Student Stress is Worst Stress
Early morning shined on the city of Canterlot. It had not been long since the sun began to beam brightly upon the surface, illuminating everything in its path. Citizens of this capital have just begun to hustle for their morning shifts, and the little children scurried away to school. Everywhere in Canterlot, ponies knew the day awaits them, with perhaps some new surprises along the way.
A certain tiny unicorn, who was a nice shade of pastel purple in particular, definitely had one coming for her. The filly's curious big eyes surveyed the hometown that surrounded her. Pink saddlebags slumped from the pony's torso, almost sweeping the cobblestone path. She decided to stop for a quick moment, open her humongous luggage, and levitated a book out to crack it open right away. However, the sound of loud laughter was quickly picked up, and soon enough, a fellow unicorn came running straight towards the purple pony as well. This time, her coat was a bright shade of white with a pink mane and tail.
“Hey, Twilight! Twilight!”, the filly screeched to the said unicorn. Twilight in particular let out an unexpected yawn.
“H-Hello, Twinkleshine…” she replied in response, almost droning. Twinkleshine couldn’t help but notice the eyelids of her classmate, and how they were drooping. All four legs of the purple filly seemed to be slightly wobbling as well. Another yawn was let out as Twinkleshine made a small frown.
“You okay, Twilight? You seem funny! Not the hilarious kind of funny, but… well… you know,” she stated, as only a raised eyebrow and an unamused look was received as a response.
“Thank you for your thoughtful and well-constructed observation,” Twilight Sparkle droned. She was just about to walk off, with her head in her book, but then Twinkleshine decided to rightfully stop her in her tracks.
“Alright, Twilight. What happened with you?” The filly might not have been able to socialize with Twilight too often during their days, but she knew what just might be going on within her life. After all, it's not too hard to guess. “You decided to study all night, didn't you?” The unicorn gradually grows her sheepish smile.
“I thought I would try to better myself by, you know, studying! … For the entire night!” Twilight Sparkle said, and tried her best to remain calm. But, that only leads to her classmate becoming more and more concerned. “It works, right?”
“Um… sure. Hm, why don't you come join us then, Twilight? It certainly sounds like you could use a break!” Twinkleshine immediately put a smile on her face as she pointed at three fellow unicorns, with them ranging in the colors of minty green, blue, and yellow. They were all standing near an array of chalk squares on the concrete. “We’re starting our second round of hopscotch! We hoped you'd like to play.” Much of Twinkleshine’s dismay, Twilight Sparkle slowly shook her head, and yawned yet again.
“Sorry, I'll pass…” Then, without anypony stopping her this time, she walked away with her book as the unicorns stared at her with disappointment. Twinkleshine whispered quietly to herself.
“I swear, that pony needs to stop at some point…”
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After what seemed like hours for Twilight Sparkle, she finally arrived at her very destination: Princess Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns. Although a bit drowsy herself, she was confident that her day will go as planned, as she happily puts on a small smile upon viewing her very classroom at the entrance.
When arriving, Twilight was also greeted with a familiar face, with a slender white alicorn and flowing colorful mane. She too was wearing a smile, the kind that shows a bit more warmth to it. The filly proceeds to respectfully bow in front of her.
“Good morning, Princess Celestia.” She greeted, as the said princess nods.
“Good morning to you too, Twilight Sparkle. I'm looking forward to another successful day from you,” she replies. “Please, take your seat.” Respectfully, Twilight followed Celestia’s plan, where she walked to her usual desk in the classroom.
Nevertheless, Princess Celestia proceeded to walk to the front of the class and shifted her many papers with her magic, then cleared her throat.
“Good morning to you all. As everypony is most likely aware of, today is a rather special day. Today, every student here will be taking a test that will evaluate how you're doing so far in this curriculum. It’s important that each unicorn in this classroom, as well as the others in this very building, knows exactly how far they’ve gone from the beginning of the year when it comes to the knowledge of magic.”
It is then, after she ends her talking, that she begins to stroll to the fillies and colts who were waiting for the test to be given to them. Albeit, some of them eyed down the papers with a smirk while some others with utter dread.
Nonetheless, all the students including Twilight Sparkle started to get prepared for their exam. However, Twilight in particular yawned for a moment, although tried to hold it in respect as she gathers the best pencils and other supplies as quick as she can.
