The morning sun rose over Ponyville. As the light of Celestia's orb shone through the windows of the Library, the freshly-crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle awakened from her slumber. After climbing out of her bed, the first thing she did was stretch, extending not just her legs, but her new wings. The second thing she did was rouse her faithful assistant, Spike.

"Good morning, Spike." Twilight said happily.

"Morning, Twi." Spike yawned. "Don't suppose there's any chance of me getting a lie-in?"

"Sorry, number one assistant." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Not today."

The baby dragon reluctantly climbed out of his basket, groaning all the while.

"Come on, lazy scales." Twilight teased. "We've got a lot of work to get through today!"

"You know, I've been thinking." Spike declared. "Now that you're a princess, what does that make me? Like your... hoofdragon, or something?"

"I think the correct term is 'majordomo'." Twilight mused.

"Major... dodo?" Spike said. "I'm no bird!"

"Domo, Spike." Twilight chuckled. "It means 'head assistant'."

"Oh." Spike shrugged. "Cool."

After breakfast, Twilight left the library on an errand, leaving Spike to handle his usual morning chores. Barely a few steps out of her home, she bumped into Mayor Mare.

"Good morning." Twilight smiled.

"Good morning, your highness." Mayor Mare replied, bowing as she did.

"There's no need for that." Twilight said, her smile faltering. "I may be a princess now, but I'm still the same Twilight I was last week. You don't need to treat me any differently."

"Anything you say, your majesty." The Mayor bowed again before stepping to one side, clearing the way for Twilight.

Sighing, Twilight continued on her journey. A she moved through Ponyville, she noticed more ponies bowing and kneling as she passed by. It was quite disconcerting; She had known them all for a while now, and seeing their attitudes toward her changed so greatly didn't sit well with her. True, she was now a princess, but that didn't mean she needed (Or in fact, wanted) to be venerated and fawned over by everypony.

As she neared the outskirts of Ponyville, Twilight's thoughts turned to the recipent of her errand, one of her closest friends, someone she knew wouldn't treat her any differently: Rainbow Dash. Twilight flew up to Rainbow's cloud home, marvelling to herself on how she could now travel there under her own power, as opposed to using a hot air balloon.

As an alicorn, Twiight now possessed the ability to walk on clouds like a pegasus. Landing next to Rainbow's door, she knocked three times. After a short wait, the door opened.

"Oh, hey, Twilight!" Rainbow smiled. "Heh, I forgot you could cloudwalk now! So, what brings you here?"

"The new Daring Do book came in." Twilight declared, used her magic to pull the book out of her saddlebag. "I thought you might like to be the first to read it."

"Aw, sweet!" Rainbow cheered, taking the book in her hooves. "Thanks, Twi! Come in, why don'tchya?"

Twilight had never been inside Rainbow's home before (Obviously). Once inside, she was pleasantly surprised to see modest architecture; high ceiling and pillars, all well designed.

"Very impressive." She nodded appreciatively. "You made this house yourself?"

"Yep." Rainbow grinned. "Outta nothin' but a couple of clouds, grit and pure awesomeness!"

Twilight had to give Rainbow credit. The pegasus mare liked to relax and laze around, but she could be a hard worker when she needed to.

"So, how are those new wings treating you?" Rainbow asked.

"They're taking a little getting used to." Twilight admitted.

"Well, I know a great way to get the hang of them." Rainbow grinned. "How 'bout a race?"

"A race?" Twilight repeated.

"Yeah!" Rainbow whooped. "Me and you, once around Ponyville. Since you're still a rookie, I promise to go easy on you."

"I don't know." Twilight said unsuredly. "I've got a busy day ahead of me..."

"It won't take that long." Rainbow scoffed. "Barely five minutes. Now, are you my new flying buddy, or not?"

The words "flying buddy" brought Twilight back to Rainbow's reaction to her transformation. Her first thought about the new Twilight was of the fun they could have together. Twilight couldn't help but be touched by that statement.

"Okay, you're on." Twilight smiled.

"Alright then!" Rainbow cheered.

The two stepped out onto Rainbow's porch, and positioned themselves for takeoff.

"Ready." Rainbow smiled. "Get set.... GO!!"

Rainbow took off like a rocket, with Twilight close behind.

"Is the best you can do?" Rainbow teased. "What are ya, the princess of slowness?"

"Slow and steady wins the race!" Twilight called back. "Or have you forgotten what happened at the Running of the Leaves?"

"Yeah, you got fifth place and me." Rainbow smirked. "But this is flying, not running!"

They soared over Ponyville, rounding the town hall, Carousel Boutique, and even Twilight's library. Twilight was doing her best, but she could barely keep pace with her athletic opponant. All too soon, their flight led them back to Rainbow's home, where the pegasus landed first, followed shortly after by Twilight.

"That was some pretty good flying out there." Rainbow panted. "For a rookie, I mean." She added quickly.

"Thanks." Twilight gasped for breath. "I think my wings are officially 'broken in'. Thanks, Rainbow."

