A brilliant multichromatic streak filled the sky and something somewhere stirred.

Today was the summer solstice and thus the final day of the Summer Sun Celebration. Canterlot was, as it frequently was, the host for the festival this year.

The city had been invaded by the usual attractions for the last few days, hosting a wide variety of stomach turning foods and rides on which to lose that food. Many streets had been closed off for dancing and music, and if a pony listened carefully, every song would melt together into one fast-paced, tone-deaf extravaganza.

For many, the festival was a time to relax and unwind with something different from the daily grind. For a four year old Twilight Sparkle, it was an opportunity.

Only a few weeks ago, Twilight had made her first clumsy attempts at telekinesis and had been enthralled immediately. She had, of course, seen her parents and brother casting magic, but the surge of power exiting her own horn for the first time had been exhilarating in ways mere observation could never compare.

She wanted more.

Twilight had not bothered her preschool teacher with her burning desire to learn: she already had enough trouble controlling the foals under her care. Her own parents were often just as busy, as was her brother who was graduating this year. Her foalsitter, Cadance, was nice enough, but as a pegasus could not teach unicorn magic at a respectable level.

In response, she had turned to books, and quickly discovered that her reading skills were not yet up to par to parse the dense texts she had stolen from her brother's room. Frustrated and embarrassed, she had asked her parents for simpler books who had enthusiastically obliged.

Twilight had eagerly opened the first book and within an hour had discovered her age and inexperience had thwarted her once more. She had been still far too weak magically to cast even the simplest of spells.

And yet she had read and had learned what she could, eagerly awaiting the day when her daily training would make her strong enough to cast a real spell, rather than dawdle with telekinesis.

One book in particular, simply entitled The Alicorn, had drawn her attention. It had been clearly a foal's book, containing more illustrations than words. Still, if it were to be believed, there was a princess like Cadance that could move the sun and moon.

Twilight had known she knew little about the world, but that had still stretched her willing suspension of disbelief. She had asked her brother who had laughed and said that it was not only true, but that he was attending that very alicorn's school.

Her brother had gone on to clarify that she could watch the princess, Princess Celestia, raise the sun at the festival in a few days.

So Twilight had waited, perhaps not patiently, but she had waited nonetheless. When her family had finally gone to the festival, she had tried to enjoy it, but her uncompromising curiosity was getting the better of her.

When the announcement was made that Princess Celestia would be raising the sun in ten minutes, Twilight bolted off unthinkingly into the crowd. It wasn't long before she realized that she was, assuredly, lost.

And alone.

Twilight had never been more than a room away from somepony she knew before. Even with hundreds upon hundreds of other ponies around her, they were no replacement for her family.

Calm down. Mom told me to find help if I get lost.

"Excuse me," Twilight began only to have the mare ignore her, or perhaps simply not hear her.

"Um," Twilight said, trying to get a stallion's attention who was otherwise occupied in conversation and moving faster than Twilight could keep up.

Okay, Twilight. Don't cry. So what if nopony cares? Mom told me to find somepony to help me if I–I get lost. I… I can…

Twilight started crying as the crowd continued to shuffle around her. Not the intense, attention drawing crying of a lost foal, but the softer tears and sobs of somepony desperately trying to act grown up.

After what seemed like hours to Twilight, but was probably seconds, a unicorn with a lime green coat and rainbow colored swirl cutie mark came up to her.

"Oh, you poor little filly. Are you lost?"

Twilight sniffed and nodded.

"Do you know where your family is?"

Twilight shook her head and stammered, "I w–was headed to the c–cera–ceremony and–"

"It'll be alright," the mare said, raising Twilight to her back with her magic. Somehow she managed to nuzzle Twilight who was trying not to fall off. "We'll just head right over and get you a good view of the crowd and Princess Celestia. We might be able to find them there once the sun comes up."

Twilight managed to bring her tears down to a mere runny nose and thanked her.

"Who are you?" Twilight asked.

"Daisy. What's your name?"

"I'm Twilight."

"How pretty. Much better than Daisy anyway."

"Thanks."

"And good manners too. Are you a princess?"

