//------------------------------// // Wait...Does that mean-? // Story: A Story That Doesn't Use A Word Known As 'The' // by WorldWalker128 //------------------------------// A week had gone by since *the Celestia had given Twilight the her challenge, and her low mood had carried on for most of that time. Her parents thought she was taking her failure a little too far, and Celestia tried to assure her that everypony failed at something from time to time, but Twilight was more bothered by one simple thing: literature and grammar were two main things that she excelled in as much as she did magic, and she had failed. Sure, Celestia, Cadence, her parents and her big bro didn't see it that way, but Twilight still took it as a defeat. (Twi's not giving up yet!) With this in mind, she gathered a new stack of parchment, a new ink well and quill, and sat down at the her home's kitchen table to try again. Her extra credit might be void now but this challenge was no longer about the points. This time, it was personal! Narrowing her eyes, uncapping her ink well and dipping her feather, Twilight raised it over her fresh parchment, and began to brainstorm. Poor Twi's still got nothing. Four hours of starting and stopping, and a month's worth of her allowance in parchment-form crumpled and tossed aside later Twilight was once again at her wits' end. Sighing she set her quill down and hopped down from her seat to get a drink. On her way to the her family's ice box she noticed a small pink note pinned to it that hadn't been there yesterday. It had little hearts drawn on it and a small poem as well: Roses are red Violets are blue I enjoyed our date, so this is for you! Beneath it was a small 'smooching' photograph of her foal sitter with a lipstick mark next to it. "...Violets aren't blue." Twilight muttered. "Violets are purple. That's why they're called 'violet's." She was about to return the it when she saw something that for the a second time that week made her eyes bug out and jaw drop: not a single time was that accursed word used in Cadence's poem to Shining! "wha- wha-" She rubbed her eyes and shook her head before once more opening her eyes and rereading it. "Roses are red, violets are blue" she mentally cringed at the her sitter's blatantly incorrect information. "I enjoyed our date, so this...is....for...you!" Not once! Twilight sat down with the said poem hovering in front of her to think. This poem was clearly a mushy simple love poem, and one that she'd already heard and read several variations of in the past now that she was thinking about it. Twilight herself not thinking of this one made sense since she couldn't have cared less about trying to get a colt-friend (who had time for that when there was so much schoolwork to do???), but she was less than ten years old. Cadence and Shining were teens now, and her mom had said that this was usually when fillies and colts started dating, but according to many a book Twilight had read Celestia was over one thousand years old! How could she have not ever succeeded in this? Unless..... "Celestia's never had a special somepony." Returning the Cadence's poem back to its former spot the ^, Twilight's ears drooped. Could it possibly be true? How? What stallion wouldn't want to date Celestia? She was big, strong, smart, wise, funny, good for snuggles, powerful... Twilight's pondering was interrupted when Cadence thearrived to check up on her. Seeing the little filly looking sad tugged at her heart and she asked if Twilight was still struggling with her assignment. Twilight shook her head. "No, not anymore. I just found the poem you left here for my brother. That proved that it is possible." "So you're sad that I did it by accident and you didn't?" Twilight shook her head again. "No, something just occurred to me. I didn't figure it out because I'm too young and don't have a special somepony. You're dating Shining, so you did, but Celestia told me that she failed this test too. This means that Celestia's never had a special somepony either, or else she would have!" Cadence opened her mouth to point out that it had been hundreds of years since Celestia had taken this particular test so things had probably changed since then, but then she paused and closed it. Now that she thought about it, had she ever seen her aunt in any sort of romantic relationship at all? As the Alicorn of Love, this would not stand! Cadence leaned in close to Twilight and whispered conspiratorially: "Wanna help me set Auntie Tia up on a date?"