His Awkward Conversations

Twilight stood at her desk, shuffling through stacks and stacks of paper. Her horn glowed with her normal purple aura. Most of the things she looked at were just receipts or old invitations to parties she never went to. Her small trash can overflowed with crumpled documents. The library had a dead silence lingering over it, other than the occasional sound of crinkling paper. Naturally, a library should be quiet. Not Twilight's library. The pitter pater of dragon claws had left. Spike ran off to Manehatten with Rarity. That boy's crush on the pony had gone way to far, in Twilight's opinion. Owlowiscious' hooting no longer rang through the high ceiling of the building. The owl flew far from Twilight's home one day. She didn't know why, but the bird hadn't come back yet.

It had been a year since each's departure, and neither had come back.

Twilight would try and cheer herself up, but nothing would work. The princess of friendship decided she didn't need friends anymore. Unlike Pinkie, Twilight would try and let people in to lift herself up. Friendship is magic, right? Wrong. This time, it wasn't the lack of friendship, no. This time, she'd been crushed by her friends. Everyone in this life left her, whether it was family or friends, literally or figuratively. The only friend she truly had anymore was Cadence, and she couldn't spend too much time with Twilight. The princess of love had a kingdom to rule.

The alicorn's feet ached, they longed for exercise. Her soul said she needed rest. Her body raged war upon itself. Her eyelids fought to stay open, yet her mind raced. Twilight couldn't fill the emptiness within her. It consumed her, destroying her innermost self. Her stubbornness wanted loneliness, yet her common sense screamed for companionship. Whether she wanted it or not, she would get a visitor that day. Maybe it was exactly what she needed.

*Knock* *Knock*

Twilight groaned. "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming,"

*Knock* Knock*

"Calm down!" She walked over to the door, taking her sweet time. There should be no reason why this visitor should make her want to go faster. Her horn regained its purple aura, using it to unlock three large padlocks and one smaller lock for the handle. She creaked the door open slightly. Peering out, it shocked her to see...

"Caramel? What the heck are YOU doing here?" She opened the door wider, staring at the orange stallion. He composed himself rather sheepishly, contrasting his usual confident appearance. Her face looked utterly disgusted, although she felt more surprised than anything else. He stood for a minute, gazing blankly at the annoyed alicorn. He opened his mouth to speak, yet only a few fragments and stuttered consonants came out. "Well, if you have nothing better to say, I'm going back to organizing." Twilight said, sharply, then began to close the door.

"W-w-wait!" He called, forcing his hoof between the door and the doorpost. "C-can I talk to you...about...Pinkie?" Twilight rolled her eyes. Groaning, she shifted her weight from one side of her body to the other. She stalled as long as she could.

"I dunno, can you?" Twilight retorted, dryly. She stared at him, a dead look lingering in her eyes. "I was kinda in the middle of something... If you couldn't tell." She turned, looking longingly at her cluttered desk. She didn't want to clean it, yet she not as much as she wanted to avoid social interaction.

"Princess...? Are you okay?"

"Oh, come now. First: don't call me princess. Ever. Again. Second: why the heck should you care? Third: I'm not in the mood. I may never be in the mood. So, just get it over with. Ask me anything about Pinkie. Go ahead. Shoot."

"You're close, right?"

"Not really. We used to be, but those days are over. She won't communicate her feelings. And if I'm trying to help somepony, they need to open up. I mean, I want to help her, honest. Just.. She won't let me. She never has, and probably never will. The only pony she ever said could help her was..." She trailed, pondering for a moment. She mumbled a bit, squinting hard. "Celestia maybe? I forget. It started with a 'C'..." Taking a deep breath and exhaling, she said, "I wish I could help you. I really do, honest."

"Caramel?" He asked, bluntly. Twilight shifted from side to side on her front hooves. She seemed to be trying to weight out how she felt. Was it despair? Fear? Anger? Loneliness? She couldn't tell. She shook her head, looking back at the stallion in front of her.

"Hmm?" She hummed, a bit out of it.

"Caramel," He repeated, more of a statement this time than a question. "Caramel, Caramel," He said, over and over, "Caramel. The name was Caramel, wasn't it?" He asked, longingly. He grasped for any reaction from the alicorn. He got one, but not one he desired.

"I-I said I didn't remember... Okay? So, sure. It was Caramel. Happy? Is that what you wanted?" She grew more and more agitated, her voice reached near hysteria. "I care about Pinkie, I do. She just doesn't care about me. Those are the facts." She blurted, her coat slightly losing its purple hue. "Just... Just go." Twilight whispered in anger, fear, and loneliness.

*SLAM*

"Well, that didn't tell me anything, other than our newest princess has extreme emotional issues..." Caramel muttered. "I don't know about Pinkie saying I'm the only one who could help her. Just baseless conjecture." He walked slowly, questioning where to go next. Somepony had to know about Pinkie. Apparently, her closest friend knew next to nothing about her situation. So, where next? Only two ponies remained. Fluttershy and Applejack. Unfortunately, neither of these mares Caramel felt particularly close to. His run-in with the princess caused an awkward enough scene, and he at least knew the purple alicorn fairly well. Who would know how uncomfortable a situation it would create for Caramel if he went for help to a mare he barley knew?

Nevertheless, he began walking to Sweet Apple Acres. Pinkie used to say how level-headed and friendly the farmpony acted, so she got picked first. Certainly, the level-headed one would prove much easier to interact with than the shy animal tamer.

Yet, no matter how hard he tried with Pinkie's friends, he still managed awkwardness.

Still, would willingly suffer any awkwardness for Pinkie.

It was completely worth it.