The night was cool and a subtle breeze blew from an unknown direction. On a sandy hilltop in Dodge Junction sat a lone pegasus mare. She looked--for lack of a better term, upset. Tossing her black scarf around her neck completely, she got up and stretched. Her wings unfurling completely and catching the slight breeze.
“Oooohhh. That feels great. Hmmm….I wonder?”, she thought to herself as she got into a start position she was all too familiar with. Unconsciously cracking her neck as she slowly galloped across the sand. Her wings flapping powerful enough to knock a little sand around. As she ascends, she pulls out her earbuds and turns on her IPon music player. As she absentmindedly scrolls through her many songs she can’t help but think of her current predicament as a kinda shock. It was all the fault of her now ex-coltfriend. The one she thought she’d spend the rest of her life with. The one she thought she loved and the one who up and left her with a...rather unexpected surprise pregnancy that she was recently aware of.
“*sigh* what am I gonna do now? I mean sure I’m financially stable enough to raise a foal but...what if I’m not ready to be a mother?”, the mare thought aloud as her flight slowed to a leisurely float. These thoughts had haunted her ever since she came back from the doctor's office earlier that day. How she let herself get sweetalked back into laying with him one last time was beyond her frazzled mind. Yet now she can’t undo something that happened less than 2 weeks prior. She was pregnant with her ex’s foal and couldn't do a thing about it. While one option did cross her mind, she quickly dismissed it. Rationalizing that all life, no matter how it comes, is a blessing.
“What have you gotten yourself into filly?”, she quietly asked herself as she flew into a cloud neighborhood absentmindedly. She had recognised the neighborhood as one of which her friend lived on someplace. Quickly looking at the time on her IPon and seeing that it was nearly 11 pm she opted to not disturb him in sleep. As quickly as she came she left and took a few turns until she realized she ended up in a park. Sighing she simply sat on a bench next to an older mare.
“What’s got you troubled dear?”, The elder asked in a kindly voice.
“Was it that obvious?”, the younger one asked.
“Foal, I can tell when a pony’s in a truly low mood. You. You seem like you’ve been through a lot recently.”, the elder replied with a small chuckle.
“You would not believe what I’ve been through these past few weeks.”, the young mare said with a sigh.
“Try me. Care to talk about it?”, the elder asked.
“I’d rather not--”, the younger started
“--Young mare. I know for a fact that talking to somepony about your troubles often helps a great deal. Plus I’m a great listener and have no place better to be. Why not talk to old nonna about it.”, the old mare said in a comforting bitalian accent.
Realizing that what the old mare said was true and the fact that she honestly didn't feel like getting up off the bench again, she decided to try talking out her issues. To a complete stranger no less! Why she decided this was confusing, but she just went with it.
“I suppose I could give it a shot.”, the mare said as she began her story. She spoke of how she had long since suspected her coltfriend of cheating on her. Not only that but, the fact that the past few months of their 4 year relationship had been filled with insults, accusations and belittlement on her part. She explained how less than 3 weeks prior she actually caught her coltfriend in their shower with another mare. Which lead to her kicking him out (after giving one heck of a kick to the back) and packing his stuff.
“....A week later he came back for the last of his stuff. I tried to ignore his charms and tricks but...I guess I may have been too drunk to think straight and so we….well you know...did things then he left. Just like that. Faust above how could I have been so stupid? Anyways 2 weeks later I’m waking up vomiting and that immediately concerned me. I take some store brand pregnancy tests but they both come back negative. I go to the doctor's today and big surprise, I’m preggers…*sigh*...well that’s it.”, the mare finished with a big sigh.
“Wow. That is a lot to happen in 3 weeks. Oh dolcezza what has happened to you, no mare should have to go through it. Especially alone. You look like a young mare who can hold her own fairly easily. As a madre and a nonna myself, I know the hardships that come with unfair treatment. I too was a single mother when I come with my young son to Dodge Junction from Bitaly. It wasn't easy. I was so young and my fiancé had passed from illness. I thought I couldn't handle it. But then my own mother told me something that she often did while I was still in her tummy and even when I was still a tiny foal. She’d carefully fly as high as she could and as far away from other ponies as possible. Then she’d simply do a ‘free fly’ as it’s known. No traffic laws. No speed limits (but do remember you are with foal dear). Nothing but open sky and your own two wings. Simply free to think and get your pretty little head together.”, the old mare explained to her.
“Really? Wow. I...I never thought to do that. I suppose it beats sitting around moping and feeling hopeless.” the mare started as she slid off the bench at the same time as the old mare “thanks for the talk Ms….oh I’m sorry! I never caught your name.”, she fell off in embarrassment.
“It’s fine. My name is Stella Luminosa but you may call me nonna if you like.”, Stella replied with a warm smile.
“A beautiful name. I’m Lilly Blossom.”, the young mare replied with a small smile.
“Well then it certainly was a pleasure speaking with you Lilly. I do hope we meet again soon.”, Stella said with a sincere smile on her wrinkled peach furred face.
“Yes indeed...nonna. Goodbye now.”, Lilly replied as she trotted away.
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10 Minutes Later…
Lilly found herself once again flying at a moderately slow pace. Simply mulling over what to do from here. As she flew she noticed quite a few other pegasi flying about in the late night hours. Not truly caring for the particular amount of air traffic, she decided to turn her IPon back on and fly up instead of forward. Something about what the old mare said resounded in Lilly’s head and with a simple huff she put on an absolutely perfect track on her IPon (A.N: Play song now) and simply started to gain speed. As she went from a leisurely flight to full blown near speed trail levels, she quickly noticed how high she was. Ordinarily she would freak out over how high this was, but now wasn’t the time to be timid. As she stopped her flight path briefly, she checked around to make sure nopony was watching as she let out a loud, stress filled scream. After letting it all out, she continued on her free fly by making up a dance routine to the song she was listening to as she stepped on a semi-flat cloud. She also went on to perform some really fancy twists and loop-dee-loops mid-air as she sang along to the song (albeit, rather badly as she was not “musically inclined”). After her little freak-out session, she decided to find a nice soft cloud and rest.
“*sigh* I really just did that….*gasp* I ACTUALLY DID THAT!?! In the name of Faust I CAN’T BELIEVE I DID THAT!!! Wow! It feels so….so...so...I can’t even think of anything to describe it as! Maybe...invigorating? Liberating possibly? I don’t know and I don’t care. What matters is that I feel better” she started as she sat on the cloud with her wings splayed out “I mean...for the first time since I kicked his sorry tail out, I don’t feel sad. Maybe what nonna said was true. Maybe I can handle things on my own. I may not know what the future will hold for me or for this foal, but I’m determined to make this work out. I mean, I’m sure if I explain the situation to my friends and family they’ll support me and my decisions. While I do still regret sleeping with that lying diamond dog, I can’t change what’s been done. I must accept the reality of this situation….sweet celestia it just hit me fully! I’m really about to be a mother. This is crazy! This is….” she stops herself again as she catches her breath. “I...I’m really gonna have a little one of my own. Somehow I had hoped I would at least be in my 30’s before even considering having a kid. Then again, I also hoped my now ex-coltfriend would be the one I’d marry. I guess Faust has other plans for me than what I had hoped. Yet, in all of this I can’t honestly say I’d take it back...at least not yet anyways. For now...I guess I’ll just get up and move on from here. Even if I’ll be on my own, I know I’ll be ok. That’s one of the main things mom wanted to make certain was always true since I moved out. I should probably call her in the morning and tell her she’s gonna be a grandmare.”, she finished her little self assurance as she got up and flew off to home.