Nighttide Star [Rewrite Draft]

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Once everything was squared away, Twilight and I headed out and down the path leading away from Fluttershy’s.

Once again, the sky was clear, and just above the horizon loomed a sun that bathed the world in a wonderful warm light. It was still early enough that dew clung to the blades of grass and leaves of the trees around us, reflecting the light with a dreamy sort of shimmer. Fluttershy was right, too – it was easy to tell how early into spring it was, as the air had a crisp chill to it that bordered cold. Of course, just as designed, my suit worked to keep my body warm. But I was tempted to shut the system off just to soak in this sensation, the biting nip of early spring that I hadn’t felt in so many years.

Without thinking, I sighed and smiled. It really was something to see, this natural world in all its untampered beauty. Every creature big and small, from the birds flitting overhead, to the bees that hopped from flower to flower, seemed to be completely oblivious to just how fascinating a sight this was. Then again, I imagined they probably hadn’t grown up most of their life in a big city.

Lost in thought, I was startled by a bump against my shoulder. “Is everything alright?”

I turned to look at Twilight, walking beside me. “Yeah. How come?”

“You’ve just been really quiet since we left Fluttershy’s.” Looking forward, she said, “Not nervous about today, I hope?”

I shrugged. “Wouldn’t really matter if I was.” Looking out over a field to a fog-covered mountain far in the distance, I said, “But no. It’s just a really pretty day, is all.”

Twilight hummed beside me. “Hmm… I guess it is, isn’t it?”

“Guessing sunny days like these must be common here, huh?”

“Not necessarily. It depends on the time of season and what the weather committee has planned.”

Weather committee? I turned to look at Twilight with a raised brow and ears forward. “What’s a weather committee?”

Twilight glanced my way and furrowed her brow – then must have realized what she was doing, as her eyes widened. “Oh. That’s right—”

“Yeah, kinda new to this whole Equestria thing,” I said with a knowing smirk.

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “Sorry. Basically, every town has a team of pegasi who work together to craft the weather each day.”

“You mean, weather here isn’t a natural phenomenon?”

“Not in populated areas,” Twilight said, casting her gaze over the field to the left of us. “There are some places where the weather is free to do as it pleases, but that’s usually only over uninhabited regions – like the Everfree Forest,” she said, nodding where she was looking.

I looked across the field and noticed a dense forest, over which hung a few dark clouds. “I take it that’s the Everfree?”

“Yep.”