//------------------------------//
// Autumn's Prologue: Part 1 
// Story: Something Sparkling 
// by Captain_Cosmos 
//------------------------------//

The “honeymoon period” was a very real phenomenon. As real as real could be.

About two weeks after the competitive saga of scoring a perfect game with 10 consecutive golden horseshoes had ridden off into the past, with the trophy of a perfect game going to Autumn Apple, that trophy was, sadly, no longer shining golden light on her emotional state.

Before she knew it, she was back to laying back-down on her bed during bright sunlight hours, twiddling her hooves with whatever random object she could find in her room.

She still looked up at the trophy, which sits on a high slot in her bedroom shelf, overlooking her bed from behind, and thought “It’s awesome that I won that”, but even that absolutely top-tier feeling of accomplishment and victory no longer held enough power to keep Autumn’s head above the ocean that was her overall bad emotional state.

The bad emotional state primarily driven by this life problem that had been plaguing her for as long as she’s been in adulthood:

Not having a roommate.

On this current day, Autumn woke up deeply sighing at the empty other side of her bed. At breakfast, she sighed at the empty other side of her table. Even after the refreshing shower and all that, she wasn’t playing any of her instruments, or practicing throwing horseshoes, or even just taking a no-destination stroll around Appleloosa.

Instead, she was idly laying on her bed, her mind running like a cold-stricken nose with thought after thought about how much things suck for her.

Y’all, I just can’t function on my own. I need a roommate. But ultimately, I can’t find a roommate. Nopony is compatible. Every time I run a trial with somepony, they’re always not fit for the noise of a house with all this instrument playing, or they’re already in a committed relationship, or they can’t handle my touring lifestyle, or something else.

Autumn les out a big sigh with tears starting to fall as she told herself the next sentence:

The likelihood of me finding somepony who is compatible with me as a roommate is about the same as finding a rainbow alicorn, in all honesty. We Equestrians may come in so many different colors, and there indeed is a pony with a rainbow mane, but there are no records in Equestrian history of a pony with a rainbow coat, let alone an alicorn with one.

Which extends: there are simply no records of anypony who has the correct traits to live with me.

As if this wasn’t heart-stabbing enough, self-blame thoughts began to creep up.

But what if it’s not these ponies that don’t have the correct traits? What if I’m just too picky?

I’ve sure never heard of a picky pony getting a roommate.

Autumn was absolutely treating herself like a garbage can. She had full-on convinced herself that she would never find a roommate; that nopony would work out for her and that such was the case because of her own personality.

All she could do now was roll over and cry into her pillow.

To be continued...