//------------------------------// // Chapter 4, Departure // Story: Season Unending // by RealBarenziah //------------------------------// Papers littered Twilight's room, carpeting the floor whole, crumpled, or torn in halves. Each piece was filled with notes, most of them crossed out. Twilight sat in the middle of the floor, her map of Skyrim and stacks of parchment nearby. Around her floated several lists. Things she would take, things she wouldn't take, places she should go, preparations to be made. She had planned out dozens of routes, each of them almost immediately rejected, crumpled, and tossed to the floor. Despite being such a desolate place, Skyrim had many areas that piqued her interest. There always seemed to be something missing from her itinerary, like there was somewhere she was forgetting. There were other things to consider like transportation, money, and supplies. She had never trekked through anywhere as dangerous as Skyrim, and she had little clue as to what to expect. She had a copy of In-Tents Mountain Hiking 101, which helped her a little bit in preparations, but she still felt lost. She sighed and looked up. The sky was deep orange and darkening. The sun was setting. Twilight looked down at her preparations, allowing her mind to go still. In a moment of silence, Twilight realized she was getting a little ahead of herself. "I need to tell my friends." Gently laying everything down on the ground, she hurried down the stairs. "You're probably all wondering why I called you here today." Twilight stood before her friends in the library. Each of them sat on a comfortable cushion with a hot cup of tea. In the center of the semicircle they made was a tray with a teapot, sugar, milk, and slices of lemon. The sun had set but everyone was wide awake. "I'm sorry for dragging you all out here so late," she continued. "But there's something important I need to tell you all." Fluttershy said. "Is everything okay Twilight?" Twilight smiled. "Everything is fine. I just wanted all of you to know that I'm taking a trip and I'll probably be gone for a while." "What kinda trip, Twi'?" Applejack said. "Well...A field study of sorts. I've been reading some fascinating things about a land called Skyrim, and in order to research it properly I have to go see it for myself." This excuse wasn't entirely true, but her friends deserved more than a vague 'I need to go there.' She herself didn't know the real reason. Besides, she was thrilled at the thought of writing her own research material, material that other researchers could use in the future. "Skyrim?" Rarity said. "Isn't that a country to the north?" "I never heard of it before," Applejack said. "What are you studying there, anyway?" Rainbow Dash interjected. "Well..." Twilight replied. "Everything...and anything, I suppose. Well...It's complicated." Rarity came to her rescue. She got up from her cushion and trotted over to her friend. "You don't need to explain yourself to us, Twilight," she said. She rested her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "We'll support you in any journey you set out on." Twilight smiled lovingly at her friend. "Thanks." "But Twilight, how long will you be gone?" came Fluttershy's soft voice. "I'm not sure. I have to get there first, which may take a few days." She looked up to the ceiling while she calculated. "Let's see... Allow for maybe two days travel between sites...add a few for bad weather...at least a day-long stay for each site...the journey back-" "My stars," Rarity interrupted. "You'll be gone for quite some time, won't you?" A look of despair came across her face. "I guess so." There was a moment of silence. Pinkie Pie was the first to break the melancholy. "Well! I'll have to start setting up for your going-away-good-luck-come-home-soon party!" She began to bounce like she always did. "Oh I can bring some balloons and punch and cake and goodies and hats and music! It'll be the best party you’ll ever have! Except of course for your homecoming party! That's gonna be the best party ever. Of all time!" Twilight laughed, "Thanks Pinkie! All of you, thank you." "Just be sure to come back soon," Dash said. "Yes," Rarity said. "Don't want you falling in love with some foreign prince and never coming back. That's my thing." The room was filled with laughter. A voice on the stairway said, "Great! When do we leave?" Twilight turned and saw Spike sitting on the stairs. "Spike!" she said. "It's late, you should be sleeping!" "What? You guys can't have a party without me! And you’re talking about a trip!" He hopped down a few steps and Twilight approached the staircase. "So when do we go? I have to pack