The Point of No Return
It was another peaceful day in Ponyville. The School of Friendship was open, but it was still rather calm. As such, Spike could spend his day outside the school entrance with a comic...only to be interrupted by the arrival of Ponyville's resident mail pony.
Spike was halfway through his comic when Derpy dive bombed him. "WHOA!" The Mystic Fire Dragon barely had enough time to notice and leap away. The reason for her crash on this occasion was due to the giant parcel she had been carrying that was almost twice as big as her.
The sight made Spike sigh as he got up and brushed himself off without a second thought. "Twilight, mail's here!" A few moments later, Twilight and Flash walked out of the school and gasped at seeing Derpy face planted into one of the lamps that lit up the water path at night.
"Are you alright?" She asked as Derpy slid down the pole, Flash noticing a bunch of envelopes that had likely fallen from her bag due to the crash. Luckily, none had appeared to have fallen into the water and he started picking them up.
"We just had a really heavy delivery today," Derpy moaned as she turned to the giant box and rolled it right side up.
"You know, you could have told us to pick it up at the post office," Flash chimed in, "Twilight could have teleported there and brought it back in the literal blink of an eye."
"Oh," Derpy blinked, "Oops. It just looked important and I wanted to make sure it got here in time."
"Now that's dedication," Flash chuckled, "So...what's in there?"
Twilight tilted her head at this, only for Spike to run up to the box, "Is it a deluxe set of special edition Ogres & Oubliettes figurines that I'm totally surprised by and have been hinting that I need forever?"
He turned to the ponies, only for Derpy to reply, "Well, it's for Twilight."
"Awww..." Flash rolled his eyes as he gave Derpy her letters back.
"Spike, we give you an allowance and we pay you for cleaning up the castle. If you want those figurines, save up and buy them yourself." Spike pouted as Derpy flew off.
"Thank you," Twilight waved at the pegasus as she called back a 'you're welcome.' Twilight then turned to the box and read the return label. "Huh. It's from Princess Celestia." As she said that, Spike started coughing and spat out a quickly materializing scroll.
"So is this," he stated as Twilight took the scroll from him. "Really? She couldn't have put it into the box?" The alicorn opened up the scroll and started reading aloud.
"My dearest Twilight, I have been conducting a thorough cleaning of the castle, and I came across a few items of yours in your old room. I thought you might want them back." Twilight smiled as she opened the box, "I didn't even know I'd left anything!" They looked inside the box and found a whole bunch of things, Twilight picking up a picture from that was on top. "Awww, look! Remember this? It's the macaroni picture frame Cadance helped me make when I was a filly!"
Flash and Spike saw it was a normal picture frame with macaroni stuck to it. The picture had been taken shortly after Flash had joined the family, the colt having been touched when they asked him to be in it. Seeing it always brought a smile to Flash's lips, though Spike was more focused on the crude way Twilight had stuck the macaroni on.
"Who could forget a masterpiece like that?" He said sarcastically, Flash frowning at him as he pulled something out of the box.
"Hey!" Flash gasped, "The certificate you made me when I completed one of my first knight tests." He could hardly believe such amazing penmanship was done by a filly of all things. "That was a hard test. The insight trials were super hard. At least Heart had Jaden to help him."
Twilight nodded as she took something else out of the box. "My G one Starswirl figure!" That hadn't been such a happy memory for Flash since Twilight had made him and Shining camp outside the store with her overnight to get it. "And some of my favorite school scrolls! And here's my extra extra credit report on The Impediments of Using Magic in Everyday Chores!" She opened up the scroll and read through it, "Ha! Still so true!" She put the scroll down as Spike climbed up onto the box.
"Is my Smash Fortune comic in there? I've been looking for that for years. Whoa, whoa!" Spike seemed to have forgotten he had wings, the dragon falling into the box and swimming around through the stuff until he found something big that was taking up a lot of space. "Hold this."
Twilight saw it was a book, only to go fully wide-eyed, "Oh, no!" Her expression turned into somepony that had just told her Shroudheart had returned. "Oh, no! Oh, no!" She took the book and looked it over, Flash and Spike turning to her.
"What's wrong?" The dragon asked, "It's just looks like an old library book."
"Uh oh." Flash whispered as he saw Twilight's begin to morph.
"Exactly!" Twilight screamed, "It belongs to the Canterlot Library! That means it's..." She flicked through the book until she came to the front page, where a window held a slip. When she pulled it out, she saw her name and the bottom along with the date it was supposed to be brought back on. A date that had long...looooong since passed. "Overdue!"
"Oh great," Flash put the alarm clock he had been looking over down. "Well, there goes the rest of our day."
"What do you mean?" Spike added as he flew out the box, "So she's got an overdue library book? Everypony has them."
"But this is Twilight," Flash pointed at the alicorn as she began to pace around.
"You don't understand, Spike! I have a perfect library book return record!" Spike quickly cleared his throat.
"Had a perfect record."
"Oh yeah," Flash chuckled, "I remember how much you loved boasting about that record. Even let it bleed into your own librarian life." He turned to Spike, "Remember when Time Turner almost had an overdue library book the first year we were living here?"
"Oh yeah," Spike laughed, "She waited up until midnight for him to return it. And when that elapsed, she teleported over to his house and banged on the door for ten minutes to get him to wake up. Good thing he hadn't perfected his noise cancelling headphones yet."
"And it's also a good thing for him that returning the book before the library opens, counts as yesterday's return. Or Twilight's precious perfect record, would have been ruined forever." He glanced back at Twilight, smirking. "So let me get this straight. You threatened to twist the ear off of anypony that would return a book one day late, all the while you had a book that was months and now years late?"
Twilight let out a groan, "I've never turned in a book even a minute late! And this one has been overdue since I left for Ponyville!" And as she said that, she remembered the events leading up to this book becoming overdue.
A week before Twilight left for Ponyville...
