Disclaimer: All MLP:FiM characters belong to Hasbro and DHX Media. I do not own any of them except my OC.
I was sitting outside the school just reading the newspaper with Spike across from me reading a magazine and I noticed that the mail pony was coming. Oh dear. She better not crash. Unfortunately for me, she did. The box didn't suffer any damage, but the mail pony hit a pole. I hope Derpy is okay. Before Spike could say anything, I said to him "Let me go get Twilight." I opened a door that I made appear and went through the other one on the other side. I said to Twilight "Mail's here, Twilight." Twilight got excited about that, but before she could head to the front door, I grabbed her and took her with me through my door teleportation. Twilight was shocked at what she saw. Twilight asked Derpy "Are you alright?" I hope so. Derpy said "We just had a really heavy delivery today." I can tell. Spike asked "It is a special deluxe edition Ogres and Oubliettes figurines that I'm totally surprised by and hinting that I've needed forever?" Uh, probably not. Derpy said "Well, it's for Twilight." I figured that. I never get any mail except from Starswirl every week about his life journey. Spike sighed and Twilight said "Thank you." Well, this will be interesting. Derpy took off and said "Your welcome." Twilight inspected the package and said "Huh. It's from Princess Celestia." I said "Well, that's new. Usually we don't have anything delivered to this address from her."
Spike felt something come up and he burped out a letter. Probably from Celestia. She could have just put it in the package. Unless, she doesn't trust the postal system to keep it safe. That is a possibility. Spike said "So's this. Really? She couldn't have put it into the box?" I guess not. Like I said, she might not trust the postal system to keep it safe from any ponies that she doesn't want to see. Twilight used her magic and levitated the letter over to her. She read it and said "My dearest Twilight, I have been conducting a thorough cleaning of the castle and I came across a few items in your old room." Heh. It's about time. "I thought you might want them back." Yeah, considering the fact that you never bothered to clean up the place after you left for Ponyville. "I didn't know I even left anything." I think you might be mistaken on that. She opened the box and there was some sort of picture frame of Twilight's family with macaroni on the picture frame. Uhhh… How odd. "Ah look. Remember this? It was the macaroni picture frame Cadence helped me make when I was a filly." I raised an eyebrow and asked "Why did you specifically use macaroni? That sounds a bit weird in my opinion." Twilight shrugged and said "I don't know. I was young. Don't act like you didn't do weird things when you were young." "She's got you there boy." Oh be quiet, Nightmare. I don't want to hear your crap today. But, regardless, Twilight does have a point. I did weird things when I was young and I just cringe at it nowadays because of how stupid I was back then.
I know most people would call me too sensitive or something like that, but it was just so cringe that I couldn't stand looking at it. Besides, I didn't have the greatest childhood, so I can act like that if I want. Spike said with sarcasm "Who could forget a masterpiece like that?" I would be careful saying that in front of her. "Why would he? It's true. Honestly, that thing looks like a piece of dog poop." HEY! That's not very nice! "I don't care. It's the truth and you know it. The only reason why she gets mad is she knows that they're right." How would you know how she feels? I bet she feels happy about it because she made it herself. "I'm not so sure about that. Even when she defends her so-called "masterpiece," she knows deep down that it was a piece of crap but refuses to admit it. An act like that is foolish and downright ridiculous. Also, to answer your question, I'm a part of you. If you can read other creatures' intentions and thoughts inside their mind and heart, then I can as well." That-That's impossible! "No, not really. For as long as you have existed, I have always been here. Even when you couldn't hear or see me. As long as you continue to exist, I will continue to remain inside your mind and soul. To get rid of me is to get rid of yourself." Whatever. He's just an evil version of me. I could easily get rid of him.
"Oh really? Have you forgotten that you are a human and were born with sinful nature? Every human being in the world is born with a sinful heart and has a dark side to them. To say that you will get rid of me is saying you are no longer human. Until the second coming happens and you go to heaven or whatever it's called, you will continue to have a dark side to yourself. Humans were made to be perfect by God, but when Satan himself tricked Eve into eating that apple in Genesis Chapter 3, all purity in mankind's hearts were thrown out the window and humanity began to sin like it was second nature to them." Yes, yes, yes. I know the story. You don't need to give me a history lesson on that. "Clearly, you don't seem to have been paying attention. You do realize that Satan himself knows the Bible better than even the best Bible scholar?" Yes I do realize that. It makes me annoyed, but I know there's nothing I could have done about it. "You have a fair point. Even if you wanted to, God would never forgive Satan whatsoever. It's truly sad, but since God knows what's in his heart, it's quite a fair punishment. Even saying that would be an understatement." I know it is. But what exactly is your point to all of this we are talking about? "The point is you can't get rid of me. Sure, I will disappear once the second coming happens, but until that day comes, I'm not going anywhere. So you can try as hard as you can, but you'll fail every time." Whatever you say Nightmare King.