my things." "Sorry Spike," She rested her hoof on his head. "But I'm going alone. I need you to stay here and take care of the house." "Alone?" Rarity said. "I thought you'd at least take Spike with you," Fluttershy said. Twilight faced her friends. "This is something I have to do on my own. And I don’t want to risk anything happening to Spike." When nopony could think of anything to say back, Twilight turned back to Spike. He was scowling at her. "I'm sorry Spike. It's a dangerous journey and I don't want you to get hurt. Now go upstairs and get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." "Meh...fine." Spike groggily as he climbed the stairs again. When he had disappeared, Twilight turned to Fluttershy. "You'll keep an eye on him, won't you Fluttershy?" "Of course, Twilight," She replied with a small smile. "Just come back safely." The next few days went by in a flurry of preparation. After many trips to the outdoor sports store, Twilight was finally able to put together a satisfactory saddlebag of supplies. She sent a letter to the library asking if she could hold on to the materials for a while longer, and received a response telling her to keep the materials for her own library. She sent a letter in thanks, and packed the maps along with some assorted supplies. Before she knew it the time had come for her departure, so she really shouldn’t have been surprised that when she was entering her home after a trip for some last few supplies she was greeted with a waterfall of confetti and streamers and balloons. All her friends had gathered in the library. There was a table with Pinkie’s signature party snacks, a record player playing joyfully in the corner, and a great banner hanging from the ceiling that read: Good Luck Twilight! accompanied with countless scribbles of hearts and hoofprints. As the music and her friend’s shouts of “Good luck Twilight!” filled her ears Twilight wondered why she felt so sad. It wasn’t like she was never coming back. “You guys~” She smiled widely. The inner sides of her lower eyelids were starting to feel warm. “I don’t have any idea how I could have gotten such amazing friends as you!” Twilight was suddenly smothered, giggling as she was tangled in five hugs at once. “Enough huggin’!” Pinkie chirped. “Let’s get dancin'!!!” It was early in the morning, but the ponies gorged themselves on cake, ice cream and cookies anyway, washing it down with soda and punch. Never had Twilight condoned such an unhealthy breakfast, but at that time she didn’t care. Spike certainly didn’t mind it. Several hours later, the party was winding down, and Twilight’s friends presented her with gifts for her journey. They were all wrapped in colorful paper and stacked neatly beneath the table, hidden by the tablecloth. Twilight was surprised when Pinkie suddenly whipped them out. “You didn’t need to get me presents,” Twilight said. “Well of-course we did,” Applejack said. “And you can’t really say they’re ‘presents.’” “No,” Rarity said. “More like gifts,” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at her. “Or…tools. To assist you in your travels.” Pinkie placed a small rectangular box in front of Twilight. It was wrapped delicately in yellow and decorated with little vines. It was obviously Fluttershy’s gift. “Oh,” the timid pony muttered. “You don’t have to open mine first.” “I’m not sure if I want to,” Twilight said. “This wrapping is beautiful! I don’t want to ruin it. Are you sure you’re special talent isn’t design?” “Oh…yes…very certain.” Twilight smiled and carefully unwrapped the paper. Of course, being Twilight Sparkle, she couldn’t just tear it apart quickly. She carefully undid every little seam, meticulously folding the paper and putting it to the side as she went. She was taking five times longer to open the present than a normal pony. Finally Rainbow Dash burst, “FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA! Just open the darn thing!” Twilight chuckled and put the last bit of paper to the side. The box was nice; a yellow patterned cardboard box with a lid. When she opened it, she was introduced to a simple little wooden pan-flute. “I thought you’d appreciate some music on the road,” Fluttershy said bashfully. She was worried that Twilight wouldn’t like it, so she hurried to explain the gift. “It can get rather lonely and quiet on the road, and you’d be surprised how wonderful a few simple notes can sound.” “I love it, thanks Fluttershy! I don’t really know how to play it though.” “Oh, it’s easy to figure out. It’s the flute I learned on. The animals like me to play for them sometimes.” “Huh,” Twilight said thoughtfully. The instrument only had a few