”I can do this, I know I can!” The filly thought to herself, ”I’ve been prepared for this for as long as I remember! … At least, I hope so.”
Many moments later came the time when Celestia finally gave everypony in the room their tests, and that's when she finally made one little remark of the day.
“You may now begin.”
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It had been two days since the examination took place in the school. The day began just like any other day in the classroom, with all the fillies and colts walking through the entrance as well as settling down. However, once Twilight Sparkle herself sat, she noticed the particular and familiar stack of papers resting on the teacher’s desk.
”Is that...? Could it be?” she thought to herself, and even tried to inch a bit further to get a closer look at it. Her antics ended, though, due to Princess Celestia herself entering the room. The princess then used her magic to bring said papers over to her.
“Before we begin our lesson today,” Celestia started off, “I thought I might as well take this opportunity in the morning to give you all the test you took on those days ago.” She then walked around, precisely lied the papers flat on the desk for many moments. Sighs and slight groans ensue from some of the students, while Twilight still sits in her seat eager for her very own results.
”I think I did good. Well, I hope I did good… I mean, I must have done at least okay! I’m sure my grade can't be that bad...
Then, the princess walked over. She neatly placed the packet of sheets on Twilight’s desk, face-down. But, once the filly proceeded to lift it over, she saw something that she never thought she would have seen before in a long, long time.
Etched on top of the test in red ink was a disorienting number, one that includes a big fat five followed with a nine. Twilight Sparkle, whom she thought was Celestia’s prized pupil, just received a fifty-nine on a test. Her eyes widened in horror, and even made a small gasp. Many thoughts rushed into her head, all in denial of the grade. Perhaps it was just a huge misunderstanding.
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The day seemed to drag on, and usually Twilight didn't have this kind of thought until today. But, it is until then that she, and the rest of the students, heard the familiar ring of a bell which signaled their dismissal.
Although the fillies and colts proceeded to leave with a goodbye to the princess, Twilight stayed behind and hesitantly walked up to Celestia, who was still standing beside the door, and carried her saddlebags as well as the test beside her.
“Um… Princess? I have a, well, question for you,” the unicorn said hesitantly. The said princess’ head turns around, to look down at the student.
“Yes, Twilight Sparkle? Is there something the matter?”
“It's just… it's just that there must be a mistake with this!” Twilight then proceeded to flip her test over to the other side, in order to show the princess what was on her mind. “Is there a make-up for this? There has to be some examination error!” The filly then decided to curl up on the floor. “I've never got a fifty nine before!Maybe this is just a miscalculation?” Then, she covered both of her eyes. “Oh, I've failed you, Princess… I failed!”
Suddenly, Twilight felt a hoof placed on her head. She peeked out of her hooves to see Celestia looking down at her, with a warm smile. “I believe you're quite far from actually failing, Twilight Sparkle.” The unicorn in question stood up and her eyes widened.
“B-But… what do you mean, Princess?” She received a chuckle in response.
“With all of your academic success, I highly doubt this one exam is going to impact your grade as much as you think.”
“Wait… r-really?” A nod and response then came from Princess Celestia.
“First off, as I've said before, you’ve succeeded in many more tests than you have failed, right?” The little unicorn sheepishly smiles.
“Well… yes. That is true, Princess.”
“Indeed, my student. From the day you entered this school of mine, I believe you’re definitely going on the right path and to a fulfilling life as well. You're a gifted pony.” The little filly continues to smile, but that is until a thought came across her and just grew a bit of concern.
“But Princess, what if I fail again? Will that mean I won't be ‘gifted’ anymore?” She proceeds to tilt her head in both curiousity and confusion, still looking up at the princess. But, the alicorn in question crouches down to Twilight, looking at her as close to eye-level as possible.
“I hope what I say now is going to stay in your mind for the rest of your life. Even if you make a mistake, all that matters is that you make an attempt to learn from it, thus preventing it in the future.”
“Really? Is that all I can do? Even after I stop being a student too?” Celestia nods once again, and smiles.
“Believe me, you're going to go on quite the journey later in life.” Soon enough, Twilight smiles along with her.
“Thank you, Princess Celestia,” the filly said, bowing, and starting to walk out the door. “Thank you for helping me today.” Finally, with that statement, came one single reply from Celestia.
“You're very much welcome… and here’s hopes to the many more things you may learn in the future, my faithful student.”