Breathin'
Lily Blossom did not like big places. She had always liked the smaller, more intimate nature of Ponyville, and the way the entire village seemed to be connected. It helped give her courage, and it was reassuring to know that things would be the same.
For example, one of the Apples would always run the farmer’s market. Applejack would often try and make jokes with her, leaning on one of her infinitely many countryisms, while Granny Smith would babble on and on about some old farmer’s tale.
But Lily Blossom liked it when Big Macintosh was there. Mostly because that meant she wouldn’t have to talk much to him. But out here, there were no friendly faces, no set routines, and no familiarity.
And that was terrifying.
Lily took a ragged breath in, as the skyscrapers of Canterlot swirled around above her. They cackled like goblins and spiraled through the air like violent wraiths, and Lily fell to her knees, overcome with a brutal dose of vertigo.
The streets spun around her and the world became nothing more than blotches of color, waves crashing and cascading against her chest.
She gasped as her eyes watered, and she clung to the pavement beneath her hooves desperately, as if it would vanish if she were to let it go.
But through the storm came a voice, faraway and distant. “Lily! Lily! Remember what I told you!”
Vaguely, Lily felt a ghost of a foreleg touch her side. She tried to see who had grabbed her, but the figure was just another violent mess of colors against a backdrop of chaos.
“Lily, five things. Five things you can see,” the voice said hurriedly.
Lily gritted her teeth and nodded to herself, a memory flashing through her mind. “Five things, five things.”
With a tremendous effort she forced her eyes open and scrutinized the storm around her. Lily squinted, even as blood roared through her ears and her heart threatened to break free of her ribcage.
A massive swirl of gray on her right began to shiver. She focused on it, and it began to take shape. The edges became more defined, stretching up into the sky and touching the ground. Blurs became squares and rectangles, and the shapes grew in depth and height.
“Skyscraper,” Lily muttered, practically gasping for air.
She focused harder and the building continued to take form. Botches of blue and white became uniform, taking on a clear, reflective quality.
“Windows.”
Two large rectangles on the ground floor suddenly shot open, and a few multicolored forms trotted out. “Door. Ponies.”
“Good, you’re doing great,” said the voice at her side.
Lily turned and squeezed her eyes shut, forcing back a wave of bile. She carefully opened one eye, trying to locate the hazy shape clinging to her. She felt a hoof touch her chin and guide it, and when Lily got the strength to open both eyes she made out a face. “Rainbow.”
Her friend smiled. “Yes, Rainbow Flash, at your service! You’re doing fine, Lily, keep going! Four things now!”
Lily looked around them, forcing another breath into her lungs. “Four things…” She turned her head slowly to not be subdued by her dizziness. “Four things I can touch.”
Lily looked up and saw that she could vaguely make out the skyline above her. The skyscraper roofs broke it up, and a sheet of gloomy gray clouds filled the horizon above them. She looked down, at the sea of gray and black at her hooves. “The sidewalk.”
She moved her head to the right slightly, noting a hazy discoloration near the road. “A puddle,” she whispered aloud.
Lily shuffled her front hoof forwards and was surprised when it hit something. She glanced down to see a red bag filled with color knocked over. “Shopping bag,” she said.
Rainbow gently righted the bag, setting it up in its proper direction. “Yes, great! One more thing.”
“Your… your hoof,” Lily muttered.
Rainbow laughed, and it was beautiful and vibrant. “Great! Okay, three things now!”
“Three things I can hear,” Lily answered. The dizziness began to die in her head, and the rough shapes began to take form. Lily could start to see their details now, like the street signs and lampposts dotting the corners, the pedestrians passing them by, and the carriages crowding the roads.
She heard a distant cry, articulating one word followed by a sharp whistle. “Pony calling for a taxi,” Lily realized, squinting in the distance to see the checkered wagon pull up to the sidewalk.
Lily turned her attention to the street, at the magnitude of wagons and carriages moving up and down the road. Her gaze lingered on a white wagon with a red plus sign painted on the sign, waiting at a traffic light. “Ambulance. I could… I could hear it’s sirens if they were on.”
“Okay! Anything else?”
Lily’s ear twitched and she turned to look at Rainbow again. “...your voice! I can hear your voice!” she replied.
Rainbow beamed brightly and clapped her hooves. “Great! You’re doing just fine now!”
Lily tried to take a step forward but lurched. The world was stabilizing, but it was still spinning in circles rapidly around her.
“Woah! Easy there!” Rainbow caught her with a hoof and helped Lily right herself. “We’re not out of the woods yet. Tricky part, two things now.”
Lily nodded, squeezing her eyes shut for a second. She thought of her warm bed back in Ponyville, then of her comfy if not plain hotel room waiting for her. She thought of her friends and her family, and of being anywhere other than here. “Two things I can smell.”
She opened her eyes and looked around the world. It was almost normal, but it still seemed overwhelming and oversaturated. Carefully, Lily scanned the windows and the roads, watching as the objects took shape and form before her. She paused in front of a store window, where a cardboard cutout of Sapphire Shores was advertising something. “Perfume,” Lily realized. “I can smell that.”
“Alright, what’s one more thing?” Rainbow prompted, squeezing Lily’s shoulder. Lily almost felt it.
“Ummm….” Lily looked around again, before glancing up at the overcast sky. “The rain?”
Rainbow pumped her hoof enthusiastically. “Great! Okay, one more thing!”
Lily nodded, risking a small smile. “Right. One thing I can taste.”
Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her shudders began to cease, and the dizziness was completely absent from her mind. When she opened her eyes, the color began to die down, returning the world to its usual saturation.
She could read the signs now, without the letters stabbing her eyes and pounding her mind. She could see the faces passing her by, and she could feel the wind blowing through her mind.
Lily looked down at the bags by her hooves. She lifted a bag in with her hoof and ruffled through it before pulling out a small plastic bag. It was light and crinkly, making noise as she turned it over in her hooves. “Potato chips.”
“Potato chips!” cheered Rainbow Flash. She threw her hooves around Lily and pulled her into a tight hug. “You did it, Lily!”
“I… I did,” whispered Lily, surprised. She dropped the bag back to the sidewalk and hugged her back. “I… wow! I did it!”
Rainbow laughed, giving her a few pats on the back. “Heck yeah you did! Great work, girl!”
Lily smiled, a light blush forming on her cheeks. “I… Thank you, Rainbow. Thanks for the help and teaching me that.’
Rainbow Flash waved her hoof dismissively. “Nah, that was all you, Lily. You did all the work, I just sat here and watched.”
Lily sighed, casting her eyes to the ground. “I… I am sorry I had another panic attack though. I just don’t like these big cities, it’s all so overwhelming…”
She closed her eyes, but opened them when Rainbow lifted her chin up. Rainbow leaned in and kissed her gently on the cheek. “Hey,” she said softly, “don’t sweat it.”
With that, Lily stood to her hooves and gave Rainbow a nuzzle. “Thank you. Seriously.”
“Heh. No problem,” Rainbow answered with a smile. “How about we head back to the hotel now?”
Lily looked around at the sprawling city around them, taking in the sounds and the sights that made up their world. She felt a little anxious again, overtaken and lost in the endless sea of shapes and colors. But Rainbow squeezed her hoof and her anxiety melted away. “I think I’d like that.”
“Then lead the way,” Rainbow declared.
Lily nodded with a smile, and the two set off again, forging their way through a loud and confusing world. She looked up at the sky as rain began to fall, knowing that even if her mind was in the air, at least her hooves were on the ground.