The Princess's Library

Previously, on The Princess’s Library: Fire Streak attempted to woo Rune Stone, but found himself rejected at every turn. During the no magic obstacle course challenge, when the two were forced to work together, they posted the worst time out of any team, leading to more misery. Meanwhile, Starshine Manebright and Dark Cloud won the challenge. But, during the demonstration, they performed very poorly. Both of them were sent up for elimination, leading to Dark Cloud’s exit, ending her dream of becoming Head Mare at Princess Twilight’s new magic school in Manehattan.

And now, the continuation of The Princess’s Library…

The team made their way back to the dorms after an exhausting evening. Even Fire Streak was tired, much too tired to argue with Rune Stone about anything. The ponies all immediately went to bed, snuggling down and attempting to get a good night’s sleep. But this is The Princess’s Library, and nothing is guaranteed. Very early the next morning, sous mages Astral and Comet galloped into the dorms and began banging various pots and pans. They yelled at everypony to get up and run downstairs as fast as they could. This led to some amusing moments as the tired ponies tripped over one another in their haste. They knew that Twilight would be waiting downstairs, and none of them wanted to test her patience.

They all eventually dragged their weary bodies into the library, standing where they’d become accustomed to standing. Their eyes drooped and bags had begun to inhabit everyone’s faces. But on the other side of the library, Twilight stood as ready for magical battle as anypony. Her head mage ring was shining on her horn, and she looked very regal. All of the male ponies blushed somewhat as they gazed upon the beautiful princess. Even early in the morning, she just looked so knowledgeable and put together. She didn’t look the least bit tired or groggy. Her eyes burned with an unquenchable thirst for magic. All the contestants hoped to have the same fire in their own pupils one day.

“Good morning!” Twilight barked, politely but firmly.

“Good morning, mage!”

“Last night was a bucking joke,” Twilight said, “I was so disappointed. However, I did see some level of improvement with regard to teamwork. So, for that, I commend you. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a demonstration that was full of horse bit. Rune Stone, what the hell happened to you? When we started this competition, you had a strong voice and some sort-of passion. True, some of your magic skills needed work, but you at least appeared interested. Over the first two demonstrations, I’ve noticed that level of interest slipping away. Have you lost it?”

“No, mage!” Rune said confidently.

“You certainly sound like a proper head mare,” Twilight said, “unfortunately, you don’t do magic like one.”

“That’s not true, mage,” Rune said, fighting for herself, “I can do lots of magic!”

“Well, then, show it to me in this next challenge and in our next demonstration, alright?”

“Yes, mage.”

“Okay,” Twilight said, “Fire Streak. I’ve received some reports from my sous mages that you’re harassing some of the mares in the dorm.”

“That’s horsebit,” Fire said hotly, “I treat everypony with respect!”

“Oh, come on,” Rune said, “you’re full of bit, you know that?!”

“Oh, I’m full of bit?!” Fire asked, his temper flaring.

“Yeah, you’re full of bit!” Rune shot back, “you’ve done nothing but harass me since day one! You even told me that you wanted to win so you could have me on your foreleg when you became Head Stallion!”

“Is this true, Fire Streak?” Twilight asked in a voice of severe warning.

“No, mage, it’s not,” Fire lied.

“Oh, for buck’s sake,” Rune muttered.

“Alright,” Twilight said, “look, everypony. While this may be a dramatic reality show, I do have standards I’m trying to uphold. Romance between contestants is fine. Hell, I don’t care if you buck each other up in the dorms. BUT, I will not tolerate any kind of sexual or personal harassment, from any gender to any gender. If this is reported to me again, the party that’s being accused will be terminated from the contest. Understand?!”

“Yes, mage!”

“Okay,” Twilight said, “now, we need to move on to our next challenge, and to begin, I’d like all of you to welcome a very special guest. She’s a dear, dear friend of mine and one of the Elements of Harmony. Please help me welcome, the fashionista herself, Rarity.”

The contestants all offered a respectful bit of applause as the pretty mare trotted into the library. Her mane was done in its typically exquisite style and she was wearing a new purple gown she’d designed. Her horn had been polished and she smelled as if she’d been frolicking in a field of flowers. In short, everything about her was perfect. Once again, all the male contestants found themselves in awe of a beautiful female. They each began internally debating over which mare they’d want to go out with more. But they didn’t have a lot of time to do so, because Rarity was here for business, not pleasure.

“This amazing mare has built up an Equestrian fashion empire,” Twilight said, “but she’s also a master mage in her own right. Magic, multitasking, and avoiding distractions are the themes of today’s challenge, and Rarity will explain more.”

