The Root Beer Relationship
Techorse #15
By Spirals95
A trip to the bank was not Pinkie Pie's favorite task in the world, but it always left her with her paycheck deposited and the small cut of it she kept for herself to spend in her saddlebags. She had just left the small building in town and had made a left turn down the cobblestone roads. The sunshine filled the busy town with its warmth, boosting every resident's morale for the day. Pinkie Pie skipped happily through the square, humming a merry tune to herself. With each step, a small jingle came from the saddlebags she was wearing as the gold coins inside knocked around. Usually, the small allowance she took out of her pay didn't burn holes in her pockets, but for some reason, Pinkie was looking for something to spend money on. As she hopped down the road, with her eyes shut out of glee, she accidentally ran into an object that she didn't expect to be there.
"Oof!"
Pinkie fell to the ground with a soft thud, and sat up slowly to see what she had collided with. It was a stand-up chalkboard advertisement that had been left out on the sidewalk in front of a new establishment. It seemed to be a white brick building, a plain rectangle in shape. Although the building itself was boring, the large windows were well-decorated with red shutters, with a beautiful sign hung over the doorway and windows. The sign was bordered with neon red lights, and in the middle was a plastic mug of root beer.
"That's funny. There wasn't a building in this spot last week!" giggled Pinkie as she brushed the dirt off of her coat.
She then looked up at the title of the shop and read it out loud, "The Froth Shop? What a neat name!"
Looking at the door, Pinkie Pie observed that the store was lit, but that no one had yet to enter the new building.
"Might as well go in, it looks like fun!" she said as she pushed open the glass front door and made her way inside.
A small copper bell rang gently overhead as the door pushed on it. The inside of the store had a black and white checkered pattern of tiles on the floor, and a few red-topped metal tables were scattered across the building. The chairs that went with the tables were overturned and balanced on the edges, evidence that they had not yet been set up for the business day. At the back of the room was a very large bar setup, a long aluminum counter with several stools lined up in front of it. Behind the counter were several huge wooden kegs, each one linked by a metal tube to a set of taps up front.
"Wowie!" cooed Pinkie Pie in awe, "This place looks amazing! I wonder what's in those huge barrels?"
While looking around the counter for a way to get closer, the pink pony spotted a small silver push bell. A beaming smile immediately came on her face, as she knew exactly what to do with one of those. Hitting it repeatedly with a hoof, she filled the small building with the noise of the metal ringing. After about a minute of whacking the object repeatedly, a door behind the counter opened, and the owner of the shop emerged.
He was a unicorn with a light brown coat, beaming green eyes, and yellow and red striped mane hair.
His tail was rather frayed in appearance, bearing the same colors as his mane but being far messier than his long hair. On his flank, his cutie mark was 3 mugs foaming over, each with a single silly straw in it of one of the primary colors. Although he had the appearance of happiness at the moment, Pinkie Pie could sense that the stallion in front of her was hurting on the inside just a little bit for some reason. Of course, there was no way she could tell without asking, and she had learned to never ask what was wrong unless the pony looked extremely miserable or upset.
"I'm sorry miss…" said the colt in a soft German accent, "But we are closed right now."
"No you're not silly." Answered Pinkie Pie cheerfully, "You left the front door unlocked."
"Ach." He said in disgust, "I can't believe I forgot to lock up last night. I'm probably going to get robbed one of these days."
Pinkie Pie laughed and said, "Oh don't worry so much! Try to have some fun, new guy!"
The unicorn pony became curious and asked, "How did you know I was new in town?"
"That's easy." explained Pinkie Pie quickly, "I'm friends with everypony in Ponyville, and I haven't ever seen you around! Plus, your shop is brand new, I always go this way from the bank, and this wasn't here last week."
"It must be very difficult making friends with every last pony you meet." muttered the shop owner, somehow doubtful that any creature could possibly have positive relations with all his or her peers.
"Not really." responded Pinkie Pie, leaning over the counter to get closer to him, "My name's Pinkie Pie, I throw parties for every pony in town! And guess what mister, you're arrival is next on my 'to celebrate' list!"
"Thank you Miss Pinkie." He said, shaking his head, "but that won't be necessary. I have nothing to celebrate right now."