Giggling, Twilight said, "No way. Cadance says it's no fun anyways."

"Cadance? …Are you talking about Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?"

"Um…maybe?"

"Is she a pink pegasus with heart shaped cutie mark?"

Twilight nodded, but realizing Daisy couldn't see her, said, "Yes."

Daisy walked in silence for a moment with Twilight wondering what she was thinking about.

"Are you sure you're not a princess?"

Twilight once more denied her alleged royal status.

"Well, even so you'd do well as one." Daisy stopped outside a throng of ponies after arriving at the main stage where Celestia would appear and looked around. Obviously discouraged, Daisy said, "Hold on tight."

Before Twilight could ask why, a light green glow enveloped both of them and they rose high above the crowd. Twilight nearly lost her grip in her brief panic, but regained it as she realized she was flying. Daisy landed on a nearby roof offering a full view of the crowd and the ceremony to come.

"That was amazing!" Twilight shouted as Daisy set her down on the rooftop. "I've never seen a unicorn fly! How did you do that?"

"Well, I graduated near the top of the class at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns."

"Really! My brother goes there too!"

"Yep. I was no match for the real monsters…"

"Monsters? Princess Celestia accepts monsters at her school?" Twilight had figured she would go there too since her brother said it was the best place to learn magic in Equestria. But if it had monsters…

"No, no. That's just an expression. What I mean is, there were some very talented ponies I couldn't compete with. But even then I wasn't too shabby myself." Veering the topic away, Daisy asked, "Can you do any magic yet?"

Twilight looked down and rubbed the roof with her hoof. "Not really. I can barely open a book…"

"That's pretty good actually. When I was your age I couldn't so much as move a balloon. Of course, now I can lift myself up onto roofs. With a passenger."

"So that's how you did it!" Once her initial excitement died down, Twilight realized there was a problem with that conclusion. "But if it's that easy, why don't other unicorns fly around?"

Daisy shrugged. "I don't know many spells, nor am I that powerful, but a little creativity goes a long, long way. Spells can be used in a lot of different ways besides the main reason they were developed. Most ponies never look outside the box to see what they can really do. Take telekinesis. They see everypony else using it solely for moving other things and never think to turn it on themselves.

"The same is true of pretty much every other spell, and every other magic, and…well, everything really. Rarely does a pony see something and repurpose it for a different task or try to improve it."

Daisy turned to Twilight and poked her in the nose. "I hope you won't be so silly as you grow up."

Twilight's eyes were positively glowing with admiration. Nothing in her books had even hinted at anything near what Daisy had just said.

"Do you really think I can be that smart?"

"It's not about being smart. Just keep looking for alternate solutions to problems and different ways to use magic."

"Hmm." Twilight stared thoughtfully towards the stage, trying to think about how she could use her weak telekinesis for something useful.

"Even with your magic still developing, I'm sure you can think of other uses for it besides turning book pages. Perhaps not right away, or right now, but maybe tomorrow, or the day after, or next week. The important part is not to be discouraged if nothing comes to mind or if you come up with an idea that doesn't work. Even bad ideas should be treated as a step in the right direction."

"Why?"

"Because you want to encourage yourself to think of ideas at all, not punish yourself for being creative and having things not work out."

"That's foalish."

"Oh, it is. But unfortunately, we're all pretty foalish inside."

Twilight looked skeptical and Daisy just laughed.

"Just remember what I've said. You'll understand in time. Oh and here's another secret. Don't make a habit of using telekinesis for moving yourself around. Walk most of the time."

"Why?"

"Because," Daisy began, then moved closer to Twilight to whisper, "you'll get fat."

Twilight gasped then looked questioningly at Daisy, but was too polite to ask.

"I see that look you have. It's true. Those were…not my better years."

Daisy smiled and Twilight couldn't help but giggle.

Then a fanfare of trumpets called out announcing the arrival of Princess Celestia. The alicorn seemed to glow in the early hours as she approached the stage. This being the first time Twilight had ever seen the princess, she could not help but gape.

Twilight could hear Daisy stifle a laugh and quickly shut her mouth but could not free herself of her stare.

