//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: Twin Twilight Tales // by MagnetBolt //------------------------------// One tradition at the School for Gifted Unicorns that had survived since its founding was that all test results were posted publicly. There had occasionally been petitions to change the practice, but given that the requests had always come from those scoring near the bottom of the list, they were typically ignored — the students either improved and no longer cared about having their scores posted, or they proved that they needed to have their courses adjusted and they were moved to a more appropriate class (or, occasionally, moved out of the school entirely). Typically, the top of the test results would be one or two students who had gotten a perfect score on the test. Unfortunately for the rest of the class, Twilight Sparkle had never met a grade curve she couldn't break. "A hundred and ten?" Twilight asked. "I was sure I'd have at least a hundred and twelve. I'm going to have to talk to the teacher about that extra credit essay." She sighed and walked away from the list posted on the bulletin board outside the classroom, Midnight following her. "Isn't that the one where you needed three extra pieces of paper and included suggested additional reading?" Midnight asked. She'd gotten a hundred and eight. Lower than Twilight, but still well above the third-place grade of ninety-five. "Extra credit is a place to shine," Twilight said. "If you're going to do it, you need to take it seriously." "Twilight you spent like three hours on that test. I was done in half an hour. It's about time efficiency." "No, it's about the fact that I'm two points higher than you," Twilight retorted, smugly. "Two whole points!" Midnight rolled her eyes. "Feel free to slack off," Twilight continued. "Maybe Princess Celestia will notice and finally realize that I'm the only one she really needs as a student." "Twilight!" A pony yelled from behind. Midnight and Twilight turned at the same time to look at the pony yelling to them. She was a soft off-white cream colored pony with a bright orange mane with white tips. "I'm so glad I caught up to you! Congratulations on getting the top score. Again." "Thank you," Twilight said, bashfully. "Um..." "Come on, Twilight, you know me," she smiled. "Orange Creme," Midnight whispered, in Twilight's ear. Twilight mouthed a silent 'thank you' to her double. "Of course I do, Orange Creme." Twilight coughed. "S-so how did you do on the test?" She had no idea how to approach a conversation like this. She didn't even have her 'Unexpected Conversation' flashcards with her! Twilight cursed at her own unpreparedness. She should have known that she'd need the flash cards instead of a spare slide rule! "I only got an eighty five," Orange Creme sighed. "But you know, I was thinking - you're always at the top. You must have a lot of really effective study tips." "Oh!" Twilight sighed in relief. Studying was definitely something that she'd consider herself an expert at. "Well, I do have a few things I do that make things easier." "That's great!" Orange smiled. "I really want to improve my score. I doubt I can get it as high as yours, but I want to do as good as I possibly can, you know?" "Absolutely," Twilight agreed. "There's nothing worse than not knowing how to prepare yourself for an exam! I'd be happy to help. I can bring you a checklist of topics to study for the next test-" "Well," Orange Creme hesitated. "I do know what to study. It's not about the content, I think it's more about my habits, you know?" "That's harder to fix without knowing more about them," Twilight considered. "Exactly!" Orange Creme nodded. "So what if you came over and we studied together for the quiz at the end of the week? Then you could see how I'm studying and I can see how you study." "I don't know..." Twilight considered. It would definitely slow down her own studying if she had to help somepony else who was falling behind – she wasn't even an A-average student! – but Princess Celestia kept subtly and not-so-subtly encouraging her to make friends with the other students. Midnight rolled her eyes and walked away. Twilight watched her go and considered her. She had almost gotten the same score as Twilight, and with much less of an opportunity cost in terms of time taken. Maybe it was worth helping another student to get on Celestia's good side, even if the few hours taken would lower her expected point return by a few decimal points. "Okay," Twilight said, smiling more confidently. "I'll help you." "...So my dad isn't here most of the year because he's in Manehattan and the farm on weekdays, but Mom doesn't mind much," Orange Creme said, as they walked into her house. It was one of the smaller manors, not quite as large as the one Twilight had lived in for most of her life, but it had a surprising amount of land around it, mostly filled with orange trees. Twilight wasn't sure how they were kept as healthy as they were in the unsuitable environment of Canterlot, considering the colder temperatures and higher altitude, but she was far too nervous to interrupt and ask. "Uh huh," Twilight nodded, listening. "You might know my mom," Orange Creme continued. "Her name is Cream of the Crop. She manages the agricultural taxes and subsidies for the Royal Revenue Service." "I think I've seen her once or twice," Twilight nodded. "I don't know if we ever spoke." "That wouldn't surprise me," Orange Creme shrugged. "She's usually pretty busy. Working with government money means she has to cross all her 'i's and dot every 't'. Or something like that." "Um... right," Twilight agreed, deciding wisely not to correct her. Orange Creme led her through a rather sensibly furnished home. Twilight couldn't help but notice a few Earth Pony touches. Larger doorknobs, a harder floor with less plush carpeting, electric lighting instead of magical. "This is my room," Orange Creme said, opening the door. It was... well, pretty much exactly what Twilight expected. It was pleasantly tidy, with framed posters on the walls. Orange Creme held out a bowl. "Want an orange? There are a couple different kinds here." "Are they fresh?" Twilight asked. "I didn't think oranges were even in season." "Well, this time of year Dad mostly sells hothouse oranges, marmalade, and a couple other kinds of citrus that handle the fall and winter a little better. These are fresh, though. The bowl is magic and keeps anything stored in it from spoiling. I made it myself!" Twilight tilted her head and scanned the enchantment. It was a little messy, but worked well enough to assure her that the oranges would indeed be fresh. "Sure," Twilight said, taking a smaller one to be polite. Orange Creme took one with a reddish hue and put the bowl back. "Tangerine. Good choice," Orange Creme nodded with approval. "Where would you like to start with studying?" Twilight started unpacking her saddlebags, taking out a few books and her personal scrolls. "I was thinking we could go over what the teacher talked about in class today." "Sure," Orange Creme agreed. "Can I have a copy of your notes?" "Huh?" Twilight asked, blinking. "Well, yours are probably more complete than mine," Orange Creme said, taking out her own notebook and showing a page of chicken scratch and doodles. "They'd be a great study guide." "I guess I can make a copy for you," Twilight said. "Great!" Orange Creme said, smiling. "How did your study group go?" Celestia asked, over dinner. Today, the kitchen had apparently decided that pasta florentine was the way to go as a main course, with wide strips of butter-fried portobello mushrooms mixed in with the spinach and cream sauce. "It went well," Twilight said. Orange Creme had certainly been happy to get the notes. "Though we didn't end up studying as much as I normally do. Apparently she likes to take breaks every half-hour and do something else. It's probably a time-management issue and..." Twilight trailed off, blushing. "I mean, it's fine." "Oh, what sort of things?" Cadance asked. "I remember when I was in high school I'd find all sorts of ways to get distracted when I was supposed to be studying—" She stopped when Sunset kicked her leg. "It isn't like that," Twilight blushed. "She asked for my help. Princess, you always said that the best way to ensure you actually know a topic is to try and explain it to somepony else." "That's absolutely right, Twilight," Celestia agreed, nodding in approval. "And I'm also glad that you're making friends." "Really?" Twilight asked, smiling. "Of course." Celestia glanced at Sunset. "The value of friendship can be something that takes a pony, even a talented one, a long time to learn." "Not this again," Sunset muttered. "Is my little Sunny-wunny embarrassed about Celestia talking about when she was a foal?" Cadance asked. Sunset blushed at the baby voice, and turned bright red when Cadance followed it with a kiss to the cheek. Her horn flared, and a flickering wall of magical energy formed between them. "Princess, I think we need a bucket of ice water," Midnight said. "Again." "The maids were quite annoyed last time," Celestia noted. "Um, Princess?" Twilight asked. "Is there anything special I should do? I don't really have a guide for this whole... study group thing. Is there a book with a checklist—" "Just do what feels right," Celestia assured her. "That's the most important thing with friendship." "Studying your notes really helped," Orange Creme said. "But I still only got a ninety on the quiz, and there's a big test coming up." "That's a statistically significant increase. You had an eighty-five before, so when you look at it in terms of how many questions you missed, you decreased your missed total by more than thirty percent," Twilight said. She wasn't entirely sure how Orange could be making mistakes. All she had to do was memorize the study material. "I think what we need to do is work on the way you take frequent breaks. I've been looking at some guides on how to use positive reinforcement to really improve basic performance." She pulled out a few scrolls. "Actually, I came up with an idea that's even better," Orange Creme said. "I think we've been going about this all wrong." "What do you mean?" Twilight tilted her head. "Okay, so, part of the reason studying is difficult is that you basically have to