Twilight Discovers the Cup-and-Ball
Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, which belongs to Hasbro.
Well this is going to be my first foray into the MLP fanfiction universe that isn't crossed over with anything. Came up with it while sitting and staring at my computer screen while trying to write the next chapter of Chaos Descending...…Anyways, I hope you like it!
It's rated E, but there is one small bit of naughty language near the end. You have been warned. (Just kidding!)
Twilight Discovers the Cup-And-Ball
~~~
Ponyville, Equestria-
Days like this were always fun for Twilight. Bright sun, cloudless blue skies, perfect weather….It was a good day, and there were opportunities to be had!
So she trotted to the door of the library, pushed it open, smelled the wonderful summer air….
…And walked back in, promptly sat down at her desk, and pulled out some books.
"Hmm…what should I read today?" pondered Twilight. "An Encyclopedia of Slugs? Eh, read that already. The Informational Introduction to Intimate Indecencies?" She filed that away for later.
Twilight sighed and decided that she would just close her eyes and pick a book at random. She stepped backwards for a second and wrapped a towel around her eyes, then began blindly feeling around for a book. She came upon a rather soft one.
"Huh…Didn't know the library stocked any of these…"
"Twilight!"
"Wha-Spike!" she yelped, yanking off her blindfold. "When did you get in!"
"Five seconds ago! And I was going to leave before somepony decided to smash their hooves all over my sandwich!"
Twilight glanced at her hoof and noticed it covered in the poor remains of Spike's sandwich. She licked some off her hoof.
"Hmm. Mayonnaise."
Spike facepalmed. "What were you trying to accomplish anyways?"
"I was trying to pick out a book to read!"
"On a beautiful day like this? Come on Twi, everypony's playing outside! Look!" he said, pulling her towards the kitchen window. Outside were little fillies and colts playing ball, flying kites, running around, while the adults were simply observing as they relaxed.
"See! Everypony's outside, and-"
"And that's exactly why I'm in here! I'm not wasting my time!" Twilight said.
"But it's Saturday!" protested Spike. "All the fun things happen on Saturdays, and you need to be outside for that!"
"I can have just as much fun researching in here," said Twilight smugly.
Spike raised an eyebrow. "Really now?"
"Of course Spike!"
"Well then….if you think you can have more fun in here with all these dusty books than outside, your call. I however, am going to go buy a sandwich, considering you obliterated my first one."
Spike began to walk out, but something caught his eye.
"Hey Twilight! Read this one," he said, throwing the book over to her as she caught it with magic.
"Spike!" she admonished. "What did I say about throwing books in the library!"
"Sorry, I can't hear you, gotta run!" he said, dashing out the door.
"SPIKE!"
She sighed. The little dragon meant well, but she really didn't feel like going outside today. She spared a half-hearted glance at the book Spike threw her. It was a rather large one, with pictures of toys and such on it.
"How old does Spike think I am?" Twilight sighed. "I'm definitely too old for this book…"
She placed it on the counter nearby and began ruffling through her other books. But nothing caught her eye. She had already read all the Daring Do books so far, Percy Coltson and the Alicorns series….and there really wasn't much she hadn't read yet. She cast a look at the toy book, and levitated it over to her.
"Well, might as well just read this. It'll be good to learn some more, I guess. Hmm, Toys Throughout the Ages…I suppose it'll be mediocre."
She flipped the pages open with practiced ease, and opened to a random page.
"What's this..? Cup-and-ball…A traditional colt and filly toy consisting of a wooden cup with a handle, and a ball attached to the cup by a string. It's popular in Spanish speaking countries, where it is called "boliche"
She looked on interested, noting the pictures.
"Honestly, this looks like it could be fun…." Twilight thought aloud. "NO! Wait, I can't! I told Spike I'm going to have fun by research…..wait, this IS research. I've never heard of this cup-and-ball, so as a mare of science, I must do research!"
And with that, she grabbed her saddlebag, placed the book inside, and cantered out the door.
~~~
Twilight briskly walked into town. She was a mare on a mission. There was no time to waste, no chats to be made, no-
"Hi Twilight!"
She stopped abruptly in order to register the pink pony in front of her.
"Oh, hi Pinkie! Sorry, but I'm kind of busy-"
"Busy? Like a bee? Bees are always busy! Busy is a fun word! Busybusybusybusy…"
Twilight internally sighed and slowly began sneaking away. She had almost gotten away before Pinkie turned around and noticed her.
"Hey! Why are you so busy anyways?" Pinkie asked.
