//------------------------------// // #41 - Writing Wrongs // Story: Techorse Short Stories // by Spirals95 //------------------------------// Writing Wrongs Techorse Series: #41 By Spirals95 “The End” The last few keystrokes on the typewriter were finished, and Techorse looked over at the pile of scripts he had typed over the past few weeks to his right. He was sitting in a darkened room of his castle, a tiny room next to his laboratory in the basement normally used for a supply closet. All of the normally stored items, dry food, a couple packages of paper towels and toilet paper, and a few replacement pipes for the plumbing had been moved out of the way in favor of a small desk and the typewriter, along with a humble brass colored desk lamp Techorse was using to light the otherwise pitch black room. Having finished his work, the saddle on his back opened up, and his robotic arms grabbed the last piece of paper in their hands. He stacked the documents together, a nice pile about an inch think, and exited the supply closet with them after shutting off the lamp. Outside of the closet, PAL had been standing in the hallway, arms crossed with a concern look on his metallic face. “Master, you've been in that dark closet for an hour every day for the past two weeks!” he complained, tapping a metal foot on the stone tile floor of the basement hallway, “What's gotten into you this time? You can't surely be inventing something new, you've left your blueprint easel in the laboratory untouched!” “That's right, I'm not inventing something!” answered Techorse, a smile on his face, “I've been writing a book all month. It's a gift for Twilight, see?” Techorse handed the papers up to his robot, who accepted them and quickly flipped through the pages without reading a word of the content. “Well I'm glad! But please, will you type near some natural light next time so you don't go blind?” PAL handed the script back to Techorse, who agreed, “Yeah, I guess I didn't really need to camp out all month, but I got so into writing and I didn't want to lose my ideas with any distractions. Now all I have to do is turn this into a book.” “I suppose you'd like to test your new printing machine then?” mused the robot, smirking mechanically and pointing to the steel doors that led to the lab. “Absolutely!” said the stallion as he walked over to the doors and opened them with one metal hand, still gripping his work with the other, “It's not going to be of much use to anypony else, it only prints one book at a time, but I built it for something like this.” PAL followed his creator into the well-lit laboratory, a wide, open room with several metal-topped tables, and bins full of various electronic and metallic parts. The castle was equipped with a set of automated component manufacturing forges hidden behind the basement, which were fed raw materials by a set of worm-like mining probes that dug into the uninhabited mountain areas and returned at night to deposit the metal ore. These parts were used to build the kitchen appliances Techorse sold to make a living, but would also make anything necessary for his more secretive inventing. The new book press sat in the corner of the laboratory near the square table where Techorse performed repairs on his battle saddle. It was a rather boxy device, slightly resembling a modern day printer, but having a few odd trays sticking out of the bottom that accepted blank paper and wax, along with cloth and cardboard bins to make spines and covers. Techorse opened up the top lid of the machine and placed the typed scripts inside, then closed the door behind. After hitting a few buttons, the machine consumed two pieces of cardboard, melted some of the bar of red wax, and within a few minutes, had combined the pages together and bound them to the spine. A turquoise colored book popped out of the exit port on the top of the machine, and Techorse removed the large volume from the top. “All right, it worked out well!” he said happily, flipping through the pages, “Of course, I can only make a single copy. The machine uses up the papers each time.” “Perhaps Mistress Twilight would be more impressed with you having come up with a book making machine,” suggested PAL, “you should tell her about it when you give her the story, I'm sure she'd love that.” Techorse tucked the book under his metal arm, “That's what I'm hoping for! Twilight loves reading fiction stories more than anypony else I know, so I thought it'd be nice to give her a story I wrote on my own.” “So will you be heading out for the afternoon, master?” He nodded and started to walk for the door, “I already told her I'd meet her at the library. I'm just going to drop the book off with her and let her read it without me being there. I'd rather hear a review from Twilight when she's finished!” PAL followed him up the nearby set of stone stairs to the main lobby of the castle, where he opened the massive wooden doors and let him trot outside into the daylight of Ponyville. He was almost certain without a doubt that Twilight Sparkle was going to enjoy her brand new novel. If there was any pony in the world who appreciated a good read, it was her. Techorse went over to Golden Oaks library, a smile on his face as he thought about his marefriend reading his work of literature. The library doors were wide open to let the cool air of the calm day in, and the stallion trotted inside, his tail swishing back and forth slightly in happiness. Books were stacked in small piles near the fiction section, evidence that cataloging had taken place that day, but