Princess Celestia gave a long speech that Twilight barely paid any attention to and was soon banished from her memory by the splendor that followed.

Princess Celestia glowed as she rose into the sky above the stage and with her came the sun rising above the horizon. The sun's rays outlined Celestia in the air as her horn grew ever brighter, practically becoming a sun in its own right. The sky moved from black to purple to red to yellow and finally took on a familiar blue, each shade seeming to complement Princess Celestia in a different way.

When she returned to the stage, the crowd cheered and Twilight cheered with them. She had doubted, but what she had seen was too beautiful to doubt a moment longer.

Twilight had just finished her cheer when a thought took her. "Will I be able to raise the sun too?"

"…Maybe. I can't say it's impossible. Buuuut, I think Princess Celestia would probably be upset with you."

"Oh…"

"Oh, I think I see Princess Mi Amore Cadenza up on stage," Daisy said, a bit faster than she probably should have, lifting Twilight back onto her back. "I'll take you down there and we can get you home."

Night Light lugged two stacks of eleven books into his home, his light blue magic clearly showing the strain it had been put through during the journey. Setting them down at the bottom of the stairs, he took a break to ease his weary horn.

It was times like these that Night Light wished his daughter was strong enough to make her own library runs. And, on second thought, old enough as well. Five was a tad young to send somepony, even a prodigy of her level, alone into the world.

Picking up the books once more, Night Light finished the last leg of his errand and ascended the stairs. He then knocked on Twilight's door which was, quite fortunately, just at the top.

"Come in."

Twilight's door swung open in the light raspberry glow of her magic. Night Light stepped inside with the books trailing behind him.

"Hey, Twilight. I picked up the library books you asked for."

Twilight let out a small squee and hugged Night Light.

"Thank you so much!"

Night Light set the books down, returning Twilight's hug. "It's no problem. We're always happy to get you any books you want. Although, if you could spread your requests out into smaller sizes, that would make carrying them easier."

Twilight looked up from her hug and said, "I'll try."

"Oh, and your mother wants you to wash the dishes if you're feeling up to it."

Thinking for a moment, Twilight nodded. "I can manage it."

Breaking apart from each other, Night Light and Twilight walked downstairs and into the living room. Twilight continued into the kitchen while Night Light diverted to the study where his wife was working.

"I still can't believe it," Night Light said, causing his wife to glance up from her work. "What are the chances we get two geniuses out of two foals?"

Twilight Velvet shrugged. "Either really good, or really bad. But I suspect the former. It's a lot easier when we know what to do. Shining is grown too and helps out a lot. Though I still suspect something important happened at the last Summer Sun Celebration."

Night Light considered that as he always did. It was quite obvious that seeing Princess Celestia raise the sun had fanned the flames of Twilight's interest in magic. But beyond that, there was something different in how she behaved that neither Night Light nor Velvet had ever been able to quite place.

"Still, I'm worried about her," said Night Light.

"We've had this conversation before, dear. Several times."

"I know, I know. It's just, Shining had trouble in school making friends. He was smart and studious and sort of a show off. A lot of his peers ended up resenting and bullying him, or just pretended he didn't exist.

"But Twilight… She doesn't even seem to care. It's like she doesn't even notice other ponies exist. She was like that even before the festival. Just less obviously so."

"She took to Cadance quickly enough."

"Cadance stepped up and helped her learn to read while foalsitting Twilight. There's no way she wouldn't like her after that."

Velvet sighed. Night Light recognized that particular brand of sigh as the one she always makes when she's tired of arguing a point.

"I think Shining may have put it best," she said. "He does have a much better understanding of her mentality."

Performing her best imitation her son, Velvet quoted, "'It doesn't matter if she never has a single friend in her life so long as she's enjoying herself.'" Velvet paused to massage her throat before continuing. "I know it's odd, but who are we to question what she enjoys?"

"Her parents."

"That doesn't mean we should try to change who she is. Altering her utility function would be tantamount to killing her. Of course then we'd have a new filly running around the house."

Night Light rolled his eyes and collapsed onto the sofa next to Velvet. "Why did I ever marry a philosopher?"

