The other side of the mountains

The wind was playing with the little camp fire, and the sight of it was reflected in Twinkle Star’s eyes. For the third night in a row, ever since they left Kin, she had been unable to sleep. The dark mountains were towering over her, and she wondered how her sister was able to fall asleep so fast in the shadows of the world. For Crystal had been sleeping for over two hours now. She had been really tired, as she had been the other two nights. Her condition simply wasn’t as good as hers, Twinkle Star had realised quite some time ago. They were in some kind of dark forest right now, and in this open place they had been able to make a nice fire to keep them warm. It didn’t take long for them to realise how different this side of the mountains was on contrary to the other side, where the new Friendship Lands were. This side was dark and swampy, and the trees were taller and more mysterious. It had yet to rain, but Twinkle Star knew it used to rain here a lot. Almost everything felt wet.

They had left Kin three full days ago now. Saying goodbye had been really hard, especially to Aline. She had been with her friend for so long now, it felt so unnatural to say goodbye, knowing it would be such a long time before they would see each other again. Saying goodbye to the others of Kin wasn’t nearly as hard, even though Twinkle Star was sure it would be a lot longer before she would see them again. She finally realised what ponies meant when they said that saying goodbye was dying a little.

And she definitely had felt alone the last few days. There was such a distance between her and Crystal. Twinkle Star had been through so much without her sister, and the same was for Crystal. They had only talked about simple things. Twinkle Star hardly could imagine how she had been able to travel with her sister for so long before they had found the new Friendship Lands. Had it all really been so simple? Had she really changed that much? She could hardly imagine it. Nor could she imagine her sister having changed that much, either. And yet here they were, in a dark and dampy forest, alone, cut off from the lively and green world on the other side of those mountains that didn’t look pretty from this side, but almost scary. Her family and friends felt so far away now, even though she knew they would probably be almost on the other side of the mountains, which wasn’t very far away. The mountains were high, yes, but not broad.

She took another sip of her water bottle and then decided to get some sleep as well. There was no use in getting exhausted and not having enough sleep. She had a goal to reach. She grabbed her blanket out of her bag, a brand new one she had gotten from the nice ponies in Kin. It was, of course, dark green, and it had a nice flower design on it. Crystal had gotten the same one. Winkle Star glanced at her sister for the last time that evening, and she noticed her sister was sleeping quietly. She then crept under her own blanket, and dozed off, into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning she woke when a beam of sunlight hit her eyes through the roof of the leaves. She noticed her sister was already awake, and packing their stuff.
“Good Morning.” Twinkle Star said with a soft voice.
“Hi there, Twinkle Star. I’m glad you’re up.” Twinkle Star got up, letting the blanket fall from her bag. She noticed her sister’s mane were wet. She probably had already had a bath in the little lake close by, that they had discovered the night before.
“I’m gonna take a bath, okay?” Twinkle Star said, when she had realised a bath would do her good. Who knows when she would have another chance like this.
“Yeah, sure.” Crystal replied. “Don’t be long, okay? I don’t like this place at all. I want to get out of here as soon as we can.”
Twinkle Star nodded while staring at the great mountains behind her sister. They didn’t look half as scary in the morning light, But still they felt darker than the shadows they would cast upon the lands on the other side. She turned around, leaving the darkness of the mountains behind her but facing the darkness of the trees. No wonder nobody lived in these parts. She walked through the trees towards the little lake, on something you could hardly call even a small path. It was more like a row where on plants grew. The path she and Crystal took towards the south was real, as far as she could tell. Occasionally she could see other ponies had travelled there. But it wasn’t used that often.

When she met the lake she was greeted by a surprisingly warm ray of sunlight. The lake looked even smaller than it had done the evening before, but it looked clean, and, well, it was not like she had any other choice. Slowly she stepped into the water, and when the water touched her hoofs she noticed how warm it actually was. There probably was hardly any current in the lake, so it warmed up quickly. She hoped there would be no diseases in it, but it looked to clean for that. She enjoyed the feeling of the water for a bit. It made her forget the uneasy feeling she’d been having the entire journey so far. She even forgot about the mountains, until at some point she turned around and looked straight at them. They reminded her her sister was waiting on her, and she had to get out of the water by now. She began to move towards the shore.

When she placed her first hoof on the dry land, she froze. What was that sound? She had heard it clearly, behind her. Something had broken. Was some where there? She quickly turned her head around, but she saw no one. She didn’t hear anything, either. It probably was just a branch falling from a tree, or an animal, she decided. But when she was out of the water and had shaken most of the water out of her coat, she heard some noise again. It wasn’t something falling, she was sure. But even more than she heard it, she could almost sense it. Somebody was close by, she was sure of it. An it was a feeling that felt somehow strangely familiar to her. She scanned the area carefully, but she saw nothing but trees with dark green leaves, the glittering of the reflection of the sun upon the lake, and the small white clouds floating by in the air. Whoever it was, he or she knew how to conceal herself well.

