Shelter

Even to be near a house seemed to be like a dream too good to be true, so when they reached the house and noticed a light was shining behind the closed curtains, Twinkle Star could hardly believe their luck. There weren’t any other houses close by, as far as they could see (and in that rain, that wasn’t really that far). The house was made entirely out of wood, but not the special wood used in Madash, touched by the water of Fiume.
“We made it, Câlin.” She said happily as she knocked on the door. Right after she knocked she heard the sound of something breaking from inside the house.

“You think they’re all right?”  Câlin asked worried. Twinkle Star didn’t know, but as there was no sound of hoofsteps coming from the other side of the door, she knocked again. She heard some sounds coming from within the house, but they were hard to identify because of the pouring rain and the raging thunder. But when no one opened the door after a minute, Twinkle Star began to lose her temper.
“Hello! Please let us in, we are seeking shelter from the storm!” She yelled as hard as she could, but there was no reply.

Were they actually shutting Câlin and her out? Who would do such a thing in weather like this? But right when she wanted to knock again, she could see the curtains move behind the window. “Hello!” She yelled again, while she walked to the window,
“Please, help us! I have a little girl here, we need some shelter!” She saw the curtains move a little further, and she saw a blue eye, peeking at them.
“Please…” She begged, and Câlin came to stand beside her.
“Why won’t that person let us in?” Câlin asked, but Twinkle Star couldn’t give her an answer.

Yet a moment later, they heard some sounds coming from the other side of the wooden door. A moment later the door opened a little bit, revealing a rather small lavender colored pony with light blue mane on the other side. She looked really frightened, and she didn’t open the door further than she had too.Her blue eyeswere staring from Twinkle Star to Câlin and back to Twinkle Star.
“What are you doing here?” The pony asked. Her voice trembled, and Twinkle Star wondered why this pony was so nervous.
“Please, we are on our way to the capital of Madash, and we are looking for some shelter from the rain.” Her last words she had to shout because thunder was roaring in the sky again.

The pony looked as if she was pondering over this for a few moments, checking if this was a logical explanation or not. In the end she decided it probably was, because she opened her door a little further and motioned Câlin and Twinkle Star inside. They entered a small hall with wooden walls and two doors, one at the far end and one at their left side. The sound of the rain banging on the outer walls and the roof was deafening, but they were at least dry. Twinkle Star felt so relieved to be out of the rain that she forgot all about the small pony that was still staring at her.

“Are you okay, Câlin?” She asked the soaked girl.
“Yes. I’m really wet, but otherwise fine.” Twinkle Star wanted to get a blanket out of her bag to dry Câlin, but when she opened her bag she saw it hadn’t survived the rain storm. Everything inside was as soaked as she was. “Oh…” She sighed, wondering what to do now.
“You need like, a towel?” The lavender pony asked.
“Oh, that would be wonderful. I’m really sorry about all this, but we didn’t see the rain coming and…” “It’s okay.” The pony interrupted Twinkle Star.
“You two wait here.” The pony walked to the door to the far end of the hall and only a few moments later she returned, carrying two towels. Twinkle Star dried Câlin first, and when she was done she was able to dry her own coat and stop her long hair from dripping on the ground.

When she was done, the tow towels were as wet as anything that was in her bag, but at least she and Câlin were dry.
“Once again, thank you.” She said to the pony when she handed her the two towels.
“My apologies for not introducing ourselves. This is Câlin, and my name is Twinkle Star.” The pony looked a bit shocked when Twinkle Star announced her name, but she quickly recovered.
 “My… my name is Marana.”
The pony then walked away from them, back to the room at the far end of the hall. Marana… Twinkle Star was a bit surprised to hear that name. It was a royal name from her own family. In fact, one of her grandmother’s younger sisters had had a child with that name, who had only been a few years older than Twinkle Star herself, even though she hardly knew the girl. She didn’t even remember what she looked like, she realized in shock.

“She’s a bit strange.” Câlin commented.
“Ssshh! You don’t say things like that, Câlin. She offered us shelter from the storm, so treat her with respect.” Twinkle Star corrected, even though she couldn’t help but agree with Câlin to some extend.

Marana reappeared a moment later, and invited Twinkle Star and Câlin to her living room.

“Please, do sit down. I’ll prepare something hot to drink. Do you like hot chocolate?” Marana asked Câlin when they had entered the room. Câlin’s smile told Marana all she had to know, and she walked to the back of the room where her kitchen was. Her living room was quite small, being a kitchen and a room at once. It was rather obvious Marana’s house didn’t have a barn, as all her gear to get sea-weeds was stored in her room. She had two large brown sofa’s, a small table and a small dinner table with two chairs. A rainproof cape was flung over one of the chairs, and several tools were scattered through the house. There were several cups and plates in the kitchen that Twinkle Star was quite sure of were unwashed.

