Product of Friendship (My Little Pony)

10 Candy Shop (5/5)

"Hi..." Wist timidly waved a hoof at a mare at the opposite of the cashier counter. Usually, Wist would be full of glee and chicanery, but the cloth haunted her with a wiriness that left the mare concerned.

"Is this your first day?" the mare asked.

"Um, yes..." Wist answered. She only made slight eye contact with her customers that appeared to make a trend of asking this question.

"Well don't you worry," the mare assured. "I'm sure you'll get the swing of things soon enough. You seem like a nice creature, so I know you can do it."

Wist would normally laugh at these silly encouragements from ponies but it was rather difficult for her to give a ridiculous garment on her.

When Wist managed to finish the transaction with her customer, she gave a wave on her way prompting Wist to follow suit in her gesture. This was too awkward.

Wist then saw Twist approach with a concerned face of her own. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah." Wist gave a sheepish smile. "I'm good. Just manning my post here like a good employee. Nothing wrong here."

Twist stepped closer to Wist and whispered, "It's okay Wist. There's no shame in being nervous about your first job."

Oh, for the love of Abyssinia, not this again. Wist looked over her counter and found Luster merrily guiding customers through the aisles. They've only been here for a few hours and Luster has all the placements of the candies practically memorized. Does she even remember why she's here in the first place?

"What's got her in a good mood," Wist grumbled. "All she's doing is showing them to the candies."

"I think she's reveling in the feeling of putting a smile on all of our customers," Twist said. "There's just something about helping a creature that just makes you feel good about yourself; you know?"

"No," Wist answered.

"Oh...Well, we could try right now if you like?"

Wist gaped at the suggestion and hurriedly waved her hooves. "No, no, no. I think I'm good right here."

Twist briefly observed Wist and then nodded. "Okay then. We can take things one step at a time."

The bell rang again, alerting Wist of another creature coming inside. "So, this here is the new shop I've been hearing about." An orange mare with a scarf and a Stetson hat entered the store. Her eyes lingered about the room until she met with Wist. "You?"

"What?" Wist raised her brow and then looked to Twist.

"Hello Applejack." Twist waved her hoof. "Thank you so much for coming by. Do you like what you see?"

"Place pretty dandy," Applejack commented as she approached the counter. "Good to see that your dream has finally come true."

"You dreamed about opening a candy shop?" Wist questioned her boss.

"Ever since I was a filly," Twist confessed. "I'm what you could a connoisseur of candies. Everything you see here is a collection imported from stretches of Equestria."

"It just warms my heart when I see a pony finally get their due after their hard work," Applejack said.

"Um, Ms. Twist," the voice of Luster could be heard from an aisle. "Could you come over for a second? I need your help."

"Coming," Twist responded. "Enjoy the rest of your stay here," Twist told Applejack and then disappeared into the isles.

"Name's Applejack," the mare introduced herself. "I've been in these parts all of my life as an apple farmer. If you need a pony to show you around the place, then I'm your mare."

"Strange," Wist said. "There's something about you that feels familiar. Have we met before?"

"Must be the love," Applejack concluded. "Starlight did say that you took a real liking of my apple soup."

"That was you?" Wist honestly didn't know what her anonymous to be like. But the love she put into that soup felt so warm and safe. It reminded her of memories of her past that she wished she could go back to.

"Yup," Applejack confirmed. "But enough about me, I'm more interested in how you're feeling."

"About what?"

"Well for starters, how do you feel about Ponyville so far?"

"I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of crazies from all around the woodworks. I find creatures here that are so different in erratic ways that it's kind of hard to get my mind around it." Wist then blinked and examined herself. Why did she even tell this mare that?

"I get ya," Applejack laughed. "You find all creatures from every walk of life here in Ponyville. I think it is what makes this place so special. Maybe it can be a special place for you too."

Wist then narrowed her eyes at the mare. "Okay, what's your game here? I know that can't be what you're aiming for?"

"And what if I say that is?" Applejack gave her a smile. "From what I can tell, you're in need of brighter days. I know every creature is willing to give it to ya. I know I am."

"But what is that you get in exchange? I don't get it, but I get the feeling that you won't lie to me about anything. So, just give it to me straight."

"Hmm." Applejack began to tap her chin. "Well, if I had to put in a single word. I'd say, friendship."

Wist bumped her head upon the register. "This place really is full of fanatics."