Canterlot's library was as busy as ever, the many unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi studying at one of the city's quietest place, including the unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. The future princess walked up to the check-out desk, where one of her favorite ponies was waiting for her.
Dusty Pages, an elderly purple earth pony with a white and pink mane, smiled at her as she stamped the books Twilight wanted to take out. Once she stamped a particular book, she looked up at the unicorn. "Make sure you bring this one back on time. We've got a long waiting list of ponies who can't wait to read it."
Twilight smiled and nodded, "I promise I won't let you down!"
"Oh, of course you won't dear. If there's anypony I can trust to take care of a book, it's you, Twilight Sparkle. After all, you still hold the 'Best Book Borrower' title." She gestured to the framed picture behind her, which showed Twilight smiling as she carried a book.
"Oooh!" Twilight grinned, "I hope I do forever!" She turned to walk away, and as she did, she found the younger Flash sitting with his back hooves up on a table. He wasn't reading a book, instead having brought a comic he could read as Twilight checked out her books.
Dusty sighed, "All the amazing books in this building and that colt chooses to read a comic."
"Meathead," Twilight grumbled, "All that work I did teaching him and he barely uses it."
Dusty laughed at this as she looked between Twilight and Flash. "If that colt ever manages to settle down, it'll need to be with somepony learned enough to help him become a wise enough pony to work as a Royal Knight." Twilight nodded, thinking the same thing. "Somepony that enjoys reading a lot and keeping a reckless stallion like him grounded."
"Oh, she sounds perfect." Twilight commented, "I bet we'll be the best of friends if he ever finds a pony like that to be with." She marched over to Flash and pulled his back hooves off the table, shutting his mouth with her magic to stop him from crying out in the library before the pair started a light-hearted bicker as they made their way out of the library.
"Wait..." Flash asked back in the present, "So you got this book right before you left for Ponyville."
"About a week or so," Twilight nodded, "I got it and planned on reading it as soon as I finished another book I was reading. But that was the book that made me learn about Nightmare Moon, the Elements, and the danger of her return. That focused my mind on saving Equestria. And then Celestia sent me to Ponyville, and I forgot all about this!"
"Well," Flash shrugged, "I guess that can be excused."
"Excuse me?!" Twilight yelped, "What are you talking about?! Dusty Pages prided herself that no books were damaged or lost on her watch, and I failed her! I failed myself!"
"Twilight, let's weigh the situations." He held up one hoof, "Returning a library book on time and keeping your perfect record." He raised the other hoof, "Stopping the return of Nightmare Moon, saving Celestia after she was captured by Nightmare Moon, finding the Elements of Harmony and using them to stop Nightmare Moon, freeing Princess Celestia, restoring Princess Luna and saving Equestria from centuries of eternal night." With every statement, his second hoof got a little bit lower. "I think one situation trumps the other in importance."
"That may be," Twilight stood up straight. "But I can't let this book go unreturned any longer. I have to set things right." The boys could tell what was coming next.
"I take it we're going to Canterlot?" Spike asked as Twilight summoned a bag to put the book in it before zipping into the air. This caused him to groan as he and Flash spread his own wings.
"The sooner the better, I guess." They took off at this, only to see Twilight zoom off at lightning speed, Spike groaning at the sight, "Is Twilight ever gonna get over her perfectionism?"
"Are you kidding?" Flash countered, "She grew up in Canterlot. Ninety percent of the ponies that live there are obsessed with doing everything perfectly. Twilight...Dusty...even Velvet wouldn't release a book until she read the whole thing through six times to make absolutely sure it was perfect. It's just something most ponies living there have ingrained into their being."
They managed to catch up to Twilight as they reached the outskirts of the city, which Flash had expected to be a lot more guarded given what had happened recently with Shroudheart's attack...only to easily fly over the walls, Twilight now heading straight for the city library. But when they arrived, Twilight touched down, only to gasp seeing so many ponies on the street. She quickly grabbed Flash and Spike, rushing them into a nearby bush before they could be spotted. "Twilight, honey. Why are we in a bush?"
"Yeah," Spike asked, "Don't you wanna return your book?"
"Yes." Twilight nodded, "But what if somepony sees me in there?" The boys raised an eyebrow at this, "I'm the Princess of Friendship. Everywhere I go, ponies recognize me. I'll stick out like a sore hoof."
Flash laughed at this. "Twilight, you weren't even able to get a taxi in Manehatten once. Though I guess you are more well known in Canterlot."
Spike smirked at this as he began to speak incredulously, "Princess Twilight Sparkle in a library? Stop the presses!" Twilight rolled her eyes.
"A late book is a big deal, Spike." She took out her card wallet, showing a ton of membership cards and removed one, "What if Dusty Pages revokes my library card? Or bans me from ever entering the building again?!" She looked absolutely horrified, Flash and Spike rolling their eyes as they stepped out of the bush.
"Don't you already have most of those books in your collection at home?"
"Yeah," Flash added, "You clearly haven't checked out any of the books here since moving to Ponyville. If you had, somepony would have noticed you had that book out passed the due back date."
"Exactly," Spike continued, "So what's the big deal about never getting to go into the library again?"
"But the ones in there have a special Canterlot Library-y smell!" Twilight yelped.
"You sniff books?" Spike asked, flinching at this.
"You don't?" She asked a little too loud, causing a passing pony to notice her. The princess tried to hide, causing the unicorn to slowly retreat.
"I think you might draw less attention to yourself if you weren't in a bush," Flash chuckled, Twilight groaning as she kept everything but her head inside the bush.
"I used to live in a library. If I'm not a good example of proper book borrowing behavior, then what kind of princess am I?" Spike flew up and patted her on the cheek.
"One that makes mistakes like everypony else. Trust me. Once you return that book, you'll feel way better."
