Unusable Story Husk

The familiar, brilliant glow of the morning sun shone through Twilight’s bedroom window, meeting Spike’s eyes. Through his squinting, he could make out a couple of birds out to bask in the cool morning sun He was quite envious of the birds, being free to enjoy the day while he was stuck in the treehouse cleaning up after Twilight's mess of books. After all, it wasn’t his fault that she had been rummaging through everything the night before. Sometimes, it almost felt as if she held him back from doing what he wanted to do.

It’s not that the task was impossible. No, he knew he was the best at what he did, but it didn’t make it any more fun. Day after day, he toiled over whatever the latest mess consisted of.

“Better me than Twilight, I suppose. She works hard enough to learn magic, and who knows when she’ll need it!”

Despite the apparent acceptance of the situation, it still bothered him that he was stuck at home. Twilight never needed to stay in the treehouse before, even if she needed to read. She just got to go whenever she wanted. Maybe if Spike had someone to interact with on a regular basis, he might have a proper excuse to leave when he wants.

A knocking sound coming from the door interrupted his thoughts, alerting him to somepony’s presence.

It was pretty late in the morning, not the time of day somepony would come to grab something to read. Spike walked over to the door, peeking out from the side window to try and get a glimpse of the intruder.

“Spike? Spiiiike!” a mare’s voice called out. “Open this door!”

The familiarity in the voice was almost unmistakable.

"Twilight, is that you?" Spike asked, opening the door cautiously. “If it’s you, then why did you come back? I thought you were busy with your friends!”

On normal days, one would expect to see a happy, smiling expression on Twilight’s face as she’d walk into her home.

With a rustled mess of a mane and an air of annoyance surrounding her, it was apparent that this wasn't one of those days.

“I just got in a little bit of a mess, Spike. Hearts and Hooves day isn’t far away, and Rarity can’t find her white thread to finish my dress! I’ve been looking for some all over Ponyville since early this morning,” Twilight said, sighing. “I couldn’t find anything, and that’s what brought me here.”

“Really? I’ve just been working on the mess you wanted me to clean up. If you need me to help, I’ll just be over by the fiction section,” Spike said, resuming his usual duties.

It wasn't easy to memorize the location of every book in the first place, but with somepony else making all sorts of noise while looking to find thread, it was made impossible. It made matters worse whenever Twilight's occasional cry of excitement came and surprised Spike. It was the last thing Spike wanted while he was working on a ladder, as he usually did during his organizational duties.

"Of course! I can make my own- wait, I can't do that. How would I make thread? Think, Twilight, think! You know better than that," Twilight said to herself.

Gee, Twilight seems more neurotic than usual, Spike thought to himself. Maybe I can help!

"Twilight, if you are stressing over this so much, just let me go! I'm a good finder, and it wouldn't hurt if I tried to find some myself!" Spike suggested.

If Twilight didn’t seem stressed before, she certainly did now.

“Spike, there is none of it anywhere in town! It’s as if somepony just up and took it all!” Twilight said worriedly. “The next shipment of thread from Canterlot is in a week, so I can’t wait that long either! With Hearts and Hooves day coming up, I have to plan the festivities instead of looking for thread all day so that the event goes smoothly, so heading there myself is not an option-”

“Twilight, it won’t hurt for me to look. You can’t possibly have looked everywhere!” Spike interrupted. “I can spend the rest of the day looking around, and when I come back, I’ll finish organizing the books. You can just take a break from your hard work or something. How does that sound?”

Twilight didn’t appear bothered by Spike’s interruption, but it did seem as though she was considering what he had said.

“Alright. Other than the whole white thread issue, I’ve been so busy with my duties for the special day. I could use a little break.”

This was the opportunity Spike had been waiting for.

“And you’ll let me go, right?”

Twilight nodded her head, trotting off to her bed. Within moments of laying down, no sounds or movements came from her.

What about me? Where should I look first for the thread?

Looking outside, one can see all of the intown stores and boutiques, but none of them were what Spike was looking for. Peering out a little closer, he could make out Carousel Boutique past the clock tower. If Twilight couldn’t find any white thread in town, then asking Rarity where to look is probably the best option, even if she doesn’t have any for herself. Taking care to shut the door silently, he dwelled on what this opportunity brought.