“First of all, it’s wonderful to be here with you,” Rarity said, “I’m honored to be helping Twilight with this challenge. As she said, it’s all about multitasking. In my line of work, I’m called upon to multitask with numerous things. I also have many distractions that I have to push through in order to accomplish certain tasks. So, in today’s challenge, you’ll each work individually to create…a stunning gown! When you’re done, Twilight and I will judge them. The contestant with the best one wins the challenge!”

“You have forty-five minutes,” Twilight said, “on your mark, get set…go!”

The ponies all darted off to begin conceiving and making their dresses. In this particular challenge, they’d have to multitask creativity, magic usage, and a basic knowledge of sewing. Since none of them had ever done this before, they were given one chance to ask Rarity a question about the machine. However, most of them were able to figure it out and they began racing along. Soon enough, twenty minutes had passed and a lot of ponies were putting their designs through the machine. Everything was humming along, and the normally quiet library was full of the sounds of fashion being crafted.

Then…Twilight and Rarity smirked at each other. They called to Astral and Comet, who opened up the library doors. It was then that the entire Canterlot Magic School marching band came charging in! They began playing a medley of Equestrian favorites. The contestants tried their best, but some of them couldn’t resist stopping their sewing and breaking into song or dance. Twilight reminded them of their task and that they could not get distracted. Despite the seeming silliness of the challenge, it was actually testing the contestants on their ability to run a school. No proper head stallion or mare should ever get distracted by anything. It was good for everypony, and they managed to pull themselves together.

“FIVE…FOUR…THREE…TWO…ONE…AND STOP!” Twilight shouted. “Everypony, bring your dresses up to the table please! Let’s go!”

One by one, the ponies brought their clothing up. For the most part, the challenge had been somewhat successful. Rune Stone crafted a beautiful green gown with velvet lace that Rarity loved. Starshine’s dark frock with small diamonds was deemed a massive hit. But the big surprise was Zesty Shifts, whose homage to both food and fashion held Rarity’s attention the most. Unfortunately, other ponies were not quite as successful. Orange Peel’s gown had some misshapen seams. Spell Caster had not resisted the music and had put together a mismatch of colors and styles. However, the worst dress overall…went to Fire Streak. His arrogance had caused him to avoid learning how to use the sewing machine properly, and his dress fell apart.

“This is bucking unacceptable,” Twilight growled.

“I…understand, mage,” Fire said, his pride taking a beating.

“Um…right,” Rarity said, “well, now that I’ve seen all the gowns, I’m ready to pick my winner.”

“Okay, Rarity,” Twilight said, “which of these dresses would you want to display in your shop?”

“Without a doubt,” Rarity said, “the dress I’d most want to display…belongs to……………………Zesty Shifts! Well done! The fabric is soft and inviting, the colors just pop, and I adore how you’ve taken, essentially, a pizza and created something so subtle yet stunning! I’m very pleased!”

“Thank you, Ms. Rarity!” Zesty said proudly.

“Zesty, congratulations, well done!” Twilight beamed, “for your reward, you’re gonna be spending an absolutely incredible day…at Pony Island! Yes, for the next 24 hours, you get to be a foal again! But there’s one more thing. You get to pick a pony to go with you!”

Zesty thought for a moment about who he’d like to spend the day with. He knew it wouldn’t be Fire Streak or Lock Jaw, as he considered them both his greatest enemies. But there were multiple mares there of excellent physical, mental, and magical acumen. But even more than that, they all seemed rather friendly. Making up his mind became rather difficult, as he just couldn’t pick between them. Finally, he saw the dress Starshine had made, and he knew just how much work had gone into it. She deserved the reward just as much as he did.

“I’m picking Starshine!” Zesty said.

This did not sit well with Rune Stone, who stewed in her anger. She felt mistreated as she’d worked incredibly hard on her own dress and received excellent marks for it. But, it was Zesty’s decision and, ultimately, Twilight had given it to him. Rune had to go along with what had happened, so she put on a faux happy face and congratulated him. She had no issues with him, but spending the entire day being punished next to Fire Streak didn’t sit well with her.

But it did sit well with Starshine. “Thank you!” She chirped, bounding over to Zesty.

“One more thing,” Twilight said, “I’ll be accompanying you as well. Go get ready because our private pony carts leave in fifteen minutes! Let’s go!”

She couldn’t help but smile as the excited ponies bounded off to the dorms. But then, she turned to the other ponies and frowned. She was so disappointed in some of their performances, especially Fire’s. He was so great with magic, yet so utterly arrogant. She couldn’t kick him out, though, because of his talent. It would be foolish to lose somepony who brought so much to the competition. However, her secret side did hope that someday, somepony would defeat him. She parlayed the punishment of helping Rarity sew tiny diamonds onto many pieces of fabric. As she watched them go off to begin, she couldn’t help but stare at Fire Streak.