"You know why," Velvet said, a knowing smile creeping up her face.

"Heh heh. Oh yeah."

The faint sound of tableware breaking entered the study.

"Oh dear," Velvet worried. "Could you take care of that, Nighty?"

Night Light nodded and left the study.

Apparently it's too soon to ask Twilight to do the dishes.

A second crash, this one louder, came from the kitchen and was followed by a barely audible grinding sound.

Odd… I would have expected Twilight to stop trying after the first accident. She's not the kind of filly that can't recognize her limi–

Walking into the kitchen, Night Light saw Twilight smash a third plate on the floor. He was so puzzled by her behavior that he said nothing and just watched as Twilight broke the plate into smaller pieces.

Twilight's horn glowed brightly and her face clearly showed the strain she was putting on it. A small skittering sound came from the pieces of the smashed plate as they slowly came together back into their original form looking brand new.

That…was impressive…

Twilight took a deep breath before grabbing another plate in her magic and smashing it to the ground like she had the previous one.

"Any particular reason you're…washing the dishes like that?" asked Night Light.

Looking up surprised, Twilight answered, "It's faster this way. And they get cleaner."

"But not easier I'd imagine. You look like you're pushing yourself too hard."

Shrugging, Twilight continued her work.

"When did you even learn a repair spell?"

Twilight did not answer until she placed another newly re-minted plate with the others. "I dropped a book in a puddle. There was water damage even with magic helping." Twilight broke another plate. "I needed a way to fix it. The basic repair spell is… vers… versi… versatile–" The latest plate joined the rest after a few more seconds of magic. "–but tiring."

"I see… You're learning at an incredible rate." A huge smile greeted the complement. Oh, she's so cute! "What are you planning to do with the silverware?"

"I don't need to break them. It just makes it easier" – *crash* – "to see the spell as repairing them if they're really broken."

Not knowing any repair magic himself, Night Light waited until Twilight had finished with her latest spell to interrupt her. "If you're in such a rush to get back to reading, why don't you let me finish these for you."

"Really?"

"Yep. Go have fun."

"Thanks!" After another hug, Twilight bounded out of the kitchen, presumably upstairs to her room.

Night Light watched his daughter run off and then turned to examine her hoofiwork. Levitating it up to examine every angle, he found there was absolutely nothing to complain about.

Very impressive…

Shining Armor always knew where to find his little sister, and he even did not have to use a tracking spell. If Twily wasn't with his best friend, and secretly his mare friend, Cadance or out with the family then she was in her room reading or practicing magic.

It had been almost a year since he moved out and joined the royal guard. Since then, what little free time he had, he mostly spent with Cadance. But today, Cadance was busy doing 'princess stuff', leaving Shining free to visit Twily.

Bursting into Twily's room, Shining shouted, "LSBFF!"

"BBBFF!" replied Twily, jumping into Shining's open forelegs. "What brings you here, Shining?"

"I had some free time and wanted to see my adorable little sister now that she's six years old."

The smallest and subtlest frown passed over Twily's face before returning to a smile. "Oh? So what should we do?"

"Hey, I saw that."

"Saw what?"

"Oh, you little liar," accused Shining as he gave Twily a gentle noogie. "I should throw you in jail for lying to a royal guardspony. I saw that frown. What's wrong?"

Twily avoided Shining's eyes for a while, but Shining had no intention of letting her out of answering.

"I was just…at a bad point to stop reading… But it's no problem. Let's go have some fun together!"

Twilight Velvet and Night Light returned home late at night and found Cadance sitting next to a sleeping Twilight, now seven years old, whose face was firmly planted in a book with notes littered around her. This had happened several times before but each time was just as adorable as the last for all three of them.

"Thanks for foal sitting Twilight again, Cadance," Velvet said.

"It's no trouble at all. All I have to do is give Twi a new book and she entertains herself the entire night."

"Mom? Dad?" Twilight said, sitting down at the table. "Could you look over my application for me?"

"Application?" Velvet looked on questioningly, taking the papers Twilight placed on the table. "This is an application to Princess Celestia's school. And the scholarship application as well."

