“That filly should be up by now!” Berry Punch said aloud as she opened the door to her daughter's room and stepped inside. She took a moment to look around the around the room, instantly noticing how messy it was. She shook her head and spotted her daughter, Ruby Pinch, fast asleep using a snare drum as a makeshift pillow. Berry walked over to the drum kit and poked the sleeping filly.
“Ruby...” Berry spoke softly. Ruby didn't respond, causing Berry to tap her once again. “Ruby.” Berry repeated, sternly this time. Ruby's unresponsiveness Berry to break out her “third time's a charm” technique. Clearing her throat, she shouted, “Ruby Pinch! Wake up this instant!” As always, the technique proved successful, with Ruby instantaneously waking up from her slumber.
Ruby groaned and looked at her mom, who was now tapping one of her fore hooves and staring down at the filly. “Hiiii Berry!” Ruby greeted. “Did...Did I really fall asleep here?”
“Yes. Yes you did, Pinchy.” She looked around Ruby's room once more, observing the overall messiness of it. “And it looks like somepony can't keep her room clean.”
Ruby rolled her eyes. “Well-” Ruby yawned.. “-I've been studying for this dumb exam that Twilight has coming up. I didn't get a chance to clean up! I'll clean it up later! I promise!”
Berry picked up one of Ruby's drum sticks and hit one of the kit's crash cymbals with it. “You call this studying?” Berry smirked at her daughter.
Ruby magicked the stick away from her mother, who chuckled in response. “Yyyyess...it's for...stamina! Totally! Why'd you wake me up anyway?”
“One. Your breakfast is getting cold. Two. You have to take that 'stupid exam' you just mentioned today. Y'know, the one that you said you would wake up 'extra early' for?”
Ruby blinked. “Oh my gosh! I totally forgot! I..what time is it?!”
Berry glanced at the grape themed clock above Ruby's bed. “Half past seven.”
Ruby gasped loudly. “Dudette! I'm gonna be late! I gotta go now!” With that, Ruby got off of the chair that she slept on and made a break for the front door.
Before Ruby could leave her room, Berry cleared her throat. “You're forgetting something. Actually, you're forgetting quite a few things.” Berry walked over to the panicked filly and hugged her. “No filly of mine leaves this house without giving her mother a hug first!”
Ruby giggled and hugged back. “Can I go now?” She asked.
“Hmmm…” Berry pretended to ponder. “nope!”
“What? Why not?! Twi-Twi's gonna freak out if I'm tardy!” Ruby argued and began to pout.
“Breakfast! You can't take your exam with an empty stomach now, can you? And let's not forget about taking a shower, hmmm?” Berry began to tap her hoof once more.
“But MOM!”
“No buts, Ruby Berry Daiquiri Pinch! You know the rules.”
“But I'm gonna be late!”
“You should've thought about that before you stayed up so late with those drums of yours!” Berry Punch grinned and motioned for Ruby to follow her to the dining room. Ruby, feeling defeated, sighed and followed her mother, muttering.
“And no speaking under your breath young lady!"
Outside of Twilight’s library paced the intelligent, but arrogant Dinky Hooves, who personally preferred to be called “Day Dream.”
“Jeez, where is she?” Dinky said aloud. Frowning, she continued to pace back and forth. A few seconds later, a scenario popped into Dinky's head, causing her to grin slyly. I hope Twilight gives her an extra long lecture if she’s late. That'd be fun to watch. She thought. But...it would just extend the time needed to get this whole thing over with. Dinky groaned at the thought. I don’t know why she’s able to take this test with me anyway. I’ve been Twilight’s student for a much longer time than her. If only she stayed out of the way, we would still be best friends.
Dinky sighed, remembering the days where she and Ruby would play and—“No Day Dream! She’s just competition. An obstacle. Nothing more.” Dinky sat down and shook her head. "Alright...maybe she is is something more than that. I still can't let her hold me back." Dinky glanced up to see a familiar light blue filly galloping towards the library.
“Dinky!” Tootsie Flute called. “I have something for you!” The filly stopped in front of Dinky and presented a written on piece of paper. “You didn’t tell me you had another one of those magic exams today.”
Dinky levitated the letter out of Tootsie’s grasp. “You read my letter? Really Tootsie? That’s really rude.”
Tootsie frowned and looked at the ground. “I...I was really curious! I’m sorry Dinky! I just wanted to know what you were up to…”
Dinky rolled her eyes. “And can you stop calling me Dinky? I told you to call me Day Dream from now on!”
“Din-Day Dream! I said I’m sorry, okay? I just miss hanging out with you. Is that so bad?”
