The Free Skies

Twilight blinked as she noticed the light around her had dimmed, glancing to the lantern she had brought out with her only to see that it had run out. Stretching a little, she let the blanket she had draped over her fall off; closing the worn tome she had been reading and moving over to lean against the railing of her balcony. Twilight Sparkle rubbed the exhaustion from her eyes as she leaned against the railing of her balcony, gazing out across all of the ships and fields she could see as the sky slowly lightened and dawn’s hues of orange and pink covered the world.

“The Canterlot Agri-flotilla, my home and responsibility,” she muttered to herself, sighing as she looked down at the book she had been reading. She couldn't help but feel a pang of longing as she glanced at the old book, its pages worn with age and filled with stories of a world long gone. The urge to embark on her own journey, to explore the secrets hidden within the storm-shrouded world below, tugged at her.

“No”, she said, lightly smacking her cheek. “I have too much to do, and too many ponies depending on me. I mean, not just anyone can handle the pressure of being the fourth in the chain of command as well as making sure crops are all accounted for, repairs are given the proper urgency, supplies are all accounted for and properly distributed-”

Twilight brought a hoof to her chest as she took in a deep, calming breath and after a second let it back out as she moved her hoof away from her. “Keep in control, don’t let him be right.... You were appointed Head Bosun for a reason, you know you can do the job.”

Twilight's moment of contemplation was abruptly broken by the sight of a creature from the Storm, its form distorted and mutated by the harsh environment below though it was still recognizable as some sort of rabbit, as it began to ravage a field of cabbages. “Dammit, why did it have to be that one? Now I’ll have to listen to Cabbage Patch whine and rant about his cabbages being ruined all day.”

Turning, she headed for her cabin, pausing for a moment. To her left, her desk was pressed against the wall next to a full wall window, though there was enough room between the window and desk to fit a light blue curtain she could pull out to cover both the window and the door to the balcony. On the wall in front of her desk was a meticulously detailed calendar, showing what each day had in store for her. Next to it was a small cubby she used to hold the next day’s full list of activities.

Twilight’s eye twitched as she glanced next to her desk at the broken hinge of her open closet door, which she still hadn’t fixed. On the other side of the closet was a double chalkboard that she could pull out and flip when she wanted to, the current side showing sketches of a ship that had many marks all over it as if it had been erased and redrawn many times. In the middle of the room was a table with a few chairs, and on the table was the leftover bits of a sandwich from her dinner last night and her radio.

Lighting her horn she pulled her radio over to her and turned it on, quickly turning to the right channel and pressing the button to say, “We have another breach. This time on the Leaf’s Cabbage.”

A male voice responded, “Ugh, I can tell you won’t have a good day, Twily. We got the alarm as soon as it got within the perimeter. The guards I sent should be there by now.”

Twilight turned back and went out onto her balcony, looking down at where the creature was and seeing several pegasi poking at it with their spears, slowly getting it to move towards the edge of the field. “Yeah, they’re trying to get it to move no- ouch... he’s gonna feel that tomorrow.” She watched as the creature kicked out at a guard suddenly, sending him tumbling across the field and a gap to smash through a window into someone’s apartment.

The male voice sighed, “Great, now I’m going to have a bad day.”

“Just a few repairs, broken glass, broken bones, and maybe some retraining. Anyways, just letting you know about what was happening. See you later, Shining.” At that she would head into her apartment again.

“See you later, Twily. Might want to plan a nap or two into your schedule. I’m sure Grand Admiral Celestia will forgive you for missing a single day’s update,” Shining said, chuckling a little.

Twilight pouted a bit, moving past the table and towards a short hallway that led to her front door. On the right wall of the hallway was the door to her bathroom. “I can go a day without sleep.”

“Tell that to the Smarty-Pants incident.”

She stopped at the door to her bathroom and spluttered a little in embarrassment before turning her radio off, grumbling to herself. “That was years ago....” She sighed and looked to her balcony again, watching the last colors of sunrise fade as her thoughts turned briefly back to the book. "I may not be able to chase after legends," she murmured to herself, "but I can help ensure that our own story continues to unfold, one day at a time."

After going through her morning routine - and splashing almost-frozen water on her face - Twilight left her cabin with the old book floating along in her magic and a pair of saddlebags on her back, heading down the corridor and out onto a landing platform that had a few shuttles on it. She passed one that looked like it was a Scout ship with a mostly light blue paint job and the elevators painted in a rainbow. Another that looked like it was nothing but rust and tape, and a third that looked like almost a ball of metal welded together. The particular shuttle she approached had a skull and crossbones on the side, when she was close enough she called out, “Hello, Pipsqueak.”

A brown eyed, white colt with light brown splotches all over his coat and a brown mane and tail appeared from under the shuttle. “Heya, Ms. Twilight! Need a ride over to The Solar Wind?”

Twilight smiled and nodded her head. “Yes, though a stop along the way for some breakfast would be nice.”

“Oh... gonna talk with him again, huh?” Pipsqueak spoke as he stepped up into the shuttle, keeping the door open for Twilight

“Just because a couple of friends had a fight, doesn’t mean they aren’t still friends,” said Twilight as she climbed into the shuttle and sat down.

“If you say so.” The little colt turned the shuttle on and lifted off, heading towards the middle of the flotilla and the mountain it was anchored to. Twilight leaned back against the seat, electing to relax over the short flight over to a peculiar ship.

This ship was a cargo freighter on the smaller side with a purple and green paint job, its large side doors open so people could come and go across the short bridge that connected it with the agri-helicarrier holding fields of corn next to it.

Pipsqueak set the shuttle down on a clear metal platform and dutifully went through the process of turning the engine off for now. “Alright, I’ll wait here for you to get back.”

Twilight turned back to Pip as she disembarked, “Why not come in and get some breakfast?”

“Thanks, but no. Even though this is Canterlot, I still gotta keep an eye on things.”

Twilight nodded and then headed towards the bridge, going through the open doors as soon as she reached them.