Twilight Sparkle was so nervous, she was almost frothing without a single stitch of clothing rubbing her pelt. This level of anxiety wasn't a normal experience for a five year old filly. But then, Twilight wasn't a normal filly. Normal fillies couldn't pass the pre-screening needed to take this terrible exam in the first place.

She focused her willpower as best she could, but nothing happened. The magic was fizzling inside her horn. How could a foal be expected to hatch a dragon, she wondered? She'd already tried her hardest, and the egg hadn't budged an inch! She had no ideas left. Her hooves trembled, and she bowed her head.

"I'm sorry for wasting your time," she mumbled, holding back tears. The evaluators frowned and scribbled down notes. Her parents winced.

Then, a miracle happened.

The wake of the Sonic Rainboom carried with it an impossible amount of magic. All Twilight needed to do was see the Rainboom for the chain reaction to begin, even though the epicenter was miles away. She had no control over what happened next. The mana surge overwhelmed her both physically and mentally. The little filly wasn't even conscious when energy blasts began shooting out of her body.

The next thing she knew, Twilight Sparkle was Princess Celestia's personal student.

Young Starlight Glimmer focused her magic around the dragon's egg and pushed with crushing force, but it was too strong to crack. She tried to reach inside the egg with her telekinesis, but the shell blocked her magic entirely. Her mother watched and fretted.

"Alright, it's been two minutes," said one of the evaluators. "You can go now."

"No!" shouted Starlight. "This isn't fair! How is a foal supposed to hatch a dragon egg?"

"You're not expected to hatch it," said another evaluator. "But at minimum, you're expected to levitate it in the attempt."

"What? I can do that easily! That isn't fair! I didn't know what you wanted—"

The first evaluator interrupted her. "Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns is flooded with excellent applicants just like you. The screening process doesn't need to be 'fair'. In fact, it can't be."

"But my only friend goes here. If I don't g-go here I might never be able to see him again," she whispered, collapsing on the floor.

Starlight Glimmer's mother levitated the foal onto her back and trotted quickly out of the room as Starlight began to cry.

Twilight Velvet approached the bursar's office. A unicorn stallion was seated behind a large desk covered in papers.

"Ah, Twilight Sparkle's mother, I presume," he said, reaching out to shake hooves and knocking over a stack of papers in the process. "Twilight Velvet, yes?"

The mare blushed. "Goodness! I never imagined I'd be famous," she joked, as she took a seat.

"Well, you'd better get used to it. Anyway, there's still the matter of your payment," said the bursar. "Even being Princess Celestia's personal student doesn't mean your filly gets a free pass. It used to be like that, but a few years ago we adopted a policy of no stipends outside of the special awards program. It's assumed that if you apply to the School, you can already afford to pay."

"Of course," said Twilight Velvet. She cleared her throat. "We're well-off enough to pay, fortunately. Although it is a little pricey for us, because our son Shining Armor is in the Junior Guard right now."

"Wait, what?!" gasped the bursar, followed by a hearty laugh. "Shining Armor is Twilight Sparkle's brother? You're kidding! The same colt dating the Princess?"

Twilight Velvet nodded and smiled. "We don't know if it will last, of course, but he seems to get along very well with her. Honestly, it was just luck of the draw. She put up an ad for a babysitter, and we happened to be the first ones to respond. We had no idea our babysitter would turn out to be royalty, much less develop a crush on our son."

"There are only two alicorns in all of Equestria. Twilight Velvet, I'll be frank with you: with all these connections, your family already is royalty." The bursar paused in thought. "Hmm. I think I can give you a payment plan that will make the process much easier. It's a no-interest loan, spread out up to forty years. It's generally only given to actual royalty, but if anypony else deserves it, it's your family."

"Oh, thank you very much!" said the proud mother of the two most famous foals in Equestria, not counting her future daughter-in-law. She tried to keep her poise, but couldn't keep a silly smile from creeping across her muzzle.

