“Thanks for the tea, Rarity! It was delicious,” I complimented half-heartedly, stepping out the front door of the boutique. The spring breeze nipped at my ears, accompanying the warm morning sun beating down on the year’s first set of new flowers.
“No problem at all, Twilight! Please come back again soon,” Rarity replied, following her. “I enjoy your company.”
“Well... I gotta get back and get some work done. I’ll see you later,” I shot back, stepping away from her house.
“Oh, of course. Have a good day!” Rarity called, waving a hoof. I mirrored in kind and turned away towards the library. As soon as the click of the closing door could be heard, I let out a long winded sigh. Rarity was hospitable for sure, but if she ever made me taste another exotic flavored tea, I would puke. Just thinking about it made me gag a little.
“Ugh, I feel like I’m about to collapse…” I groaned. The morning had slowly chipped away at my energy, and I was running on fumes. Judging by the sun in the sky and my shadow hiding underneath me, it was barely noon. Living in this new town was draining me like an icebox in the middle of a hot summer day. Recently, I just haven’t had time to sit and just read a new book or two. It’s all running around and doing one thing after another.
Don’t get me wrong, I like living here in Ponyville. I really do. I like my new friends, and I find my new home in the library really comfortable, but something about it all felt too overwhelming. It could have been the fact that I was trying to juggle working on friendship reports, spending time with friends, and then on top of that teaching Spike, while also keeping my home functioning. I needed a break, or else I’d have some sort of meltdown and run off screaming.
As I continued home, I walked past Applejack’s apple stand. I really didn’t feel like talking to her or anypony else and I would’ve avoided this path back home, but that would mean that I would have to sneak past Pinkie Pie. I’d rather take my chances with hiding from Applejack. I crouched down, hoping to sneak past without having her notice me. One hoof in front of the other, I crawled forward as silently as possible, holding my breath.
“Uh, what are you doin’ sugarcube?” I winced as I heard her trademark southern drawl.
“Uh, just… uh, inspecting the ground! Yeah! The ground is really pretty this time of year.” I had to try really hard to not smack my face into the ground. Really? That was the best I could come with?
“Well, I suppose it is?” Applejack said raising an eyebrow and scrunching her face in an indistinguishable expression. I sighed and got back up onto my hooves. Applejack’s eyes shot open wide before saying, “Oh! Twilight, I almost forgot. I’ve invited the rest of the girls over to the farm to taste my new cider recipes and for dinner.” She picked up an apple from a nearby bin and bit into it, turning her head towards me.
“Uh… maybe. I don’t know. Gotta go!” I turned tail and walked away as fast as my legs could carry me. I really didn’t feel like talking, or going, or doing anything. I just wanted to go back to the library.
I continued the trek back to my home, feeling heavier with each step. It’s been barely a week, and I’m already about to freak out. The tip of the tree peeked over the horizon, and I felt my heart flutter a little bit. Finally, I could just sit down and not have to worry about anything for a little while. Step after step, I approached the beautiful and welcoming door of my house, fumbling with my keys. I haphazardly jammed my keys into the lock and pushed the door open. Without hesitation, I slipped inside and slammed the door shut.
“Whew! Finally, I can relax.” I sighed, sinking down next to the door. I felt my skin tingle a little bit as my head fell into my hooves. The warmth of the library creeped through me, and the blades of sunshine cut through the window, covering me in a blanket of comfort. As my eyes slowly drooped down, I let out a breath of relief. Finally, I can finally catch a break.
Crash!
The sound of silence was split by the sound of shattered glass hitting a wooden floor. With It happened so fast that I didn’t have much time to react. I jumped to my hooves and watched as a blur of multiple bright colors smashed into a large bookshelf. The sight caused me to cringe pretty hard,as the entire wall of books shook and then knocking over all my hard work from the past few days. It played out in slow-motion, with each speck of dust floating off into the open space. Rainbow Dash poked her head out of a pile of fallen books and rubbed her temple.
“Rainbow Dash! Not again! That’s the third time this month!” I shouted at her, as she brushed ripped pages off of her back. She didn’t say anything while she looked around, but then turned towards me. “Are you alright?” I asked, noticing the broken glass around her, genuinely concerned, but still very annoyed.
“Wow, you really need to clean this place up, Twilight.” She said, with a tinge of snarkiness reverberating behind her voice. I felt my veins pop, and I could smell the wooden floor singe under my hooves. Heat emanated off of my mane, but getting angry wouldn’t help my situation. I forced myself to take a deep breath and take a step back.
