Thirty Minute Pony Stories

Three books sat with Twilight as Spike worked on shelving the books in the library, one open and two closed. The open book had a purple hardcover on it and a red quill was moving along its pages. A second purple hardcover book sat beside it. The other book had a paperback cover and was in poor condition. Both front and back covers of the book had rips and tears in them. A large portion of the book had been stained with coffee causing the paper to crinkle. Twilight lifted her quill from the open book.

“There, all done,” she said. The paperback book was covered in a purple aura and brought to her. “Such terrible condition. I need to fine the pony who had this book last. But first, it could use a makeover.”

The second hardcover book was brought over to her. She opened it up revealing blank pages. Twilight closed her eyes and the glow on her horn brightened. The paperback book opened up and flipped its pages. Small black lettering flew out of the book as its pages moved. The lettering circled around Twilight. The glow around the paperback faded away causing it to drop on the table. The hardcover’s pages flipped. The lettering descended onto the blank pages. The letters fused with the paper filling up the blank space. When the last page was filled, the book closed itself. Twilight opened her eyes and placed the book down. She brought end paper over to the paperback. The end paper was pressed against the book’s cover. A steady stream of magic was poured onto the paper. When Twilight lifted the end paper, the image of the paperback’s cover was on it. The cover of the hardcover book was opened up. She placed the end paper inside and fused it against the book’s case liner. Both open books were closed and placed on top of each other.

“Now,” Twilight said carrying the books in front of her. She turned to her left and began walking. “To put this back in its proper place on the…” She stopped as she bumped into something. Both of the books in her grasp as well as a large number of books fell to the ground. Spike sat up and shook his head.

“You should watch where you’re going, Spike,” Spike raised an eyebrow.

“You walked into me,” he said. “Plus, I was carrying a stack of books literally twice my size. I don’t think I could have seen you even if I tried.” Spike began picking up the books. He reached for one of the purple hardcover books. “What’s this?”

“That’s a copy of The Return of Tambelon,” Twilight said picking up some books. “It’s one of the books in the Dream Valley series. The copy that was returned was in very poor condition, so I decided to rebind it.”

“The Return of Tambelon,” Spike tapped his chin. “Oh! That’s the book that Rarity put a hold on. Wait, Rarity…. Shoot! I’m late! I’m late!”

“For a very important date?”

“Yes! Well, no. It’s not a date. I promised to help Rarity collect some gems today. And I’m late for that!” Twilight telekinetically opened the door.

“Go ahead,” she said. “I can fill the spaces in the shelves. Take the copy of The Return of Tambelon with you. If Rarity has it on hold, then you can bring it to her.” Spike looked down at the book in his hands.

“What’s the catch?” he asked.

“No catch, I just don’t want you to be late, that’s all,” the baby dragon narrowed his eyes. “Okay, fine. I need an opinion on a fic I wrote.”

“It’s not a slash fic is it? Because I can’t read any of the books in the Stardust series anymore without seeing certain ships.”

“It’s not a slash fic,” Twilight said placing books on the shelves. “It does have romance in it, but it’s not the main focus. It’s a Dream Valley fic that I’m currently working on. I have forty two chapters planned out, but I’ve only completed thirty six of them. I’d like some feedback on the latest chapter I wrote.”

“Is this that Flight to Cloud Castle story you asked me to look at a while ago?” Twilight nodded. “Ah, that. Yeah, I can give some feedback. I liked what you had so far anyways.”  

“That’s good to hear,” she said. “Now go on, you don’t want to be even later do you?”

“Right, thanks Twilight!” Spike called as he ran to the exit. He closed the library’s door leaving Twilight alone. She continued placing books on the shelves. As Twilight moved around the library, her left foreleg hit a purple hardcover book. The book was picked up and placed on a nearby table. After that task was complete, she returned to reshelving the library.

*

The moon was beginning its ascent when Spike returned to the library. He had a smile on his face and was carrying a bucket full of gems. Twilight looked up from her book.

“I take it you had fun?” Spike nodded. “Good to hear. After you put your bucket away, do you think you could read the latest chapter of Flight to Cloud Castle?”

“Sure,” Spike walked towards the table. He placed the bucket down and grabbed the book atop it. The cover was opened up. “Um, Twilight? I don’t think this is Flight to Cloud Castle.”

“What do you mean?” she asked. “I’m sure that that’s Flight to Cloud Castle.” Spike turned the book towards her. The end paper had the cover of The Return of Tambelon on it. Twilight’s eyes widened.

“Spike, where’s the other book?”

