"Many people always say that the idea of love and friendship is magic and indescribable in my scientific kind of way. However, I disagree. I've never had friends, I've never had this loving feeling I am told about. Perhaps it is simply how my mind works; with equations, strong diction, and questions. No, it couldn't be, for everything has a scientific solution to an equation. The mind is constantly solving these equation as we think and breathe, even if we are not aware. I want to know what equations go through all of our heads when we think friendship, and I will not stop trying to find it, even if it takes me my whole life."
Colress put his pen down. His journal was filled to the near end with entries, every one of them being about his studies and wonders. His mind was essentially a vast computer network of equations, math, and scientific definitions, but, like a computer, it lacked the ability to understand emotion and bonding well. The ones that thought of him as a "friend" he knew as "colleagues" and "classmates". He knew not how to love, nor how to bond. All he did was science. The scientist adjusted his glasses, and stared out the plane window into a void of never ending clouds.
"What is it I am missing?" He asked to himself quietly. The scientist flung his odd circular hair style back a ways, and as he did, he remembered the times of collage. Kids always called him "Internet Explorer Man" and "DNA Head", but he was always unfazed. He simply cared only for his studies and nothing more.
That was his problem.
When he made his speech in Manehatten, the Princess of the graceful land of Equestria, Celestia, got hold rather quickly, for she had many a friendship student before and hastily sent Colress an invitation to a library located in a small town by the name of Ponyville. It sounded like rubbish and a waste of time to Colress, but he accepted, and that was merely to study the behavior of this student of the princess "Twilight". He was told Twilight was quite the fan of his work, but he cared not, for he wasn't even looking forward to his trip at all.
The plane began to bump up and down as it descended through the sea of clouds, interrupting Colress's thoughts and wonders. The captain of the plane came on the loudspeaker.
"He-llo again, passengers! This is Captain Skyla speaking, and I am here to inform you to buckle up your seat belts, because this plane is landing in your destination, Ponyville! We've hoped you've had a great and safe ride and we look forward to flying you to your destination again!"
The clouds cleared and the shaking died down as Colress began to see small buildings and a green countryside off in the distance. He looked down again at his notes, and it read that Twilight would meet him near the front of the airport wearing a purple dress.
It had just turned noon when Colress's plane landed, and the scientist was tired and weary of his ride there. As soon as he walked off, he found him stuck behind two slow and obviously irresponsible teenagers with arms around each other and heads nearly touching. Colress stared at them from the behind, but felt nothing. He felt no jealousy, no anger, happiness, nor comfort. He simply saw two beings walking in front of him, with no emotion whatsoever. After a few seconds, Colress shook his head and walked right between them, shattering their connection.
"Pardon me, I'm in a bit of a rush." Colress said as he stormed past them, leaving them with odd looks on their faces.
Conversation filled Colress's ears as he chugged through the airport. He overheard what joy and fun they were all going to have on their travels. Colress didn't understand it, for all he did when he traveled was give scientific speeches, and those were far from fun.
Colress had approached the entrance of the airport, and as soon as he did, he immediately saw his ride. A tad shorter girl with a purple and pink hair style sat on a bench impatiently, rapidly moving anything she could in excitement: fingers, toes, head, knees, and even her arms. The scientist slowly approached her from the side.
"You must be Twilight, yes?" He asked.
Twilight flinched and gasped as she looked at Colress, who was putting on an emotionless smile. With hands over her mouth, she quietly squealed to herself.
"You're... you're Colress!" Twilight said as she jumped up and down, giggling.
"And you have quite a lot of energy stored in you somewhere." Colress responded.
"Well, it's just that... you're my hero! I love, love, LOVE your work! I've seen all your speeches, read all of your books, and know all of your experiments! You're a genius." Twilight complimented. Colress merely nodded his head down and poked his glasses upwards.
"I do receive that compliment quite a bit." He said. "So, shall we be off to your home?"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!" Twilight cheered. "Come on! Let's go!"
Twilight was nearly too fast for Colress, and he was a speedy walker. He had, in his mind, already analyzed and predicted how his visit to Ponyville would play out and had already started to contemplate how to deal with Twilight's attitude if she kept up the same behavior. He took notice when Twilight began to tell Colress about her friends.
"Your friends? Tell me, what kind of people are they?" Colress hastily asked, picking up his notebook from his bag and grabbing a pen from his shirt pocket. "I simply must take note."
"I'm glad you asked! Rainbow is my first friend. She's more of the athletic type with a kind of cocky personality. She's really nice and fun to be around, though, I can guarantee you, even if she is a bit harsh at times." Twilight explained. Colress turned his head.
"How is that even possible?" Colress asked.
"How is what possible?"
"This 'friendship' you have with this woman. If you are truly like you say you are, you an unathletic bookworm who is often engrossed in research? What possible connection could the two of you have that gives such emotion toward her? It baffles me."
"Oh, uhhh...." Twilight pondered. "I'm not sure. We may not have things in common, but we're friends! I don't think it really matters what your interests are, as long as they accept you for who you are."
"Somehow, I have a hard time believing this." Colress said, adjusting his glasses. "I'd like you to take me to this Rainbow character so I may continue my notes."
"Tee hee! You're just as scientific as you are in your speeches!" Twilight giggled.
"I do indeed try. Now, let us go meet your friend; immediately if you can. I have but a few weeks here, and I absolutely must continue my research at any cost." Colress informed.
"Lighten up, you're here to learn about friendship, right? Friendship is fun!" Twilight encouraged the emotionless scientist. Colress shook his head softly.
"That's what you like to think, but I think, no, I know that that is incorrect. Everything in the universe has a scientific conclusion, and I seek to find the ones most difficult. Friendship is one of them." Colress explained with slight attitude.
"If you say so." Twilight responded.
They then emerged from the Ponyville airport's entrance casually, still conversing on Colress's theory. Twilight knew Colress was wrong, but Colress also knew Twilight was wrong. They were two completely different beings, believing in two completely different ideals. Yin and Yang, to put it one way. They had similarities, like their love for science, but the differences between them were too much for Colress. However, whereas it drove Colress away from Twilight, it drove Twilight toward Colress.
Twilight, from mid-teenager years, had a "celebrity crush" on the mighty scientist; one that she claimed could never be replaced, and when Celestia told her that Colress would be her friendship student for a while, she nearly melted into the ground.
Now, Colress is beside her, with his iPad ready for notes, and an attitude that just spells "science time". Hopefully, after some time, Colress would fall prey to Twilight's plan and finally figure out what it truly means to have a friend. However, first of all, he needed to see how even the most opposites of opposites can become friends by visiting Rainbow Dash.
The ride to Rainbow Dash's wasn't particularly a smooth one, for the old dirt roads of Ponyville didn't serve Twilight's mediocre and small car all that well. When they finally arrived at Rainbow's house in the near middle of town, Colress said the first thing that came to his absolutely brilliant mind.
"It reminds me of a plane." He concluded.
"Well, Rainbow did always have a thing for fast flying things." Twilight responded, smiling.
They slammed the car doors as the got out, slowly heading up to the colorful house. Colress could tell that this "Rainbow" girl was quite the character already. Twilight firmly knocked on the door, and within a few seconds, a rainbow-haired woman opened the door.
"Hey, Twilight what's--" Rainbow paused as she saw Colress and began to laugh. "Pfffft! And I thought my hair was crazy! Look at that!"
"Rainbow! Don't be so rude. Don't you know a famous scientist when you see them?" Twilight angrily told off. The rainbow haired girl scoffed.
"Oh, gee wiz. I'm soooo sorry. You know I don't keep up with that stuff. I keep up with The Wonderbolts and Daring Do, that's about it. So, mind introducing me to Super-Gel over here?" Rainbow winked.
"Augh," Twilight moaned, "sorry, she's like this all the time. This, Rainbow, is Colress, ingenious mind and well known scientist."
Colress bowed. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Rainbow."
"He's become my friendship student for the next couple of weeks."
Rainbow chuckled. "Tch! It's like The Dynamic Egghead Duo. So, why is this guy your friendship student?"
"If you must know, he is here to study how friendship works, and Celestia assigned me to teach him." Twilight explained.
"Rather quite, my dear. I am here to discover the mathematical formula for friendship, for I've pondered it for years." Colress rebutted. Rainbow rolled her eyes.
"Man, you are really out there. There isn't any math in friendship! It's just bonding with someone else." Rainbow simply explained.
"False. That is not true, for math involves itself in everything. It baffles me how you and Twilight can be 'friends' without having nearly any common interests whatsoever."
"No, but... you... gah! You are, like, impossible, dude." Rainbow said, smacking her forehead. "However you plan to teach this guy anything, Twilight, I wish you luck."
"It'll be quite the adventure." Twilight said. "Well, just wanted to stop by on the way back home to tell you I may be busy this month."
"Well, if one dork is super busy alone, two dorks is double trouble. Have a safe ride home!"
Rainbow gave a strangling hug to Twilight before closing the door, and Colress was already typing on his iPad. Before he knew it, he had already typed in half a page of observations and questions.
"Hey, you coming?" Twilight, who was already back all the way to her car, shouted to Colress, snapping him from his note writing.
"Oh, yes."
Colress was nearly about to discard the meeting with Rainbow as useless, for he learned nothing other than he disliked Rainbow's attitude. But, Colress always followed a code: never delete or toss away notes, no matter how ridiculous.
Twilight kept blabbing on about how amazing her friends were with Colress barely listening and staring at what he wrote down.
"I met Twilight and her "friend" Rainbow today. I'm slowly getting to know Twilight as the day progresses, but I am learning little on how friendship works. I know how the saying goes: never doubt Celestia, but I can't help but feel this will not help me and I am just wasting my time when I could be researching other things. People say they can make four friends in a day, however I'm still having trouble understanding the concept of it. How do these people do it? Just how does friendship mathematically work!?
Frustrated, and with no conclusion, he scrunched his face and stared out the window of the car, wondering what he could possibly do if the next few weeks were going to be as useless as today. As they came to a stop light, the irritated Colress noticed a lone man standing at the crosswalk. He had a black cape and wacky, green hair.
I know him. Colress thought. He couldn't place his finger on who it was, though. All he could figure out as that he knew him, and remembered working with him. Could he have possibly been a colleague? He then looked into the car's window and raised his eyebrows at Colress. The light then turned green, and Twilight drove by the man, leaving Colress to try remembering who it was. He now set a goal to seek out that man, for he must live here in Ponyville somewhere. Things just got a lot more interesting.