The best ever present

by Cmdr Cutie

The search

"What to do, what to do?" Tempest asked herself as she sat on a bench in the Canterlot Marketplace, "Come on, you stupid mare, this should be an easy decision to make."

It's a week before Hearth's warming, and Tempest has yet to find the right gift for Twilight. She'd looked all month, but nothing was coming up. She thought at first if there was any books Twilight didn't have, but couldn't ever think of one. She was deep in thought when she felt something poke her leg. She jerked up to see what was touching her, only to find a young filly sitting beside her. The filly was had a light orange coat, with a yellow mane and tail. She had a peach colored splotch on her flank, but no cutie mark.

"I didn't mean to scare you," The filly said, "It's just that you looked sad, and nopony should be sad before Hearth's Warming."

"It's alright, little one," Tempest said, straightening up, "I was just trying to think of what to get a good friend of mine."

"My mommy always says it's not the gift, but the love behind it that matters most," The filly said, "Whatever you end up getting your friend, if you put enough love behind it, it'll be more than enough."

"You have a good point, and it sounds like you have a really smart mom as well," Tempest said, "Speaking of which, where is your mother? And your father?"

"I don't know. They left about a week ago, and I haven't seen or heard from them since," The filly said, slumping down.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know," Tempest said, suddenly feeling bad for bring up such a thing, "But I'm sure they'll be home by Hearth's Warming."

The filly just sat there, not saying anything. With each second, Tempest felt more and more guilty.

"You know, I happen to be good friends with the Princesses. I'm sure they'd be more than willing to help you out till your parents come back," Tempest offered.

"Thanks, but no thanks," The filly said, "Wouldn't make much of a difference."

"Oh, don't be that way," Tempest said, "Let's start over here. My name is Tempest Shadow. What's yours?"

"My name is Honeysuckle," The filly said.

"That's a pretty name," Tempest said.

"I guess, yea," Honeysuckle said, "So, know what you're gonna get your friend yet?"

"Not yet," Tempest admitted, slumping down, "She's a huge bookworm, even lived in a library once, but I can't think of any books that she doesn't yet have."

"Is she a fan of Starswirl the Bearded?" Honeysuckle asked, "You know, he just wrote a neat auto bio graph book. I hear there's only going to be one hundred books made."

"Seriously? Well, she wouldn't have that one yet, else I'd have heard about it before now," Tempest said, bolting up.

"I think the bookstore near the grand park still has a couple copies left if you want to get one," Honeysuckle pointed out, "If your friend's really a bookworm, she'll love it. Plus, it's a gift from you, so that'll make even more special."

Tempest said nothing as she got up and attempted to get off the bench. Her legs had gone, numb, however, so she fell ever so ungracefully and face-planted the ground.

"Are you ok?" Honeysuckle asked, jumping off the bench.

"Yea, just lost my footing is all," Tempest said, trying to save face.

Once she got feeling back in her legs, tempest stood up and shook the snow from her coat.

"You're up, good. I'll meet you at the bookstore near the grand park," The filly said before running off.

Tempest immediately gave chase, worried for the filly's well being. No matter how fast she ran, however, she could not seem to catch up. "How is this kid so fast?" She asked herself as she ran. When she finally stopped, she was outside the very bookstore Honeysuckle had mentioned. The filly was nowhere in sight, so Tempest hurried inside to see if she could find her, checking first at the check out counter.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to sound impatient, but you didn't happen to see a little filly run in here, did you?" She asked.

"No, I haven't seen any colts or fillies today," The cashier said, "What does she look like? What's her name?"

"She's a little orange Earth filly, doesn't have a cutie mark, and her name is Honeysuckle," Tempest explained.

"Ho-honeysuckle? But, that's impossible," The cashier said.

"How so?" Tempest asked, finally catching her breath.

"She and her parents passed away in a house fire last week," The cashier explained, "They were good ponies, and she was such a sweet kid. I was heartbroken when I got the news, even closed the shop for a couple days."

"You've gotta be thinking of the wrong filly," Tempest said, "I just talked to her. She said she'd meet me here, and took off."

"Orange coat, yellow mane and tail, with a pink ink spot on her flank?" The cashier asked, earning a wordless nod from Tempest, "Yea, she's the same filly."

Tempest sat down, shocked. She'd just been with the filly, and at no point did she ever get a hint of talking to a ghost.

"She was a good kid. Kind and fun to be around, she could always make you smile even on the worst of days," The cashier said.

"I'm sure she was special," Tempest said, "She led me here saying that you might still have a couple copies of Starswirl's autobiography. Please tell me you still have one."

"Yes, we do have a fair few left," The cashier said before leading Tempest to the display, "She had one of her own, and she loved it. Whenever she came in, she'd always have something new to tell me from it. She'd have made a fantastic Liberian one day with how much she loved books."

The two eventually reached the display, and Tempest grabbed the first copy she saw and bought it. She had it gift wrapped before leaving the store. After walking out, she looked up and silently thanked the little filly who led her to that store.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the sad end, there. I promise, I'll make it up to you in the next chapter.

Comments

[Jashinist]

Why must you do this to me

[Blackyoshi]

Sudden skyrim flashbacks

But still, very good