Twilight took a deep breath, then smiled. "Thanks, Spike." She stepped out of the bush, "Let's go!" But then another pony ran by, making her scream before leaping back into the bush. Flash and Spike sighed, making her giggle before getting out and heading inside. Once inside, Twilight teleported in a zigzag pattern to hide behind a bunch of things.
"Doesn't she realize the loud flash of purple is gonna attract more ponies than not teleporting?" Flash asked as she made it to the return desk. There, she grabbed a nearby plant pot and used it to hide her face as she approached. "Seriously?"
Twilight cleared her throat, then spoke in a deep voice to try and mask her presence. "I have a book to return." The librarian looked up and smiled.
"Princess Twilight! So good to see you!" Flash had to hold back from laughing as Twilight groaned while putting the potted plant down. "Need some recommendations from the new release section?" She pointed at the shelf right next to them, Twilight taking a look before gasping.
"Is that the new edition of Mooncurve's Seven Theories on Bending Time?" Flash and Spike rolled their eyes. "I have been waiting for the release sin-" She stopped as Spike poked her shoulder, the alicorn seeing his look and remembering why they were here. "Uh, I mean, uh, no books today!" She chuckled, "Thanks!" This statement caused gasps of shock to come out of all the ponies around them, Twilight feeling self-conscious as she leaned forward to whisper to the librarian. "But I do need to speak with Dusty Pages about a..." She cleared her throat, "Sensitive matter."
"Dusty who?" The librarian asked, Twilight letting nervous laugh.
"Dusty Pages? The head librarian? She's worked here forever." She opened her bag and took out a picture of the earth pony, Flash wondering how long she had had that in there.
The Librarian stared at the photo for a moment before shrugging. "I'm sorry, princess. I don't know her. Now, was there some other way I can help the library's Best Book Borrower?" She pointed to the picture on the wall besides her, the three seeing it was now super dusty. The librarian lifted a duster in her magic and swept away the dust, revealing Twilight and her nerdy grin. This made Twilight give off another nervous chuckle, as Spike pulled out a comic and used it to hide his mouth as he spoke to her in a hushed manner.
"Just ask where to return an overdue book! It's no big deal! It happens all the time!"
"Not to me it doesn't!" Twilight argued, the librarian looking confused as Twilight lifted the comic higher and sighed. "Fine." Then, her eyes went wide, "Fine! Oh, no! I didn't even think about the late fine! A book out this long will probably cost a thousand bits!"
"Oh," Flash hadn't thought about that. "This is why I never take a book out of a library. I'd be spending half my money paying it back with how often I'd have to pay late fines. Don't think you're selling any of my things to pay off your debt." Twilight groaned as Spike pulled the book out of her saddlebag.
"She...I mean, we have an overdue book." He placed the book down as the librarian laughed.
"Well, that's no problem at all. In fact, it happens all the time." She popped her head under the desk, as Spike smiled at the princess.
"See?" But Flash knew it wasn't gonna be that easy.
"Wait for it." The librarian took out a box with many cards inside.
"I'll just find it in the card catalog." She floated the cards around to find it. "Uh, number one-eight-nine-oh-five, got it!" She laughed as she red the date, her smile instantly vanishing. "Oh, wow. Yeesh. I haven't seen a book this late in... well, ever."
"There it is," Flash sighed as she cleared her throat.
"You need to go and see First Folio in the Grossly Overdue Book Return Office for Ponies Who Should Know Better." Twilight looked really upset, as she picked the book back up.
"Don't pull any punches with those names, do you?"
"And that office would be...?" Spike asked, as the Librarian pointed to a set of stairs.
"In the basement." She leaned over and whispered, "Because of the shame." Twilight looked like she was about to have a panic attack as she slammed her head into the desk. Flash had finally had enough.
"So let me get this straight. If somepony has a book out for too long, you send them to a room designed just to shame them." The librarian nodded, "But what if the pony had a good reason for not returning it for this long?"
"Like what?"
"Alright, if I took a book out of the library, took it home and then got into an accident that put me into a year long coma, would I have to be shamed if I returned the book as soon as I came out of said coma?"
"Umm..." The librarian was about to answer, then stopped as she clearly didn't have an answer for that.
"See? Sure, Twilight forgot to return the book. But she was a little busy at the time preventing Nightmare Moon from bringing on eternal night. You think forgetting to bring back a library book is bad, then you won't like what Nightmare Moon might have done to this library to stop ponies from learning how to raise the sun. So which do you think is more important? Return a book, or save Equestria?"
"Um..." The librarian didn't say anything again as Flash turned to see Twilight and Spike staring at him.
"What?" He turned to head down the stairs, the pair following as they descended into the darkness.
"Don't you think you were a bit mean to her?" Twilight asked, "She was just doing her job."
Flash turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "Her job involves making ponies that likely already feel upset feel even worse by telling them they should feel shame because they didn't return a library book on time? How is that not mean?"
"Well...I mean...still." They reached the bottom of the stairs and glanced around, seeing the place was covered in layers of dust and cobwebs.
They made their way through the corridor until Spike accidently caught his wing on one of the webs. "Ack!" He pulled himself free, "Looks like nopony ever goes down here."
"Nopony except undependable rule-breakers who deserve all the horrors this hallway holds!" Twilight cried out as Spike flew up next to her.
"And faithful dragon companions."
"Ugh," Flash groaned, "Twilight, you need to get over this. You had a good reason for not returning the book. I'm pretty sure all those library ponies would prefer to read their precious books in the sun then by other light sources, which is what they would have had to do if you hadn't stopped Nightmare Moon." But Twilight wasn't listening, instead mumbling under her breath how she was gonna go from the best book borrower to the worse book borrower. "Gaaah, sometimes I hate this city's perfectionist obsession."
"What's wrong with wanting things to be perfect?!" Twilight yelped.
"It's impossible. Grand once told me nothing and nopony is perfect. Even Celestia has flaws." Twilight turned to give him a look of shock, making him facehoof, "Starlight's right about you being biast. Can I remind you that one of the reasons Luna became Nightmare Moon was because Celestia was a total glory hog back in the day?!"
