Twilight layed face down on the table. She and the others hadn't left the cafe since Dusty had gone. The Princess of Friendship was feeling more guilty than ever. Not only did she make Dusty lose her job, but it looked like she lost her friendship with her as well.

Leo sat by her side, laying a comforting hand on her. Melody Spirit also layed a comforting hoof on her friend. Spike meanwhile, was sipping a drink and snapping his claws as the band ponies were playing once again. Bright Eyes was tapping her hoof on the table, enjoying the music as well

Twilight sat up and shot a frown at the band, "Do you mind?" The band stopped for a moment before drummer shook her head and they continued on. "I don't understand? If Dusty Pages won't go back to Canterlot Library and explain everything, then she won't be able to get her job back. And worse, her record will remain imperfect!"

"And yours will too?" Spike asked dryly.

"Well, yeah! But that doesn't matter anymore."

"Does it though?" Bright Eyes asked rhetorically.

"Well maybe a little bit," Twilight admitted sheepishly. "Oh no, bits! The late fines!" She suddenly remembered. "How much do I owe now?!"

Spike took out an abacus and did a number crunch. "Uh, you don't wanna know," he said warily.

"Ugh!" Twilight groaned and ran a hoof down her face. "It would've been worth all the bits in Equestria if I'd made things right with Dusty. I wish I knew why she won't go back?"

"Twilight, I know you feel guilty, but has it ever occurred to you that you might have jumped to the wrong conclusion here?" Leo inquired.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"I didn't wanna say anything because I wasn't quite sure myself," Leo began. "But ever since what we found out about Dusty, you’ve been assuming the worst of things without getting the full details."

"Yeah," Bright Eyes agreed. "You assumed that she was fired and that it was all your fault."

"And you assumed that she wasn't happy and putting on an act," Spike noted.

"I gotta agree with your friends on this one, Twilight," Melody said. "One of the most important things I've learned throughout my days of exploring, is that when you jump to conclusions and assume things without getting the full picture, things can get way out of hoof. So maybe instead of fretting over something that might turn out to be not that big a deal, you should ask Dusty why she was fire. Or if she was fired."

"But what if I'm right?" Twilight worried. "You all saw how upset she was!"

"Well, you won't know until you find out," Leo stated.

"She didn't seem to want to talk," Twilight rebuked.

"You surprised her," Spike pointed out.

"And she did say she had somewhere else to be," Bright Eyes recalled. "She does have a packed schedule."

"Twilight, when you first told me about what happened to Blade, a part of me was afraid that the brother I knew was gone, but I also knew that I would never know until I found out," Melody explained. "Sometimes you just have to take a chance. It's called a leap of faith."

Spike flew over to Twilight, "Come on, what've you got to lose?"

"Now that I've messed up this much, nothing," Twilight replied. "You're right, guys, it's worth a try. Where do you think she went? Crochet? Bingo?"

"Non of the above," Melody rebuked. "I know which activity she has after band practice, but I wouldn't recommend going without wearing any gear."

"What kind of activity is that?" Leo asked.

"A squishy fruit food-fight tournament?!" Twilight said in surprise, as she and the others walked onto a field. Elderly ponies were dressed in gear and running around, taking cover behind trees, rocks, haystacks, and barrels. All while throwing multiple fruit at each other.

"One of the most popular activities here," Melody explained while dressed in gear herself. Then without turning her head, she halted a mango with her magic before whirling it around and flinging it right back, nailing the pony who'd thrown it. "Nice try, Coltland! But you're gonna have to be sneakier than that!"

Twilight, Spike, Leo, and Bright Eyes meanwhile were dodging any fruit that was flung in their direction. Leo even used one of his katanas to deflect and chop them. He even sliced a watermelon.

Spike waved out a white flag and called out, "Hey, everypony! We come in—" Twilight ducked an incoming tomato that hit him instead, knocking him back. He flew up with the tomato splattered on his belly. "Eh, pieces," he finished dryly.

"Ambush!" Melody suddenly cried and dove behind some rocks. Before the others could react, they were pelted all over by the fruit before Twilight teleported them all behind the rocks.

"This is just like the Apple and Peach Family's food fight!" Bright Eyes recalled the incident during her time in the human world.

"We'll never be able to find Dusty in all this madness," Leo said.

"And without getting splattered," Spike notted.

Twilight peeked over the rock and called, "Stop! We just want to talk to Dusty Pages for a moment! Please?" However, no pony seemed to listen to her. Until...

"TIME OUT!"

Everypony turned and looked up. There was Dusty standing on the branch of a tree, wearing a light purple helmet, blue goggles, and a matching scarf around her neck. The former libraian grabbed a rope in her mouth and swung down, landing in front of the surprised group.

"Nice entrance," Melody commented.

"Thanks, Melody," Dusty then turned to the four friends. "Next time, you should rent gear."

"We're not actually here for the game," Spike clearified.

"Yeah," Bright Eyes added. "Even though it does look really fun..." She dodged a watermelon. "When your not the target of bombarding fruit."

Twilight spoke, "I was hoping you'd give me another chance to talk to you about the library book.

Dusty sighed, "This really means a lot to you, doesn't it?"

"Mm-hmm," Twilight nodded.

"It really does," Leo confirmed.

Twilight continued, "I know I ruined your life by not returning my book on time, and I will do anything I can to make it up to you. Even promise to never take a book out of a library again, if that's what it takes." All the ponies gasped at that, just like the ones in the library had, shocked that the book-loving princess would even suggest such a thing. But what happened next took both Twilight and her friends by surprise...

Dusty started laughing.

"That is not the reaction we expected," Spike stated.

"At all," Bright Eyes added.

