#threading needles

Expect the unexpected.

That was one of Silken's many life mottoes. Along with many, sometimes contradictory passe-partout phrases like 'life's an adventure' and 'be the good you want to see in the world'.

Silken was used to a certain dose of unexpected in her life; which was a blessing, considering how her search for arcane knowledge coupled with her sometimes reckless attitude attracted it like white clothes attracted stains.

But still... she wondered what had led to that strange pony bumping on her rump like that... Was it her breaking and entering? Or the fact that she had elected to lay on the ground in the middle of the way? Probably a bit of both she realised as she watched him fall. In fact, that was definitely the most probable reasons for this event. Oh and maybe that small explosion...

Darn! I messed up again...

The thud of a surprised pony falling on the floor snapped her out of her daydreaming. She quickly stood up to help her accidental victim.

"I'm sorry!" she apologized while extending a hoof to the prostrated pony. "I'm very, very, very, very sorry..."

The pony didn't answer but still accepted the mare's help and graciously got up despite the uncomfortable position he had landed in.

He was a very elegant batpony.

He wore nothing but a simple, grey and black bow tie with white cobweb patterns. Yet this simple touch suited him as well as... well a suit, and it was enough for her to judge and appreciate the pony's character.

It was discrete and subtle but it made a difference. It made a statement. It blended with the colour scheme of the stallion yet enhanced it. It made the pale brownish accent of his fur pop up and blended well with the darker splashes of fur that appeared here and there on his body and hooves. It also echoed the stallion's white mane and tail and their dark sienna strands. And most of all, by opting for such neutral tones for his accessory, he made sure his soft yellow eyes would come forth.

It was the perfect accessory for somepony who knew what he was doing but didn't need to shove it in people's face.

And it had spider webs on it! How adorable was that! Elegant and cute.

"Are you okay?" she asked, worried.

"I'm fine," he finally answered, dusting his fur. "Are you okay?" he said, checking his wings

"Me? Oh yes. I mean, my rump's a bit bruised but..." she stopped when she realised he was not talking to her. The stallion's attention had switched to something on his body. Something small hidden under his wings. She watched more closely, not realising that she was leaning more and more inside the comfort zone of the batpony.

Spiders. The pony was talking to a bunch of silk spiders hidden under his wing. A smile crept up on her face.

"You really like these spiders don't you?" she asked, her face still a few inches from him.

The batpony seemed to remember the presence of the unicorn and took a few uncoordinated steps back. "Wh-who are you? What are you doing in my shop? It's closed at the moment!"

"Oh! Sorry!"- Silken Thread did a curt bow and sit as if to make herself as unthreatening as possible -"My name's Silken Thread, I'm a seamstress and designer from Canterlot. I'm sorry for intruding, I just really wanted to talk to you and I guess I got a bit excited and impatient... Sorry."

Velvet Rose opened his mouth to answer but the mare didn't give him any time to formulate any coherent answer, let alone think about one.

"Please, I know you must be super angry but please let me explain, I swear there's a good reason for all this!"

Again, Velvet opened his mouth, with the exact same results.

"I am on a quest you see," she continued in an increasingly impassioned tone. "A quest for the most powerful enchantments that can be waved in a piece of clothing, for the most magically attuned materials and for the most beautiful designs that have existed in history! The legendary gowns of the Sunset Twins, the armour of Lord Iron Shield, the legendary silver fabric of the lost pegasus tribes of the Mounts Everhoof, the hourglass spell of Lady Winged Miracle... I want to find them all and surpass them with my own work! This is my calling! My quest! And I, Silken Thread, will create my own legend!"

The mare finally stopped, her speech ending with her, up on her hind legs, her hoof raised to the sky as if defying the gods to stop her.

Velvet waited a bit, making sure that she was finished and that he would not be interrupted again.

"Hum... That's a very inspiring goal and all but I fail to see how that concerns me..." the stallion finally let out.

"Oops... Sorry... I went overboard again didn't I?" she realised sheepishly as she sits back. "Well it does concern you, my dear batpony, for your spider silk is one of the most magically-reactive I have..."

She stopped on her track as a new idea derailed her entire train of thoughts. She stayed there, scratching her chin for a few seconds mumbling to herself. Velvet didn't dare interrupt and just watched her, hoping that she'd eventually get to her point.

"No..." she let out after some time. "Scratch that it's just the most magically-reactive, period. The silk from Celestia's school never exploded to my face..."

