The lights of the library went out. 

"Goodnight Twilight!" Spike said.

"Goodnight Spike!" Twilight replied. She yawned.

In the gloom, Spike heard, rather than saw, her lying onto the floor. There was a small rustle as her head came to rest on the magazines' rough heap — that's all they'd found that could pass as pillow; books would've been so much uncomfortable.

He settled onto the ground himself and waited.

"Twilight?" he whispered, after five minutes or so. 

The snoring of his master was the only answer he got.

"Twilight?" he whispered again, to no avail. Satisfied, he stood up and – his eyes now used to the dim ambient light – tiptoed to the stairs, then down and across the wide room. He stopped in front of door and knocked three times with his paw. It cracked open, and Spike snuck through the chink into the corridor.

He blinked as the strong light overflowed his vision. "Does she sleep?" Celestia's familiar voice asked.

He nodded. "Yes."

"Wonderful!" Celestia picked him up in her arms, pecked his muzzle and put him back onto the ground. "You've done amazing. Do you need something? Water? Food?"

"No. It's alright. We're fine."

"Okay! Then… goodnight?"

"Goodnight!" Spike replied. Celestia reopened the door and Spike disappeared inside.

[center]***[/center]

Celestia walked down the corridor to the hallway where Luna and Sunset Shimmer were waiting. The others were already outside, gathered in the frontage.

"She's asleep?" Luna asked.

"So it seems," Celestia said.

"That didn't take too long," Sunset Shimmer chuckled.

"You too passed out almost immediately," Celestia replied.

"Bleh! I remember that. Overnighting in the toilets with TP rolls as pillow. What a disgrace. I shall never forgive you, do you hear? Never!" She beamed to the princess.

"I don't expect you to!" Celestia quipped back. "Shall we go now?" she added and, not waiting for an answer, set off to the entrance door. The two others followed suit.

As they walked down the magnificent front stairs, they were joined by the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Princess?" Scootaloo asked Celestia. "I beg your pardon, but I don't understand the point of all this." In a gesture she took in the school, the other people and touched her human body in wonder.

"It's a test every future princess must take," Sunset Shimmer replied. "To demonstrate they're fit for command."

"But… Why all this setup? This weird place? These strange bodies?"

"A princess's strength of mind can only be assessed by sending her away into a totally alien environment, stripping her magical power away, giving her a strong opponent and monitor how she reacts," Celestial explained. "That's why this place was created. And," she added after a pause, "we have a formidable bad egg this time!" She smiled to Sunset, who blushed slightly.

"You took the test yourself?" Sweetie Belle asked Sunset Shimmer, who nodded.

"Who was your enemy?"

"She was called Starlight Glimmer," Sunset replied.

Celestia sighed audibly.

"Why didn't you become a princess then? You failed?" Applebloom asked.

Sunset giggled. "No. I simply opted out and chose a more… mundane life?"

There was a hush. The garden looked eerie in the wan light dispensed by the overhead moon-shaped lamp.

"EH!" Celestia suddenly shouted, waving to Derpy, who was leaning heavily on the horse statue plinth. "Don't do that! It's only made up of a thin layer of plaster. You risk damaging it!" 

Derpy bolted upright and muttered an excuse.

Walking along the main path, the small party was joined by all the various ponies who'd helped as extras.

"Will she succeed? I mean, Twilight," Scootaloo went on.

"I'm positive she will," Luna replied. "She's shown a lot of guts and gumption."

"Is there a sort of… winning strategy?" 

"Uh-uh," Celestia shook her head. "In fact, there's no way to win. It's a test of character."

"Unless you cheat, of course!" Sunset added with an impish smile.

Chatting along, they reached the outer hull on which the background scene was painted. Celestia stopped and turned to face the crowd. "Alright folks!" she said. "I want you all back tomorrow morning at five sharp. Thanks so much for your involvement and now, goodnight!"

She pressed a hidden button and a panel slid open. Ponies walked through the opening in tandem, reassuming their true self in the process. When nopony was left, Celestia pressed the button again, causing the panel to slide back closed. 

She sighed, turned, and shuffled back to the large building.