For the better part of her fillyhood, Sweetie Belle wanted nothing but her cutie mark. Now she wanted to be a princess. After learning from Rarity that their librarian friend from down the street was crowned a princess by the Royal Sisters, she hoped one day she would achieve royal status. For several days Sweetie Belle spent her free time reading fairy tales and books about princesses to gather some useful information.

The first thing she learned about being a princess was that she needed a kingdom. In her backyard she, along with her two best friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, created a fort out of cardboard boxes and pink and red paint. They had also dug a small moat around her cardboard palace and filled it with water, with the addition of a wooden plank. Henceforth, Sweetie Belle christened her kingdom Belltopia.

The next few days the three fillies spent the time preparing for Sweetie Belle’s coronation. The guest list included Rarity, their parents, half of their class (if any would come), themselves, and of course Sweetie Belle’s stuffed animals.

The miniature coronation began at the stroke of noon. The only attendants out of the guest list were Rarity, her parents, Dinky Hooves, Twist, and the stuffed animals from Sweetie’s room. The ceremonies started off with a symphony of a fake trumpet fanfare by Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. “Mares and gentlecolts,” Apple Bloom announced. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders are pleased to introduce to you for the very first time in history, Princess Sweetie Belle!” The white filly emerged from a red curtain behind the audience. She was adorned in a blue dress with yellow lining at the collar. On her head lay a plastic golden tiara and on her back were white wings made of the exact material as her castle. Sweetie walked down the aisle with her head up high as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sang her introductory song:

The song ended with golf course clapping from the confused coronation attendees. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo let the newly-crowned Sweetie Belle take her place on their small podium. When everypony was silent, she began her first speech as princess.

“I’m so glad all of you were able to come!” she said with excitement. “I promise I’m going to be the best princess I can be! I don’t think being a princess is that hard, you just have to wear dresses, go to parties, and do some other important stuff. Anyway, I Pinkie-Promise to perform to the best of my abilities to execute the Law of the Kingdom of Belltopia, so help me Celestia.”

Her speech received another round of golf course clapping. The children, and to a lesser extent her parents, did not seem to mind that Sweetie had proudly proclaimed herself princess, but Rarity hid her embarrassment in the guise of a cringeworthy smile.

When the coronation ceremony ended and the attendees returned home, it was time to create the law of the land. The fillies gathered in Sweetie Belle’s room and wrote on a wide piece of paper that was as large as themselves. “Okay, what should be the first law?” Scootaloo asked.

“How about every Friday should be Free Cake Day?” Princess Sweetie suggested. Scootaloo wrote down the first law on the sheet of paper. “Where are we going to get free cake from?” she asked. Sweetie rubbed her chin, the said, “Maybe Pinkie Pie will give us free cake if I tell her I’m a princess now.”

“I got an idea for a second law,” Apple Bloom said. “How about whenever anypony does something bad, they have to spend one day in the pokey?”

“What’s the pokey?” Sweetie asked.

“When Wynonna was a little puppy, we put her in a playpen we called the pokey whenever she acts up, so it’s kind of like jail.”

“Should the jail be my basement?”

“Sure, that would be great!” Scootaloo wrote down the second law into the paper and the girls continued to create more silly laws for Sweetie’s new kingdom. When evening was on the horizon it was time for Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to returned to their homes. After having dinner and brushing her teeth Princess Sweetie Belle dreamed about her loyal subjects bowing and praising her.

The next morning after eating her breakfast Princess Sweetie Belle went out into the backyard to check on her castle. It was just like they have left it the day before. While she gazed at her cardboard castle she wondered what are some other important things princesses do. A great idea formed in her mind. She ran back to her room and grabbed her plastic tiara and wings and gathered her friends to meet at the treehouse.

When Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were present, Sweetie proudly announced her first action as princess. “My loyal subjects, I have finally decided what we should do today. I think we should find a prince to rule with me!”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo gave each other concerned glances. “A prince? Where are we going to find a prince?” Scootaloo asked.

“Simple, we interview every colt in town until we find the right one to be a prince,” Sweetie said. Bloom and Scoots gave each other questioning glances once more. Apple Bloom raised her arm and asked, “Why do you need a prince all of a sudden? Can’t you just rule your kingdom by yourself?”

“But I have to have prince,” Sweetie whined. “In the fairy tales I read, the prince and the princess always lived happily ever.”

“We’re not going to have a kissing contest, are we?” Scootaloo asked. The girls’ faces contorted into disgusted looks with their tongues out. “Eww! No I just want to see if they’re good enough to be princes, not kiss them!” Sweetie said.