It didn’t take long for Marana to get a fire going, though, and a pot of water was soon warming up. Marana joined Câlin and Twinkle Star, who had found a place on th couch to sit on. Câlin was staring outside, watching the rain hit the windows. It was still raining very hard, and they couldn’t even see the ocean, even though Twinkle Star was quite sure it was very close.

“Why are you two on this beach?” Marana asked after she sat down on the sofa.
“We are on our way to Madash… to the capital.”
“Madash? Why do you take this road, then? It’s still a few days away until you meet Madash, and that’s only the border. From there, it’s still a few days to the capital.” Marana explained. Twinkle Star felt her fears being confirmed; they had taken a detour, and it was her fault. She should have stayed close to the river.

“We… got lost on the way. I thought I was taking a shortcut, but it took us north. And to go back down that same road would surely cost us even more time.” Twinkle Star told Marana.
 “I see… well, you got quite a journey up ahead then. Where do you…” Marana was interrupted by the whistle of the kettle that announced the water was boiling. She got up and took the copper kettle from the fire and poured some hot water in three cups. She then added some powder from two different jars, sugar and cacao, and brought the cups to the small table that stood in between the two sofa’s. She then turned back to the kitchen and came back with a plate full of deliciously looking cookies.
“I got them from a small village down south. You’re lucky that I am even home right now; I was actually planning on staying a little longer over there, but I decided to go home early. It’s a good thing I did, with that storm out there.”

“Does this place belong to some duchy?” Twinkle Star asked, getting a bit curious about their whereabouts.
 “No, not officially. Just like the town south of here. It’s a bit of wild sea landscape here. Very little ponies live here. More used to in the past, but in the end they all moved to the south, to Madash. They preferred to live in a country where the royal family could help them rebuild when the sea damages them.”
“So why do you still live here?” Câlin joined the conversation without looking away from the window.

“Because… I lived here with my parents. They passed away a few years ago, but I never wanted to leave. I know I probably should, find a nice husband, start a family… but I don’t want to leave this place. It’s so quiet here, I would never fare well in a town or village. I know it sounds weird… and not many people understand.” Marana said.
“I can’t tell you I do understand, because I never had a place like that. But I can see why you want to stay here.” Twinkle Star tried to explain.

“Thank you.” Marana smiled.
“Well, I hope the storm won’t last long, but you two can stay here as long as you need.”
“Thank you, we really appreciate that.” Twinkle Star wondered if she had any other way to thank Marana, but she couldn’t think of anything. So instead, she thought of something to keep the conversation going. “Are there many storms like this out here?”
“Not too much. Two or three a year, usually during summer. I don’t know what causes them, but they usually pass by within a day or so. I don’t think this one will do that much damage. I’ve seen much worse than this, and my house survived them all.”

Twinkle Star hardly could imagine a storm worse than the one now raging outside, but she believed Marana if she said it was so.
“Usually the weather is really pleasant, though. The breeze from the beach makes the hot summer weather really attractive. There aren’t many ponies here to enjoy just the weather, though. Some rich families do that, they retreat here for the summer, but they always go to some fancy mansion in Madash.” Marana took a sip from her hot chocolate, and Twinkle Star followed the example.

 “So why are you two on your way to Madash? A holiday?” Marana asked curiously.
“Yes… something like that.” Twinkle Star still didn’t feel like telling Marana they were on their way to meet the queen.
“We are going to visit some friends. They invited us to spend some time with them.”
“Oh, I see… Well, I am sure you two will have fun. It’s really nice here in summertime.”
 “I can see that…” Twinkle Star said while staring at the rain that was still viciously attacking the window.

“May I ask where you two come from?” Marana asked, showing some rays of doubt in her voice.
“Of course. We come from the New Friendship Lands.” When Twinkle Star pronounced her last three words, Marana’s face became pale.
“I… I’m sorry?” She stammered, while her hands began to shake.
“The New Friendship Lands. The heir to the throne of the old Friendship Lands, Regina… after the eruption destroyed the Old Lands, she founded a small kingdom in the mountains of the north. It is growing rapidly now, though.”

“I… I did not know that. That Regina survived. Nor did I know about the new Lands.” Marana was still shaking a bit. Why would she be so shocked to hear this? Twinkle Star tried to understand, but then she realised Marana had been acting a little odd ever since she had told her her name. There was something strange about this pony, Twinkle Star realized. There had to be a reason for her to react so strongly to the things she had just said. Had she found another family member she had thought to be dead for over 15 years, or was Marana just an ordinary pony?