Twilight's big day had arrived. It was time to test into the elite royal magic school on Canterlot, where she would be mentored by Princess Celestia herself. This meant the world to her. Every pony she knew would be there, including her parents.
The test was a mystery to Twilight. They wouldn't tell her what was on it. They only told her that it was one spell she would perform. Just one. If it was in any of her hundreds of spell books, she knew it. She had been practicing all year. This is what her life was depending upon.
She was both nervous and excited as she entered the classroom. The chatter behind her didn't help the anxiety at all. Every pony she knew was staring at her. Every friend, every relative, every neighbor, and every teacher. Her task given to her was quite simple.
As the crowd calmed, she was given the instruction to hatch a dragon egg, using only her magic. This was one spell Twilight didn't know. There was no way she could do it. No, she had to try. Her future depended upon it.
Twilight tried to hatch the egg with all of her might. Her horn sparked, and the egg shook. But nothing hatched. A few whispered came from about the room.
"Did you see that?"
"She can't even do this."
"No way they'll let her in!"
"Magically talented? What a load of crap."
Tears collected in the corners of the filly's eyes, causing her to go partially blind. She kept sparking her horn and shaking the egg, but she just couldn't do it.
A few colts in the audience snickered. Some of the adults started chuckling, too. Soon enough, the entire room has erupted with loud laughter, and it was all directed at her.
The only people who weren't laughing were her parents, and that was to be expected. Twilight couldn't take the humiliation anymore. Crying, she rushed out the doors. This caused them to laugh even louder as the doors closed on the filly.
***
A few weeks had passed since the disappointing test. She had never failed a test before, and now, when it mattered most, she couldn't even perform a single spell? She had been humiliated, and was convinced that it was all pointless. Her magically talented fantasy of being mentored by Celestia was definitely over.
As she lay on her bed, crying, her parents approached her room. "Twilight?" Velvet called, "May we come in?"
Twilight didn't answer. She just kept sobbing. That was all she ever did anymore.
Her parents walked inside. "Twilight, your friends are here to see you. Why don't you go out with them? They wanted to go with you on a walk through the park."
"Yeah," Night Light said cheerily, "go on. Have some fun."
Twilight grudgingly got up from her tear-soaked bed. She slumped down the stairs, opened the door, and looked at her friends. "Come on," said, "let's go for a walk."
Twilight walked with them through the park, although she really had rather stayed in bed. "I'm here," she said, "what is it you two?"
"Well," said Oakleaf, "you failed the test the other day, and..."
"And?"
Her other friend, Aquatail, finished. "We don't want to be friends with someone who can't keep up."
Twilight simply continued to cry. She didn't show any change in emotion. The same amount of sadness that had been showing through stayed. She ran off crying, leaving her ex-friends alone in the park. They laughed, and she heard it.
***
Two months went by. Twilight was sick of everything. She wasn't sad anymore. No, she was angry. She was angry at herself for not studying hard enough. She was angry at her parents for making her study in the first place. She was angry at the royal schooling system for failing her. She was angry at her friends for ditching her. And she was angry at Celestia for accepting those friends as her pupils.
This unicorn was alone. She was no longer going to achieve her lifetime wishes. There was no way for her to pay for that school, meaning her one shot of testing in really was her one shot.
She was also going to miss her friends. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but without her friends, she was nothing. They inspired her to achieve greater things every day. The reason they liked her was because she was so cool. Yes, she was cool with her magic, and her smarts. But not anymore. She was just as magically talented as the next pony.
Twilight, realizing now her situation, grabbed her quill and a piece of parchment.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I hope you are happy. I hope you are very, very happy on Canterlot, because I'm not happy here. This is your fault. You and your stupid school, and your stupid testing. And your stupid kingdom. You don't care one bit about your subjects. You've made it blatantly obvious. There's no reason for you to lie, Celestia. You wanted me to fail. You WANTED me to be a failure. You hate me, don't you? It doesn't matter, though. I have been tormented long enough. It ends now. I will see you in the next life. When I do, I hope you're burning. Burning and screaming, along with your stupid empire of Equestria. No pony is equal here. We are all pawns, pawns of your rule. Not anymore. Checkmate.
Your most worthless, unfaithful subject,
Twilight Sparkle
"Twilight?" Velvet knocked in her door. "Can I come in?"
Twilight didn't respond. This time, she wasn't crying. It was silent. "Twilight?" Velvet wasn't sure what to do. Twilight always at least sobbed in response to her. This was most likely a bad sign. Scared of what was beyond the door, she knew she needed to check on her daughter. She knew the door had to open.
Velvet creaked open the door and peered inside. Twilight was lying on her bed with a plastic bag tied around her head.
Velvet collapsed into a pile on Twilight's bedroom floor. The funeral was a week later.