“No. Still, you shouldn’t go around reading another pony’s letter without their permission. Apology accepted anyway.” Dinky began to read the letter which started off with “Dear Little Muffin,” Dinky stopped and glanced at Tootsie. She didn’t want anypony to know about the embarrassing nickname her mother, Derpy Hooves, gave her. “And you better not tell anypony about the Little Muffin thing!”
Tootsie turned to look at Dinky. “I wasn’t going to!”
Dinky stared at Toosie for a moment before returning to the letter, she couldn’t help but smile as she finished. “Love you too mom.” She mumbled. “But you really have to work on your spelling. Ugh.” She said aloud, once again attracting Tootsie’s attention.
“Day Dream…” Tootsie said in a disapproving tone.
“What?” Dinky questioned. “It’s true!”
“Whatever. Look, I’m gonna go see what Peachie’s up to.” Tootsie then gave Dinky a hug. “Are you gonna be free after this whole thing? Maybe we could hang out then!”
Dinky rolled her eyes, not returning the hug. “I don’t know. I’ll probably study some more after this.”
“Oh...okay. Well, good luck.”
Dinky glanced at the library. “I don’t need luck, but thank you anyway.”
Tootsie Flute released Dinky and turned to leave. “Sure you don’t.”
Dinky sat on the ground and watched her friend walk away, rethinking her answer to Tootsie’s previous question. “Bye Tootsie Flute. We’ll hang out some day! I promise!”
Ruby galloped towards the library as fast as her legs would take her, dodging and in some cases sliding under ponies that were in here way. She definitely did not want to experience another one of Twilight’s “tardy” lectures. Especially not on the day of an exam. The library quickly came into Ruby's view and so did the pony sitting outside of it.
She’s here before me?! Darn it Mom! Ruby stopped in front of the library door and turned to face Dinky, who gave her a disapproving stare.
“What?” Ruby asked.
“Oh, nothing.” Dinky replied. “I was just hoping that you’d get here relatively early. Not all wishes come true, unfortunately.” Dinky shrugged and looked at the door.
“And I was hoping I would never have to be so close to Ms. I’m So Better Than Everypony Else again.” Ruby muttered.
“Thanks! I love receiving compliments! Especially from my so called ‘rival.’” Dinky rebutted.
“See, this is why we’re not best friends anymore! You always talk down to me like I’m some kind of loser! Truth be told, Dinky, you’re not as good as you think you are!” Ruby said, moving closer to Dinky.
Dinky frowned at Ruby’s reply. “I’M the reason? Well if you just stayed out of my business, we would still be friends! But no! You just had to go and become Twilight’s student as well! Why couldn’t you just find somepony else to be your teacher instead of wasting Twilight’s time?”
“Hey! I’ve shown nothing but improvement ever since I became Twi-Twi’s student!” Argued Ruby.
Dinky pressed her forehead against Ruby’s. “Improvement? Sure. But your ‘improvement’ takes about as long as a snail crossing a puddle of glue! Did you even study last night?”
“Ye-Yes I did! Now get your forehead off of my forehead, ultra-egghead!”
“Make me, liar!”
“L-LIAR?!”
“You heard me, Pinch!” The two growled at each other until the front door of the library opened.
Out of the library came none other than Ponyville’s own Twilight Sparkle. Both fillies pulled away from each other and turned to look at Twilight.
“I’ve heard enough of this. Come with me.” Twilight ordered.
“This is entirely your fault, Ruby the Not so Brigh-“
“No way! It’s yours, Dinky Fancy Hoo-!”
“Enough! It’s no pony’s fault. I’m just taking you to your exam site. Now please cease your bickering!” Twilight warned.
“Fine, I don’t want to talk to HER anyway.” Ruby and Dinky said in unison. Twilight rolled her eyes and began walking to the exam site with Ruby and Dinky in tow. Wanting to get as far from each other as possible, Ruby walked on Twilight’s right side, while Dinky walked on Twilight’s left.
This is getting ridiculous. Twilight thought as the three continued walking.
The group of unicorns entered the outskirts of Ponyville.
“Hey Twi-Twi?” Ruby broke the silence. “Are we almost there yet? We’ve been walking for ages!” The impatient filly asked.
“Just about there, Ruby.” Twilight responded. After a moment of complete silence, Twilight added, “I’ll also say that I’m proud of the both of you! However, I’m not too fond of this whole ‘rivalry’ thing that you two are having.”
Dinky thought about whether or not she should ask her next question, but curiosity got the best of her. “Who are you prouder of?”