everything else appeared to be in perfect order. “Twilight?” he called out, “Are you home? I have something for you.” Twilight Sparkle emerged from the kitchen, carrying a tray with her magic, on it was a plastic pitcher filled with ice and decaf tea bags, and a steel teapot steaming from the spout. “Just getting some iced tea started,” she answered from within the kitchen, “give me a second. Then there's something I want to show you first!” Techorse waited patiently for Twilight to pour the boiling hot water into the pitcher and replace it back in her refrigerator. Once she was done, she walked out from the kitchen door and approached him with a happy expression on her face. “So, before we talk, let me show you that thing I've been working on.” Techorse agreed with a nod, and Twilight retrieved a small vial of gray liquid from her desk. “This is a batch of invisible ink made from the recipe Princess Celestia sent me,” she said proudly, shaking the bottle in front of him, “watch this!” Twilight picked up a nearby feather quill from her desk, and a piece of parchment with her magic, her horn glowing purple as she dipped the feather in the bizarre ink and wrote a simple message of “Hello!” on the sheet of parchment. She showed the paper to Techorse, and he watched in amazement as the ink faded to nothing on the paper. “Isn't it cool? I'll be able to write messages for Celestia that only she can decode.” “That's really neat!” marveled Techorse, “I wonder where she learned to make that?” “I don't really know,” answered Twilight, putting the paper back on the desk, “anyways, what is it you wanted to show me?” Techorse's robotic arms extended from doors on his saddle, and they opened up his saddle bags, where he removed the large book and presented it to Twilight. Twilight was thrilled, “A new book? Oh, that's so sweet!” “Not just any new book,” added Techorse, raising a metal index finger, “I took a few months to write a story just for you, and copied it into this hardback!” The mare eagerly took the volume with a levitation spell and looked over the cover, blank but a nice tint of light blue that was pleasing to the eye. She flipped over the book a few times in air, and flipped through the pages without reading a single character. It truly was a brand new, crisp book, and she was charmed to know it was written by someone she cared about. “You wrote a book... for me?” she asked, her voice trailing off in a loving tone. “I'm just trying to take some more interest in your love of books,” admitted Techorse, interrupting her scanning of the novel, “we read together all the time, but I've never actually written anything before.” “I can't wait to read this!” answered Twilight, trying hard not to jump up and down out of joy, “do you want me to do it now?” “Actually, I was hoping to ask you later about it,” he said, “I thought it'd be cool if we could review it together after you've finished it. I've got some things I have to do today.” “And I will finish it today!” she said, “I'm going to sit down and marathon this book, Techie! When I'm done, we'll go out to dinner and discuss it.” “Sounds like a fun date!” he said with joy. She threw her front hooves around him, and kissed him on the forehead, setting the book down on her writing desk. After the embrace, Techorse exited the library, his spirits lifted from how excited Twilight was about reading his book. “See you later tonight!” she called after him as he left the library. Twilight shut the door behind him, forgetting about letting the place cool out, and returned to her writing desk, where she grabbed the book and giggled like a schoolgirl. Spike heard the merry squeals and approached her from the upstairs staircase, rubbing his eyes after having been woken from his nap. “Hey Twi, what's going on?” asked the sleepy dragon. The unicorn turned to him, cheer in her eyes, “Spike, Techorse just dropped off a book that he wrote for me!” Spike looked at the large book and put his hands at his sides in amazement, “Oh, wow. You must feel like...” “The luckiest librarian in Equestria?” she interrupted, “Absolutely! My latest book on rainforests is going to have to wait, this is coming first in the reading queue!” “Cool! Crack it open and tell me how it goes,” Spike suggested, “I'm gonna go pour myself a glass of water and listen.” “Spike, this book's way too special to just sit in bed and read it,” declared Twilight, pointing a hoof at the ceiling, “we're going to give this the treatment it deserves.” “You don’t mean?” asked Spike, gasping and covering his mouth in surprise. “Yes!” announced Twilight, “I'm going to read this book in a public place!” The public location of choice for the reading was Sugarcube Corner, where Twilight hoped to sit inside the air conditioned bakery and read the novel from her coltfriend while enjoying a treat. Spike had agreed to come along with her, mostly in hopes of getting a sugar cookie for himself, and the two sat at one of the small tables, a bright blue tablecloth draped over the top. There weren't very many customers in the bakery today, only a handful of mares talking about a recent art show they had been to in Canterlot, but that only served to make the atmosphere more peaceful for Twilight and her brand new book. Twilight sat the book down on the table, and gave Spike a few gold bits to go buy himself a cookie. She stared at the hardback material dreamily, putting a hoof on her left cheek. With Techorse being the great inventor he was, he was bound to have been extremely creative with his writing. It would probably