“Cucco cucco cucco cucco” chirped the clock.
Twilight looked away from her book and towards her wall clock, watching as the bird flew in and out, alerting her that it was now four in the morning, with only two to go until morning. Twilight rubbed the top of her head vigorously with her hooves, letting out a groan as she turned the page of her book.
A few moments passed and her bedroom door creaked open revealing a baby dragon walking in and rubbing his eyes. “Twilight” he said. “It's four in the morning... you should go to bed.”
“Oh Spike” Twilight replied. “You know I have a big test tomorrow. It's on Nuclear Physiology and I have absolutely no idea what all of this is.” She said grudgingly, pointing at a picture in her book.
Spike looked at the book, and quickly turned around. “Meh, boring” he said.
“Boring?!?” Twilight asked. “My whole life depends on this test!” She impressed.
“Twilight, it's only a test. You ace every single one of them... if you get a bad grade on one, it's not like Princess Celestia will fail your entire class.” Spike explained.
“No Spike, that's just it... if I fail... it's all over! If I fail... she'll send me... back to... MAGIC KINDERGARTEN!” Twilight cried, tears soaking her book.
“Twilight you're gonna do fine” Spike assured. “Seriously, when have you NOT done fine?”
Twilight looked at her book once more, before shutting it with her magic. “You're right Spike, it's time for bed.”
The following morning, Twilight sat in her desk in Canterlot and carefully examined her test paper before handing it to the teacher.
“Done miss Sparkle?” the instructor asked, taking the test graciously from her.
“Yes sir” she said with a smile.
It only took him a minute to grade it. “Oh my” he said with a frown. He wrote something on the top of the paper before placing it into a plain envelope and handing it to Twilight. “Please take this to the Princess. She will most definitely wish to see you.
Twilight let the envelope hover over her head as she walked out of the classroom and down the main corridor. She took the first set of stairs on her right, and proceeded down a secret path that only a few guards knew existed. “That's one benefit of growing up as the Princess's personal protege” Twilight thought to herself, thinking back to her times as a filly wandering the corridors between classes, seeking out all the hidden secrets of the castle.
A few minutes passed before Twilight stood at the door to Princess Celestia's personal chambers. She gave a few solid knocks and stood patiently.
“Enter” Twilight heard from inside the room.
Opening the door, she proceeded inside. Princess Celestia was seated at her table, looking through some documents, occasionally signing her name in a few places on them.
“Twilight, my most faithful student. Please sit down.” Celestia said, and instinctively, Twilight took a seat beside her. She glanced at the documents, some bearing her former foal-sitter’s name, obviously they had to deal with business from the Crystal Empire.
About a half hour passed before Celestia signed her name on a final piece of paper, and placed it on the top of the pile. She placed her quill down, turned to face her student and gave a small sigh.
“So” She whispered. “What do I owe the pleasure of your visit to Twilight?” Celestia asked, noticing the envelope in front of Twilight.
“Umm... umm.” Twilight stuttered, pushing the envelope towards her teacher. “I... don't think I did well on this test.”
Celestia floated the envelope in front of her and removed the test from it. “Well... let's see what we have here.” She scanned the test, looking over the test she gave a short sigh before allowing it to fall in front of Twilight.
As it fell, Twilight got a glimpse at what her teacher had written. “Only a sixty nine?” Twilight asked sadly. “That's a... a... F! I.... failed” she whispered, hanging her head low in shame.
Celestia cupped Twilight's head in her hoof and lifted it so that her eyes met. “Twilight, it's not the end of the world dear. It was only one test.” She said, before excusing herself from the table. She approached her bookshelf and picked one out, and sent it back to the table where she sat back down in front of it.
“However Twilight...” Celestia said. “I expected better from my star pupil.”
Twilight lowered her head once more. “I know Princess... I should have studied harder.”
Celestia nodded her head, pulling a paper from her book and writing a few things on it. “Starting tomorrow you will take a supplemental course.”
Twilight nodded, taking the paper from Celestia.
“I Princess Celestia” She read out loud. “Hereby decree that on this date, my personal student, Twilight Sparkle, shall begin extracurricular classes in order to boost her recent grades. She will begin her studies with Professor La Scola in room 294 for..... MAGIC KINDERGARTEN?!?” she screamed.
Celestia nodded. “Yes Twilight, for punishment for your failure, you will begin your studies in Magic Kindergarten. Hopefully next time... you take your studies a bit more seriously.”
“Yes Princess” Twilight responded in a whisper, before excusing herself and leaving.
That night, Twilight gathered her books up and placed them in a neat pile in front of her door. She went over her checklist to assure she had everything she needed. “Books? Check... Paper? Check... Pencils? Check.... Crayons? Check” she thought audibly, walking back to her room and pulling herself into her bed.
The next day in class, Twilight sat in the middle of the classroom, surrounded by her six year old peers. Many giggled at the idea of a mare being placed in kindergarten with them, others however, thought that it was 'neat' as they described it.
