I sighed, trying to let out a lot of stress. “This is going to be a long day.” My front hooves gripped the sides of the sink, and I bowed my head, breathing deeply for a few moments. My light blue, almost grey eyes slowly looked up, meeting themselves in the mirror. I looked horrible, to say the least. My dark blue coat was rumpled and messy, glowing a dull color rather than beaming brightly. My teal mane streaked with red was just as bedraggled. Dark bags sagged under my eyes, reminding me of how little sleep I got last night. Because of- Don't think about it. That only makes it worse.
I resolutely pushed the thought away and opened my eyes again, continuing my solemn gaze. Three scars traced my face, having scarred me for so long. A middle scar ran diagonally from the top of my left eye down to the bottom of my right eye. The other two were above and below the middle one, mirroring it and running in the same direction. They’re meaningless. Forgot about them. I closed my eyes and my horn glowed a dark, almost purple blue. When I opened them, the scars were gone. But I knew however much I desperately tried to hide them, forget them, they would always be there, forever. "Lapis! Come on! I woke you up five minutes ago! That’s plenty of time for you to be ready by now!”
I bowed my head, a grimace quickly appearing, and a groan escaping my mouth. "I'm coming!" I irritably yelled back. The handles on the sink glowed as I turned them on, quickly splashing water over my face. I dried myself then turned toward the door, hesitating for a moment to lean against the frame. "Come on, just one day, it’s just one day. You can survive that.” I muttered to myself before pushing the door open.
A blast of sights, smells, and sounds filled my mind. The air was crisp and fresh bringing with it the continual promise of winter soon approaching, ponies and creatures alike calling happily to each other in the town below with the wind carrying the noise up to me, buildings spaced apart with beautiful architecture and coloring. I breathed deeply, then sighed. "Alright Lapis, we've got most of the day before the performances, giving us plenty of time to see the majority of Ponyville." I looked in front of me, instantly recognizing the light blue mare struggling to pack a saddlebag. Trixie. I bent down, gripped my already packed saddlebags in my mouth, and tossed them onto my back. I silently grumbled my displeasure as I tightened my saddlebag around my body. This is stupid! I don’t want to do this!
Trixie pulled her saddlebags on and marched forward without a single word. I quickly followed after her, trying to drop my annoyance, but it clung to my mind.
"What's this celebration for again?" I asked, trying to distract myself.
"I've told you a million times. It's the Summer Sun Celebration, made in commemoration of Princess Luna and Celestia."
"Hmm.”
We entered the main part of the town, the streets now becoming crowded, most likely because of the celebration. We walked for a while, with Trixie pointing out several large and small locations as we progressed. I stopped to admire a nearby store window, currently showcasing a book, before finally turning away. "Hey, Trixie..." I broke off as I realized she was not beside me. She must've kept walking. Oh well. A small flicker of fear filled my chest. It wasn’t that I was afraid of being alone, but it was being in an unfamiliar, extremely crowded place.
Silently I cursed myself for losing track of her. Well I can look around on my own. As long as I do and don’t leave Trixie can’t get mad at me. I started walking then stopped. Hopefully.
I wandered the town for a while, completely unaware of where I was, or what I was doing. It seemed the farther I walked, the more crowded it became. I tried to slide past a yak on one side, and an earth stallion on the other, before suddenly being pushed forward, slamming into something. I was face to face with a pair of bright amber eyes.
Again, I tried to back up, before suddenly bumping against something. The mare the amber eyes belonged to widened as she looked above me. "Look out!” I followed her gaze upwards toward crates falling toward me. My horn glowed and I shut my eyes tight in concentration. After a moment, my head snapped downward toward the ground and I recognized the unfortunate familiar pain of whiplash. I groaned, then opened my eyes, looking around.
My shield, a light blue seemed to have several intact wooden crates, as well as several broken ones piled up around it. I dropped the barrier spell and the remaining compact boxes broke, sliding and scattering scraps of wood, fruits, and vegetables everywhere. My hoof slowly rubbed the base of my neck and I groaned again, shutting my eyes tight in pain and wishing for an ice pack.
"Hey, are you ok?"
I stared at the ground, suddenly very uncomfortable. My gaze flickered upwards and I saw a loose circle filled with all kinds of differing creatures. They were whispering and talking, without a doubt about me. I felt nervous and scared, it was extremely overwhelming. It didn’t matter to me if somepony talked behind my back about me, but this was very different. I’d accidentally made a scene and everypony knew it. My breathing became ragged and my head whipped side to side, staring fearfully into the eyes of the crowd before settling on the mare who had startled me. Immediately, I was startled again as I stared at the mare before me, unable to look away.
She had the fangs of a bat pony but confusingly, the wings of a Pegasi. Her coat was a deep purple and her mane was a dark grey but somehow shone extremely bright. Lastly, I noticed her eyes, they were such a bright amber color that I found myself lost in them.
I forced myself to look away, staring at the ground once more. "S-Sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen." My hooves slowly lifted off the ground as I took a half step back.
"What? Oh no, it's ok! That wasn't your fault. That was an accident." I gave a small shake of my head. "No its not. I didn't want this to happen." One of my hind legs broke through a crate as I continued to move backward. The mare stared at me and I tensed wishing desperately to be anywhere else, even being with Trixie would be better than this. It was utterly silent as everypony waited for something to happen. "I'm sorry about this." My horn glowed and I slowly pulled out a small spherical sack to the top of my saddle bag. The mare looked utterly confused before her eyes narrowed suspiciously then quickly widened as I threw the sack down at the ground. A plume of smoke spread outwards and quickly dashed forward right past the mare. She stood coughing and I felt guilty but kept running, trying to push my emotions aside.
I quickly realized the streets were too crowded and tried to find a way onto the rooftops. So I kept running and after doing so for a minute I saw several stacks of crates haphazardly lined up against a wall that seemed to belong to a warehouse. I turned towards them and my hooves stretched forward as I lept upwards and gripped the edge of a stack of crates before finding myself on top. I continued moving up the stacks of crates before they ended and I was forced to jump once again. It was a large jump but nothing I'd done before. It wasn't the most perfect jump I quickly realized as my chin banged against the roof edge.
Well... buck.
I hung in place for a minute as I contemplated what to do but as I looked down a shadow passed over me. I quickly looked up and felt the color drain from my face.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding."