“Ugh... Now I gotta get ready, go to the market, get more food... I can’t believe I forgot to get some last time...”

Of course I did. I’m so scatterbrained sometimes... I crawled out of bed and cracked my joints, put on my glasses, and headed the bathroom. I stared at myself in the mirror. Messy brown mane, matching tail, pale grey coat, green eyes, a pen and quill Cutie Mark.

“I l-look t-t-terrible...”

Oh. I also have an awful stutter. My name is Quick Wits, by the way. Strange name, I know, but I have always been one to know what to do in many situations. I’m generally a pretty quick thinker, but I’m also a bit absent-minded. Sometimes I’ll forget why I walked into a room, or what I was doing, or where I am.

After I finished fixing my hair and brushing my teeth, I went through all my cupboards and refrigerator, like I had the night before, and confirmed that I really did need to buy more food. I sighed in frustration, and grabbed my coat, pulling it on while I trotted out the door. I turned and looked at my house. It was old, and I only ever took care of the inside. The outside had cracks in the stone foundation, the wood was splintering, and vines were growing up the side. But, that was a good thing, since ponies would just think it was abandoned. I like my solitude.

“OK... T-Time to g-g-go, then.”

I trotted down the stairs and threw on my jacket, a pale brown, and my dark green scarf since it was late Autumn, and headed off to Ponyville. I lived about a half a mile out of town, for the sake of my own personal desire to be away from ponies. And that crazy pink mare that chased me down when I first came to town. I had half a mind to alert the local authorities that she was stalking me and chasing me around.

“Ponies... I swear...”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I let out a small yawn, and hopped out of my cloud bed, not forgetting to put on my glasses, stretching my wings. I felt at my mane, feeling how messy my bedhead was. It was around noon, and I felt like shopping. So shop I did. I had to get ready, of course. I trotted to my kitchen to grab some quick breakfast, then went to the bathroom, and looked myself over in the mirror. White coat with grey ears, white streaks through the grey, matching hooves and feathers on my wings. Long, black, somewhat messy mane, and a tail the same color and just as messy. My Cutie Mark, a musical note and a pencil, And my multi-colored eyes, the left one was sky blue, the right hot pink. I got down to business, and brushed my teeth and mane. I’d like to go shopping not looking like I’d just rolled out of bed. Even though I did... Shut up. My name? Evangeline Stardust. Just call me Evangeline, all my friends do.

“Brushie brushie!~”

I giggled to myself as I gently tugged the last knot out of my hair, shaking out my mane to give it a more “free” look, just the way I liked it. I went back to my room and grabbed my grey hoodie out of the closet, since it was cold out.

“I don’t even know what I wanna buy... Maybe some paint, more canvas... Maybe some new sheet music. I guess I’ll find out when I get there.”

I trotted out my door, and dove through the clouds to race towards the ground below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Brrr... It’s even colder than I anticipated...”

I buried my head deeper into my scarf, shivering a bit, a few flakes of snow falling here and there. It was definitely a lot colder than I had expected, but I decided to deal with it instead of head home with empty hooves. I looked around a bit for anything I might like, and picked up a few sacks of apples and pears, the owners of both stands in heated verbal battles. I also grabbed some hay, which I would probably just fashion into hay fries or maybe make a sandwich. I kept my head down the entire time, not making eye contact with nor speaking to anypony. Asides from a few curious glances from merchants, I gained no attention whatsoever.

“This is going so much better than the first time... Pink menace...”

“Oi, you there!” I froze dead in my tracks as a brown earth pony with strange hair and a Canterlot accent yelled for me. “Yeah, you!”

I turned to look at him, feeling myself grow shy. I lifted a hoof and leaned back slightly, in case I felt the urge to run.

“Yes, um... Would you have happened to see a mare about, oh... My height, pale coat, red and white mane? She’s a friend of mine, and she’s buggered off... I told her to wait in the TARDIS...”

I cocked my eyebrow at his strange mumble, but decided to just tell him what he wanted to hear and be done with it. “Uh... I s-s-saw a p-pony like that g-gawking at a st-tand just d-down the street...”

He smiled, and gave me a friendly smack on the back. “Thanks, chap! You’re a lifesaver. Possibly literally. Well, maybe. Anyways, I’ll be off then!”

He dashed off down the street, where I’d told him to go. I had no idea of what had happened there, but paid it no mind and kept on my merry way, until I was again interrupted.

THUD

I was knocked to the ground by somepony who hadn’t seen me coming. I dropped by bags of food, and my glasses fell off, leaving me virtually blind. I felt around frantically, trying to find them so I could grab my things and leave as soon as possible.

“Oh, I’m sorry! Here, let me help...”

I heard the pony, judging by the voice to be a mare, start rifling around with my things, which made me only pick up the pace. The sound of rifling eventually stopped, and the mare pulled me up to my hooves, swiping some snow off of my shoulders.

“There you go... Oh! And, here.” She slid my glasses back onto my face, which made me blush a little bit. Physical contact of any kind was a bit... Much to me, at the time. It was uncomfortable and embarrassing. “Again, I’m sorry... I picked all your stuff up.”

I took a moment to look her over. White coat, with some grey, consisting of her ears and hooves, and wings, considering she was a Pegasus. There were small lines of white in the grey, accentuating the areas. Her mane was black and a bit messy, as was her tail, and she had glasses, just like me. Her Cutie Mark was a musical note and a pencil, so I assumed music and the general arts were her talents. But what really caught my attention was her eyes. One sky blue, and one hot pink, I felt entranced by her gaze, and couldn’t help but stare into her eyes, as if some power was drawing my vision to them.

“Uh... Are you OK?”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was happily trotting down the street, quickly looking between stalls and stores, enjoying my time on the ground. I loved Ponyville, it was a quaint change from the hustle and bustle of Cloudsdale. It was nice to just get away from it all and take a nice walk in a small town. I wasn’t even looking around, really: I was more enjoying the music coming from my headphones. The latest release by DJ-P0N3: Scratches and Strings. It was a great mix of classical and modern electronica music. I was so into it, that I wasn’t really paying attention, until some brown stallion almost knocked me over after kicking snow in my face.

“Sorry, love! I’m in a bit of a hurry, in case you can’t tell!”

I wiped the snow from my face, a bit disgruntled. ”Yeah, well watch where you’re going...”

Honestly, I need to learn to listen to my own advice, because almost right after he said that, I slammed right into some poor stallion, and knocked him right over. He dropped all his bags, and I saw his glasses fly off too. I fell over, sure, but I felt like it was my fault, since I wasn’t paying attention. After a second, he started feeling around like crazy, probably for his bags and glasses.

“Oh, I’m sorry! Here, let me help...” I started picking up all the stuff he’d dropped and putting it back into bags, but that made him freak out a bit for some reason. He started crawling around like crazy, looking for his glasses like it was the end of the world. I finished putting everything back in bags, and helped him up, brushing some snow off of his jacket.

“Again, I’m sorry... I picked all your stuff up.”

I grabbed his glasses, and slid them back on him. He blushed a little bit, but I didn’t pay it any mind. He started looking at me, and staring at me like he was dazed. I thought I might have knocked the sense out of him.

“Uh... Are you OK?”

He kept staring, and I took a good look at him. He had a sickly grey coat, and a messy, greasy brown mane, matching tail. He was wearing a black turtleneck, and a brown jacket over top, covering his Cutie Mark. His eyes were dark green, and even behind his glasses, really deep, and sad. They were somewhat shut, like he was really tired. His whole appearance in general came off as very... Lonely. After a minute or two, he shook his head, and blinked a few times, then took a few steps back, raising a hoof, like he was scared of me.

“Oh, did I do something wrong? I’m sorry...” I took a step forward, which resulted in him taking another few steps back. “Come on, I’m only being friendly.”

He started looking around like a crazy pony. I had no idea what I did, but he seemed really scared of me.

"I don't want to scare you... My name's Evangeline. Evangeline Stardust. What's yours?"

He stared at me for a few seconds, his eyes really wide. "M-My n-n-name is... Is Q-Quick W-W-Wits..."

I got the conversation going, now I had to keep it rolling. "So you're really sharp?"

"I... I g-g-guess. I st-tudy a l-l-lot..."

Yeesh. Difficult conversationalist. "Like what?"

"A-Anything I c-c-can get my h-hooves on. M-Medical t-t-textbooks, m-magic, history, things l-l-like that..."

There we go. A topic to hold. "Wow. I couldn't do all that reading, I'd go crazy."

"W-Well... Wh-What do y-y-you like t-to do?"

"Oh, I play music, write here and there, but the main thing I do is art."

"A-All of th-th-that is art, to b-be honest. I'm a-an author m-m-myself. Art i-is what s-s-separates us from c-common animals. It is a s-symbol of our i-i-intelligence, and i-ingenuity."

I giggled, even though I tried to hold it back. "You're sure talkative when you warm up to somepony, huh?"

His face went beet red, and I couldn't help but giggle again.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I felt my face warm up a bit. I felt a bit stupid, but she was right, I guess.

"U-Uh... I g-g-guess..."

I rubbed the back of my head, looking away to break eye contact. She giggled at my antics, which made my face even warmer.

"You know, I've never seen you around before. Do you live here?"