"Sure you do!" she replied, giving him a little punch on the shoulder, "You've got a neat little business here, you're new in town, and you've got me as your first friend here! Of course, it would help if I knew your name and what you did around here."
"My name is Steiner." He answered, smiling, "And my business is soda brewing. These kegs behind me have lots of different naturally flavored sodas in them. I have root beer, birch beer, ginger ale, cream soda, and much more. I use my magic to carbonate all the drinks myself, and sometimes even put a special enchantment on the pop to make you feel all happy inside when you drink it!"
Suddenly, Pinkie Pie disappeared from in front of the counter, sliding onto the floor. Steiner peered over the counter to find her, but she had mysteriously vanished.
Scratching his head in confusion as to how his guest could have possibly disappeared, he was suddenly shocked when she spoke from directly next to him,
"Well then, let me welcome you to Ponyville, Steiner!"
Immediately she jumped from his side and landed on top of his counter, where she started to dance in place and sing:
"Welcome to Ponyville Steiner!"
"I hope you like this little place!"
"And I wish you luck with your sodas!"
"Cause sodas put a smile on my face!"
Steiner laughed as Pinkie Pie finished her cheerful little number and sat down on the stool immediately behind the counter.
"Thank you so much, I was feeling pretty down." He said, "Tell you what. How would you like to be the first to try a root beer at no cost?"
"I would love to!" she replied, licking her lips in anticipation.
"Ah, very well." He said with a nod.
Turning around, Steiner's horn began to glow a soft brown as he picked up a glass mug from a nearby wooden rack hanging on the wall. Moving it around him in an arc, he positioned the container below one of the taps and pushed down the brown wooden handle on the metal pipe. Dark, sugary fluid gushed from the tap, entering the bottom of the cold glass, and foaming up the sides. Just a second before the foam raced over the top, Steiner skillfully released his magical grip on the tap, and the carbon dioxide buildup in the glass formed a perfect dome over the opening of the glass. He then set the mug down on the counter, a few drops of root beer dripped down the sides of the mug, mirroring the drops of saliva leaving the edge's of Pinkie Pie's mouth. Placing a white straw with red stripes in the glass, Steiner quickly slid the filled mug down the counter in front of his new friend.
"There you go." said Steiner with a hint of cheer in his voice, "One root beer, with roots taken from the best trees, and sugar made on Quagga island."
Of course, having eating the sugar before from that tropical island, Pinkie Pie immediately knew that the drink now in front of her would taste several times better than any other soda that could possibly be made. Carefully, she wrapped her lips around the straw and took a nice long sip. The sugary liquid poured over her tongue and immediately satisfied her thirst from singing her song. After draining a third of the mug in one go, Pinkie took a deep breath and said both quickly and loudly,
"Wowie! That is really, really good! Probably the best root beer I've ever had in my entire life!"
"I'm glad you like it. Tell your friends about it." He said, "Tomorrow is the day I truly open the store."
Pinkie frowned and asked, "Why can't you just open it today?"
Steiner sighed and turned away from her, "I really can't tell you. It wouldn't make any difference in Equestria whether I told you or not anyways."
"Would it make you feel any better if I invited all my other friends to come try your root beer today?" asked Pinkie Pie hopefully.
She dropped 12 gold coins on the table, sure that would cover another round for her inner circle.
Steiner thought about it for a minute, and knew that refusing business would be stupid. It couldn't hurt to serve a few more ponies the day before the grand opening. Word might spread through them that the drinks were very good.
"All right." He said, straightening his expression, "Go get your friends. I'll have root beers ready for all of them."
Pinkie gave Steiner one last happy grin before jumping out of her seat and dashing out the door in a blur of speed, scattering several of the coasters on the counter top. This left the colt dazed, but a little bit more cheerful than before.
By 1 in the afternoon, Pinkie Pie had rounded up the whole gang and dragged them over from their homes for a cool drink. Even though many were busy doing something else, Pinkie made them drop what they were doing to try the new soda. It was most difficult to drag Rarity away from her work, but after a quick description of the cleanliness of Steiner's shop, she had changed her mind. Soon, her six friends had been introduced to Steiner and were all seated at the counter back in the small soda shop, and were stunned by how good the sugary drinks were.
