Twilight and the Typo

by AverageMemory

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Comedy
Length: 2171

Twilight is going through one of her many books, when she discovers a typo.

Twilight likes everything neat, organized, and correct. You know this. Why am I telling you this? One day when reading a book on magic, she discovers a typo. She starts to wonder what other books might have errors, and begins another slow descent into insanity.

Published 2012-09-17 12:44:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-25 23:52:53 UTC

Twilight and the Typo

Another quiet day at the library. The lavender mare we all know as Twilight Sparkle was reading, as usual. While reading wouldn’t normally present Twilight with a problem, today would be different.

“Twilight, when are you gonna go to Sweet Apple Acres to help Applejack?” Spike said after the several other times of attempting to bring it to her attention.

“Right after I’m done with this chapter, Spike. Sheesh.” She said, not breaking her stare with her book.

Spike groaned. “What is it Applejack needs you to do anyway?”

Twilight turned the page with her magic. “She needs me to help make sure big customers like Filthy Rich get what they ordered.”

“Then you better get going now,” Spike said, pointing to the clock behind him. “It’s almost 5 o’clock.”

Twilight was getting a bit annoyed. “I’m aware of the time Spike.”

Spike just sighed.

Twilight kept reading. Soon she completely passed the point she said she would stop at.

‘Star Swirl the Bearded created many spells using his uncanny abilities with magic.’

Twilight always did wonder what it was like to meet him. Maybe if she asked Princess Celestia about him, she would be able to remember a bit about him.

‘He went on to create more advanced techniques, such the amnimorphic spell. It is to be noted that Star Swirl the Bearded is one the most important conjurer of the pre-classical era.’

Wait, what? Amnimorphic? Shouldn’t it be amniomorphic? This confused Twilight. How does a publication in a library have an error such as this?

“Spike? Spike? Where are you? I need you to take down a letter.” Twilight called out, not breaking her concentration on this typo.

Spike staggered down the stairs. “You didn’t go Sweet Apple Acres did you?” He said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“I told you I would go in a little bit!” Twilight objected.

Spike face palmed. “Twilight, it’s 9:30.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “What?”

She looked at the clock, and sure enough it was 9:30 pm.

“HOW- I- WHAT!?” Twilight stuttered.

“Good luck explaining this to Applejack.” Spike said, coming down the steps. “Now you wanted me to write to Celestia?”

“YES! There is a typo in this book.” Twilight said, pointing at it.

“Ummmm, are you sure?” Spike asked, a bit concerned.

“Yes. The book ‘Obscure Unicorn History’. It has a typo. Chapter 4, page 85, paragraph 2, sentence 2. Amniomorphic is spelled amnimorphic!” Twilight explained.

Spike walked over and looked at the book, and there it was. “Huh. Good eye, Twilight.” He said. “But don’t you think this can wait until tomorrow morning?”

“Oh, OF COURSE.” Twilight said, feeling stupid. “Celestia needs to sleep too. Well good night, Spike.” She said, making her way upstairs.

She got in her bed, and went to sleep.

(IN DREAM)

Twilight was looking around her library for a book to read. She finds the book Advanced Magic, opens it and begins to read.

‘Advanced Majic for Unicornz’

What? This didn’t seem right. She picked up another book and opened it.

‘Historee of Eqistria”

What’s going on? Were there other errors in ALL OF THESE BOOKS?

Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. Sweet Celestia. Twilight knew what she had to do. She had to proof read every book in Ponyville. For the good of Equestria.

Twilight awoke with a start. She looked out the window, the sun slowly coming up over the horizon. That dream was a mission statement. Ensure that no pony has to read books with typos. With that Twilight set to work. She trotted right past her mane brush into the library foyer.

She picked up her first book, starting with the A’s. ‘Alicorn Lore’ was first. She read diligently.

‘Long ago, it is believed there existed many alicorns.’

So far so good. Only approximately 297 books after this to go.

Spike’s eyes fluttered open. Another beautiful day. He glanced at the clock. 10:00. Twilight should be up by now. He made his way to the foyer when he gasped. There in the foyer he saw Twilight, mane and tail frazzled, reading a book. But it wasn’t just this that scared him. No, it was the piles of books pulled from the shelves onto the floor.

