//------------------------------// // 44. Coupling is Bad... // Story: My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship // by Danieru //------------------------------// “How did I end up in all of this?” Thought Star Twinkle annoyed as he smiled at Cheerilee who sat with him on a picnic blanket that was decorated with sweets and flowers. Not to mention the gramophone that was playing romantic music next to them. Star Twinkle's eyes wandered behind Cheerilee where three familiar fillies were watching the two from inside of a bush. All of them having wide eyes and big grins on their faces. “Oh, yeah...that's why...” he thought as he remembered how it all came to this situation. Earlier that day... Star Twinkle was well aware that being a Cutie Mark Crusader meant that he was supposed to spend more time with Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, than a pony his age should be. But every now and then he was invited to help them with some things that had nothing to do with him. But he was at least thankful, whenever it was something that didn't involve him to join in some crusading. He was told that they were making a card for their teacher and wanted Star Twinkle's opinion. He had no idea what he had to do with their class projects, thought it was still better than going on another Cutie Mark hunt. However, when he arrived at the clubhouse, he was surprised to see a heart shaped card that filled almost the entire room of the clubhouse, decorated with glitter and ribbons. “Well, what do you think?” Apple Bloom asked, joined by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo who all waited for Star Twinkle's response. But before he answered, he first had to make sure to not get blinded by covering his eyes due too much expose of glitter and pink. “It's lovely. And so...big...” he replied, trying to say something good about this “card”. “This will surely be the best card in our Hearts and Hooves party at school,” Scootaloo said in excitement which quickly “Hearts and Hooves day, huh...” Star Twinkle mumbled. Hearts and Hooves day was a celebration that always went past Star Twinkle since it was a more popular thing for everypony that got a very special somepony, a pony that you care about more than anything else. But there was nopony like that for Star Twinkle. And how was there supposed to be one? He never had a friend before he met Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Finding a friend was already impossible to think of for him before that, let alone finding his love. And since friendship was already more complicated than he thought, he figured that love would be something that he would never understand. “Now we only need somepony to carry it for us...” Sweetie Belle said, rubbing her chin and looking up in thoughts. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo then joined in and mimicked Sweetie Belle until all of them at the same time looked over to Star Twinkle. “I know exactly where this is going to...” Star Twinkle worried. “Well, I hope Miss Cheerilee likes your card! Now if you excuse me, I have to go and do...something,” he said in a desperate attempt to get out of this situation. But of course, the three fillies somehow managed to convince Star Twinkle and he ended up carrying the giant card to their school while they all walked in front of him, thinking about how Cheerilee will react to their card. That was until Scootaloo formed a concerned look on her face and turned to the other two fillies. “Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to let Star Twinkle carry the card...” she said, looking around as if she was looking for something. “What do you mean?” Sweetie Belle replied, not getting at what Scootaloo meant. “What if Star Twinkle's very special somepony comes around and sees him with this big card on his back?” Scootaloo explained. “And thinks that Star Twinkle is giving this card to Miss Cheerilee?” Apple Bloom answered. “This could lead to a really big misunderstanding!” Sweetie Belle figured with widened eyes. Star Twinkle overheard that and thought it was cute that they worried about him but he then assured them that this could not happen. “Don't worry, I don't have a very special somepony so it's okay,” he assured. This caused all the three fillies to release a shocked gasp. Oblivious to what could cause that, Star Twinkle stopped in his track and asked why they reacted that way. “You don't have a very special somepony?” Apple Bloom asked. “That is NOT okay!” Sweetie Belle protested. “Everypony needs a very special somepony!” Scootaloo exclaimed with really determent expression on her face which was directed at Star Twinkle. What was he supposed to say to that? It didn't even make sense. His friends don't seem to have somepony like that. Star Twinkle was not sure why they were so upset up this matter in the first place. Normally them acting like this would not bother him too much but the next sentence that came out of Apple Bloom's mouth kept him from ignoring them. “We need to find you a very special somepony!