"Wow, this root beer tastes great!" Exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she slammed her empty mug down onto the counter.
"Glad you enjoyed it!" Replied Steiner cheerfully, as he took the glass away and moved it over to the sink to wash.
"So what brings ya to Ponyville anyways?" asked Applejack, "Did you just figure you'd do well out here?"
"Well Applejack, I figured I'd do better here than at the last town I opened my store in." he sighed, putting the glass down in the stainless steel sink with a soft clink.
Applejack frowned, "What happened in your last town?"
The colt turned around to face the friends and explained, "I originally lived in Handshigh, but my business failed miserably when my soda taps were outpaced by a new invention."
Techorse sank slowly in his stool, he couldn't remember if he had invented a soda maker or not.
Steiner caught the look of guilt and said, "It wasn't one of your machines, Tech. Lighten up."
The green stallion relaxed and straightened himself up in his seat, before reaching for his mug of root beer again. He wasn't wearing his trademark saddle, so he simply placed a leg through the handle and lifted the mug to his mouth.
As he drank, Steiner said, "I was put out of business by a pair of traveling unicorn ponies who had invented a canned soda machine. I tried my hardest to keep up, but they were able to offer soda at a cheaper price, and I was forced to close fast."
Twilight said with pity, "The Flim-Flam brothers put you out of business?"
"Yes." He answered.
Applejack laughed, tipped her hat forward, and said, "Well mister, you won't have to worry about them coming here. We booted them outta Ponyville ages ago."
"And even if they do, we'll just beat them again!" said Rainbow Dash confidently.
Steiner sighed, "I hope you are right. As it is I'm in a lot of trouble for losing my business once."
"But your drinks are simply wonderful!" chimed Rarity, "You'll be a great success here in Ponyville for sure!"
"You'll always find a few thirsty ponies!" added Pinkie Pie.
"We have full confidence in you, Steiner." finished Fluttershy, flipping her pink hair behind her head.
"As much as I want to believe it, there's still no hope for me." said Steiner, turning to face the glass door of his shop, "I still have one huge problem coming up for me."
"And what's that?" asked Twilight.
Suddenly, the door was slammed open, knocking the bell off the frame and causing it to come crashing down to the floor. A lavender-colored Pegasus pony with beaming blue eyes bounded into the room. Her mane was extremely long and golden, with a few wisps of blue in it. The hair was so long, it flowed down past the bottom of her torso. The mare's cutie mark was that of an open book with a heart above it.
"Her…", whispered Steiner weakly as he pointed at the visitor with a hoof.
"Hello my Steiner-baby!" she said energetically as she skipped over with her eyes shut. She bounced up next to the colt and planted a huge kiss on the side of his cheek.
"So, are you ready for the big day this weekend?" she asked, opening her eyes halfway and looking lovingly at him.
"Yes, Wishful my dear." He agreed, looking at the floor.
"Big day?" asked Fluttershy softly of the mare.
"Oh yes!" replied Wishful with a happy coo, "This Saturday, Steiner and I are going to be married! My dad said so!"
"Congratulations!" said Techorse happily, raising his mug.
Steiner shot him a nasty look that silently meant: "Shut up!"
"Thank you so much!" replied the fiancé, "I'll get to know you all later, but for now, I need to go shopping for my wedding dress!"
Suddenly, Rarity was at full attention.
"Are you planning on buying your wedding dress here in Ponyville?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye.
Wishful nodded, "Of course I am! We're having a very simple wedding here. I told daddy I didn't want a huge party, it'd be a waste of money."
"That's rather humble." said Applejack, giving her approval of the modest choice.
Rarity immediately shoved a hoof into the orange pony's mouth, trying to avoid letting her ruin her sale.
"Oh but you only get one wedding!" she said, removing her hoof and shaking it free of Applejack's saliva. "You ought to make it as special as possible, with the most fancy dress! I happen to make some of the most beautiful dresses in Equestria."
Applejack rolled her eyes, "Thaaaaat's not so humble."
The fiancé flapped her wings in excitement and said, "Take me to your shop and have me measured then!"
