A stone's throw

Hauling stone after stone never became any less dissimilar from the last cycle. Pinkie tired of the repetition after the first rock. The harness she was wearing that day was biting through her short fur and her hooves ached. She'd dragged herself through a game of dragon tile with Blinkie the night before, but enjoyment hadn't come. Even before she had her cutie mark she'd always enjoyed spending time with her sisters outside of the work they had to do. How could her cutie mark be spreading happiness if everything was so drab and empty... how could her sisters, her parents not want anything more than dragging boulders and stones for the rest of their lives?

Groaning with exertion, Pinkie dug in her hooves, attempting to drag a boulder a good half a size larger than herself. It was the last one she had to do, but it was so big. Why did she even have to do this, what end did it serve? Who did it make happy? Certainly not her... and not her sisters who were struggling with their own loads, not her father whom she had only ever seen smile that singular time, and her mother was the same... what joy was there in this? Pinkie's thoughts echoed tumultuously, her ears folding back as her eyes shut tight. Willing her mind to clear, she stopped moving, dropping to her front and covering her head, whimpering softly.

When it finally dimmed, Pinkie realized that the whimpering hadn't ended.

“huh?” Lifting her head, one ear perking to try and identify the source of the sound she opened her eyes, still hunched in the dirt. At first she saw nothing to indicate the source of the sound. Climbing to her hooves, Pinkie tiptoed curiously forward, the sound growing louder; yet still a soft, stifled whimpering. “Is someone there?” She called out warily, the sound instantly stuttered into an alarmed gasp and she spotted a flash of ivory darting from several boulders close to the edge of the fields.

“Hey wait!” Pinkie hollered, losing all sense of subtlety. Not even glancing back at her work she burst into a canter. Giving chase without any mind to her sisters, whose heads shot up at the sound of her raised voice.

“Hey Pinkie!”

“Where are you going!?” Pinkie ignored their cries, feeling a sense of urgency she hadn't in the past few days, a sense that she needed to go to that whimpering thing...

It was only a few moments before the end of the fields came and went, but it felt slowed... as if the world has suddenly become a crawl and her hooves were made of lead, even though her mind urged her forward.

                                                                ***

She had run, blindly without thought of where she was fleeing to... only that she had to get away. Thick tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to choke them back, failing miserably. Heads turned as she bolted through town, but she was gone too quickly for anyone to really react to her distress.

How could they have forgotten? Really forgotten it... her special day, the most special day! Her birthday... Rarity hiccuped miserably. Her eyes were stinging and blurry, her magic was sparking inconsistently with the fluctuations of her thoughts.

It was some time before her short legs began to tire and she had to slow down. Blinking away tears as she sniffled, Rarity looked around in confusion. She'd never really been to this side of ponyville... The ground was dusty and gray, and her hooves were already an ashen color rather than white. She cringed in distaste, but her mind refocused rapidly on th crux of her situation.

Where was her delicious overdone breakfast? Her tackily wrapped presents? Her parent's congratulating her on another year passing and how big she had gotten? It came every year at the same time, the same way she had almost gotten bored of it. Rarity didn't realize how much she had come to depend on those singular efforts, those moments of familiarity and comfort. Why did it hurt so much to be forgotten in such a way?

Feeling the well of despair surging up again Rarity flopped on her flank, lower lip trembling and her eyes filling with tears, she scrubbed at them fiercely with the back of a hoof.

“Look at me... I'm a mess.” She despaired aloud, gulping down a heavy breath as she tried to keep from breaking out into sobs once again.

“Is someone there?” The voice caught Rarity off guard and her head whipped around in horror. No one could see her in such a state! Lurching to her hooves she cast a brief glance back, catching a flash of pink before fleeing.

“Hey wait!” Needless to say, Rarity did not... demanding more speed of her unfortunately short legs. She wanted to be alone in her despair! Woe to her unfortunate, devastating circumstances... no one would even want to be in her company in such her state, she simply had to get away from everypony.