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo quickly agreeing on that. “No no no no, that will not be necessary!” Star Twinkle hastily replied. “I am perfectly fine with not having somepony like that. Really!” He added, trying to stop them from doing something like that. However, the girls pierced him with disbelieving glares and then looked at each other like they were planning something. But Star Twinkle kept thinking that it was just his imagination. They all replied with some “Uh huh's” and kept whispering something to each other. But again, Star Twinkle kept telling himself that it was just his imagination. A few minutes later, they finally arrived at their school and Star Twinkle brought the card inside of the classroom. Of course, him showing up in the room was drawing some attention to him. Either that or the giant card that he was carrying. Miss Cheerilee was the first one to greet the group while Star Twinkle attempted to place the card on the ground but was then told that he should lift it up so that Miss Cheerilee could look at it. “Good day Star Twinkle, helping out the Cutie Mark Crusaders as usual I see?” She asked jokingly. Star Twinkle thought about correcting her and saying that he was also a member of them and that they pretty much forced him to carry this thing but he figured that it would only make it more embarrassing than it already was. So he decided to give a short and neutral answer. “Eeyup,” Cheerilee giggled in response so he probably gave a good answer for once. The Crusaders then waited for Cheerilee's to give her opinion on this “card”. “It's lovely. And so...” she put a hoof on her chin and thought a moment before giving an answer. “Big!” “Nice save...” Star Twinkle thought. Star Twinkle was then asked to put the card to somewhere else in the room while the Cutie Mark Crusaders talked with Cheerilee. They explained that they made this to assure that Miss Cheerilee knows how much they care about her and that she should have the best Hearts and Hooves Day ever. “Thank you so much, girls. I love it. I really do,” she replied, obviously touched by this gesture. “I'm sure it's nothing compared to the gifts you've gotten from your... very special somepony,” Sweetie Belle said teasingly, walking up to Miss Cheerilee, causing her to back away nervously. “Oh, I don't have a very special somepony at the moment,” Cheerilee replied as she walked away to take care of the decoration. This caused the three fillies to look in shock, like before when they asked Star Twinkle. They were wondering how such an amazing pony would not have a very special somepony. Cheerilee wasn't looking forward to explaining the details but she put on a smile and assured them that she already has so many good friends and students who care about her and that she will have a really nice Hearts and Hooves Day. Meanwhile, Star Twinkle returned to the three, still feeling out of place in the classroom with all those fillies. “Okay, I brought your card in the classroom and from the looks of it, your party is going to start soon sooooo... Can I go now?” Star Twinkle plead. “Hey, Star Twinkle, did you knew that Miss Cheerilee doesn't have a special somepony?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously awaiting Star Twinkle's answer. “No...” he replied in disinterested. “Miss Cheerilee is really nice!” Scootaloo added in the same excitement as Sweetie Belle. “Yes, I know. I've met her...” “Don't you think it's bad that somepony so nice doesn't have a special somepony?” Apple Bloom asked. “Maybe?” He replied, starting to get a little bothered by the three. But after a while, Sweetie Belle gasped in excitement, followed by a massive grin, causing to some confusion to the three ponies. “Uh, you all right?” Apple Bloom asked in confusion. “I've just come up with the best idea ever,” she exclaimed happily. “Please tell me that it isn't involving me anymore...” Star Twinkle said with little enthusiasm. Sweetie Belle looked at Star Twinkle and narrowed her eyes. She then walked behind him and slowly pushed him in direction of the door. Apparently, he was not involved in the plan or wasn't allowed to even hear what it was about but he still took his chance and left without complaining if it meant that he could leave now. However, after only a few hours, he was once again asked by the Cutie Mark Crusaders to do something for them. Only this time it seemed to be something work related. They told him that there was a gazebo that desperately needed some repair. Being a carpenter pony, he'll eventually be sent to repair it some day but before he could even ask the three about more details, they vanished again in an extreme speed. “Well, it's not like I had anything to do now so why not...” he said before he grabbed some of his equipment from inside of his house and went to the place, that the three fillies told him about. When he arrived at the place, he quickly saw the gazebo that the three meant and walked up to it with a tool box in his mouth. Strangely enough, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were also standing nearby, looking