“Are you done yet?” Twinkle Star almost jumped in the air when she realised her sister Crystal was standing behind her.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” She yelled, more annoyed than she wanted to be. Her sister sure had scared her.
“Well, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you or something. Are you ready yet? I want to keep moving. I don’t like this forest for a bit.”
Twinkle Star looked at her sister’s bright pink eyes, and she realised her sister was right.
“I know. I’m done. Let’s get out of here.”

The two ponies walked to their camping place. When they had made sure their camping fire was securely out, they both packed their bags and resumed to walk on the forlorn path without saying a word to each other. For a few hours they walked like that through the woods, sometimes almost on the slope of the mountains, sometimes deeper in the woods, where they couldn’t see anything but branches full with leaves that looked so dark Twinkle Star wondered if they had ever seen any light at all. While walking, Twinkle Star couldn’t help but wonder at what had happened down at the lake. Was it really just Crystal she had sensed? Somehow, it didn’t feel like that. Surely, if she had sensed Crystal’s presence, he wouldn’t have been startled like that when her sister talked to her. No, she was almost convinced it had been some other pony. Or was it really just an animal? But for the few hours they remained in that forest, Twinkle Star didn’t notice anyone. If it really had been someone else, surely it wasn’t following them.

“You think we have to sleep in this forest again?” was the first thing Crystal said after a few hours of travelling, and Twinkle Star couldn’t help but notice how distant her sister sounded. What had happened between them that had created this?
“I don’t know, honestly.” Twinkle Star answered. “I’ve never been here either. But I think it is good if we follow the mountains. At least I know where they will lead us. We won’t get astray if we follow them, that much I know, even though I don’t like them any better than you do.”
“Ah, great. More of this annoying forest. Just what I need.” Crystal said, as if everything was Twinkle Star’s fault.
“Yeah, well, I can’t help it either, you know. You chose to come with me, and I’m sure our destiny will be a lot better than this. So live with it.” Twinkle Star said annoyed, and she walked on, in front of her sister, ignoring her. Of course, this had spoiled the entire day, and even with their lunch they didn’t talk to each other. The day was a hot one, and they became too tired to travel by the beginning of the evening. A shadow had fallen upon the forest from the mountains, and it all looked even less comforting than before. It felt as if it was so much sooner dark than in their home country, but of course over there the setting sun wasn’t blocked by the mountains. They decided to rest early, because the morning sun would wake them up early anyway, the next morning. They found a nice spot close to the path, a little open, where they could make a camping fire. As Twinkle Star was looking for wood, she wondered once again why she hadn’t tried to convince Aline to come with her. She truly missed her friend. She was sure at least Aline was able to see the fun of the situation. But with Crystal, it all felt as if it was only worse.

When they finally had created their fire, both of them sat down to eat a bit of bread that queen Katine had given them. The light of the fire was comforting, but also made the trees light up and cast weird shadows behind them. And it exposed them to anything that was walking around in these woods.
“Do you believe in stories of monsters?” Crystal asked out of the blue, and Twinkle Star was surprised by her question, especially since it was the first non-formal thing she had said on hours.
“I… no, I don’t think so. Most are just made up to scare children. Why?” Twinkle Star answered.
“Well… I dunno. This place just gives me the creeps. I can’t help but wonder if we really are alone in here. If someone attacks us, where do we go? There is no one who can help us. And besides, who knows how long this forest continues.” Crystal said, while she looked at no place particularly. Twinkle Star couldn’t help but wonder if her sister had had the same feeling that morning, but she decided not to ask. She didn’t want to upset her sister for nothing.

“Don’t worry Crystal. I’m sure everything is fine. We’ll go a bit more to the west tomorrow, see if we can get out of the forest. Maybe there are even farms or so out of this forest. A place where we can sleep inside.”
Crystal smiled. “That would be nice.”
A soft silence fell, but for once Twinkle Star detected it wasn’t that uncomfortable. It was rather nice, in fact. Like there was finally something she and her sister felt in common.
“Don’t you miss Aline?” Crystal asked after a short while, and though Twinkle Star had kind of expected this kind of question, she didn’t like to answer it.
“Yeah, I guess. I mean, of course I do. She’s my best friend. We haven’t been apart ever since we met. Of course I miss her. Why?”
“I… well, nothing. I mean, I miss the others too. Ivy and Fleur. I hang out a lot with them too, you know. They’re really quite okay. You should spend more time with them as soon as we get home.” Crystal said, though Twinkle Star detected there was more to her question than Crystal dared to admit.

“I know. You’re right. I will spend more time with them. I’ll spend more time with everyone. I already promised that to mother. It’s just… well, I dunno, it’s hard to explain, but when I came back… It’s hard to see everyone like your family in one month, you know.”
For the first time this journey, she had the idea Crystal understood something she said.
“I understand Twinkle. I had it too. Just… give them all a chance.”
Twinkle Star smiled at her sister. She knew she was right, but still, she couldn’t help but miss Aline somewhere, deep inside her heart.