Stranded. My body shivered, frozen to the bone by a creeping cold, I alone painted this seemingly endless, blank canvas. Laboured breaths drew vapoured heat from my body. With every progressing inch forward, my hooves sunk deeper into the blanket of snow. I was in absolute desperation to find another pony, one that could hopefully provide warmth I so desperately needed. Even time itself seemed to freeze in this arctic wasteland, turning seconds into torturous hours. For miles on end, I shielded my eyes as I fought on the hypothermic winds, struggling to make another metre forward as a breeze of frigid air pierced through my skin. Another gust forced my stomach to compress, shrinking in the presence of the biting winds. The will in my hooves were numb as I fell into the slushy blanket, becoming easy prey for whatever horrid monsters that lurked nearby. I only prayed hypothermia struck me first.

In the midst of what was sure to be my frozen grave, I spotted some... thing, off in the distance, though it was hard to focus, as snow was flung in my face. “H-Help!” I reached out for the figure, shouting only to find myself strained in the task. When I got no response, I laid my hoof to rest to conserve energy, my heart rate slowly decreasing with every fighting motion.

I blinked, and suddenly, the shadow was in front of me, towering over my pathetically disabled form. Despite having been half-frozen, I still managed to pick out a gently curving snout and a prominent bump on its head against the dark shadow it created.

"P-P-Please, h-help," I forcefully repeated through chattering teeth as my body resisted the cold coursing through its veins. With a desperate cry for help, my hoof struggled towards the heat emanating from the mare's coat... or what was left of it. Now, I really wished hypothermia got me first... or a polar bear.

The violent winds abruptly subsided with the storm, revealing the rotted flesh of the cerulean coated mare. The lips of the concealed face moved. 

"You did this to me." Her once comforting voice faded with the wind.

There was something much worse than the sight of flesh eroding in the arctic cold. It was fear... regret... whatever you may call it, it surfaced with a haunting breath on my face. Something, somepony, who defied rest in peace.

Her hoof grabbed mine. Only in curiosity did I follow and hold onto hers. "I'm sorry," my unconscious words begged the stoic figure. The touch seemed oddly familiar, yet unique... well, once you got passed the rotting flesh. "I-I didn't mean to... I was just trying—"

"No, Graze,... you didn't try. You were successful in doing—" Her voice paused, hidden by the ominous shadow, only forcing my heart to pound more as I resisted the sheer cold in the moment. With one trot forward, everything was revealed... every detail of her half eaten decomposed face. On the left, an eye bulged from the rotting flesh, rolling downward to gaze at me. On her right, her teeth clenched, visible through corroded flesh as her inner tissue and muscle tightened and relaxed to pollute the silent air. "—this!"

Hyperventilating and drenched in cold sweat, I shot forward in my bed, lungs desperately gasping for the air they so needed. The ocean-blue wall supported my back as I recovered from the sudden shock from my nightmare. With a final, heavy breath, I calmed my nerves and scanned my surroundings, ensuring I wasn't still imprisoned in my dreadful dream-state.

With a disgusted sigh, I laid my head to rest, my candy-cane colored mane compacted by a dented pillow. Salvaging what minutes I could, I stared in deep contemplation at the blank ceiling above. The Goddesses know I hate Mondays.

I exhaled deeply and blinked hard, trying to force the sleep from my eyes, only to have a miniature pegasus appear to the right side of my head, resting peacefully on his haunches. His features were strikingly similar to my own, all the way from the clothes on his back, to the snowy patch of fur on his snout.

"Restless night, huh?" the concerned pegasus asked, moving to sit on his hind legs for a more relaxed, leveled conversation.

"Yes, Joy," I blandly grunted, profusely wiping the morning from my eyes.

When one of the two has chosen to reveal himself, the other usually lags behind by a few seconds—  depending on the situation. Other than their respective cutiemarks— Joy with his golden halo, and Kill with his tribal bat wing- it was simple enough to differentiate the two by their mane-cuts. The angelic conscience copied my usual style, but the trouble-maker wore his mane long, with a slightly curled fluff at the end which he affectionately referred to as the “Devil's Slick.”

To my left—or where he should have been—Kill, the brother sat on top of striped mane, a hoof supporting his cheek as he curiously asked of my rude awakening. "The same nightmare?"

"The same one," I yawned, twisting my neck with an audible crack to relieve myself of the midnight strain. "How did you two sleep?" I spoke to my miniature selfs safely within the privacy of my own dorm.

