The Princess's Library

Previously, on The Princess’s Library: After Rune Stone quit the competition, the pressure soared to new heights. During the water spell challenge, Orange Peel and Starshine Manebright impressed. But it was Spell Caster who won, causing sparks to fly between the losers. During the special Family Night demonstration, things quickly went awry thanks to Orange. Her faltering on the potions caused the entire brewery to collapse. Thus, Princess Twilight threw her out, ending her dream of becoming head mare in Manehattan.

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

All the competitors drug themselves back into the dorms, exhausted from the previous few hours. It had been completely nonstop. Serving impatient, anxious foals was a lot different than serving adults. Although, when they stopped to think about it, the foals could actually be a lot more mature than the grown ponies they served. But there was no time to consider this as everyone seemed to catch a severe case of yawning. This particular sickness is incredibly contagious and one yawn bled over into another. They were too tired to argue among themselves about who was the weakest, a popular pastime. But that didn’t stop small conversations from occurring as they separated into their particular quarters.

“Who do you think’s going next?” High Tower asked Starshine as they readied for bed, “I mean, there are only six of us left!”

“I don’t know, to be honest with you,” Starshine responded.

“If you had to hazard a guess,” High Tower pried.

“Well, if I had to pluck somepony’s name from a hat, I’d probably pick Spell Caster.”

“Interesting,” High said, “why her?”

“Well, you saw how she performed in the last demonstration,” Starshine pointed out, “that, and she’s just been very mediocre for this entire competition. She even said it herself. The water spell challenge was her first time standing out individually. She just gets lost in the crowd too easily. Anyway, that’s what I think. I guess I’ll see ya in the morning.”

“Yeah.”

“‘Night”

“‘Night”

High Tower thought about this as she snuggled up under her covers. The warmth felt very soothing to her tired body and she quickly found a small niche to relax in. But her mind just couldn’t stop thinking about things. Spell Caster couldn’t go next. Fire Streak had to be the one to head out those doors. But the last pony who’d tried to sabotage him, Rune Stone, had wound up quitting the competition. If only Fire weren’t so damn great at everything, High thought, if only…

The next morning, everypony ran downstairs in excited anticipation of whatever challenge Twilight would throw at them. They all felt more than capable and more than ready. After all, they were the final six. The absolute best of the best that Twilight’s brewery had to offer. Each of them felt a wondrous sense of pride and honor at the distinction. Even if they didn’t win, they knew that being here would be a tremendous boon to their magical careers. But, that being said, each of them also held a fierce hunger and a desire to win. None of this was squelched by anything, even the awesomely intimidating presence of their mage as she stood awaiting their arrival.

“Good morning!” Twilight barked as soon as they lined up.

“Good morning, mage!”

“Now, as you know, here in my library, the unexpected should always be thought of and remembered. Nopony is ever ‘safe’ in here. You all stand on doorways that will drop you into doom laden pits…and I hold the key for each one. Today, one of those doors will unlock, and the ponies that get to decide who is on the chopping block…are you. I’m gonna give you two minutes as a team. Go into the brewery and return with two names. These are the weak links of the team…and the ensuing challenge will determine who stays and who gets their rump tossed. Understood?!”

“YES, MAGE!” The ponies responded.

“Good! Off you go!”

The ponies trotted into the brewery, stunned at Twilight’s revelation. Whoever lost the upcoming one-on-one challenge would be forced to give up their ring forever! It was a difficult decision. Obviously, nopony wanted to volunteer to be in it. So, each one made their case for why they were a strong and valuable team player. Even Fire Streak, arrogant bastard that he was, created a narrative of caring about the team and everyone on it. He did pepper it with small flecks of his normal self-aggrandizement, but overall, it was probably the most humble anypony had ever seen him. But soon enough, their two minutes was up, and they’d come up with two ponies. Needless to say, these ponies were incredibly hurt by the decision and a fire grew deep within them. They were going to battle and win no matter what.

“Alright,” Twilight said, “Starshine…who are the two ponies?”

“We’ve selected Spell Caster and Zesty Shifts.”

“Interesting,” Twilight said, “can you give me a little insight as to how the decision was made?”

“Well, we feel like Zesty is better in challenges than as a member of the team during the demonstrations,” Starshine explained, “and Spell just tends to get lost in the crowd.”

“That’s horse bit,” Spell said.

“How so?” Twilight asked.

“I am one of the strongest, most experienced magic users here. I mean, as a very young foal, I was doing magic on a high level. You cannot discount that.”

“Spell, this has nothing to do with your experience,” High Tower said, remembering her conversation with Starshine the previous night, “it’s simply what we need as a team right now. If we’re going to succeed, we need to dump the weaker ponies.”

“Oh, buck you,” Spell snarled, “I’m not weak.”

“Then, prove it!” High exclaimed, “the mage is giving you a chance, so bucking prove it!”

“High Tower’s right,” Twilight said, “Spell Caster, if you feel like you aren’t a weak part of the team, then prove it by winning the upcoming challenge. Speaking of which, that will start right now. Zesty, Spell, please step forward.”

The two came forward, quivering with both anger and determination. They were eager to prove themselves to their mage. Each one held a covetous relationship with their ring and they were desperate to keep it. They’d go to any lengths to help themselves retain their spot in the competition. The head stallion/mare position in Manehattan flashed before their eyes as they stood under the mind crushingly stern gaze of their mage. But not even Twilight could break their spirits. They stood their ground, silently letting the princess know that they were both ready and willing.

“I see the passion in your eyes,” Twilight said, “and it’s very inspiring. BUT, this is my library, and in here, passion exerts itself within the spell. Understood?”

“YES, MAGE!” The two barked.

“Good. Now, then, the following challenge is called Spell or Hell,” Twilight said, “each of you will have to execute four of the spells off of our normal demonstration menu: a gaseous water spell, a mid-flame fire spell, an earth spell that will move a 50 pound boulder, and a potion that changes the color of one’s mane to blue. The winner of this challenge keeps their ring and moves on to the next stage of the competition. The loser will be sent packing. Are you ready?!”

“YES, MAGE!”

“On your mark, get set…GO!”

To be continued…