Rarity quietly laughed to herself and led the other female out of the store. They shut the door behind them, and turned right to head back to Rarity's home.
"That's your problem?" asked Pinkie Pie after a few seconds of silence, "You're nervous about getting married?"
"No." replied Steiner, "My problem is that I have to marry that mare."
"What do ya mean?" asked Applejack curiously.
Steiner explained,"Well, when my business failed, I lost so much money that my parents became concerned about my ability to be financially stable. So, they found a very wealthy stallion who was miserable because nopony would marry his daughter, and set up an arranged marriage."
Rainbow Dash slammed her legs on the table and shouted, "That's not fair! You should be able to marry who you want to. Aren't you old enough to just tell your parents no?"
"Yes. But my parents are too old now to support themselves." Continued Steiner, "I was born very late, and they retired when I left the home. So if I can't find a way to bring myself and them money, I'll have to live off of my wife's fortune."
"That's terrible." said Fluttershy with sympathy in her voice.
"I know. But nothing can be done." said Steiner. He refused to cry about his situation, but certainly looked down about the situation.
Twilight went into deep thought, and then spoke up, "Actually, we can do something about this!"
"Really?" asked Pinkie Pie, "Tell us, tell us, tell us!"
The unicorn mare stepped down from her stool and explained her plan, "All we have to do is prove to Steiner's parents that he can make enough money in Ponyville, and then he won't have to marry that girl. Let's all start advertising for his business, and try to pull in at least two thousand bits by Friday."
Techorse smirked and said, "I could just…"
"Oh no you don't, Mr. saddlebags of cash!" barged in Applejack as she looked Techorse straight in the eyes, "You might be able to give Steiner that kind of money, but you can't give him the reputation he needs to prove that he can make it on his own!"
The young inventor frowned and said, "You're right. We need to get a steady flow of customers in here, not a cash injection."
"But maybe you can find a way for your gadgets to help!" suggested Pinkie Pie, "You're not completely useless, Techie!"
"Thanks, I think." He answered, rolling his eyes.
"So it's settled!" said Twilight happily, "Tomorrow morning at 10 we'll meet here and start helping Steiner get as many customers as possible. We'll have to be either really loud or really creative to attract attention for this place."
"Which means I should probably just stay home tomorrow." mumbled Fluttershy, looking down at the counter.
"Actually, I have a job for you too, Fluttershy. Make sure Rarity doesn't let that crazy bride get too carried away with her wedding plans. We're going to put a stop to them, so make sure she doesn't set up too much." Fluttershy nodded, it would be a more suitable task for her than trying to advertise.
"All right then." said Rainbow Dash, "See you tomorrow, Steiner."
"Have a good night." He replied as the friends started to leave. Soon they all had left except for Applejack, who walked up to the distressed colt.
"I wouldn't worry, Steiner." She said with an assuring tone, "You aren't gonna have to marry her. You don't have to marry at all if you don't want to."
"I do want to marry someday. I just want to be able to choose the mare is all." He said, "You see, that girl only cares about me being her foals' father. She has no cares for my soda business whatsoever."
"Well don't worry, she'll be out of your mane soon enough." laughed Applejack, "Have a good night!"
"Thank you Applejack." He said as she left his place of work. Steiner went back to cleaning the mugs his new friends had left behind, and exhaled sharply. With any luck, things were going to look up for him.
The next morning, at the planned time, the friends gathered again to put their plan into effect. It started with Rainbow Dash taking off into the air and using her ability to sky-write to draw advertising in the air. Rather than put the name of the shop in the sky, Rainbow Dash simply drew a very large arrow pointing down at the drink shop. She figured that the curiosity of the town's residents would draw them in. Applejack contributed by setting up her produce stand in front of Steiner's place of work, and suggested to any of her customers that they buy a soda to go with all of her own goods. Twilight and Techorse ran the rest of the advertising campaign out of the library, hanging a large banner on the tree building and passing out flyers whenever possible.