"Well, we all know that I just love a good stallion with an asthma attack. They’re like the sounds of the rain forest that soothes my soul," Kill responded, his sarcasm exceedingly high, as he twirled his hooves in emphasis.

Flapping his tiny wings, Joy hovered over to his brother and delivered a disciplinary hoof-smack upside the head.

"In other words, not so great," the angel said in my favor, tossing a strict glance at Kill as both began to relax atop my mane.

Now that I had been sufficiently slapped and sarcasm-d awake, I fell into my usual morning routine, starting with a stroll to the bathroom, ignoring the piles of books and letters that gathered untidily upon my desk— a permanent reminder of my already busy schedule. That just made my morning so much more worse, you won't believe the agonizing pain of the aftereffects of procrastination.

Making my way across the room, I lazily abused the privilege of flight, my icy-cyan wings guiding me through the entrance. "If it's this bad, I don't know why you can't just talk to a therapist," Joy continued, gliding to the edge of the pearlescent sink mere inches below the walled reflection. 

To wash away the dried sweat, I allowed the running water to cleanse and awaken my tired face. With a desperate need to focus on anything, my eyes turned to the mirrored being’s icy-white stain on his snout as the doppelganger's hoof, curiously inched closer to the patch of white fur, something that was passed down from my mother's side of the family. "You very well know why I can't get therapy, Joy. Who knows what they would do to me—or more importantly, you guys," I answered, roughly drying my coat with a scarlet towel. "Besides, a therapist is just somepony you go to, just to listen to your problems, scribble some notes which you can't even see and goes like, 'Mhmm. Mhmm. Yes, I understand. Mhmm, would you like to talk about your feelings? Mhmm, now give seventy-five bits'."

Thankfully, a knocking distracted the pressuring consciences with a high-pitched voice so chirpy that it could only belong to a mare. “Mail’s here!” The voice's unnatural cheerfulness was a far cry from the usual apathy and scorn I tended to incur, wherever I went. Curious as to who could possibly possess such bubbliness this early in the morning, I hovered lazily to the door and flung it open.

Grey coat, blonde hair with googly yellow eyes— I had to admit, she was unusually... cute. “Hi, I’m Ditzy! Are you Graze, owner of dorm number forty-three of the west school wing?” she asked, faithfully reciting the obvious mailmare protocol letter.

“Yup, that’s me,” I nodded, snatching up the parcel and tucking it under my wing. “So, you’re the replacement for Raindrops, huh?” I asked, concerned for my usual mailmare who would endlessly bang at my door as if it was her top priority to piss me off. But this mare? I didn’t actually mind. “You’re new here, aren’t you?” As if it wasn't obvious enough by her meticulous attention to such useless protocol. Ditzy silently nodded in response. “You know you can just sweep it under my door, right?”

Nodding again, she smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of her golden mane. “Well, since I’m new here, I thought that there wasn’t a better way to introduce myself other than seeing everypony face to face?” I could only chuckle at her perky response. “And you’re the last pony anyways. Bag’s empty, see?” She smiled, her winged appendage opening the golden-buttoned delivery pouch with pride. “So, yup, that means, one, I did the whole western wing all by myself! And two, because every mailmare must run the entire lap before finishing at her dorm,” she paused for something that I believed was dramatic effect. “You’re my new neighbour!”

Thank Celestia, Ditzy couldn’t hear Kill’s victory lap, screaming and cheering as he performed multiple aerodynamic maneuvers from loopty loops to the infamous barrel roll. If I could just keep calm like Joy, I could probably pull of the most convincing poker face ever. “Hmm, I almost feel sorry for you... I’m your new neighbour,” I received a small chuckle from the pegasus, which in turn, oddly made me smile.

Nailed it.

I could faintly hear Kill and Joy teasing me about love, but thankfully, due to experience, I’ve learnt how to willingly block them out. “Well... wanna come inside for a drink?” As the mare nodded, I motioned a welcoming hoof to the somewhat tidy room. And by “tidy,” I actually mean “looks like it’s been hit by a tornado.”

"Actually, my room has seen better days. I'm just going to put this letter away and we can grab something at the cafe, okay?" I said, hopefully to avoid the train-wreck of an embarrassing situation due to my unkempt room and terrible habits.

"Sure! Sounds fine with me!" Ditzy cheerfully responded, standing right on that spot as my surveillance cameras, also known as Kill and Joy, warned me that Ditzy watched from the backgrounds as I piled the white envelope onto the accumulating stack. "Wow, somepony's holding a grudge. From delivering mail with my mom, nopony ever leaves their mail to collect, unless they’re away or trying to ignore somepony."