holes; not too hard to figure out. She gave it an experimental blow, somehow producing an ugly piercing noise that made everypony jump. She placed it back in the box. “Um…plenty of time to practice,” Fluttershy said. “Thanks Fluttershy,” Twilight said with a smile. “Here,” Applejack pushed a red apple-patterned box toward Twilight. “Open mine next!” Twilight forced herself to be quicker with this box, surprised to find that ripping the paper violently was rather satisfying. She opened the box and lifted a bottle of Sweet Apple Acres spiced cider. “Ta’ keep 'yur insides warm in the snow!” Applejack chimed. Rarity’s gift was wrapped in pearly white paper and a navy blue ribbon. Nestled in folds of tissue paper was a brown cape lined in cozy white fur. “Also to keep you warm in the snow.” Rarity said with a toss of her mane. “It’s so simple, and functional!” Twilight said, examining the cape. It was made of very sturdy material. Rarity swung the cape around Twilight’s shoulders and fastened it using magic. “I love it, thanks!” “Here, do mine!” Dash plopped a raggedly wrapped present before her. Twilight had no trouble tearing it apart. She’d never say so, but the uneven seams needed to be put out of their misery. In the box was a scarf. “I use it for when I organize snowstorms. Figured you’d need it.” Twilight wrapped it around her neck. It fit comfortably. “Thanks, Rainbow.” “Hey, hey!” Spike said from the spot next to Rarity. “I got you a present too!” He held up a tiny thing wrapped in brown paper. “Oh, Spike. You didn’t have to.” “Of course I did!” he said indignantly. Twilight unwrapped the present and plucked a little stone from the crinkly folds of brown. It was a small piece of half-formed gemstone. Too much rock to be edible for a dragon but just enough sparkly purple to be considered pretty. “It’s so pretty! Thank you, Spike!” She gave her assistant a loving nuzzle. “Ooh! Ooh! Mine next!” Pinkie squeaked. Twilight unfolded the colorful paper to find a generously sized fruitcake wrapped in pink parchment paper. “That cake will last forever!” Pinkie said. “So when you run out of food and are starving, you won’t be starving!” “That’s…surprisingly ingenious. Thanks Pinkie,” Twilight said. She re-wrapped the cake and placed it in her saddlebag next to the bottle of cider and several bags of dried fruit. She tucked the flute and stone gently into the opposite bag with the maps. She looked up at her friends. “Thank you everypony. You really are the greatest friends a girl could ask for.” “Oh dear,” Rarity said. “What time is your ticket for?” “Two o’clock.” “It’s best time we accompany you to the station, then!” The platform was mostly abandoned; not many ponies usually visited the town. Ponyville was a small place, after all. The steam engine sat patiently on its tracks, but it wouldn’t wait for much longer. Twilight made sure she had everything. “Let’s see… Cape, scarf, flute, cider, cake, stone-gem, maps, parchment, charcoal, quill and ink, journal…” her listing trailed off into mumbles. Finally she looked up at her friends. “I guess this is it…” “Well?” Applejack said. “What’re you wait’n for? Get goin’!” “Best of luck,” Rarity said. “Be careful…” “Remember those self-defense moves I taught you that one time!” “Come back soon! Come back soon!” “Bring back some exotic gemstones!” Twilight buried herself in another round of hugs and finally started toward the train doors. She kept glancing back and waving, and eventually Applejack had to playfully nudge her onto the steps saying “Go, gurl, go!” She found an empty compartment and opened the window, sticking her head out just as the train’s engine fired up. As the train began to lazily pull away, she waved to the small group of ponies (plus one dragon) and they waved back, calling farewells. The chugga, chugga of the train got faster and faster as the acceleration grew. Twilight watched as Ponyville station grew smaller and smaller, and finally pulled her head in when the chugga, chugga came in rapidly, like that of a frantic heartbeat. She sat in the train silently for a minute, taking in her complete independence. Nopony would be with her on this. She was alone. Twilight used to be alone all the time before she came to Ponyville, but she had grown to depend on her friends, and she was glad of it. But she had to abandon that sentiment for now. She tried her best to recall how she lived on her own in Canterlot as she took out her journal. It was a large, blank travelling journal, and she gladly took out a quill and scrawled out an introduction. Her plan was simple: Ride the train to the coast and hitch a ride to Skyrim. At least, it sounded simple.