A rose by any other colour
It was the first curious rays of sunlight nosing gently through the chink in the curtain that awoke Twilight Sparkle. As the warmth of the summer sun bathed her muzzle, she smiled to herself, snuggling further under the covers for a final few precious moments in bed. She could hear ponies trotting past in the street below, busily intent on their own mornings, and the soft chirping of assorted birds greeted her from the trees outside the window.
Twilight was about to clamber out of bed and prepare to go down for breakfast, when she was visited by another conglomery of sound - the muffled clinking of cutlery, the padding of slipper-clad claws on the stairs, and the cautious, barely-audible calling of a dragon - a dragon whom she knew well and loved dearly, and who was evidently trying his best to ascertain whether the Princess was awake or not before daring to raise his voice.
'It's alright, Spike', she reassured the approaching footsteps, 'I'm already awake - it's too lovely a day to be sleeping in!'
As she spoke, the door was swung open, and Spike himself appeared in the doorway, wielding a large silver platter, on which stood various breakfasty foodstuffs, a knife and fork and - more unusually - a single, yellow rose. 'Good morning, Twilight! It's Sunday, so I've brought you breakfast in bed.'
Twilight sighed happily to herself - Sunday! The best day of the week, the one day she allowed herself off from her studies and her work as the Princess of Magic (and having even one day off had taken years of pestering from her friends. . !). She wouldn't have asked for breakfast in bed, but when she had started taking Sundays off, Spike had insisted - he had decided that, as she worked so hard the other six days, she was to have as little she needed to do as possible on Sunday, and that included cooking.
'This is very kind of you, Spike.' No matter how willing an assistant he was, the little (not so little now!) dragon was far more than that to Twilight - he was her adopted brother and closest friend, and she made sure he always knew how appreciative she was of everything he did for her.
'That's quite alright, Twilight - it's my pleasure!' So saying, Spike carried the tray over to the imposing fourposter, where Twilight had now propped herself up against the headboard, and placed it gently down on her bedside table. 'I've made you some fried hay, boiled carrots and tomatoes, a pot of Earl Hay tea and a homemade Maremite sandwich.'
As Twilight blinked warmly at him in gratitude, Spike motioned at the rose. 'This was lying on the front step - someone knocked on the door at about six this morning and left it there with a note that it was for you.'
'How odd!' Twilight took the tray in the grasp of her magic, and plumped it down securely on her lap, before inspecting the rose more closely. 'A fairly ordinary rose, I think - but such a lovely shade of yellow!'
Spike raised one eyebrow, as only a dragon honed in the art of dealing with a rather unusual Princess can, and said but one word: 'Yellow?'
'Yes - it's so cheerful! I don't know who gave it to me but it certainly suits the day nicely. I shall find a vase later and keep this rose on my bedside table.'
Spike coughed gently, in a is she being serious or just being 'Twilighty' sort of way. 'Twilight?'
The Princess swallowed the rather large mouthful of Maremite sandwich she had taken. 'Hmm! Yes, Spike?'
Spike hesitated, not quite sure how to put it. 'You. . . You do know that this is a red rose, don't you, Twilight?'
Twilight nodded enthusiastically. 'Yes! Well, y'know, red, yellow, they're all the same really.'
The young dragon bit his lip thoughtfully. 'I'll be right back', he said, before leaving Twilight to enjoy her breakfast. He ran quickly down the stairs to Starlight's room, then took her back up to Twilight's, explaining the appearance of the mysterious, colour-changing rose en route. After a few minutes they arrived back at Twilight's bedroom - the Castle could take a surprisingly long time to navigate, even to those who knew it well and despite it seeming, on the outside at least, to have a footprint no larger than the old Golden Oaks Library - and the two of them entered just as Twilight was polishing off the last of the carrots.
'Hmm! Gd mrnng Strlght!' Twilight mumbled through her mouthful of carrot and Earl Hay.
'Morning, Twi!' Starlight returned. 'That's a lovely rose you've got there - mind if I take a peek?'
Twilight shook her head, and levitated the rose over to Starlight, who parked herself comfortably on the edge of the bed, with Spike standing at her side.
Starlight examined the rose thoroughly from all sides, then asked, 'Er - what colour did you say you think the rose is, Twi?'
As her mouth was currently empty Twilight replied without hesitation. 'Yellow', she announced immediately.
'O-kay. . . You don't think it could be red, perhaps?'
'From a certain angle, maybe? They're pretty similar colours', the Princess replied.
Starlight and Spike exchanged quizzical glances. Spike enquired: 'So. . . What colour is a poppy?'
Twilight thought for a moment. 'I would call them yellow. But I know some ponies say they're red.'
'And what about Rainbow Dash - what colours is she?'
Twilight frowned. 'Why are you asking me these questions?'
'Oh, don't worry - just conducting a brief experiment', soothed Starlight, knowing that if one thing could allay any fears the Princess might have, it would be the supposed pursuit of science.
'Well, in that case - I would say that Rainbow is blue, red, yellow and grey.'
'No green or purple?'
Twilight pondered for a moment. 'I suppose, maybe? They're pretty subjective colours though.'
Starlight and Spike exchanged glances again, then said, as one: 'We'll be right back.'
So saying, the pair left Twilight - who was now feeling rather confused and more than a little concerned - and walked out into the hallway, moving far enough away that they could converse in undertones without the Princess overhearing.
'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' Starlight asked.
'I think I so', answered Spike. 'Should we tell her? Or let her work it out for herself?'