Going back to the current situation, Twilight slammed the picture frame against Spike because of the sarcasm he made and Twilight obviously didn't like that. She's having none of it. Twilight said "My G1 Starswirl figure!" Uhh? What do you mean by that? Are you telling me that Starswirl existed in the Generation 1 My Little Pony series back in the 1980's? That can't be true. The only ones I know of off the top of my head that are still here are Tirek, the Smooze, Spike, and Grogar. All of those characters are still with us in the G4 generation which is the best in my opinion. I think most people can agree. "And some of my favorite school scrolls!" Let me take a look at that. Hmm. Oh dear me. What is this?! Yeah, this definitely sounds like Twilight back in the day. "And here's my extra extra credit report on the impedance of using magic in everyday chores. Ha! Still so true." I raised a brow and asked "You had chores as a child?" Twilight looked at me and said "Yeah. Didn't you?" I said "No." Twilight's jaw dropped. Now I'm sure everybody's jaws dropped, including the audience. Yes, you heard me right. I didn't have to do chores as a kid. I only grew up with my younger sister and my parents blessed both of us enough by not having either of us do chores. I'm sure every kid envys me for that, but it's whatever.
Don't worry. I still picked up basic things. Back when I was living in Tampa, I knew how to cook my own food, do the dishes, do the laundry, take out the trash, stuff like that. I still do know how to do that stuff to this day though. I even knew how to grill. My friends and I would have a monthly gathering at my house and I would cook steaks or burgers and hotdogs and we would have a good ol' time. I miss those days. There's no way I could do it here with the Mane Six as my friends. They would all look at me like I was a cannibalist or something even if I did reassure them this is how I need to eat. That's why I do it in the Everfree Forest, where no one can see me doing that. Because I know that if any of them saw me doing it, they would never look at me the same and cast me out of their friend group. So, I have to do it in secret. Spike said "Is my Smash Fortune comic in there? I've been looking for that for years." I'm not sure. Spike fell into the box and held up a book. "Hold this." I decided to take a look at it and it gave me interest. I said to Twilight "Hey Twilight, what's the backstory behind this book?" Twilight stopped looking at the scroll and panicked. She said "Oh no. Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" What? Was it something I said? Spike said "What's wrong? It just looks like an old library book." Unless you bought it, which most don't, that can be very serious.
Twilight said "Exactly! It belongs to the Canterlot Library!" Oh, that place. No wonder it seems like I missed a book in there. Oh well. It probably wouldn't have helped anyway. "That means it's… *opens book to the front and pulls out the card from the cardholder* overdue!" Hmm. Let me look at that date. Oh my. Okay then. Yeah, that was a really long time ago. Spike said "It's not that big of a deal. Just turn it back in." Twilight paced around and said "You don't understand Spike! I have a perfect library return record!" I did at one point, but then it got broken by having an overdue library book by two weeks. Not several years. It only costed like 40 some dollars or something as a late fee. Spike said "Ahem. Had a perfect record." Har har. Very funny. Thanks, Mr. autocorrect. Twilight groaned and said "I've never turned in a book a minute late!" That's pretty good if you ask me. "And THIS ONE has been overdue since I left for Ponyville!" WOAH! That is a really long time. I said "That was like over a decade ago at this point." I've been with Twilight for like 5 almost 6 years now. So this was probably 11 years ago or something. I saw the visual from so many years ago before we were introduced to the show and it surprised me.
The library actually has a picture frame of Twilight holding a record that doesn't even sound that cool to me. It fits her just fine, but not me. I care about turning in books on time, but I could care less about some record or title or whatever. It doesn't matter to me. Then we saw the scene that we were introduced to when the show first began over 11 years prior. I know this is the 9th season, but a lot more time has passed in between episodes and seasons than you think. Oh wait. Now here's a detail that they didn't show us in the series premiere. When Twilight was pushing around books, the book that fell under the couch or whatever it is was actually that book that Twilight is freaking about right now in the present. "And Celestia sent me to Ponyville and forgot all about this!" I said "You didn't bother to check when you visited there several years ago when you tried to make amends to Moondancer and your other old friends?" Twilight's jaw dropped. She asked "Ho-how did you know about that?!" I said "It honestly shouldn't even be a surprise at this point. Since I have my full power back, I can easily look in the timeline and that was part of it. Oh, I also did notice that was the time Starlight spied on you when she was still evil. She sat there in the corner with a menu in her face pretending not to be noticed when I could easily tell she was there. But that's in the past now."
Twilight was in shock for a few moments before saying "Dusty Pages prided herself at no books were damaged or lost on her watch. And I failed her! I failed myself!" Really? Okay then. Spike asked "I take it we're going to Canterlot?" I said "Better late than never." Twilight grabbed her bag and put the book inside before taking off. I sighed and took off after her. Spike soon followed as well. We made it to Canterlot pretty quickly and landed right in front of the library. Man. That building still looks just as good as it always has. Twilight panicked and hid in the bushes. I flew over to her and said "Why are you hiding in the bushes? You are making a fool out of yourself by doing that." Twilight said "What if somepony sees me in there?" Okay? Who cares? "I'm the Princess of Friendship." Okay. I'm still not getting it. Oh wait. I get it now. Yeah, that wouldn't be too cool. These days, word spreads like wildfire and next thing you know, that will ruin her reputation. So I guess it's understandable. "Everywhere I go, ponies recognize me." They recognize me too. "I'll stick out like a sore hoof!" I said "Ponies recognize me as well and I stick out more than you do. Sure, you might be an alicorn, but I am a completely different species, so I don't think you would stick out as much to someone like me or something."
