//------------------------------//
// Inizio/Start (Edited) 
// Story: Ab Initio-From the Start-Al Principio. 
// by Daxn 
//------------------------------//

Ponyville was in an uproar. Unicorns and earth ponies created a terrifyingly big rabble, trampling and stomping whoever was unfortunate enough to be in its way, while the pegasi were flying over that rabble in a compact formation, diving to the ground from time to time, looking for their prey.

Said prey was a red stallion with a cheap doll in his mouth. He was, like pretty much everyone else there, determined in taking and keeping the doll, even if it meant going against all of the two hundred ponies living in the town.

Twilight Sparkle was watching the scene with horror, since she knew that the cause of that situation was her own fault. Indeed, what started as an attempt to cause a "friendship problem" using an old doll from her distant past, three reluctant school-aged fillies and a "I Want it, I Need it" spell, had turned into a civil war without bloodshed for the toy.

Since Twilight was busy staring at the mess she created with so few ingredients, she didn't notice the presence of five shapes hidden by the dust that were running in the opposite direction than the crowd. The identity of the shapes’ was soon revealed: they were her friends, namely Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. For some strange reason, they weren't attracted by the doll, nor were they trampled by the fighting ponies.

The first pony to reach Twilight was Rainbow Dash.

The cyan mare asked worried to Twilight,

"What's going on, Twilight? The whole town seems in love with that heap of crummy fabric!"

"Yes, I know and it's my fault!" the reply showed more panic than guilt "I've tried to create a 'friendship problem' for my weekly letter to Celestia, since I forgot to write one in the past days, but..."

"But?"

Twilight raised her voice. "The whole thing degenerated! I used one of my old dolls, a spell that allowed imitated mind control, and Cutie Mark Crusaders."

Rainbow Dash only leered. Twilight, noticing that, rumbled.

"Yes, you heard correctly: I used Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle as one of the elements for my plotted problem. To do so, I just hid in the bush, waited for their arrival, teleported in their little game of ball - destroying the ball in the process - greeted them, offered the doll..."

Rainbow Dash, rolling her eyes in confusion, put her front hooves in, and said, "Wait, wait, wait! Calm down, Twi! I couldn’t understand a single word."

Sighing, the purple unicorn started again, this time much slower.

"Alright. I hid in the bush, I waited for the Cutie Mark Crusaders to arrive in the place, decided to teleport in the ball, destroying it. I greeted them, showed them the doll, and since they didn't appreciate it, I casted the 'I Want It, I Need It'."

Rainbow looked around her, seeing the same gigantic fight among adult ponies, and asked

"Aand... in what way is this brawl linked to three fillies fighting over an enchanted doll?"

"I was getting there! I tried to separate them, but to no avail. I saw Big Macintosh passing by not too far away, and so I asked him for help. However, I forgot that one of the side effects of that spell cast on objects was the instant charming of the observer towards the object. Now, consider that the stallion has necessarily seen the doll. Now, you know that Applejack's farm is on the other side of the town, right?"

Rainbow Dash nodded.

"And so everyone else saw it!" Twilight screamed.

Rainbow’s eyes widened.

"And you did that... because you were late? This isn't something that a sane pony does!"

The purple unicorn glared at Rainbow.

"Do you have any idea of what we are talking about? I'm late for an assignment from Princess Celestia herself! The ruler of this land and the bringer of the sun, my mentor! If I don't fix it now, I'm in trouble!"

"I still don’t see the problem…”

Twilight grabbed Rainbow's fur. "DON’T SEE THE PROBLEM? She is my teacher, and as a student, I must comply with her order! Until now, I have always been a dutiful and punctual student.

But if I fail, if I’m late for just one time, she might question my dedication and since she is my teacher, she might give me a test. And if I can’t pass the test? I will be punished like all the bad students, with the flunking.

But Celestia isn’t subject to rules. She makes them ! So instead of letting me flunk, she can send me to... MAGIC KINDERGARTEN!"

Rainbow Dash was left confused by Twilight's rant about Princess Celestia and being a good student, while the purple mare was picturing, once again, the scene of her in the middle of a group of 3-4 years old foals laughing at her failure.

The other mares arrived at Twilight, but when they saw that their friend was staring at the sky, they said nothing, fearing that they could interrupt an important process.

Suddenly, a blinding light spread in the marsh where the citizens were fighting and a unique voice resounded from it.

"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"

It was Celestia's voice, and unlike on pretty much every other occasion, she sounded really angry at something... or somepony.

The arrival of the solar goddess distracted the denizen of the town for a brief second, allowing Celestia to undo the spell casted on the doll; once that happened, every pony that fought for the doll stopped, and after looking at the mass of an old fabric with indifference or even disgust, everypony left the marsh, the only exceptions being Twilight, her friends, and Princess Celestia.

The white alicorn walked dramatically slowly to Twilight.

"Twilight, meet me in the Library. We have much to discuss," she ordered and then left without saying any other word.

Sighing in defeat, the purple pony started to walk away, towards her home.

"Goodbye, girls. If you care," she said sadly, "I’ll be in the Magic Kindergarten... back in Canterlot." Then she headed for her destination.

The five mares gasped.

"Magic Kindergarten?" whispered Fluttershy.