Like most families who lived in her district of Canterlot, Twilight Velvet's family was very wealthy. Yes, it would have required some sacrifices, but they could have afforded the steep price if they had to. And even if she couldn't afford to pay anything at all, Twilight Velvet could tell the bursar was exaggerating in order to encourage payment. Princess Celestia would undoubtedly have made an exception for her personal student if her family fell upon hard times.

Still, this was a nice perk, thought Twilight Velvet.

"Daddy, um, is it possible I could go here someday?" asked the little unicorn. She levitated a flyer for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns up to the earth pony currently sitting in his recliner, one hoof holding a tankard of ale.

He grabbed the flyer from the air and snorted. "I thought I told you not to use that infernal magic inside my house!" he growled. Then he looked at the flyer and laughed. "Really? You think I'm made of gems? There's no way I have the bits for this! 'Sides, I wouldn't send you even if I had all the bits in Equestria. You ain't my real daughter."

The filly bit her lip. "Daddy, I am your daughter! Mommy's great grandfather was a unicorn—"

"Your mother was a lying whore. You ain't never gonna be more than a mistake, you little brat. You'll be weak and powerless your whole miserable life," he said with a sneer.

The little filly began to cry. "I won't be weak! I won't be powerless! I just won't!" she bawled, stamping one hoof against the carpeting.

"Are you contradicting me?" shouted her father, his eyes flashing with anger. He slammed his ale down on the table and unstrapped his pleather belt. "I never wanted to raise no little bastard, but if Foal Protection Services is gonna tie my hooves, I'm at least whippin' some sense into you."

Fear quickly stanched the filly's tears. Quietly, she lay down flat on the dirty floor and awaited her inevitable punishment. This had happened so many times since Mommy died, she'd lost count. Fortunately, the little filly had learned something special. She could pull herself out of her body, without using magic. It wasn't perfect, but it helped. Force of will was all it took, and even after all the beatings, she had plenty of that. One day she'd be old enough to run away from home. She'd never need to rely on anypony else, because she wouldn't be weak or powerless anymore.

As her father raised the belt in one hoof, the little filly closed her eyes and focused her mind to escape the pain. There isn't a me, she thought. There's no such thing as me. I do not exist.

There is only Trixie.

"So, you're our new librarian?" asked Mayor Mare. "By order of the Princess?"

Twilight Sparkle nodded and smiled. "Apparently! Princess Celestia wants me to research friendship here in Ponyville, so I'm going to continue living in the library."

"Researching friendship?" said the Mayor, furrowing her brow. "Well, whatever the Princess says."

"I'm so excited!" said Twilight. "I've never had real friends before."

The Mayor's face softened. "I'm very sorry to hear that, Twilight Sparkle, but I'm glad you've finally found some," she said. "I have an important errand to run now, but my door will always be open if you need anything."

"Of course!" said Twilight Sparkle. "There are some supplies I could use, and some very important books your library doesn't have. I'll go make a list for you now."

Mayor Mare tried her best to smile, then turned and walked away. At least she might make a good librarian, thought the Mayor. Twilight Sparkle was friendly, and very well-organized. As long as she didn't treat the library like it was her personal collection of books, things would probably work out. But even if things went sour, it wasn't the Mayor's call. She lowered her head and sighed.

Being the bearer of bad news was Mayor Mare's least-favorite responsibility, but it was time to tell Ponyville's previous librarian that he was out of a job... and a house.

Rainbow Dash raced up to Gilda. "Hay, did you hear? The Wonderbolts are gonna perform for the Junior Speedsters in two days! Like, right here!" She spread her wings wide, and the tips practically vibrated with excitement.

"Oh. Yeah, that's pretty great, I guess," said Gilda, as she continued using her talons to rip tiny pieces of fluff out of the cloud they stood on.

"Gilda, it's the Wonderbolts!" said Dash, an incredulous look on her face. "Wait. Is something wrong?"

Gilda sighed. "Look, I like the Wonderbolts fine, okay? I'm sure you'll get in someday. You're awesome. You even did that Sonic Rainboom thing everypony thought was some kind of myth."

