Setting Things Straight

Prologue: A Rude Visit

The sun was setting when Twilight Sparkle and Spike were in front of their home, a tree that was fashioned into a library. Spike was carrying a purple box with vertical white lines.

As Twilight opened the front door with her magic, she told Spike, "I can't wait to see what Rarity made for us this time."

"I can't wait either!" Spike rushed in and set the gift on the floor. "Open it!"

"I thought that you would do it yourself, since you're so excited."

"But this is from Rarity! Extra care has to be taken to make sure this box doesn't get damaged in anyway."

"Oh Spike!"

Twilight Sparkle chuckled and took off the lid and a layer of paper from within the box. She then gently placed both items on the floor. Spike reached into the box and got out something that was made from purple wool. The shape of it was irregular as there was an opening on only one part and it seems that the side opposite of that is meant to be flat. Both of those ends were dyed darker than the rest of the item. The parts that weren't dark purple were shaded lighter than Twilight Sparkle's fur.

"What is that called again?"

"It's a sock. There should be three others that look just like that."

"I'm on it!"

Spike tossed the sock that he had to Twilight as well as the other three that were in the box. Twilight Sparkle raised one of her hooves and fitted one of the socks onto it with her magic. She repeated that process for each hoof.

Once she was done, Twilight Sparkle asked, "How do I look in these?"

"You look great! If only Rarity made some socks for me as well..."

Twilight lifted up another layer of paper that was inside the box and took out a pair of white socks. They were shaped a bit differently from the ones she was wearing and they were smaller as well. The tip at the bottom was colored green.

"I think that these are for you."

"I get to wear socks as well?"

"Yup. Rarity made them for you."

Once Spike slid the socks on, he said, "Getting a box and a pair of socks from Rarity? This day can't possibly get any better!" Suddenly, the baby dragon belched out a letter.

"A letter from Princess Celestia? What does it say?"

"Ahem! My most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. My nephew, Prince Blueblood? I was right about today not getting any better!"

"I'm sure that she knows what she's doing. It's not like she's going to have him visit our house."

"But that's it! That jerk will be at our house in less than an hour and he's going to be staying here!"

"Don't be so judgmental. Maybe he just doesn't know how to behave around mares."

"He abused Rarity! Did you forget that?"

"Just read the rest of the letter."

"Fine. After the part where he's staying, she wrote that she is sending him here so that you can straighten him out and have him become a proper prince. So does that mean that Celestia thinks that you can make him behave better?"

"Since she wrote it, yes, she does believe in us to carry out that task. Let's get the place cleaned up to make it look presentable."

"What about the box?"

"You can take it upstairs."

"That's not what I'm wondering about. Since I wanted so much care taken for opening the box, I think that closing it should take the same amount of care."

"Alright."

A purple aura shone around the lid as Twilight focused on it. She lifted it over the box.

"No!" Spike shouted.

"What is it Spike?"

"You forgot the paper."

"I'll do that too..."

Twilight Sparkle moved the top up higher, so that she had room to neatly place both pieces of paper that came with it. Once she managed that and got the lid back on, Spike grabbed the box. He gave her his thanks and headed upstairs to put it someplace special. Twilight lifted a feather duster that was from a different room and began dusting the walls. She also made sure to organize the books that were on the shelf. Spike returned with a broom and began to sweep the floor. Twilight then went to work in the other rooms. After touching up on the rest of the house, she had more time than she planned for.

"How can I use this extra time presented to me?" Twilight asked herself. "Most of the rooms are properly swept, so I can let Spike continue on that pace. I know! There's leftover beans from the burritos me and Spike had yesterday. I can make something good from that quick and easy."

She went into the kitchen to prepare supper. Spike was in there continuing his work, but he wasn't in the way of anything important. Twilight turned on the oven with her horn, then got out a cooking tray, beans, shredded cheese, and six tostada shells. After placing the shells onto the tray, she spread out a layer of cheese, beans, and a second helping of cheese for each tostada. Remembering that Spike likes gemstones, she sprinkled ground rubies on the two shells meant for him. Twilight Sparkle opened the oven door, moved the tray in there, and set the timer for five minutes.

Seeing that Spike just finished sweeping, she asked him, "Since you just finished cleaning, why don't you watch over the oven? I'll be up front just in case Blueblood comes early."

"Alright. I can't wait to eat the ones you made for me."

Twilight headed to the front door and took a look at the clock. She stated to herself that it was currently seven minutes before the time Prince Blueblood was supposed to arrive. After six minutes of waiting, Spike came to wait alongside her.

"I don't get it," Spike complained. "Doesn't Celestia know that he is the type of person I don't like? He was rude to Rarity, he's self-absorbed, and I can't look at a picture of him without feeling all awkward."

"Princess Celestia always knows what she's doing. Besides, maybe we're supposed to be nice to him, so that he'll become nice."

Just then, knocking was heard at the door they were waiting beside. Twilight opened the door and saw the blonde-maned unicorn she was expecting to see. Beside him were two guard pegasi.

"Hmmph!" went the prince. "The reason, I Prince Blueblood was sent to your dump is so that I would be..." He paused before finishing. "...straightened out?"

"Exactly," Twilight Sparkle said in a cheerful tone.

"Well, I am not pleased to be here, Twilight Fizzle."

"Actually, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I promise that the two of us will get to have some fun together."

"Ugh... I wouldn't enjoy that. The only reason I'm staying is because I'm not allowed back to Canterlot until I stay some nights at your poor excuse for a home."

"Well, it wasn't originally going to serve as a house, so I had to make due with what was given to me."

"I guess that I would rather go inside than stand outside all night."

The two guards flew off once Prince Blueblood entered Twilight and Spike's home.

I decided to go along with the ponies in socks meme, because I thought it would be cute. I'm not saying which two guys get shipped together yet, as I would like to keep it a surprise. Since this is just the prologue, the actual chapters will be longer.