The train creaked and shook as it traveled on the rails. The rails that went through the Everfree forest never were that well maintained. Not like it was used that much anyways. It was only used about once a month for the travel of goods and the occasional mover.
The tracks lead to one town of the name Hollow Shades. Almost everypony was confused as to why there was a town in the middle of the forest, or why anypony would want to live there. But there were a good amount of residents, and they were about to get one more.
One more shake woke up the train’s only passenger. The pale blue unicorn stirred as she woke. She guessed they must be almost there. She shook her dark purple mane to get her neon blue curls to fall back to where they were supposed to. She adjusted her black oval glasses so they rested where she liked on her muzzle.
Right then she felt the train pull into a stop. Over the speaker, she heard the conductor declare that they had arrived. A sigh came out of the unicorn’s mouth as she used her magic to grab her suitcase. “I guess it is time…”
She stumbled as she stepped out of the train. Her magic tried to get used to the new environment.
The poor mare’s sight was lost as a young filly, but she had trained her magic to be her sight. But since it wasn’t her talent, it took a while for her magic to register what was around her. Another sigh came out as she started walking.
She didn’t even know where she was going, and she was too shy to ask. Why couldn’t she just be back in Ponyille? She loved it there! Plus, she knew her way around. She even knew all the ponies around her. She had gotten to where she knew who was there before they even spoke.
Why did she have to come to Hollow Shades anyways? She was about to relive what went on in her head, but it was like the universe decided to interrupt her. The mare ended up stumbling and knocked into another pony.
“Oh, careful there. You okay?” A cheerful voice rang into her ears.
It was a pretty little Earth pony with a pink coat. Her mane and tail was straight and had three different shades of red in it. Part of her mane was in a ponytail. Her green eyes shined as she looked at the blue unicorn.
“Hey, I know most ponies around her, and you don’t look familiar at all. Did you just some in?” The kind pony helped her stand up and set her luggage back up.
The unicorn nodded and a soft voice came out of her mouth. “Um, yes. My name is Palette.”
The other pony giggled slightly. “That explains the paintbrush cutiemark. Is it just me or does everypony’s name go with their talent? Though, I’m kind of confused with mine. What does a name like Sugar Berry have to do with a cutiemark of crystals?
Palette had a nagging feeling like this pony was like somepony else she knew, but calmer. “I guess maybe sugar crystals.”
Sugar Berry was quiet for a moment. “I feel real stupid now. Anyways, what brings you to the middle of Everfree Forest?” She looked around at the buildings around her. It was actually a decent sized town, but something about it had an air of mystery and gloominess to her.
“Just a change of scenery…” Palette never was good at meeting new ponies. But it clicked with her that this was her chance to get some help. “You, uh, sound like you know the town well. I was wondering if you could help me find my house. A friend helped find the place for me.”
The pink pony just couldn’t help but smile. There was something about the unicorn that she found adorable. “Sure. Not a problem. I’m done with my deliveries for the day anyways.” She took the piece of paper that had the address from Palette. “Oh, Starlis Street. Yep,I know that place. Come on.” She started to walk but noticed the other mare wasn’t following her. “Is something wrong?”
Palette faced the ground. Her sight was always a touchy subject for her. “I…um…My sight is a bit bad….so…”
A soft smile appeared on Sugar Berry’s face as she looked at the unicorn’s red eyes. “Hey, don’t worry about it.” She went back over to her and nudged her shoulder gently in the direction that they were supposed to go.
The walk there was actually pretty quiet. Palette was thankful for Sugar Berry’s help. She even got use to her soft touches that told her when to turn. As she was around her, she reminded her less of a friend from Ponyville and more of a motherly figure, yet she didn’t treat her like a child.
“Well, here we are.” Palette opened her magic field wider to catch the house better. It was actually somewhat larger. She wondered if her friends went a bit too crazy on her new place. Sugar Berry helped her inside. “Wow, this place looks pretty cool! Nice pick.”
Palette nodded. “Thank you. I didn’t pick it, though. Some friends helped.” She put her luggage down. From her satchel on her back, she levitated a small picture frame out and set it on a table. She could feel Sugar Berry looking at it. “It is a picture of me and some friends from Ponyville.”
“Cool!” She came over to look at the picture. One pony stood out from the rest for her. A purple one with a horn and wings. “Wait a minute! Isn’t that the princess?! You know the princess!”
Palette was busy getting some stuff out of boxes that had arrived before her. “Um, yea. I knew her before she was a princess though, so she is just Twilight to me. She is the one that helped me find the house.” She closed her eyes and remembered the nights where Twilight would find a really good book and read it to her.
“Wow! You are so lucky! And who are these other ponies? When did you take this?”
“It is from my farewell party.” She tried to remember who all was in the picture. “Let’s see, there is Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, Scottaloo, Lyra, Bon-Bon, Zecora, Spike….And Big Mac was taking the picture.”
Sugar Berry was glad to see that Palette had so many friends. She had been worried for her. But she knew leaving them probably hurt her too. “Well, I am sure they all miss you.” She noticed the sad look on Palette’s face. “Hey, how about tonight we go do something fun? It doesn’t look like it, but there are actually some fun things to do in Hollow Shades.”
Palette turned away from the boxes to face her. “Um, thank you. I’ll think about it.”
The earth pony giggled. “I’ll come get you at 8 then. I’ll leave you to your unpacking then.” With that, she left to go tell her friends about the new pony in town.
Palette closed the door behind her and once again sighed. She felt happy to of made a friend, but she just couldn’t be happy about it. She missed Ponyville. She missed her friends. But she had to leave all that just because of a stupid vision. A dream. She closed her eyes and remembered the pony she saw. A beautiful purple alicorn with a long mane and tail made of beautiful oranges, yellows, and reds. She told her three things; that her name was Dawn, she was in Hollow Shades, and she needed Palette’s help.