"But you're awesome too, Gilda," said Rainbow Dash, frowning. "You're one of the best fliers in the Junior Speedsters!"

She shrugged and looked away. "It's your dream, Dash, not mine. Griffons can't be Wonderbolts."

The little pegasus folded her wings and sat down on the cloud. "Well, then you could be the first one!"

Gilda huffed. "It's in the rules. The Wonderbolts are a pegasus-only brigade commissioned to protect the throne. I can't even earn my citizenship here until I'm an adult! Not that any of that matters... it's not like I fit in with anybirdy else. No, wait. Anypony else," she said, her syrinx vibrating with a sarcastic tone far thicker than any pony voicebox could achieve.

"You fit in fine," said Rainbow Dash, her voice uncharacteristically soft. "I mean, I know you're awesome, and you're friends with Fluttershy too..."

"Fluttershy's still afraid of me and you know it," said Gilda, rolling her eyes. "It's time to face facts, Rainbow Dash. You're my only friend here. You're all I've got, and all I'll ever have."

Just then, the large colt named Hoops landed with a thud on the cloud right in front of Gilda and Rainbow Dash. He turned toward Gilda and grinned. "Hay, didja hear? The Wonderbolts are coming! Maybe you'll be able to join someday—oh no, wait. You're a griffon," the bully teased Gilda, laughing. "I guess you're out of luck, birdbrain."

Dash punched Hoops in the face so hard he fell headlong off the cloud. But when she turned around, her friend had already left.

Rainbow Dash was disappointed, but not surprised. Gilda Griffon was really fast.

Twilight's body hovered in the air as a whirlwind of light and magic surrounded her. Moments later, she had become the fourth alicorn in Equestria. By law, she had also become a Princess: the matriarch for a new royal bloodline.

The next day, the girls gathered in the library to talk.

"I'm so proud of you, Twilight," said Fluttershy, flapping her wings in excitement. "What an amazing achievement!"

"Congratulations!" shrieked Pinkie Pie. "We're going to have so many parties for this! I'll start with a 'now you're an alicorn party', and maybe a 'pony princess party' the next day! And if you're still an alicorn a week later, we can have a 'you're still an alicorn party'—"

"Thanks, Pinkie," Twilight interrupted, with a blush. "The fact I'm a princess now is pretty weird, though. I'm still getting used to it."

"Yeah, it is kinda weird," said Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow, be nice," said Fluttershy. "We should all be happy for Twilight."

Applejack rubbed her chin with a hoof. "Well, to be honest, I kinda understand where Dash is comin' from," she said. "I mean, I'm real glad you're a princess and all, but it don't make a lick of sense to this simple farmin' mare. Could you help me reckon it out?"

"Applejack, please. She just rescued the five of us from a horrible fate. Isn't that enough?" said Rarity, narrowing her eyes. "Besides, she's a princess now... and she didn't even have to marry some stuck-up snob to get there!" Rarity smiled wide, her pride outstripping her envy.

"Ugh. Rarity, Twilight caused the problem in the first place!" said Rainbow Dash. "No offense, Twi."

"No, it's fine," said Twilight. "Celestia told me to cast the spell, so she probably knew this would happen. To complete the spell, I had to add a memory component that relied on our shared experiences as friends. That's why I'm an alicorn."

"Oh!" said Pinkie Pie, her eyes wide. "But Twilight, if the incomplete spell just rotated everypony's cutie marks, couldn't you have cast it four more times to fix everything?"

"I... Huh. That's actually a great idea, Pinkie. I'm not sure why I didn't think of it," said Twilight Sparkle, scratching the side of her head with a hoof. "But in the end, it was the magic of friendship that allowed me to become an alicorn. That came from my studies with the five of you."

"And now that you're a princess, that brings our social standing up a notch as well," said Rarity, with a slight grin.

