“Twinkle Star…” “Who’s there?” Twinkle Star jumped up. “Take care…” “Show yourself you! Or I won’t have mercy!” “I care…you…” Where could they be? Twinkle Star didn’t feel the presence of someone close to her. But the voice was clear and loud. “Don’t forget …us…” “Honestly! Show yourself!” Twinkle Star was getting angry. Who was playing tricks with her? It was hard to see if someone was there. “Damn those trees… Now this is why I hate forests in the night.” “Don’t forget me…” I know this voice, Twinkle Star thought. I heard it before… “Don’t forget mom…” “Ivy! Ivy I know you’re out there! Now you show yourself! Don’t act stupid!” “…who all care about you...” “She’s not here…” “Don’t forget…” “It is only her voice… She is talking to me, far away…” “Please, don’t forget…” Only her voice… “She really is stronger than I first thought. Well, looks like you really are my sister anyway. To say something that is so true to your heart that is carries all the way to the one you want it to hear…” Twinkle Star smiled. “I underestimated you.” But it did wake Twinkle Star up. “And that’s not good for my mood…” She was fully awake now. It had been three days since she had left her mother now. “And I haven’t met anything besides stupid trees and a lot of sand which annoys me, oh, and trees! How surprising is that!” Oh, and she was lost. “let’s not forget that.” Now, how did she end up here? She had flown all the way but then her wings got tired. So she landed in a place where there were only a few trees, and walked for a bit. But now there were too many trees and she couldn’t even see the sky. “Well, let’s walk then… no other choice until I can at least find a place to go up.” She said to herself. It was hard for her to remember when she had got these wings. They were there, once, when she woke up. And they disappeared later. In time, she was able to control them. It became her decision when those wings appeared or disappeared. She never told anyone, not even her sister when they travelled together. Though Twinkle Star knew Crystal was suspecting something. But it didn’t really matter, as long as she didn’t tell any others. She didn’t want anyone to know; it was her secret. She didn’t know of any Pegasus ponies. Unicorns sure, Stelline was one and her mother had told her about other unicorns in the past, but Pegasus ponies? Nah. It was her secret and she wasn’t going to tell anyone about it!

How long had she been walking through this dark forest now? It was a very dark forest indeed; she couldn’t even make up whether it was day or night. “Stupid forest… what is it, cursed?” Right when she said that, a wind blew through her hair. It was a chilly wind, like it was telling her she was right, and she shouldn’t be here at all. “This forest is haunted, isn’t it? Ack, I knew it right away… I shouldn’t have gone in here. Now, which way to go…”

But Twinkle Star couldn’t find her way out of the forest. It was as if she was going in circles. After a while it was as if she had seen some trees like thousand times. She couldn’t find a way to go up either, the trees were just too close to each other, she would break her wings if she tried. “Oh come on! I got in here and I will get out! You hear me you dumb old forest? I will get out! I’m not some stupid pony you know!” The situation was hopeless. She had no idea which way she had to go, and she couldn’t find any place to fly up. In short, she was hopelessly lost.

After what felt like a day’s walk, she finally found a spot where she could fly. It was a very narrow spot indeed, but she had to try, because walking wouldn’t get her out of the forest. Twinkle Star made her wings appear and Stretched them. When she was about to fly up, she heard a voice saying: “I wouldn’t do that, you know.” Twinkle star had such a fright she almost fell down on the ground again. “Who’s there?” She yelled, with a very high voice that even surprised herself. “You don’t have to be so scared. I live here. All I am saying is, don’t fly up. Birds live in the top of the trees. They will harm you if they can. They don’t like… visitors.” “Oh, great. Well, thanks for the warning.” Twinkle Star said sarcastically. She looked around, but she couldn’t see where the voice was coming form. It was still very dark in the forest. “Hey you! Whoever you are, show yourself! I don’t like talking to people I can’t even see!” She finally heard footsteps. She didn’t know what to expect; for all she knew it could be a troll, or a monster, or… something. “Brace yourself, Twinkle…” She whispered to herself.