“You don’t remember?” he asked. “Since Rarity had it on hold…

“I told you to give it to…” Twilight shot up and ran to the library’s exit. Her horn gave off a glow and the book was pulled out of Spike’s grip. It followed her as she ran as fast as she could towards Carousel Boutique.

*

Rarity sat in front of a fire with as she read through a purple book. She had expected to find The Return of Tambelon, but instead she found a story called Flight to Cloud Castle. Though it wasn’t the next canonical book in the Dream Valley series, she decided to read it. She assumed that the book was one that was later in the series and wanted to know what happened to certain characters. A cup of tea was brought to her lips as she flipped the page. Loud knocking on her door interrupted her reading.

“How odd,” she said placing a bookmark. “I wonder who that is.” Rarity got up and calmly walked to her home’s entrance way. The knocking got louder and more frantic.

“Yes, yes, I can hear you,” she opened the door. On the other side, she found a panting purple unicorn. Sweat was on her forehead and a purple hardcover book was floating beside her. “Twilight, it’s good to see you. How can I help you?” The purple book was pushed in front of Rarity’s face.

“Here’s The Return of Tambelon,” Twilight panted. “Spike, he…he gave you the wrong book.” The book was covered in a blue aura.

“I see. I suppose you want the other one back?” Twilight nodded. “Follow me.” Rarity walked into her home with Twilight following her.

“What are your thoughts on Flight to Cloud Castle?” she asked. Twilight’s body stiffened. “I find it interesting that Wind Whistler has decided to put Firefly and Posey in a romantic relationship. I didn’t see any kind of romantic spark from them in the previous books. I always thought that Firefly would be with Kimono. It seemed like she was building that relationship up. ”

“Yes, interesting,” Twilight nervously said. When they reached the room Rarity was in, Twilight grabbed the purple book. “Well, I have my book back. Sorry for the confusion, I have to get back now, okay? Thanks, bye!” Before she could run out of the boutique, a white hoof placed itself on her shoulders.

“Twilight, I want you to answer some questions honestly for me,” Rarity said. “First, is Flight to Cloud Castle part of the Dream Valley series?”

“In a way,” Twilight said.

“Is it a canonical sequel to any of the other books?”

“No.”

———————[Time Limit Reached]———————

“Hmmm,” Rarity tapped her chin. “It’s not a canonical sequel, it’s part of the Dream Valley series, and it puts two characters in a romantic relationship even though another one was being built up. That sounds an awful lot like…” Twilight’s eyes were darting back and forth.

“Fan fiction,” Twilight blanched. “And since you wanted it back so badly, I believe that it’s safe to assume that…”

“Well this has been a nice chat and all, but I have to go,” Twilight turned around and ran. After a few steps, she ran into a wall of blue energy.

“Our conversation isn’t over yet,” Twilight rubbed her nose. “You wrote Flight to Cloud Castle, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Twilight said with her head down. “I admit it, I wrote this fan fiction. Now you know about my incredibly dorky pastime that I use to help improve my writing skills. So go ahead, laugh at me. I know you want to.” The two of them stood in silence.

“If it’s any consolation,” Rarity said. “From what little I read, I can say that I like it.” Twilight looked up.

“You do?” the ivory pony nodded.

“You mirror Miss Whistler’s narrative style perfectly,” she said. “All of the characters acted and sounded in character, and the situations they were in feel like they could happen in the actual series. There were some problems with your descriptions, but like you said, you’re still improving. Is it finished?”

Twilight blinked. “No, no it’s not. Why do you ask?”

“Can I read it when you’re done?” Again, Twilight blinked. “I did say that I enjoyed your story. I’m curious as to how it ends.” A smile formed on Twilight’s face.

“Sure, Rarity,” she said. “As soon as I finish the last chapter, you can read it.”

“Thank you, Twilight,” the bookmark was pulled and brought to Rarity. “I’m going to need this back if I want to read The Return of Tambelon. Have a good night.”

“You too.” Twilight walked to the entrance of Carousel Boutique. When the sound of the entrance way closing reached Rarity, she turned back into her room. A piece of parchment with a list on it was brought to her. She grabbed a pencil and scratched out the first item on the list.

NOTPs

• Firefly X Posey
• Kimono X Toola Roola
• Starsong X Posey
• Shady X Fizzy

—-

BSB Comments:

Heh, someone getting ahold of your unfinished work is certainly something heart-stopping. I liked Rarity’s reaction to discovering Twilight’s secret, and I enjoyed the little list at the end suggesting that she may indulge in such pastimes herself. Here’s hoping that Twilight gets better and wows Rarity with her prose. Good job!