Applejack poked Rarity in the barrel with a hoof. "Calm down a mite, Rarity. Twilight's our friend, and that's why we care about her," she said. "It ain't got nothin' to do with her sproutin' some wings yesterday."

"No, it's okay," said Twilight. "I'm just as happy for all of you as you are for me, and I want you to get something out out of my accomplishments! Besides, I wouldn't be a princess without all the help I've received from each of you," she added.

Princess Twilight Sparkle pulled all of her best pony friends into a warm group hug.

"You can't be serious, Mac. Ballet lessons?" asked Granny Smith, skepticism etched into the wrinkles on her face.

The young colt nodded emphatically. "Eeyup," he said.

Granny sighed. "Big Macintosh, come on now," she said, emphasizing the part of his name he hated. "Ballet is for graceful ponies. Boys hardly ever try ballet. Certainly not stallions, but hardly colts, neither."

Big Macintosh nervously eyed the barn floor and sighed.

"Look, I'm open to you havin' whatever pastimes you darn tootin' please, grandson. But you're still just a colt, and you're nearly the size of a full-grown stallion already!" said Granny. "You'd take up half the stage! They don't make ballet performances for somepony your size. Tain't reasonable."

Mac looked up to his grandmother and pouted.

"Now don't you gimme that look. There are things a pony can do, and things a pony can't do," she said. "You expect me to walk into town right now and become a firefighter, even if I wanna? I mean, you don't reckon you could grow up to be an alicorn, do ya?" she scoffed.

The colt looked away from his grandmother and shrugged. "Maybe," he mumbled.

Granny covered her face with a hoof. "Mac, that's a myth unicorn foalk tell their little ones so they'll behave. There's only been one alicorn in Equestria for a nearly a thousand years, and it's the same dadgum one! Even if I believed that crazy rumor about Princess Kay-dee-did or whatever-her-name is, she used to be a pegasus, Mac.  You ain't no pegasus and you ain't no unicorn, and there ain't never been stories about earth ponies growin' horns or wings, let alone both. Besides, princesses are mares, dear." She placed her leg around his withers as best she could, given the young colt was at least a hoof taller than her already. "Don't you fret no more about this. You'll grow up to be big and strong, just like your Pappy, and you'll love every minute of it. You'll see."

Big Macintosh bowed his head and wiped a tear from his cheek with a hoof.

"Class, we have a guest today," smiled Cheerilee. The students gasped as Princess Twilight Sparkle entered the room.

Twilight smiled and stood at the front of class. "Hello everypony! I'm very happy to be here today so I can share my story with you all."

"Oh! Oh!" squeaked Littlepip. "You mean the story of how you became an alicorn princess?"

Scootaloo reached out and poked Pip in the shoulder. "Of course that's what she means, silly," she said, with a friendly grin.

"You guyth are thoh lucky to know the Printheth!" Twist whispered to Apple Bloom.

"Yes, Scootaloo is right," said Twilight. "But there's a message behind my lecture. I'm here to tell you that you can be anything you want to be, as long as you put your mind to it and try as hard as you can. You can even grow up to be a princess!"

"Really?" asked Silver Spoon, eyes wide.

"Well, Twilight—er, Princess Twilight, let's not get carried away," said Cheerilee, grimacing. "Ponies in Equestria are free to choose how they live their lives, but not everypony can do everything—"

"No, really!" interrupted Twilight, with a bright smile. "You can do anything if you try hard enough. My friends and I are living proof!"

Dozens of little eyes fixated on the Princess, even as their minds began to wander into daydreams of grandeur. A Royal Guard. An explorer of the deep sky. A Wonderbolt. A heart surgeon. And for more than a few fillies and colts, a Princess of Equestria.

Cheerilee sighed. A simple schoolteacher couldn't correct an alicorn princess in front of her foals. It wouldn't work. The children wouldn't even listen to her. As Princess Twilight Sparkle continued her lecture, the teacher stood in the corner, just outside her field of view.

Unnoticed by anypony else in the room, Cheerilee buried her face in her hooves and bit down on her tongue until it bled.