The Three Princess Rejects

An important gathering occurred in Celestia’s Castle the night of Sunset Shimmer’s exile.  She stood firmly on her podium staring down at the other students.

“You mean she isn’t coming back?” Luna asked asked.

“Yes. She must never return to my school of gifted unicorns after the way she behaved. I put too much trust in her.” Celestia said somberly.

“It is not your fault.” Luna said putting a hoof on her shoulder.

“I suppose. Now I will need a new student to take her place.” Celestia said.

“What about Twilight Sparkle?” Princess Cadence suggested.

“Who is Twilight Sparkle?” Princess Celestia asked taking Cadence’s words into consideration.

“She’s a unicorn I foalsit. She is exceptional at magic and an avid reader.” Cadence said.

“I’ll send her parents an invitation, but we need to start making the entrance exam more challenging. We can’t just have anypony trained to be the next princess.” Celestia said sternly.

“I’m sure she’d make a wonderful princess.” Cadence said.

“That’s another thing. We mustn’t tell her that we are training her to be a princess. You all know what happened last time. Do I make myself clear?” Princess Celestia shifted her eyes over to Luna’s student Trixie. Trixie covered her face with her starry hat. Celestia’s glance moved over to Cadence’s student, Sprinklejinx. Her leg was wrapped tightly in a cast from the previous incident. She swallowed a lump in her throat and covered her injury with her tail.

“Yes, your majesty.” Sprinklejinx stammered feeling intimidated by the powerful goddess standing in front of her. She bowed down her head nervously.

“Good. You shall continue your study as it was tomorrow. Hopefully Sunset Shimmer’s departure will be a lesson to the both of you.” Celestia said dismissing everypony. Celestia hid the mirror she had trapped her former student in down in the dungeon. She stared at herself in the mirror and sighed. “What have I done?” Celestia said to herself. She had put too much pressure on the three little fillies. Although her intentions were good, things were turning for the worse.

After Night Mare Moon had been banished, Celestia couldn’t rule all of Equestria on her own. So she did what any sensible princess would have done. She adopted a young Pegasus named Cadence to be her niece. After years of doing good deeds and foal sitting, Cadence finally earned the privilege of being a princess. Knowing she would soon have to fight her sister again, Celestia mentored a unicorn named Sunset Shimmer. She did this because I something were to happen to her, nopony would be able to raise the sun. The prophecy said that a pegasus, a unicorn, and an earth pony would rule one day. Celestia thought Sunset Shimmer would be the perfect choice. She had impressive magic skills and the sun for a cutie mark. Much to her surprise, Luna regained control of herself. Soon, she wanted a student of her own. She chose Trixie because she was great at magic and her cutie mark had a moon on it. Princess Cadence, on the other hoof, got the shorter end of the stick. Celestia and Luna encouraged Cadence to teach a unicorn a well. Unlike the other two students, Sprinklejinx had no cutie mark and no idea how to control her magic. The three fillies got themselves into so much trouble over the past two months, Celestia regretted training them to begin with. Things started to go downhill after Sprinklejinx arrived.

It all started when Cadence’s messenger told her that a powerful bad luck spell was spreading rapidly through Fillydelphia. She teleported there to figure out what was going on. She saw a minty green unicorn with a magenta mane. There was an angry scowl on her freckled face. Her fuchsia eyes narrowed. A blinking light flashed from her horn. That only seemed to make her more irritated.

“What’s the matter little filly?” Cadence asked following Sprinklejinx down the crowded sidewalk. She was still glaring at the ground.

“Leave me alone.” Sprinklejinx said in her thick city accent. She didn’t want to talk to anypony especially a stranger. Cadence flew over her head and landed in front of her.

“Sunshine, sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Cadence chanted. She wasn’t even slightly ashamed of dancing around in public.

“What are you doing?” Sprinklejinx asked wondering where the closest insane asylum was.

“I only want to make you happy, Sprinklejinx.” Cadence said. Sprinklejinx stopped in her tracks.