"Any time." Rainbow waved her hoof nonchalantly.

After returning to the library for lunch, Twilight extracted all of her formal and party dresses from her wardrobe. She was going to take them to Rarity's for adjustments, so that they could accomodate her new wings. Spike, taking advantage of any excuse to see his crush, had offered to help carry the clothes. As they made their way to Carousel Boutique, Twilight noticed more ponies bowing and kneeling as she crossed their paths.

"Ugh, all this reverence is getting old fast." Twilight groaned.

"I wouldn't mind having ponies bowing to me all the time." Spike said through the small stack of clothes obscuring his snout.

"Well, I do." Twilight huffed.

Arriving at Carousel Boutique, Twilight and Spike entered through the door, ringing the bell as they went. Rarity looked up from her sewing to beheld her visitors.

"Good morning, Twilight." She said curtly. "Good morning, Spikey-wikey." She cooed.

"Morning, Rarity." Spike sighed, his deep blush concealed by clothing.

"Good morning, Rarity." Twilight returned the greeting. "I need a favor."

"For you, darling? Anything." Rarity smilng.

"My dresses need some adjustments." Twilight declared, magically levitating the clothes over. "You know, for my 'new additions'." She opened her wings for emphasis.

"I see." Rarity appraised the situation. "Well, that shouldn't take too long. Barely an hour's work for the lot of them."

"That's great." Twilight smiled. "I'll pick them up later."

"Look at me, performing dresswork for a princess." Rarity chuckled.

"It's not exactly the first time, though." Twilight replied. "Remember Cadance's wedding dress?"

"One of my greatest triumphs." Rarity sighed dramatically. "It was a dream come true, you know. Designing a dress for a princess. And now, one of my best friends is a princess! I feel as if I should pinch myself!"

"You're not the only one." Twilight chuckled. "This new position is taking some getting used to."

"Well, you know where to go for support, darling." Rarity placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"Thanks, Rare." Twilight smiled. "Come on, Spike. We've got one more stop to make."

"Okay." Spike said glumly, hating having to depart Rarity's company so soon.

Twilight and Spike then made their way to Sugar Cube Corner.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake reacted to Twilight's appearance in the same way as the rest of Ponyville.

"Good afternoon, your majesty." Mr. Cake bowed.

"How may we help you, princess?" Mrs. Cake asked nervously.

'Not you too.' Twilight sighed mentally. "Is Pinkie in? I'd like to speak with her."

"Oh, she's in the back, playing with the foals." Mrs. Cake replied. "Feel free to go in."

Spike's stomach started to growl.

"Hey Twilight, can I buy a cupcake?" He asked. "I'm starving!"

"We had lunch barely half an hour ago." Twilight admonished him.

"Yeah, but lugging all those clothes through town really built up an appetite." Spike shrugged.

"Fine." Twilight sighed, levitating a few bits out of her saddlebag. "One cupcake, and that's it. You don't want to spoil your dinner, do you?"

"Thanks, Twi!" Spike beamed.

Trying her best to overlook the Cake's exaggerated bowing, Twilight entered the back of the store, where Pinkie was entertaining Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake.

"Hey, Pinkie." Twilight smiled.

"Hey look, guys!" Pinkie said to Pound and Pumpkin. "It's Twilight! Can you say 'Twilight'?"

"Twi!" Pound gurgled.

"Liiii!" Pumpkin squealed.

"Eh, close enough." Pinkie shrugged. "So, what's up?"

"Oh, not much." Twilight sighed. "Just having some trouble adjusting to my new position."

"What's... the... problem?" Pinkie asked, in between performing blowfishes on the foals' stomachs.

"Well, it's not so much that I have a problem adjusting." Twilight clarified. "It's everypony else. They're all bowing and kneeling before. They don't have to do that. They all know me. Just because I'm a princess now doesn't mean I want to be treated any differently! I just don't how to get them to see that."

"Hmm, that is a tricky pickle." Pinkie mused. "And I really don't like pickles, they're so sour. Yuck! Hey, I know what to do! We'll throw a party!"

"A party?" Twilight repeated, dumbfounded.

"Yeah!" Pinkie squealed. "A 'Twilight maybe an alicorn now, but she's still the same old Twilight we've always known' party! What better way to let everypony know you're the same pony you were before then by having fun you way you did before?"

Twilight mulled the thought over. At first glance, it seemed ridiculous. Then again, Pinkie's ideas may have been outlandish at times, but they usually worked. One example was the parasprite infestation. Pinkie had spent most of the time scrounging for musical instruments, to the bewilderment of the others. But she then used those instruments to lead the entire parasprite swarm out of Ponyville.

At the moment, Twilight was willing to try anything.

"I guess it's worth a shot." Twilight decided. "Alright, let's do it!"

"Yaaayy!" Pinkie cheered. "Party time!"

'I hope this works.' Twilight thought to herself, as she and Pinkie began discussing the party particulars.