The Bigger Picture

What is it that makes life so precious in the land of Equestria? To Hyrule, the answer was quite simple. The individuals that contributed to the productivity of society. Not to just themselves, but also to those around them. The great testament to the equestrian values can simply be found in the appointed Elements of Harmony bearers. The six mares that were recognized for their laughter, generosity, loyalty, kindness, honesty, and leadership. Hyrule was proud that their nation stood for great qualities, which helped in his decision to join the royal military. Being an earth pony, he didn't have the ability of flight, or any magical prowess. But he took pride in being the simpler of the three as it helped with humility. He loved seeing what other pegasi and unicorns could do with their abilities to bring blessings unto others' lives. He didn't mind being the way he was at all. He took his job seriously and focused on doing his do diligence.

After about three years into his first tour, the life of being in the royal military was wearing on him mentally. He didn't understand how some service members were able to place twenty plus years in the service. But he kept his head up as best he could, with a lot of encouragement coming from the letters his family would send him often. Equestria had been expanding on it technological development for a while now. If he could get his hooves on one of those small devices that made communication much more efficient by one hundred percent, he could talk to his family more and in a more direct way. But with the kind of salary he was making, there was no way he could afford something like that. Only the extremely wealthy citizens of Canterlot would be able to drop the bits on that kind of stuff. As he would see them using the fascinating devices while he was on post sometimes. The mental struggle of not having more of a direct pipeline to his family really bagged on him frequently. Especially when he knew there was an easy way to solve this issue that was locked behind a hefty price tag.

Hyrule knew that if he had any chance of reenlisting for additional tours, he had to find something or someone that would help him during the moments where he struggled and vice versa. He knew that the best kind of friendships were always two way, so he would want to be a pillar of strength for someone that he could be friends with as well. And not just using them to help him with his struggles and not return the favor. He thought for a moment that if he ever found a mare he was interested in, maybe he could share his life with that mare. But he retracted and thought:

"I just need to focus on forging a strong friendship first. Then maybe one day..."

It was always something that was on the back of his mind. It would help push him to be a better stallion for whomever she might be out there. For the day that they would meet, when the time is right... In the meantime, he just wanted to get out of his comfort zone and go meet new individuals. This would be difficult for Hyrule as he has never been the most social kind of stallion. And the typical snotty attitude of most individuals in Canterlot was disgusting to him. But he hoped that maybe he would be blessed by running into someone that had a more humble outlook on themselves and to those around them.

"This weekend, I will talk to at least one pony in an attempt to make a close friend!"

He stated in his mind to boost his confidence in himself. But right after he thought it, the possibility of that not happening already dwindled some of his morale. He shook his head,

"Really? You are your own worst enemy. Stallion up and do what you set out to do. Sheesh."

Meanwhile, in the main Canterlot town area of the high and mighty society of the grand city. Was a meek wedding shop that is run by a delicate pegasus that went by the name, Bay Breeze. This mare had been faithfully running the shop ever since the previous owner had passed. Bay had kept the shop spick and span and took care of it with every fiber of her being in honor of the shop owner that took her and her younger sister in when no one else had. The shop was always in pristine condition as Bay didn't have anyone else in her life other than her younger sister and the customers she would receive occasionally. It would be especially painful for her to remember what she did have growing up. Her older brother Coastal Breeze that had to leave for flight school, her close friend Neutron Star that she had to leave behind, and her mother that she never received closure on. She would be on the brinks of breaking down in the middle of work when she was alone. But she stood strong as best she could and focused on on her job running the shop. And taking care of her younger sister. When she had customers, she would always work herself to the bone as it helped keep her mind off of herself and more on what she was called to do. But deep down inside of her, she really wanted someone in her life that she could rely on to help lift her up in her darker moments. Her younger sister was only at the point where she was beginning to trot on her own. So it would be a while before she could have her younger sister to help her. But she hoped that maybe it wouldn't take that long for someone to come into her life to be a loyal friend for her. She thought about going out several times to make a friend or two, but the citizens of Canterlot were just so arrogant and it would always discourage her from making any attempts. She even had to put up with that kind of attitude with some of her customers, but it never stopped her from smiling and continuing to show kindness, no matter how difficult it was.

It was the beginning of a new weekend and Bay had to go out on her daily resupply run. She had to pick up a few things for the shop as well as provisions for herself and her younger sister. She trotted up to the exit of the shop, before leaving, she looked over her list of what she needed to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything.

"Okay, it's the same thing you do every other weekend. Just get what you need and come back."

She took a deep breath and put on her best smile as she opened the door to tackle her tasks for the day. She didn't know why, but every time she had to do this, she hoped that maybe she would come across someone promising. The hope of that happening was always easily short lived as just seeing the typical behavior of the residents in Canterlot made it easy to lose sight of that thought. But she still wore her smile as she knew there had to be at least a few residents of this city that didn't act like the rest. Heck, their very own two princesses, the princess of the sun and the princess of the moon, were known for their love and care for their subjects. If they could be kind, why wouldn't others in this city? That little fact made her smile a bit more genuine and she carried on with her task.

This weekend was also the weekend that Hyrule decided he would go out into the main town area to see if there was anyone he could befriend. He didn't have his hopes up at all as he was aware of how most ponies were in Canterlot. But he was at least going to give it an attempt. It wasn't difficult for him to distinguish who seemed like a worthwhile attempt and he wouldn't. He could tell just how a pony was carrying themselves if they were the kind of friend he would want to have. It was mostly vice versa though as he wouldn't mind being anyone's friend, as long as they were willing to give him the time of day, which added to the difficulty of this. There were some ponies that he observed would seem like a decent attempt to make. But gathering up the courage to initiate the conversation with a random pony was really tough for him to do. He wanted to walk over to anypony that seemed promising and just strike up friendly conversation. But even where was an opportunity, legs would freeze up and he would lose his chance. He spent most of the day just trying to work up the courage to talk to anyone. He began to lose hope and more confidence in himself as the dusk of the day rolled around.