“You know my name?” Sprinklejinx asked looking up at her. Her jaw dropped.

“Of course I do. A princess knows everypony by name.” Cadence said.

“You’re THE Princess Cadence?! That’s so cool! What are you doing here?” Sprinklejinx gasped smiling from ear to ear. Her mood flipped like a switch. Her horn stopped flashing pink. She couldn’t believe that she met an actual princess. She would have pinched herself to see if she was dreaming, but it’s pretty hard to do that sort of thing with hooves.

“I came here to see you.” Cadence said. The filly jumped for joy.

“You came here to see me?” Sprinklejinx said trying to contain her excitement. She didn’t want to fan girl out too much in front of the princess. She needed to act professional.

“Yes. It has come to my attention that your magic is causing a string of bad luck.” Cadence said. Sprinkljinx looked around her. A kart full of fresh apples was tipped over in the middle of the street. The wheel had been broken off and ponies were stealing the apples off the street. A stallion had bird droppings on his head. A mare had accidentally stepped in a sewer hole and sprained her ankle. She limped down the streets with her hoof soaked in sewage.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to.” Sprinklejinx said hoping that she didn’t let one of her biggest role model down. Her ears drooped.

“I know you didn’t mean any harm. You just have powerful magic. You need to learn to control your emotions. I could teach you if you want.” Cadence suggested looking down at the chubby little filly.

“Oh my gosh! You would do that?” Sprinklejinx asked beaming at the princess.

“Yes, if I get your parents’ permission. So what was bothering you, if you don’t mind me asking.” Cadence asked folding her wings.

“Well, I’m lost. My brother and I got chased by muggers while walking home from school. We got split up. I don’t know if he got away or not.” Sprinklejinx said regaining some of her sadness.

“I’m very sorry to hear that. You shouldn’t wander the streets by yourself. Fillydelphia is a dangerous city.” Cadence said thinking of all the ponies who get mugged in dark alleys.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m tough for a little filly.” Sprinklejinx said still trying to keep her cool.

“What is your brother’s name?” Cadence asked.

“Lucky Dice.” Sprinklejinx replied.

“What does he look like?” Cadence asked.

“He’s a unicorn like me. He’s a little older than me. He has three dice blocks as a cutie mark.” Sprinklejinx said.

“So where are your parents?” Cadence asked.

“They’re working at the Horse Shoe factory.” Sprinklejinx said.

  Princess Cadence took Sprinklejinx to the horse shoe factory the horse shoe factory her parent, Jigsaw and Clover worked at.

“There you are, Jinx. We were worried sick about you. Lucky Dice told us all about what happened.” Clover said.

“We were just about to leave to come find you. I’m glad those muggers didn’t catch you.” Lucky said.

“We didn’t think you’d be able to find your way back.” Jigsaw said.

“I had a little help.” Sprinklejinx said letting Cadence inside. They were just as thrilled to see the princess as Sprinklejinx was. In fact, her mother nearly fainted.

“You met the princess? That’s so awesome!” Lucky Dice said.

“That’s not even the best part. She said she’s going to let me be her student!” Sprinklejinx said cheerfully.

“No way!” Lucky Dice said letting his jaw drop.

“What?!” Sprinklejinx’s parents both said in unison.

“Allow me to explain. It seems that your daughter’s magic is dangerous. She has trouble controlling her emotions. That is a bad combination. With proper training she will be able to learn to handle her magic, with your permission of course.” Cadence said.

“Why, of course. It would be such an honor for our daughter to be mentored by a princess.” Clover said.

“We would be so proud.” Jig Saw added.

“So what are you going to teach me first?” Sprinklejinx asked.

“First, you need to take your entrance exam.” Cadence replied.

“But I didn’t study. What if I fail?” Sprinklejinx asked. The extent of her magic was levitating small objects.

“Do your best, Jinx.” Lucky Dice said giving her a quick noogie.

“Don’t worry. You’ll do fine. It’s just to see how much you know.” Cadence said teleporting them both to the castle.