have some rather technical, detailed moments, but the plot and characters would certainly be bright and colorful to make up for it. It didn't matter to Twilight, she was thrilled that the pony she cared about the most had gone to such lengths to write a book personally for her. After Spike got his sugar cookie from Mrs. Cake, he returned to the table and pulled up one of the metal chairs. Twilight exited her daydreaming, and looked at Spike with a broad smile, before, using only her hoof, opening the front cover of the book and beginning to read the first crisp page. The young dragon nibbled at the edges of the nutmeg-flavored sugar cookie, tasting the fine sugar on the surface. It didn't take too long though, before Spike started to realize something was wrong. Twilight wasn't saying anything about the book yet, and he knew normally she'd be saying something about each sentence if it was a book she was really interested in. “What's the matter Twilight?” he asked, putting his half-eaten dessert down on the table. “Oh, nothing!” laughed the unicorn nervously in response, “Just not going to talk much until I'm finished, wouldn't want to annoy the mares over there talking about the flower painting show is all.” Spike could tell that was a lie, and shook his head before returning to his scrumptious cookie. Twilight flipped through page after page, and about an hour passed before she finally finished the final words of the short novel, closing the back cover. As if she had given a cue, Pinkie Pie darted out of the kitchen carrying a vanilla-frosted lemon cake, and set the large baked good down on a glass display stand, putting the lid over the dessert to keep it from going dry. Pinkie noticed her friend and merrily skipped over, “Oh hey Twilight, Spike! How's it going?” “Twilight just finished reading a book Techorse wrote for her,” he answered, pointing at the book on the table. Pinkie Pie cooed, “Awwwww! That's so nice of Techie! You've got such a nice coltfriend taking a super-duper interest in books like you, Twilight!” Twilight Sparkle stared forward over Spike's head, into the abyss. The pink pony in the room didn't seem to notice, and she bounced up and down, her hair bobbing, “So how was Techie's story! Tell me, tell me, tell me!” “Yeah, come on Twilight, how'd it go?” asked Spike. The purple unicorn seemed to shudder for a few seconds before she ducked her head in recoil and blurted out in a horrible panic, “It was TERRIBLE!” Pinkie Pie gasped loudly, springing several feet into the air before dropping onto the floor of the bakery. The mares enjoying tea across the way decided now would be a good time to leave the shop, and left a small tip for Pinkie Pie before shuffling for the exit. “Techies' story was TERRIBLE?” screeched Pinkie as she stood up again, “How? He's a smart, creative guy like you!” “Yeah, it couldn't have been that bad,” agree Spike, rolling his eyes, “plus it's the first thing he's ever written, right? What could have been wrong with it?” “What was wrong?” cried Pinkie Pie. Twilight Sparkle sighed, and then snapped her attention to Pinkie before rattling off with pupils narrow as soda straws, “The main character is ridiculously good at everything she does, she's this mare who joins up with a secret agent stallion. The stallion keeps getting himself into trouble, which would be ok if it wasn't for the fact that the bad guy is just one cliché after another! His plan is to take control of the world with some kind of mind control magic, but he's stupid enough to not do anything to really protect his plan. And then when the heroes do get into trouble, they always figure out a way out of it by the next page!” “So, it's like a comic book?” laughed Spike, “Come on Twilight, it sounds funny.” She turned to him, “But then those two fall in love like, four minutes after meeting each other. I'd understand maybe four weeks, even two, but they're staring at each other two paragraphs after they meet! There's 'meant for each other', and then there's that!” Pinkie Pie's face curled in surprise at how many negative comments Twilight had about the story, but she couldn't stop listening! “Then there's the ending, it's so bland! I knew the bad guy was going to have a secret base right away, and would fall off a cliff at the end of the book. I even figured out the heroine was going to try to save him and get back stabbed before it happened, too! And then they just ride off into the sunset with no conflict resolution other than having survived some random stuff that came their way from such a cardboard villain!” Pinkie Pie giggled, “Twilight, it sounds like Techie just wrote a simple story! Sometimes those are really nice.” “Yeah Twilight, you're overreacting!” laughed Spike, “Techorse wrote an easy story as a first try.” Pinkie Pie moved over to the book and opened it up for herself, “Here, lemme see!” A few moments passed, before Pinkie Pie gasped and her hair frizzed in multiple places. She placed a hoof over her mouth as if she was about to throw up, and closed the book quickly. “Oh boy that was a reeeeal doozy!” she said, choking, “Techorse's characters aren't much fun at all!” Spike realized in horror that if Pinkie Pie didn't accept the book, it really was a loser. He picked up the story himself and began to read. Although he didn't have quite the extreme reaction the ponies had, he clearly understood what was wrong. Techorse had written two insanely overpowered main characters capable of solving any challenge thrown at them too quickly. He had advanced their romance too far, and had