The following afternoon the girls visited the playground and talked to the colts individually about the prospect of being a prince. Princess Sweetie Belle sat on a lounging chair while Scootaloo and Apple Bloom interviewed the potential co-rulers.

The first colt was tall, dark yellow colt with a greenish-blue mane. “And what might your name be?” Apple Bloom asked.

“You know me Apple Bloom, I’m Snails,” the colt said.

“I know just play along. Do you think you have what it takes to be a good prince?” she asked.

“Well, I don’t know much about being a prince. Do princes have to do anything hard?”

“I don’t think so. You just have to sit next to the princess and stuff.”

“... Nah, that sounds too hard. See you at school.”

The next colt to be interviewed was a little bright-yellow colt with a propeller hat and an orange mane. “And what’s your name?” Scootaloo asked.

“Rocky Road, ma’am.”

“What do you know about being a prince?”

“A prince has to tell the princess what to do and stuff, and the princess has to obey his every order.” After he said that he grinned a silly grin. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked at each other before letting him go. The next colt was a pudgy little gray one with a soft black mane. “State your name please,” Apple Bloom said.

“Truffle Shuffle, er, ma’am,” the colt said.

“You think you can be a prince?”

“I think so, can the prince eat anything he wants?”

“... Yeah, I think.”

Truffle Shuffle’s interview became a conversation of things he liked to eat, so Apple Bloom had to let him go. Throughout the afternoon Scootaloo and Apple Bloom interviewed every colt in the playground as well as filling Princess Sweetie’s glass with iced tea from time to time. The quest to find an eligible prince for Sweetie Belle seemed hopeless. Some were not too bright while others were just plain rude. Just as they were about to draw the interviews to a close, one more colt approached them.

“Excuse me,” the young colt said. From the sound of his voice he had an accent, and was not from around Ponyville. He was a small pinto colt with a brown mane, and was a tad-bit shorter than the rest of the girls. “Um, were you girls looking for a prince?” he asked bashfully.

“We were, but we given up now,” Scootaloo said.

“Oh… well, I thought I might make a pretty good prince,” the colt said while gently kicking dirt into the ground.

“Yeah, well, maybe next time kid,” Apple Bloom said. She was suddenly stopped by Sweetie Belle, who saw the colt from her lounging chair. Her eyes gazed deeply his, her legs weak, and her mouth dried. The colt stood in front of her like an angel descended from heaven. Everything about him was so… perfect. “Who are you,” Sweetie stammered.

The colt bowed and answered, “Pipsqueak, Your Highness.” Sweetie Belle giggled with pure delight, but she soon gained her composure, even if she were still swept away by the young colt. “You… want to be my - I mean, a prince?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Do you know what a prince does?”

“A prince must always protect the princess and always be there for her, and help rule her kingdom. At least that’s what I read in my adventure books.”

Sweetie Belle tackled Pipsqueak with a hug and proclaimed to the inhabitants of earth with a loud voice, “I’ve found my prince!” On the next day the wedding was held in Sweetie Belle’s backyard in front of the cardboard castle. Her parents, Dinky, Twist, Sweetie’s stuffed animals, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, and Pinkie Pie attended. Rarity could not come do to having a busy schedule of filling out clothing orders on that day, but she send her best wishes (she hoped it was just a pretend wedding). Just like the coronation Sweetie emerged from a red curtain, this time with her prince by her side. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sang the iconic wedding march as Prince Pipsqueak and Princess Sweetie Belle walked down the aisle.

“We are gather here today to unite this mare and stallion in holy matrimony,” Apple Bloom announced to the attendees. “Will you, Prince Pipsqueak, take this princess to be your lawfully wedded wife until death do you apart?”

“I do.”

“Will you, Princess Sweetie Belle, take this prince to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.”

“Then by the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you Prince and Princess. You may k-- uh… shake hooves.”

Sweetie and Pipsqueak smiled at each other and took their hooves and shook them up and down. The small crowd cheered, and Sweetie’s mother and father had tears in their eyes. Pinkie jumped out of her seat and yelled, “It’s time for the reception!” She pulled out her party cannon and an explosion caused a party to appear out of thin air, with tables, snacks, cake, and music.

After the wedding reception ended, everypony went home, included the newly-crowned Prince Pipsqueak. He told Sweetie Belle his mother did not like him being out after sunset, but he promised to come back tomorrow to be a prince for her again. That evening Sweetie’s dream was of Pipsqueak and herself standing on a great balcony overlooking their vast kingdom and their loyal subjects.

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