ear. She could hear his voice again, feel his little kiss on her cheek again…  It was hard now for her, to resist this feeling. To resist the shelter of his house, to resist the safety he could give her… But his face was fading before her eyes now.

Another image appeared slowly. Crystal… she had a crown on her head. Her mother’s new crown… Crystal was queen?! Twinkle Star shook her head. No! Crystal isn’t supposed to become queen! It’s not her destiny to become queen! It would be wrong for her, she wouldn’t be happy that way! She would not, but it’s not my destiny either… The first rays of sunlight were appearing in the west now. Morning was coming. Twinkle Star looked at the sun rise. She decided to clean herself in the river for a bit. She was tired form all the walking and flying, so she would take a small rest here.

“I must smell horrible now… I’m dirty and I’ve been sweating… now let’s see what those purifying powers of you really can do, Fiume!”  But when she put her hoof in the water, she got entranced. She couldn’t get out of the water, she couldn’t move at all.
“It might be not your destiny… But that doesn’t mean you should run away from it.”  Fiume was talking to her. This time Twinkle Star was sure of it. This was no illusion… was it?
“Then what do I have to do? What is my destiny? Where do I go?” She asked. She didn’t say the words… she was thinking them, but still she got an answer.

“Your destiny… your destiny might be hidden, but you know where your heart truly lies. You know where you have to go. Do not doubt your own strength and find Regala… I will lead you to her…”
Twinkle Star was released, which surprised her so much she fell in the river. Even though the water was still very cold, she didn’t feel cold… Was this also the power of Fiume?
“Quite an amazing river… you keep surprising me, Fiume. Wonder what mom will say when I tell her you are still flowing here. I wonder what she has to say about you…”

 She tried to make the river talk to her again, but nothing happened. No matter what she tried, the river didn’t reply.
“But in the end, you’re only a stupid river …” she grumbled, while she was climbing out of the water. She dried quickly in the morning sun, and she rested for a while next to the river.

When she woke up, it was already past noon. She hadn’t even noticed she had fallen asleep. For a moment, she was completely lost of where she was. There were green field around her, a tree here and there, she noticed a forest on the eastern horizon. Fiume flowed slowly next to her. She smiled.
“You will lead me to her, right? Well, let’s go then. Off to Regala.” When she looked southwards she noticed the river was straight as far as she could see. No bends, no turns, just one straight road to the south. A straight path towards her future…

It was a long walk before finally something interesting appeared. For hours there was no change in the scenery whatsoever. Just grass, a few trees, a farm once in a while. She couldn’t use her wings of course, in broad daylight.  But finally the river had bended to the west a bit, and it was evening again. Twinkle Star had walked all day, with only a few breaks. She wanted to reach her aunt as soon as possible, even though she had no idea how long she had to follow the river before she would make it. Would she reach it tonight? Or maybe tomorrow? Next week?

But now she saw some hills appearing on the horizon. Not mountains, just some hills… Fiume was flowing straight towards them. As she got closer Twinkle Star noticed there were a few houses at the foot of the hills. She wondered if ponies were living there, maybe she could stay there for the night. The sky was becoming darker every second. Not because of the setting sun, but more because of the dark clouds that covered the last rays of sunlight for that day. The view made Twinkle Star feel down in a weird way. The sun was fighting to appear above the clouds, but it was obvious is couldn’t it was setting fast now and the clouds were getting closer fast.

It was obvious to Twinkle Star that a storm was approaching; or at least a lot of rain was going to fall tonight. She definitely had to find a place to spend the night, or she would get soaked tonight and he didn’t feel like catching a cold. Twinkle Star started to gallop towards the little town, but it was still further away than she had thought. By the time she had reached it the clouds had taken over the nice blue starry sky and little drops of rain were coming down from it.

Twinkle Star was kind of surprised to find out that this town wasn’t abandoned like the previous one, on the contrary, it was very, very crowded in the small town. The streets were full with ponies, and most houses were also stores, or inns.  Most of the buildings were made of a dark kind of wood, which made Twinkle Star feel as if it was very comfortable inside them. She noticed most of the ponies that were walking around were carrying bags, or were pulling a cart loaded with stuff. She decided she would try to find an inn where she could sleep tonight; Kiyoi had given her some money so she was able to pay for it.

She chose an inn in the centre of the little town. It was quite a bit crowded, but it appeared to have a good reputation and it was very cheap. When Twinkle Star entered the inn she had a hard time to find the counter; the room it was in was also the dining and relaxing room, and since it was dinnertime it was crowded with all kinds of ponies; young ponies, older ponies, mothers with children…

It surprised her they still had a room available for her. The innkeeper told her this town was a trading route town; it was in the middle of two larger towns, which were a two-day journey away from each other, so almost everybody who was travelling between the two cities stayed here for the night. Other than that, there wasn’t much in the town; there were a few farms in the hills where farmers grew the food that was used to feed all the guests that came to the town, but most of the local ponies worked in the inns.

After Twinkle Star had brought her bag to her room she decided to eat something downstairs. It was still crowded, and it took her a while before she could find a place to sit and eat her small dinner. She felt really lonely in the big room; everyone was talking to someone, but she was there all alone. She couldn’t even overhear any conversations first, because everybody was talking loud enough to overcome the sound of the others. When Twinkle Star was halfway her dinner two ponies came sitting next to her.

They appeared to be travellers, but they were quite common in this village as they said they were happy they got their usual room again.
“Did you hear about the weird lady? I heard she was making quite some trouble again recently. Afgo told me so.” One of the ponies said.
“Yeah, I heard about it,” The other replied, “Ever since she came back without her little girl two years ago she has been living alone, drinking too much. She’s such a pain. I saw her once, weird woman she is. She didn’t look old, still I could see she wasn’t young. And that weird pendant she is always wearing… some travellers say it is a cursed pendant, belonging to the lost land in the North.”
“Right… I never heard of it. Anyway, I heard she was drinking way too much again lately. Making trouble to the farmers and all. I don’t see why they don’t just kick her out of the village!”