Ponies All Day-Writing Challenge

by ThunderTempest

00:30-01:00 "Never Assume"

Scootaloo sighed as she made her way through Ponyville, weaving her scooter through the foot traffic. Getting her cutie mark had not been the experience that she had thought it would be. It had almost been by accident, one errant day at the library, and bam, cutie mark. And her cutie mark was not cool or awesome like her imagination almost demanded it be. She arrived at her destination, the Golden Oaks Library, and knocked three times on the door, looking for all the world like she would rather be anywhere else. Twilight Sparkle opened the door, and smiled brightly once she saw it was Scootaloo.

“Come in, Scootaloo. I’ll just be a moment. Make yourself comfortable,” said the alicorn Princess, as she vanished into the depths of the library. Scootaloo planted herself down in the kitchen, forehooves crossed, and a miniature storm cloud brewing over her head. IN a few minutes, Twilight returned, her wings folded up at her sides, and a pair of books floating behind her. Scootaloo sighed.

“Now, Scootaloo, do you know what you’re going to be doing as my student?” Twilight seemed to be overly giddy about the fact that she now had a student.

“Probably spending all day in here, reading lame books and doing your shelving. I don’t want to be a librarian!” the young pegasus grumbled. Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Who said anything about you being a librarian, Scootaloo?” This startled Scootaloo, who had simply assumed that because Twilight had offered to take her on and teach her, that she would end up being a librarian.

“But, my cutie mark...,” began Scootaloo.

“Is an open book, yes,” replied Twilight, “but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be a librarian. Remember, the cutie mark defines the pony, but the pony also defines the cutie mark. You’ve been looking at this only on a surface level. Tell me, Scootaloo, what is the Decimal System?”

“I dunno,” replied Scootaloo, wondering where Twilight was going with it.

“What’s the difference between a dictionary, a thesaurus and an encylopedia?”

“Don’t know.”

“Perfect. You see, Scootaloo, if your ‘destiny’ was to be a librarian, you’d know those things already. Books aren’t just for librarians. Everypony uses books, even Rainbow Dash.”

“So...what do you think my cutie mark means, Twilight?” Twilight smiled.

“Knowledge,” said Twilight, and just as Scootaloo was about to speak up, the Princess continued, “Accounting. Cooking. Farming. Husbandry. History. Maths. And I could go on forever, but I think you get the idea. Your cutie mark is a book, Scootaloo, but more importantly, it’s an empty book. You may not admit it, but you enjoy learning. An empty book can be filled with whatever its writer wants it to be.” Scootaloo gazed at the Princess, now understanding why Rainbow Dash called her the ‘Egghead for Eggheads’, but inwardly, she agreed with Twilight’s assessment.

“I’m not here to teach you about being a librarian, Scootaloo, though you’ll probably pick some of it up. I’m here to teach you about any subject you want me to teach you about. However,” contimued Twilgiht, “I think I have an idea about what you would like to learn.” And Twilight placed the two books she’d been magically carrying in front of Scootaloo.

“A Beginner’s Guide to Aerodynamics” and “Everything you wanted to know about Flight but were afraid to ask.”[TIME]

Author's Note:

Written for Prompt #14: “Free Trade”
One of the Cutie Mark Crusaders becomes an apprentice for one of the Mane Six after their Cutie Mark appears.

Comments

[TheDerpyOutcast]

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