“Twilight, are you planning to pick up this mess?” Spike asked.

Without so much as a look, she simply replied. “Yes, sure, just leave me alone right now. I’m busy.”

“Uhhh, ok.” Spike said, warily. “Hey, Twilight. I’m going to Sugarcube Corner. You want anything?”

“NoImGoodYouGoOnAheadSpike.” Twilight said.

“Oh brother.” Spike said, as he made his way out.

Spike walked into Sugar Cube Corner. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were there.

“And I said, I’d like to visit Holland, wooden shoe?” Pinkie said, with a giggle.

“Uhh, yeah. Funny, Pinkie.” Applejack said, uttering a cheesy smile.

“Hi Applejack. Hi Pinkie.” Spike said.

“Oh hey, Spike.” Applejack replied. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to know what Twilight was doing yesterday, would you?”
“She was face deep in a book.” Spike said. “Did you give Filthy Rich his apples?”

“Yea,” Applejack said, “It took a heck of a lot longer without Twilight, though. Speaking of Twi, where is she?”

“Reading.” Spike said. “She found a misspelled word in one of her books and now she’s going a bit crazy again.”

“Oh great. We ain’t gonna have a repeat of the Want it Need it incident, are we?”

“I hope not.” Said Pinkie. “But if she does, at least make it something more worthwhile than a silly old stuffed animal.”

Twilight barged in, muttering to herself. She scooped up all of Pinkie’s cookbooks and left as quick as she came.

“Well then.” Applejack said. “This seems like a problem.”

It took a second for what just happened to register in Pinkie’s brain, but when it-

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHERE IS SHE GOING WITH MY COOKBOOKS?”

Oh... well I that was almost timed correctly.

Pinkie ran after her.

“Oh boy. Come on Spike.” Applejack said.

The three of the trailed after Twilight.

“So far so good.” Twilight said. “None of the books in the library have errors, but GOOD thing I remembered all the books everyone else has!” She declared.

Unable to hear the frantic yelling of Applejack, Spike, and Pinkie Pie, she continued to trot towards Lyra’s house.

Lyra was busy looking through books about monkeys. Considering no one had actually seen a human before, she decided this would have to be close enough. There was a pop of purple magic right next to her, and there appeared Twilight.

“Oh hi, Twilight.” Lyra said.

“HEY LYRA! IS THAT A BOOK? CAN I SEE IT FOR A SECOND?” Twilight said. With no regard for an answer for the question she just asked, she took the book with her magic, stuffed it into her bag, and teleported away.

“Wait... what? HEY!” Lyra yelled. She ran out her front door and looked around. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Spike all ran up to her.

“Have you seen Twilight?” Applejack asked.

“WHERE ARE MY COOKBOOKS?” Pinkie Pie screamed.

“She was just here, she took my book!” Lyra said.

“Great.” Spike said.

“Let’s keep looking.” Applejack said.

“I’m coming too!” Lyra said.

A scream could be heard off in the distance. Not just any scream, a feminine, dramatic scream.

“Rarity” They all said simultaneously.

“Twilight, whatever are you DOING?” Rarity yelled.

Twilight was tearing up Rarity’s store. “Where is it? I know you have a book on Fashion!” Twilight said.

“Here take it, darling. Just stop wrecking my store!” Rarity said, annoyed.

“Thank you!” Twilight said, and teleported away.

Shortly after, Applejack, Pinkie, Lyra, and Spike came barging through the door.

“GAAA! DIRT! PLEASE GET OUT!” Rarity screeched.
“Oh, uhhh sorry.” Applejack said, and the ponies stepped outside. “Have you seen Twilight?”

“Yes.” Rarity said, groaning. “She wanted my book.”

“Rarity we’re gonna need your help. Twilight’s got it in her head that she needs to go proofreading all the books in Ponyville.”

“Sounds serious.” Lyra said, hearing this for the first time.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash came up behind them.

“Has anyone noticed how crazy Twilight is acting?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“She stole my animal books.” Fluttershy said.

“We need to stop Twilight somehow.”

Spike thought for a second. “I got it. What book would be the most important for proofreading?” Spike asked everyone.

“I dunno.” Lyra said, and it seemed everypony else was at a loss.

“The DICTIONARY!” Spike declared. “If we move fast, we can catch Twilight!”