"Canterlot?" asked a nonplussed Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie Pie, after jumping incredibly high in the air, shrieked, "We're never gonna see Twilight ever again!"

Rarity, as her usual, proceeded to place her left forehoof on her closed eyes, moaning, crying and pulling hairs of her mane like a prefica in the process, and then said with a voice bordering with the spirit of an opera character, for the third time that day, "Of the horrible things that could have happened, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!"

Applejack was more collected; after taking a look at the reaction of her friends, the orange pony sighed.

"Uh, so what are we gunna do?"

Rainbow stated with decisiveness, "We need to act, that's for sure! We can't leave Twilight hanging!" then she started to fly away… only to be pulled back by a force.

Turning her head, the cyan mare saw her multicolored tail held by a blue aura, the same aura that engulfed Rarity's horn.

"As much as you would like to take the matters in your hooves, I can't allow you to interfere. I think that I know you well enough to tell that you would only cause more problems than you would solve."

"Interfere with what?”  the Pegasus asked back. “And cause what troubles? Explain!"

Sighing, Rarity spoke up.

"I thought it was clear as day, Rainbow Dash. The Princess asked Twilight to have a private meeting with Twilight and Twilight only: it would be rude to step in violently."

Rainbow Dash hovered near Rarity, raised her front hooves and moved them frantically.

"Celestia might punish her! And, if Twilight gets punished by the Princess, we might not see Twilight ever again! You heard her, right?"

Rarity sniffed with pride, and reasserted her mane as a way to show coldness and composure over the matter, sharply contrasting with the bit of drama performed by her less than a few minutes ago.

"It's also true that our purple friend tends to lose the grasp on her mind when confronted with the inability to comply an order of a superior, and she tends to inflate the punishments that she may receive. Also, I don't think Princess Celestia would be more upset than usually after this accident. In fact, our coming might be only salt rubbed into a wound."

Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves. "I’m still not convinced. I think that we have the right to know what’s gonna happen to our close friend, and not even the Princess’ll stop us from knowing." Rainbow Dash landed, and spoke to the other mares. "So, what do you think about that?Do we go to Twilight's Library now, or wait til tomorrow?"

Applejack spoke up. "Ah think we should wait fer tomorrow. Interruptin’ Celestia while she talks ta Twilight would get us int’ trouble."

Pinkie Pie, with a tone more serious than her usual, but still a bit cheerful, answered, "I think we can wait. If everything goes well, we can celebrate afterwards."

"I agree with Applejack and Pinkie, Rainbow... if you don't mind..." Fluttershy whispered.

Rolling her eyes, Rainbow said, "Rarity, you won. We’ll see tomorrow. Now goodbye, the soup cans are calling me." With that she left. Shortly afterwards, the other mares also divided.

Meanwhile, at the Golden Oaks Library, Twilight Sparkle was moving upstairs sadly; she was going to meet Princess Celestia to receive a punishment for what she had done to the town, and, maybe, for her lateness.

Once Twilight reached the floor upstairs, she saw Celestia standing up in the middle of the room. The diarch didn't show any signs of anger or strong disappointment towards Twilight, and was once again in her calm and composed mood. However, this detail didn't decrease the terror that filled the purple pony.

Twilight bowed down to the ground, and started to chant her excuses like a litany.

"I am really sorry for the delay of my work, I’m a bad student..."

Princess Celestia gently moved a hoof over Twilight's mouth.

"There is no need to apologize like that; I'm not upset for your tardiness. What worries me and ultimately makes me act is your reaction to your tardiness."

Twilight gulped, while the Princess went towards the window.

"You could have sent me a letter apologizing for the lack of the Friendship report; even just sending the report next week would be fine."

The alicorn suddenly turned, and pressed her muzzle on Twilight's, scaring the latter. Celestia said with a slightly hissing voice:

“But you lost control of yourself. You arranged a plan to create a friendship problem, solve it, and write a report. Staging a problem wasn't exactly the assignment that I gave to you, but let's ignore that for now. Your plan included the unwilling participation of three fillies and, later on, the whole town."

Twilight started to sweat profusely, and moved her eyes from right to left, as if she was looking for a way to get out from that situation.

"Now, it isn't the first time you worried about the punctuality, nor is it the first time you overreacted to something. However, this... response from your part wasn't proper, and it was very irresponsible: you tried to trick me, you used as vectors of your plan three innocent fillies, you caused a gigantic fight and you worried your companions.” Celstia sighed. “As much as it hurts me and you to say this, I think that a relitation punishment might be helpful..."

Twilight raised her head, and watched Celestia's eyes in sign of submission.

"Is it what I think it is?" she asked, her voice quivering.

Celestia answered as she reached the balcony: "Yes. You will attend the Magic Kindergarten for a term. You may pack up right now, since I will fill the papers as soon as I return to my room."

Then, the white alicorn spread out her wings, got up on the balcony’s edge, and flew away, leaving a shocked purple unicorn behind.

Twilight tried to say something, but no words came out from it. She was too shocked and desperate to say anything but gibberish about "failure," "humiliation" and the like.

After about ten minutes of ranting and weeping, Twilight stood up again, and, sighing, proceeded to pack the luggage, while a "too-happy-for-the-situation" Spike helped her.