Twilight would have argued back, but Spike spoke up before she could. "Hey!" He pointed at a door at the end of the hallway, "It looks like First Folio left a note on the door!"
"Abandon hope, all ye who enter?" Twilight guessed, Spike flying up to the door and reading the note.
"Out to lunch on Restaurant Row." He turned to shrug at the pair, "Guess we'll have to try back later!" He was about to walk away, but Twilight held up a hoof to stop him.
"No!" She yelled, "I can't wait another minute to return this book! In the time it took us to get here, I racked up another...seventeen bits in late fees!"
"Seventeen bits?" Flash asked, "How much do you librarians charge by the minute?"
"We're going to lunch!" She turned to leave as Spike sighed.
"Good, 'cause I'm starving!" He licked his lips, only for Twilight to glare at him, "Oh. You mean to find First Folio." Twilight rushed off, Flash and Spike sighing at the sight. "Can we at least get takeout?!"
It wasn't long till the three left and headed over to restaurant row, Twilight zooming into the first establishment she could find. But First Folio wasn't at this place, nor was she at the next two places they checked out. They then headed to a somewhere called The Tasty Treat, Flash remembering Rarity and Pinkie telling him about the place from one of their map missions.
"Tell me if you see any librarian-type ponies," Twilight commented as they walked in.
"Twilight," Spike moaned, "We tried this at three other restaurants already!"
"And my late fines are already up another twenty-six more bits!" Twilight cried, Flash beginning to wonder if libraries were actually a racket designed to squeeze every last bit out of ponies with trouble remembering to return books.
The three walked around, Spike somehow getting pulled into waiting tables as the ponies searched for a librarian they had never even met. "Flash?" He then heard a familiar voice say, "Twilight? Is that you?" They turned to see somepony they hadn't seen in ages, smiling at them.
"Moondancer!" Twilight cheered, "How've you been?" She then went sheepish, "I'm just visiting. No real reason. Heh."
"Well, it's good to see you!" Moondancer exclaimed, "I'm just meeting my friend, First Folio, for lunch." She pointed at a table that had a yellow unicorn with a purple mane and tail, half-moon glasses and a blue sweater. "Do you want to join us?" The name made Twilight's eyes go wide.
"First Folio?!" Flash sighed in relief as his stomach started growling, "Yes! I mean, thank you." Folio smiled at the sight of them.
"Princess Twilight, good to meet you! Did you know your picture is still up in our library as the Best Book Borrower?" The alicorn's eyes shrunk at that for a second as they moved over to their table.
"Yeah...I was hoping I could talk to Dusty Pages about that."
Both Moondancer and Folio shared a glance at this, "Oh," Moondancer chimed, "Dusty Pages left the library moons ago. Didn't you know?"
Twilight shook her head, Flash blinking as he remembered that Dusty was more obsessed with libraries than Twilight. "Oh," Folio added, "I heard she was forced to leave." Twilight's eyes went wide at this, "It's so sad. She loved the library."
"Wait...forced to leave?"
"Yuh-huh, uh-huh, yeah. She had a perfect librarian record. Until one careless pony didn't return a book, ruined it all."
"Okay," Flash held his hooves up, "You're saying she was fired simply because of one lost book?" First Folio nodded, "That's insane. Why would anypony wanna work someplace they could be fired from with a single minor mistake?"
"Well, library books are important," Folio pointed out. "After all, pony taxes pay for them. It's a librarian's duty to safeguard the books in their care."
"Yeah, I get that. But losing only one book is enough to make you lose your job forever? That sounds a bit harsh."
As he said that, Moondancer focused on the alicorn in the room. "Are you okay, Twilight?" Flash turned to his girlfriend and saw she was sweating up a storm, the sight making him sigh as he put the pieces together.
"Uh-huh," she slowly nodded, "Would, uh, you excuse me?" She ran for the door, zipping past Spike as he carried a tray of food for the ponies around him.
"We...might have to take a raincheck on lunch!" Flash added before flying after her.
"That's why you only order spicy if you can take it," he heard Spike say as he put the tray down and followed the alicorn. "Twilight, what's wrong?" Twilight skidded to a stop and turned to Spike, looking absolutely horrified as she took out the book.
"Dusty Pages isn't working at the library any more because I didn't return this book!" The face she gave looked like she had stabbed somepony by accident. "Spike, I think I got her fired!"
"We don't know that for sure," Flash cut in, "It still doesn't make any sense that she'd be fired just because of one-and you're running away!" Twilight shot down the street, Flash and his growling stomach groaning as he and Spike ran after her.
"Twilight!" the dragon cried out, "The library is that way!" He pointed in the opposite direction Twilight was running,
"Change of plans! We're going to Dusty's house. She used to invite me over for tea all the time."
"And ponies thought you didn't have any friends before Ponyville," Flash joked as they passed a hay-dog stand. Flash quickly stopped and paid for one, the vender giving it so Flash could settle his stomach. And as he ate and chased after the pair, Spike asked about Twilight's growing late fees.
"They're not as important as making things right," Twilight yelled as they turned a corner.
"Wait!" Spike yelped, "So you're not going to return the book?"
"No," she shook her head, "Dusty Pages is. It's my fault she lost her job. So if I give her the book, she can get her old job back. It'll fix everything!" At that moment, they arrived at a quaint little cottage. Flash had been there just as many times as Twilight, though he was sure the last time he had there hadn't been a bunch of signs covering the building. Twilight took a deep breath, trying to calm herself before knocking on the door. She smiled, expecting Dusty to open the door...only for a large blue earth pony stallion somewhere between Big Mac and Bulk Biceps to appear with a scowl on his face.
"Didn't you see the sign?" He pointed at one of the boards covering the building. "No sales-ponies!"