The plan proved to be rather successful, as by the end of the day, the line in front of The Froth Shop was out the door for 30 feet. Steiner was scrambling to serve root beers to all of his customers, but he smiled for each new guest's reaction to drinking his life's work. The happy faces of his patrons made him happy as well, and helped him to ignore the fact that he had to work so hard to keep up with the rush.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Fluttershy approached the carousel boutique slowly, going over in her mind how she was going to delay Rarity from making a wedding dress she wouldn't end up being able to sell. She walked up to the door of the large shop carefully, and gently knocked on the door with a front hoof.
A few moments later, Rarity opened the front door and asked with excitement,
"Fluttershy! Come to help with the wedding dress?"
"Well, not exactly." Replied Fluttershy softly.
But Rarity wouldn't listen whatsoever, "Wonderful, darling! Come right in!"
Rarity grabbed Fluttershy with a front leg and dragged her inside her shop without evening giving her a chance to explain. In the middle of the neat-kept studio was the ditzy bride, wearing the partially-completed dress. It was a flowing white creation, with several bands of lace running down the sides. The dress had small holes lined with gold fabric on the sides for her wings to emerge from, and the bottom of the dress had a beautiful pattern to place rosebuds in around the perimeter. Finally, to complete the dress, a small tiara made out of silver mined from the nearby mountains was sitting upon her head.
"Oh hi, Fluttershy!" she said, waving to her while putting on a big grin, "What do you think of the new dress Rarity is making for me?"
"It's very nice." Answered Fluttershy, "But I need to say something important."
"Well go ahead Fluttershy." said Rarity, "You came so far from home that I'd simply hate to ignore you. Besides, Wishful and I have been working on the dress for hours and could use a rest."
Wishful nodded and said, "I even spent the night in Rarity's guest room!"
"Well, Wishful." Said Fluttershy, walking up to her quietly, "I know you're all excited about your wedding, but there's something I have to tell you."
Wishful seemed to ignore Fluttershy and said with a twinkle in her eyes, "Oh, Fluttershy, I am excited! In 3 days, I'll be a married mare. I'll take my husband Steiner home to my family's mansion in Canterlot, and we'll all live together as one happy family. Soon we'll have beautiful foals, and a great life ahead of us!"
Fluttershy's heart drooped. She knew as soon as she told about the plans to ruin the marriage, Wishful would be crushed. Too much of her own future happiness depended on being married to Steiner, and Fluttershy hated to have to be the pony to tell her the bad news.
"Now what were you going to say?" asked Wishful.
Fluttershy looked back up and said slowly, "I… wanted to help make the dress."
The light yellow pegasus pony sighed, and faked a smile at the two others in the room. It was going to be a long day for her.
The business day had finally ended for Steiner, and before him was a pile of gold coins on his counter top. He was counting out each unit of money carefully, to see how much he had made on his opening day.
"Two thousand bits." He said with a laugh in his voice, "We've made two thousand bits in just one day!"
Pinkie Pie let out a whoop and began to bounce around the drink shop, shouting, "Steiner doesn't have to get tied down!"
Steiner nodded and said, "I'm going to mail a check for this much to my parents right away! Once it clears, they'll know for sure that I can provide!"
"And with the place being so popular now, you'll be able to bring in plenty of income for a long time!" added Twilight, turning the sign hanging in the front door to "closed" for her new friend.
"Thank you, everypony, for helping to solve my problem!" Steiner said, "Let's have another free drink to celebrate!"
The friends cheered at the suggestion of getting a free treat, and soon they were seated around one of the red tables, sipping away and talking about their success.
Rainbow Dash started off by laughing, "I can't wait to see the look on Rarity's face when she finds out she wasted all that time making a dress she isn't even going to be able to sell!"
"Hey now, she won't be that upset." argued Applejack, "There's gonna be other ponies wanting to get married. Rarity will sell that dress to some other pony."
"Maybe so." Agreed Rainbow, taking another long swig from her mug, "But it isn't going to be to that crazy mare!"
Techorse gave Rainbow Dash a nasty look and said, "She's not crazy. She just seems to get excited a little easily."
"Settle down Techie." said Applejack, wrapping a leg around her friend, "I'm sure Wishful is a really neat pony once you get to know her."
"Hey guys!" said Pinkie Pie, pointing out the front door, "Here comes Wishful now!"
