It was the height of the Summer Festival, and Iowen, the introvert that she was, was drawn to one of the more quiet beaches. She trotted along the shoreline with the ocean mist spraying in her direction thanks to the gentle wind. She was currently veiled and wearing a dark beige sunhat that had a purple bow tied around it. Her short tail flowed freely while her mane was braided. Hoofprints littered the sand from both her and other Veilhorns who had been spending time at this particular beach.

Unfortunately, Iowen spooked easily and a little brownish red crab scurried out from under her hooves in a hurry, disturbed by her movements above ground. She reared in response while a few bolts of lightning shot from her front hooves – her fight or flight response had been activated. A static field quickly surrounded her as she went on the defense. The crab decided to bury itself under the sand for its own safety while Iowen calmed down.

Her tan hooves kicked up sand as she danced in place in a nervous manner; her nostrils flared momentarily, releasing bated breath as the surge of adrenaline slowly passed on. The static field dispersed and she was no longer emitting lightning bolts. There were a few bystanders to the event and she did her best to ignore the onlookers.

“Could’ve happened to anyone…” was what she mumbled to herself before taking a deep breath to settle her nerves and picking up her sunhat, which had fallen from her head during the debacle. With a snort, she left the shoreline at a walk, heading more inland. There were some umbrellas set up all along the beach for Veilhorns to rest under and she picked out a purple and white striped one to lay beneath. Sighing, she observed the beautiful scenery and wildlife that surrounded her, as well as watching some others build sandcastles or young ones enjoy a game of beach tag.

A few passerbys greeted her, to which she returned the favor and wished them a wonderful and safe Summer Festival. She rested her eyes for some time beneath the umbrella, simply enjoying the ocean breeze.

A familiar voice caused her to open her eyes, and she whinnied in greeting. The Veilhorn that was trotting over was none other than Guinevere, an Elwyn of lithe build, similar to an Akhal-Teke. “Iowen! Nice to see you enjoying the beach today too.” “Guinevere, lovely to see you, my friend.” Iowen stood up and the two engaged in small talk for some time, catching up on each other’s lives. “Hey, Guin, would you like to race to the other end of this beach?” “Absolutely! I’ll give you a head start, ‘kay?” Guinevere teased. “No magic, sound fair?” “Wonderful. The last one to finish is a rotten clam!” With that, the two Veilhorn mares took off in a friendly race. Iowen led the first half as their hooves kicked up the sand and seafoam as they galloped across the shoreline; small waves crashed at their hooves, covering their hoofprints and swallowing the sand.

The ocean breeze was a welcome feeling through their manes and across their bodies as they playfully taunted one another with smirks and silly names. Truthfully, it was a close race, especially as Iowen was of the Strider class; this was what all of her training was about. Guinevere just had a natural advantage due to her build.

Some young Veilhorn foals cheered them on, simply excited and pumped up at the sight of them racing. “Look at how fast they are!” “I wanna be that fast when I grow up!” Their mothers just smiled to one another in admiration of their children.

Meanwhile, Guinevere was speeding up. She was great for the sprinting at the end, but Iowen was not going to lose so easily. “Not fast enough to catch me this time!” teased Guinevere, while Iowen huffed playfully and her muscles worked harder to catch up. She had recently resumed training after an injury, and the training was paying off. “Won’t lose me that easily, my friend!” Iowen called out next to her. They were neck and neck at this point and the end point was in sight. A large boulder marked the finishing point.

The two mares pounded the sand with their hooves with more ferocity now. A hundred feet. Fifty feet. Twenty feet… they were closing in fast. With one last push and one last breath, Iowen was the one to cross the finish first; however, Guinevere was only inches behind her. It really was a close race. They stood for a bit merely catching their breath and cooling off. Finally, when the dust settled and they had calmed down, they both laughed. “How did you like that, Guin? Beat ya, though not by much.” Iowen grinned. “Not bad, Iowen. Not bad at all. I’m impressed actually! The training has paid off, clearly.” “Let’s go grab a snack, yeah?” Iowen needed a bit of a refuel after that. “Sounds good to me.” With that, the two friends walked off to refuel and enjoy the rest of the day with the sun high in the sky and the ocean breeze blowing across the beach.