“Calm down, Twi…” I whispered to myself. “Just turn around and leave.” Rainbow Dash started to walk up to me, probably to apologize. I look up, to see Rainbow Dash holding up a book. The book looked absolutely miserable, its pages swollen up with water and the leather cover, ripped into leaving an ugly looking tear.
“Uh, yeah sorry about crashing through the window... again. I lost control trying out one of my new moves.” She extended her hoof, pushing the book towards me. I hesitantly stepped backwards, but reluctantly took it into my magical grip.
“What in Celestia’s name did you do to it?” I asked her, dumbfounded. How could somepony even damage a book this badly?
“Uh, it was in my saddlebag, and I accidentally left it out in the rain.” She lowered her voice a little, ears folding down, in a shoddy display of guilt.
“I can fix most of the water damage, but how did you put rip in the cover?” I demanded, my voice getting heated.
“I didn’t! I let Bon Bon borrow it, and when I got it back, the cover was all messed up.” I had to leave right now. Before I said something I would regret. After all, Rainbow Dash didn’t do anything wrong. Accidents happen, but I really didn’t want to deal with her right now.
Without a word, I took the book and stuffed it into my saddlebag. I swear I could hear my brain slowly overloading. It took everything out of me to just keep my mouth shut and walk towards the door.
Luckily, I managed to make it out the door. I didn’t notice that I slammed the door shut as I walked out. I didn’t really care where I ended up, I just needed to walk. Step after step, I just kept going. Before I knew it, I stood at the edge of Whitetail woods.
‘Well, might as well keep walking’ I thought to myself. ‘I suppose the only place where I’ll actually be able to relax is nature…’ I pushed ahead through the brush, ignoring the tiny thorns scraping at my skin. I couldn’t care less about the pain, right then I just felt like walking forward.
I continued to walk. I’m not exactly sure how long, but my exhaustion caught back up with me. I was way too deep in thought to notice that I had reached some sort of clearing. The trees were thinner and sparsely spaced. The sunlight streamed through the branches, illuminating the grass in the small meadow. Some of the light reflected off of small beads of water that had collected on the grass and flowers, possibly from an earlier shower.
The winds seemed to die down here as well. A simple breeze danced through the trees, inviting the wildflowers to dance along to nature’s songs. A pair of blue jays landed on a low hanging branch nearby me, tweeting happily as I set my saddlebag down next to a large felled tree. I heard a chirp when I sat down, causing me to jump up a bit. I craned my neck to inspect the noise, looking back to where my saddlebag sat.
“Must’ve been a bird,” I assured myself. I looked around once again at the pretty little meadow. There was something about it that somehow made me feel really comfortable. Could it have been the incredibly soft moss that I sat down on. I could smell traces of a honeysuckle shrub along with the sweet smell of a nearby rosebush, hiding behind various trees and logs.
Slowly, I lowered myself onto my stomach. The soft moss depressing as I let my weight onto it. As if on cue, the sunlight broke through some of the tree foliage, and covered me once again in a thick blanket of warmth and comfort. I couldn’t help but let out a happy squeak as I curled up once again.
“Mmmmm, I could get used to this,” I sighed out loud, simply enjoying the surrounding wildlife. This was a perfect getaway spot, for the kind of day where I needed to just escape from everything, and cool down.
Looking back at it, all the animals and plants and even the sunlight itself seemed to be just playing along with whatever card it got. A fallen tree had become the home of birds and squirrels. The birds shared the trees with each other and sang in beautiful harmony.
As I sat, an incredibly large monarch butterfly floated its way onto the fallen tree beside me. I’m not sure why, but it just caught my eye and I couldn’t look away. Something about the way it carried itself. Carefree, yet still holding a distinct presence. There weren’t many too many butterflies around Canterlot, but I had always thought they were just so interesting to watch. The first time I ever saw one was on a picnic to the royal gardens with my brother, Shining Armor.
I was just a little filly back then. I hadn’t even gotten into Celestia’s school yet. I was young, and eager to learn everything I could about everything. I remember the little blue creature, it had scared me half to death when I saw it. At first, I thought it was some sort of pixie that had come to mess with Shining and I. I also remember Shining laughing at me, and explaining that Pixies don’t even live in this part of Equestria. After I got over my pouting, I took a long look at the butterfly and watched it fly away. Ever since then, I had developed a fascination for butterflies.