added no personality to their dialogue, only making them say plot-related things while still developing some kind of chemistry for each other that would be impossible in real life. The villain truly was the embodiment of an evil force, just as Twilight had complained, and the ending was boring and predictable. “Sheesh, this is awful,” he muttered, skimming, “guess you're not going on that dinner date after all, huh Twilight?” “Oh my gosh, Tech...” she cried, wrapping her hooves over her head and displacing her striped hair, “how am I going to tell him his story is awful? He'll be broken.” “Aww, no he won't!” giggled Pinkie Pie, throwing her hoof around Twilight, “Techie's probably gonna be a little grumpy you didn't like it, but he'll forget in a week and move on to some weird and crazy new invention! Maybe a pink lemonade maker!” Twilight Sparkle picked the book back up and replaced it into her saddlebag, “Thanks for the positivity, Pinkie Pie, but I've got to think of a way to put it gently to him or he'll be miserable!” “Maybe you could just tell Techorse you liked the gift more than the story,” suggested Spike, “ya know, it's the thought that counts?” “Yeah, I hope he'll take it that way,” she answered. The unicorn mare made her way for the door, followed by Pinkie Pie and Spike, who left with her into the slightly cool air of the outside day. A few ponies were conducting business out on the streets of Ponyville, and a filly and her brother were playing in a puddle left over from the rain shower the previous evening. Twilight turned left and proceeded down the cobblestone road, passing Rarity, who was on her way to purchase some more bolts of cloth for a recent dress she had been commissioned to make for a bridal shower. She had stopped at a stand set up nearby that was selling some freshly-cut bundles of hay that she planned on preparing for dinner that evening. While passing Rarity who was busy shopping, the latch on Twilight's saddle bag came undone, and the book bounced out of the top, landing on the street behind them. She turned around, having heard the loud thwack of the book on the pavement, and picked it up with her magic. “Oh, Twilight Sparkle!” she called out, “You've dropped your book, darling.” Twilight Sparkle's blood ran cold in her veins, hoping Rarity wouldn't open the book and read the story. But sadly, when she turned around with her other friends, Rarity was already muzzle-deep in the first few pages of the sub-par tale. “Good heavens!” she exclaimed, recoiling in horror, “This doesn't seem like a book suitable for you, Twilight! Who in Equestria could have written such a poorly made work of writing?” “Techorse,” whimpered Twilight, lowering her head and drooping her ears in shame. Rarity realized she had just made a massive social error, and she blushed, gritting her teeth, “Oh, um. Well, I suppose it was very sweet of him to... make an attempt.” “Isn't it horrible?” snickered Spike. Twilight Sparkle's thoughts raced through her head as her friends laughed about how bad the writing was. Now even if she kept the truth about the book secret, it'd eventually get out to Techorse that his writing was terrible. She couldn't expect her friends to hold their tongues about it forever as well. “What if he figures out I let Rarity and Pinkie Pie read it?” she thought horribly, “He's going to think I was trying to humiliate him. Then he won't be able to trust me anymore, or won't think I care about his feelings!” A few pieces of Twilight's hair curled in a mess as she began to shiver a little bit from the anxiety going through her mind. Rarity pitted Twilight's plight, and returned the book to her with a glow of blue magical energy from her horn. “Oh Twilight, it's not such a big deal really,” said the mare in a soothing voice, “I do hope he didn't decide to publish though.” “Don't worry Rarity, it's the only copy,” assured Spike, trying not to laugh, “Techorse would be absolutely humiliated if anypony else found out about how bad the story is though.” “Oh I agree,” Rarity nodded, “we simply must not let that book get into the wrong hooves. And whatever you do Twilight, don't let Applejack find out about this, she'll make you tell Techorse the truth!” Her friends' words were not helping her problems at all. Twilight continued to worry and suffer about Techorse's inevitable reaction to the news about his writing, and kept cycling through her mind as to how she could fix her problem. “Oh hey Shadow Breeze!” greeted Pinkie Pie, interrupting her thoughts and struggles. The graphite colored pegasus was accompanied by Fluttershy, the two having recently gotten together meant spending more time either enjoying tea in the comfort of their homes or gardens, or making trips out into town to shop together. “Hey Pinkie,” he answered with a friendly smile, “what's new?” Twilight turned her head to stop Pinkie Pie from continuing to worsen the situation, but Pinkie Pie blurted out, “Twilight's moping about a book...” A purple stream of magical energy sealed her lips shut, and Pinkie Pie mumbled as the energy held her jaw closed. Twilight Sparkle, horn glowing, slid in front of all her friends, blocking them off from her. “Twilight,” criticized Fluttershy in the most gentle manner she could, “um, I think Pinkie Pie might have wanted to say something.” With sweat running down her face, she answered, “Oh, Pinkie Pie? She always has something to say!” “Well what was this about a book?” asked Shadow Breeze, “I'm kinda curious now, if you want to share.” “Oh trust me, you don't wanna know, it's