"Oh, I'm not selling anything."
"No carolers either," he growled, "No surveys, no petitions, no free literature..." He stepped back and pulled the door closed, but Twilight grabbed it in her magic and stopped him. The stallion growled at this, Twilight soon winning the tug of war and the pony fell to the ground.
"No problem. I'm just looking for somepony who used to live here. I'm pretty sure this was her house."
"Dusty Pages?" The stallion grumbled.
"Yes!"
"Hold on." He stepped into the house, Twilight hoping Dusty would soon step out, only to come back with a large sack. "She moved to...Silver somethin'. Shoals, Seas, Surfer, whatever. When you find her, give her this." He opened the bag and a bunch of letters and scrolls fell out. Spike would have been buried if Flash had not pulled him out of the way. "It's been stackin' up for years! And tell her to CHANGE HER ADDRESS!" He then slammed the door shut, Twilight and Spike sharing a glance.
"Well," Flash sighed, "This just got a lot more complicated. Wait, Silver Shoals? Isn't that where Luna said she wanted to go?"
"So what do we do now?" Spike asked, "We have no idea where Dusty Pages is."
"We'll just have to check every Silver place on the map," Twilight replied, "There can't be that many places in Equestria with Silver in its name, right?"
Flash and Spike shook their head at this, both soon finding out that there were nineteen areas in Equestria with that particular word in their name. Flash and Spike ended up dragging the large sack of mail all over the kingdom as they tried to find Dusty Pages. First they checked the Silver Shoals that Flash was wondering about, which turned out to be a beach resort. They then checked everywhere else, from a small island with only two houses, to a large lake, to an active mine. Flash had to talk Twilight out of returning to the school and asking Silverstream, leaving them to the last place on their list.
That place turned out to be a retirement community, which Flash kicked himself for not suggesting sooner.
"Silver Stable Community," Twilight read. "For the best golden years." She shined a big grin, "This has to be it!"
"I hope so," Spike groaned as he looked over all the places they had been to already. "It's the last Silver spot on the map we haven't looked."
"I'm just glad this isn't the Silver Shoals Luna was talking about," Flash chuckled, "I know she and Celestia wanna retire, but I doubt they need to go as far as moving into a retirement home."
They headed inside at this, Flash and Spike still needing to struggle with the giant bag of mail. And as they walked in, Spike gasped at how nice the place looked. "Whoa! This place is-"
"Terrible!" Twilight cried, "I know! There's not a single bookshelf in sight!" They headed to the front desk, passing an elderly pony that was snoring up a storm. "Poor Dusty." They reached the receptionist, who was reading a book. "Excuse me!" The receptionist looked up from her book.
"Yes, how may I help you?"
Twilight quickly took out a picture of the old mare, "Do you have a resident named Dusty Pages?" The receptionist stared at the photo before nodding.
"Oh, yes. Her apartment is in the next complex, ground floor." Twilight smiled as she put the picture away, Flash seeing a pamphlet on the side of the desk and taking one.
"Thank you!" They walked off, Twilight's eyes shifting all over the place as she tried to see if there was anything around this place that Dusty loved. But there wasn't a single bookshelf or bookshelf-like piece of furniture anywhere. Instead, there was a lovely looking garden with a vegetable patch several older ponies were tending to. The pair passed the garden as they arrived at Dusty's complex, the old ponies working on the garden waving to them and looking rather spry for a bunch of old ponies.
Flash waved back, though he was more focused on reading the contents of the pamphlet as Twilight groaned. "I can't believe that my carelessness sent her here, when she could be happily surrounded by millions of wonderful-smelling books!"
"You realize that might just be a you thing, right?" Spike asked as they passed a door with a pony's picture on it.
"Um...Twilight?" She looked back at him as he pointed at the door, Twilight turning to see Dusty's face on it.
"There she is!" She took a deep breath at this, "Here we go." She knocked on the door, the three waiting for Dusty to step outside. They waited...and waited...and waited...and Twilight took out a pocket watch to see how long had passed before letting out a roar of frustration.
"She's bound to be back soon," Spike chimed in, "Maybe we should just wait here."
"I don't think that'll work," Flash countered, "If this pamphlet is to believed, there are over a hundred different activities a pony can do whilst here. She could be out until late if she wanted to be." Twilight groaned at this as Flash tried to find something he figured Dusty would enjoy. "Why don't we try...plein air painting. That sound like the kind of calm and peaceful thing a librarian would enjoy doing."
"Good. Where is it?"
The pamphlet came with a map of the community that they could use to find their way around. Flash led them until they reached a large lake, though this did mean Spike was stuck dragging the mail bag behind them. They then reached the pier, where a bunch of old ponies were sitting and painting. "She's not here," Spike groaned.
"But those ponies might know where she is," Twilight pointed out before heading down onto the pier. "Sorry to interrupt your plein air painting, but we're looking for Dusty Pages. Have you seen her?" One of the old ponies turned to them and nodded.
"Sure have!" She smiled before returning to her painting. The three waited and Twilight eventually sighed.
"And...?"
The old mare stopped again, "She had to leave early to get to her fengbi de ti session."
"Her what?"
"Which is right before she leads the woodworking class with me," an old stallion announced. "Then she's on to windsurfing."
"Windsurfing?" Flash replied, "Dusty windsurfs?" They nodded, Flash unable to picture the old and pretty frail looking mare doing something like that.
"Ooh," the old mare continued, "And don't forget theatre rehearsal! Dusty's playing the lead role. Again."
"Then there's her band practice later," the stallion chuckled.
"Thank you!" Twilight nodded before the three left.
"Wow," Spike sounded impressed, "Dusty sounds like one busy pony."
"Oh, no!" Twilight looked heartbroken, "She's just filling her days with distractions to cover the pain of losing the best job ever! But not for long!" She strode forward, Flash and Spike frowning as they followed her back towards the complex.
