The Adventures of Rosaline Sparks
Chapter 1
Rosaline Sparks sighed as she laid across her train seat. Though she had found the ability to finally hop on the train and think about enjoying new experiences, she couldn't help feeling a tinge of regret. The dusty, tumbleweed infested frontier town of Appaloosa had always been her home, but she couldn't deny the town sometimes felt it lacked new opportunities and a greater vibrant atmosphere where new things seemed to happen more often.
Rosaline scowled at her mirror reflection in the train window when she knew that it wasn't like there wasn't the occasional new thing or event in Appaloosa. The recent buck-ball match between the Appaloosa team and the Ponyville team had been proof of that, plus quite a while before that three little fillies came through town and helped Trouble Shoes see his future as a rodeo clown despite his previous reputation for getting into trouble.
Still, as she let out another sigh and rubbed her dark cobalt blue mane, Rosaline Sparks knew it had been quietly eating away at her for years to leave town to explore other towns and other opportunities, but she had always been a bit self-conscious whether a raven black coated unicorn mare with deep jungle green eyes would be accepted elsewhere.
The fact her coat colour and the fact she purposed green eyes meant under the right amount of fog or under the veil of darkness, it just might be possible for another pony to mistake her as a Changeling until they had already beaten her up or just stopped short of beating her up.
Rosaline sighed as she knew she had been afraid of being mistaken for a hostile Changeling and she might get beat up without mercy or remorse until her injuries would take time to heal. The apologies and the embarrassed looks on other pony's face who would feel silly and guilty for beating her up wouldn't make up for the fact they had done. This had been her greatest reason other than family and a few friends around Appaloosa, she had stayed put in Appaloosa for so many years. Plus, she had a brief show-pony career until she learned of Trixie and the Alicorn Amulet story and then gave it up to become a flower pony and an occasional pet-watcher for other ponies to get on by and watch over her parents.
Still, as a jolt from the rumbling train carriage brought her back to the present, Rosaline Sparks felt she was now determined to experience somewhere new and all the new experiences that came with it.
Rosaline dared herself to look at her narrowing gaze in the train window and smiled with happiness that there was a determined glint in her deep jungle green eyes. Then, she realised the view beyond the reflection of her stare as she saw the brightly lit, clear blue sky. Below the sky were the proud, strong, and healthy trees of the Everfree Forest that looked to have survived a few brutal and testing winters and Rosaline knew it was home to playful squirrels and cute bunnies. Upon raising her gaze again, Rosaline could see the Everfree Forest stretched itself to way beyond the horizon and into the far distance beyond it.
She began to wonder how could she had stolen the luxury of this view from herself for so many years and began to think again of the past and how come time had seemed to slip away from her younger self until another rumbling jolt somehow brought her back to admiring the sky and the natural environment outside of the train. Plus, she awed at seeing the shadows of a moving flock of birds flying southwards over the Everfree Forest.
A good few minutes or perhaps even an hour passed without Rosaline really noticing it until the train brakes slammed on. The unexpected slight jolt caused her to tumble off her seat onto the red train carpet.
Rosaline Sparks growled at the jolt ruining her admiration of nature and then briefly checked herself over for injuries. However, the impact of the train seat ahead against her left side had been light and no injury was in sight. Then, realising she was still on the carpet and might look like a victim of a clumsy fall, Rosaline Sparks stood up with some hesitation in the hopes no pony had seen it.
"Wow! That looked like an awkward tumble," chuckled a nearby voice.
"Are you all right?" The voice asked and then Rosaline Sparks found herself looking up at an earth pony with a silly smile on her face.
"Fine," Rosaline Sparks decided to huff as the earth pony seemed to think the fall was intentional.
"Oh, don't think I meant to laugh at your misfortune and I can help you up if you like," the earth pony mare kindly offered and offered an assisting hoof.
Rosaline growled in a grouchy manner and looked a little closer at the earth pony's artic blue eyes. She hoped to stare back the pony who had thought her tumble was funny.
The earth pony let a little wry smile cross her muzzle and still offered her leg in an assisting manner.
Rosaline Sparks sighed and decided to accept the help, though she thought they might be more chuckles about her tumble right to come as she accepted the earth's pony help to pull her back onto all four of her feet. Only after, she stood upright again did it occur to her, she had just accepted help from a stranger and she sweated a little.
"Oh, at least you're not too proud or stubborn to accept help, and my name's Bon-Bon," Bon-Bon smiled and introduced herself.
Rosaline froze as stranger danger came to mind despite the introduction. She didn't know or had ever met the earth-pony in front of her, but it would rude not at least say thanks as she took a few seconds to think about her response.
"Um… thanks for helping me up," Rosaline Sparks muttered.
"Heh, don't sweat it so much," Bon-Bon added a light chuckle and then turned to go and retrieve her luggage.
Rosaline Sparks shook with worry for a bit, a perfect stranger of an earth-pony had just helped her despite her internal fears for being judged on having a raven black fur coat and green eyes. Her self-conscious was a bit muddled as for years she had thought of all ponies to think bad of her, a stranger she had never met before was the most likely pony to do so. Yet, despite some initial insulting chuckles, Bon-Bon had helped her. Maybe Ponyville or wherever the train had stopped was as friendly a place as Braeburn and other Appaloosa residents often rumoured it would be. Maybe all she had to do was to give a chance as she turned and levitated her luggage onto her back and trotted out of the train.