something Techorse wrote,” scoffed Spike, who was met with a steel-cold glare from Twilight, making him back off in terror. Shadow Breeze's blue eyes lit up, “Wow! Tech wrote a book? I really wanna see!” “Come on Twilight, think!” she panicked in her head, looking back and forth at the gentle smiles, “They don't need to know Tech's writing was bad, too! If only I could just give them something else to read.” Suddenly, a golden idea came to Twilight's intelligent mind, and her anxiety was quickly replaced by that of relief. Techorse wasn't going to be upset after all! Spike crossed his arms when he saw Twilight's panic disappear, knowing that she was coming up with a plan that would likely backfire as all her panic-induced plans did. “Tech did write a book!” exclaimed the unicorn, turning her head and smiling proudly, “But it's still just a rough draft he dropped off with me. He wants me to check it over, and fix some mistakes before we all get to read it. Can you wait until tomorrow to read the improved version?” Fluttershy said softly, “Oh, yes! That'd be really nice to read it and support Techorse.” “We'll stop by the library later tomorrow,” finished Shadow Breeze, “Fluttershy and I were going to go look at some bird feeders for the cardinals.” “Well, have fun!” laughed Twilight nervously. Shadow Breeze and Fluttershy left them, suspecting nothing of Twilight Sparkle's lie. She returned to Rarity and Pinkie Pie, who gave her funny looks. “Really Twilight? You couldn't tell them the truth?” asked Spike, disgusted. “It is the truth!” groaned Twilight, “I'm going to edit the book, and make it good. I can see what Techorse was trying to do, and I can fix the book by tomorrow, it's not that long.” “I guess,” grumbled the dragon in response. Twilight's emotional thoughts returned to her head, and she held in her panic for just a while longer before breaking down, “It's better than leaving it how it is and risking Techorse being upset with me for letting everypony we know read it! He'll be humiliated if Ponyville started to hear about this.” Rarity felt a tug at her heartstrings, seeing Twilight fighting back near tears, and approached Twilight, “Twilight... are you worried Techorse will harbor resentment over this?” “Y..yes!” she answered, “He won't like it that I don't think he writes well.” Pinkie Pie felt a bit miserable over Twilight's thoughts, knowing it was mostly her fault for blabbing about how bad the story was, and walked over slowly to Twilight. “Hey, you know he loves you very much! He wouldn't be so mean over something like this. That's not our Techie!” “Even so, I've got to protect him,” sniffed the lavender unicorn, “I'm going to fix this book!” “If it helps you feel better, I say go for it!” agreed Pinkie Pie, giving Twilight a hug. “Thanks everypony,” said Twilight, feeling a bit better about her situation, “now, I'm going back to fix this mess! Come on, Spike.” “I'm coming!” he said, “Later, Rarity, I don't want to miss this!” They left the two other ponies standing there as they walked back for the library. Both of them knew they had comforted Twilight in hopes she would be more honest with Techorse, and both of them knew equally well she wasn't going to do that. Once they were out of earshot, Rarity asked of Pinkie Pie, “Do you suppose Twilight's going to be ok? Should we tell Techorse ourselves before things get too out of hoof?” “Yeah, she'll be fine! But let's try to keep this a big secret from Techie!” she suggested, “Twilight's gonna love it when he's ok with it!” Rarity agreed, “You're right Pinkie Pie, he will be. I just hope Twilight figures that out before she stays up all night trying to fix that book!” Twilight borrowed a typewriter from the local print shop to type up her own version of her coltfriend's story, dragging the heavy metal machine back to the library. She dropped it down next to a large stack of papers next to it at her writing desk. Spike watched as she placed the book open next to her, and shook his head at her plans to retype the novel in just one evening. “Twilight, you're not seriously going to finish that whole thing, are you?” he asked. Twilight Sparkle reached for a vial of ink to fill the typewriter with with a hoof, and poured the closest bottle in while looking at her dragon. “Of course, it'll be easy! Techorse's book wasn't all that long, and I already know what I'm doing. I'm sure it'll be a better read for Fluttershy and Shadow too!” Spike groaned, and said, “Well, I'm going to go dust the upstairs room. Something's been making me sneeze and I'm worried about burning something on accident.” The young dragon turned and headed up the stairs, leaving Twilight to her work. She first outlined Techorse's story on a piece of parchment paper using a red-inked quill. The story was simple, a mare named Close Look who owned a detective agency was tasked with investigating the disappearance of a stallion. He would turn out to have vanished due to the work of a crazed chemist who had poisoned his food with a potion that caused both invisibility and muteness, rendering the victim unable to be detected except by touch. While on the case, Close Look would meet a stallion named Pestles who was tasked with creating an antidote for the invisibility potion. The two would both discover the cure for the invisibility and muteness potion, and defeat the mad chemist, who would eventually reveal his name to be Mixer, an old friend of Pestles gone evil. Twilight typed away, making her fixes one at a time, rewriting the tale paragraph by paragraph. Although