Twilight hid under the bushes some more and Spike said "Princess Twilight Sparkle in a library? Stop the presses!" I raised an eyebrow and Twilight seemed offended by that. She said "A late book is a big deal Spike." She's not wrong about that. "What if Dusty Pages revokes my library card?" That is an interesting photo for a library card. And I don't mean the good interested. You know what I'm talking about. "Or bans me from ever entering the building again?!" I'm not even sure she works here anymore. She was an elderly mare then, and she'd definitely be older now. Spike came out of the bushes and he asked "Don't you have most of those books in your collection at home?" Probably. Twilight said "Yes, but the ones in there have a special Canterlot library-e smell!" You're kidding right? I've never heard anything more dumb in my life. Spike asked "You sniff books?" I don't. Twilight asked "You don't?" I said "Who would even smell books in the first place? That's honestly one of the dumbest things I've ever heard." Twilight seemed offended and slapped me across the neck. OW!
She said "Keep your comments to yourself, mister!" Yes, mom. Twilight rolled her eyes and hid back in the bushes when she saw someone. Whatever. "I used to live in a library." I wish I would have seen that. "If I'm not a good example of proper book-borrowing behavior, then what kind of princess am I?" I said "A princess that makes mistakes just like everybody else? Yeah, sounds about right. It's not that deep. Just because you are royalty doesn't mean that you aren't prone to mistakes. Of course, that doesn't stop the "Canterlot Elite" from making fun of royalty when they make a mistake. Nothing but a bunch of hypocrites in my opinion. And no, I'm not talking about all of Canterlot. I'm talking about the nobles. Piece of garbage. Anyways, enough of that crap. Once you return the book, you'll feel better about it." Twilight smiled and said "Thanks Zach. Come on! Let's go." She saw another pony and hid behind the bush again. Twilight chuckled nervously and I rolled my eyes. Twilight came out and walked inside with Spike following her. I summoned a door and walked in and then came out on the other side where the checkout desk is. Yeah, I'm using door teleportation. I love it.
Twilight got nervous and hid her face behind a plant. Really? Ugh. Whatever. Twilight said in an attempt to sound like a man "I have a book to return." You aren't going to fool anybody by doing that. The librarian didn't fall for the bait and said "Princess Twilight! So good to see you. Oh, and a hello to you too, Prince." I said "Thanks." Yeah, I'm recognized here. I'm one of five royals right now. Flurry doesn't count. She's still a baby and doesn't have a title quite yet. Twilight sighed and set the plant down. The librarian said "Need some recommendations from the newly released section?" That's where it is? Huh. Back home, that cart was books that were unwanted people didn't want to check out. You could also buy them if you had the money for it. The only exception to that was the Library of Congress. You had to be a government official or library employee if you wanted to check out a book. The general public can still read them inside the library, they just can't take it home with them like most libraries can. Twilight gasped in excitement and said "Is that the new edition of "Moon Curved Seven Theories on Bending Time?" I have been waiting for the release si-" before I had the shadow from my scepter at Twilight. She looked at me and Spike and we both raised eyebrows.
Twilight put the book away and said "Uh, I mean, no books today. Thanks." Everypony gasped in horror and I rolled my eyes. Mind your own business, you incompetent ponies. "But I do need to speak with Dusty Pages about uh, ahem, sensitive matter." The librarian was confused and asked "Dusty who?" She doesn't work here anymore. I knew it. Twilight, you are making yourself look stupid here. Twilight laughed nervously and said "Dusty Pages? The head librarian? She's worked here forever!" I said "That was 11 years ago. A lot has changed since then. Obviously, you haven't heard the news." Twilight was confused and raised a brow. "I'll tell you later." Twilight showed a photo of Dusty Pages and the librarian at the desk said "I'm sorry Princess. I don't know her." Makes sense. She was probably quite young back when Dusty was working here. "Now, was there some other way I can help the library's Best Book Borrower?" That title just makes me cringe. One of the most useless titles I have ever seen. You couldn't even keep it clean. Twilight laughed nervously and Spike whispered "Just ask her where to return an overdue book. It's no big deal. It happens all the time." Yeah, it happens a lot more than you think it does.
Twilight said "Not to me, it doesn't." You're acting childish right now. Twilight put up the magazine and tried reasoning with Spike. Yeah, that's not going to work. "Fine. Fine! Oh no. I didn't even think about the late fine! A book out this long will probably cost a thousand bits!" I said "Hmm. Back home, that would get you arrested. Yeah, they care that much. Oh which reminds me. You might want to return that book as soon as possible. Because if that book doesn't get returned in 3 days, the library can send out a warrant for your arrest and make you serve a prison sentence. Before you ask why, I had legislation write a law in Equestria's constitution giving libraries the right to punish ponies with prison sentences if a book that's overdue hits the 12 year mark. I only did this because too many ponies were turning in books later than they should have, and libraries were complaining like crazy, so I had to satisfy them. And just so that you know, I didn't do this to target you or anything. I had no idea it would come up this fast. So don't get mad at me." Twilight was in shock, but Spike laid down the book and said "She, I mean, we have an overdue book." Twilight looked away in shame. It'll be fine. I know you will turn it in before the third day is over.
The librarian wasn't surprised at all and said "Well, that's no problem at all. In fact, it happens all the time." See? Spike was right. The librarian went down and brought up the card holder. "I'll just find it in the card catalog." You call that a catalog? Well, I guess since you ponies don't have modern technology, that is the best you got. Back home, they would just search up the call number on the computer and not go through cards in a cardholder. "Uh, number 18905. Got it. Oh, wow. Yeesh. I haven't seen a book this late since, well, ever. *clears throat* You need to go and see First Folio in the Grossly Overdue Book Office for ponies who should know better." The librarian gave a glare at Twilight and I said "Well, you know things do happen. Such as an evil alicorn named Nightmare Moon wanting to cause eternal night and then having Celestia herself send Twilight here to Ponyville not long after and you didn't even bother to contact her. How disgraceful." Twilight's jaw dropped for a second and then said "Don't pull any punches with those names do ya?" It appears not. Spike said "And that office would be?" Probably somewhere creepy. The librarian said "In the basement. Because of the shame! And you might want to hurry it up because the Prince's law will be activated in three days if it's not returned."
