Going through a portal was always a surreal feeling, it also was different when it’s my aunts way instead of my mothers. While her’s was more warm and gentle my aunts is cold and creepy. Like going through a tunnel that you can’t see into and hear the sounds of the dead whispering to you.

It also didn’t help the fact that seeing what’s coming in front of me was close to impossible. To prove my point I was face down on the ground after stepping out of the dark portal.

“Ugh, I hate when that happens…” I muttered to myself as I pushed myself to a sitting position and rubbed my face, seeing if anything is broken. When that’s done I looked around to my surroundings; I was sitting in the middle of a forest, tall green trees stood tall and proud where they were as the sun was somewhat blocked out by them. “Why the forest? Why is it always in a forest that someone pops up?”

After questioning that I stood up and stretched a bit, feeling some pops coming from my back. I checked if I had everything I brought was still with me. The scroll was still in my pocket, Molten Coil was still on my back and the cartridges of ammo for her were latched to my belt. The cartridges in question were simply a hand size cylinder that glowed a reddish orange.

Looking up at the canopy I saw that sun was hanging in the middle of the sky, meaning it was around noon in the land. I pulled out my scroll and opened it up, taping a record button I saw an image of myself as the video recorder started.

“Alright, log number one; first day of being in the new world and the time is… I believe noon, counting on the position of the sun. I made it to the new world and ended up in a forest, kinda questioning why is it always a forest.” I stopped to pull some twigs out of my hair before continuing. “Going to go look around, find a place to set up camp and see what creatures that live here.” I said to the recording before pausing it. I closed the scroll and used one of the twigs to pick my direction I was going to go. I tossed it in the air and watch it lands pointing to the left of me. “Alright, left it is then.”

There was no paths here, so I had to climb over some roots and logs as I traveled left, I hummed to myself as I observed the area. It was pretty calm so far, I even saw some brightly coloured birds fly by.

I smiled at the surrounding nature, with the colour of the trees I guessed it was spring, or summer for the heat. I continued on until I came across a small mountain with a small cave in the side. Curious I made my way towards the cave, taking one of my canisters out and turning the latch on top, opening the sides. I used it as a light source as I enter the cave and looked around. I saw what look like gems and crystals of different colours.

“Dust? There’s Dust here?” I asked myself as I got closer to them, seeing them as unrefined raw Dust crystals. This made me smile as I remembered the lessons my mom gave me about Dust. “I wonder if there’s life here, and what they do with the Dust here?”

As I thought of this I heard growling for behind. I turned and saw a massive black bear with a white mask on. He didn’t look happy. “Oh… there’s Grimm… oh dear.”

I was upside down in a bush after slamming into some trees when Ursa hit me with its claw… ow. I groaned as I sat up to see the Ursa came out of the cave, it looked like an alpha Ursa but it’s spines on its back were… off. They were red or yellow colours, matching the colours of the Dust.

“Did it… eat the Dust?!” I asked loudly before pulling my scroll out and taking pictures. “Mom would want to see this.”

The Ursa roared as it charged at me, it’s claws lighting up with… well lightning. I yelped and rolled away before it slammed into the ground. I got up to my feet and pulled out Molten Coil, she went into her gun for, a sorta hand mini-gun grenade launcher and aimed at the Grimm. I fired balls of fire at the Grimm, exploding on impact and knocking it back.

“Ha! Eat that!” I yelled, blowing smoke the smoking barrel. I looked back to see the Alpha getting… not hurt at all. “Oh come on! What are you made out of? Rocks?!”

To answer her question the Alpha knocked her into the mountain, hard. “Yeah… made out of rocks…” I groaned as I fell back down and got back up, spitting out some blood that was in my mouth. “Alright you, time to turn up the heat.”

With that Molten Coil turn into a sword that glowed with heat. She thought on what she just said and frowned at how cheesy it was. The Grimm roared as it charged at her, she slashed upwards, making a flaming slash burst forth at the beast. It roared as flames shot out of its mouth.

“Oh come on!” I yelled before dodging its attacks and blocked one of them, feeling like my legs were going to be crushed by the weight. I pushed it off of me and slashed at it, making small explosions on it that sent it back. It roared at me, it’s fur now burning and it curled into a ball and rolled at me… and started to cover itself in electricity. I yelped as I jumped to the side. It rolled into the forest and crashed into some trees. I groaned as I faced it. “Okay, come on Smoky!”

As I yelled it the core of my weapon started to turn rapidly, glowing an orange colour. As the Ursa climbed out of the pile of trees, Molten Coil was glowing red-hot as I draw it back before slashing forward. A burning blade of fire shot forward towards the Ursa and sliced through it… and then it exploded. I had to take shelter from the raining trees that got caught in it. After some time the crashing sounds stopped she looked out to see a small crater where the alpha was.

“Okay~, note to self; they explode…” I sat down in the cave, which I could make into a temp home now I think about it, as I tapped away on my scroll for the info.

“First Grimm I met… alpha… unusual due that it had Dust base powers...use fire and lightning attacks...explodes when killed by Molten Coil…” I muttered as I sent my message to mother. With a sigh and seeing that I had a few hours of time before the sun went down I got up and went on looking for some wood for a fire. Maybe some food on the way.

After a few hours of searching and getting some berries and mushrooms that weren’t poisonous, I was sitting by my fire eating some soups out of the mushrooms. While I ate, my scroll buzzed within my pocket. Setting the bowl down, I then reached into my pocket and pulled out my scroll. Once the screen appeared, it displayed a notification of a message I had received from mother and I tapped it, causing the scroll to project an image of mother as her voice was heard.

“Grimm with the ability to use dust by simply consuming them… peculiar. Nevertheless, they are simply Grimm, deal with them as you would any other but do be careful, the thought of losing you isn’t quite pleasing.” Was all the recorded message said before the image of mother was replaced with the home screen.

I nodded and set the scroll back into my pocket and continued eating. I’ll have to look more into this. But like my mom said, I have to be careful. I like my life as is, alive.

After finishing my bowl of soup I stared at the fire for a few minutes until my eyes started to droop. I soon fell asleep there until morning came.

When I awoke the fire I had going was low and only embers were left. Taking one of my empty canisters I opened it and used my semblance to draw the fire out and into the canister. Oh yeah, my semblance is that of controlling fire and heat. It’s really useful in some cases that I don’t have any fire. After I was done I went out of the cave and began exploring the forest some more. I used my scroll to map where I went through the forest.

I continued on into the forest until I heard a twig snap that made me jump. My hand went to Molten Coil as I looked towards where I heard the sound. Getting closer I moved some branches away to see.

There was a woman, a Faunus, she had brown skin with white tribal markings on her body with a Mohawk that was black and white with ears and a tail like a zebra. Her clothes were sorta like tribal clothing, a brown top with a loin cloth for a bottom. She seemed to be gathering some berries.

She straightens up and turned slightly, “I know you’re there child.”

This made me jump, how did she… I sighed and moved out of the brush in front of the woman.

“Uh, hi.” I greeted. The woman stared at me for a few minutes before speaking.

“Hello, forgive me if I’m rude but I haven’t seen you in the settlement before. Are you new?” she asked. Settlement?

“Uh… yeah, sure let’s go with that.” I answered. She hummed at me.

“Well, if you want to know I’m Zecora, local shaman of the Everfree,” she told me.

“Again, hi I’m Viri.” I said. She smiled at me before looking down.

“I have to say, I never expected to see a Faunus with a weapon before.” she said.

“What about it?” I asked her. She gave me an odd look.

“You don’t know? Only those in the army or as Huntsmen can use that sort of weapon.” she explained. That made me frown, mostly I don’t see anyone in the army using a weapon like mine.

“Well, maybe I am a Huntress.” I pointed out. She gave me a sad smile.