The former dictator considered this. 'Hmm - perhaps we should tell her. You know she couldn't bear not knowing what it was if she thought we were keeping something from her.'
'True - she might get all 'Twilighty'. Well. . . After you then, Starlight!'
Rolling her eyes in amusement and acceptance, Starlight trotted back along the corridor to Twilight's room, Spike following closely in her wake. They re-entered to find the Princess peering very closely at a tomato she was levitating approximately one hoof-length from her eyes; as they walked up to her she asked suddenly: 'What colour is this tomato?'
Starlight swallowed nervously. 'What colour do you think it is, Twi?'
'I don't know. . . Yellow? Or red, maybe?'
Starlight and Spike perched themselves on the bed, opposite Twilight, and the unicorn gently removed the tomato from Twilight's magical grasp, placing it back on the platter. She sighed, not wishing to upset her closest friend but not wanting to leave her in the dark, either. Trying one last time, she asked, 'Twilight - when you look outside, what do you see? What colours do you see?'
Realising something was definitely amiss now, Twilight gulped nervously, but went to the open window. 'I see blue skies and white clouds. I can see dark blue trees and the pale green roof of Rarity's boutique. I can see lots of yellow banners fluttering in the breeze. . . Please tell me.' She turned to face the others again and sat down next to them on the bed, a worried frown crossing her usually pretty features. 'Please tell me what's wrong.'
'Twilight.' Starlight spoke softly. 'I've noticed before that you don't always. . . use the same words that I would, to describe the colours of things. But based on what you've said this morning. . .'
She paused, and glanced at Spike for assistance. The dragon took over, laying a gentle clawed-hand on her shoulder. 'We think you might be colourblind, Twilight.'
Twilight tilted her head in surprise. 'Colourblind? But I just described all those colours outside to you - what d'you mean?'
Starlight cleared her throat. 'Hm! Well, the thing is, Twi - trees are green, not blue. Rarity's boutique has a pink roof, not a green one. And most of the banners in Ponyville are pink or red, not yellow.'
'But those colours are all the same! Ponies call things different colours all the time - for example', she expounded, her Science Head on now, 'you called this tomato red, when to me it's clearly yellow. But yellow and red mean the same thing, or nearly, at least, so it's subjective whether you call something yellow or red.'
'The thing is, Twi', Starlight interrupted before the Princess could continue on her spiel, 'For most ponies the colours red and yellow are very different. To me they don't look similar at all. And green usually stands out a lot, but you didn't even mention that Rainbow has got green in her mane. I know', she added, turning to their companion, 'What about Spike - what colour are his spines?'
'They're pink', Twilight stated immediately.
Spike started in surprise. 'No they're not! They're green.'
'Y'see', continued Starlight, 'You don't seem to be seeing all the colours as we see them, Twilight. Spike and I think you might be colourblind because you're seeing some colours as being the same which we see as completely different.'
Twilight was silent for a while, trying to take this new information in. 'You mean', she whispered eventually, 'there are more colours?'
Her friends nodded in unison, and waited anxiously for Twilight's reaction. She was looking down at her lap, blinking rapidly, and obviously deep in thought. After several minutes, during which time Starlight and Spike exchanged glances repeatedly, and just as the latter was taking a breath preparatory to speaking, Twilight burst out: 'But that's amazing!'
Her friends' jaws dropped in surprise; she seemed not upset, or confused, or angry, as they had been expecting - but instead appeared almost ecstatic. . ! 'Are you sure you're okay, Twi?', Starlight asked.
The Princess nodded enthusiastically. 'Oh yes, I'm more than okay! This finally answers so many questions!'
So saying, she began rooting vigorously through the bottom draw of her bedside table, eventually withdrawing a tattered, ancient notebook. 'See!' she cried, 'here are all the notes I've made over the years whenever someone has said something is a colour it isn't! Now I know whence this perturbation arose!'
She fell silent again, poring over the notepad with almost feverish excitement. After a few minutes Spike piped up. 'So. . . You're not mad? You're actually okay with this?'
'Okay? I'm more than okay!' Twilight cried in glee; 'Do you realise what this means?'
Her friends shook their heads slowly. 'Er. . . No?'
'It means', she continued immediately, 'That I finally have something new to research!'
Twilight began muttering to herself rapidly, staring off into the middle distance one moment and squealing with enthusiasm for her new research project the next, before suddenly leaping out of bed and rushing down to the castle's library without another word.
Starlight and Spike blinked in surprise as the whirlwind fled down the stairs. 'Well', Spike murmured after a moment, 'that was not the result I expected.'
'Not at all!' agreed Starlight. 'But at least she doesn't seem to mind.'
The pair of them clambered off the bed and were about to follow their madcap friend downstairs, when Starlight stopped, suddenly thoughtful, and looked back towards the bed. Spike enquired, 'What is it, Starlight?'
'Well', she began, 'I think we've forgotten one very important point.'
'What's that?' Spike asked.
'It's Hearts and Hooves Day today.'
'Yeah, I know, I'm going on a da- Well, I mean, I'm going out later', Spike blushed, hoping Starlight hadn't noticed his fumble. But she seemed strangely distant.
'That being the case. . .', the murmured thoughtfully, walking back over to the discarded breakfast tray. 'Who sent Twilight the rose?'
Author's Note
In this story Twilight has a form of colour vision deficiency known as deuteranopia, which is one of two main types of red-green colourblindness. If you have normal colour vision and are interested in experiencing how colourblind people (or ponies) see the world, I highly recommend the Chrome extension Colorblinding, which allows you to view webpages in every type of colour vision deficiency.