What are you? She wondered, you seem like you could be heroic, yet you use your talents for frivolity and villainy. If you truly understood The Magic of Friendship…you would know how to run my magic school. For it is not just mysticism you’re being judged on. It’s how well you get along with others.

Later that night, the demonstration commenced. As a special surprise, Twilight’s entire group of friends came and were seated in the brewery itself! Twilight came out of her hard shell for a few minutes and jovially greeted them. The contestants were intrigued to see their mage in such a way. But right after this, Twilight called for the service to start and everypony went to their stations. Since there were eight of them remaining, the five sections were manned by five separate ponies with three acting as floaters. They ran around the brewery helping where they could.

“Alright, guys, here we go!” Twilight yelled as the first order came in, “three ponies, table four, three water spells requested gaseous! Heard?!”

“YES, MAGE!”

“I’m three minutes out on these water spells!” Fire Streak called, manning the water station for the first time. His arrogance had taken a beating during the challenge, so he looked to redeem himself with these spells. One of the floaters, Spell Caster, came by to offer some assistance. But Fire brushed him off and took all the spells up himself. Twilight took them, found them to be absolutely perfect, and sent them out. She then called for another table with all water spells. Fire rose to that occasion as well, sending out perfectly formed droplets.

Time after time, water spells flooded into the brewery, and Fire was able to conquer them. He sent out liquids, solids, gasses, and even a minor flood or two. Each singular order was carefully put together by the stallion who was attempting to show that he could do things right. Little by little, his confidence returned. Unfortunately, this confidence also opened the gates to his arrogance and, soon enough, he was back to his old self. He blew off anypony who tried to help him, and he kept sending up all of the spells himself.

Meanwhile, the other stations found themselves crammed with orders as well. Rune Stone, on the fire spells by herself, sent up an order for the mage’s table that nearly blew Twilight’s mind off. She turned and yelled at Rune to try again. So, the mare did…and the order was exactly the same. This frustrated Twilight to no end, and she marched over to the fire section, wondering what kind of powder was being used. What she found sent her into an absolute tantrum. Her eyes bugged out and the veins bulged off her head. Rune’s station was so disorganized and messy that different types of fire powder had actually begun to merge with each other.

“OH, FOR BUCK’S SAKE!” She screamed when she got there, “LOOK AT THE BUCKING FIRE POWDER! IT’S MERGING! Rune! What happens when one kind of fire powder mixes with an even more powerful kind?!”

“It merges into uncontrollable chaos,” Rune said sheepishly.

“YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT, IT DOES!” Twilight yelled, “NOW, FIX IT AND GET ME A PROPER SPELL OR YOU CAN BUCK OFF OUT OF HERE!”

“YES, MAGE!” Rune yelled back.

She got back on her station, but the fire powder was merging quickly. She knew that the way to solve this problem was with water. Unfortunately, all the water in the brewery was on that particular station…manned by her mortal enemy, Fire Streak. So, she swallowed her anger and trotted over to ask him for some. Of course, the arrogant pony shunned her and continued working. So, she decided to just take some. She magically grabbed a bit and trotted back to her station, using it to separate the merged powder and attempt her spell for a third time. Unfortunately, the powder’s merging was much too absolute and it failed once again. This sent Twilight over the edge.

“RUNE STONE, COME HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” The mage screamed, sending shockwaves throughout the library.

It frightened Rune a bit, but she trotted up. She was going to hold her ground, no matter what. She remembered her mother telling her that this was a very important quality for anypony. So, she would put it into practice. Even as she got up and faced Twilight’s seething, potent rage, she continued to have confidence in herself. Unfortunately, that began slipping away when Twilight started shrieking at her, telling her what she’d done wrong and calling her an incompetent donkey. This caused Rune’s rage to rise. Ever since she’d stepped hoof in the library, she’d been mistreated and cast aside. Now, she was sick and tired of it.

“GET YOUR BUCKING FLANK TO THE DORM!” Twilight screamed, “GET OUT!”

“NO!” Rune thundered.

Twilight’s face turned even redder than it already was. “Did…you…just…say…no?” She asked in a voice that would make Queen Chrysalis run.

“Yes, I did,” Rune responded, “and I meant it! I’m not going to the dorms…BECAUSE I QUIT!”

“Quit?! What do you mean, quit?!” Twilight demanded.

“I’M SO SICK OF BEING MISTREATED!” Rune shouted, “I GET IT FROM YOU, I GET IT FROM THAT RAT BASTARD, FIRE STREAK, AND I GOT IT FROM THAT PUTRID FASHIONISTA FRIEND OF YOURS TODAY! BUCK YOU AND THIS BUCKING COMPETITION! YOU CAN TAKE THIS RING AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!”

With that, Rune threw her ring down and departed from the Library.

To be continued…