Techorse's spelling and grammar had been fine, everything needed to be improved otherwise, so there was tons for Twilight to do. She started by having the pair not fall in love right away, saving it for the end of the story to give them enough time to develop. She made them struggle to develop the cure for the potion, and dropped subtle clues to Mixer's past throughout while maintaining Pestles' secrecy and nervousness about the topic. Twilight made the background characters, including the mute victims of the potion, have more flavor and a far more important role. A final struggle between Close Look and Mixer led to him getting his lab coat caught in a weather balloon, which carried him away in a more interesting, ambiguous ending then simply having him vanish off a cliff. It was near midnight when Twilight wrote the final fixes into the story, and she gathered together all of the completed pages. She heated some wax she kept in her desk normally used to seal letters, and bound a brand new book in a pink cover, to make it easy to tell which version was which. Tired, but proud of herself for having completed her copy of the book, she retreated upstairs and dropped herself sleepily on top of her bed, dozing off in minutes. The Canterlot library looked eerily empty without a replacement librarian. Despite it being the middle of the day, Twilight Sparkle couldn't find another soul on the inside, yet the tall, massive columns of bookshelves remained, stacked with the novels she used to read only a few years ago. She couldn't remember how she got there or why she was there, she just knew she had something to accomplish during this visit, and was determined to find out what it was. A loud thwack sounded as a book fell off of one of the bookshelves in the distance. Twilight grabbed on to one of the rolling ladders on the shelves and pushed off with her rear hooves to go investigate the fallen book. She rolled down the book-laden hallways, not remembering Canterlot library being as big as this, and stopped in a large, open area with a pink throw rug covering a massive floor area, a chandelier hanging overhead. On the floor was the culprit, Techorse's book had fallen from the shelf and landed on the floor. Twilight picked up the light blue novel, and curiously inspected it. “What's this doing here?” she asked herself. She opened the cover, and dropped it in fright as she saw, written in large red dripping letters across the forward pages, “THE WORST BOOK OF ALL TIME AS DECLARED BY TWILIGHT SPARKLE.” Twilight screamed loudly as the book hit the floor, displaying its creepy message on the first two pages. “I... I never said that! This book should have never left Ponyville!” “What are you talking about?” said a random but shadowy fellow perusing the books in the library, “You're Twilight Sparkle, the biggest book lover in all of Equestria!” Twilight looked back at the figure, a mare standing in the darkness of one of the bookcases, “But, I... never let it out!” “Course you didn't, you lied to Techorse and told him you just proofread it. So he thought it'd be cool to share it with some more ponies, and well, it was so funny we just had to make some copies! Millions, in fact, everypony's got a copy to laugh about!” goaded the visitor. The unicorn mare backed up, her mouth hanging open and tears nearly coming to her eyes as her worst fears were coming true. She tried to run away from the book, but one of the bookcases fell down, blocking her escape from the maze of stacked volumes. Dozens of books poured from the fallen shelves, covering the floor in a neat blanket of stories and historical books. The other shelves started to collapse with it, and Twilight yelled in fear, attempting to teleport out but finding her magic to be mysteriously useless. More books poured infinitely from the fallen shelves, and the mare found herself in a sea of reading material that prevented her escape, only her neck and head poked out from the flowing pile of stories. “I'm sorry!” she cried, “I didn't mean it!” The sea of books started to rumble underneath her, and a massive book, ten feet in length and thirty across, pushed to the surface of the smaller books. Twilight found herself sitting on top of a giant version of Techorse's book, the red, eerie letters staring at her. Twilight stood up, looking at the horror beneath her hooves, her legs shaking like leaves in the wind. “Guess you should have said something, huh Twilight?” laughed the stranger. Jagged edges of paper formed along the sides of the pages of the massive book, and Twilight tried futility one more time to escape before one end of the book rapidly folded in. The mare covered her eyes as the cover of the book closed on her, smashing her flat as a pancake inside with the thunderous sound of the book slamming shut. “Twilight...” Twilight Sparkle heard her voice, and her ear twitched. She guessed she hadn't been flattened after all, and slowly opened her eyes. The library had been replaced by a gentle scene outside of Ponyville, the bank of the gentle river that flowed into the town. The dragonflies were buzzing around the meadow scene, and the smell of flowers drifted up to Twilight from the fresh blooms that grew by the babbling water. “Twilight...” She looked to see who was calling her name, that voice was so familiar! It appeared to be coming from behind her, so she turned around slowly to face her guest. Princess Luna stood before her, a deep look of concern in her eyes. Twilight was relieved as she knew that the Princess's appearance meant, “Princess Luna? Am