Turns out, fengbi de ti was some kind of yoga-like dance that was good for keeping old bones strong and flexible. It also turned out it took place in the garden right outside Dusty's apartment, making Twilight moan as she realized Spike was right about them needing to wait. Especially when they learned she had already left before they got there. After that, they made their way over to the woodworking class. Twilight asked an old stallion if he had seen her and he had, but they had just missed her. They then headed back over to the lake, where a bunch of old ponies were windsurfing. Twilight grabbed her own sail board before Flash suggested they simply fly out to talk to them, the mare using her magic to create a wind strong enough to push them out to the others.
Flash watched the two talk to the older ponies, who stated Dusty hadn't shown up for today's class. This annoyed Twilight, who then fell off her board along with Spike and got swept away by a wave. The pair teleported back to shore, soaking wet and happy they hadn't taken the mail out with them. It took them awhile to find the room the play rehearsals were taking place, since it wasn't marked on Flash's pamphlet. When they finally got there, a pony with an oddly shaped nose told them she had already left. Twilight's frustrations grew, along with Flash's amazement at the place.
"I know I said Luna and Celestia didn't need to enter a retirement community yet, but forget that. If I live long enough to retire, this is where I wanna go."
"You realize Twilight's probably gonna be running Equestria until the day she dies, right?" Spike asked as they headed to a bar located in the community. "I don't think that pony understands the meaning of the words: Take it easy." Flash couldn't help but laugh as they arrived outside the bar, knowing the dragon was right.
And as they approached the door, music could be heard streaming out from it. And when Twilight opened the doors, they found it was a simple but nice little place with a stage at the back. And on that stage, strumming at a guitar, was the pony they had come to see.
"Dusty Pages, finally!" Twilight looked like hearts warming had come early, "Come on!" She began to run up to her, but Spike flew in front of her.
"Wait!" He pointed at Dusty, focusing on her smile as she placed her guitar. "She looks pretty happy up there." Flash nodded in agreement, wanting to have his guitar to go up there and play as well.
"Trust me, it's all an act. She'll be a lot happier when I deliver the news that she can go back to working at the library!"
"Twilight..." Flash tried to speak up but the alicorn marched towards the stage.
She then, rather rudely, pulled the instruments away from the ponies playing. "Care to take five, everypony?" The band turned to glare at her, but then Dusty gasped at her.
"Ah! Twilight Sparkle?! My stars!" She turned to her bandmates and nodded, the group getting off stage as the librarian stepped over to them. "Flash Sentry!" She smirked at the sight of the colt, "You certainly seem a lot more mature than the last time I saw you." Flash blushed at this while Dusty focused back on Twilight. "It's so wonderful to see you! What are you doing here?"
"I've been looking all over Equestria for you!" Twilight cried as Spike dragged the mail sack over and finally lost the contents of it onto the floor. "I need to tell you something."
As she said this, Dusty saw the pile of letters, "Well, you brought my mail!" She grabbed Twilight and pulled her into a hug. "Oh, thank you!"
"No," Twilight pulled herself out of the hug. "I mean, yes, we did, but that's not why we're here. I let you down, and I can't forgive myself until I set things right."
Dusty raised an eyebrow at this, "I don't remember you doing anything wrong."
Twilight looked absolutely ashamed about what she had to say. "You told me to take care of a special book I checked out from the Canterlot Library, and I never brought it back!" Dusty gasped as she heard this, turning to Flash who nodded back.
"It was you that had that book out? The one that broke my perfect record?" Twilight nodded as she took the book out of the bag and floated it over to her.
"But now you can bring it to Canterlot Library and get your job back!" She stared at Dusty at this, but the elderly librarian simply glared back at her before knocking the book away.
"No, thank you! I don't ever need to see that library again!" Their eyes went wide as Dusty shoved her mail in the sack and threw it over her shoulder. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be." She dragged the mail bag out of the bar with her, leaving the shocked trio to stare at her.
Flash turned to his girlfriend. "Twilight? You okay?" She didn't answer, instead moving over to the bar and slamming her head down on it. Flash and Spike sat on either side of her, both ordering a drink as the band returned to the stage. They started playing a very upbeat song, which didn't exactly fit with how horrible Twilight was feeling right now. And she made sure to let them know that.
"Do you mind?" She asked the band, who turned to her before playing a more somber melody while Twilight placed her head back to the bar. "I don't understand. If Dusty Pages won't go back to Canterlot Library and explain everything, then she won't be able to get her job back. Even worse, her record will remain imperfect!"
"And yours will too?" Spike added.
"Well, yeah!" Twilight yelped, "But that doesn't matter anymore!"
"Really?" He asked dryly, Twilight blushing sheepishly.
"Well, maybe a little bit." Her eyes went wide. "Oh no! Bits! The late fines!" She turned to Spike, "How much do I owe now?!" The young dragon pulled out an abacus, Flash raising an eyebrow at this.
"Uhhh..." Spike put it away, "You don't wanna know."
"You lost count, didn't you?" Flash cocked an eyebrow as Twilight groaned.
"It would've been worth all the bits in Equestria if I had made things right with Dusty!" She turned away from the bar, "I wish I knew why she won't go back!" Flash patted her on the shoulder.
"Honestly, I think she just doesn't care about the place anymore." Twilight turned to him with wide eyes, "What? If I worked somewhere that fired me after one mistake, I certainly wouldn't want to go back."
"That's you," Twilight grumbled, "And besides, would you not wanna go back if you were fired from being a Royal Knight?" Flash put his hoof at his chin, humming at the question as Twilight added, "I can't stand it! I have to know why she won't go back!"
"Why don't you just ask her then?" Spike suggested, Twilight shaking her head.
"She didn't seem to want to talk."
"You surprised her," Spike pointed out, "And she probably had something else on her schedule. That thing is packed!" He flew in front of her. "Come on. What have you got to lose?"
