One Fail Too Many
It was just another insipid day. Twilight Sparkle was cataloging her books in alphabetical order while Spike slept in his usual disheveled state. It was always the same thing everyday. Twilight would wake up and start with the books. Even after they were coordinated on the shelves, she was never happy.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to have fun with her friends. It was more so the fact that she couldn’t leave the library so disorganized. It had become a drab standard for her to do this. Occasionally, a villain would arise in Equestria, but Twilight was a Princess now. She still came to realize that the Rainbow Power she had defeated Tirek with was still withheld inside of her, and that was what she used to beat any problem.
She sighed, “Spells for Beginners” sliding in next to “Spooky Tales for Nightmare Night.” She was tired. Tired of always looking at these books. She wanted something interesting in her life. She wanted a challenge!
“Ugh, all life offers me is the chance to mess around in the library and hang out with my best friends...I need some excitement!” She sat down, head in her hooves. It seemed like she would be stuck in this circle for the rest of her life. That was, if she wasn’t immortal.
Taking a gander out the window, Twilight noticed something off about Ponyville. Perhaps it was the fact that it was night instead of day. Had it really gone by all that fast? She could hear the crickets, their harmonious chords ringing across Ponyville.
The next things she heard were the ponies outside, all clamoring on about how it wasn’t the right time for the moon to come out. Twilight knew it! She whisked herself outside, the spell slightly malfunctioning, putting her on her roof.
“Well, it gives me a better view…” She looked down, realizing she was in the exact center of her house, only causing her to grumble further in anger at her neatness. Taking a peek through her telescope, she realized that the other ponies’ worries shouldn’t even be thought about. It was just a simple solar eclipse, which would inadvertently cause the beautiful day to darken.
She chuckled to herself, giggling because she actually thought something was wrong. Of course nothing was wrong! It was just a casual day in the life of Twilight Sparkle...like always…
At that moment, it was decided. She would do something exciting, anticipating the realization that she could brag to all of her friends about her amazing achievement! Now that she was a Princess, she could go anywhere she wanted, and do anything she wanted!
Her horn lit up, her being lost to another place. She opened her eyes, finding herself on the highest cliff in Equestria, maybe even anywhere else! With another pop of her horn, a large bag was strapped to her back, the wind blowing it to the side.
The zephyr against her mane felt like heaven, the world all coming down on her. There was no going back. She was going to skydive, and it would feel amazing! Her mane blew behind her, the bag swaying in the wind with each swift blow the sky brought.
She looked down, the sudden wave of common sense hitting her. She had no idea what she was doing. All she knew was that she jumped, and the bag would deliver her safely to the life below.
For a second, Twilight second-guessed this choice. Was she seriously going to go through with this. Either way, one or the other, she had no choice. A sudden shake from the ground tripped her up, and she was on her way, plummeting to what seemed like her demise. She closed her eyes, awaiting the arrival of her doom.
It never even came.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself to be drifting above the air. Looking up, she also grasped the fact that the bag was soaring way above her head, unattached to her. Looking to her sides, she felt relieved to see her wings spread wide open. With a couple flaps, she was back in the air, a frown conceiving on her lips.
She had failed! Trying to do something exciting, she had made a horrible mistake, accidentally doing something embarrassing. Looking up, she saw her old friend Maud Pie, digging away at some rocks, which probably formed the earthquake that knocked her off-balance.
Twilight’s eyes brightened again, a new thought forming inside of her mind! There was another task, much safer, that she could do, and still brag to her friends about.
Looking down into the deep ravine, she immediately began to regret this situation almost as much as the last one. The cord attached to her chest felt secure, but the drop below looked much less fun than the ponies in her books made it seem like.
The pony supervising her smiled at Twilight, still shivering in her place.
“Come on, Twilight...if you don’t do this, you’ll end up writing crummy fictions about your friends all day!” Her eyes turned back to the dark abyss that lie below her. She decided she would count down from ten, and then she would jump. No matter what, this was going to be the attempt that blew her friends’ minds.
Ten, nine, eight…
Her breathing deepened, the sweat pooling from her face making her hooves slippery.
Seven, six, five…
She couldn’t do it! It was too scary! Why would she risk her life for a story!?
Four, three, two, one…
Her legs knew it before she knew it. She was falling, and the dark enveloped her as the solar eclipse had on Equestria. Her screaming was drowned out by the loud hisses of the bats that hung in packs within the caves. Opening her eyes, Twilight knew that nothing bad was happening. This was actually...somewhat fun!
She began to whoop and holler , the cold breeze winding its fingers through her soft mane. Her goal was completed! She had finally done something exciting without being a total embarrassment!
Snap!
Of course, perhaps she spoke a bit too soon. She didn’t have the chance to come up. The cord had cracked, snapping into two as she yet again felt herself falling. In this small trench, she knew her wings wouldn’t be able to fan out and protect her. This time, she really was going to die!
Then she hit the ground. She only fell for a good length of three seconds, her face flushing over. She had only been a few feet from the ground, which just made this attempt so much worse than the last.
Standing up, her knees wobbled. They were slightly battered from the short plummet into the center of the world, the purple fur that made up her coat becoming a darker shade. She had instantly known where she was. These were the crystal caverns that Queen Chrysalis had sent her to on the day her big brother was getting married.
It was said that the caverns were inescapable, and her magic was defective here. The only way out would be to find her way through the labyrinth of tunnels she so vaguely remembered.
Countless hours of twists and turns proved so fruitless to Twilight’s adventure. The day was going to come to a conclusion soon, and she hadn’t even done one thing that could make one heck of a story! She was starting to believe that the world only wanted her to be a librarian all day long.
