The Lesson of Failure

by robberrito

A Promise

She cried and cried. For hours it seemed, she cried. A fountain of sadness formed on top of her bed as she wailed in pain and sorrow. Her emotions seemed to bleed out into the surrounding area like a flood, soaking up everything in its path. The source of these was a young Twilight Sparkle, a filly with a brilliant mind and great ambition. At the moment, however, those seemed to be tumbling down. Her eyes were red and her mane all messed up. She continued to wail like a banshee into the covers of her bed, unable to feel a shred of positive emotion. For a time, this continued, until the door creaked. Twilight, of course, didn’t notice in her world of misery and cruelty.

In the doorway was Twilight Velvet, the mother of Twilight Sparkle and the guiding light of her life. Velvet had seen Twilight run into her room earlier with tears in her eyes, and she wanted to find the cause of such a reaction. She called out to Twilight Sparkle in a soft voice.

“Twilight? What’s the matter?”

Twilight finally heard her, and she turned toward the door. Velvet now saw the pain and sorrow that plagued her in those red, watery eyes and that messy, crooked mane. She attempted to put on a convincing voice that assured her nothing was wrong, but her feelings betrayed her intention.

“N-nothing. I’m fine, trust me.”

Velvet shook her head, giggling a bit at the response which was certainly not the truth. Nonetheless, she walked in and began to speak once again.

“Oh please, Twilight. There has to be something that caused you to continually cry into your bedsheet. Please be truthful with me, what’s the matter?”

She sat down next to Twilight on the bed, looking directly at her as if she was piercing the very sadness that now pervaded her thoughts. Twilight was currently looking at the large wet spot that had formed from her tears. She decided she would tell her mom the truth.

“I-um, I got a-“ she sniffed mid sentence, “I got a F on the assignment they gave me today, I just-I can’t believe I could be such a failure. It was so easy too!” She continued to cry at the thoughts.

Velvet knew what she was going through very clearly. She rolled her eyes a bit, but she couldn’t deny she had done the same thing way back then. It looked idiotic now, but she knew children were not adults.

She knew what needed to be said.

“Twilight, we all make mistakes-“ she was suddenly interrupted by Twilight.

“Yeah, I just make them way more often than most people.”

Velvet frowned at Twilight. Why would she think that?

“Twilight, do you not realize how talented you are? I’ve seen your work and your writing. You’re a very intelligent filly, way more than I was. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to make mistakes. Don’t let a failure every once and a while tear you down like this, because they’re not going to stop, no matter how much we can all try. In the end, all we can do is learn from them. Instead of letting yourself fall after failing, push yourself harder. Think about what you did wrong and push yourself to not make that same mistake again.”

She looked at Twilight in her eyes. She seemed to have a better attitude now, and she wasn’t crying like before. She still had a frown on her face, though. Perhaps she could make a positive message. She continued to talk.

“Also, don’t let a letter on a paper convince you are not smart, because you are. You say you make mistakes more than others, but that simply isn’t true. You make mistakes way less than anyone I know, including your parents...” she laughed a little at that, “...and you know why you make less mistakes? It’s because you know how to learn from them. Your learning skills are beyond any filly I’ve seen, and you’ve continually shown your talent in your school work. Does that mean you’re not going to fail every once in a while? Of course not, because none of us are perfect, but you know how to not let mistakes tear you down so hard. Unless of course, they show in your grades. You make failures way more often than both of us know about, but the only time I have seen you complain about it is when it showed up in your school grades. Now, are you going to let this dumb assignment tell you you’re not talented and smart?” Twilight, who was now smiling widely, shook her head violently.

“Good, because neither you or me can do anything to change this grade, it’s done, and you got an F. The only thing we can do is to hold our heads high and keep marching forward with determination. That’s what your father did. He always got average or below average grades in school. Did that stop him from doing his best and improving his attitude and life? No, he kept moving forward, and look where he is now! Twilight, look at me.”

Twilight’s red, teary eyes were gone now, and were replaced with bright, optimistic eyes. They looked up with anticipation.

Twilight Velvet held her hoof over her heart.

“I promise you, you’re always going to make mistakes, you’re going to mess up. That is something both us can agree upon. However, in the end, you will always be able to overcome these failures. One day, you’ll be on top of the world, triumphant over failure, and staring down at the world that tried to beat you down. I promise you, this is what is going to happen.” She looked outside at the window, seeing the evening approaching.

“Girl, you need to get on your homework!”

Twilight Sparkle stumbled as she was sitting, falling off the bed and nearly zipping out the door. Before she did, she stopped and looked back at Velvet with a new gleam in her eyes and a smile on her lips.

“Thank you, mom.”

She then ran into the hallway.

Twilight Velvet shook her head.

“That girl will be very successful, I know it.”

Author's Note:

Yeah it’s an obvious lesson, but I felt as if I needed to make this

Comments

[robberrito]

Simple story, 1k words. Tell me if you liked it. If not, dislike and tell me your problems with it.

[WubWubPwny]

This was nice. Was a cute little story

[redandready45]

I think the story has a good premise, but it is...a bit wasted.

You could've made it into a silly comedy where Twilight does one of her fits of obsession.

You also didn't follow the rule of show, don't tell. Like a lot of writers, you feel obligated to show exposition at the beginning, which detracts from the emotional appeal and makes readers feel like they are getting homework.

Good premise, but a so so execution.

But don't be discouraged. I only want to help you do better.

[robberrito]

10544635
I don’t see why I should’ve made it into a silly comedy, my goal for this story was basically a look into how failure affects us psychologically and how we can overcome it. More of a serious message.

[redandready45]

10544793

I guess. But it was weighed down by way too much exposition to have that emotional impact you were aiming for.

Again, stories like this are only interesting when you let the character act, and not provide info dumps.

[Pete100]

Facts. I look at my grades and I move on.

[TheOneAJ]