I dreaming?” “Yes Twilight Sparkle, you are,” she answered, smiling softly, “I came here as soon as I sensed your tremendous pain and agony deep within your mind. Tell me, what's wrong?” “Well,” answered Twilight, her ears drooping, “if you didn't see what I just went through in that nightmare, Techorse wrote a book for me as a gift. But it was so horrible, I didn't want anypony to find out about it until I'd written a new copy that was much better.” “But eventually the secret would be out, and surely Techorse would be disappointed that you didn't like it!” concluded the alicorn, lifting her head. She confirmed the answer, “Right. I don't know what Techorse will think about me once he finds out I hated his book. I'm worried this will come between us.” Luna stepped closer and asked, “Do you believe he will leave if you tell him his writing is lacking?” Twilight tried not to sob, “I don't know.” “Do you think any differently about Techorse now that you know he can't write?” asked the Princess. “No, but it doesn't change the fact that I let my friends get a hold of it. They're going to tell him, and he'll be somewhat upset.” Princess Luna offered a large wing around Twilight's downcast face, “Twilight Sparkle, it's not unusual for two ponies who are together to do something the other finds unsavory. No pony is perfect.” She cleared her throat and let out some gossip she had heard earlier, “I recall one time your brother made a similar mistake. He was asked by Cadance to avoid getting lilies for a gathering they were attending. All he heard was “lilies” and showed up with a huge bouquet of them, making the most important guest very sick with allergies.” “Well, that sounds like Shining all right,” chuckled Twilight, cheering up a bit. “Cadance was mad at him, but she too has made mistakes that have made him angry as well. They still love each other more than anything, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight realized what Luna was trying to say, “So you're saying I just have to get it over with, and let Techorse be mad or hurt.” “If that's what happens, then yes,” answered the Princess, rolling her eyes. “But if it does, we'll still be able to work through it!” continued Twilight, gaining confidence, “Because we're close friends!” “So do you know how to resolve this?” asked Princess Luna, “For it's getting quite close to dawn, and I must depart.” “I do, thank you so much!” cheered Twilight, giving the Princess of the Night a big hug. “Then take care, Twilight Sparkle, all is well...” Twilight awoke about an hour later and eagerly went downstairs to claim the books. She shoved both of the volumes into her bags and decided to make a rapid dash for Techorse's castle before she could be caught by Fluttershy and Shadow Breeze. The best approach would be to tell Techorse that his writing wasn't that great, but that she had fixed it and wanted to share the improved version with his friends to try to save him the trouble. The icy cold air of the morning woke her up faster as she trotted down the street for the castle. Spike had noticed her leaving in a rush, having woken up early, and followed her outside, careful not to let her notice that he was tagging along. Unfortunately for Twilight, she was intercepted by Fluttershy, who had come back with Shadow Breeze to return one of the bird feeders to the seed and feed shop downtown. “Oh, hello Twilight!” called the light yellow pegasus, “Do you have the new, improved version of Tech's story for us? I mean, if you don't, we can wait...” Twilight got a bit nervous, but decided it would be ok for them to read it first anyways, remembering what conclusion she had come to from Luna. Even if Techorse found out she had hijacked the story, she could work it out with him and maintain their relationship. “Sure! I've got it right here.” She passed over the red book to Fluttershy with her magic, and stood with her eyes closed, smiling at the thought of Fluttershy and Shadow Breeze enjoying the new work. But Fluttershy immediately said something that made her panic. “Um, I'm sorry Twilight, but... this is blank.” Twilight clenched her teeth and took back the red book from the highly confused Fluttershy. Every page of the book, true to word, was totally blank! For some reason the ink on the pages had vanished overnight, and that's when the truth came to her. “Oh no,” gasped Twilight, “I must have accidentally used the invisible ink in the typewriter!” “No big deal, just give us the original!” laughed Shadow Breeze. Rarity and Pinkie Pie had returned to Sugarcube Corner in hopes of catching the unfolding of Twilight's plight over the book, and heard the conversation out in the street. They exited the building and caught up with Spike nearby, who also wanted to see the fireworks. “Guys, I really can't let you see it,” laughed Twilight, “you won't like it.” “Please?” asked Fluttershy, her eyes betraying her disappointment. Eventually, Twilight knew she would have to cave in, and turned over the light blue book with defeat in her heart. She watched Shadow Breeze and Fluttershy struggle over the first few pages of the book. “Oh... my!” exclaimed Fluttershy softly, “Well, that's a really interesting way to write.” Shadow Breeze had to agree, “Poor Tech. It looks like he tried so hard, but it's... really bad.” “Yeah, that's why I tried to fix it,” sighed Twilight, “but now you know, it's really awful. Please don't tell him that, he made it special for me, and I've got to be the one to break the news to him!” “Twilight, we'll respect that,” answered Shadow