A light blasted Twilight in the face, blinding her for mere seconds. When her vision was repaired, she opened her eyes to find her outside. The sunlight radiated off of her dark coat, the warmth hitting Twilight square in the chest. She made a slight purring sound, her eyes suddenly bursting open.
Who had saved her!? She was stuck...it didn’t make any sense! Maybe the world really did want her to do something exciting! She jumped for joy, a devilish smile creeping onto her face. She had the perfect idea for the most exciting thing she was going to do all day!
The castle seemed larger than she last remembered it. Maybe they added an extra tower. Coming up to the front, she said her normal greetings to the guards at the gate, her saddlebags hanging low, almost to the ground.
“Good morning! Don’t worry! Just a Princess of Equestria wandering by!” And then it hit her. She was a Princess of Equestria! She could have just used her magic to teleport inside!
Using her magic, which proved to be quite anemic today, she weakly teleported inside of the castle to avoid carrying her heavy cases. Inside the throne room, Princesses Celestia and Luna were all taking naps on their high seat. Even the sound of Twilight’s presence didn’t alarm them nor awaken them. She giggled and crept over to them, pulling out some permanent markers and tape.
With a sly hoof, Twilight began drawing mustaches and strange symbols on Princess Celestia’s face. All the while, she was chuckling to herself, congratulating herself in her mind on a job well done. Her art said it all. Princess Celestia wasn’t going to be giving any royal speeches for a while.
When Twilight was through with Princess Celestia, she looked at her creation from the front, yet again coming to a frown. All the sides were equal. The mustache was the same on both sides, and the symbols she drew weren’t actually symbols. She had drawn nothing more than a few equations on Celestia. It was obvious that Luna wasn’t the type of pony who would do this. She would suspect Twilight the moment her face appeared in a mirror.
Twilight grunted, taking the next half hour to, very carefully, erase all of the marker off of Celestia’s face. It wasn’t going to be perfect, but Twilight all but cared anymore. This was, by far, her worst day ever. She would rather have just spent it inside, organizing her books.
She looked down, a tear falling to the floor. With another small flick of her horn, she was back at the library. Spike was gone from his bed, most likely having ventured to Rarity’s place for some crazy love attempt. The night fell in through the windows of the library, a candle illuminating the parts of the room that had yet to be livened up.
Twilight didn’t take a second glance at her books. She just sulked up the stairs, her eyes heavy. Her schedule hung beside her bed, clean and ready to be filled out for another whole month, but right now, Twilight had no energy to do such a thing. She just layed down on her bed, bad thoughts of the day roaming free. Her mind was a zoo, the animals having all escaped.
“SHUT UP!” Her voice echoed across the library, the creaking door at the bottom of the stairs closing hastily.
“I haven’t even said anything yet!” Spike’s voice, terrified, trembled at the bottom of the stairs.
“Spike, I’m sorry. I just...I’m not exciting! All I do is spend all day making schedules and changing the order of my books! I’ve even started to ignore my friends for it...I’ve tried to be exciting all day, and nothing seems to work!”
Her head went into her hooves again, her grunts being replaced with sobs. Spike ran up the stairs to Twilight’s side, his tiny claws rubbing her mane. “It’s okay, Twilight. You know, I think you’re really exciting, no matter what you’re doing. It always seems like you do the same things, but you mutter and play games with your books! It’s so fun to watch. Whether you talk or not, I think you’re amazing, and definitely one of the coolest ponies I know!”
Twilight looked up, her smile illuminated in the candlelight. The moonlight shone heavy on her, her whole body beginning to glow. Both of the roommates stared in wonder at the glow emitted from Twilight’s body, which suddenly dissipated into the heavens.
Both of them were asking a million questions in their head, but Twilight couldn’t think of a single one to answer. The moonlight seemed to beseech her to come outside, and she could do nothing but follow its pleas.
The door lurched opened, the cool night airs rushing in to puff out the candle, leaving only a halo of smoke behind. The moonlight seemed to radiate a strong force attached to it, Twilight mesmerized by its soft brilliance.
Outside, a spotlight of the moon shone on Twilight’s being, Luna beaming a smile at Twilight. Twilight wasn’t in the mood for this. Her day had been exasperating, she was too tired to think clearly, and her thoughts were far off in another universe. The most she could do was look up, eyes in a squint, asking Luna why she would bring her outside on a cold night, especially a night like this one.
“Well, don’t think I did not see what you were doing to my sister, and how you had evidently failed at it, as well.” Her voice was soft, unlike the various other times she had visited Ponyville.
Twilight was confused. It was easy to believe that Luna would spy on an unclassified prankster, but why would she come all the way to Ponyville to rub it in Twilight’s face that she sucked at everything that didn’t involve a piece of paper and a quill? She turned around, her body emotionally collapsing on the inside. She wasn’t going to stand out here and be insulted.
Pop!
Luna stood in front of Twilight, her face still in a simper. “And, of course, I want to help you and teach you how to prank Equestria!”
Twilight stopped, looking up into Luna’s star-gazing eyes. She was sure this was all just some kind of prank. Her face twisted into one of confusion, and Luna responded with a laugh.
“I am not kidding you, my little pony! I want to teach you how to pull a good joke on my sister. She didn’t give me any cake yesterday!”
Twilight beamed, excitement flowing through her whole body. Jolts of lightning zapped her with their energy. She was actually going to learn how to do something that wasn’t books!
And maybe, for once, she could tell an exciting story to her friends about how she tricked the biggest ruler of Equestria.
Twilight was going to do something exciting.