“Oh my dear, you really don’t know?” she asked me. I frowned at this since… that’s kinda true.

“Well… maybe, I’m not from around here okay.” I said with my arms crossed. Zecora smiled at me.

“Then come, we have a lot to talk about.” she said before walking into the forest. I looked around before following her into the forest. After what felt like twenty minutes of walking we came up to a settlement. The buildings were made out of wood and stone with other Faunus’ wandering around. I smiled at the children running around playing with some traders calling out their wares.

“It’s… peaceful here.” I said as we continued on. Zecora nodded.

“Yes it is, we Faunus live in these settlements all over Equestria or live with the ponies in other cities.”

“Ponies? You mean small horses?” I asked, which made her laugh.

“Not exactly, You’ll see what I mean soon enough.” she said as we went through the settlement. I noticed that some other Faunus were staring at me, whispering to each other. I felt a little self-conscious about this as I saw one of the Faunus walking from the forest. He looks that of fifteen years old with black hair and bat-like ears on top of his head. He wore an open pale white vest the allowed me to see his tanned skin. He wore baggy pants of the same colour with a red sash around his waist. His feet were bare other than some kind of cloth that covered the top of his foot. As he walked he was carrying a long pole that had two wolves and three hares on it.

“Seems to be that you still have hunters.” I commented.

“Yes, well we have to find food somehow.” Zecora said with a laugh. Following her to a tribal hut she let me inside. The place smelled that of different herbs and other scents that I can’t recognise. There were tribal masks that look odd, even ones that look like Grimm masks. Zecora stirred something in a large cauldron before looking at me. “I’m guessing you have questions?”

“Yeah, for one where am I?” I asked her.

“You are in the forest called the Everfree, a large forest that holds spirits of the dead and other creatures.” she informed me.

‘Also Grimm that eat Dust.’ I said mentally. “Okay, so I’m in this Everfree but where am I? Like this land or place is it like an island or-”

“Eques is what the planet’s name while the land is called Equestria. Does that answer your question?” she asked me, to which I nodded.

“Yeah, so are you… I mean are all Faunus outcast by others?” I asked.

“No.” she answered without missing a beat. I blinked at this. “Faunus can come and go as please, sure there are those who don’t like it, thinking we’re no more than simple beasts, but we can walk into a pony town and walk out in with no harm done. I, on the other hand scare a lot of them.”

“Why is that?” I asked. She just shrugged.

“Ponies are a superstitious and skittish race, they get scared of anything that they don’t understand.”

‘Humans, Ponies, any race really…’ I said in my head. “So if this settlement does trade with any towns nearby?”

“Yes, one is named Ponyville but… we try not to go there all the time. Call us hypocrites but that town seem to draw the wrong attention.” she explained.

“Oh? What kind?” I asked. She simply stared at me.

“There’s a list… a long one.” she said with a small chuckle. “If you like, I could find someone that could show you around the land.

Hmmm, I was told to that a look around anyway and send a message back, this could help cut time. I gave her a nod and she went out to find one. After five minutes I was staring at a mask out of boredom. It looked like we’re having a staring contest. After what seemed to be a epic battle of the stare Zecora returned with the same bat Faunus that I saw before.

“Viri this is Tak, one of the settlements best hunters. He’ll be showing you around.” she introduce. The boy in question bowed his head, though I could tell that he was nervous judging by his constant feet movement.

“Hi… uhh.” I greeted, not really sure how to word things. I talked to others than my mother and aunt… sometimes… kinda.

“Don’t mind him, he’s shy around others.” Zecora said much of the boy’s discomfort. I nodded before finally noticing the kid’s eyes, they were greyed out, almost lifeless and dull.

I decided to not say anything, it would be rude if I did. “So… you’re going to show me around?” He nodded in response but said nothing. I shifted uncomfortably before Zecora usher us out of her tent and we went on our way. It was mostly silence between the two of us as I was led around. So much so that it was starting to bug me.