Wishful entered the front door wearing her new wedding dress, accompanied by Rarity at her side. Poor Fluttershy was left with the drapery on the wedding dress in her teeth, having to hold it up off the muddy roads of Ponyville. Once they were inside, Wishful ran over and kissed her husband-to-be on the cheek.
"Hello my love!" she said with a bubbly tone, "What do you think of my wedding dress?"
Steiner looked her straight in the eyes and said sternly, "You won't be needing it. I'm taking back my parent's orders to marry you."
Wishful and Rarity gasped simultaneously. Wishful had lost a chance to be wed, and Rarity had lost a sale. Immediately, Rainbow Dash shot up from her chair, and flapped her wings to hover in the air two feet in front of Wishful's face.
"That's right, crazy! Steiner doesn't need you anymore, he has money of his own!" she said mockingly. Wishful also lifted into the air and mashed her face into Rainbow Dash's.
"Oh yeah?" she said, "My Steiner is under contract to marry me! He has to, or my parents will take him to court!"
Twilight's ears drooped as she heard the news.
She thought with panic, "Unless Wishful decides not to marry Steiner, he'll be stuck with her! This is really, really bad."
Applejack had meanwhile forced herself between the two arguing pegasi and pushed them apart.
"All right you two, that's enough." She said plainly, "Let's settle down and talk this over like decent ponyfolk. Steiner doesn't want his first business day to end in a bar fight."
"Fine." grumbled Rainbow Dash, landing down on the floor of the bar.
She continued to scowl at Wishful, who also landed, and raised her nose in a scornful way at her.
"In two days, Steiner and I will be married." She said, "He might not like it at first, but I love him. There's nothing any of you can do about it. So you might as well just come to the wedding, and try to enjoy yourselves."
"We're invited?" asked Pinkie Pie cheerfully, "Will there be a party?"
"Pinkie, you're not helping!" said Techorse.
"Well, as much as I'm offended by Rainbow here." said Wishful, returning to a more relaxed pose, "You are all Steiner's friends, and I want him to be happy!"
"No you don't!" challenged Rainbow Dash, "If you really wanted Steiner to be happy, you wouldn't be forcing him to be your husband."
Wishful turned and stormed out of the bar shouting back, "He'll learn to be happy as my husband!"
Rarity chased her out the door, calling for her to come back before she soiled the dress in the mud. Fluttershy looked at her friends, gave a shrug, and walked gently out into the night to follow them. As soon as the door closed, Steiner rested his tired head on the table and said,
"That's it then. Thanks for trying to help, friends."
Applejack looked at the green colt sitting at the table and said, "Techorse, there's gotta be somethin' you can do about this!"
He replied with regret, "Sorry Applejack, but I'm not a counselor. I don't think there's any way I can convince Wishful to not marry Steiner. She won't take any amount of money or listen to any of us, and as much as I find this arranged marriage to be against everything I stand for, there's literally nothing I can do about it short of threats, and I won't resort to that."
"I'll resort to that!" said Rainbow Dash, turning around and kicking the counter with a mighty blow.
"Thanks Rainbow." Sighed Steiner, "But not even that's going to stop her."
"Well, maybe it won't be so bad." Comforted Twilight, "After all, don't you want to be married and have foals?"
"Yes, but to a mare who actually cares about my work and life!" he replied, "All Wishful sees me as is a father and husband. She doesn't care about my soda shop or personal life! All she cares about are her stupid romance novels and her desire to find the 'love of her life'!"
Twilight's ears perked up again, and she asked, "Did you say romance novels?"
"Yes."
Twilight leaned on the table with her front legs and asked excitedly, "She writes books? I've read so many romance novels, but I don't think I've read one by her!"
Steiner explained, "She goes by the pen name Trueheart."
The unicorn mare squealed and said, "She's my favorite romance novel author!" She began to jump around in a circle around the room.
"Well, that's good news." Mumbled Steiner as he followed her with his eyes, "I'll be married to someone you like, at least."
"Wait a minute." said Twilight as she stopped in front of him, "Now that I know it's her, I think I can convince her not to marry you!"
Techorse asked with a confused tone, "You can?"
