Ugg... I'm bored," Twilight groaned.
It was the middle of the day in Ponyville. Inside the Castle of Friendship, one particular pony princess sat behind her desk in the middle of her ginormous library. Groaning to herself, she placed her hooves on the desk and buried her head into them. She was bored, extremely bored.
Twilight has read every single hardback book within the library. Twice. She enjoyed that sense of discovery and yearned for the chance to do so with every single research and scholarly book she ran across. It was sorta like her drug, an addiction to learning about uncovered knowledge for the benefit of herself and others. Twilight had no clue when it truly developed, but she does know that it’s an aspect of who she was.
...and right now she felt that crave for knowledge.
It drove her absolutely nuts. There wasn’t anything available to her to go through, research, or work on! Instead, Twilight sat idly, by herself, inside a huge library with nothing to do except groan and moan to herself. She wanted to do something, anything to satisfy the growing irritation within her lethargic mind. Yet, nothing the mare slowly thought about helped to solve her dilemma.
“Gah!” she shouted, throwing her hooves into the air. “I am extremely bored!”
Extending her wings out, Twilight flew up into the air and vigorously searched throughout the shelves for something she hasn’t read yet. The mare hastily scanned past each book, desperately trying to find any title she wasn’t familiar with or seen before. However, she had no success in her search.
“History of the Northern Kingdoms… Nope! The Life and Times of Early Canterlot... read that! The Final Days of the Great Starswirl... psh! I practically know that book like the back of my hoof!” Twilight sighed, panning her head around the library, “Seriously!? Is there not a book in here I haven’t read yet!”
She groaned, the answer was “no.”
“Ugg!” Twilight screamed, slowly realizing her own hobby had turned her back on her. It now provided the mare with literally nothing to do.
Twilight gave up, deciding to pursue her interests somewhere else. The idea of spending time in the library was freshly burned out in her mind. Acting upon that intention, she slowly descended from the upper parts of her library. Softly touching the crystal floor with multiple clacks from her hooves, the landing was followed by a large, sudden squeak!
“What the heck!?” Twilight pondered. Taking a few steps back, the mare looked near her front hooves.
She was bewildered. Laying on the floor, a plain rubber chicken had somehow found its way there. Twilight was absolutely befuddled, wondering how and why she stepped on it. Lifting a front hoof, she pressed down on the rubber chicken once more. It let out another loud, air filled squeak.
She then curled her lip and repeated the motion a few more times, squeaking the air out of the toy. Twilight had no idea why, but she suddenly found some sort of slight amusement in pressing her hoof down on the chicken. When it released the air to cause the squeak, Twilight giggled to herself like a little school filly. She somehow enjoyed the sound.
The toy chicken took her mind off the earlier frustrations, making her laugh each time a squeak was produced. It soon became a helpful aid to her, distracting her mind from the previous dilemma that caused her to be completely bored and a bit miserable. Now, the chicken’s squeak was all Twilight thought about as she continued to press on it.
Squeak!
“Pfft!” Twilight snorted.
Squeak! Squeak! Squeeeeaakkk!
Twilight started to have too much fun with this object, dismissing her curious questions as to where it came from and why it was there. Instead, the mare hopped on it, producing a sudden, loud squawk. She chuckled once more, enjoying the amusement of being easily entertained by the sound from the rubber chicken. She then wondered, What else could I do to this chicken to cause it to squeak as loud as it possibly could?
After a brief moment of thought, Twilight used her magic and levitated it into the air. Throwing it up, it came back down and landed on the ground with a soft thud, producing a low-pitch qwack. The mare scratched her chin, thinking about why the quack wasn't as loud as she expected. Twilight then tossed it further into the air than before, and it still hit the ground with the volume of the quack being about the same as last time.
Twilight was beside herself, assuming it would have worked if she threw it higher. It didn't, and the mare groaned. Hmm... There must be another way to make it squeak louder than me just stepping on it, she thought, tapping her forehead with a front hoof. It took her moment, but suddenly she came up with another idea.
Twilight then wore a devious smile on her face, enjoying the idea developing in her bright mind.
At the castle's front door…
“I’m very sorry, Spike!” Pinkie Pie sighed, standing in the middle of the crystal lobby, “I just don't know how, but Boneless can sometimes wander off on his own like the free range chicken it is!”
"It's ok, Pinkie." Spike hugged her, "At least I know where Boneless is. Please just follow me."
"Awe!" The pink pony curled her lip, "Thank you, bestest, buddy'o Spike!"
Spike brushed it off and smiled, "No problem."
Trailing behind the drake, Pinkie Pie followed him through the castle's corridors and towards Twilight's library. "Again, I am really sorry!" Pinkie Pie said, her head hanging low.
"It's really no big deal." Spike declared.
"Actually it is..." Pinkie Pie stressed, "It's a super special gift that was givin to me, and I never lose a gift a friend gave to me! EVER!"
Spike pondered, "Well, how did you lose it in the first place?"
Pinkie Pie groaned, "I was babysitting the Cake Twins again when Pound Cake found the container Boneless was kept in. After he took it out, Pound played a game of keep-a-way with me as I tried to get Boneless back. Then, somehow, Pumpkin Cake got a hold of it with her magic and held it in front of me like a dog's chew toy."
Spike looked at his friend, "I bet that made you mad."
"It did!" She continued, "So... Right as Boneless was within a single hoof reach, poof!"
"Poof?"
"Poof! as in, it was gone! Vanished before my eyes!" Pinkie waved her hooves out, forming an imaginary arc. "I was so mad!"
"I bet you were." Spike asked, "Well... What happened next?"
Pinkie Pie looked back at Spike, "I asked Pumpkin Cake where she teleported the chicken. She murmured out 'Twi, Twi, Twi!' That is when I knew I had to come see you guys after I was done babysitting the Cake Twins."
"Yeah." Spike scratched the back of his head.
He and Pinkie approached the doors to the library, still talking to each other about Boneless. However, they had no idea what Twilight was doing on the inside. They assumed that Boneless was going to be found where Spike last saw it, but that wasn't the case at all.
Spike pushed the doors open. "But, don't you worry, Pinkie. I left it right where I saw-"
Spike stopped talking, instantly shocked upon what he saw. Twilight stood on her desk, with the chicken in her mouth. She was shaking it prior to them coming into the room, but now she remained motionless. Twilight felt embarrassed, acting out and getting caught the way she did was certainly something she’d be cringing over.
Pinkie had to stifle her laughter while Spike facepalmed.
Twilight spat out the chicken. "Umm, hi guys!" With a nervous grin, she waved a hoof at them.
Spike left the room. He didn't feel like saying it, but a joke came to him.
"Too easy!" was all he declared.