"Ha, you know your stuff," I complimented the mare as I tidied the pile of scattered letters. "If you'd like to know," I paused, zipping my jacket half-way up my white vest. "They’re from my dad."

"It looks like he misses you," Ditzy sympathized, obsessing over the ever-growing pile.

"Yeah, that's just how he starts off.” I returned to the pegasus, closing the cerulean door with my striped tail. “With him, it's better to just ignore,” I said, beginning my trot through the barren halls with the mailmare.

A bit of awkward silence here and there, it was obvious that Ditzy was left contemplate on my passing words, only the clopping of our hooves against the ivory, wooden floorboard gave signal that we were both still alive and trotting. Nevertheless, the silence gave my eyes time to wander on the passing window panes, the outsider’s light shining brighter than what it was just a few minutes ago. It was then and there where I could finally reassure myself that I indeed still hated mornings.

“So, what brings you to EQU?" I snapped the mare from her deep thoughts.

“Oh... urhm, well, I heard this was a great place for ponies to start over,” she began, her smile dimming with every passing word. “I’m just hoping to get away from all the bad... the ponies that used to make fun of me for my weird eyes, because sometimes, it’s just overbearing, you know?”

If only she knew how right she was, but I had a decision to make. If I happened to utter a single word of my past, the outcome would be drastic, instantly sinking into the same pit that the two of us so wished to avoid. “But, I don’t see what’s the problem with your eyes. They look perfectly normal to me.” I breathed no dishonesty when I said those words. Maybe, Celestia forbid, she would find out later, but as of right now? Definitely not. But hopefully, when push comes to shove, she’d be a bit more... understanding than other ponies deemed to be about my past.

In the moment of a flash did Ditzy’s smile transition to a much more assertive, unwelcoming expression. “Wait, you’re just trying to make me feel better, aren’t you?” She grunted in disgust, pausing our trot in an instance. “Graze, I already got bullied for these eyes, if there’s anything I don’t need, it’s pity.” Her tone seemed to be on scolding levels. Her eyes, though, those bright eyes were no longer crossed... and I think her message got through to me. She was pissed vex.

“Wow, who said anything about ‘pity’?” I fought back valiantly against the mare, more so for her benefit rather than my safety, which I admit felt at risk. “Look, Ditzy, if I were like those other ponies, I wouldn’t be walking you to the cafeteria, now would I?” The mare retreated from her offensive stance, her flared wings still seemingly untrusting of my likes. "Sorry if I offended, I didn't mean to," I said, giving the final push to reassuringly apologize to the offended mare.  

Her wings furled once more at her sides, she continued her trot ahead, deeply enthralled within her own inner conflict. Not a single word to show acceptance or rejection of my apology uttered from her mouth as we continued our little walk of silent tension.

Thankfully sooner than later, we stood before a pair of chestnut-colored barn doors, the entrance to the cafeteria which bustled with activity on the other side as seen through its smaller, centered window pane. I patiently waited for the mare's first move to enter, but for a moment in silence did she stand still, staring at the floor beneath her as her golden mane prevented anypony from watching.

I don't have time for this, I rolled my eyes with a thought to myself, proceeding to enter through the pair of chestnut doors.

As I touched the wooden surface, that same bubbly voice called out to me and said, “I’m sorry, Graze." The sound of that voice alone brought my foreleg back to the floor, allowing the swingable door to automatically close upon itself. She didn't plan on moving until all she had to say was said, and I didn't plan to venture onward until I heard it all.

"I was just so tired of being the target, the fool that everypony can come to get a free laugh at,” she continued. "The emotional pain was there, just building up for years and years... it became so overbearing that I didn't know what to do with it!" Ah, so that's what she was thinking about. "It just randomly bursted out, you know?"  

It was my turn to have my moment in silence, placing the conversation in a standstill as I remembered previous stallions who brought up the rumors about me. "Yes, I do know... but you're better at controlling it than I am," I admitted more so to myself than I did to her. Left in confusion, the mare tilted her as she tried to get an honest fixate of what I was relating to. "Water under the bridge, Ditzy, let's just all forget about it, okay?" I once yet again opened the cafeteria doors for the pegasus.

She smiled, responded and entered. "Thank you, Graze."

     [Loading Colorful Ponies. Setting Furniture. Animating Baddies. Muffins...]

Next Chapter: Chapter Two: The Bet Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes