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The sun was far too bright today. It beat down with an oppressive heat, seemed to spike everyone regardless of their angle toward it or unhelpfully cast a shadow on everything if you tried to turn away. Normally shadows were good, quite good Dark Water would say -- perhaps even the best -- but the shade of a tree was far different from the shape of her own phony body getting in the way of reading.

Unfortunately, everywhere was like this today and unless cloud cover decided to creep in there would be no relief until the sun decided to go to sleep. Were it so easy, the dark filly would have chosen somewhere else to relax and be alone.

That hope was dashed anyway as a nearby baseball diamond was taken up by a large group of foals eagerly readying themselves for a game. Dark Water huffed, fluffing some of her hair into her face with a breath.

With just the right touch of stubbornness, Dark Water decided to at least attempt further reading where she sat; it involved a lot of squatting, squinting, and just a bit of shuffling, but she managed to get a handful of words read in roughly the same amount of time it would have taken to write an entire paragraph.

Neither her own shadow nor that of the tree was cooperating on one side, and on the other there no shadows present at all. So what, then, was the dark thing in the corner of her eye?

She scarcely had time to react. Dark Water reared back so hard she nearly gave herself whiplash as a baseball came hurtling out of the sky and collided with the center of her book with a dull thud. It bounced with a high arch, then rolled just a foot or so away from her across the grass. If she hadn’t pulled away in time, it could have easily broken her nose -- it certainly put a dent into the spine of her book.

As soon as the baseball fell motionless, Dark Water turned to stare at the field with almost robotic precision. Her gaze zeroed in on the one at bat in short order. Picked from the crowd, the filly’s eyes did not leave him even as she got up onto her hooves and took the ball into her mouth to carry over. Narrowed eyes and a tense posture carried her across the field and finally to Sandlot Bambino. She stopped in front of him, locked eyes, and let the ball drop to the ground between them.

“You missed.”

Dark Water frowned as the colt stammered. None of his team, or even their opponents, seemed intent to step into the situation just yet. Judging by how locked up the batter was, no doubt the others were similarly mortified.

“Did I?” she asked, only half rhetorical. The jet black filly stepped to the side and began circling around Sandlot Bambino like a vulture scrutinizing its prey. “I’d say mine was a lucky break.”

As she came back around to face him, Dark Water tapped the ball away from them with her hoof. She took up her position directly in front of Bambino and looked him dead in the eye. “What’s your excuse?”

At this, she shook her head. It must have looked that way for certain at the distance he stood, but thankfully the ball didn’t hit her directly -- heck it didn’t even clip her. “Not me. You might have killed my book, though.” Dark Water glanced back to her poorly shaded and equally poor choice of seating arrangement and sighed. He did apologize, however awkwardly it fell out of his mouth, and in all honesty it was far too hot to pick a fight over an accident.

This time, when she spoke, her tone was far less accusatory. She was mellowing to a more collected demeanor and the heat of the day was aiding in melting away the tension she felt despite it being quite an unfriendly presence otherwise.

“I suppose the sun’s a nuisance no matter who you are.” The dull filly glanced around the area, particularly at the other players on the field. This stray colt seemed to be the only one without two key things she could only hazard a guess must have been important to the game. “And you don’t have your hat.”

Bambino’s comment about her book’s lifespan only earned him a raise of an eyebrow. It wasn’t just his baseball game that was off, that was for sure; at least, Dark Water hoped this wasn’t how often he typically struck out.

“So I see,” she confirmed softly. With another sigh, she passed a glance back to his team once again. Yes, the hat was an important part of blocking out the sun but it wasn’t the only factor. Dark Water sat on haunches and lifted a hoof to her chin in thought.

“I might have an idea.” Dark Water tilted her head at Sandlot Bambino and pressed both hooves to the dirt. “If you promise not to pelt any other innocent books today, I might be able to help you out.” There was a playful tone not present before, however slight given her clearly moody disposition. It seemed she wasn’t being quite so standoffish anymore, now that the initial scare had passed and she was convinced it wasn’t an intentional strike.

With the colt’s agreement, Dark Water nodded. She stood up and paid one last glance to the rest of the baseball diamond and the other players, then gave Bambino a brief look. “Just a moment.”

There were many things around the park besides trees and a sports field; there were benches, walking gardens, picnic areas, and most important among those were a few small grills attached to the ground so no one could make off with them in the night. Dark Water paced around the area, searching for resources. She thought she could use something here, quite certain actually, and when she came upon a recently used grill still dirty and darkened, she couldn’t help but smirk.

It took a minute or so more than she would have liked, but soon enough the filly returned with a makeshift baggy between her teeth. “Alright, bear with me… and close your eyes.”

Her hooves dug into the bag, only to pause when Bambino suddenly grew nervous. Dark Water stared at him, a little incredulous but not annoyed. “Just close your eyes,” she replied smoothly and returned her attention to the bag’s contents.

“But no," Dark Water added, “it’s not a trick. I don’t play games.”

Within the bag, she rubbed her hooves together against something that sounded hard -- and maybe a bit crunchy. For several long moments she did this, ignoring the members of Bambino’s team that were growing curious and impatient around them. She looked up to check that his eyes were fully closed before she removed her hooves from the bag; thanks to her naturally dark coloration, they didn’t look any different but, when applied to the colt’s pale face, they left thick dark marks across his cheeks just beneath his eyes. She spread the dark dust carefully, slowly, and did so a handful of times to make sure the application was suitably dark for the amount of light.

Once she finished, Dark Water leaned back to examine her work. It was difficult to tell, but with a subtle tilt of her head there was a ghost of a smile. “Charcoal, if nothing else is available, should work in a pinch.”