Breeze, smiling, “Techorse would be embarrassed if he knew we saw it and didn't like it.” “Oh, thank you!” said Twilight, smiling and giving a sigh of relief. “Of course,” continued Fluttershy, “we wouldn't want to hurt either of you, we're your friends.” “Uh oh!” gasped Pinkie Pie, “Here comes Techie now! Here's your chance Twilight.” Techorse was on his way to see Twilight again at the library anyways, and saw his companions standing out in the city square. “Hey everypony!” he said, approaching with a broad smile on his face, “What's going on?” He could tell something was wrong from the funny looks he was getting from everyone else, including Spike, who was scratching the back of his head. “Oh, not much Techie!” giggled Pinkie Pie, “Just talking!” “I hope I'm not interrupting, I wanted to talk to you a bit Twilight, before we set up plans for tonight!” Twilight stepped forward, swallowing hard as she worked up the courage to say, “Techorse, we need to talk about this.” The inventor's smile disappeared, “What's wrong? Do you need to cancel talking about the book?” Twilight approached him, and answered after taking a deep breath, “Tech... the book you wrote was really bad. The main characters were too good at everything, fell in love too fast, and went on a boring, predictable quest. It's the worst story I've ever read.” Techorse looked up in horror at his friends for some support, but he found them all nodding in agreement with the analysis by Twilight. “Oh, wow...” he stuttered, “you let Pinkie Pie and the others read it too?” “Yes, and I'm really sorry about that,” admitted Twilight, hanging her head, “but you needed to know the truth.” “It was my first time writing!” protested Techorse, becoming a little irritated. “Well, I'm sorry, it wasn't any good,” she continued, “I understand if you're mad with me for sharing it with our friends. I was so worried last night about how upset you'd be, that I tried to make a fixed version of the story. But then I realized it was better for us to get into a conflict over the book, and move past it. I hope you can forgive me sometime for it.” Techorse relaxed a little, knowing that Twilight's anxiety had likely crushed her over how awful his writing was, and said, “Twilight, I'm unhappy you chose to let some of our friends bash the book and didn't like it, but I still care about your feelings and I won't hold a grudge about it.” Twilight looked up at him with a smile before he went on, “And, well, while we're at it, I was the one who made a mess of the library last week. I was trying out a new sorting robot and it pushed everything over.” She remembered the massive mess and started to get a bit angry about it, “You did that?!” “Yeah, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it either,” he admitted, sighing, “that makes both of us.” Twilight dropped the mistake and smiled at him, remembering her lesson, “Techorse, it looks like we're a normal couple.” “We are?” he asked, surprised. “We both get mad at each other sometimes and make annoying mistakes,” she said, “but we're working things out one step at a time. I'm so glad you're able to forgive me for my mistake, even if you are going to be a bit upset for a while.” “Me too, I owe you a clean library!” Twilight laughed, “Come here!” Techorse and Twilight embraced and kissed quickly, which prompted Pinkie Pie to tease them by making smoochy noises behind their backs. She laughed as Twilight tried to silence her again with a spell, but she ducked the playful blob of energy and it vanished into the air. “So there's a better copy of my story? Maybe if I read it, I could start getting better,” mused Techorse. “Oh yeah, but it was written in that invisible ink, so the pages are blank. Oops!” said Spike, flipping through the copy. “Wait a minute,” figured Techorse, “If it's Princess Celestia's recipe, I wonder if UV light would reveal the ink!” “UV light?” asked Pinkie Pie, “What's that?” “It's a form of sunlight, and I guess that would make sense as to how the Princess would decode her messages,” explained Twilight, “Rarity, you use a UV light spell to check for blemishes on dresses, can you check the book?” “Why of course, let me see!” she answered. Spike eagerly held the book open for Rarity, and she cast a wide ray of invisible energy at the pages. Sure enough, the letters of the story started to appear again, much to the delight of Twilight and Techorse. “Let's read this copy over dinner, shall we?” teased Twilight. “Sure!” he responded sarcastically, “I'll just bring over a brand new UV machine I'm building. Hasn't been tested yet, but I'm sure you'll be ok with that, right?” Twilight swung a playful hoof at him, and he ducked and ran, laughing as she chased after him. Their friends were relieved to have seen a good outcome to a potentially bad situation. Spike went to pick up the bad copy of the story Techorse had written earlier, but to his curiosity, it had strangely vanished from off the ground. He shrugged, figuring it had simply been claimed and thrown out by a passerby. Princess Luna snuggled down into her lacy bed, about to go back to her duties of solving the nightmares of her subjects. But before she was to sleep, she wanted to take a look at the story that Twilight Sparkle had told her about. She held Techorse's novel in her front hooves on her bed, looking over the cover curiously. “Now, let's see what Twilight Sparkle was talking about,” she said, opening the cover gently. A few moments passed as she read before she snickered. “Oh, my goodness! This is going straight to my bookshelf!”