fiachra

Home, where I wanted to go,
And nothing else compares.

By the Mythics, this place was huge.

She had been in Helovia a matter of weeks now, and Fiachra had barely stepped outside of the safety of the Basin's borders. She had found her cave, found a place to belong, met people, became cozy, and she had let herself grow stagnant. Not that the white-rumped mare wasn't ecstatically pleased to have a herd again, a for-sure place to lay herself down at the end of the day. She was, truly. It had been too long she had wandered aimlessly through the world, through life, looking for a long-lost dream that she had known for years was gone for good. The had let her irrational mind get the better of her for so long and she had been so miserable, so lonely and tired, and now....

Now that was was happy, content, and comfortable, Fiachra worried that she was going to get soft. No, that wasn't quite it. She worried that that would allow herself to forget. Her past, her losses, they were part of what made her... well, her. She could be comfortable, but she could not lose herself in the coziness and safety of her little cave in the Basin.

So today, on a grey and dreary day that was still warmer than those past, she had wandered away from the herdland borders. She had decided to go exploring this beautiful place she had heard named Helovia. And she had found a lot. A lot of diversity in terrain and foliage and environment. A lot of space. A lot of room to roam. There must be a thousand souls calling this land home. She had heard a number of other herds mentioned at the Basin meeting. But so far today, she had been wandering alone.

Her brow furrowed as the paused in her path through a broad prairie. Green sprouts had begun to break through the cold, barren ground as the weather turned warmer. A river forked before her, splitting to the north from which she had come and running from the unknown south. She realized now that she had been content to be alone today. As glad as she had been to finally be surround by people again, as relieved as she had been to no longer be alone, she realized now that she still enjoyed time to herself. Not all the time, of course. Not even often, but sometimes she needed to recoup on her own, reminisce about those lost and left behind, ponder forward on the future. She wandered to the western branch of the stream and carefully placed her toes on the edge of the water. It wasn't deep, by any means, but still she was hyper-aware of her footing. She lowered her head to suck in the cool water, easing the dryness that had started to form in her throat from her exploration.

As she lifted her head again, the dark clouds of Birdsong broke open and water began to pour from the sky. The rain was slow at first, but began to pick up. Fiachra snorted, irritated that her day had been interrupted by the soggy weather. She turned, searching the distance for any form of shelter. A giant oak tree nearby caught her eye and she grinned, despite the rain pelting down on her from the heavens. Of course, she thought, picking up a quick trot to make her way under the protection of the large canopy. She had spent her entire childhood hiding under oak trees. They had been more constant in her life than anything else had ever been. Of course there would be an oak here now to offer her refuge from the elements.

She looked up as she came to a halt beneath the strong branches and gave her hide a firm shake to rid herself of some of the water that soaked her. The newly formed leaves were small, not yet fully blocking the sky, but at least they offered better coverage than nothing. A small shiver ran down her spine as the water on her coat soaked through to her skin. She shook again, harder this time, and as she did, a movement caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

A large, dark form was moving down the river towards her. Wait, what? She looked again. Yes. A large blue-black unicorn was, quite literally, roaming down the river, over the water, his hooves skating over the surface. How on earth? She stared, watching as the stallion drew closer. Helovia truly is a wondrous place, she thought. She smiled, lifted her head, and nickered to the stranger. He seemed familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before.

"Hello there!" she called, cheerful and bright despite the springtime downpour. "That's quite the neat trick you have there." What I wouldn't give for magic like that, she reflected to herself, imagining being able to simply walk over the water that had terrified her her entire life.

"Talk."