She gave a glare at me and walked away. Oh, you'll pay for that. No one gives me a glare and gets away with it. NOT ON MY WATCH! I extended my head over to where she was and gave her my death glare. She trembled in fear and I retracted my head back. Payback time baby. That's what you get for giving a glare without giving me a chance to respond. Twilight slammed her head against the desk and we headed to the basement. Oh my. They don't keep this place clean down here. I guess it really does add emphasis. I saw a big cobweb and I just blasted it away with my magic. Yeah, this place is freaky. Spike said "Woah. Looks like nopony ever goes down here." Tell me about it. It's the one place they don't keep clean. Twilight seemed offended and said "Nopony except undependable rule breakers who deserves all the horrors this hallway holds. Since SOMEONE thought it was a good idea to pass a law just so he can appease librarians with ridiculous problems they can handle themselves!" I said "HEY! Don't put the blame on me! First of all, rule breakers that don't care about taking good care of books need to be punished, and second, you said so yourself. A late book is a big deal. Also, they came to me. Not the other way around. I wasn't going to let ponies who could care less about the condition of books get away with a serious crime."
"Libraries back home always punished those who didn't turn in books way past the due date, and if the libraries here want that, I'll do the same thing. One more thing is you had plenty of time. The law says 12 years. So, don't be coming after me for something you failed to do. Sure, I understand the Nightmare Moon incident, but you still had plenty of time to return that book. They should have contacted you about it, but that's not the point. The point is you need to turn it in before the law takes effect in 3 days." Twilight said "So, you're really going to let me be taken to prison because I didn't turn in a book when I should have?" I sighed and said "Twilight, it's not like that. I don't want you to be faced with a prison sentence, but unfortunately, no one is above the law. There are no exceptions. And I can't reverse the law either. Even if I could, it would take longer than three days, so there's no point in it anyways. But I'm sure you can turn it in before the sun sets on the third day. I have faith in you." Twilight sighed and looked in the other direction. I don't want her to have to be taken away from me, but the law is the law. If the law says that libraries can have ponies face prison sentences once the 12 year mark hits, then that's what the law is. I can't argue with that.
Spike said "Uh, hey, it looks like First Folio left a note on her door." Gee, I wonder what it could be. Twilight said "Abandon hope all ye who enter?" Perhaps. Spike went to the door and read the note. He said "Out to lunch on Restaurant Row." Guess we'll have to try back later." How much later? Twilight said "No. I can't wait another minute to return this book! And the time it took us to get there, I racked up another… 17 bits in late fees!" How did you figure that out? "Not to mention the fact that Zach's law will be applied in three days!" Thanks for the encouragement. I'm being sarcastic for the uneducated people that don't know already. "We're going to lunch!" I'm hungry anyways. Spike said "Good, cause I'm starving." Me too. Twilight looked at the both of us with a brow raised and Spike said "Oh, you mean to find First Folio?" Dang it. Twilight ran in the other direction and we followed her. "Can we at least get takeout?" I would like that. But Twilight seems to have other ideas. We went to Restaurant Row and asked questions over and over again. It got quite repetitive. Finally, we came to the Tasty Treat and Twilight said to the both of us "Tell me if you see any librarian type ponies." Uh, okay? I'll try. Even though I failed three times already.
Before I could say anything, Spike said "Twilight, we've tried this at three other restaurants already." He has a point. But there are quite a bit of restaurants here on Restaurant Row. So, I guess it makes sense. Twilight said "And my late fines are already up another 26 more bits! Plus, the clock is ticking before that law takes effect!" You still have plenty of time. Spike fake cried and walked around. Apparently, there were two ponies sitting at a table and called out to Spike as if he was a waiter. Since when are dragons waiters in a flipping restaurant in Canterlot of all places?! How odd. Suddenly, a voice said "Twilight? Is that you?" I recognize that voice. I turned around to see it was none other than Moondancer. Oh how lovely. This is the first time I'm actually seeing her face to face and not on a screen on my computer. Twilight said "Moondancer! How've you been?" Fine. I've been better. "I'm just visiting. No real reason." I said "Oh really? I seem to think otherwise." Twilight growled at me and did the cut off motion to me to knock it off. Well then, I never. Moondancer noticed me and asked "Are you the prince?" I said "Yes I am. It's a pleasure to meet you Moondancer." Moondancer's eyes went wide a little bit since I somehow knew her name, but she cleared her throat and began explaining.