Once she stopped laughing, Dusty spoke, "Twilight, dear, you've got it all backwards! I'm not upset with you!"

"You're not?" Twilight asked in confusion.

"No! If I'm mad at anypony, it's me," Dusty clarified.

"Why is that?" Leo inquired.

Dusty removed her helmet and sat on a long, motioning the others to sit with her. Once everyone did, she began to explain, "All those years I spent hiding away in that library, trying to be perfect. When your book never came in, I felt something exhilarating!"

"What was it?" Twilight asked.

"Freedom," Dusty answered.

"Freedom?" Leo echoed.

"From what?" Bright Eyes asked.

"From books?" Spike guessed.

"From perfection!" Dusty explained. "I was too stubborn to know when to call it quits! It took your mistake to make me realize that I wasn't living the life I wanted!"

"You mean you weren't fired? You left the library because you wanted to?" Twilight asked in confusion.

"Twilight, your late book was the best thing that ever happened to me," Dusty smiled. "Now I'm not afraid to try things I might fail at. In fact, sometimes messing up teaches me more than getting it right!"

"You're sure you don't want to return it and get that perfect record back?" Twilight asked, levitating out the book. But before Dusty could answer, Melody noticed something and ducked as a fruit was thrown, just missing her, and splattered right on the book. "WAAAAHHHH!" Twilight screamed.

"Oh no!" Bright Eyes exclaimed.

"Coltland!" Melody scolded the pony who'd thrown the fruit.

"Sorry," Coltland said sheepishly.

Everyone looked at the book and Dusty sighed in relief, "Ah, good. It was a yellow one. You can still see the words."

"But it'll have a stain!" Twilight fretted.

"That doesn't change the truth inside it," Dusty retorted, but then a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Wait. Did you even read that thing?"

Twilight was silent. "Did you, Twilight?" Leo asked.

Twilight blushed with embarrassment, "Actually, uh, no, I guess I didn't."

"You mean you never read the book you've been stressing over all day?" Bright Eyes questioned with a grin.

Twilight frowned at her before she wipped the fruit off and read the title aloud, "Perfection."

"And the next part?" Dusty urged.

Twilight read further, "The Impossible Pursuit." The alicorn's eyes widened in surprise.

After a moment, Melody burst out laughing. "Well, how's that for irony?!" The old mare gauffed.

Then Spike, Dusty, Leo, and Bright Eyes started laughing too, while Twilight felt very sheepish.

"Oh. That might've been useful to look at earlier," she said, blushing.

After saying goodbye to Dusty and Melody, the four friends returned to the Carnterlot library. They stood in First Folio's office as the unicorn read from a long piece of paper.

"Uh-huh... Your total late fees come to..." she started.

"However much it is, I'll cover it," Twilight promised worriedly. "Uh, do you have a monthly payment plan?"

First Folio lowered the paper and gave the amount, "Twenty-eight bits," she said with a sneer.

Everyone gasped in surprise. That was a lot lower than they had assumed.

"That's it?!" Spike asked.

"Yah-huh," First Folio nodded. "Most ponies don't know that it caps at a month. Probably 'cause we don't tell them." She snorted. Relieved, Twilight levitated the amount of bits from her saddlebag and handed them to her.
"Thank you. Your account is back to normal. Although we will be taking down your Best Book Borrower picture."

"Um, is that really necessary?" Twilight asked. "Heh. It just seems so permanent. Heh. I mean, I did return the book, after all."

Spike cleared his throat.

"Twilight," Leo warned.

"Perfection alert," Bright Eyes muttered.

"Okay. Letting the perfection go," Twilight relented a bit grudgingly, then took a breath. "You want me to reshelve this for you?"

"No, it's an old edition," First Folio replied. "We've already replaced it with a new copy."

"In that case, can we keep it?" Spike asked. "It might be a good reminder to have around." He nudged Twilight who smiled awkwardly.

"You sure?" First Folio questioned, levitating the book up with a wince. "It's got a stain."

"That's what makes it perfect," Twilight smiled, and held the book close.

As the four left the library, Bright Eyes spoke up, "You know, headmare Twilight, maybe you could make a friendship lesson from this whole experience."

"I'll keep that in mind, Bright Eyes," Twilight replied.

"Also," Leo chimed in. "What Dusty said about how messing up teaches more than getting it right, it reminded me of something Splinter once said: Failure is the best teacher. And we've all definitely lived through that. Especially me and my brothers."

"Like the Muckman incident? Or when you guys spilled Mutagen all over New York?" Bright Eyes brought up. "Or the Justin incident?"

"Where Karai totally played you for fool and humiliated you in front of your brothers?" Spike added with a smirk.

"Yeah..." Leo frowned and looked away. He was still very embarrassed by that incident.

"Or how about the night when you guys first faced Stockman?" Twilight spoke up. "When you were nagging your brothers about being stealthy, but didn't watch where you were going and fell off a ledge, crashed through a greenhouse, and a bee hive, then tumbled down a fire escape and landed right in a dumpster?"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!" Leo jerked towards her in shock.

Twilight and Bright Eyes just laughed and trotted away.

"You sure weren't very stealthy that night, huh Leo?" Spike chuckled before he flew after them.

Leo did a double take. What Spike said was VERY similar to what a certain red-masked brother of his said to him that very night. The Turtle leader glared as he followed after his friends. When they got back to the School, he was gonna have some words with Raph.

Author's Note

Trivia:

• The pony Coltland is the one who told Pinkie and Rainbow the story of Somnambula from the episode "Daring Done". He and Melody are long time rivals, like Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

• The embarrassing incident that Twilight mentions to Leo is from the TMNT 2012 episode "I think his name was Baxter Stockman".