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Two Kinds of Complications

by GentlemanJ

Chapter 1

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This is the fourth story in The Journey of Graves.

The series begins with the first story: When the Man Comes Around.

IMPORTANT: If you haven't read the series, please head back to the beginning and check it out. While each story stands on its own, the character and relationship developments will build on each other as the series progresses.

And so, the saga continues...

Two Kinds of Complications

By: GentlemanJ

Chapter 1

Sweetie Belle sighed, a dreamily happy smile painted across her little face.

“Big brothers sure are nice, aren’t they?”

“Whoa, where did that come from?”

That would be Scootaloo, the spunky, purple-haired girl who spun around to stare oddly at her friend, who in turn leaned on their clubhouse window sill to stare out at the Apple family orchard. Off in the distance, the solid frame of Big Macintosh, the eldest of the Apple siblings, could be seen tilling up the land in preparation for the year’s sowing.

“Now hold yer horses there,” Apple Bloom called out, her pink bow bobbing about as she trotted over to join the conversation. “I already loaned you Applejack for a big sister, and I told you that was for one day. Now you want Big Macintosh too?”

“I don’t want Big Macintosh, silly,” Sweetie Belle replied. “I was just thinking how nice it’d be to have a big brother.”

“Oh, well that’s… Hey, wait a second. What’s wrong with Big Mac?”

“Huh?"

“If there ain’t nothin’ wrong with him,” Apple Bloom challenged, “then how come you don’t you want him for a big brother?” She didn’t even realize her inner salesman was contradicting her previous protective jealously.

“Because I want Mister Graves to be my big brother. Why would I need two?” Sweetie Belle answered, quite confused at having to explain something so obvious.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom glanced at each other, and suddenly the light bulb flashed.

“Ooooohhhhh," they rejoined, the understanding sounding much more impressive in stereo.

So it was the day after Sweetie Belle’s return from Canterlot with Rarity and the morning after she’d come to the apple orchard with Scootaloo for a sleepover. Once together, she had regaled her friends with stories of all the things she’d done over the past several days: attending the fashion expo, shopping with Rarity, visiting the opera - where the premiere prima donna, Fortissima had performed live - and so much more.

Scootaloo had fallen asleep through much of the fancier, girly portions, but even she was hooked when Sweetie Belle told them about her pre-trip troll hunting adventures with the marshal. As she did, a special kind of sparkle had come into her eyes, a sort of warm, ticklish look that usually only came out when she bragged about her big sister Rarity.

Now her friends understood why.

“Why do you want Graves as a big brother anyway?” Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle beamed.

“Because he’s really nice. He treats me to ice cream, takes me along on his adventures, and doesn’t get mad when I mess things up: he’d be the perfect big brother!”

“So what, you wanna go out an' adopt Graves?” Apple Bloom asked as she unconsciously poked her new tooth with her tongue: she’d been lisping for so long, it felt kind of weird to be talking normally again.

“I don’t think that’ll work,” Sweetie Belle sighed. “After the whole Sisterhood Social thing, I found out that adopting has something to do with parents taking in a new kid, but Mister Graves probably already has parents. Plus, he’s kind of too old for new parents, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, probably,” Apple Bloom agreed.

“So what are you gonna do about it?” Scootaloo asked while flopping down on one of the old pillows lying around.

“I dunno,” Sweetie Belle shrugged, “I hadn’t really thought about it. I just thought that if I had Rarity as a big sister and Mister Graves as a big brother, that’d be really neat.”

“Hold on a second,” Apple Bloom called out, a spark of ingenuity flashing in her eyes. “I think you might be on to somethin'.”

“I am?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“She is?” Scootaloo parroted.

“Yeah! I remember Granny Smith sayin’ somethin’ about it when she was showin’ me the Apple family tree. Apparently, if an outsider gets matrimonialized to a person in the family, then they become part of family too.”

“Great!” Sweetie Belle smiled, then paused for a moment. “What’s matrionialized?”

“... I’m not sure,” Apple Bloom admitted. “Granny Smith called it ‘tying the knot,’ so I think it involves rope somehow.”

“Rope?” Scootaloo scoffed. “So what, you’re saying that if we truss up Graves and Rarity together like a bushel of corn, then that makes them family?”

“I think?” Apple Bloom shrugged.

“Well if that’s all it takes, then why don’t I do it?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I don’t think Rarity would appreciate being tied to anything, especially other people.”

“It’s supposed to be people around the same age; not really sure why though,” Apple Bloom replied. “I asked Granny Smith the same question, but she just started mumblin’ somethin’ about a ‘two-timin’ rapscallion runnin’ off with some scarlet hussy’ before fallin' asleep. Whatever that means.”

“Apple Bloom, no offense, but that makes even less sense than the part about tying them together,” Scootaloo smirked.

“Well, I don’t see you comin’ up with anythin’,” Apple Bloom replied by sticking her tongue out. “At least I thought of somethin’.”

“Girls, now’s not the time to be arguing,” Sweetie Belle interjected before turning to her pink-bowed friend. “So what you’re saying is that if we can somehow tie Rarity and Mister Graves together with this whole matrimonializing thing, then he’ll be my big brother afterwards?”

“I think it's a bit more complicated than that, but as far as I can tell, yeah.”

“Well that settles it,” Sweetie Belle grinned. “Come on girls, let’s go and get them matrimonialized!”

“But we still don’t even know what getting matrimonialized means,” Scootaloo pointed out.

“Aw, that’s easy,” the curly-haired girl replied with a dismissive wave of the hand. “We just go to the one place where we can find out anything we want.”

“Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo guessed.

“That’s your answer to everythin’,” Apple Bloom retorted with a roll of her eyes.

“Well, she does know everything,” Scootaloo defended.

“I meant the library,” Sweetie Belle cut in before the two started bickering again. “With all those books, I’m sure we’ll find something about matrimonializing.”

“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Apple Bloom agreed. “Come on, let’s go hit the books!”

The two girls ran out of the clubhouse and headed for the center of town as Scootaloo trudged along reluctantly behind.

“Ugh, I hate books.”

**********

Next Chapter: Chapter 2 Estimated time remaining: 54 Minutes
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