Twilight frowned and began to say, “Dinky-“before Dinky interrupted with a cough. “Day Dream, I’m not anymore proud of you than I am of Ruby. You two are equal in my eyes. Both of you have your strengths and your faults!”
Dinky rolled her eyes. “I knew I was gonna get that kind of answer.” Twilight shook her head. “But why did I ask anyway? I don’t know. I thought I’d get something different this time.”
“Why are you so focused on being better than me? This isn’t a competition!” Ruby spoke up.
“Because I am better than you?”
“Oh yeah? Prove it! Prove how you’re so much better than me!”
“Prove it? Oh I will! Just wait until our exam begins, Pinch! Believe me, you will eat your words before this is over!”
Twilight groaned. “Day Dream! Ruby! Enough! Your test is about to begin! And I suggest you two hug it out or something, because if the two of you don’t cooperate, you’re definitely not passing! So concentrate on what I’m about to tell you!” The two fillies said nothing more and paid full attention to Twilight. “This exam will not only evaluate your ability to cast magic spells, but it will also test endurance, problem solving skills, and of course, your ability to cooperate. Now…” Twilight’s horn lit up, and out of the blue came a purple treasure chest. “…inside this chest is a key. You will need this key to complete the test. Of course, one of you must hold onto this key and keep it safe. The material is very fragile. Losing, dropping, or breaking the key will result in automatic failure. Do I make myself clear?” The two fillies nodded. “Good. Any questions?”
Dinky raised her hoof. “Yes. So if one of us messes up, we both fail?” Dinky asked.
“Yes.” Twilight answered.
Dinky shook her head and glanced at Ruby. “That’s awfully unfair.” She sighed. “I guess I’LL hold on to the key then.”
Ruby growled then raised her hoof. “So, about the cooperation thing…?”
Twilight nodded, knowing what the rest of the question would consist of. “Indeed, Ruby. You two will have to team up, as ‘dreadful’ as that may sound, in order to get past certain trials. However, cooperation will not be necessary in some of said trials. Take it as a chance for competition, if you will.” Twilight explained.
Ruby and Dinky groaned in unison, which made Twilight break her serious demeanor for a bit and giggle. “Anything else?”
“Yes,” Dinky began “those trials. How many of them are there?”
“That’s for you two to find out. Your main goal is to go through them as efficiently as possible. Is that all?” Silence dominated the empty field that the three unicorns stood in. “Okay. Day Dream. You said you would hold the key.” Twilight opened the chest and gave the glass key to Dinky, who held it through the use of telekinesis. “Now. Are you sure you’re ready for this, Day Dream?”
Dinky nodded, filled with confidence. “Ready.”
Twilight looked at Ruby, who stared back. “Ruby?”
Ruby nodded, filled to the brim with passion. “Ready as ever!”
Twilight smiled, taking a quick trip down memory lane, remembering the first time she met the determined Dinky. Twilight recalled Dinky being much more friendly and caring about her friends. At that time, Dinky didn’t know how to cast a single spell, much like her then best friend and current rival, Ruby. When Twilight initially decided to take both fillies under her wing, both of the fillies got along perfectly fine. After quite some time, the two began getting much more hostile towards each other, leading to the end of their friendship and the beginning of a heated rivalry. Twilight shook her head. I really hope this revives their friendship.
Ruby waved a hoof at Twilight. “Hello? Equestria to Twi-Twi!” Twilight’s inner thoughts were interrupted by Ruby’s attempt to get her attention. “Oh! Sorry! I was just thinking about something! Well, if you two are as ready as you say you are…” Twilight ended her sentence and her horn lit up once again.
A huge pitch black hole appeared underneath the two fillies and the two began to slowly sink underneath.
Dinky panicked and so did Ruby. “Twilight?!” The two shouted in unison.
“I thought you two said you were ready?” Twilight questioned. “This is a part of your test. Now settle down. You’re safe.”
Dinky and Ruby glanced at each other and ceased struggling, letting whatever material the hole was made out of pull them underneath.
Once the two fillies “disappeared,” Twilight sat down, sighing. “I hope they can get through this without a problem.” Twilight then looked upwards and put on a facial expression that radiated with hope. “I’m counting on you girls. I know you can do this! Cooperate.” Twilight's horn lit up and she disappeared in a flash of white hot magic a second later, leaving the field as empty as it was a few minutes before.
Author's Note
First submission! Woo! Give constructive criticism and the like. That's what I'm here for anyway.
Second chapter in the works. So *ahem* LET THE TRIALS BEGIN!