She said "Anyway, it's good to see you. I'm just meeting my friend First Folio for lunch." How ironic. "Do you want to join us?" Yes please! Twilight said "First Folio yes! I mean, thank you." Uh huh. Okay. First Folio said "Princess Twilight. Good to meet you. And same to you, Prince Zachary." I nodded in greetings and let her continue. "Did you know your picture is still up in our library as the Best Book Borrower?" No, I didn't. Of course I did, you dimwit. How could I not? Ugh, and that title. Twilight said "Yeah. I was hoping I could talk to Dusty Pages about that." Wait for it. Moondancer said "Oh, Dusty Pages left the library moons ago. Didn't you know?" I said "I told ya Twilight. Things can change over 11 years." Twilight rolled her eyes and said "What happened?" She sat down and said "Oh, I heard she was forced to leave." Yeah, probably so. "It's so sad." I guess so. "She loved the library." Really? Hmm. How interesting. Twilight said "Wait. Forced to leave?!" Yeah, weren't you paying attention? I guess not. First Folio nodded and said "She had a perfect librarian record, until one CARELESS pony didn't return a book. Ruined it all. Oh, and also the fact that the prince's new law will have that pony arrested if the book doesn't return in three days." Gee. Thanks for telling us that. Now you're going to make me feel guilty for even trying to pass it in the first place.
I noticed Twilight was sweating profusely and Moondancer asked "Are you okay Twilight?" I don't think so. She doesn't want to have to serve a prison sentence. Twilight nodded nervously and said "Would uh, you excuse me?" She hopped out of her seat and ran out the door. I rolled my eyes and First Folio said to me "Oh, by the way, I want to thank you Prince for passing that new law into place. Ponies will definitely want to be more careful now. Although you might want to shorten up the years a little bit. 12 years seems a bit long, don't you think?" I said "Yeah. Uh huh. Well, it was great talking to ya. But, I better check on Twilight." Now I feel guilty about making that law in the first place. I still think rule breakers need to be punished, but I don't want to have Twilight be taken away from me because of a law I passed. It would crush me and would damage our relationship. I teleported outside and Twilight looked at me with anger. "Why did you have to pass that law?! You could have given me time to return it, but instead, you went behind MY BACK and passed a STUPID LAW just so you could impress LIBRARIANS! Do I mean nothing to you?! Do you not care if I get taken away from you?! DO YOU?!"
I looked at her and sighed. I said "Look. I am sorry for the pain I have caused you. It's come to the point to where I now feel guilty! I didn't think 12 years would pass by so quickly! Also, I do care about you being taken away. It would crush me if that were to happen. But there's nothing I can do to reverse the law at this point. It's too late. I understand the frustration you are having, but putting the blame on me won't solve the problem or make it go away. So please, don't throw it all on me. I don't feel any happier than you do." Twilight looked at me and she cried in my chest for a little bit. I made sure no one was around to see this. If anyone dares to peek over and sees it, I'll make sure they forget they ever saw it with a memory erasing spell. After a few minutes, Twilight said "I accept your apology, but you'll have to make it up to me." I said "Fair enough. If that's what will make you happy, then that's what I'll do." Spike came out and said "Twilight, what's wrong?" Twilight sighed and said "Dusty Pages isn't working at the library anymore because I didn't return this book! Spike, I think I got her fired!" Well, that's a bold claim.
Twilight got up and began to run. I spread out my eagle wings and followed after her. Spike wasn't too far behind either. Speaking of which, he said "Twilight, the library is that way!" He's got a point. Twilight said "Change of plans. We're going to Dusty's house!" I'm not even sure she lives there anymore. If she doesn't have a job, she won't be able to pay rent. Rent here is expensive mainly cause it's the capital city of Equestria. Other places with high rent include cities like Manehattan, Baltimare, Fillydelphia, and Las Pegasus. "She used to invite me for tea all the time." Well, that's nice of her. No sarcasm this time. I swear. Spike asked "But what about your late fees?" Twilight thought about it for a second before saying "Their not as important as making things right." I guess that's a fair point. Spike said "Wait, so you're not going to return the book?" I hope that's not the case. Twilight said "No, 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." I'm not sure that's how it works, but okay. "It will fix everything!" Don't you know by now never to say that? Twilight sighed and knocked on the door. Yeah. I'm taking cover. The pony came out and yelled "DIDN'T YOU SEE THE SIGN?! NO SALES PONIES!" Dang. I guess he doesn't like soliciting. Back when I was living in Tampa, I specifically had a sign on my front door that said "No soliciting."
Most went away after reading that sign, but some didn't read it or didn't care and tried to sell me something anyway. I would open the door and point to the sign telling them to get off my property before I call the feds for trespassing. All of them would immediately turn around and high tail it out of there because they didn't want to have to deal with them. Now I know what you're thinking. One, that's not even trespassing, and two, that's very rude and threatening. Well, let me explain to you that most people do not like someone to come up to their door to try and sell them something. Also, I didn't invite them onto my property, so I can shoo them away if I wish. I have a concealed firearm in my closet because I'M AN AMERICAN AND I AM EXERCISING MY SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHT! I don't care about your stupid "gun reform" liberals. Yes, criminals or mentally unstable people should not have guns, but you can't have everyone's guns taken away. That's just taking it too far. Thankfully, a lot of people sent immediate backlash when Biden tried to pass gun control laws and basically have almost a third of the U.S. population become criminals. Even the NRA chipped in and fought back against Biden and the corrupt democratic party.
