Breaking Free

by VioletMichaelis

Picnic By The Sky

Twilight glanced across her table at the other mares sitting across from her. A blue Pegasus, white unicorn, yellow Pegasus and the mare known as Pinkie Pie.

Twilight smiled warmly and greeted the group.

“Hello everypony.” Twilight nodded politely to them all.

“Hello there Darling.”

“Sup?”

“Umm, hello...”

“Hiya again Miss Sparkle!”

“So, darling...” The white unicorn started. “I do hope you'll be staying for a long time, yes?” She questioned.

“I think so. It's very nice here... Miss..?”

“Oh! Where are my manners?” The pony laughed. “Rarity, darling.” She pointed her hoof around the table as she introduced the others. “This is Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.”

Twilight felt an odd surge wash over her, lasting for just a moment. “Have I met you all before? Outside here?” She asked.

The group shook their heads individually after a few seconds.

“We were all born here, with the exception of Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow Dash stated, chewing a bit of apple as she spoke.

“Apart from TT, only a few ponies go back and forth from here to the city to avoid trouble.” Pinkie added.

“Ah'm one of those few.” Applejack approached the table, laying a tray of food between Twilight's hooves. Hay fries, an apple and a glass of water sit upon it.

Twilight's stomach rumbled, her magic sparking up instinctively as she took a sip from the glass. Applejack moved around behind her other friends, taking a seat at the opposite side of the table. Twilight looked over the group, the wave of familiarity coming back full force, more like a tsunami than a wave.

She zoned out for a second, staring into space.

“Ah, miss Twi?” Applejack gingerly said, furrowing her brow. “Is everythin' alright?”

Twilight continued to stare for half a second and then shook her head profusely. “Everything's fine. I'm just a little overwhelmed, I think..”

“Have you drunk any water today, Miss? You might have a, um.. headache... but I could be wrong..” Fluttershy seemed to cower slightly as she spoke.

Twilight nodded, her eyes returning to their former vividness. “A headache, that might be it. I think I'm getting a migraine.”

“Makes sense” Rainbow Dash nodded, hovering in the air with her arms crossed. “The air down here is pretty closed in, makes us pegasi claustrophobic. I was going to head outside soon anyway, why don't we all go together for some fresh air?”

“Oooh ooh ohhhhh!” Pinkie Pie shouted, bouncing into the air with a wide grin on her face. “I'll bring the party food! And it'll be soooo great!” She proceeded to produce a triple decker cake (seemingly out of no where). Twilight didn't have time to question this action as she dashed through the door, returning in a matter of seconds with a picnic basket overflowing with food.

“woah.” Twilight gasped in awe, mouth gaping. “How..?”

The group seemed unconfused by this action, choosing to stand up from their seats. “Alrighty then! A picnic date it is.” Applejack giggled.

“but how did she-”

“..I'll be there later... I havetogodosomething..” Fluttershy squeaked before trotting off slowly.

“What kind of magic was that?!”

“Right! Twi, hurry up slowpoke, let's go.” Rainbow dash flittered behind the stuttering mare and pushed her towards the large swinging doors on the opposite side of the room. Despite Twilight's stationary position, her hooves slid across the marble floor easily as Rainbow pushed her along, the two looking like ice skaters or something.

Twilight felt somepony tap her on the shoulder, pivoting on the spot to see who it was. Time Turner stood their with a grin on his face. “Heya Twilight, trying out some contemporary dance form? I've never seen it before.”

Twilight, not understanding his comment chose to ignore it and flipped the subject before waltzing into an uncomfortable conversation. “Oh, Mr Time Turner, we were going to go outside for a walk and a talk. Do you want to come with us?”

The stallions eyebrows fell closer to his eyes for a moment, his mouth twisting uneasily. He seemed to be in deep thought.

Twilight wasn't the best at guessing emotions, but he obviously seemed troubled. “....Mr Time?”

He nodded slowly and returned to his former demeanour, a playful smile on his face. “That sounds wonderful miss Twilight! Just what you need. Tell you what, I'll go and get a gift for you, how does that sound?”

“A gift?”