"I have to um….get something," said Twilight. "For researching purposes!"
Pinkie stared at her suspiciously, giving Twilight the feel of being a slide under a microscope. Then, in typical Pinkie fashion, she brightened up and happily said, "Okie doki lokie!" as she bounced away.
Twilight watched her go. "You'd think bouncing would make her more tired than walking, but she has more energy than anypony around here…"
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She had promised herself never to immerse herself too far into the mysteries of Pinkie Pie. It was a dark and rather dangerous land, as she discovered firsthand. Bruises from pianos falling on you hurt quite a bit afterwards.
She continued on her way to the center of Ponyville, searching for that one toy shop. Sadly, she forgot the name, so she had to go by sight alone. It had been nearly an hour before she found the store, tightly wedged between a barbershop and a rather seedy looking bar. The store had a 'Closed' sign set up in the main window, but the hours weren't over yet. Twilight approached the door and knocked tentatively. An old pegasus stallion soon approached the door and opened it.
"You know young lady," he said. "You don't have to knock when you're entering a store."
"Oh…but your Closed sign is up, and I wasn't sure if you were closed or not..."
"Is it?" The stallion peered out the door to the window. "Well look at that. I told my grandson to fix that sign already!"
He looked at Twilight. "Oh, well do come in, since we are open! I’m Wood Carver, and welcome to my humble store!"
She walked in thankfully as the stallion bellowed up the staircase, "RUSH! GET DOWN HERE!"
A brown pegasus colt wandered down the stairs. "Yeah Gramps?"
"The sign! I asked you to change that quite a while ago!" his grandpa replied crossly.
"Wha- Oh yeah…Oops," he said, flipping the sign around so it said 'Open'. "There?"
"Better. Now go help this lovely young mare out, while I go finish my paperwork!"
He sighed as his grandfather slowly ascended the stairs, and he went behind the counter and leaned over.
"And…..can I help you?"
Twilight nodded, and then pulled out the book. "I was wondering if you could help me find one of these?"
Rush stared blankly, and then asked, "You are the librarian, correct? Twilight Sparkle?"
"Why yes."
"Then…you shouldn't really be coming to a toy store for a book. I'm fairly certain libraries are full of them…."
"Wha-? No! It's not the book itself; it's what is inside the book!" Twilight clarified. She opened it to 'C' and found the picture of the cup-and-ball. "Do you guys sell any of these?"
"Hmm….cup-and-ball…Oh yeah, I've seen those in here!" he remarked. He trotted out from the counter and began perusing the aisles.
"Board games…toy trains….Ah ha! Here it is!" Rush exclaimed, leaping up and pulling down a box.
"Heads up!" he called out, tossing the toy to Twilight who easily caught it with her magic. He hovered next to her as she opened the box, revealing the object of her day's endeavors.
"So…that's it?" she asked.
"Yep. The infamous cup-and-ball."
"Why's it so infamous? It's just a ball on a string and a cup. All you have to do is get the ball into the cup, right? How hard can it be?"
Rush chuckled. "Ah, the notorious last words of so many adventurous ponies…I guess you have to play with it to find out."
Twilight smiled as she hoofed him some bits. "I'm not your average adventurous pony…I think I can handle a simple toy."
~~~
Applejack whistled quietly as she wandered around town. After a hard day's work bucking apple trees, she enjoyed taking a little time off for herself. She wasn't like Rarity of course, who immediately sped over to the spa, but she did want to relax.
As fate (and author laziness) would have it, she ended up outside the library door.
"Huh. Well, I guess a good book ought ta' do me some good…."
She pushed the door open and trotted in. A rather strange sight of messy shelves, strewn books, and a disheveled unicorn in the corner met her. Spike was nowhere to be seen.
"Twilight? Is that you?" Applejack hesitantly asked.
The unicorn slowly turned her head towards her. "Oh, hello Applejack," she said in a monotonous tone. "I'm sorry, but we're closed right now."
Applejack slowly walked up to her and sat on her haunches next to her. "Twilight, what are you doing?"
Twilight shuddered and fought back tears. "Its….its…."
"What? Relationship problems? Was it Dash? Ah knew that filly was up ta' no good..…"
"Huh?" Twilight glanced up. "No, it's nothing as trivial as that. It's actually fairly important."
Applejack looked concernedly as Twilight sat sadly. If it was that bad, she'd tell her friend about it, right?
"It's…..it's this!" Twilight screamed, throwing something towards Applejack. The earth pony reacted quickly and dodged as whatever it was clattered to the floor.