Anyways, enough about politics. They drive me nuts and don't solve anything. Twilight said "Oh, I'm not selling anything." The pony at the door didn't care and yelled "NO CAROLERS EITHER! NO SURVEYS! NO PETITIONS! NO FREE LITERATURE!" Dang, he seemed to have covered everything. The pony tried closing the door, but Twilight activated her magic and yanked the door back open. She said "No problem. I'm just looking for somepony who used to live here." Oh this will be interesting. "I'm pretty sure this was her house." Perhaps. The pony was confused and asked "Dusty Pages?" How the hay did he know? Twilight said "Yes!" and I stood there in shock. Incredible. The pony said "Hold on." He went to the back of his house and returned with a sack of mail. "She moved to Silver something. Shoals, seas, surfer, whatever." Okay then. "When you find her, GIVE HER THIS!" He dumped the sack over and out came a bunch of letters. "IT'S BEEN STACKING UP FOR YEARS! AND TELL HER TO CHANGE HER ADDRESS!" He moved back and slammed the door. Well then, he's not a very nice guy. We flew up past Canterlot and began searching. We looked everywhere and we had make it to the last stop before it covered up the map completely.
Twilight said "Silver Stable Community! "For the Best Golden Years!" Ha! You call being old golden years?! Oh please. Golden years in my opinion is when you're a young adult and you're making dough. Spike said "I hope so. It's the last Silver spot on the map we haven't looked." We went inside the main building and I noticed Spike was struggling with the letters. So, I decided to help him and lift it up from his claws and set it down on my back. It's not that heavy for me. "Thanks." I said "No problem." Spike looked around and said "Wo-ho. This place is…" before Twilight interrupted and said "Terrible. I know." I said "I was gonna say awesome, but whatever." Twilight said "There's not a single bookshelf in sight!" And your point is? "Poor Dusty." You know, she could be having the time of her life out here. "Excuse me?" The pony at the reception desk said "Yes. How may I help you?" Uh, yeah. I want to see where I can sleep for the night. This place looks great and I'm really tired because of how old I am and I just need to crash somewhere. You got anything? Okay thanks. Twilight asked "Do you have a resident named Dusty Pages?" I would think so.
The receptionist said "Oh yes. Her apartment is in the next complex. Ground floor." Thank you very much. I will go crash there for the night and have a delicious breakfast in the morning. Twilight said "Thank you!" and we walked over to Dusty's apartment. "I can't believe my mistake sent her here!" I said "Maybe she just wanted to retire and come live here instead. It is a nice place to be when you are elderly." Twilight said "That's not the point, Zach. She could be surrounded by hundreds of wonderful smelling books!" I said "You do realize that not everypony has the same interests as you right? Interests change over time. Even when you are this far into life, your interests can still change." Spike said "He's got a point Twi." Twilight just huffed and we continued walking. Suddenly, I noticed the door we just walked past. I extended my head backwards to make sure, and then I retracted my whole body to where my head was. Twilight said "There she is! Here we go." Moment of truth here. Twilight knocked on the door and nopony answered it. She waited a few seconds, but nothing happened. "UGH!" I said "You know, she could always be out doing something right now. Just because you are elderly doesn't mean you can't have fun." Twilight looked at me and said "You know, you're no help sometimes Zach." Thanks, Twilight. I appreciate that. I'll take that as a compliment. But sometimes, what I say can be her own conscious. But whatever.
Spike said "I'm sure she'll bound up soon. Maybe we should just wait here." Obviously, that was the wrong thing to say as Twilight replied "NO! We're fixing this now! This place isn't that big!" Are you sure about that? "We can find her!" Easier said than done. Spike had an annoyed look on his face while I just rolled my eyes. Whatever you say Twilight. We went to where the docks were and saw some elderly folk painting on the boardwalk. They seem to be having fun. "Sorry to interrupt your planar painting, but we're looking for Dusty Pages. Have you seen her?" I think she went to 7-Eleven to go get a big gulp or something. Oh wait. This is not the United States. This is Equestria. They don't have convenience stores here. Never mind. One of the ponies said "Sure have." That's nice. But do you mind telling us? I can't read your mind. Well, technically I can, but it doesn't hold any valuable information, so you need to tell me. Twilight breathed in and out and asked "And?" before giving some weird looking face. That same pony said "She had to leave early to get to her fun b2t session." (AN: I have no idea if I spelled that word right, so if I am wrong, please tell me in the reviews section that I need to fix it and show me how it's properly spelled.)
The pony next to her said "Which is before she leads the woodworking class with me. And then she's on to wind surfing." Well, that's quite a busy schedule. Sounds fun regardless though. "Seems kinda boring to me." Oh hush Nightmare. You don't consider anything fun. "Actually I do. Terrorizing the world and watching them suffer is what I consider fun. Not this senseless crap." That is honestly so disgraceful, but since such evil resides in you, it makes sense. The other pony said "Oh, and don't forget theatre rehearsal. Dusty's playing the lead role… again." The male pony said "Then there's her band practice later." How interesting. Twilight sand "Thank you!" and we took off. Spike said "Wow. Sounds like Dusty is one busy pony." It sure does. Twilight said "Oh, she's just filling her days with distractions to cover up the pain of losing the best job ever!" That's what you consider the best job ever. "But not for long!" Twilight continued walking and I said "Uh huh. Yeah, sure whatever you say Twilight." Twilight growled at me in annoyance and I rolled my eyes. She'll get it eventually.