“So class” the instructor spoke. “Who is the scholar in which our studies will be focused around?” She asked,
Twilight sat at her desk with her hoof raised in the air.
“Anypony?” she asked. To which Twilight started waving her hoof back and forth. “Come on children... does anypony know? How about you Crystal?”
A small Pegasus filly lowered her head onto her desk, tears in her eyes. “Umm... nei......” she whispered while Twilight jumped out of her seat waving her hand ferociously.
The instructor shook her head and grunted before responding. “Fine... miss Sparkle.”
Smiling, Twilight cleared her throat. “The unicorn in question is Star Swirl the Bearded. He is known mostly for his research into the space time continuum, and even has a section of the Canterlot Royal Library dedicated specifically to him. He has created over two hundred spells and...”
“Yes yes, very good miss Sparkle.” the instructor interrupted. “Star Swirl the Bearded is correct.”
A few seconds passed and the bell rang, signaling lunch time.
“OK everypony, lunch time. Please form a single file line and we will proceed to the... Twilight Sparkle! Where do you think you are going young lady?” The instructor asked as Twilight started to leave the classroom.
“Umm to go eat lunch with the Princess?” she responded.
“You are to fall in line with the rest of your classmates so that we can go to the cafeteria” professor La Scola replied.
“But!” Twilight interjected. “I'm the Princess's personal protege! I always eat lunch with her on school days!”
“I could care less who you miss smarty mouth. You are in my class, and you will follow my rules.” she replied mockingly to the amusement of the fillies and colts around her.
“Haha” laughed one colt.
A filly threw a paper ball towards Twilight, and laughed as it bounced off the side of her head. Another shot a spit ball that lodged itself in her mane, while another shot a rubber band from the front that hit her in the chest.
Twilight collapsed, covering her head with her forelegs feeling helpless as she was assaulted with a barrage of paper balls. One by one they bounced off of her until she finally let out a blood curling scream.
“STOP IT!” She screamed, flailing her forelegs back and forth. “LEAVE ME ALONE!”
Twilight looked around. There were no children, only empty desks around her.
“Miss Sparkle... is everything alright?” her instructor asked.
“Yes I'm... fine...” she replied, looking down at her test in front of her on the desk. “It was just a dream” she thought to herself. She finished the last question and handed it to her instructor who quickly examined it.
“Hmm.... oh my.” he whispered, scribbling a few notes at the top the paper, before sealing it in a plain envelope. “Please... bring this to the Princess.” he said, as he gave the envelope to Twilight who took it sadly.
“I failed didn't I?” she asked softly, as she slowly left the room. She took the long route to the Princess's chamber, ignoring the greetings of the guards she passed. She finally reached the door to Princess Celestia's private study and knocked firmly three times. A few seconds passed and she was invited inside.
Twilight opened the door and walked inside to see Celestia sitting by her fireplace with a stack of papers sprawled out in front of her.
“Umm Princess....” Twilight whispered.
“Twilight, my most faithful student. What is wrong? You look miserable!” Celestia said.
“Well about that” Twilight said, handing over the envelope. “I think I failed my test.”
“Well let's see what we have here” Celestia said, opening the envelope, and peering at the paper inside.
“Well?” Twilight asked.
Celestia placed the paper back inside the envelope and softly shook her head. She walked over to her bookshelf and pulled a book down, and retrieved a single paper from inside it. Signing the bottom, she stamped it with her royal seal and handed it to Twilight who took it sadly.
“I see...” Twilight said. “I'll be off to magic kindergarten then I guess.”
Celestia opened her eyes in shock. “Magic kindergarten? Whatever do you mean Twilight?” she asked.
Twilight glanced at the paper she had received and read it carefully once... then twice before a smile engulfed her entire face. “I Princess Celestia” she began reading. “Hereby decree that on this date, my student, Twilight Sparkle, has successfully completed her magical fundamentals professor course, and on this date is permitted to teach grades one through eight in the subjects of magical history, defensive spells, and or space time continuum theory.”
Celestia nuzzled her student softly. “I'm proud of you, my most faithful student.”
“I thought... I failed?” Twilight asked.
Celestia let off a giggle as she handed the test to Twilight. Twilight read the top and lowered her ears upon seeing the grade of twelve percent.
“You didn't seriously think that one test would cause you to fail your entire course... did you?” Celestia asked.
“Ummm” Twilight said, trying to hold back a giggle. “Let's not get into that.”
Celestia giggled as she handed her student her diploma, softly nuzzling her.
That night, the two of them spent some quality time with one another. Telling stories of their prior month apart, Celestia's favorite however, was the dream Twilight had had earlier.
“You... promise not to tell anypony right?” Twilight asked.
Eating the last bite of cake, Celestia placed her fork down on the plate and nodded her head. “Of course my most faithful student. My lips are sealed.”
