The morning fog was thick, like a grey soup that seemed to envelope the city of Vanhoover and the entire area surrounding the city. A pony could easily loose their way amongst the fog if they were not careful, or if they didn't know where they were going. It seemed even worse around the docks of Vanhoover, where the busy day had already started. Numerous ponies and others were busily making their way across the wooden boardwalk, each with their destination in mind.
There was one mare, wrapped in a dark cloak with the hood up to ward off the cold, trotting to the ferry ticket booth. She paused as she looked at the board of destinations that the ferries would be traveling to that day. Lowering the hood to get a better view of the information before her, her light blue mane fell from around her born and her cobalt colored coat became more visible.
She approached the counter to speak to the ticket merchant, "When is the next ferry out of here?"
"Where exactly are you looking to go, miss?" the merchant asked with a smile.
The blue unicorn looked to the side to avoid eye contact, "Anywhere. Away from here."
Looking down at the schedule before him, the merchant spoke, "The first ferry to leave right now would be to Vladtoria, just across the sound. However, it's full for this trip. It will be back in about two hours if you wish to wait."
With an annoyed sigh, the unicorn pushed on, "What's next then"
"A ferry going north to Ketchiknab will leave in about forty minutes, and there is plenty of room on that one," the merchant explained.
"Fine, I'll take it," the unicorn quickly placed the currency for the ticket on the counter.
"Okay then, may I get your name for the ticket?"
"Trixie," she mumbled under her breath.
"Trixie" the ticket merchant echoed as he finished creating the ticket for the mare. "There you are," he placed the small piece of parchment on the counter, "just go on down the pathway to the left of the booth here, and go on down to the checkpoint and the ponies there will direct you to the gate where the ferry will pick up you."
"Thank you" was all Trixie said as she used her magic to bring the ticket to a pocket into her cloak.
Troting down the empty pathway where she was instructed to go, Trixie's attitude seemed to be one of annoyance. It bothered her that she had to speak that much to somepony after quite sometime. She had placed herself in a self-imposed exile for a while and as a result she had very little communication with others.
"Ticket, please," a stallion's voice instructed.
Using her magic, Trixie showed the ticket that she had just bought.
With a nod, the stallion raised a hoof, "Thank you. The waiting area for the ferry to Ketchiknab is at the far end of the terminal. There will be a sign there to help you."
"Thank you," Trixie repeated the last thing she had said as she trotted in the direction of the gate, putting the ticket back in her cloak.
Despite that it was fairly early in the morning, the terminal was very lively. At one gate, it was as if a party was going on while passengers were waiting for the ferry. Trixie ignored the clamor as she trotted away. The speed of her trotting, however, wasn't quick enough for some of the other travelers. A number of ponies passed her as they were hurrying one way or another. On pegasus accidentally brushed up against her as he passed, going in the other direction. He apologized as he continued moving in his direction, but it didn't seem to bother Trixie. She was too lost in her own mind to care.
Arriving at the end of the long terminal, Trixie sat down in the waiting area for her ferry. The entire area was completely vacant. There wasn't even any ferry staff in the area. Taking out her ticket, Trixie checked to make sure that she was at the right gate. The ticket had the itinerary: Vanhooer to Ketchiknab, leaving at 6:55 in the morning from Gate 9A. The same information was on the board near the boarding door.
"I guess this is the place after all," she muttered to herself.
Looking up, Trixie looked out of the nearby windows. The sky was a light grey due to being completely covered in clouds, hiding Celestia's sun. The fog was starting to disappear, but it was still making it's presence known by hiding the horizon and the islands out at sea. The surface of that sea was calm and almost lifeless with a darker grey than the clouds and fog just above it.
With a loud exhale, the blue mare slouched down in her seat and closed her eyes. The ferry was due to leave in forty minutes, but each second waiting was painful for her. She just wanted to leave the area. She wanted to escape her past.
The sound of movement caused Trixie's ear to twitch, but it wasn't enough to make her investigate. It wasn't until she was touched by a talon that she opened her eyes to see a griffin.
"Hey, unicorn. Is this the gate for the ferry that goes to Ketchiknab?" the griffin asked, slightly shaking Trixie.
