//------------------------------// // The Test // Story: Vacation // by iloveyouderpy //------------------------------// It was three in the morning. Twilight stood, alone, at the train station, blinding bright light beaming down on her, waiting for the train to Canterlot to arrive. Her eyelids mostly closed, feeling like they were ten pounds. In this situation, any normal pony would probably be sleeping as they waited for the train, but Twilight was not a normal pony. She was reading a spell book titled Star Swirl the Bearded's guide to Advanced Magic. Her eyes were getting teary, blurring up her vision, and her body felt weak and achy. She needed sleep, the desire to do so only grew as time went by. Mustn't sleep, got to study. Got to... Her eyelids fell shut and she drifted off to sleep. Twilight did not dream and time seemed to have skipped half an hour, for she jumped awake due to the body rumbling whistle of the train. Her heart raced from the sudden shock, her body was shaking, and forehead sweating. The train gave the appearance of being made from gingerbread. Each car was a different color (Blue, pink, and brown), one of the cars had second floor compartment which made the car look like a muffin. Twilight got a hold of herself. Her horn glowed and the book levitated off the station floor and she moved with it into the car in the middle. She moved down the isle, towards the center and took a seat on the right side of the train. The train was completely quiet and empty, and the lighting was dim. Perfect sleeping conditions. With in minutes the train departed from the station. The vibration and movement of the train soothed Twilight. She fell asleep peacefully. -------------------------- Twilight stood in the center of the room. The sun was brightly shining through the windows, lighting up the room. Princess Celestia stood in front of the nervous unicorn. "Are you ready, Twilight?" the princess said with much seriousness in her voice. "Yes, Princess." "Good, I want you to first perform life spell." Celestia looked down at the ground, Twilight did the same. There, just between the two ponies, was medium sized pot filled with black soil. Twilight continued to stare at it, Celestia moved her attention from the pot back to Twilight. "Well, I'm waiting." "Alright, you can do this." Twilight whispered under breath. She began to focus on the pot, trying to picture the seed beneath the soil in her mind. Her horn lit up with a purple glow, the pot containing the soil was also starting glow. Celestia just stared, with little interest. Twilight's concentration broke and her horn stopped glowing. She opened her eyes and looked at the Pot filled with soil. Nothing had happen. Twilight's stomach began to knot up. Sweat ran down her face. This was not good. Not good at all. She looked up at Celestia, who just stared back with a disapproving look. "I am very disappointed in you, Twilight." the sun princess said. Twilight began to get all teary. She had failed, not only herself, but also her friend, her mentor, her princess. "I'm sorry." Twilight said, her voice was trembling and hardly translatable. "In fact, I'm so disappointed that I here by banish you to the Everfree Forest, forever." "Please, Princess Celestia. Don't banish me, please. I'll do better next time, I promise." the purple unicorn begged to her superior. "I'm sorry, Twilight Sparkle. But your laziness gives me no choice but to do so." Celestia's horn began to glow and shot out a bright beam of light at Twilight. Twilight screamed in horror. "Noooooooo!" -------------------------- "Miss," came an unfamiliar voice. "I promise, I'll do better. No, No, NOOO!" Twilight screamed and was then shook back into reality by somepony standing by her seat. "Miss," He said again. Twilight quickly got up and looked at the conductor. "What's going on?" She asked him. "Where am I?" "Well, you're in Canterlot. You were just having a nightmare." "Canterlot?!" Twilight said. She looked out the window. Out the window she saw a the Canterlot Train Station, the sun hung low in the sky. "Oh my gosh, I'm going to be late." She took off down the isle and out the train, leaving behind her spell book on the seat. The purple unicorn ran down Horseshoes Avenue and then turned onto Dodge Street, from there it was a straight run to the Canterlot Castle. She ran up the white concrete stairs. By the large wooden door, just up the steps, two white pegasi in golden armor stood guard. "Mornin' Ms. Sparkle." the guard on the right said in a very deep voice. Both guards pushed open the door, letting Twilight gallop on in. On the other side of the room, right by the large white stairway, stood Princess Celestia. Her colorful, sparkling, hair floating in air, waving like ocean waves. "Twilight, my faithful student. How are you?" The princess said. "Sorry I'm late, Princess." The lavender unicorn said as she knelt before her mentor. "It's quite alright." Princess Celestia said with a gentle and kind voice. "Shall