The monarch butterfly had landed at the tip of my nose while I was deep in thought. I had to cross my eyes to even be able to see it. The butterfly smelled vaguely of honey, maybe even a tinge of vanilla. A smile slowly creeped onto my face.
“What is it that makes you catch my eye, Mr. Butterfly?” I asked it. The butterfly responded by fluttering away and landing on my saddlebag. Curious, I approached the bag and yanked out the damaged book Rainbow Dash had given me. I held it in front of my face, suspended in mid air with my magic. I circled the book, inspecting it from each angle. Looking back at it in a new light, it really didn’t seem all that damaged after all.
Concentrating my magic, I watched drops of water slowly pour out of the pages. The book steadily compressed back down into its normal state. A small puddle of water collected at my hooves, but not for long. It sunk into moss and disappeared completely.
‘Maybe I overreacted... ‘ I thought, remembering that I just snatched the book from Rainbow Dash and walked out. She probably thought I was angry at her, or something. I didn’t mean to come off that way. “I should go apologize, shouldn’t I, Mr. Butterfly?” I asked the little creature, that somehow seemed to know what I was saying. The butterfly lifted off of the felled tree it had settled down on and fluttered upwards and disappeared behind the foliage.
“Au revoir...” I whispered, watching it fly away back into the wild.
The sunlight eventually fell, and I realized that I had fallen asleep on top of the spongy moss.This clearing was almost more beautiful at sunset. Orange light gleamed through the branches now, complementing the distant purple hue peeking over the horizon. The soft shadows of the flora covered the ground now, almost like a mother tucking her foal in for the night.
The leaves, grass and moss seemed to turn a beautiful shade of dark green as the taller shadows washed over them. The breeze danced back in through the trees and blew my mane back as I put my saddlebag back on. I almost didn’t want to leave. I could stay there for centuries, reading, watching nature unfold right there in front of me. I turned towards town and took a few steps forward, but stopped. I looked back the beauty of the meadow, but it felt different.
I knew that I had to leave, but I didn’t feel a sadness. Rather, I felt warm inside. Just sitting, watching and observing somehow made me feel recharged once again. I inhaled deeply and turned back towards Ponyville and trekked on.
It took much longer than I thought to get back to the library. The sun had almost completely disappeared behind the treeline. The sky, a gradient running orange to a gorgeous purple. Being a friday night, ponies bustled around with their friends, deciding where to hang out next.
“Hey! Let’s go get some cider!” A mare called out to another mare. Cider. Oh right, Applejack had invited me over for dinner. My stomach grumbled just thinking about food. I hadn’t eaten in hours. I skipped lunch avoiding Sugarcube Corner, and hadn’t eaten since breakfast. I guess it couldn’t hurt to drop by.
I knocked on the red barn door and stepped back. I looked down when after a few seconds, nopony answered. I turned to go home, but the door opened behind me.
“Twilight! You came!” I turned back to see Applejack standing in the doorway, light streaming out from behind her, illuminating the ground beneath my hooves.
“Uh, I… Yeah. I did,” I sputtered out. I didn’t really have anything else to say. “Can I come in?”
“Of course! Come right on in,” She said as she moved aside. “The other girls are already here, so just make yourself at home. You’re just in time too. We were just about to start tasting the new cider.”
“Really? Great!” I nodded at her gesture to enter the barn and trotted inside. Two tables were lined up. One on each long wall. The left table had roughly thirty small kegs sitting on top, while the table on the right was loaded with pastries, sandwiches and pasta. I felt a bit of drool roll out of my mouth.
“Hey Twilight!” It was Rainbow Dash running up to me, balancing two mugs of foamy cider on her wing. “Hey, I’m really sorry about making a mess in the library earlier. I got spike to help me reorganize and clean it all up.” She laughed nervously, and handed me a mug of cider.
“Oh, don’t worry about it, Rainbow. I forgive you.” I replied, happily taking the cider from her.
“And I’ll pay for the damaged book too if you need me to.” I shook my head at her.
“Don’t worry about it, it wasn’t your fault. I think I overreacted a little. I fixed the book for the most part. I’ll find a way to fix the ripped leather too. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry,” I stated. Rarity and the other girls showed up behind Rainbow Dash.
“Hey Twilight!” They said in unison.
“Glad you came, Twilight,” Rarity said, waving at me. I smiled and waved back.
“I’ll always be glad to spend time with my friends. Now let’s try out this cider!”
Author's Note
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