She turned toward him, her eyes filled with passion and determination. Velvet could not look away from those eyes.

"So?" she asked expectantly. "You want to partner up?"

The second and last part of First Sight (a bit late ^^°).

This was the very first time Silken and Velvet met when SIlken was still young and wild. Now she’s a bit more focused, thanks to the calming influence of an elegant and cute batpony. I’ll probably write more stories about them in the future.

Thanks to @chance-of-chaos for the request (and for many more things ^^)

That day had started an ordinary day.

A nice and quiet day, no different than the day before, or the one before that or most of the days that preceded them. A nice and quiet day, with no surprises, whether good or bad and or most ponies, it stayed that way all along but for Velvet Rose, things took an unexpected turn around the twentieth minute of the tenth hour of the morning.

Velvet Rose had the moment carved into his brain.

At the time, the young Batpony was simply minding his business, which entailed feeding his hundreds of eight-legged friends. It was a time-consuming task, as Velvet wanted to spend time with them, rather than just throw the food in their lair and leave. So he patiently divided the meal among the spiders, making sure each sub-nest would have enough food, resolving the territorial issues that occasionally arose and speaking with them all along the process. A time-consuming task, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

It had been twenty minutes since the pony had started, and, if things had kept on like usual, ten more would have had to pass before he was finished.

But as stated previously they didn't, for at twenty past ten that day, a loud bang shook the entire house to the ground. Velvet let out a startled welp as spiders fell from the ceiling all around him. They skittered around, confused and afraid and it took Velvet all his will and habit not to move and accidentally harm them.

"Please keep calm little ones!" he pleaded. "There's nothing to be afraid of!"

As if understanding the meaning of his words, the spiders calmed down. Some of them climbed back on the wall, others wandered around their interrupted meals but some, the smallest and more agitable took refuge on him. The pony moved as little as possible, making sure the arachnids were not thrown off.

"Let's see what's it is about, okay?" he said once his passengers were settled. "I'm sure it's nothing bad. Probably a small mishap with Twisted's brews or that opossum trying to overthrow the bourgeoisie again..."

Yes, that's probably it, he tried to reassure himself as he left the lair.

~

To his surprise, the situation was way calmer than he had expected. The shop was surprisingly, seemingly unaffected by the blast. The mannequins were still standing, the clothes exposed on them were still in place and the tissue racks and their content had the exact same position as before. The same could be said for the furniture: they were intact and unmoved.

It was as if nothing had happened.

/Did my mind play tricks on me?/ he wondered, scratching his mane in puzzlement.

But even if he had imagined it, it was hard to deny the presence of the spiders under his wings. The stallion inspected the room more attentively. Sure, nothing had moved but there was something different. It took him a few seconds but finally, he noticed it. A mere pony would have missed it or, at the very least, have a harder time noticing it in the semi-obscurity of the room but his senses were sharper than most in those conditions.

There were cobwebs and speck of dust floating in the air.

A satisfied smiled formed on his muzzle.

It comes from the floor above and the ceiling, he deducted. So something really did happen!

It was a very satisfied Velvet who trotted toward the exit, both curious about what had happened and impatient to return to his routine.

But life had already changed its course for Velvet. There would be no turning back.

It was twenty-two past ten that day when Velvet accidentally stumbled over Silken Thread. The Batpony tried very hard not to fall, fighting against fate and gravity but there was nothing he could do.

In a futile attempt to stand Velvet spin on himself, facing the unforeseen obstacle that had provoked his downfall.

Said obstacle was a unicorn. A pretty one too. They were laid on the ground, their long and straight brown mane caressing the floor. Their cream fur was riddled with spider webs but they didn't seem to care. In fact, in that moment they only seem to care about the stallion that had randomly bumped on their behind and was in the process of falling. For a second, their eyes met. Velvet could only guess but he believed the flabbergasted expression in those beautiful golden eyes was probably the same he had on his face.

The moment seemed to last an eternity.

Then time took hold again and Velvet hit the ground heavily.

Here’s the first part of a request from @chance-of-chaos and also the first proper story with Silken Thread! Next chapter will probably be next week.

How to thread your cross stitch needle

Lets get some housekeeping out of the way before we get into how to thread your needle.

What needles should you be using?

There are many needles that you can buy. You want needles with an open threading hole. Like these ones below.

They are sometimes labelled as cross stitch needles and sometimes as tapestry needles. Ones labelled as embroidery needles usually have the smaller hole and won’t…