Night Light finished, "We were going to fill these out for you and surprise you next week just after your birthday."

"Oh, sorry about that." Twilight almost immediately realized she had an irreplaceable opportunity. Putting on the best big pleading eyes she could, Twilight asked, "You don't suppose I could get a different surprise, could I?"

"I'm sure we can come up with something," Night Light mused.

"Hmm," Velvet said, thinking. "I suppose I have an idea."

"What is it?" Twilight eagerly asked.

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it?"

"I suppose not…"

"You'll just have to wait. And when you least expect it," Velvet trailed off, nudging Night Light under the table.

A brief pause and Night Light continued, "Wham! Surprise and happy times!"

Twilight jumped, shocked by Night Light taking over the sentence, then started laughing. Her parents were not as interesting as magic, but they certainly knew how deliver a joke.

Twilight. T. Why can't ponies pick names like…Zel…or Xyn…um…Water Lilly. That one's good. All this waiting is so, very, stressful. What's the point of having a great name like Twilight if you just get shuffled to the back of every single alphabetized list.

Twilight sighed. Her written exams went perfectly. At least it was her opinion that they did. Twilight put considerable stock in her ability to judge herself, so she had already erased the simplistic exam designed for eight year olds from her mind. All that remained was the practical test. A test that, for some bizarre reasoning, the proctors decided needed to be done one applicant at a time.

A proctor approached Twilight where she sat with a sweet smile. "Twilight Sparkle?" she asked as a formality to confirm despite Twilight being the only other pony in the room.

"Yep."

"If you would follow me, we're ready to start your practical examination."

"Alright."

Twilight followed the mare down a couple hallways into a large lecture hall where an entire panel of proctors, or what Twilight referred to as judges, waited to decide her fate. A small cart with a large egg rested in front of them.

"Is that a dragon egg?" Twilight asked, wondering for what possible reason such a thing would be present.

"Yes it is," the center judge replied. He was an old stallion, a small white beard growing from his jaw. His dark gray coat did nothing to help him look younger. His weak smile looked worn from dealing with more foals than anypony his age should. "I'm glad to see an applicant that is so knowledgeable."

"Thank you."

"I am Dean Weatherby," he continued. "This year's practical exam is to for you to hatch this dragon egg." Twilight was speechless. "Not all applicants are successful, and not all successful applicants will successfully hatch the egg. If their written exams are outstanding."

Not all applicants successfully hatch the egg? How about 'no applicants are successful.' Hatching a dragon egg is hard enough, and I can tell from here that they have additional spells preventing it from hatching. What are they really testing here?

"That said, do try your best. I remember your brother was very talented and we expect good things from you as well. You have up to twenty minutes to try any approach you wish."

Well, that certainly makes a filly less nervous. Sigh…

So, given that it's obvious they don't expect anypony to hatch the egg, what do they want to see? Creative approaches? Raw power? Knowledge that this shouldn't be possible? Maybe some combination of the three? Do they want me to try even knowing?

I suppose I should at least see what spells they put on the egg.

Twilight sat down next to the egg and started to direct small scale probing spells at it. After a few minutes of sitting completely still staring at the egg, having done nothing apparently interesting (for the proctors were not yet monitoring what spells Twilight was using), the proctors looked a bit bored. Weatherby gave them a stern glare but was unable to get them to focus on Twilight after a long day of examinations.

This is some of the laziest spellcraft I have ever seen. I suppose I can't expect anypony my age to notice, let alone be able to pick it apart, but still, I'm rather insulted. They could have at least tried. What if somepony actually managed to hatch the egg and mother or father a dragon? I can only imagine what…

What if that pony was me? The only worry is that pesky time limit. I'm not strong enough to brute force this…

Weatherby was watching carefully. The filly in front of him had not done anything particularly interesting yet, although to be fair he was not actively monitoring her spellcasting yet.

Still, this Twilight Sparkle was apparently the younger sister of Shining Armor who had graduated only a few years ago at the very top of his class. Of course, he wouldn't dream of judging a candidate based on their family or their connections, but he could make predictions from them.