Raising her hoof to knock the griffin's talon off of her, "Yeah, that's what my ticket said."
The brown and white feathered griffin looked at hers and compared it to the information on near the door. "Lemme see yours," she demanded.
Trixie used her magic to present the ticket.
The griffin examined both and then nodded, "Alright, good. And here I thought that I missed the boat."
Putting the ticket away, Trixie mumbled something incoherently and closed her eyes again.
Taking a seat next to the unicorn, the griffin spoke, "So you're Trixie, huh? I'm Gilda."
"Nice to meet you," Trixie responded without opening her eyes.
"So what makes ya want to go up north? Visiting family? Vacation? Traveling?" Gilda asked, trying to start a conversation.
Without moving anything but her mouth, she answered, "Traveling."
"Oh, cool. Like me," the griffin continued, "I'm just going around Equestria right now, seeing new sights, meeting new ponies and stuff like that."
"I see," Trixie really didn't care for chatting.
Gilda took note of Trixie's attitude and expression, "Sorry for talking so much. I'm trying to break the mold, being more open and kind to others. It's actually part of the reason why I'm traveling, to meet others and have a fresh start after what happened in Ponyville."
The last statement caught Trixie's attention. She opened her eyes, "It's fine. Don't worry about it. Now what's this about Ponyville?"
Before Gilda could answer, another pony arrived to the gate. It was a turquoise pegasus with a short blonde mane. The mare looked down at her ticket and then turned to the two that were seated. "I didn't miss the boat, did I?"
Trixie spoke first, "Nope, this is all of us going to Ketchiknab so far."
"Join the fun," Gilda joked as she waved her talon to invite the pegasus.
"Thanks," she said as she took a seat nearby, "I'm Lightning Dust, by the way."
"Nice to meet ya. I'm Gilda and this is Trixie," the griffin spoke.
"So why are you heading up to the gateway to frozen north?" Trixie asked the newcomer.
Lightning Dust didn't seem to want to touch on that topic, "Just need to get away, ya know?"
Both Gilda and Trixie nodded.
The pegasus started to elaborate a bit, "I messed up big time while at the Wonderbolts Academy, got kicked out, and kinda want to just get away for a while. Find myself and junk like that. I heard that it's not uncommon for some ponies who just finished college sometimes go out and travel Equestria for a while 'find themselves'," she used air quotes with her hooves, "I guess I'm kinda doing that. Except with the graduating part."
"Hey, no shame in doing that. It's what both me and my new friend here are doing," Gilda said.
Trixie paused slightly at the word 'friend', but she quickly added her thoughts, "We all got things we're not proud of, so don't worry about it. You're in good company here."
"Really? What's your story, Gilda?" Lightning asked.
The griffin looked embarrassed about bring up the issue, "Well, when visiting one of my old flight school buddies in Ponyville, I kinda got off on the wrong hoof....er, talon, whatever, with one of her friends. I was being a bully and treated her like garbage when all she wanted to do was be my friend. Long story short, my short temper got the best of me and I ruined an old friendship and a number of possible friendships. I feel really stupid about it now and I took it upon myself to take a page from that one pink pony's attitude and be more open and kind."
"That's why you were so talkative?" Trixie asked.
"Yup," Gilda stated, "trying to be more like that odd pink pony." She laughed slightly, "She was a weird one alright, but being more open and kind has really opened the whole world of Equestria to me. I've met some really great individuals through my travels this way. It still feels a bit weird, but I'm much happier now because of it.. Just wish I had the courage to go back to Ponyville and apologize for how I acted."
Lightning Dust spoke up, "Kinda sounds like what happened to me at the Academy, though I managed to endanger lives in the process. Spitfire got so mad at me that she kicked me out right on the spot when Dash told her what happened." The pegasus sighed, "I did deserve it after what I did. I should be happy that Dash taught me that lesson, but dang does getting kicked out hurt."
Gilda interrupted, "Wait, Dash? As in Rainbow Dash?"
"Yeah. You know her?"
The griffon scoffed, "Know her? She was my best friend in flight camp, the one I visited in Ponyville."