study everything the teacher talked about in class, assigned for homework, had as a reading, and so on, right? And even then, there's a chance she'll put a question on the test where the answer is only in the book because she never went over it." "Well, we're expected to read the book even if she doesn't assign it," Twilight noted. "That's true. But it's a lot of material, and that doesn't even take into account that all tests are basically the same way." Orange Creme started pacing, peeling an orange with her magic as she walked back and forth. "What we're doing right now is studying everything and hoping we remember the parts she decides to put on the test. But that's sort of backwards, isn't it?" "How is it backwards?" Twilight sat down, confused. "If the goal is to get a high score on the test, we shouldn't be reviewing all of the material and hoping it includes what's on the test. We should be studying the test itself!" Orange Creme smiled. "That way we make sure we're actually learning the answers that we need for the exam." "Well..." Twilight considered. "I guess if we took all the previous tests and looked for patterns, we could make a generalized format that would help guide us towards the types of facts the teachers usually include on the exams, but even then it's unwise to avoid studying everything because there are always a few obscure questions and the extra credit could be almost anything at all and-" "No, no," Orange Creme said, waving a hoof. She sat down and started eating the orange. "See, this is the brilliant part. We study the test we're going to take, not past test examples." "How are we supposed to do that?" Twilight asked. "It's not like the tests are in the book." "The teacher makes them in advance, Twilight! All you need to do is get a copy of the test before the exam and we can get all the answers from the book. Then it's just a matter of memorizing the correct answers." "But that's cheating!" Twilight gasped. "Twilight..." Orange Creme sighed and put a hoof around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. "Think about is this way. If you do this, you'll be completely prepared. There's no way there can be a surprise question. A hundred percent, guaranteed!" "It's not right, though..." Twilight muttered. "I thought we were friends," Orange Creme frowned. "We tried doing things your way and it helped a little. Can't we at least try it my way? It's not like we'd really be cheating. We'd just be taking the test in advance." "I just..." Twilight hesitated. "Can I think about it?" "Of course," Orange Creme smiled. "Just don't tell anypony about it. If we decide not to do it, we shouldn't get in trouble just because we'd talked about it, right?" "R-right..." Twilight bit her lip. "Are you feeling alright?" Midnight whispered. "You've been pale ever since you came back from Orange Creme's." "I'm just feeling kind of sick," Twilight whispered back, casting a quick privacy spell so the teacher wouldn't notice them talking to each other. It wouldn't really silence them or make it look like they weren't talking, it would just subtly encourage the teacher to look elsewhere and not pay attention. "I think I ate something that didn't agree with me." "What, did you try mixing lemon juice and milk again?" "No!" Twilight blushed. "That was just the one time! I thought creamy lemonade was a good idea and forgot that milk curdles." "Uh-huh," Midnight said, skeptical. "You know, if you're not feeling good, you should tell the teacher and go see the nurse. I don't want everypony ending up sick like when Comet Wishes came in with the stomach flu and threw up on her desk." Twilight shuddered at the memory. She'd ended up running a fever hot enough that Celestia had almost put her in the hospital. The dreams she'd had were... unpleasant. "I'm not sick like that," Twilight promised. "I'll be fine." "If you say so." Midnight yawned. "Wake me up if the teacher calls on me." "You're going to take a nap?" Twilight blinked. "I've got a recording spell on my quill, and I read this whole section last night. Just keep the Can't-See-Me spell going." "Ugh. Now I know why I feel sick," Twilight rolled her eyes. "I'm stuck next to somepony with no work ethic." Twilight looked down at the scroll. She'd been trying to figure out what to do for hours now, and it was already getting close to the point where she wouldn't be getting any sleep at all before her lessons with Celestia. "If I don't help her get a copy of the test, I could lose a friend, which will mean Celestia will be disappointed in me," Twilight said. "If she thinks I'm not really trying to make friends, I'll lose that edge I have over Midnight." She checked that off on the 'Do' side. "But if I do try to get a copy, there's a chance that I'll get caught. If I get caught, not only will Celestia be disappointed, but I'll be in trouble with the teacher, and the school, and my parents will probably disown me and—" She started hyperventilating. The panic attack ate up a good ten minutes of her time. Once she'd collected herself, she put a check on that item and moved down the list. "If I do get a copy, I'll be being a good friend, which Celestia has told me repeatedly is important. And if I really wanted to, I could... look at the test myself." She swallowed. "And if I don't get a copy..." she hesitated. "I wouldn't be in danger of being caught." She hashed together a quick grid. "If I don't get a copy, I can't get caught, so that's one null result and one bad result where I'm a bad friend. If I do get a copy and I don't get caught, I'm a good friend and not in trouble. If I do get caught... I'm in trouble, but I tried to be a good friend." She put down the quill, looking at the choices in front of her. "Given that one choice is a negative and a null, and the other is a positive and a negative, the only reasonable action is to get Orange Creme a copy of the test. But that negative is weighted really heavily." She bit her lip. "I need a foolproof plan." Twilight checked off a box on her checklist. "Get to school an hour early. Check." She'd skipped breakfast to ensure she'd be able to get there in time, telling the maids to let Celestia know she wasn't feeling well enough to eat. It wasn't even a lie. She was feeling queasy just thinking about what she was going to do. Twilight cast a quick spell and pulled a mirror out of her saddlebags. She couldn't see herself in it. She also couldn't see the mirror. "Invisibility spell, check. Note to self, is a mirror still a mirror if you make it invisible? Investigate in spare time with spells that use mirror as a focus." She checked it off on her list. Probably. It was also invisible now, after all. She was sure the mark was very close to the box. An unfortunate consequence of her plan revealed itself as she realized she could no longer read the remainder of the plan she'd come up with. It had only been a few hours since she'd decided on it, so she was going to have to hope she'd remember how it went. Twilight started scribbling a note to make a checklist she could read while invisible and stopped halfway through the first word when she realized she'd lost her place and was probably writing on top of her checklist. She put the scroll away to avoid damaging it further. She crept into the halls of the school, moving as quietly as possible on the hardwood floor. A Soften Surface spell muffled her hoofsteps, but left a short-lived trail behind her like she was walking on a pillow. She considered the tradeoff to be worth the risk. Twilight's first attempt to get a copy of the test had been rather simple - she'd attempted to use divination spells to just view the exam remotely. Unfortunately, it seemed she wasn't the first pony to think about trying it, and it was only a quick disjunction effect that cut off the link before the wards around the teacher's desk managed to trace the scrying spell back to her. She'd nearly been caught right there, and it would have been impossible to disguise it as anything innocent. Compared to divination spells, physically entering the school and trying to get a copy was probably far more dangerous. If she could teleport, she'd at least have a quick escape plan, but she was nowhere near close to mastering that spell. The last time she'd tried, she'd managed to move about six inches, flip herself upside-down, and get her tail stuck in a wall. All at the same time. It had not been a good Tuesday. Twilight pressed against the wall as a teacher walked past, holding her breath. She waited until the professor was around the corner before continuing, getting to the classroom door. "Okay," Twilight whispered. "Now to get this open..." She'd memorized several different charms to crack locks. She hadn't had a lot of time to test them, so she figured in this one case, quantity would do instead of quality. One of them was bound to work, and with any luck the door wouldn't explode. She plotted it out in her head. If it was a tumbler pin lock, she could use Lightfoot's Liquid Lockpick. A more secure lock would require the Door Buster Nine Thousand, though against a normal wooden door it risked damaging both the door and frame. As a last resort, she could use Warp Wood to pop the door out of the frame entirely, at least temporarily. She touched the doorknob, remembering what she'd read about the feel of locks, to see if she could determine the difficulty class of the lock involved. The doorknob turned. "Or it could have just been left open," Twilight muttered, as she slipped into the dark room. The teacher's desk was right in front of her. All she had to do was open a drawer and make a decision that would change the rest of her life. Easy. She swallowed, her throat dry. "Here," Twilight said, quietly, putting a folded paper into Orange Creme's saddlebags. "Is that what I think it is?" Orange Creme asked, equally quietly. Twilight nodded. Orange Creme smiled and pulled her into a quick hug. "I knew you could do it! I won't ask for details. With this, we'll be able to get the top score without even trying!" "Just, um..." Twilight looked down. "I haven't looked at it. Just enough to make sure it was the right one. I don't want to use it." "What? You went to all that trouble and you're not going to take advantage of it?" Orange Creme raised an eyebrow. "I just... wouldn't feel right about it," Twilight