"Just find her and invite her over to library tomorrow morning, Tech. I'll take it from there."
The next morning, Twilight waited scrambled to stack all of the romance novels she had read from Wishful's line.
"So, why are you stacking all those novels?" asked Spike curiously, scratching his chin, "You never stack books out of order like this."
Twilight, horn glowing with magic energy as she continued to add to the pile, "I have to pretend that I've just browsed through all of these books today. If I can strike up a conversation about romance with Wishful, I think I can convince her not to marry Steiner."
Spike had no idea how the plan was going to work, but he said to attempt to be helpful, "Well, if there's anypony who could lecture another into doing something, it's you, Twi. Good luck!"
"Thanks!" she said, putting the final book on the top of the stack. It was now 16 books high, extending nearly 10 feet into the air. The massive tower of volumes dwarfed Twilight, but she looked proudly at the collection. Each book had a different colored covering, and was at least three hundred pages long in length. The total weight of the stack must have exceeded at least 200 pounds. Twilight leaned gently on the stack of books, prepared to take one off the top the second Wishful entered the door.
Unfortunately for Twilight, Wishful did not knock at the door. Instead, she slammed it open, and the pile of books fell over on Twilight with a great crash, burying her under a pile of paper and cardboard.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" gasped Wishful, galloping over to the massive heap of reading material. She found Twilight's striped tail sticking out of the pile, grabbed on with her teeth, and pulled her out quickly.
"It's ok Wishful." Groaned Twilight, rubbing a sore spot next to her horn where one of the heavy books had left a slight bruise.
The pegasus pony suddenly recognized her own books, and picked one up.
"Hey, these are my books!" she said with a laugh, "I didn't know you liked my work so much."
Twilight nodded, "You're my favorite romance novel writer, Wishful. It's so great to finally meet you in pony!"
"Do you want me to autograph all these books for you?" she asked, "They'd be worth a lot more to the library's collection that way!"
Twilight started to move the books using her magic back onto the shelves built into the walls, "Maybe later. I'd talk to you about your work instead. Your stories are so great, with each main character finding a handsome colt to settle down with after going on an adventure. You really know a lot of things about love."
Wishful scraped a hoof on the floor meekly and said, "Well, thanks. But my romance novels aren't the most popular in Equestria."
"That's true." said Twilight as she replaced the last book, "But I still enjoy reading your books the most. The adventures are really memorable, and the bond the characters form is always such a neat thing to read about."
"Every mare should find a pony she loves if she wants to!" explained Wishful, "When I write, I characterize the main colt so that his personality and features match the mare's perfectly! That way, there isn't any way to deny that they could fall in love!"
"And in every story you write…" interrupted Twilight as she turned around, "The mare falls madly in love, saves her love from the bad guy, and then the two gallop off into the sunset and get married."
"Yeah." sighed Wishful, smiling and looking at the ceiling.
"Have you ever wondered what happens next?" asked Twilight, "Do you think they stay together?"
"Well of course they do." Coughed the pegasus pony, scoffing at the silly statement, "What makes you think they wouldn't, Twilight Sparkle?"
Twilight pushed her hair back with a hoof and explained, "It's just that the characters never really seem to have any hobbies or interests in common. They're infatuated with each other, and they have the same opinions on things, but they don't do anything fun together."
Spike barged in and asked, "Infatuated?"
"It means to be attracted to somepony." interpreted Wishful, "A very common term in romantic writing."
"Oh." said Spike, "What a weird word."
Wishful chuckled and said, "Well luckily, they're fictional characters who can choose based on those sorts of things."
Twilight smirked. She had Wishful right where she wanted her.
"But isn't that what you're doing with Steiner?" questioned Twilight, taking a few steps closer to Wishful, "You don't care at all about his soda business, you just want him to father your foals!"
Wishful, to Twilight's surprise, started laughing.
"So this is what this is all about?" she said, "Trying to split me and him up?"
"Yes, but Steiner and you have almost nothing in common. Think about how unhappy you'll be years from now if you marry him!" exclaimed Twilight truthfully.
The author standing across from Twilight stood there, speechless. She knew Twilight was right, and that she was making a huge mistake.
“Well I suppose I've been found out,” sighed Wishful.