"What the hay Twilight?" Applejack yelped as she observed the object. Thankfully, it didn't leap out at her, and she reached out with a hoof and scooped it up.
"What's this?" she asked, shaking the handle and watching the ball swing in a wide arc.
Twilight glared at it. "Right now, the source of my unending hatred. It's so simple looking…but underneath its wood veneer it’s pure evil. EVIL!"
Twilight lunged at the toy, fully intent on destroying the offending object. Applejack leapt out of the way as Twilight crashed to the floor. She recovered quickly and glowered at Applejack.
"It's already beginning to corrupt you as well!"
"Wha-Twi!" Applejack chuckled, waving the toy around. "This is just a toy! It's nothing to get all up-and –fussy about really….What is this thing anyways?"
"It's a cup-and-ball…" Twilight said, plopping back down onto her haunches and merely staring at Applejack. "The objective is to arc the ball into the cup."
Applejack's eyes widened for a second, and then she began to laugh. "That's it?"
Twilight's jaw dropped. "That's it? Do you realize how much calculation you need? The trajectory of the ball to the cup, the exact force needed, the nearby wind speed! There are so many factors at play here, and there's so much to be done!”
"So, you mean," Applejack began. "If I was to say swing this ball-"
She swung the stick upwards, the ball arcing into the air.
"-and caught it in this cup-"
The ball then miraculously landed in the small cup, rattling a little but a guaranteed catch.
"-it would take me hours of calculation?"
Twilight could only watch awestruck as she flawlessly did it another time.
"How…but… What?"
Applejack gave her a small smile and a pat on the back. "It's not too hard sugarcube. Just takes a little time, some patience, and luck." She nudged the handle over to Twilight. "You'll get there."
She then trotted off out of the library. Twilight watched her leave, and slowly turned to the cup-and-ball. She levitated it up.
"Okay, so…time, patience, and luck. I have two out of three…let's see if I can get that last one now."
Her horn glowed as she gripped the handle, flicking it upwards like a professional. The string went taut, intent on making a full circle before gravity took its hold.
The ball began its descent, the cup mere inches away as the ball plummeted.
"Oh Celestia…"
The ball bounced in.
"YES!"
And bounced back out, falling as the string hung limply to the side.
Twilight's eye began twitching as her hoof began to shake.
"Breathe Twilight…breathe…"
She took one last glance at the toy.
"…."
"…."
"…..YOU ACCURSED PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR CHILDREN ENTERTAINMENT! YOU EXIST SOLELY TO MAKE THE INNOCENT FILLIES AND COLTS' LIVES MISERABLE! THEY PICK YOU UP TO HAVE FUN AND YOU UTTERLY OBLITERATE ANY NOTION OF IT! You're bad and you should feel bad!"
And as it shattered the window and flew out into Ponyville, Twilight at last felt at peace.
~~~
Outskirts of Ponyville
"Scootaloo! Where'd you go?" Sweetie Belle called out.
"Down here Sweetie Belle!" the little orange pegasus replied.
"So, what are we doin' today?" Apple Bloom asked.
The three fillies fell onto their backs and looked up into the blue sky.
"I don't know…" Scootaloo said. "There's really nothing I can think of for our cutie marks…”
"Well Ah reckon- Ow!"
"What's up?" Sweetie asked.
"Something hit mah head," Apple Bloom muttered, rubbing what was shaping up to be a nasty bruise.
The trio gathered around the grass and slowly approached the object.
"What…what is it?"
"Ah dunno, but it could be from outer space!"
Sweetie Belle smacked her head. "How could it be from outer space? It's not even broken at all!"
Apple Bloom stuck her tongue out at her. "And how would you know it had to be broken? Are you from outer space?" She began shaking her arms and gasping. "Oh mah goodness Sweetie Belle's an alien! Ah knew it!"
"Apple Bloom!"
"Both of you, stop it!" Scootaloo said sharply. The two other fillies stopped and looked abashedly at the ground. "Now…what is this thing?" she said, poking it with a hoof.
Now examining it in earnest, Apple Bloom picked it up. "Looks like a toy….Ah think you're supposed to git the ball-" she pointed at the ball "-into the cup thing."
"But why?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Why does anypony do anything really? Just for the heck of it!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Or maybe it can help us get our cutie marks!"
The trio yelled in delight, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER TOY TESTERS YAY!"
"Now, let's see this thing….it shouldn't be too difficult to get the ball in there," Scootaloo thought aloud.
Apple Bloom nodded, and Sweetie Belle sat and began to observe. "Yeah, how hard can it be?"
END
