“There’s no time, there’s no time!” Twilight wailed as she frantically made her way around the market square. Spike getting sick at a time like this had completely demolished her perfectly crafted schedule, something that the unicorn was not accustomed to. Her hooves smashed against the paved road as she parted between the busy crowd. “Ugggh, this would be a lot easier if Spike was better.” The unicorn had originally planned for a nice afternoon of reading the newest issue of Magic Academy the library had received. However, fate had a much different plan for her today.
“Oranges, where are the ORANGES?” her mind screamed, her chronic anxiety starting to get the better of her. Twilight scanned the various multicolored billboards adorned on the venues littered around the market. Her eyes jumped from sign to sign, each of them painted in varying degrees of artistic quality. All she had to do is find the one with an orange circle, it really couldn’t be that hard. “I just have to stay cool, it’s okay, I’ll finish this in time so I can proceed onto…” A scroll materialized next to Twilight, shrouded in her sparkling magenta aurora. “Oh, wow, I just have to make sure the library is correctly stocked. That’ll be easy!”
A small thunk emitted from below her. Her relieved demeanor rapidly shifted to one of panic as she noticed the scroll unwinding to its full length of about 16 hooves, completely scrawled with additional tasks to accomplish for the day. Her face drooped at the realization of accomplishing her mostly improbable agenda. At least Fluttershy was able to available to nurse Spike back to health.
“No. I can do this. I’ve defeated Nightmare Moon, imprisoned and subsequently freed Discord, and…..Yeah! I can do this. This tasklist will be conquered or my name isn’t Twilight Sparkle, element of Magic!!”
Suddenly the Sun ticked into the high noon position akin to that of a grandfather clock; subsequently evaporating the shadows of all of the ponies in the market, condensing them into circular blobs below their equine figures. The magic mare jumped from the abrupt change in the solar position. “HOW THE HAY DID IT BECOME NOON ALREADY? I GOTTA FIND THOSE ORANGES!”
A cold droplet of sweat streamed down Twilight’s forehead as her eye subtly twitched from the anxiety setting so prominently in. “AAAAAAAAH!” screamed the mare, as she broke off into a gallop, rushing her way down the market block, rivaling speeds that of a patented Rainbow Glide™. The unicorn’s head bolted between directions, rapidly glancing for the object she needed to complete her objective.
And in her focused delusion, she collided head on with another pony.
“OOOF!”
Twilight raised a hoof up to her head as she rubbed the impact spot in an attempt to nullify the discomforting bump protruding ever so slightly from her scalp. Fuzzy spots of hazy greens and pinks clouded her sight, as the mare collected herself.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking and the time, with it being noon and the oranges and I didn’t even see you there! Here let me help~”
“No…it’s fine, I shouldn’t have been so careless,” the orange unicorn replied, as a harsh pang of guilt loomed over her head.
Twilight was taken aback at the gravity of the mare’s tone. “Hey, don’t be so gloom, it was a simple mistake, no real harm done,” she quipped as she moved in closer to comfort the distraught unicorn.
“No, it’s not okay! I buck up everything. This entire day has been a critical failure! All I had to do was get some simple groceries, and I can’t even do that without making a mistake. Everything I do is wrong,” the mare replied caught up in the irrational emotions that cursed her thought process. Crossing her forelegs, she sunk her head into the fold, the mare’s body slumping to the ground with a quick thump.
“There’s no need to act like that,” Twilight replied, her caring attitude kicking in. “I’m sure there are plenty of things you do right, you just don’t see them because you’re too focused on the negative,” the lavender unicorn chirped. Putting a hoof around the fraught pony, Twilight hoisted the unicorn back up onto her hooves. “Speaking of, what’s your name?”
“It’s Color Spark,” the mare pouted, muttering her answer under her breath.
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.” Twilight pitched her ear closer to the unicorn, in an attempt to assemble what the pony was saying.
Grunting under her breath, the mare growled at Twilight.
“Look, it’s clear you’ve had a bad day. Maybe you’d feel better if you made a new friend. I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight stated as she donned on what she believed was her most endearing grin.
Color Spark huffed, still agitated. “You don’t get it. No one really cares! I don’t understand why you are trying to get in my head. I’m just a bucking screw up! I will never do anything right!”
The element of magic was taken aback by the sudden outburst, as the words triggered an almost similar mindset the unicorn once shared on her journey to Ponyville for the first time. Feelings of isolation chillfully crept into her mind, haranguing the vibrant unicorn’s attitude relentlessly. Twilight’s tail visibly shuddered as recollections on how she treated her friends with the same form of cynicism and chilled demeanor zapped through her likeness. The purple unicorn froze as her mind played out these original encounters.
