I dreamed I was a
butterfly, flitting around in
the sky; then I awoke. Now
I wonder: Am I a man who
dreamt of being a butterfly,
or am I a butterfly
dreaming that I am a man?
-Zhuangzi
"Focus, Spike. We need all of our concentration for this spell to work."
The purple dragon squirmed in his chair, but never removed his gaze from the blue stone in front of him for a second.
Ponyville seemed unusually noisy today for some reason, and the birds outside the window chirped far louder than necessary. A drop of sweat trickled down Spike's brow; it took all of his willpower not to surrender to the distractions presented by the bustling town. Focused as he was he barely noticed as the crystal before him began to smoke lightly with an entrancing purple glow, that shone more and more brightly with each passing moment.
“Almost, nearly there…” Twilight Sparkle muttered, her horn resolutely transferring magic to the crystal.
She wanted more than anything to slam shut the creaky door library door, or tell the pony outside to shut up about their apple tart, or close the drapes that allowed the sun to incessantly shine into her eyes from the side of the room, or simply to flop down on a pillow and take a brief respite from her efforts – but instead she sat as still as if she had been petrified on the library’s mahogany flooring in the middle of a pile of books that would appear to have suffered through a maelstrom.
‘Only a little bit longer,’ she thought to herself as her horn glowed ever brighter. The blue uncut, unrefined crystal before her twitched…
“TWILIGHT!”
Twilight blinked and flinched away from the noise. The very next moment the crystal exploded with a loud bang. She and Spike were blown backwards and sent sprawling across the room. Books rained from the shelves adding to the chaos.
A short time passed in silence as the library was filled with dust and purple smoke.
“Hi!”
Pinkie Pie popped out of a pile of books and looked towards Twilight, blissfully ignorant of the even she had just caused.
“Heehee! You’re such a party pony, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie bounced. “Why is there smokey everywhere? Were you preparing a party? I bet you were! Am I invited? Huh- Huh? Am I- Am I?”
Pinkie giggled and stamped on the ground in excitement. Twilight emerged from a sea of fallen books with a deadpan expression, prepared to weather the storm and see if anything was recoverable from the fiasco.
“Speak no further!” Pinkie assumed a very unique fighting stance “Pinkie Pie is here to battle and- WHAM! Courageously slay the beast that is boredom! Why, why I giggle right in the face of!..”
Pinkie paused for a moment and sat down, and held a hoof to her chin.
“No, that would make me a meanie,” she continued “but I know what isn’t! I can make lemonade, and cake, and cupcakes! Cupcakes are never mean, do you want cupcakes? Oh, oh, oh! Missus Cake just showed me how to make this amazing frosting and-“
Twilight’s eye twitched as she stared at her rambling friend, she didn’t even try to understand the words anymore. The only way to win was to wait it out. She sighed audibly but Pinkie didn’t seem to notice: she skipped up to Twilight and started brushing the many books off her head.
Pinkie paused in her verbal rush and stared at Twilight, a light smile on her clueless face.