“So… you do anything other than… hunt?” I asked. He seemed to ponder at this for a bit.

“I-I help my father with his farm a-and I am usually in charge with s-spotting any nearby Grimm.” He said, his voice having a nervous tone.

“You spot Grimm? Aren’t you blind?” it’s at this moment I realized, I fucked up. I stopped walking and started to hit my head on a pole nearby. “Stupid, stupid, stupid…”

“You really shouldn’t hurt yourself, miss.” The kid said, trying to get me to stop. I stopped and looked at him.

“I was rude, I should’ve caught myself.” I said before resuming the hitting the pole via my head.

“It’s fine, really…” He said, stopping my head from impacting the pole by putting his hand in between. “It’s not… uncommon for someone to ask me about my eyes.” He said.

“Still… I was taught that it’s rude.” I said with a sigh, rubbing my head from where I was banging it. “My mother made sure I learned manners.” I noticed a crowd had gathered around, most likely because of what I was doing just a few second ago but Tak, if I remember correctly, dispersed the crowd as quickly as it formed.

“To answer your question, yes I am blind.” He said, looking back at me… I think. “But I can feel your presence with the earth beneath us.”

“Oh… cool.” I said with a smile. The two of us continued walking on through the village. “So… do you do anything else then farmwork and hunting?”

“I train… I hope to be Huntsmen someday.” He said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

“Oh? That’s cool.” I said with a smile. He shrugs a bit. “I don’t see why Faunus can’t be huntsmen, they can do everything a pony can right?”

“Not always.” He said in saddened tone before sighing. “The ponies are ultimately the ones who decide who becomes a Huntsmen and they’ve got a strict list of requirements.” He said.

“Wow…” I paused a bit as I thought about it. Am I a Huntress? Mother did put me through what I guess is the training to become one but… I have to ask her later. We continued on and I asked a few more questions to Tak about the area. It seems other than the local town of Ponyville there’s two more settlements nearby that trades with them… until he said one other thing. “Wait, what? The sun and moon gets moved by the two princesses of the land?”

“Yes though how is unknown to everyone. One could even say it’s magic.” He said, answering my question with a shrug. This didn’t help my logic side of my brain having a small freakout about it. Mostly yelling ‘IT DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT!’

I simply laughed at this which drew some odd looks of how odd it sounded. It kinda sounded desperate. We continued on before returning back to Zecora’s hut as the sun was setting.

“Thanks for the tour Tak, I’ll maybe stick around to check out the sights… maybe go on a hunt or two with ya.” I told him. This got a chuckle out of him and I couldn’t help but smile at this. Zecora told me that there’s a small tent that was put up for me to sleep in for the next few nights. I thanked her and headed over to send another message to my Mother… even my small mental freakout about the sun and mood, also saying ‘How does that work, I thought it was the gravitational pull of the sun that makes the planets spin around it and other stuff please help.’ Before I could think further in the subject that baffled me still, my scroll buzzed and notified me of a message. Taking out the scroll and displaying it’s screen, I saw that it was from mother again. So I tapped the message icon and like before, it displayed an image of her.

“Interesting report, it’s a relief to hear that you haven’t encountered more trouble and I’m very happy to hear that you’ve made your first friend outside of home.”

I smiled at the first half of the message mother sent. Though the fact I made a friend here made me question something… I have friends, I believe one or two of them were outside of home right?... I think? I continue listening to the message before questioning anymore.

“Onto important matters, your scouting mission is a success but your aunt will bring you back the day after tomorrow. So enjoy the remainder of your time there and if you come across anything of interesting, be sure to report it to me or my sister.” With that the image faded away and was replaced with the home screen. I stared at the screen for some time before sighing and putting my scroll down. I have a day to enjoy this world before I go back. I rolled myself over as I mulled over what I heard and let out a tired sigh. I slowly closed my eyes and fell asleep, wondering what tomorrow would bring.