"Oh geez, please can I just find somepony at all?:

Around that same time, Bay had just exited a food store and was looking down at list to ensure she had everything before she went back home. She nodded in confirmation and placed her list in one of her saddlebags. She begun to trot back in the direction of home when she actually bumped into another resident as she was looking back up, causing her to fall backwards on to the ground with some of her things falling out of her saddlebags. Unfortunately, this was one of those high and mighty ponies that held their muzzles in the air all the time. After receiving an entitled angry rant from the pony, the stuck their muzzle up in the air and walked past Bay leaving her with all of her stuff still on the ground. She began to tear up a bit, when a blue stallion that was Hyrule had seen what had happened. He shook his head in disbelief and quickly trotted over to the pink mare. He held out his hoof to help her up with sympathy on his expression. Bay looked up at him and took his hoof to be helped on her hooves again. She was surprised that someone completely random was helping her. The blue stallion spoke,

"I saw what happened. I honestly can't believe the residents in this place. That was completely their fault that they bumped into you. And then they have the audacity to fire off at you like that?"

Bay nodded and wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes. She grabbed her saddlebag and placed it back on her back again, then she began to start gathering up her things that had dropped out.

"Here, I will help you with that."

The blue stallion then started to help Bay with loading her belongings back into her saddlebags. This act of kindness was unprecedented to Bay as no one had really been like this before to her ever since the passing of Velvet Cake. Once he had finished helping her, she thanked him for his help and began to walk back in the direction of her home.

"Wait!"

The stallion called out unexpectedly. Hyrule saw this as his last chance for the day and he could tell there was something deep down with this mare that she was going through. When he helped her up initially, the look in her eyes were showing an extreme amount of pain and loneliness. He didn't wish to intrude but he thought that if she needed someone's help, that maybe he could be there for her.

"It's getting late and I wouldn't want you getting hurt, do you want someone to walk you home?"

Hyrule asked worryingly, afraid that he was stepping into unwanted territory for her. She looked back at him with her lavender colored eyes. They gaze they held lasted only for a few moments and in those moments, Hyrule's heart was pounding out of his chest, worried that he didn't make a correct move. After what seemed like an extended period of time, Bay lightly nodded at Hyrule. Hyrule sighed with relief as he regained his composure and trotted next to her side as they both made their way back to Bay's home.

Now that Hyrule had a start with the pink mare, the rest of this was downhill for him. It was just the initiation that was the largest obstacle. After walking for a few minutes, he decided to see if she would make conversation with him.

"So where exactly do you live?"

He was a bit surprised that she actually answered his question.

"The wedding shop in here in the main town has an apartment above the store. That is where I live."

"Oh, I didn't know there was a wedding shop out in town."

Bay nodded,

"Yep, just me and my younger sister."

"Ah, younger siblings, I have four of them myself. So I know what that is like. But are you having to take care of her on your own?"

Bay nodded again,

"Yes, I have been for a while."

"Geez, I have to appraise you for that. I may have four younger siblings, but I don't have to raise them on my own."

Bay looked at Hyrule in his eyes which caused him to gaze back. Hyrule grew a little nervous as he was afraid he might have said something wrong. But after looking into her eyes for a moment longer, he could once again see the agony he had noticed before. She gave him a slight smile before turning to look ahead again. Hyrule's heart sank for this mare as he could see that she had been through a lot. The only thing he cared about for this mare, was her well being, despite the fact that they just met. After only a couple more minutes of walking, they were in front of the wedding shop. Both of the ponies turned to face one another.

"I should have asked this already, but what is your name? Mine is Hyrule."

He held out his hoof for a hoofshake.

"Bay Breeze."

She extended her hoof and shook his. At this point in time, both of them had realized the potential of the situation they were in. And both hoped that maybe it could grow into a healthy friendship, depending on which note either one would decide to leave off with. Hyrule spoke first,

If you would like, I could stop by as often as I can and help out in any way. I can only imagine the difficulty of raising your own sibling must be. So if you ever require assistance or need some financial help, I would be more than happy to be of service."

(Heart beating out of his chest again.) The fact that some stranger was offering this kind of help to Bay was almost astonishing to her and this looked like this could be a very productive friendship. She just hoped that he had no intentions of taking advantage of her and this really was genuine. With her kindhearted and compassionate personality, she smiled and nodded at Hyrule.

"Yes. You are free to stop by at anytime and I would love any help that you offer. But I could never ask for any money from you. So you don't need to worry about that."

Hyrule shrugged,

"You never know when you might need the help of a friend in any way. I live on my own and I have no one else immediately in my life right now. So it wouldn't be a huge deal for me."

"I really appreciate that Hyrule. My door will always be open during working hours if you ever find the chance to come and help me!"

Seeing Bay smile so brightly after seeing her distraught only moments ago made Hyrule's heart soar a bit for this mare. She seemed so joyful after only making the offer to help her.

"Well, anytime I am not at work, I will be by for sure to help you with whatever I can help you with."

Bay nodded,

"Sounds great!"

"You have a nice night now okay? As well as your younger sister."

"Of course! You as well!"

Bay smiled at Hyrule once again as she made her way into the shop and closed the door behind her. Once she had locked the door, Hyrule finally let his shoulders relax and started to trot back to his residence. He would ensure he would put out for this mare and he would give her his all for this friendship that was seeming to blossom. Yes, Hyrule was happy he came across this mare and he would push himself harder from now on.