Now that I’m free to go see Rarity, I think I’ll go check and see if she wants to- er, I mean, I think I’ll go ask her about the thread. Yep, that’s all I’m out here for.

Shaking the thought from his head, Spike began walking towards the boutique.

Hmm... Hearts and Hooves day, eh? If it’s not far away, I should ask Rarity before it’s too late. Sure, my main goal is to get white thread, but I might as well ask her in the meantime, right? Right. I’m talking to myself now about her. In that case, I guess I really am in love!

The walk there wasn’t particularly long, but it took quite some time before he mustered up enough nerve to decide to enter the boutique. All of the questions in his mind, whether it was about white thread or how he would ask Rarity to be his special somepony for Hearts and Hooves day, kept him outside long enough to see something fly out the upper window of the building. There wasn't really any time to think about it, considering it had hit him square in the head before he could have moved away.

Upon further inspection, the object that hit him turned out to be a small spool of white thread.

Strange... if Rarity needed white thread, and she claimed that she didn’t have any, why would she throw a spool out-

Spike’s thoughts crashed along with the rest of his body to the ground, pinned by somepony with their eyes closed.

“Sweetie Belle?” Spike inquired.

Sweetie Belle opened her eyes, her face one of confusion and doubt when she caught sight of Spike’s eyes.

“Sweetie, what’s the matter? Why were your eyes closed? And why was this thread thrown outside?”

“It’s a little bit of a long story. Just some stuff with my sister," Sweetie replied.

"I have time. Tell me about it."

"Well..."

                                                                      **********

"Sweetie Belle! It's time to get up!" Rarity called upstairs to her little sister.

This young filly had recently been facing an interesting dilemma not commonly seen with ponies her age, besides being wakened too early for her tastes. She had seen all of the couples around Ponyville and became envious- usually having caused her to beg her older sister for advice. Every time, the answer was-

"And before you ask, I'm not helping you with your quest, search or whatever for a relationship. You're too young and you need to figure out who to have one with on your own. It's becoming dreadfully annoying to hear you being upset about not having one, so I'd suggest you not speak of it anymore. You'll be happier with your friends, off discovering your cutie marks as knights or rather…"

"We're the crusaders, big sis, but let me get out of bed before your yellling blows my ear off!" Sweetie retorted.

Seeing the bright, late morning was enough to wake most ponies, but when Rarity is yelling at you, it’s made impossible to sleep. The only way to avoid it is simply to get up, no matter how tired or cranky you feel.

Climbing out of bed, Sweetie Belle took a quick look outside her window. The usual sight of the clock tower, Twilight’s library and the many couples out enjoying this fine day didn’t surprise her in the least.

Look at all of those happy ponies. Why can’t young fillies like me enjoy the day with somepony special? And only five or so days until Hearts and Hooves day! What does a crusader have to do? Sweetie thought to herself.

“Sweetie!”

“Coming, sis!”

Heading downstairs, Sweetie judged that Rarity would be her best bet at getting somepony to have a relationship with her. If she wasn’t interested in doing that, then she might as well be persuaded to.

“Ah! There you are, Sweetie. Your breakfast is on the table. I have to do some work for Twilight, so I can’t stay long. I trust you’ll go play with your friends or something when I’m gone?” Rarity said, hurrying herself everywhere.

“Yeah, I suppose,” Sweetie replied. “But if you’ve been rushing, then you must not have eaten. I’ll make some breakfast for you!”

Rarity appeared a little flustered by the offer, based on past experiences.

“Well, I don’t really need breakfast, I can just have a big lunch later! Your offer is delightful, but I think I’ll pass for now, Sweetie!”

Getting the opportunity to make her breakfast would be a good way to persuade Rarity, at least that’s what Sweetie had in mind. When her big sister dashed upstairs, it was the perfect time to make the breakfast without her knowing. The young filly pushed the plate of breakfast made for her aside as she fetched the ingredients for-

“Wait, what will I make? Something quick... like a drink! I can make a drink breakfast!” Sweetie exclaimed, taking heaps of different foods from the pantry.