"Uh... S-Sorta. J-J-Just about a h-half a m-m-mile out of t-town."

“Really? Why do you live so far away?”

“I w-w-want to be l-left alone. I l-like keeping myself t-to myself.”

"So... You'd rather be alone than have friends?"

I didn't understand why she was pressing me so much about the whole thing. I thought it best to just go with it. "Y-Yes. Being al-lone lets me th-th-think. I like b-being left to m-m-my thoughts."

"But... What about having somepony to talk to? Or to spend the holidays with? I mean, Hearth's Warming is just around the corner... Are you having family over?"

"I h-haven't seen m-m-my parents in a-almost three y-y-years. They n-never spoke to m-me when I was a ch-child anyways. I k-k-kept my m-mouth shut, th-they did the s-same... I d-don't think I've e-ever even celeb-brated a h-holiday before..."

That seemed perfectly normal to me, but she looked like she'd just seen a ghost or something. It was like she was about to turn tail and run away or something. "Wait... They never talked to you? What about kids in Flight School?"

That struck a chord with me. You see...

"I n-never went to f-flight sch-ch-chool."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I stared at him for a few seconds, expecting him to tell me he was kidding or something, but he kept that tired, serious look. He wasn't kidding.

"You... Don't know how to fly?"

He shook his head casually, as if this wasn't a big deal. "N-No. I was n-n-never inter-rested in flight. I w-was more d-d-drawn to books than the sk-kys."

"B-But all pegasi know how to fly! I mean, it's what we do! Uh, here, I'll teach you! Just try getting your wings moving."

I stretched my wings, but he got a more pained expression on his face. I stared at his wings, and he seemed to be straining himself a lot, and all his wings did was a very small twitch.

"What's wrong...?"

"I... I s-suffer from i-irreversable m-m-muscle atrophy in m-my wings. I n-never used them as a ch-child, so the m-muscles never d-d-developed, and have w-withered into almost n-nothing over the y-years... All the d-doctors have s-said the same th-th-thing. I'll n-never fly."

I wanted to hug him so badly. I just couldn't imagine how awful it must be to be a flightless Pegasus. I've never heard of a Pegasus that can't fly, asides from Quick. The fact made me pity him.

"That's... Terrible... You mean nopony can fix it? Not even Unicorn magic?"

He shook his head again. The fact that he was so calm about this was unbeleivably strange to me. "The m-medical e-e-expenses would be w-way too m-much for m-m-me to afford. They'd n-need to put m-me under h-h-heavy sedation, the k-kind o-only medicine c-c-can do, o-otherwise it'd feel l-like I was h-having my w-w-wings torn off. I'd r-rather just n-n-not fly."

"I don't understand... You're a Pegasus who wants to stay on the ground?"

"W-Well, I a-always have m-m-my head in the c-clouds anyways. I'm a r-real scatterb-b-brain. It's wh-why I ran into y-you today."

"Oh! No no, that was my fault! I was so involved in my own thoughts and my music that I wasn't paying any attention! Uh... Sorry." I felt a faint blush on my face. I cleared my throat and rubbed the back of my head on impulse. I heard a dry chuckle from him, and that just made it even worse.

"Eheh... How ab-bout we j-j-just chalk it u-up to it b-being both our f-faults?"

"That sounds fine to me. Otherwise we'd be here all day apoligizing back and forth."

He let out another dry little laugh, and deftly used his hooves to toss his bags on his back. "W-Well, I'd b-b-best be going... Uh... Um..."

He dug at the ground with his hoof and stared at the ground. It seemed like he had something to say, but he just couldn't get the words out. "Go ahead, it's OK."

He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "W-Well... Maybe y-y-you could st-top by my p-place one d-day. It g-gets a little lonely th-there... Uh, I m-mean, well, if it's n-not gonna i-i-interfere..."

"Heh, alright. Old house outside of town, right?"

"R-Right."

"I'll stop by tomorrow."

I flew off, happy that I'd made a new friend that day. I was hoping that I might be able to brighten up his days in the future.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I watched her fly off, and I felt a faint feeling of satisfaction inside of me. I didn't really understand it at the time, but it was because I'd finally come out of my shell and made a friend.

"She was nice... I guess ponies aren't all that bad. Evanegline Stardust... Pretty name."

I shook my head, and scoffed at myself.

"Pretty? Really? She could be some con artist or something. I hope not, but... Better safe than sorry."

Yeah, I know that kinda thought process sounds crazy, but considering my circumstances and childhood, having that kind of mentality made sense. I decided to head home and make myself some dinner, then get off to bed.

"Tomorrow's certainly going to be different... I hope she doesn't steal anything."