“Twilight, wake up!” a voice shouted from atop her. It was laced with panic. Twilight slowly opened her eyes. “Up! Up! Please, now!” She focused her eyes, a brown stallion above her. She peered around at her surroundings.
Twilight groaned softly, her back aching. “Time Turner, what's wrong...?” She asked, pushing herself to her hooves.
“there's a scout team heading this way! We have to go right now.” Time Turner turned around, looking towards the hideout not too far from where they were. “You fell asleep outside yesterday and we didn't think to take you inside, but now we have to move before they get here!” Time Turner took off, Twilight wearily following behind him.
She was slowly connecting the dots in her head, working out where she was and what was happening. It was such an abrupt awakening that she was still half asleep, which made recalling last night's events very difficult. Everything was clear about the day, she had been taken to a complex with the most amazing ponies, learnt magic, met new friends, and then she.. she... what had she been doing before she fell asleep? Twilight's running had alerted her of a weight upon her back, the saddlebags she brought yesterday bouncing up and down on her back.
“I fell asleep while drawing?!” She asked aloud to no one in particular as Time Turner slowed and felt around the ground with a hoof. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“I am” TT started, pressing down on a certain patch of grass with a click. “Locating the back door.” a low humming sounded as something raised the ground up a few meters in front of them. The grass above the rising platform seemed to fall upon it like carpet, meaning once it lowered the ground would look the same as before. Twilight noted that it was not just a platform, rather a small room that had elevated. It was completely metal and very small with one inconspicuous door in the front. The door swung open and Time Turner scooted inside, motioning for Twilight to follow. It was pitch black, but Twilight was being led down a flight of stairs. After half a minute or so the room sank back into the ground, covering the entrance to the staircase. Looking ahead Twilight saw light at the end of the winding tunnel.
The floor flattened out into a long hallway. Time Turner slowed down and took to a speedy trot, not looking behind him. Twilight followed along, still slightly dazed from the experience with her heart pounding. She felt rather dizzy and stopped to lean against the wall. The earth pony in front's ears twitched at the subtraction of one set of hoofsteps. He spun to look over at his companion.
“Miss Twilight?” He asked, trotting back towards Twilight.
Twilight's head was spinning and she felt nauseous. She had originally thought it came from her elevated heartbeat, but she felt much worse than she should have. She shut her eyes tightly and paid special attention to her breathing.
“Twilight, are you feeling alright?” TT put a hoof on her shoulder, hoping to catch her attention. The mare didn't answer, sliding down the wall as she fell asleep.
It would be more trouble than it was worth to try and carry the mare back to the main complex alone, so Time Turner opted to run off and find a certain unicorn to lend him a hand. He arranged Twilight's saddlebags under her head for comfort and spun around, taking off in search of Trixie. The tunnel stretched forward for a few more minutes, leaving Time Turner to his thoughts. Time Turner tended to be a very active stallion, never wanting to be left by himself for large stretches of time because he preferred the excitement of conversation. So strong was his affliction for loneliness that he often chose to sleep in the cafeteria instead of in his own room. Applejack tended to his dinner and breakfast those nights out of gratitude for all the work he did for the colony.
The familiar feeling of doubt rose in Time Turners head as he cantered forth, thoughts flooding his mind. What if they saw me?What is a scout team doing out here anyway? What if they noticed twilight was gone?
The stallion shook his head briskly and resorted to focusing on the sound of his hoofsteps instead. The rhythmic hoof fall kept him occupied as he turned a corner and entered a door. Through the door the rooms were brightly lit as he found himself in the centre of the colony. Lyra spotted him and trotted up to him, a smile on her face.
“Hello! What's going on, TT? You seem tired out.”
Time Turner grimaced slightly and looked to the left of the unicorn. “Looking for Trixie, that's all. The new mare seems to have used up a lot of energy this past day.”
Lyra's face turned to one of concern. “Is she doing okay? Where is she?”
“Down the hall, just from the entrance. I had to fetch her from outside. I'm locking up the colony for the next day or two.”
Lyra nodded and turned in the other direction. “I'll go get some water for her then bring her back down. No need to worry, leave her to me.”
TT smiled, relieved. “Wonderful, I can always count on you.”
Time Turner spun around and took off in the direction of his room.