A glint came into Twilight's eye that only Dean Weatherby, who had decades of experience dealing with trouble making foals, noticed. He immediately investigated what spells Twilight was casting and he was staggered so hard he almost feared a heart attack.

She's picking at the protection spells's weak points! She's already knocked out two of them! How is she… I see. I will need to have a talk with Cobalt Prism later about quality spellcraft on exam materials.

Weatherby watched Twilight pick away another pair of spells from the egg in less than a minute.

Dear Celestia, that filly is talented. She'll have them all off a few minutes before time is called at this rate.

Dean Weatherby wondered what he should do. He could call the test just in case, but he was curious how far Twilight Sparkle could get.

The foals at his school caused all kinds of trouble and wacky hijinks (all of which he secretly laughed at as he scolded the perpetrators), but this one promised to take the cake. He could just imagine the priceless looks when he told the other proctors what the little filly was doing to their spells while they sat bored and mostly ignoring her.

Weatherby was finally called back to the room from his thoughts, much to his regret, when Twilight stomped the ground, apparently in frustration. Quickly checking the clock, he noticed ten minutes had passed while he had laughed at his thoughts.

Twilight rooted herself to the ground harder and Weatherby considered that somepony had put on a particularly good spell. Briefly.

Weatherby probed the magic surrounding Twilight to figure out what was frustrating her so much. All he determined was that she was dumping out a lot of raw magical power.

No way… She couldn't already be…

Weatherby checked the egg posthaste to determine what spells were left on it. Finding none he jumped out of his chair, startling the other proctors who had finally started paying attention to Twilight. But not the egg.

"Wait!"

Twilight stomped the ground as hard as she could. It would not do anything useful, but it released a bit of her irritation.

She had just removed the last spell, far ahead of her original estimated time, and started pushing raw magic into the dragon egg to hatch it.

Why! Don't! You! Hatch!

Twilight thought she heard somepony shout something, but it was too early for time to be called so she ignored it.

Fine! I'll put everything I have into you and buck how tired it makes me!

Twilight threw as much magic as she possibly could into the dragon egg. The stress on her horn was outrageous, far beyond anything she had ever experienced before. It almost felt like it was breaking, but Twilight was determined to see this to the end.

She bit her tongue to keep herself from screaming as her magic and her will both began to waver. With a quick breath, Twilight put what remained of herself into one last push.

*Crack*

The world stopped.

Everypony heard it – the sound of an egg cracking. Seconds passed in silence, broken only by further cracking from the egg. After a minute had passed the newly born dragon rolled out of its egg.

Then, as if to punctuate this event, a deafening boom resounded with no discernible source. A small wave of magic came with the noise; the incompatible magic further irritated Twilight's horn. She was nearly ready to pass out from combined magical exhaustion and minor physical trauma.

After everypony's hearing returned, the only sound was the cry of the newborn dragon.

On her last breath, Twilight struggled to sit up from where she had collapsed. Twilight stammered out, "There. I did it. Now don't give any– any impossible– tests any– anymore," before collapsing once more and letting herself lose consciousness.

Weatherby sat with his fellow proctors, deciding which applicants they would accept and which they would be forced to turn away. As usual, the princess had joined them. Princess Celestia took it as her personal responsibility to be here at her school to make sure merit and ability were always the deciding factors.

Each time she showed up late, as she did today, she always reviewed every decision already made (disturbingly fast to Weatherby, as if she threw off any pretense of mortality the alicorn put on to keep her subjects at ease around her). Further, she always started with reviewing the rejections.

Princess Celestia had only overruled an application decision he made once in his five decades as the head of the school, for one Sunset Shimmer. He knew better than to gloat to Princess Celestia after what Sunset did, but he still wanted to. Even two decades later.

But that was of little importance at the moment. He could see the hurt every time his princess had to agree with a rejection and wondered why she subjected herself to this and wouldn't simply trust his judgment.

After finishing reviewing the rejections, she moved on to the accepted applicants. Each one she was able to accept seemed to heal some of the hurt of the rejections, though not all.