“Let’s see... the blender could blend some eggs, some oranges, maybe even some toast! This’ll be the best breakfast drink ever!” Sweetie said, shoving uncooked, uncracked eggs along with a full orange into the blender.

Turning the toaster setting to max, Sweetie placed the bread into the toaster, setting a timer so that she didn’t forget to grab them in time. In the meantime, she took some apple juice from the pantry, taking care not to spill its contents all over the floor.

“Alright, let’s get some apple juice into this drink! Rarity loves apples!”

Ding! A loud, shrill tone came from the toaster, surprising Sweetie despite her previous knowledge that it would come. The initial shock caused her to drop the apple juice container, spilling it all over the floor as she slipped and slid all over it. With one last slide, she fell down, hoof hitting the start button on the blender without putting on a cover.

Eggs and orange piece flew everywhere in the room, making splashing noises everywhere. It didn’t make matters worse when the toaster, which had been neglected despite the timer finishing, had begun smoking out its exhaust.

“What in the world is... SWEETIE! How did you create this AWFUL mess! It’ll take me forever to clean up! I told you NOT to make me breakfast! Is this your idea of trying to persuade me to do something? Like help you find a special somepony? Because let me tell you now, it certainly did not work!”

Sweetie, still lying on the floor, looked up at her big sister.

“I’m really sorry, sis. I just wanted to help...”

Rarity sighed, stopping the blender and the toaster in the meantime.

“Listen, I know you want to help. But I don’t need help right now, so if you could go play with your friends while I clean up this horrid mess, that would be the biggest thing you could to for me,” Rarity explained. “I had been so happy when I found the box of white thread I had bought from all over town, but it looks like my day isn’t done yet.”

“Wow, a whole box of white thread? The whole town must have been picked dry of it!” Sweetie said.

“Yes, it is a lot of thread. A lot of it I won’t be using... say, Sweetie, are you still looking for a relationship?”

Sweetie nodded her head in earnest, waiting to see if Rarity will appease her wishes.

“Well, one of the spools of thread I have is magical. I just haven’t told you about it because... it was supposed to be my secret. If you close your eyes and throw it as far as you can, then the next person you run into while still closing your eyes is your true love! It never fails!” Rarity explained.

“Really?! Give me it, I want to use it!” Sweetie said excitedly.

Rarity blocked the entryway to the staircase, shaking her head at the young filly.

“No, no. You can’t use it unless you promise to spend the day with the special somepony you meet. I need to work on this mess, and... the magic with the spool only works if you do that!” Rarity told Sweetie.

“Yes, a thousand times yes!” Sweetie trilled.

Once Rarity got out of the way, Sweetie dashed upstairs to get the thread and was at the window in a flash.

“Well, here we go! My true love awaits!” Sweetie yelled, throwing the thread as far as she could throw outside.

If she hadn’t closed her eyes then, she would’ve seen the purple dragon approaching her, then her life would’ve turned out a lot different.

This wasn’t the case.

                                                                      **********

"…Never mind. It's not really important," Sweetie finished.

Spike, still a little disoriented, looked at Sweetie in total confusion. The way he expectently waited for Sweetie to speak made things more awkward than they had to be, forcing out the first thing on her mind.

"Hey Spike, want to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

Sweetie smiled the most see-through, obviously fake smile she had ever made in attempt to reassure Spike. By his delighted expression, it didn’t seem as though he needed it.

"Sure, I'd love to! What will we do first?" Spike said excitedly. This was his perfect chance to make some good friends, giving him the excuse he needed to enjoy himself.

"Well, there's this awesome place we love to hang out in, I'll show you where it is and introduce you formally to the other crusaders," Sweetie Belle said. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, despite the clear differences between them, might be a good choice. After all, Rarity said the thread never lied, right?

This was her perfect chance at finding someone to have a romantic relationship. This was both of their chances at love. Unfortunately, these drastically different kinds loves don't always work out well for either of them.

Because when you're going in two different directions, a change of direction is nearly impossible.

END OF CHAPTER ONE