“Lily! Did you hear what I said?”

“Huh, what?” I replied as I stopped gazing at the row of books lined along one of the stall’s counters.

My mother who was once looking at me with a stern stare turned to her side, unclasping her pouch with her mouth, pulling out several bits. “I need you to go to the florist over by the vegetable sector and pick up some sunflowers for the bees.”

“Did we run out already?” I ask, looking back at the books in the stall.

Mom tapped me on the head with her hoof, getting my attention. “Yes we did.”

“Now lately you have not been doing your part as a beekeeper and it’s been angering the family. You been keeping your head buried in books instead of helping your family survive. So help us for once by simply getting some flowers. Don’t mess this up alright? Now get going, we have someone we want you to meet on the blimp.”

I bowed my head, remaining silent as I turned and trotted away towards the Vegetable Sector.

I never really liked The Market. It was always so noisy and crowded and bumping into every pony was almost guaranteed unless you are a Pegasus. I continued trotting between individual ponies, looking left or right trying to find the florist stall.

I began to go back over what she said earlier. Someone they want me to meet? Our family ain’t exactly one for meeting ponies let alone introducing ponies to others. I let the thought sink into the back of my mind as I slowed to a walk as I approached the florist stall. A older pony, with a light bronze body and equally colored eyes stayed behind the counter. She lifted her head as I approached in modest.

“Hey! Look who is back at our place! Well I be a fiddle of a filly you are here for some flowers ain't ya?” hollered the pony.

“Sure are Peggy. Sunflowers as usual.” I replied, quickly placing the bits given earlier onto the counter.

“Sunflowers?” replied Peggy, raising an eyebrow. “Don't you buy anything other than sunflowers?”

I bowed my head, ashamed. “I wished. My moth--”

“Flora? Kinda tall, light pink with a honeycomb cutie mark?” Interrupted Peggy.

“Yes...Flora Apoidea. My Mother.” I replied, though with a touch of a scowl at Peggy’s rude interruption.

Peggy ducked underneath the counter of her stall as a voice trailed her. “Aye Darling! You need yourself a fresh cup of lemonade before you go bucking off down the street or at someone.”

I looked behind me, talking as I eyed the blimp on the docking station in the distance. “I really can’t Aunt Peggy. The blimp will leave soon.”

Peggy brushed it off with her hoof. “Pff, Blimp Shrimp. You got plenty of time to have a small glass of pink lemonade.”

At this response, Peggy poured a glass of her Honey-Nut, Lemon Squeezed Pink Lemonade. Peggy sure knows how to make someone thirsty. I stepped in place, nervously trying to decide what to do.

Peggy, being herself made it worse. She slowly added several ice cubes from a cooler, using frosted tongs to move them. The ice cubes give off a gentle clang as they fall into the small glass and hit the bottom. My happiness won over me, dragging my body over to the counter and quickly shoving my snout down the glass, drinking up the lemonade like a vacuum cleaner.

“Easy girl! You’re gonna give yourself a tummy ache at that rate!” cried Peggy though her constrained smile shows she was not being all that serious.

I crunched my snout and pulled away as Peggy held the glass still, releasing my snout from it’s delicious prison. Peggy eyed me then the Sunflowers. Instinctively, my eyes followed and eventually made the connection.

“Oh. Thanks Peggy and thanks for the lemonade. It was as good as always!” I yelled after grabbing the flowers and placing them into my pouch, galloping off.

“No problem dear! Don't forget to tell Flora I said hello!” Yelled Peggy just as another customer was walking up to her.

Okay think I thought to myself. Flowers? Check. Lemonade? My stomach churned as the aching began to loom. Check. Anything else? Nope.

I took a left and then a right, zig zagging towards the blimp, everything was moving at such a good pace that I did not notice the filly in the middle of the intersection.

The momentum from me and the Filly’s lower height could not prevent the imminent crash. I got several seconds of air before colliding and grinding along the ground. A sharp hot pain shooting up the right side of my face. A whimpered loomed behind me as well.

“Oh no...” I groaned as I slowly got to my hooves, wobbling.

Several ponies began to gather from the Meat District in the West and the General/Misc Goods in the East. I slowly turned to see the filly, only to find her covered in dirt and a hoof mark imprint on her body.

“I’m so sorry!” I cried as I walked over. “I was going too fast and was thinking and could not focus..”

Tears welled up in my eyes, not only from the pain in my cheek but for pity. The filly laid there, looking down at the dirt as a long gash ran up the right side of her cheek. A tear shed not from this young pony as she slowly got up.

“Are you okay?” I asked, bowing my head to her level.

“Yes.” Replied the young Filly.

The filly walked several feet away only to fall forward onto her snout.

“Cancel that. Maybe not so much.” Came a soft whimper.

I limped over looking down at her. She laid there, shriveled up and shaking. Tears dotting her cheeks in places.

“Can I help you then? It’s the least I can do.” I asked.

A struggled whimper wheezed out from the filly as she nodded.

I looked around at the other ponies. Frowning as they just stood there not helping in anyway. I backed up slowly, bowing my head before moving forward, plowing underneath the ground and getting the filly’s body onto my head. I turned my head behind me, feeling the filly climb and eventually cling onto my body and neck.

I decided to take this moment to look her over as the other ponies began to leave. The filly, younger than me but not by much was a dark green like me but her most shocking feature being the small nub on her forehead. She was a unicorn. I looked around me. No pony but Earth Ponies dominated this area of Canterlot, reasons unknown at my age. I began to walk towards the distant blimp as the sun began to crest along the distant mountains...