Once Princess Celestia had caught up, the meeting continued. They were about halfway through the applications and Weatherby was eager to see how she was going to react to the one at the very bottom.

Each application came and went. As much as Weatherby hated to admit it, few if any of them showed real potential. Still, this was not Celestia's School for Future Legendary Mages, so he was able to admit many of them anyway.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the pile. "So," said Weatherby. "Does anypony have any objections to Twilight Sparkle?"

Nopony said a word, but Princess Celestia's brow noticeably furled, surprising everypony that saw her except Weatherby. He had spent enough time in his very long life with Princess Celestia to see her drop the eternally calm smile which was one of her many clams to fame.

"Dean Weatherby?" Princess Celestia began.

"Yes?" Weatherby responded, thinking, This is going to be good.

"One of my guards is Shining Armor, and I often hear him talking about his sister Twilight and how talented she is. I see that she even managed a perfect score on the written exams. But please tell me why the only comment on the practical section is 'A mother.'"

"Oh, I would have expected you would know if Shining won't stop talking about her," Weatherby began with playful delight he had not had a chance for in years. "It's recent, so I can understand you haven't heard from Shining, but she is a mother."

"Please elaborate how an eight year old filly manages to give birth to anything."

"It's not as difficult as it sounds. All you need is a dragon egg."

Princess Celestia's blank look was priceless. Weatherby had seen her in a lot of odd situations she was no doubt glad were not public, but this was the first time she appeared completely lost for words.

"…Did you change the practical exam without notifying me?"

"Nope."

"So you're saying–"

"She stripped off the protections and hatched it properly, yes."

Princess Celestia opened her mouth and shut it again, words once more failing her.

Finally, Princess Celestia said, "Please reject Twilight."

"Excuse me?" Weatherby said incredulously, accompanying the gasps and cries of anger from the rest of the room. "Why on Equus would we do that?"

"Because there's no grade we can put her in that could possibly keep pace with her."

"You can't tell her to teach herself!"

"Of course not." Celestia smiled again, but unlike the usual one, Weatherby noted this one was expectant and loving. "It's been a long time since the last one, but even I am entitled to take on a student."

Miss Twilight Sparkle,

You will have to excuse the hoofwritten letter. I am afraid we do not have a standard letter for your case. I very much regret to inform you that Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns is unable to accept you as a student despite your outstanding written and practical examinations.

That said, another offer is being prepared for you (if you have not already received it by mail) that you should find quite exciting.

Dean Weatherby

Head of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns

Defeater of Ralarth, Lord of Fire

Twilight had not even finished the letter from Dean Weatherby before she decided that this was, in fact, the worst day of her life. She had been so sure she had not only passed both tests, but even outsmarted the proctors on the practical.

She had even gotten her starry cutie mark from the practical, although she had always expected to get one in magic, so it had not been very exciting. Now it felt like a brand marking her as a failure at the one thing she was supposed to be good at.

But surely it counted for something.

Is it because I passed out at the end of the practical? Are they upset that I actually hatched the dragon? What about the taunt? I remember saying something rude, but I don't remember what…

There were too many reasons they could give for failing her.

Twilight had tried to convince herself that this other offer was something to look forward to (and she was confused they were even bothering), but she wasn't able to keep that up for more than a few seconds.

Night Light and Velvet looked on sadly but apparently could not think of the right words to say.

"Twilight," Velvet hazarded, "I know this meant a lot to you, but they did say they were preparing something special for you. I'm sure it's something good."

"Your mother's right. It was even hoofwritten. That has to mean something."

"I already know that," Twilight whimpered. "I know. I just… I think I need to be alone for a while."

Night Light and Velvet look to each other and sighed. The few times they had tried to force Twilight to open up early did not end well, and Twilight was sure that by now they knew she could deal with this on her own.

"We understand," Velvet said, an actually understanding tone, not one resigned to the inevitable, hanging in her voice. It was just what Twilight wanted to hear. "Just try not to cry your heart out too much."