"Now that I've messed up this much? Nothing." She sighed at this, "You're right though Spike. It's worth a try." She jumped off the bar stool and started thinking, "Where do you think she went? Crochet? Bingo?"
Flash took out the pamphlet, "There doesn't appear to be anything on right now. It's a free hour. Wait, there is one big event. The squishy fruit food-fight tournament." Flash grinned at that while Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Come on Flash, really? That's gotta be a typo. There's no way an old pony's home would host-"
"-a squishy fruit food-fight tournament?!" She screamed as they ducked under a flying apple.
Spike pulled out a white flag and waved it, "Hey, everypony! We come in-" He suddenly got struck by a tomato, the force knocking him flying into a hay bale. He came out of it a moment, trying to wipe the fruit off of him. "Uh...pieces." The trio were suddenly bombarded with a bunch more fruit at this, completely covering them until Twilight teleported them out of the mess.
They reappeared behind a rock and took cover, Twilight looking out at the fight before yelling out. "Stop! We just want to talk to Dusty Pages for a moment! Please?"
"TIME OUT!" A voice screamed, making them look up to see Dusty standing on a branch in full combat gear. She then grabbed a rope and swung down to the ground in front of them. "Next time, you should rent gear."
"We're not actually here for the game," Spike replied.
"Though I wouldn't mind going a few rounds once we're done here," Flash chuckled.
Twilight stepped up at this, "I was hoping you'd give me another chance to talk to you about the library book."
Dusty sighed and shook her head, "This really means a lot to you, doesn't it?"
"Mm-hmm," Twilight nodded, "I know I ruined your life by not returning my book on time, and I will do anything I can to make it up to you. Even promise to never take a book out of a library again, if that's what it takes." Gasps filled the air, as everypony who knew about Twilight knew she loved librarians more than anything in the world.
Dusty stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing, the three going wide-eyed at this, "That is not the reaction we expected," Spike commented.
"Twilight, dear, you've got it all backwards! I'm not upset with you!"
"You're...you're not?"
"No! If I'm mad at anypony, it's me." The three raised an eyebrow as Dusty removed her combat helmet and moved over to a long bench at the edge of the course. Twilight and Spike sat down beside her as Flash leaned against a tree. "All those years I spent hiding away in that library, trying to be perfect....when your book never came in, I felt something exhilarating!
"What was it?"
"Freedom," Dusty chuckled, the others just tilting their heads at this.
"From books?"
"From perfection!" She exclaimed, "I was too stubborn to know when to call it quits! It took your mistake to make me realize that I wasn't living the life I wanted!"
"You mean you weren't fired?" Twilight asked, "You left the library because you wanted to?"
Dusty nodded, Flash sighing, "So the library isn't a terrible place." Dusty turned to him, "What?! We thought they'd canned you for one mistake that wasn't your fault. I'd call it a terrible place if that were true!"
Dusty shook her head again before looking back at the alicorn. "Twilight, your late book was the best thing that ever happened to me." She gestured to the food fighting course, which had started the match up again. "Now I'm not afraid to try things I might fail at. In fact, sometimes messing up teaches me more than getting it right!"
Flash smirked at this, having tried to teach that lesson to Twilight many times. The princess pulled out the book, holding it up for Dusty. "You're sure you don't want to return it and get that perfect record back?" As she said that, a piece of fruit suddenly slammed into the book, staining it. Twilight's eyes went wide as she screamed, turning it around to see the damage done.
"Ah," Dusty sighed, "Good. It was a yellow one. You can still see the words."
"But it'll have a stain!" Twilight cried, Dusty chuckling.
"That doesn't change the truth inside it." In that moment, she seemed to realize something. "Wait...did you even read that thing?"
Twilight glanced back down at it, "Actually, uh, no, I guess I didn't." She brought the book up and wiped away the fruit, revealing the title. "Perfection."
"And the next part?" Dusty asked, Twilight reading the second part of the title.
"The Impossible Pursuit." Their eyes went wide as they realized how much Twilight could have learned if she had read this book. Spike and Dusty both laughed while Twilight blushed, "Oh. That might've been useful to look at earlier." She turned to Flash, who was suddenly looking very far off. "What?"
"Nothing," Flash moaned, "Just imagining how different things would be if you had read that book before we went to Ponyville. We might have saved ourselves a whole lot of Twilight-ing."
The alicorn rolled her eyes at this, only for Dusty to pat Twilight on the shoulder. "Take that book back to the library. You'll feel a whole lot better once you do. And don't feel bad about me being here. I absolutely love it." Twilight smiled, nodding as the pair hugged one another.
"Alright," she got up off the log, "We'd better get back to Canterlot."
"Aww..." Flash sighed, "can't we play one round." His ear was suddenly twisted, making him grunt as he was pulled over to his girlfriend.
"No way. I'm not letting my late fees get any higher." Dusty opened her mouth at this, only for Twilight to teleport them away.
"Oh well. She'll find out herself."
Back at Canterlot, they had managed to return to the library right before it closed. First Folio wasn't happy about needing to stay after hours to deal with a late book, but she allowed Twilight to return it. Now, it was just a matter of how much Twilight would need to pay. "Uh-huh..." Folio looked over a scroll as she calculated everything, "Your total late fees come to..."
Twilight gulped, "However much it is, I'll cover it." She continued to sweat as she added, "Uh...do you have a monthly payment plan?" Folio lowered the scroll.
"Twenty-eight bits." The three gasped.
"That's it?!" Spike cried, Folio nodding with a smile.
"Yah-huh. Most ponies don't know that it caps at a month. Probably 'cause we don't tell them." She snorted before laughing, Twilight taking the bits out of her saddlebag and placing them on the table. "Thank you. Your account is back to normal. Although we will be taking down your Best Book Borrower picture."