A boy pony appeared before her. He was quite a bit larger then Twinkle Star was, an he was white, with bright pink mane. His eyes were like a forest of stars to Twinkle Star. She wouldn’t mind getting lost in them. He had a bag tied around his neck, which was filled with wood. “Hi there, pretty one. What are you doing alone is these woods? I am not used to visitors, especially not ones as pretty as you are.” “Hey! Watch it ok? I don’t like that blahblah about how pretty I am.” The male pony laughed. “alright, alright, it’s ok. Don’t worry. What’s your name?” “Hishi.” Twinkle Star answered. “Hishi eh? That’s a very pretty name indeed. It suits you. You too are…” “Hey!” The male pony laughed again. “Just kidding. My name is Kiyoi. I live in a small house near the border of the forest.” “You live close to this haunted forest?” Twinkle Star asked, somewhat surprised. “Yeah. And it’s not haunted. You’ll learn to love it, pretty. Now, what would a young pretty pegasus pony called Hishi do here at a time like this?” “Do not call me pretty! Anyway, yeah, I guess I’m lost. And I’m not a Pegasus pony.” “Then what are those wings? You wear them for fun?” My wings! Twinkle Star thought. I completely forgot to remove my wings! “I… eh… well, I… they are… oh forget it. Yah, I’m a Pegasus. But you shut up about it, will you?” “Of course, pretty. I’ll be silent like a mouse about it.” “Mice aren’t silent. They say peep peep.” Twinkle Star replied, somewhat sarcastically. “Ok you win. I’ll be silent like a snail, kay?” Twinkle Star smiled. “So, pretty, what do you wanna do?” “eh?” “Well, I don’t think you wanna be hanging around in this haunted forest, right? You were trying to get out.” “Yeah, you are right. I want to leave this place. I never should have entered it in the first place, but there’s nothing I can do about it now… will you show me the way out?” Kiyoi nodded. “Sure pretty. Come with me, I’ll take you to my house. You can refresh there for a bit if you want. Because don’t take this the wrong way, but you definitely could use a bath.” “You sure got some nerves, don’t ya!” “You got no idea really.” Twinkle Star laughed. Sure Kiyoi made a lot of jokes and called her pretty, which she didn’t like, but she could see he was pure. He would never harm anyone if he could avoid it. Those princess powers sure come in handy sometimes, she thought. But she didn’t tell Kiyoi her real name. She never did. She didn’t want to be recognised as the princess of those dead countries. People would see her for what she is not. And certainly now. They would send her to her mother in those new lands, and that definitely was the last place in the world where she wanted to go now. “Hello? Pretty?” Twinkle Star looked up. She had no idea that she had been dreaming so much. “I’m sorry, my mind walked away from me. Now, where do we go? Oh, and DON’T CALL ME PRETTY!” “You keep acting like that, and I’ll keep doing it. Now, follow me, I’ll lead the way.” Kiyoi turned around and walked into the woods. Twinkle Star made her wings disappear and followed Kiyoi silently. After a few minutes Twinkle Star noticed she was walking on some sort of path. Probably leads to Kiyoi’s house, she thought. “Hey Kiyoi… Why do you live in such a remote place anyway?” “Oh, I was born here… Never been somewhere else… My family protects this forest from strangers, and protects strangers from this forest. We know when someone ha entered this forest, or when someone is in trouble. I guess you have noticed it is a dark forest and you can get lost very easily. Besides, there are many wild animals in there. Birds, but wolves also, or foxes. Definitely not like the ones you are used to Hishi. Big ones. They will harm anyone. They don’t like intruders. Except from our family. You could say we are bound to this forest.” “So you live with your family there?” “No, I live alone now. After my parents passed away my brother left this place. He didn’t want to spend his life here and never go somewhere else, he said. I never agreed with him. It’s not like we never go anywhere else, I go to the village that is close by every week, and it is not impossible for us to move or anything. But my heart belongs here, with this forest. I don’t think there is any other place for me to live. And what about you, pretty? Where do you come from?” “Nowhere really. I lost my parents when I was young and I travelled ever since. I don’t really have a place where I belong.” “Oh… oh, pretty, I am sorry. It must be hard without having something like a home.” “Nah, I don’t know what it would be like to do have one actually. I never had it. When I stay in one place for a long time I tend to get restless.” “Oh… I see. Well, we’re almost there. It’s nothing fancy though, just a little house.” Twinkle Star followed Kiyoi. It looked to Twinkle Star as if the forest was getting… lighter. There was more light shining through the trees, the trees weren’t that close anymore. It was obvious the forest was going to end soon.

