Chapter 1
Sunflower Fields
The cyan pegasus found herself lost within a vast field of sunflowers, stretching as far as the eye could see, swaying ever so lightly in a passing breeze.
‘Sunflowers...’
Smoothing a hoof over her forelock of radiant coloured hair, she gazed slowly around at the panorama around her, while letting the cool breeze embrace her fur, clinching her like an invisible blanket as it passed around her and leaving a peculiar feeling of natural comfort. Not just content standing in one spot, Rainbow made a slow trot forwards, crossing the field of sunflowers that held themselves up, seeking more nutrients from above. The wind played with her mane, brushing left and right rhythmically with every burst of breeze, tickling her neck and ears with every hoof-step forward.
An unusual feeling washed over Rainbow. The mare strangely felt no urge to fly, as she remained earthbound - taking in the sight of the saturated meadow as the clouds up above peacefully made their own way across the sky. She remembered that such self-moving clouds could only be found above the Everfree Forest... but she didn’t find that it was worth thinking about at this very moment as her attention drew back to making her way across the field and taking in the smells of the sunflowers that surrounded her.
After a while of trotting, Rainbow’s ears perked up as an echoing laughter could be heard from across the field. She looked around, doing her best to make out where such a cheerful sound could be coming from, only to find... nothing.
Facing her head forward to continue on her way, she found herself looking towards what seemed to be an illusion of sorts displaying two young, bipedal children chasing each other. Their hind legs maneuvering the two of them in a snaking motion, their arms spread wide as if to appear they were gliding across the ocean of yellow. She watched as the smiles on their faces faded into nothingness as the illusion disappeared before her eyes, causing her to rub her tightly closed eyelids with a forehoof before reopening them in a state of disbelief.
What felt like a long while later of pressing onwards, the sun had been taking its toll on her as it had barely moved from its original position in the sky. Wherever she was, the day was long and the sun was beating hot down upon her coat and silken feathers, the sweltering heat beginning to get to her.
From the distance she was at, she spotted what appeared to be a mane of golden yellow from amongst the legion of sunflowers that rose from all across the field. Believing that the heat was getting to her, she began to feel desperate for a way out and away from the rays of the sun to find some shade, so she began her approach towards the mane in question at a slightly brisk pace.
Upon her approach, the golden yellow mane had risen from amongst the sunflowers to reveal a bipedal creature holding a sunflower in the grasp of its hand. Hands were uncommon in Equestria, but most equines were educated on the different species out there and what to come to expect from them. This however was unlike anything she had seen before.
This creature had no fur. Something she began to envy the creature of - considering the sweltering heat that was causing her to feel nauseous, before noticing that this creature... no... this child wore clothing that seemed to go well with the current weather. She and her friend Rarity had discussed fashion once or twice a week and... no. It was more of Rarity talking and Rainbow nodding her head in reply with a poignant look to her carefully framed face. She had come to learn about seasonal clothing sooner or later.
She cautiously stopped in her motion towards the child as she turned her head to hear a barking sound coming from nearby. A scruffy dog from amongst the sunflowers appeared, running past her side through the fauna, making its way towards the mysterious bipedal creature. Coated a chocolate brown, the dog nuzzled its apparent companion, rubbing up against his hind leg with its head.
Rainbow looked towards the two as the mysterious creature and his dog enjoyed their reunion, however only briefly as the dog made a turn, signalling for its companion to follow. The child followed the dog as they made their way across the field, being careful not to ruin any of the sunflowers. Rainbow followed the boy’s example and trailed behind from a distance.
Up in the clouds, the cyan pegasus continued to sleep, shifting every now and then as sweat ran down her back and through the surface of the bed that would continue to do its best to keep her comfortable. The drops of sweat would pass through and on to the clouded floorboards, making their way through each layer of her house as each cloud would pass one drop onto the next below, eventually taking form underneath her house in the sky, ready for its descent.
The drop began to fall free from its perch, light sparkling from the rainbow of colours that glistened from within.
Twilight Sparkle, the prodigy child raised under the wing of none-other than Princess Celestia, awoke from her restless sleep as tears streamed down her tired face. Rolling out of bed and onto all fours, she approached her bedside vanity desk, crossing her forelegs on its surface as she began to weep in to them. She held her head on them as her reflection in the mirror could only do the same, letting the tears drop beneath her. Her teary eyes opened once more as she glanced towards the drawer to her left.
Using her magic while her still scrunched-up face was clad in tears, she pulled open the drawer and withdrew from it a small, silver book encrusted with a shining symbol of the sun, a purple ribbon hanging gently from inside the pages of her neatly, well-kept diary. Turning the pages with her magic until she reached the most recent entry, she levitated a quill and dipped it into the inkpot that would be prepared at the end of each day, with a long-lasting spell placed on it to help the ink last through the night. The book was used as a means to keep a record of the days events and any foretellings of the future or mysterious dreams that may stir her from her sleep during the night.
After checking over the ink to make sure it would not spoil, Twilight carefully placed the quill to the page, writing down the events of what she saw in her dreams whilst being careful not to let her emotions get the better of her as they could lead her to ruin the pages of her diary from either her tears or the ever-so-slightly wavering control over her own magic.
Partway through writing however, she turned her head in curiousity as she heard the faint sound of voices coming from outside her bedroom window. Making sure to finish the sentence she was working on diligently, she placed her quill to one side, using a small cloth to cover the tip in the very unlikely case it would drip ink onto the table. Wiping the tears that still marked her face with a forehoof, she approached her bedroom window. Peering out, she began to take notice of a faint glow of light that began emanating from somewhere across the town towards the path near Sweet Apple Acres.
To her dismay, her diary would have to wait.