Anyway, we continued searching or at least they did while I simply watched. I noticed that when they went on the water and having no luck, they both lost their balance and fell into the water. So, I had to come and drag them out and put them safely back on dry land. After that, we went to the music hall and found Dusty Pages. That took a minute. She looked like she was having fun though. Twilight said "Dusty Pages! Finally!" Woo-hoo! I'm so excited I'm going to pee myself. Not really. I'm being sarcastic for all you uneducated people out there. "Come on Spike!" I put an obsidian wall in front of her and said "Hold your horses, Twilight. No offense though. Anyway, I don't think you understand. Dusty is having a good time up there and I don't think she looks miserable. Do you?" I removed the obsidian wall and Twilight took a look. She said "I guess not. But trust me. It's all an act!" I said "Does that really look like an act to you? Because logically, that doesn't make any sense." Twilight was annoyed and said "Hush up and let me do my thing without you always criticizing me!" I gave her an offended look and said "If that's what you want. Don't come to me for help if you screw up."
I went into my shadow form and disappeared. Spike said "He does have a point, Twilight." Twilight gave him a glare and he backed up a bit. "Okay, I think I'll be quiet now." Hey, I don't blame ya for trying Spike. Twilight went over and picked up the instruments with her magic stopping the music. She said "Care to take five everypony?" Uh, how about no? I was actually enjoying the music until YOU had to ruin it! "You see what I mean my dear self? This is what I've been trying to tell you for weeks now. Twilight doesn't care about what you say even if it's the cold hard truth. She's set in her own ways and never uses logical sense until it's too late." Hey, no one's perfect. Twilight is no exception to that! "Yes, but doesn't it annoy you that she constantly gets annoyed or upset with you when all you're doing is telling the truth?" Yes, it does annoy me, but never to the point of hatred. "Clearly, you don't pay attention enough. Ponies like this are incompetent and are foolish. She says that still cares, but yet she continues to belittle you when you are doing nothing wrong." Well, I might be a bit blunt about it. "That might be true, but sometimes you have to be blunt about the truth. There's no sugarcoating it at all like this is Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Anyone who takes offense to the brutal truth are nothing more than blind fools that don't know anything about squat."
Dusty Pages saw who it was and said "Oh, Twilight Sparkle?" The one and only. "My stars. It's so wonderful to see you." Same to you even though you can't see me. I would be here right now, but a certain pony wasn't too happy with me, so I satisfied her want by removing my presence from her for now. Hope you're happy Twilight. "What are you doing here?" Finding your space junk at the post office. "How about the so-called "Princess of Friendship" disrespecting and insulting anyone who dares to speak the truth?" She didn't call me insults or disrespect me. You're taking this small issue and making it a lot bigger than what it's intended to be. You're making this a mountain out of a molehill. "Not really. That's basically how it is. You obviously are blind to that and don't see how bad it really is because you are naïve and favor one side over the other without knowing the full truth." I know the full truth! That's why I don't listen to the darkness because it will always betray you in the end and never tells the truth at all even if it's a half lie. God specifically said to not listen or even associate with the darkness whatsoever. "Save the sermon for Sunday." Excuse me? That is not just a Sunday thing. It's every day of the week! You don't be religious on Sunday, and then go back to being part of the world on Monday. As Casting Crowns put it, the Church on Sunday should be the Church on Monday as well.
"I don't need to hear this." Fine. If you don't want to hear it, you can go somewhere else. "It's not that simple boy." Whatever. Anyway, Twilight said "I've been looking all over Equestria for you!" We have? Didn't seem like it. "I need to tell you something." Oh and what is that? Dusty said "Oh, you brought my mail. Thank you!" Hey! Don't squeeze her to death! Twilight said "No, I mean, yes we did, but that's not why we're here." Here we go. "I let you down." How so exactly? "And I can't forgive myself until I set things right!" You don't need to set things right. They are fine just the way they are. The only thing you need to do is turn in that library book before the 3 day mark is up and my law takes effect. Dusty said "I don't remember you doing anything wrong." Hmm. Sounds interesting. Twilight said "You told me to take care of a special book I checked out from the Canterlot library." I saw that. "And I never brought it back!" Dusty gasped and said "It was you that had that book out?" Yes, it was. "The one that broke my perfect record?" Pretty much. Twilight nodded and said "But now you can bring it to Canterlot library and get your job back!" You don't understand Twilight. Dusty went wide eyed for a second before saying "No thank you. I don't ever need to see that library again!" I figured as much. "Now, if you excuse me, I have somewhere to be." Well, that was blunt. She picked up the mail from the floor and closed the door.
Twilight had her head planted on the bar table and Spike was enjoying the music while sipping away on some juice. Twilight didn't like that and said "Do you mind?" The pony on the drums shook her head no and Twilight put her head back down. "I don't understand." It's not that hard. "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." I came out of my shadow form and into my lion form basically behind the counter. I said "Because you are naïve Twilight. It all makes perfect sense on why she doesn't want to go back. You haven't put 2 and 2 together. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why she doesn't want to go back. From the looks of it, she seems a lot happier here than she did all those years ago." Twilight looked at me with an angry stare and said "Well, that's good for you Zach. I'm glad that this is all so "obvious" to you! You clearly are SOOO much smarter than the rest of us and we clearly are the fools! Oh my! How terrible!" I said "You can drop the attitude. I don't think I'm better than anyone else and I never said that I was smarter than anyone else. You're only saying that because you don't want to admit you're wrong."