After a few minutes the path ended and turned into a square. On the opposite side of the square there was a small, wooden 1-story house. It had a small window on the side that faced the square. There was a path leaving the square on the right side. It was probably the path that leads out of the forest, Twinkle Star thought. Her view turned to the little house again. It looked very old, and still it didn’t look like it was falling apart, in fact, it also looked like it was build just a short time ago. Old and still young, like it was lost in time. “Well, this is my little home, Hishi. Just follow me inside, I’ll show you where you can refresh yourself. I’ll make you some food if you want.” Twinkle Star smiled. “Thanks. That’s really sweet of you. I really appreciate it.” She followed Kiyoi to the house. He opened the door and let Twinkle Star go in first. The door led straight into the living room. She fell in love with it right away. The room had such a warm feeling to it. There was a small fire place, which was surrounded by two couches. In the middle of this small circle was a small wooden table. There was a large window on her left, and there were pictures on the chimney. There were ponies in them, she noticed. Probably relatives of Kiyoi. On her right was a bigger table with some chairs, and there was a small kitchen. There was a wooden draining board, and there were a few iron buckets standing on it. A few shelves were above it, containing plates and what looked like food cartons. There was another door next to the draining board. Above her were the stairs that led to the first floor. He bedrooms were probably there, under the slanting roof. It must be so cosy there, Twinkle Star thought. “If you take the door next to the draining board, there is a shower there… But I do have to boil some water for you, I don’t want you to get a cold, right?” He walked to the draining board and placed the wood he had in his bag under a small hole. He then took a large metal bucket and went outside. “He’s such a sweet guy…” Twinkle Star said to herself. He didn’t know her at all and still he was so sweet for her. She knew he cared for her. She could feel it. Twinkle star walked to the chimney to have a better look at the pictures. She didn’t recognise any of the ponies, but one picture got her attention. She recognised Kiyoi, although he was a lot younger in the picture. There were two older ponies who were obviously his parents. Both were white, his mother had very dark pink hair, while his father had yellow-orange hair. And the other boy was bound to be Kiyoi’s brother. He was younger than Kiyoi was. He was white-yellowish, and his hair was yellow with a few pink stripes. He looked very happy in the picture, all of them did. Why did that brother decide to leave this place? He didn’t look dissatisfied at all… “I got you some water.” Twinkle Star noticed Kiyoi was back. He hang the bucket on a hook above the wood, and started to turn on the fire. “There is a river close by or something?” “Yeah. You noticed the path on your right when we were at the square? It leads straight to it. Of course the road goes on, leading to the village and all. But it crosses the river. The river is so clear; it’s like it was purified by the forest. I haven’t seen water this pure anywhere else, to be honest. Well, I got the fire going. That water should be ready in a few minutes. I’ll go get some cold water. I’ll mix it and it should be just the right temperature for you. Will you keep an eye on the fire for me pretty?” Twinkle Star nodded. She didn’t mind that he called her pretty anymore. She liked it, in a way. He’s cute… “Nonono, what are you thinking Twinkle!” she said to herself. What am I thinking? But a warm feeling was taking hold of her. The fire was growing warmer. She liked the feeling of it; it was warming her somehow. Not only her body, but her mind also. She liked the feeling. She liked it that someone tried so hard for her to be comfortable. She liked his eyes… “He is handsome…” And he was cute, too… But she never allowed herself to have these feelings. Feelings like that only made her weak. She shouldn’t have them.

It didn’t take long for Kiyoi to return with the second bucked filled with water. “Now, you go in there. I’ll put the mixed water in the reservoir. Just turn the handle, it should be flowing. Go on then pretty! I won’t be peeking I promise.” “wha? I never said that!” “I saw you thinking it. Now go on then pretty. I’ll make you some food for when you’re ready. Here is a towel. Though it’s probably waaaaay to small for all that hair of yours!” “You’ll be surprised what I can do with this hair you know. Well, I’m going then.” She walked towards the door. She wanted to close it behind her, but instead turn around. “Oh and Kiyoi…” “Yeah?” “Don’t call me pretty.”