YouTwi

On another dull, regular day in Ponyville, you sit near the edge of town, trying to ignore your hunger, and focus on your magic practice. Even as a unicorn, magic had never been your strong suit. In fact, there is only one thing you’re worse at: Reading.

But hey, not like reading ever got you anywhere. Not like it was important. Well... These books on magic might be a little easier to understand if you knew what the words meant, but... Just following the diagrams should help.

Although... Judging on what they’re describing, you have a sinking feeling you may have purchased a book on gardening, as opposed to a book on magic.

With a sigh, you pick the book up, and toss it away, feeling a small sense of satisfaction as it lands in the mud. Books had always put you on edge, anyway. Unimportant wastes of trees. And... Glue. And... Ink. Yeah, better just to be rid of them. Reading is boring, and a waste of time, anyway. Only useful for teachers, and stuff.

You sit up, filling in the hole you had been idly digging for the past hour, and decide to finally deal with your rumbling stomach, and dry mouth. With a huge stretch, you get to your hooves, and start trotting towards Sugarcube Corner.

As you walk, you catch sight of that mare... Whatsername... Flitterthigh? Butterfly? Fluttershy, that’s it. You see Fluttershy, sitting and talking quietly with some stallion, the same one who had managed to get past her shyness, and fall in love, blah blah blah... Apparently they’d been dating for a few months now, and there was a rumour going around about him planning on proposing to her.

You shake your head, frowning. Not like it matters, anyway.

Well... Not like one or two mares haven’t turned your head in the past. But they never seem to hang around.

You shake your head again. You get into these moods, sometimes. Usually whenever you see a couple or two within a few days, you started dwelling on these distracting thoughts. The other one was Rainbow Dash, and her new stallionfriend, a day or two ago. They were pretty close, as well, and there were a few rumours about them planning on moving in together.

You stop, and give yourself a small slap. Not again... I have to focus. On what, is another matter altogether...

After about five minutes or so of walking, you realise you’ve been circling Sugarcube Corner, absorbed in your thoughts. A minute or so later, you find the front door, and stumble inside, your stomach rumbling.

Within seconds, you’re greeted by a violently pink mare, as per usual.

“HI! What can I get you today?” She asks, happily. You frown. I always have cupcakes... Maybe something new, for once... You think.

“Hm... What else is on your menu, Pinkie?” You ask. She grins, and points to a board above the counter, which you assume has the menu on it. You are about to ask what it says when Pinkie is distracted by the arrival of another customer. You sigh, and trot forward, looking at the food behind the glass.

You hear Pinkie’s voice from behind you, shattering your concentration.

“Hi Twilight! Want the usual?” She asks.

“That sounds great, thanks.” An unseen mare says. Pinkie happily bounces past you, undoubtedly to get ‘The usual’. She stops, and smiles at you.

“Well, whaddya want?” She happily asks, pointing to the menu-board.

You frown, and squint again.

“Er... The... Uhm...” You try and refer to your rudimentary reading skills, and fail miserably. Pinkie giggles.

“Do you need glasses?” She asks, tilting her head to the side. You shake your head.

“No... Just... Er... Can’t read.” You say. Despite your outright hate of books, you still feel a bit embarrassed about your inability to read. It’s hard, at times, to hide it. But you manage.

There is a loud gasp from behind you.

“WHAT? You... You can’t read?” The unseen mare asks. You roll your eyes, and turn around, staring down the pale purple unicorn mare, whom you recognise as Twilight Sparkle, the town’s librarian. Needless to say, you have never really chatted with her.

“No, I can’t. Alright?” You say. She blinks, shock in her eyes as she shakes her head.

“No no no no no! It’s NOT alright!” She says.

“You... Are kidding, right? It’s boring, and a waste of time.” You say. She takes a step back, frowning.

“You remind me of one of my friends... She thought that just because somepony liked reading, that automatically made them an egghead. But she actually tried it, and now she loves it!” Twilight protests.

You roll your eyes, and turn to Pinkie.

“I’ll just have cupcakes again, thanks.” You say. Before Twilight can keep talking, you turn, and walk to a table in the corner, sitting down silently. You stare out the window, trying to ignore Twilight glaring at you.

Pinkie soon brings over a plate, with a colourful cupcake on top. You thank her, and give her three bits as payment.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Twilight grin. This confuses you, as she was glaring furiously a minute ago.

She trots over, an oddly smug look on her face as she looks you in the eye.

“I wonder... How do you know you aren’t being ripped off?” She says. You roll your eyes, and let out a sigh.

“Pinkie Pie would never do that,” You say. “She is honest, y’know...”

Twilight chuckles.

“I mean, when it comes to other things. If you don’t know how to read, how do you know that shopkeepers and other ponies aren’t overcharging you for things?”

You open your mouth to offer a witty retort, but close it when you realise you don’t actually know what to say. While many of the ponies in Ponyville are honest, unfortunately she does have a point.

After a minute or so of thinking, she grins.

“Don’t know what to say?” She asks. Before you can reply, she speaks again;

“This is why I’m going to teach you how to read!” She says.

You blink.

“Uhm... What?” You say.

“I. Am. Going. To. Teach. You. To. Read.” She says, with another smug smirk. You grit your teeth.

“Alright, alright, fine.” You mutter, just wanting her to go away. But then you remember how persistent Twilight Sparkle is, and you inwardly groan. Too late to back out now... You think.

She chuckles.

“I knew you’d see it my way! Alright, meet at the library, tomorrow at about midday.” She says, turning, and going back to Pinkie Pie.

Great, this is just GREAT. You think.

Twilight Sparkle, teaching me to read... I’m a grown stallion, I shouldn’t have to learn this stuff at this time in my life!

But you know she has a point. So, as you eat your cupcake, you think of how you free time has now been taken away by that lavender unicorn.

Ah well... May as well try. Maybe I could actually learn how to use magic...

This thought makes you smile, and you nod.

Alright, I’m ready for it, I suppose.

A/N

//Alrighty, we’re back in the saddle at last!

//Sorry to say this, but I think AppleYou will be moved to after RariYou, to avoid spoilers. I mean, we know what’s going to happen, but, well... You know what I mean.

//Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and look forward to an update when I get around to it.

//Oh, and one last time: Sorry, and thank you to all of those who have waited, and waited, and waited for an update. Even if it isn’t for the story you wanted. ;~;