admitted. "But you still did it for me?" Orange Creme asked, surprised. She hesitated. "That means a lot to me." She looked down. "Come on. I'm going to treat you to ice cream. I know it's not much considering what you went through, but you really look like you could use a pick-me-up." "Ice cream does sound kinda nice," Twilight admitted, smiling weakly. "Only the best for my bestie," Orange Creme smiled. Twilight followed after her. She still didn't feel right about all this, but now she was Orange Creme's best friend. That was probably worth it. Maybe the ice cream really would help. Sugar and fat were well-known for improving a pony's mood. If nothing else, it'd definitely help fill up the pit she felt in her stomach. "Wow," Midnight said. "Twilight, what the heck happened?" She looked up at the list of test scores. "You only got... a seventy-seven?! Even Trixie managed to get an eighty and she's Trixie!" "Hey, Trixie resembles that remark!" Yelled the filly, from across the room. "See? She's totally Trixie," Midnight said, waving a hoof at the irrefutable evidence. "Though I guess I'm more surprised that Orange Creme got the top score. Unless your really amazing study tip was to write her name on your paper and she wrote yours on hers." "I just... haven't been feeling well," Twilight said. It was more or less the truth. "I couldn't really focus." "I can tell," Midnight said. "Maybe you should take a couple of days off and rest." "I can't take time off," Twilight said. "If I do that, I'll fall even further behind! My brother always says that when you don't feel well, the most important thing is to push through and try your best, because ponies are still counting on you even if you aren't feeling at your peak." "That sounds like an awesome way to get yourself hurt," Midnight rolled her eyes. "You know, my suspension from the restricted section is almost over. I bet Celestia would let us go if we agreed to go together. How about hitting the library with me?" Twilight shook her head. "I'm just going to go study for the next test," she said, weakly. "If you say so," Midnight said, getting even more concerned. Twilight didn't even look up from her books when the knock came on her door. She didn't answer until the second polite rapping at the door frame. "It's open," she sighed, unlocking it from across the room. "When Midnight said you weren't feeling well, I knew I had to come and see it for myself," Celestia said. "If she was worried about you I knew it meant you were doing very poorly." Twilight spun at her mentor's voice and bowed. "Princess! I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you! I thought it was just the maids bringing the soup I requested!" "I decided to bring it myself," Celestia smiled. She hovered a tray over to Twilight's bed. "Roasted red pepper soup with smoked mozzarella cheese, plus a pot of herbal tea. I know you didn't order the latter, but I find that it helps quite a bit when I'm under the weather." "You didn't have to bring it to me," Twilight said, smiling a little as she took the cover off the soup. It smelled lovely. "I also wanted to check up on you. You did seem distracted during our last private lesson, and Midnight came directly to me and asked that I look into it myself. She is a very spirited filly, when she has something she wants." "I guess," Twilight muttered. "What's wrong, Twilight?" Celestia asked. She closed the door and stepped closer, sitting on the rug next to Twilight's bed. "You don't look quite as sick as I feared. Did something happen with your friend?" "N-no, she's been really nice," Twilight said. It was the truth. Orange Creme had been nothing but nice ever since they'd started talking. "If it's something private, you don't have to tell me," Celestia said. "Just know that you can tell me anything, and I won't judge you." "Thank you, Princess," Twilight said. "It's just something I think I have to deal with myself." Celestia nodded. "Then I'll bow to your judgement, Twilight. I hope you feel better soon." She stood up and opened the door. "Wait!" Twilight said. Celestia closed the door, not turning around. "I just... I could use some advice." "Of course, Twilight," Celestia said. "What can I help you with?" Twilight bit her lip. "I think I did something wrong. I don't know how to deal with it." "Why don't you explain it to me?" Celestia suggested. "My friend... she wanted my help improving her grade. First, she wanted my help studying, and a copy of my notes, and I gave them to her because I thought it would help, and her hornwriting was terrible." Celestia nodded. Twilight continued, the words coming faster and faster like water pouring out of a broken dam. "But that wasn't enough! Her tests only went up a few points, so then she told me that the best thing to do would be to copy the test and use that to study and get all the answers in advance and I snuck into the school and copied it like she asked because I didn't want to lose her as a friend and now I don't know what to do because it's like I helped her cheat on her last test!" Twilight huffed, out of breath. "Twilight..." Celestia sighed. "I'm glad you told me the truth, but I'm