we go to the study hall and get started?" Twilight nodded and she and Celestia headed up the large white stairs, turned right and headed down the hall. Twilight said nothing to Celestia, she was too nervous to speak. What if her dream wasn't just a dream? What if it was a vision? A vision of the near future. Celestia could see the nervousness on Twilight's face, so she spoke to her student. "It's really nice to see you again, Twilight." "Same here, Princess." Twilight said, her voice trembling. "You shouldn't be so nervous. Try an relax." "I don't think I can." "Twilight, you'll be fine. You are the smartest student I've ever had the honor in teaching." Celestia said, truthfully. The unicorn looked up at Celestia and smiled. They came to a stop at a door in the middle of the hall. Celestia's horn lit dimly and the door opened. Beyond the door there was a big open, almost empty, room. In the center of the room there was a small coffee table and on the table was a small object. Celestia walked into the study hall, but Twilight just stood there, still feeling nervous. Celestia turned her head to look at the frightened unicorn. "You okay, Twilight?" Princess Celestia asked. Twilight took a lung full of air through her nose, and exhaled out her mouth. "Yeah." Twilight moved into the room, legs shaking and heart racing. Once she was all the way in Celestia used her magic to shut the door, which added even more pressure on Twilight's shoulders. The unicorn moved over to the coffee table, next to Celestia. The object on the table was a grey stone. "Alright, Twilight Sparkle, you are here to take the advance magic one test. After you pass you will officially be in advance magic two. Any questions before we get started?" Celestia informed Twilight. Twilight shook her head. "Good. For the first part of your test all you have to do is transform this stone into a sapphire." Celestia said with a smile. Twilight just stared at the stone for a few seconds. Sweat built up on her forehead. "Take your time." The alicorn said to the lavender unicorn. "There's no rush." Twilight, then, forced herself to stop panicking. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate. In her mind she pictured the stone, on the wooden coffee table. She then imagined it transforming into a blue sapphire. She could feel the energy from her body going into her horn and after awhile that feeling disappeared. The unicorn opened her eyes and gazed upon, instead of a grey stone, but a stainless blue sapphire. She looked up at Celestia. Celestia smiled and nodded in approval. The other three parts of the test were just as easy. All she had to do was start a fire and then put it out, then teleport from the castle to the garden and then back, and lastly she had to bring a dead flower back to life. She passed them all and was very relieved when it was all over. "Well, congratulations Twilight Sparkle. I'm happy to welcome you to advance magic two." "Thank you, Princess." Twilight said and then knelt before her princess. She rose back to her hooves. "Well, now that we're all done here, should we celebrate?" Celestia asked. "I'd love to, but my train leaves in less than half an hour. You understand, right?" Twilight said feeling guilty about denying her ruler's request. They've almost never hung out and when they did it was never just the two of them. "I do." Celestia said, still smiling. "Well then you better be on you way." "Yes, Princess." "Say hello to your friends for me, will you?" "Of course." Twilight and Celestia gave each other a farewell hug and then Twilight took off towards the train station. ------------------------ It was around five in the evening when Twilight arrived back in Ponyville. She looked out the window and saw, waiting for her, Rainbow Dash with some kind of flier in her mouth. Twilight calmly got off the train and was then greeted by her daredevil friend. Rainbow removed the flier from her mouth and then began to speak. "Twilight, I'm glad you're back. I found this flier and..." "I'm glad to see you too." Twilight said laughing. Rainbow Dash handed her the flier and she read the introduction aloud. Silverwing Beach Where dreams of fun and relaxation become a reality Voted as the number one vacation spot in all of Equestria "What about it?" Twilight asked Rainbow Dash. "What about it?!" Rainbow said in total surprise. "I took the liberty in renting us a beach house for the weekend. You, me, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Spike." "How were you able to afford a beach house in SIlverwing Beach?" "I got a loan." Twilight raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. A smile was plastered on Rainbow's face. "Have you told everyone else about this?" "Not yet, I planned to do that after telling you. So, what do you say, Twilight? Wanna go on a vacation?" Twilight's suspicious look changed to that of joy. "Why the hay not, lets go tell everyone." "YES!" Rainbow said with much victory and then they headed into town together.