"Thank you," Twilight mumbled as she left for her room.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I hope this letter reaches you before the one from Dean Weatherby. He likes to play pranks and I should hate to cause you any undue distress. It has been well over three centuries since I have accepted a personal student, but you have clearly demonstrated abilities far beyond what my school can manage. I would be honored if you would permit me to instruct you personally.

Every year I see young ponies go by who could do better in a less structured environment (your brother was one of them) but the funding required for such a school would be astronomical. While I do mint the money, I am certainly not made of it. Much to my regret. However, I am going off on a tangent.

As I was saying, should you choose to attend my school (or any other), I suspect you shall be constantly constrained by the teaching curriculum. This would, at best, frustrate you as you continued your own studies, and, at worst, destroy your potential. I would not see your talent lost to the bureaucracies needed to run a school, or a country.

If I have erred in my opinion on your wishes, I will arrange for you to attend my school (or any other of your choice) instead should you desire. You need not be concerned for my feelings on the matter. However, I do hope you accept my offer.

(Hopefully) Your Friend and Mentor

Princess Celestia

Diarch of Equestria

Defeater of Discord

Alicorn of the Sun

P.S. I heard you got your cutie mark during the practical exam. Congratulations!

P.P.S. Since you live in Canterlot, my school would not have required you to live on campus. However, due to my dense and constantly changing schedule, I would require that you live in the castle.

I suspect neither of us would be satisfied or happy if I had to send for you at random times for lessons, let alone your parents. Although, from what I hear of you, I suspect this is a favor and not a request as you would be housed near the Canterlot Archives.

If your parents have any objections to this, we can try to arrange something else. However, if so, you could remind them that your brother would be nearby often.

P.P.P.S. I doubt that this is close to your mind right now, but any choice you make will be fully funded.

With shaking magic, Twilight read the letter from Princess Celestia.

Well over three centuries? My school? C–could it be? T–This is!

Night Light and Velvet grew increasingly worried as Twilight read more of the letter, her face contorting in odd ways they couldn't quite place.

Both were thinking the exact same thing: What could possibly be written in that letter and why didn't we read it first?

Finally Twilight fainted on the spot and dropped the letter.

"Twilight!" The pair called out together.

Night Light rushed to grab Twilight. Neither were unskilled at magic, telekinesis especially, and though it would have been better to catch Twilight with it, neither parent's reflexes were hooked up to their magic like their daughter's was.

Still Night Light managed to catch Twilight and set her down gently. Both wished they had paid more attention in their introduction to medical magic class. Fainting isn't hard to reverse, if you know what you're doing.

"What could possibly…" Velvet began, picking up and reading the letter.

Soon after she fainted too.

This time Night Light was ready and managed to gently lower Velvet to the ground with telekinesis.

Concern lined his face.

Is the letter dangerous? I can't notice any magic on it or any triggering when they fainted. They're both okay, for certain definitions of okay. No noticeable ongoing spells. I guess I should take a look too.

And soon, he too fainted, with nopony to catch him.

"Hey everypony!" Shining shouted storming through his family's front door. "I hear my LSBFF is depressed! Well, I know just what to– Why is everypony sleeping on the floor?"

Shining noticed the letter and picked it up.

"Is this the culprit? Seems ordinary enough."

Shining read the letter and laughed.

"If you're defeated by something like this, you'd never make it in the royal guard, much less as the vice-captain."

Shining put down the letter and carried the three sleeping ponies to their beds.

I hope Twily will need some royal guarding…

Author's Note:

Mirrored from FIMFiction. Some minor formatting and a longer story description have been lost in the mirroring process.

A brief note on the pony calender. I have only seen a few weak arguments on the internet attempting to determine the length of the pony year and the type of calender they use.

The strongest argument I have found (which has since been lost to the great tides of the internet) involved a brief look at Twilight's planner in one episode. If I remember correctly, the result was that the pony year was a few weeks longer than an Earth year.

Of course, this says little about how they keep the date, so I'm going to work with the following scheme:

Seconds, minutes, and hours as per human standards because the French Revolution ruined the metric clock.

10 days to the week.

10 weeks to the season.

4 seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter) to the year.

The solstices and equinoxes occur in the middle of the relevant seasons.

The year starts at the summer solstice.