at Star Twinkle with wide grins on their faces. Miss Cheerilee was also walking to the gazebo and approached the three fillies. He figured that she maybe was having a picnic with the girls, judging from the blanket, the sweets and all the other stuff that was under the gazebo. Which made him think... If somepony would hold a picnic while he was working at the gazebo, things could become a little difficult. “Hey, Star Twinkle!” All three of them in unison greeted. They then turned around after Miss Cheerilee got close enough to them. “Hi, Miss Cheerilee,” they greeted their teacher. “So you three said you needed help identifying a tree you found here near the gazebo?” Cheerilee asked while looking around to find the tree. The three Crusaders then quickly pointed to what was clearly an apple tree without breaking their smiles once. “That's an apple tree,” Miss Cheerilee replied in a serious tone, clearly not amused what seemed to be a joke by the three fillies. Star Twinkle didn't know much about trees but that was really not necessary when it comes to identifying an apple tree. Apple Bloom, from all ponies, should be able to know how one looks like since she grew up in an orchard and sees those probably every day. Worrying about, whatever that was supposed to be was pointless so Star Twinkle placed his tool box on the ground and attempted to start his work. But as soon as he looked up to find out with what kind of damage he had to deal with, he figured that there was nothing wrong with the gazebo and looked at it confused. “Oh, sorry, Star Twinkle. We went and fixed up the gazebo all on our own. See?” Apple Bloom explained. “If you wanted to repair it then why were you even asking me to-” he said annoyed but he was then interrupted by Scootaloo. “As long as you're here, why not have a bite to eat from this romantic-looking picnic?” She said hinting at the obvious picnic under the gazebo. “Oh gosh, seems like there's only room for two,” she added. “I guess we'll just be goin' then,” Apple Bloom said before she and the others quickly ran away or rather escaped judging from their speed and left the two earth ponies on their own but not without turning on the gramophone which played some romantic music. The two earth ponies were, of course, feeling awkward to be left alone like that all of the sudden and without any reason. They both rarely looked at each other and tried to find something to talk about. “Beautiful day we're having,” Cheerilee said. “Yeah, I guess...” Star Twinkle replied. “Any big plans for tonight?” Cheerilee asked. “...No...” Star Twinkle replied. Each time when they said something they briefly looked at each other but after that, they kept their eyes away from each other. “Why did they just left? I don't know what I should talk about with Cheerilee! And she probably doesn't know either! But I can't just walk away, right?” Star Twinkle thought, being well aware that this was just an awkward situation. For a moment, Star Twinkle saw something moving in the distance behind Cheerilee which caught his attention. After concentrating on it a little more, he figured that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were hiding inside of a bush and kept watching the two of them. Then it struck Star Twinkle. The Picnic, the romantic music, him and Cheerilee alone and the fact that it is Hearts and Hooves Day... “Is this supposed to be a date?” “Are they trying to make me fall in love with Cheerilee?” He wondered in shock. He then turned his eyes to Cheerilee again without her noticing since she was avoiding eye contact due to the awkwardness of this situation. “Well, she is kinda nice, I guess...” he thought after inspecting her how she was awkwardly standing in front of him. “But even if this crazy plan would work, would I really be very special somepony potential? And what should I reply to this? What do you do if somepony says something like that to you? How could those three put me in this situation!?” Soon Star Twinkle became nervous. Whenever he doesn't talk with somepony, he digs himself further and further into deep thoughts and while doing that, he always imagines the worst. “Well, it was nice talking with you but I think I have to go now,” Cheerilee said while Star Twinkle wasn't well aware of her words at first and answered rather hastily. “I'M NOT READY YET!” He shouted out in shock before he realized that Cheerilee was saying something completely different what he thought. “I-I mean...yes, I have to go too,” he then corrected, praying that Cheerilee wouldn't think about his previous words. She gave him a confused expression but then smiled and waved him goodbye awkwardly which led Star Twinkle to wave back at her awkwardly too as she walked off slowly. “I think I just remembered why nopony would ask me to be her very special somepony... Because I'm way too awkward...” he figured while smiling awkwardly in his realization. After Cheerilee walked out of his sight there was only one more thing to take care of. His head quickly turned in the direction of the moving bush in the distance, causing the