“Hector?”, my voice seemed to echo out around me as I called out to the one person I knew who would protect me from any evil that lurked about. Eyes scanned the terrain for any sign of him, but there was no scent nor sound of him in the air. Instead, I was alone in...where was I anyways? I looked around again at the green grass beneath my hooves and the dense shrubbery that lay scattered about. Just where was this place?

Then a sharp whinny pierced the heavy silence.

Quickly, I turned to see the owner of the new voice and once I saw of whom the voice belonged my breath caught itself between my mouth and my lungs. Tears stung my eyes as I looked upon the splashed mare that was walking towards me. I had only seen her once before, but I had heard her and felt her warmth and love for nearly a year.

Mother.

“You're growing so strong Isa,” she softly spoke to me as she nuzzled my neck. This...this couldn't be real could it? Mum was dead. I saw her die. I...watched...them kill her. This couldn't be real. It just couldn't. Hector watched over me now. He saved me earlier. He...he...he was my -

“Father Isa, he's your father now,” the word mum said caught me off guard. How did she know what I was thinking? How did she know about Hector? What was going on?!

“You're dreaming Isa,” her voice then shifted, gotten to a lower tone. Mum never had that low of a voice. Dreaming? But this was just too real to be a dream. I mean...she just touched me.

“Mum?” I call out to her as she pulled away from me and even though it seemed like neither of us physically moved we grew father apart, “Mother?!”

“It's time to wake, Isa.”

Eyes remained closed as I raised my head. If I opened my eyes, I'd be back to reality. Back to the time line where mum died and Hector took me in. Hector...a soft few quickened thuds sounded in my chest. My mother's voice had changed into his. My mother had said that he...that he was my father now. If this was true then I had more than just one reason to continue on in this reality.

Deep down I already knew what my mum had told me.

I yawned as I opened my sleepy eyes and looked up to Hector. He was brave. He was strong. He protected me. And he takes care of me. He was my father. Maybe not my father by birth, but my father by his actions. By his request, I got up and we went over to the lake to clean up. It seemed like we were going to go somewhere.

Ears swiveled when he spoke about going to a place called Dragon's Blood. Seems that I had guessed right. He then went on after pulling an old feather off of my wing that was out of place. Other foals? A sudden interest to this new place of travel swept over me. Other foals meant others my age and that made me somewhat excited and lifted my spirits.

We followed a trail for a while and then eventually landed before a giant tree. There where already two other winged equines there (though one scared me at first because I didn't notice the wings behind her ears until a little later) and when Hector told me to run along I gathered up my wings slightly and went as fast as I could (which was somewhere between a trot and a walk now). Once standing before the mare with normal wings she began telling a story about a prince who turned into a beast and a girl named Belle who offered to take her father's place as the beast's prisoner.

Would I do that? If Hector was taken prisoner by someone or something would I even think about offering to take his place just to set him free? I'd like to think I would, but honestly given my past I probably wouldn't. But who knows what I would do? Maybe over time my bond with Hector would grow enough to change the way I would act.

The mare then went on to ask me if I could guess what happened next. How the hell would I know what happened next? She was the one telling the story not I! I had never even heard of this story before. But I'd play along with her I guess, “What happens?” I say after shaking my head no.

Really, who tells a story to kids and then asks if they know what happens next? Nobody should that's who.

"Isara's speech"|"Isara's thoughts"

WORD COUNT;; 790
TAGGED;; @[Hector],@[Amani] are mentioned
OOC;; -tears up- all the feels.