Why so Serious?

by Gnarl

Is it obvious?

It had been a very quiet day for Twilight Sparkle. There had only been three ponies that came to the library and two of those had been to return the books they'd checked out. The purple unicorn sighed heavily as she pushed the last book on her reorganization list into its place on the shelf. While she'd never, ever say reorganizing the library was boring, she would admit she was utterly bored.

It was late afternoon and the Celestia was starting the sun on its descent toward the horizon. As she checked off the last box on her checklist a conversation she had earlier that day came unbidden to the forefront of her mind.

*Flashback*

"You need to get out more Twilight. Calling you a hermit would be an understatement at this point." Spike said flatly as he helped her finish the checklist to make sure-they-had-everything-on-the-checklist. Twilight's eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance but it didn't stay long so she just sighed.

"I get that Spike, I really do, but all my friends are off doing their own thing. Rarity's in Manehattan for fashion week, Rainbow's in Cloudsdale visiting her family, AppleJack is extremely busy with her work, Fluttershy is lending a helping hoof to the wildlife preserve in Appleossa and Pinkie Pie is... Is..." Twilight paused as she tried to think about what that pink, party mare was up to. All she got was a headache and crossed eyes for her thoughts. She gave her head a shake to clear the cobwebs before she continued.

"Pinkie's doing whatever she does when she has free time." She said, making a mental note never to go down that rabbit hole ever again if she wanted to keep her sanity.

"The point is, all my friends are busy so I really don't have a reason to go out." Twilight sighed depressedly at that. Spike barely held back the urge to face-claw at the mare he considered his big sister.

"You know," Spike said after a deep breath, "For being Celestia's protege and the smartest mare I know, you sure can be oblivious to the most obvious of things." Twilight snorted in amusement.

"Oh really? Please then, tell me what my blind-to-the-obvious eyes can't see, oh captain obvious." She snarked back at him. A small smile formed on Spike's face at her response. It seems their humor and mannerisms had rubbed off on each other more then they'd realized. Filly Twilight wouldn't be caught dead being 'disrespectful' to anyone. At least not to their face.

"Make some NEW friends," Spike said. He swore he actually heard the gears in Twilights brain grind to a halt as his words reached her. Knowing he had to strike before her defenses were back up he quickly continued.

"The girls won't always be around to hang out with, they have their own lives just the same as you do. You need to get out of the library and nopony said there was a limit to the number of friends you can have in total. So the simple and most effective way to deal with this is, to quote Princess Celestia, 'Make some friends.' "

When trying to convince Twilight there was something she needed to do Spike had learned what worked and what didn't early on. For example, if he even hinted that the princes would be happy with her actions Twilight would put one hundred and fifty percent effort into it, no holds barred. He squashed the urge to sigh at the borderline fanatic levels of worship his big sister in all but blood showed for the solar princes. He did feel a bit bad for manipulating her like this but he knew she needed to get out, live a little and not become a shut-in librarian. Plus he had a special date tonight and wanted the library to himself.

Twilight bit her lip as she mulled over what Spike said. She had to admit he had a point at that answer is obvious and she mentally berated herself for not thinking of it in the first place. He was also right that there was no limit on how many friends the princess said she could have so she could make more friends if she wanted to. Twilight sighed in defeat.

"When did you become the teacher and me the student Spike?" She asked with a small smile. Spike just chuckled and blushed at the praise as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Come on Twilight, you think I wouldn't learn a thing or two when I live with the smartest mare in Equestria?" He said before jumping up onto her back. She shook her head in amused acceptance as they went about their day.

*Flashback End*

"Spikes' right," Twilight sighed out. She really needed to get out and make more friends.

"But where am I going to go? I don't know where ponies go to make new friends. Are there designated friend making areas?" She pondered out loud while walking into the kitchen to get a snack. Spike had left about an hour ago to... go somewhere. He didn't tell her and she didn't think to ask at the time. Pulling a few carrots out of the fridge she sat down at the table to eat.

"Where do I go?" She asked herself again with the same results as the first time. Munching on her snack she glanced down at the table and saw the days' paper laying open there. Grabbing it in telekinesis she picked it up and skimmed the articles. She paused mid-bite as one particular article caught her attention. It was a grand opening notice for a new pub opening up in ponyville. Reading a bit further she saw the opening was today in about an hour.

While it was no grand book signing, a new establishment would be a perfect place to meet new ponies and try to make friends. She'd never been to a pub before so that would also be a new experience for her. Making a quick mental note of the address Twilight quickly finished her carrots and trotted upstairs to take a shower. She had some new friends to make and she'd never forgive herself for being tardy for a meeting of any kind.