Oblivious to the world around her, Twilight was lost in her memories, not noticing that Color Spark was drifting away from the scene, her head drowned in shame.
Her historical explorations came to an abrupt halt as reality blasted itself forefront into Twilight’s mind. Shaking her head, she noticed that Color Spark was no where to be found, her saddle bags left forsaken in the marketplace. Twilight quickly reassembled the remnants of the scattered bag’s contents. Twilight craned her neck upward, in hopes to see over the large crowd of ponies on a busy shopping day like today. She had to find the distraught mare, for Twilight believed that she had a solution to the pony’s problems.
Spotting the off-colored mane of the orange unicorn, Twilight rushed through the crowd, juking between various colts and mares in her efforts to catch up with Color Spark.
“Hey, stop!” Twilight shouted towards the moping unicorn.
“Why do you care?” Color Spark retorted, cocking her head to the side, too consumed with her self loathing to grant the unicorn with full eye contact.
“First off, I know something is wrong, I want to help. You obviously need somepony to talk to, and I think I can provide. Secondly, you forgot your saddle bags.”
“I appreciate the effort, but I don’t think you can help me. So please just go away.” Color Spark called back, her words oozing with frustration.
“No, this was my fault and I feel really bad about it, so..uh..why don’t we go get a treat...maybe frozen yogurt?”
“Grrr..” Color growled, still infuriated.
“Please, just do it for me?” Twilight said now donning her trademark friendship smile that could easily turn even the most agitated foal into a cooing, calm baby.
Seeing as Twilight was going to be relentless in her efforts and that she was likely to not take a hint, Color Spark reluctantly conceded to the mare’s pleas. Twilight beamed, delighted that she was going to be able to solve yet another friendship problem (in addition to hopefully gaining a new friend in the process).
Over their yogurt, Twilight tells Color Spark of her journey to Ponyville, how she learned about friendship and how much easier it is to have a circle of friends around you. Though she was originally feigning abashed ignorance through Twilight’s recollection, something dawned in the orange unicorn, as she slowly came to realization that she too had been acting a lot like Twilight had on her arrival. Ever so slowly, Color’s demeanor changed to that of genuine interest, wanting to learn more about Twilight’s travels.
Much to Twilight’s surprise, Color Spark began to open up to the unicorn, sharing her feelings of loneliness and being too shy to really find friendship. Coming to the conclusion that she’d never find such companionship, her heart turned into that of an anchor being cast into the frozen sea, dragging her emotions down into the deep waters of despair.
Hours passed as the two continued to swap stories over the delectable chilled yogurt treats. Time drifted onward, as mares and colts alike would come and go at the frozen eatery, the two unicorns being the only stationary objects in the still.
This continued until Color Spark inquired if Twilight would like to go on a walk with her up to a hillside where she would watch Celestia’s sun set back into the horizon. Twilight was quick to agree, and the two headed off towards the outskirts of Ponyville, leading up to a quaint hillside populated by a sole tree that gazed outwards toward the town. The two mares sat under the looming shade of the tree as individual blades of grass swayed in the faint tempo of the wind.
Twilight gasped, the view from here was serene, almost dreamlike, as the reddish hues from the setting sun warmed the cascade of visual flavor. And then a harsh pang resonated in her gut, she had forgotten about all of the chores she needed to get done! But...her mind couldn’t break free from the graceful beauty of the blooming sunset. A hoof calmly touches her foreleg, causing Twilight to look towards her new found acquaintance.
“Hey Twilight?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for being there,” Color Spark softly said, her words gracefully dancing in the air, like flower petals in the wind. She continued as tears formed in the corners of her eyes, “Today I didn’t have any friends and now I’m lucky to have you~,” her words broke off as she lowered her head to conceal her feelings, still struggling with opening her feelings to other ponies.
It was then that Twilight realized how little material distractions really meant, finding that the time spent with other ponies means so much more. A bittersweet grin formed on the lavender unicorn’s face, still feeling sympathetic for Color Spark’s dilemma, yet glad that she was able to have gained the other mare’s friendship.
Twilight huddled closer to Color, cuddling together as the two enjoyed the company of the other. Looking back onto the town, the sun was nearly set, the sky illuminated by the final lasting colors of the waning star. Nearly flinching from the sudden surprise, Twilight felt a set of lips kissing her forehead endearingly. She looked at Color Spark with a blush that rivaled that of the lasting reds drifting in the atmosphere.
“Thank you”
Twilight froze for a spell, conflicted on what she should do. Color Spark looked into Twilight’s eyes sensing that she might have done something wrong when Twilight abruptly took the mare into an everlasting kiss, the two revelling in each other’s presence.
Breaking the kiss minutely, Twilight only uttered, “You’re welcome,” before resuming the affection under the blue tones of the midnight skies, as the stars twinkled above them.