also very disappointed in you. You should have known that it wasn't the right thing to do." "I'm sorry," Twilight whispered. "Do you remember the first day you spent here as my student?" Celestia asked. "Your mother brought you to the throne room, I even let you sit in my throne. I never forgot the way you looked, such a small filly sitting in such a huge chair, how much growing you had to do in order to live up to the expectations you were saddled with." She paused, not turning back to Twilight. "Later, when I saw just how far ahead you were from all the classmates around you, I knew I'd made the correct decision in making you my student. I've never questioned that until now." Twilight started shaking where she sat. "The first duty of every scholar is to the truth. Philosophical truth, historical truth, scientific truth. If you really consider yourself a scholar and a student, you need to tell the truth to the ponies that most need to hear it - the teacher whose test you copied and your friend who made you complicit in this fraud." "Yes, Princess," Twilight said, weakly. "If you don't tell the truth about it, I will," Celestia noted. "Good night, Twilight." She opened the door again and left Twilight alone with her thoughts and her rapidly cooling meal. "I think you're making a mistake," Orange Creme whispered, while they waited in front of the teacher's office. "Even if the Princess wasn't going to do it herself, I have to tell the truth," Twilight said, sadly. "I can't live with myself otherwise." Orange Creme looked down. The door opened. "Come in," the teacher said, gesturing to the seats in front of her. "I assume this is going to be about your unusual test performance in the last exam. I'm afraid I do not offer retakes, except in exceptional circumstances." "This is sort of an exceptional circumstance," Twilight whispered. "The truth is... I gave Orange Creme-" "I made Twilight give me a copy of the test," Orange Creme blurted out. "It's my fault. She felt so bad about it that she couldn't study, and I cheated on the test. I wanted to confess." "Orange-" Orange Creme silenced her with a shake of the head. "This is a very serious matter," the teacher said. "Do you understand what that kind of confession means? You'd immediately go before the board of review and they would have to decide if you deserve to remain at the school. Given your academic record, I can't promise that you'd even stay until the end of the day." "I know, Ma'am," Orange Creme said. "But Twilight doesn't deserve to get in trouble for this. It's my responsibility." "I see. Please wait here." The teacher got up and left her office. "Orange, what are you doing?!" Twilight hissed. "Twilight," She scoffed, smiling. "I took advantage of you. You're so naive. I just wanted to improve my test scores by leeching off of you but... I've had a lot of fun hanging out with you, too. You deserve to be here way more than I do, so if somepony has to take the heat for this, I will." "B-but-" Twilight sniffled. "Don't worry. You're still invited over anytime. Uh, assuming I'm not grounded for the rest of my natural life," Orange laughed a little. Orange Creme opened her hooves and Twilight leaned in, accepting the hug. She only cried a little. Above them, unseen, a scrying sensor winked out, the pony at the other end of the spell satisfied about what she'd seen. "A zero?!" Twilight gasped, when it was all over and she and Orange Creme were left alone for a moment to talk. "Hey, it was the least punishment they could give me," Orange Creme said. "I mean, I did cheat. I deserve a zero. It's not the worst thing in the world, but I'm really going to have to bust my flank to come back from that." She sighed. "What about your parents?" Twilight asked. "They're really disappointed. Don't expect me to pay for any ice cream for a while - my allowance is gone until I'm old enough to get a job of my own." She laughed a little. "I'm sorry I put you through all that, but at least you got away without being thrown in the dungeons." "They put an official notice in my records," Twilight said. "That's going to be there for the rest of my life." She looked down. "Even if I always get perfect grades, ponies who look at my academic scores are going to see that and I'll have to explain what happened." "I'm sorry," Orange Creme said. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry too," Twilight said. "I was just so afraid you'd stop being my friend that I didn't really think about what I was doing." "I'm not such a great friend," Orange Creme shrugged. "Not worth all that trouble, that's for sure. Hey, maybe we can actually study next time we get together. I'll even take my own notes." "If they even let us," Twilight said, looking at her hooves. "I'd rather risk asking than go right to summer school without even trying," Orange Creme joked. "At least I'd have to mess up even worse than usual to have to repeat the whole grade. They almost made that my punishment." "Repeating a grade?" Twilight went pale. "Hey, hey, don't look like that, I managed to talk my way out of it," Orange Creme said. "Still friends?" She held out a hoof. "Yeah," Twilight smiled. "Friends."