"To be honest..." she said slowly, "My parents cut me off last year, and you might like my romance novels, Twilight, but they're not exactly the best selling. So yeah, Steiner wasn't lying or anything, my parents are wealthy, but they expect me to take some responsibility for myself.”
“So they made you pick between giving up writing for a job that pays more, or get married?” asked Twilight, turning her head slightly.
Wishful confirmed her theory, “Exactly. They just don't understand that for right now, I'd rather write romance novels then be in a romance myself. It's not that I never want to be married, it's just..."
"Like Steiner, you know that someday you'll find a stallion who is more interested in you." interrupted Twilight, "But Steiner is just not that stallion, and you don't want to be stuck with him."
Twilight smiled in triumph when Wishful folded her ears back and nodded her head slowly.
Wishful added, “I don't really want to marry Steiner, but I can't live off my novels. Still, Steiner needs to know so that we can both get out of this mess! I'm tired of pretending I want this to happen.”
Twilight agreed with her, and the two set out for the Froth Shop to tell Steiner the news.
"So then, I tell my robot that he shouldn't have turned on the hot tub because…"
Noticing that Twilight had entered, he quickly stopped telling the embarrassing story.
Wishful walked up to Steiner, cleared her throat and said, "Steiner, I'm canceling the wedding."
“Really?” he said, his voice filled with joy.
She nodded, “Yeah. I never told you this, but my parents were trying to force me into marrying you as well. We were both in the same boat the whole time and never told each other.”
“Wh... what?” he asked, horrified.
Wishful laughed at the absurd nature of the situation, and then said to him, “My parents told me they were cutting me off. Since my books never sold that well, I could either get a job, or get married. I wanted to have time to keep writing my romance novels, but I almost foolishly sacrificed my own chance at a real romance.”
"Let's go back to your parent's house and tell them we're breaking the contract." Said Steiner, "Afterwords, you can invite them back here for some sodas! They'll need it!"
“Does it matter?” she said, sighing, “I'll just be moved to the next 'suitor' since I'm not making any money.”
“Well wait a minute!” declared Steiner, walking up to Wishful, “Just because your books don't sell that great doesn't mean you have to give up. You should get a loan and open a bookstore. Try selling some other books in addition to your own. Then you'd be able to support yourself and wait for your real husband.”
Wishful looked up, seeing the light, and said with a happy grin, “You're right Steiner! I need to open up my own business, just like you!”
She then became a bit quieter, and admitted, “Of course, I don't really know how to start a business or run one...”
“I think I can help you there,” answered Steiner, “After all, I still want to be friends.”
“Hey, me too!” said Wishful, smiling, “Glad you feel that way.”
“We do have the same problem after all,” he teased, leading her towards the door.
The two left the bar laughing together, not as betrothed but as friends. Each of them seemed much happier than before, and Twilight Sparkle felt great knowing they'd both gain freedom from their parents' plans, and likely someday achieve a romance they actually wanted.
Techorse got up from his seat at the counter and walked over to Twilight, "Looks like you did it. Good job, Twilight."
He kissed her gently on the cheek, and turned to look out the glass door with her.
Twilight shifted her glance at her coltfriend, and gave her tail a small shake.
"Thanks, sweetie. Hopefully they'll both find a pony just like we found each other."
"Hopefully not exactly like how we found each other." joked Techorse, "We don't want another invasion, right?"
Techorse laughed as Twilight took a playful swat at him.
Later that night, at the library, Twilight stood over her writing desk, her quill floating gently next to her head. She brought the feather pen down on the parchment on the desk, and composed her letter:
"Dear Princess Celestia,
This week I learned from a new pony in town that when you look for somepony to marry, it's important to not just go by how attractive they are. It's very important to find a pony who loves you back, and has a few common interests with you. This will end in a happier relationship in the long run, which is very important to have a happy family.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight put the quill back in the inkwell and rolled up the scroll. Moving it with her magic in the air, she popped it up high, where Spike shot it with a blast from his fire breath. As the scroll was consumed, Twilight smiled, knowing that she had not only prevented an unhappy life for Steiner, but had perhaps helped her favorite author to find happiness as well.