Twilight didn't like that and said gritting her teeth "Get out." I was surprised and said "Seriously? You're kicking me out over telling the truth? That's pathetic!" Twilight put on a sound proofing spell to make sure no one else could hear us and screamed at the top of her lungs "GET OUT!" My eyes went wide and then I closed them in bitterness. I said "If that's what you want. Since I am no longer of any use to you, I won't even bother. I'm not going to say something I'll regret, but know that rage will destroy you." I went into my shadow form and took off. I walked off and looked back at that building. I sighed and began walking. Suddenly, I noticed it looked to be like Twilight standing there. OH NO! NOT THIS AGAIN! Twilight had her eyes glowing white and had all of Equestria marching right behind her. Then, she raised the axe and slammed it down on me causing me to gasp a bit in horror. Once I looked around some more, I noticed that it was gone. I hate that. I hope that day never comes. I walked for a little bit but began to notice a noise coming from the wilderness nearby. So, I spread out my eagle wings and flew across the sky to investigate. It turns out it was some sort of fruit fight tournament or something like that. I saw that Twilight tried to reason with Dusty Pages again, but this time, Dusty explained why she didn't want to go back.
Apparently, when Twilight's book never came in, she was finally free from the curse of perfection. She was too stubborn for all those years to never call it quits, but Twilight's mistake gave her the perfect opportunity to finally set herself free. She also said that she learns more when she fails than when she gets it right. What's hilarious is that the title of the book was called "Perfection: The Impossible Pursuit" and Twilight never even read the book which is definitely a bruh moment. The lesson you can take away from this is perfection is our enemy. No matter how hard you try to be perfect, you will always continue to make mistakes. As long as sin continues to exist in the world, humanity will be imperfect. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what it is. It's just part of our nature. But what's important is that we own up to our mistakes and keep pushing to try and be better. Anyways, I saw Twilight head back to the Canterlot library and I just teleported there myself and hid inside one of the walls. Surprisingly, the late fees were only 28 bits considering the fact the book had been missing for almost 12 years. But it doesn't matter because now they have a new copy of the book in the library now. However, First Folio did say something that caught my attention.
She said "Tell the prince that I'm sorry for congratulating the prince on passing that law a few years ago. From what you told me, that doesn't seem very pleasant." Twilight said "I will." Sure, you will. She decided to keep the book anyways and take it home with her. I watched as she headed back to Ponyville and I simply followed after a little bit. I decided to fly over to the Treehouse of Harmony at the Castle of the Two Sisters and stare up at it. I sighed and closed my eyes. After a few moments, I opened them again and stared at the Treehouse once more. I said to myself "What am I going to do? I don't know what to do anymore, God. It seems like these days that Twilight seems to ignore me even more no matter how much I tell the truth. Sure, I might be a bit blunt about it, but you said in your word yourself that you must always tell the truth, but yet, that doesn't seem to change anything." I noticed the Sun shine down on me and saw John 16:33 imprinted in the ground which read "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." That actually does help. I don't know how I forgot about that. Suddenly, Twilight teleported over to me and I could tell she was worried sick. Before I could explain myself, Twilight came up to me and cried in my chest. Once again, I make her upset. She sniffled a bit and said "I-I'm so-so so sorry Zach. I.. I didn't mean to yell at y-you like that! Pl-please don't hate me!" What? I would never hate you.
I said "Twilight. I could never hate you. Sure, what you did crushed me and made me feel useless, but it would never make me stop caring about you." Twilight cried harder as she buried her head into my chest. "Let it all out." I stroked her mane and held her close as she continued to cry. It always crushed me when Twilight was in turmoil like this, but it all seems self-inflicted no matter how much I try for it not to be. Once Twilight let up on the crying, she looked up at me and I smiled at her while wiping away the tears from her eyes. Staring into those gorgeous violet orbs always put a smile on my face. Then, after her staring into mine, she leaned in for a passionate kiss to which I eagerly returned. Yes, yes, I know all you kids think that's gross and whatnot, but Twilight is in need of comfort and this is how I do it. After what seemed like forever, we both pulled away and smiled at one another. "Come. Let's go back to the castle." Twilight got up with me and we both spread out our wings to fly back to the castle because it was getting late and I didn't want to have to walk through the Everfree Forest. Not that I'm scared of it, but I'm too tired to go through there.
Anyway, once we returned to the castle, Twilight went into the library to read something and I went in my own personal quarters inside the castle. At this point, the moon had finally been raised up in the sky, so it was perfect timing. I took a piece of paper and a pan and began writing on it. It read this: Be strong in the Lord and never give up hope. You're gonna do great things. I already know. God's got his hand on you. So don't live life in fear. Forgive and Forget. But don't forget why you're here. Take your time and pray. And thank God for each day. His love will find a way." I know those words come from the song "The Words I Would Say" from Sidewalk Prophets, but those words are really important to me and is what keeps me going throughout life. I just decided to write it down in case I forget. I put it in the drawer and locked it up before heading off to bed. Nothing can ever take me out of his hand.
AN: Perfection is our enemy! Very true words indeed. I'm sorry this came out later than expected. It's just it turns out my Sick Moose illness hadn't quite kicked in yet and it was only the beginning. I had to endure the worst of it these last couple of days, but I feel much better now and hopefully should be back to full health in the next day or so. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!
Next Chapter: Buckball Central! After Rainbow watches a film on Ponyville's champions of Buckball, she finds Quibble Pants camped out right in front of the Buckball Hall of Fame. He presents Rainbow the issue he is having with his new marefriend's daughter, Wind Sprint, which is he doesn't know anything about sports but is trying his best to get her to like him. Zachary watches as all of this unfolds. Will Rainbow be able to help mend this broken relationship, or will she have to get Zachary involved?
Until then, my fellow readers