bush to stop moving in an instant. Inside, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had a very bad feeling. “You think he knows what we were trying to do?” Apple Bloom asked Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Suddenly, two hooves came through the leaves and created an opening from which Star Twinkle was looking inside. “I think he does,” Scootaloo replied after seeing Star Twinkle look at them angrily The three Crusaders came walking out of the bush so that the conversation could be held outside. While walking out they all had their heads looking at the ground in shame before they then stood side by side waiting for some scolding with awkward smiles on their faces. “So...how did your picnic with Miss Cheerilee went?” Sweetie Belle asked, trying to play innocent. “You should know. You watched every second of it,” Star Twinkle replied annoyed. “Did you really think that I didn't realize what you were trying to do? Setting up a romantic picnic to make me and Miss Cheerilee fall in love?” He didn't like to scold them but for once he had to be the grown-up that he actually is. “We just thought that both of you would be happier if you both had a very special somepony...” Scootaloo replied ashamed as she and the other two clearly showed signs of regret. It was good that they all regret what they did because that would make it easier for Star Twinkle to talk with them. “Listen, I'm, probably the last pony that should teach you something about love but even I know that it is not that easy. It's not like you could cast a spell on somepony that makes you fall in love with somepony else. It's a little more complicated like that,” he explained. The three fillies nodded in unison and that is all that Star Twinkle wanted to see, giving them a smile. The three noticed and were wondering about that. “Are you not angry with us?” Scootaloo asked confused. “No...I guess not...It's not like something bad happened, right? Just don't get me involved with something like this again,” He replied while he was rubbing his neck. Of course, he couldn't be too mad at them since the only thing what they did was just putting him in an awkward situation. But that situation was over and so was his anger towards them that he had before. The three fillies smiled back at him and were happy to not hear him scolding them for what they did and laughed happily. The three ponies walked off and Star Twinkle also was on his way home. The rest of the day was really quiet, despite some couples spending time with each other in the town. But other than that, it still seemed like a normal day. Although there was one strange thing that he saw... And that was Big McIntosh hopping past him and repeating the word “diamond” over and over again. “He seemed happy...” Star Twinkle said, watching this. Whatever that was about, he didn't put too much thought into it and continued his walk through Ponyville. The only thing that Star Twinkle was hoping for is that Cheerilee didn't saw through Apple Bloom's, Sweetie Belle's and Scootaloo's plan and would bring that up in the future because then things could become awkward again. But things usually didn't go the way he wanted and a few moments later, he saw Cheerilee running right at him. As soon as he saw Cheerilee running in his direction, he feared the worst. “Cheerilee? Why is she running so fast at me with those determined eyes? Is that a delayed reaction to my charm?” He wondered in shock. The closer she got, the more nervous he became. It was like a hungry predator that saw some delicious prey. And that's exactly how he felt like right now. He stood still and hoped that she would slow down before she runs him over but he noticed that she was running past him repeating the word “dress” over and over again. At first, he was relieved that she wasn't coming after him but it was obvious there was something off about her. Moments later, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came running to Star Twinkle from the same direction. “Have you seen Miss Cheerilee?” Scootaloo asked. “Yes, she just ran past me and judging from her saying dress over and over again, I think she might be heading for Carousel Boutique?” he guessed. “We need you to keep Big McIntosh away from her for one full hour!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed frustrated. “Why?” Star Twinkle asked confused. They were about to answer but hesitated for a moment. “I bet Apple Bloom can explain that much better than we!” Scootaloo said. “Yes! You should definitely ask Apple Bloom about what is going on,” Sweetie Belle added. The two fillies told him that Apple Bloom was waiting in a jewelry shop together with Big McIntosh. They both then ran off to the direction where Miss Cheerilee was heading to. Wondering what this was all about, Star Twinkle was heading to the jewelry shop in order to find out what exactly was wrong. When he arrived, he saw Big McIntosh looking at some diamonds with a really excited expression on his face. Apple Bloom noticed how Star Twinkle was entering the shop and rushed to him relieved. “Am I glad to see you! You need to help me keeping away my brother from Miss Cheerilee for an hour!” She said in frustration. “Yes, I know! But why? Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo said that you can explain something to me,” “They did?” She replied confused. She seemed to be hesitating to tell him but she was also seemed desperate and needed some help so she quickly explained the situation. “Do you remember when you told us that it isn't so easy to make two ponies fall in love?” “Yes,” he replied. “We kinda ignored your advice after finding out that there is a potion that makes other ponies fall in love,” she replied, followed by an embarrassed smile. “Wait...you made a potion that makes Big McIntosh and Miss Cheerilee fall in love?” Star Twinkle asked. “Actually we made a love poison to make them fall in love... The only way to make the poison stop working is to prevent them from looking each others in the eyes for one hour,” she explained. That is the exact opposite thing that he wanted to hear after advising them to do NOT something like that. "Why Big Mac?" Star Twinkle asked. "Well, you said that you didn't want to get involved with this again..." Apple Bloom replied. Star Twinkle was slamming his hoof against his face in frustration, seeing that this was the only thing they did seem to remember. But scolding Apple Bloom right now, would not help in any way now so he focused on the problem with his hoof holding his head in annoyance. “How many more minutes do you need?” He asked to make sure that both ponies could be cured. Apple Bloom then looked out of the window to check the time on a clock tower not far away. “We still need twenty-five minutes,” “That should be doable,” Star Twinkle said optimistic. They then turned around to look at where Big McIntosh was standing a minute ago only to find out that he was gone. Apple Bloom quickly asked the shop owner to where her brother vanished to. “He made his purchase and departed out the back. Said something about needing to see his... shmoopy-shmoo,” the shop owner replied. Despite being confused by this choice of words, Star Twinkle and Apple Bloom also left the shop and saw Big McIntosh hoping happily through Ponyville. “We have to slow him down!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Got it!” Star Twinkle replied before he grabbed Big McIntosh's tail with his mouth. Unfortunately, it wasn't slowing the big stallion down at all and Big McIntosh's hoping lifted Star Twinkle and slammed him into the ground multiple times while he was holding his tail. Star Twinkle got up again and tried to stop him from the front this time. He kept using his back hooves to push him away but again Big McIntosh wasn't affected by it in the slightest and Star Twinkle landed with his face into the ground again. “Oh, yeah, I forgot...Big Mac is strong...” Star Twinkle said while getting back on his hooves again. Apple Bloom also tried to stop the stallion with a rope in her mouth that she put on her brother. The other end of the rope was on a cart filled with anvils which were pulled by two bulls. That surely would stop Big McIntosh, thought Star Twinkle but again the stallion was not affected by this and kept on hopping. The two ponies ran out of ideas to stop the stallion but Star Twinkle had one more left to try. Star Twinkle grabbed the end of the rope hanging from Big McIntosh and tied it around a house that they were walking by. It actually seemed to work this time. Big McIntosh was struggling to move one for a moment. But seconds later, he managed to pull the entire house behind him to Star Twinkle's and Apple Bloom's surprise. The pony that lived inside opened the window to find out what was going on and got quickly surprised after seeing a stallion dragging her entire house behind him. “Sorry!” Star Twinkle said in frustration to the mare in the house as he followed Big McIntosh. Things got worse upon realizing that they were getting closer to Carousel Boutique. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were standing in front of the entrance, covered in mud and waved at the three ponies that approached the Boutique. They wanted the two to let go of Big McIntosh for some reason and Star Twinkle saw why upon inspecting the ground in front of them. Star Twinkle grabbed Apple Bloom and jumped out of Big McIntosh's way and watched how he was suddenly vanishing inside of a hole which was most likely dug up from Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Big McIntosh was now trapped in a hole with a feather bed under him. And from the looks of it, he couldn't get out. There was also only one more minute left until the poison would wear off so it was safe to say that things turned out well. That was until Big McIntosh was screaming out for Cheerilee. “Shmoopy-doo!” He screamed in desperation. “You know, I am kinda angry at you, knowing that this could have been me instead,” Star Twinkle said annoyed to the three fillies. But then the four ponies got distracted by Miss Cheerilee's voice from inside of the boutique. “Sweetums?!” She replied