//------------------------------// // On the road or....er train tracks // Story: The Impossible Test // by GiantFunnyShark //------------------------------// The Impossible Test Twilight Sparkle, as we all know, is an educated pony; whose priority in life is probably to read every book ever written. When it comes to tests, she definitely wins the award for "most prepared". One could only imagine how Twilight would react when she is given a test simply dubbed “The Impossible Test”. With over a thousand of the most frantically written and painfully detailed cue cards in the history of frantically written and painfully detailed cue cards. Our tale begins in the somewhat unrecognizable recesses of Twilight's cute, little oak tree library. "Spike! .....urgh," Twilight exclaimed angrily. "I know he's a baby dragon, but it's 8:27 am, and if he doesn't get up, I will miss my train to Canterlot. ...Oh Celestia, give me strength," Twilight cursed. "SPIKE, GET UP NOW! "Twilight bellowed towards a now-awake and deafened baby dragon. "Okay, okay I'm up. I don't know why I have to go see you to the train station. You have been there enough times to know where it is. " Spike gave Twilight a look of frustration as she levitated a mile-high stack of notebooks filled with knowledge into Spike's hands. Spike exhaled quickly at the sheer weight of the huge amount of unnecessary notes for a test Twilight didn't know anything about. She hated not knowing. "I don't know, Twilight. This seems a bit much for a test you can't even study fo- ". Spike stopped just before he could finish his sentence, realizing too late that he had just opened the door and invited in a lecture on how you can't be “too prepared”, even if you don't know what you're studying. "What?!" Twilight said with much annoyance."Spike, how many times must I tell you, you can never be too prepared for a test, anyway, if I had brought all of my notes, they would have taken up all the train carriages. I just brought the ones that were the most important, like the note-cards on The Equestrian Wars or how The United States of Amareica became independent. These are the most recent things Celestia has taught me, so they are the most likely subjects of the test." Twilight stood there arguing with herself as to what type of quill she would use and how many pieces of parchment she would need to bring. Spike just rolled his eyes and walked through the door. Twilight noticed Spike’s absence and ran after him. As Twilight caught up with Spike, she admired the scenery the same way she did everyday, enjoying the lush green trees, gazing in amazement at the beautiful calmness of nature. Coming out of her reverie,Twilight noticed the puffy, pink mane of none other than Pinkie Pie. Pinkie for her part, was talking Cheerilee’s ear off, a vacant stare was all Cheerilee seemed willing to put on, as Pinkie told her the exact location of every, individual sprinkle she put on a cupcake she made yesterday. Then out of the corner of Pinkie’s keen eye, she spotted Twilight and bounced over to the purple mare. “Oh! Hiya Twilight, whatcha doin’? I hope it’s fun”. Pinkie said with a smile wider than the equator. After Twilight stood back up from the sudden appearance of a certain pink party pony, she looked at said pony with frustration, and said. “Pinkie, what have I told you about jumping up on me like that?” Pinkie’s ears now sat flat against her head accompanied by a sad expression as the pink mare spoke. “Sorry Twilight, I guess I got a bit carried away.” “It’s OK Pinkie, just next time you see me, or anypony, try walking up to them so they have a chance to recognize the pony approaching them.” Pinkie’s eyes lit up once more and her voice returned to it’s jovial tone. “Okie dokie lokie.” Pinkie said as she bounced over to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were trying to earn their Cutie Marks in running away from the insane pink pony who talks to herself all the time. Twilight and Spike were both at the train station when Twilight received a letter from the princess. It read: To my most faithful student, Upon arriving to Canterlot you mustn't go to the castle. Instead, you shall go and rent the attic room of the Inn of the Two Sisters. There, we shall discuss your test in complete privacy. Sincerely Princess Celestia Twilight just gawked at the letter which still gave her no clue as to what the test was about, although she now had a location. "Huh? ...Spike, I don't get it. Why can't the princess just tell me what the test is about?" Twilight threw the letter to the ground in an annoyed huff. Spike picked the letter up and reassured Twilight that there must be a logical reason for Celestia’s vagueness. In the heat of her unusually short-tempered hissy fit, Twilight failed to notice that her train had arrived and was waiting for her to board. The train conductor waved an impatient hoof at Twilight and yelled in a musky, deep, scoltish accent. "Are ye comin' or what, mizz Twilight?" Her more composed stature and the fact that she was walking towards the train carriage answered the conductor’s question. With a swift nod of the conductor’s head to the drivers, the train started to slowly depart. Twilight was waving hastily at Spike, who was returning the gesture. When Twilight reached Canterlot, she realized that she didn't have a clue where this “Inn of the Two Sisters” was. After about five minutes of wandering, Twilight noticed she had entered a rather bleak and murky alleyway where a large group of ponies were sitting and playing cards on the top of a cardboard box. They all turned their heads at breakneck speeds to glare at Twilight as she spoke up. "Oh hey, do any of you fellas know where the Inn of the Two Sisters is ...uh, hello? Oh dear." There were at least 5 of them and they were all carrying weapons varying in size and sharpness-- one of them even had a toothbrush with the end cut off and sharpened to a point. They all looked rather angry. Twilight took these factors into consideration and decided that these ponies didn't want to talk. Twilight's eyes darted around her surroundings looking for a way out when she spotted a rope tied to a post. At the other end was a piano dangling just above those fiendish colts(how convenient). Twilight didn't waste another second she sprinted to the rope and tugged hard, making the piano come cascading down upon the ferocious equines. You would have thought having a piano land right on top of you would kill you, but unfortunately for Twilight, these colts were made of harder stuff and just threw the piano away like a baby with an unwanted toy and continued to carry out their task of ill-repute. After all of this, Twilight saw that they were all earth ponies which explained why they were ridiculously strong, but as strong as they may have been, Twilight had one thing they didn't..........MAGIC. Twilight's horn was glowing so bright Celestia's sun was getting jealous, and just as the villainous colts were about to strike her down, Twilight zipped out of existence. Besides the relief Twilight felt after returning to the physical world unharmed she feared she would be more lost than before, To Twilight's surprise, she found herself laying in the middle of a warm and cozy room. A light green mare with a dark green mane looked gently at Twilight with a hint of worry before speaking "Uh… Are you alright miss? ...Heelllo?" Twilight’s response was half-groan, half-mumble. "Uhhhhh......myheadhurtssomuchcandican'tcontrolmymouth". Twilight quickly placed a hoof over her muzzle and just laughed. After removing her hoof, she noticed a rather petrified and distraught green mare standing like one of the statue's in the Canterlot garden. Twilight waved a hoof in front of her face, then the green mare pointed over Twilight's shoulder and said with fear in her voice. "NNNN...Nightmare Moon!" As soon as the green mare spoke those two words, there came a large sigh from behind Twilight. Twilight whizzed around and saw princess Luna with a deadpan look on her face. "Princess Luna? What are you doing here?" Twilight said with joy and enthusiasm in her voice. The deep blue Alicorn replied, "Ah, Twilight Sparkle. At least somepony remembers I have passed that stage and have been re-formed". Luna sighed and then smiled at Twilight."I am here to oversee the discussion of your," Luna paused to let out a small giggle. "Test." Twilight looked confused. "Luna, what is so funny?" The princess replied by bursting into laughter and then disappearing into thin air. "I really need to stop drinking so much cider," said the green mare with a baffled look on her face."First a purple unicorn shows up shouting a different language, then Nightmare Moon shows up and starts laughing." Twilight tapped the mare on the shoulder and said, "Um… I'm still here, you know." The mare turned around, gasped loudly, then passed out. Twilight facehooved.