“A gift.” He nodded, tapping his chin with a hoof. “I have just the thing, I'll pull some strings. Meet you in the usual place in fifteen minutes, dash?” He asked, looking to the pegasus still hovering in the air.

“Uhh, sure thing T, I'll see you there?” She nodded, grabbing twilight in the crook of her forelegs. “Come on, Twi! Hurry up, we'll miss the best part of the day at this rate.”

“Not that I have a choice, but I'd hate to miss it anyway.” Twilight chuckled slightly. It felt strange, this sudden friendship with a stranger. Twilight enjoyed it none the less. “So, what is the best part of the day anyway?”

The golden orb sank low into the horizon, the clouds around it stained various shades of red and pink. Twilight stood unmoving, watching the sight before her. She looked around with small movements of her head, viewing the reactions of the newfound friends around her.

Pinkie Pie was busy humming to herself, the pink sky accentuating her coat. Rainbow was doing laps in the sky, moving the clouds around for the perfect view, in honour of Twilight's first night at the colony. Rarity was doodling new sun inspired designs in a sketchpad, and Fluttershy was nuzzled up to a small white rabbit. Applejack had a small portable table on the ground, preparing food for them to all eat.

Twilight looked back to the sun, it just slowly sinking out of view. The words “Welcome Twi” were written in the sky, the tired Pegasus returning to the ground for a rest. As the sky darkened, Twilight turned back to her friends and laid down in the fresh grass, running her hooves over it dreamily.

“I never want to leave...” Twilight mumbled to herself gently, laying her head down on the spongy greenery. “It's perfect here.”

Twilight closed her eyes for a few minutes, basking in the relaxation.

After a short time, she heard the sound of hoofsteps, awakening her from her daydreaming. She looked up to see Time Turner standing in front of her with his neck craned down to meet her eyes. She almost jumped back in surprise.

“Hiya! I see you're having a good time.”

Twilight nodded and pushed herself up to a sitting position. “I'm really lucky to be here.”

TT laughed with a boyish grin. “I bet you are, miss Twilight!” He pulled something out of the saddlebags on his back, wrapped in very beautiful wrapping paper featuring a myriad of butterflies in all different colours. It was topped off with a beautiful bow with a small wrapped lolly in the centre.

“The wrapping is from one of Lyra's designs.” Time Turner explained. “She wanted to know how you were doing, and couldn't resist helping with the gift.” Twilight carefully untied the ribbon and held the lolly in her hoof. “The lolly is from her partner, Bon Bon.”

“Partner?”

“Yes, they're a happy couple. The two work together on some of Lyra's side projects.”

“O-Oh.” Twilight nodded slowly, two mares going out was practically unheard of in the hive. It didn't produce any offspring, so it was illogical. This was a new idea for her. “So... they're like, husband and wife then?”

“Minus the husband part, yeah.”

Twilight nodded. It was definitely odd, but she had learned so many new things here that this was just another stick in the pile.

Using her magic to put the lolly aside, she carefully slipped off the wrapping paper in order to preserve it's beauty. Inside she gazed upon a steel box, which made a slight rolling noise as she tipped it to one side. She magic'd the top off, peering inside to find...

A whole bunch of drawing gear, all set up neatly. An eraser, fancy pencil, scrap paper, and a few coloured pencils where all uniformly arranged. Twilight gasped at the sight.

“These are really for me?” She asked, running a hoof along the box.

“Yep! There's just one condition. You have to make good use of 'em, alrighty?” Time Turner smiled warmly. “I have to go now, Twilight. But I'll see you later. Good bye for now!”

Twilight waved him off and then levitated the pencils over to a comfortable spot on the ground, putting pencil to paper. She began to sketch out the form of a long corridor, with the beginnings of a small pony leaning against the wall with a tired face. As she continued to sketch, her mind relaxed and she got comfortable.

And so Twilight lay, drawing for many hours.

Author's Note:

dear followers of this story

I AM SO SORRY

I WAS A BAD WRITER WHO DIDN'T UPDATE FOR AGES....

Can you forgive me? ;_;

Comments

[archonix]

You are forgiven!

[VioletMichaelis]

3455484

Good point, I'll get right on that