from inside. There were noises coming from inside of the boutique indicating that many things got broken. Seconds later the door was shaking which was probably Cheerilee trying to break trough the door. The mare broke down the door, wore a wedding veil on her head and looked around in order to find Big McIntosh. Since the stallion was screaming for her the entire time, she quickly found him behind the four ponies that tried to hide his eyes from her. She then charged towards the hole in order to meet her beloved one and was about to run over the Crusaders. There were shivers running down on Star Twinkle's back seeing how the mare charged right at him but there were only seconds left for the spell to be broken and every second would count. “This is gonna hurt...” he mumbled to himself in concern. Star Twinkle jumped a few steps in front of the three fillies in order to stop the mare with a determined look on his face. “You shall not pa-” but he was interrupted by the crash that resulted from Cheerilee running into him, throwing him into the air. As he landed on the ground again, he only heard more crashing noises which probably came from Cheerilee running into the three fillies and landing into the hole where Big McIntosh was in. When he got up again, he saw three fillies that laid on the ground and Cheerilee out of his sight. He then looked at the clock on a nearby clock tower to check the time. The minute was over but the question is if the hour was over... The four ponies had no choice but to check for themselves and looked into the hole. “Oh, please be normal, please be normal,” Apple Bloom prayed as she and the others were walking up to the hole. The two earth ponies gave the four ponies a surprised look as they looked down on the hole. “Am I wearing a wedding veil?” Cheerilee wondered. “Eeyup.” Big McIntosh replied. “Are you sitting on a feather bed in a hole in the ground?” Cheerilee asked. “Eeyup.” Big McIntosh replied once more. “Can you explain why I look like I'm getting married at the bottom of a pit?” Miss Cheerilee asked the four ponies. Sweetie Belle then took it upon herself to explain the whole situation. “We may have given you the teeny-tiniest bit of love potion... that may have turned out to actually be a love poison, and you may have gone just a teeny-tiniest bit nutty,” “Judging from all the bruises that I got, “teenie-tiny” is a bit of an understatement...” Star Twinkle thought to himself. “But we only did it because we thought you and Big Mac would be really happy if you could be each others very special someponies on Hearts and Hooves Day,” Apple Bloom added. “Our hearts and hooves were in the right place,” Scootaloo added, trying to play it down a little. Cheerilee and Big McIntosh understood what they were getting at but they still needed to make it clear for the three fillies. “We appreciate that you care about us and want us to be happy but–“ Cheerilee said before she was interrupted by Apple Bloom. “But no matter how good our intentions might have been, we shoulda never meddled in your relationship,” “Nopony can force two ponies to be together,” Scootaloo added. “It's up to everypony to choose that very special somepony for themselves,” Sweetie Belle added further. “Star Twinkle told us that it wasn't that easy and that we shouldn't have done so but we still ignored it, instead of listening to him,” Apple Bloom then said, causing everypony to look at Star Twinkle who was feeling happy that they may have learned their lesson this time. “I think you still own some ponies an apology,” he said, hinting at the two earth ponies inside of the hole. They then turned to Miss Cheerilee and Big McIntosh and apologized to them with ashamed looks on their faces. They both accepted their apology but, of course, didn't want them to get out of this without some punishment. “And you can think about how sorry you are while you're doing all of Big Mac's chores at Sweet Apple Acres. Does that seem like a fair punishment to you?” She said turning to Big McIntosh. “Eeyup.” the stallion replied satisfied. A little later... The three fillies were already on their way to Sweet Apple Acres to do Big McIntosh's shores while the stallion followed them. Before saying her goodbyes as well, Miss Cheerilee stayed with Star Twinkle to ask him something. “This picnic that they set up before... Was that also to try bringing us together?” Miss Cheerilee asked confused. “Yeah...crazy, huh? I really don't know how they got the idea that I would be perfect to be any ponies very special somepony,” he replied jokingly but with truth in it. Cheerilee also seemed to find it ridiculous since she giggled in response. “I don't know...I heard some gossip that told me otherwise...” she teasingly said before she walked off and waved goodbye to Star Twinkle. Without fully listening to what she just said, Star Twinkle waved her goodbye as well with a smile on his face. But then he realized what she just said and the only reaction that he could come up with was a confused look on his face and a single word that came out of his mouth. “What?”