"Um," Twilight looked sheepish, "Is that really necessary? Heh. It just seems so permanent. Heh. I mean, I did return the book, after all." Spike cleared his throat, reminding Twilight of the lesson this whole fiasco was meant to teach her. "Okay. Letting the perfection go." She let out a sigh, then picked up the book. "You want me to reshelve this for you?"
Folio shook her head, "No, it's an old edition. We've already replaced it with a new copy." Spike smiled as he had an idea.
"In that case, can we keep it? It might be a good reminder to have around." He playfully elbowed Twilight, who smiled sheepishly as Folio frowned.
"You sure? It's got a stain."
"That's what makes it perfect." Twilight replied, holding it tightly to her chest. She was gonna read it as soon as she got home. It was time to learn why perfection was an impossible pursuit. This would have been a nice spot to end this story, had Flash not spoken up.
"I have a question. If Twilight doesn't hold the Best Book Borrower title anymore, who does?"
"Give me a minute," she took out a bunch of scrolls that she started looking through, the trio glancing at each other as they waited.
"It's probably Moondancer," Twilight commented, "Her library etiquette is just as good as mine."
Spike nodded in agreement, only for First Folio to add, "Ah, yes." They turned to her. "After Twilight, the pony with the best library return record is somepony named...Derpy Hooves."
That made all three's eyes to go wide, "What?!" Twilight yelped, "But how...when...why..."
Flash laughed at this, "There are many mysteries in this world that will never truly be solved. That mare is one of them." Twilight instantly fainted at this, Flash and Spike rolling their eyes as they saw the mare now realizing that Derpy of all ponies had a better return record than her.
"We're not gonna hear the end of this for a while, aren't we?" Spike asked, Flash nodding. This whole event had been one surprise after another, but hopefully Twilight had learned an important lesson about the pointlessness of perfect. This was gonna be a lesson she would need to learn more then anything for when she took the throne. For now, it was back to Ponyville, and their almost perfect, but still beautifully flawed lives
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Wow, I never imagined that you would adapt this chapter, I thought it was funny, but I never considered that this was another lesson for Twilight, that's why it's very important, but hey, it was better to adapt this chapter instead of the trivia one, I know they wanted to go back to show the crazy Twilight, but what the hell were the writers thinking?
And what about the Sparkle Seven chapter? Although it wasn't that important, it was the time Spike was recognized as Twilight's little brother.
It was a really good adaptation, keep doing the god work Banshee👍🏾
That was a good one. And Derpy having a perfect record, I did not see that coming.
Yeah, it was unexpected you chose to adapt this episode since it was a filler episode but then again, it was important to Twilight's character development.
Derpy was another unexpected choice to replaced Twilight as Best Book Borrower but then again, like they said, that mare is one of mystery the world is unable to solve.
Very ironically that Flash didn't care about reading books and yet, get upset when he find out the librarian can lose their job if one book is not return. (Through, to be fair, it gives Dusty a wake up call and find a more happier life.)
Here's highlights
I do find it ironically that the mare Twilight talk about would be herself since she ends up dating Flash.
Damn, Flash… come down. I get you were defending your girlfriend but damn! You lay a smack down on that librarian!
Yeah, it make sense cause Twilight is always big on perfect until she realizes she doesn't need to be perfect all the times since Dusty is a lot happier after leaving her "perfect" life.
Nice adaption to this episode, plus that twist ending was a hoot!!!
Highlights galore! :
Sorry purple buddy!
Ouch karma's a bi***!
Dang what's with that epic burn Flash? that is Spike's job!
LOL sorry Flash, she's in full-on Twilighting mode now!
lol out of the mouths of babes!
Never underestimate the Derpy one!
Cool chapter there Banshee, till next week!
I wonder how much longer can Flash keep his secret about his future
Wasn't expecting this episode to get adapted but excellent choice! It might be a slow slice-of-life episode but it had a surprisingly important lesson in it. Plus I like how it ties to the Pilot episode similar to how "Amending Fences" did. It was pretty funny how Flash constantly spoke up about some of the more bizarre parts of the episode, like Twilight feeling bad about the overdue book due to saving Equestria, how the library seems like a strict or borderline terrible place at first, and how amazing Dusty's retirement home is.
Also, the twist ending where instead of Moondancer being the new Best Book Borrower like many fans would expect it turns out to be Derpy. She is a strange and unpredictable one alright, but we love her for it.
Wow, feels like forever since Twilight pulled Flash by the ear.
I can forgive Dusty for saying this just because she's elderly, but I think younger librarians have an unspoken policy where they generally avoid judging other people's reading preferences.
That makes a whole lot of sense actually.
And so the product of a perfectionistic culture continues perpetuating said culture.
I assume you had issue with Celestia and Luna moving in with a bunch of old ponies.
Twilight’s what begin to morph?
Looks like Cadence wasn’t the only one shipping these two
I don’t mean to be rude but you wrote “Passed” instead of “Past”
Awwww Flash can be a meathead sometimes but he knows when to be a gentleman and stand up for someone
Is Spike or Flash saying this?
Count me in
. There’s actually festivals in the real world where there are giant food fights
All hail Derpy! The best pony!
Overall another great story Banshee
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According to the MLP comic they have their own house at Silver Shoals
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I bet that when Flash “dies” at the end of the season and comes back Twilight will do this before kissing him.
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That would actually be a great chapter
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We could’ve had a four way battle between Twilight, Shining, Spike, and Flash
perfection and power are overrated best to be the best you can be also to much work
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You do know Flash is technically not sibling cause he dating Twilight.
Even Banshee stated Flash wasn't adopted by Twilight's family but rather "fostered".
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Well you know what I mean
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Personally, I think it would have been interesting if due to Flash being a Royal Knight he had to assist Shining Armor with the defenses, and maybe recruited his friends to help out, essentially turning it into a boys vs girls plot. Also, since Scootaloo is Flash's sibling here it might be cool if she and Spike work together against their older siblings and split the title.
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I like it