“Why, where is the dictionary?” Applejack asked.

“Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo have it.” Spike said.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SCHOLARS!” Scootaloo declared.

“Wait, so we read this, and get our cutie marks in being smart or something?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yea! It’s the perfect plan!” Scootaloo said.

“If you say so...” Apple Bloom said.

Applejack, Pinkie, Lyra, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Spike could be heard in the distance.

Scootaloo looked out the window. “Hey girls, look.”
The two other foals looked out the window. The group of mares and spike were all heading in their direction.

“Great, look at what you’ve caused. I told you taking the dictionary was a bad idea.” Apple Bloom said.

“You think they ALL want it?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Girls!” Applejack yelled. “We need your help for a sec’.”

“What do you need?” Apple Bloom asked.

“We have a Twilight Emergency.” Applejack said.

“You mean that book with the vamponies?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“No, Twilight SPARKLE Emergency.” Applejack clarified.

Twilight was quite proud of herself. She had almost collected all the books in Ponyville. Once she had proofread them all, she would put them back. No matter how long it took.

She then remember something important. The Equestrian Dictionary. If there would be errors, that book would be the most important to fix. She thought for a moment. Where could it be? Then she remembered. The three fillies. Yes, they had taken it yesterday morning. Twilight trotted toward Sweet Apple Acres.

When she got there, it was surprisingly quiet. She glanced around, not seeing Applejack anywhere. She continued to the back or the orchard where she found the filly’s clubhouse.
Twilight entered the clubhouse, which was oddly dark inside. The moment she stepped in, something heavy fell on her. The lights flicked on to reveal Rainbow Dash holding her down, and everypony else circled around her.

“Gotcha.” Applejack said. “Now what’s all this fuss about misspellin’ words in books?”

“TYPOS. INCORRECT. MUST FIX!” Twilight said, struggling to get free.

“Have you actually found anymore errors beyond the one in that one book?” Lyra asked.

“I... well... no.” Twilight said.

“So did you ever think for a second, that it was the only error?” Rarity asked.
“No...” Twilight said. “BUT I STILL MUST CHECK!” She continued to struggle.

Suddenly Twilight remembered she was a unicorn, and therefore had magic. She teleported from under Rainbow Dash, to on top of her. “Now where is the Dictionary!” Twilight demanded to know.

“No, Twilight. The madness ends here.” Applejack said.

“Madness?” Twilight repeated.

“You have to admit, this is a bit crazy, isn’t it Twi?” Rarity asked.

“Of course not!” Twilight said. “The people who wrote the books just didn’t do their job, therefore it’s my job to fix it!”

To which Rainbow Dash got up from under Twilight, turned around, and knocked her on the head.

“Twilight, really now. All you need to do is change it yourself, you have the magic to do it.” Rainbow said.

“WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER BOOKS?”

“TWILIGHT!” They all yelled simultaneously.

“WHAT!?” Twilight yelled back.

A newspaper fluttered through the window, and hit Twilight in the face.

Twilight took it off her head and looked at the headline.

RARE OBSCURE UNICORN HISTORY BOOKS ERROR
Error only found in first editions. The Error was kept in these rare books to preserve originality.
Rare books worth tons of bits.

Twilight stood there, baffled. “Wait so.”

“Oh yeah, I saw that article a few days ago.” Rarity said.

Everyone but Twilight stared at Rarity. “You mean you could’ve told us all this when Spike explained?” Applejack asked

“Well EXCUUUUSE MEEE for forgetting!”
“So that error was.... intentional?” Twilight asked indirectly.

“It would appear that way.” Lyra said.

“So I guess if they knew about it that early, then the chances of there being any errors in any other books are....” Twilight trails.

“...So if that’s over can I have my book back?” Lyra asked.

Twilight sighed, and dropped the load of books she had. Everypony grabbed their books and turned to leave.

“You ok Twi?” Spike asked.

“Yes... I am.” She said.

“Don’t worry about it Twilight. This ain’t the worst thing that’s happened in Ponyville, and besides we can’t stay mad at you. You’re our friend.” Applejack said, bringing in Twilight for hug. “Just be sure to come see us with things that bother you from now on.”

“Yeah... ok.” Twilight said.

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