"How about that, small world huh?" Lightning Dust was surprised.
Trixie interjected herself into the conversation, "Is that Rainbow Dash pony a blue pegasus with a multi-colored mane? Brash and over-confident?"
"Yup, that's Dash," Gilda nodded.
"For the most part, that's her," Lightning added.
Trixie thought, "I remember running into her back in Ponyville both times. She was friends with Twilight Sparkle."
"Princess Twilight Sparkle?" Gilda asked.
"Whoa, seriously?" the pegasus was in disbelief, "you know the princess?
The blue unicorn felt uneasy, "Well, kinda....sort of. I visited Ponyville for the first time as a traveling magician. I was arrogant and full of myself, even calling myself 'great and powerful', claiming to accomplish superpony feats of magic. But I was outshined by Twilight Sparkle and I fled from the town. I returned to exact vengeance with a powerful artifact. I banished her from Ponyville after besting her in a magical duel, but she was able to defeat me not with magic but the help of her friends. After all of it, she told me I have much to learn." Trixie paused before continuing, "After she became the Princess of Friendship, I figured she was right that I still have a lot to learn. And not just in magic."
"Dang," Lightning uttered after listening to Trixie's account.
Gilda was also surprised, "Seems we all have skeletons in our closets. All of us are running from something."
"I feel so ashamed of everything I did," Trixie sighed.
"We are all ashamed of what we did, and it's kind of a good thing that we are," Lightning said.
"How do ya figure that?" the griffin tilted her head as she asked.
"Well, we all keep looking to the future to try and be better, but we keep begging for the past," the pegasus explained, "We keep looking at our past screw ups in hopes to learn from them, but it's driving us crazy in doing so. That's what happens when I keep replaying the same incident over and over again. I want to learn from my mistakes and become better, taking a page from Rainbow Dash."
The griffin spoke, "I get it, kinda like how I'm trying to be less of a thug and more like that pink pony."
"And me for Twilight Sparkle," Trixie chimed in.
"Yeah. And thanks to them, we learned this lesson," Lightning Dust said.
"I hate to say it, but it wasn't worth it. Hurting them just to learn this lesson," Gilda mumbled with a hint of melancholy.
Lightning nodded, "I think we all wish we could go back and make amends, to fix what we did, to just start fresh with them."
"I think we already missed that boat," Trixie commented. There was a brief silence before she added another statement, "But it doesn't mean we can't take the lessons we've learned from them and carry on to be better individuals."
Trixie, Gilda, and Lightning Dust all had a hopeful smile upon their faces. Gilda spoke, "True that."
An announcement over the PA system of the terminal boomed loudly, "The 6:55 ferry, Vanhooer to Ketchiknab, at Gate 9A will begin boarding in about ten minutes. All passengers are asked to prepare to board. Thank you."
"That's our boat," Lightning commented as the announcement finished.
"Yup, guess we should get read to head up to the icy north," Gilda spoke as she stood up on her legs, stretching.
Trixie's gaze was fixed on the window pointing outward to the water. She saw the ferry had arrived while the three were chatting amongst themselves. Beyond the boat and the dock, she looked at the sky that had been a miserable grey color not too long ago. Now, the grey sky had a crack in which the bright light of Celestia's sun shone through, brightening and warming the city of Vanhoover.
The unicorn spoke, "You know, I don't think I'm going."
"Huh?" this puzzled the two individuals she had been talking to.
"I originally planned on going north to more or less run from my problem. But no matter what I do, I'll be haunted by my past until I confront the ponies I hurt and ask for forgiveness," Trixie stated. She gazed back out at the sky that was becoming more and more sunny by the moment, "Avoiding them won't solve anything. I feel making amends might be a step in the right direction for me, though I have a long way to go."
The pegasus smirked, "You got a good point there. I never did get to really say sorry to Dash or any of those others at the academy. Still bothers me."
"I'm on board with fixing the problem, but are you saying we all go back to Ponyville and say sorry?" Gilda asked.
Trixie smiled, "Start at the source, right?"
All three made their way out of the terminal with a new goal in mind, to make amends for their behavior. Neither of them cared that they missed the boat.
END