“And they all lived happily ever after.” His requested oral reading completed, Celestia’s butler closed his book and looked up, expecting to see her Highness in better spirits than when he began. He was met with disappointment when he saw her lingering somewhere between troubled and meditative. “My lady, was the book not to your liking?”

    Celestia’s expression improved briefly as she felt herself yanked back to reality. “The choice of book was fine, but the moral of the story seemed a bit… familiar.”

    “Tis true, your Highness, the lesson seemed a bit overstressed at times, even coming across a bit cliché, dare I say it. Though, it leaves one wondering—”

    “I was actually referring to the words themselves.”

    A look of confusion appeared on the butler’s face. “Your Highness?”

    “The phrasing of the words seemed a bit like…”

    “A bit like what, Princess?”

    [i]No. It couldn’t be. She would never. But if she did…[/i] Celestia sat up on her throne. “I have one more request for you, Silk Tux,” she said as she levitated the book towards herself.

    “Your wish is my command,” he said with a bow.

    “Bring me Princess Twilight Sparkle’s friendship reports.”

    “At once, My Lady,” he said as he turned to trot out of the room. A moment later, he returned, carrying a large number of neatly-stacked scrolls in his magic. Celestia’s demeanor had regained its former appearance, though she seemed to be somewhat consoled at the reappearance of Silk Tux. “Here they are. The friendship reports of Princess Twilight Sparkle, as requested.”

    Celestia thanked her butler and began reading the first line or so of each report before separating them into a second stack. She finally settled on a single report and laid the rest on the ground. She then opened the book to the second-to-last page and began glancing back and forth between the book and the friendship report. Silk Tux watched a look of disappointment mingled with denial take hold of Celestia’s face as she shook her head. A second later, she flipped to a page at the front of the book and began scrutinizing it, apparently looking for something specific. When she found what she was looking for, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped, as if gasping inaudibly. She whispered to herself a single word: “No.”

    Finally, Silk Tux could take it no longer. “What is the matter, your Majesty?”

    Celestia slowly looked up, but did not make eye contact. After a brief pause, she slowly began. “My dearest pupil, Twilight Sparkle, has plagiarized one of her friendship reports.”

[hr]

    “….” Spike said.

    “Uh huh,” came Twilight’s reply. She flipped another page in her book.

    “…………”

    “Right.”              

    “……?”

    “Yes.”

    A purple dragon claw appeared at the top of the book’s spine. The book slowly lowered to reveal the face of a mildly frustrated baby dragon. “You didn’t hear a word of that, did you?”

    “Oops. Sorry, Spike. I guess not,” Twilight replied sheepishly.

    “Princess Celestia sent you a letter this morning. She even put in in an envelope and sealed it with her royal seal.”

    Twilight knew what that meant: the letter was for her eyes only. “So, it must be pretty important then,” she said, laying her book aside.

     “I guess,” Spike replied as he passed the letter into Twilight’s magic. The Princess shined a magenta light on the envelope, revealing previously hidden words within the sun-shaped seal which read, [i]In Nomine Celestia.[/i]

     “Well, it’s definitely the official seal of Princess Celestia.” She opened a desk drawer and produced a letter opener, with which she opened the envelope. She removed the letter, unfolded it and began reading. Spike watched as her eyes moved along the lines, making steady progress down the page. The farther she read, the more nervous she became. Without warning, a horrified look took hold of her face and she released the envelope, her shrunken pupils fixated on the page before her. The envelope floated down to the ground, landing a half foot in front of Spike.

     “What is it? What does it say?” asked Spike.

     Twilight muttered to herself as her eyes raced through the letter. “……. [i]tomorrow?[/i] Oh, no no no no no no!” She dropped the letter and began frantically looking around the room, all while biting her lip and doing a sort of nervous dance.

     “Twilight, what’s wrong?”

     “What’s wrong?! Everything’s wrong!” she shouted. She began spurting words a mile a minute. “Princess Celestia found out I plagiarized one of my friendship reports and she’s summoned me to Canterlot! She’s gonna punish me like I’ve never been punished before! She’s going to take away my tiara and my title as Princess of Friendship and my wings and my castle—I won’t have anywhere to live! I’m going to have to live on the streets! But not the streets of Ponyville because everypony here is bound to find out; and I don’t [i]dare[/i] set hoof in Canterlot—”

     “Twilight, breathe!” Spike interjected. The alicorn drew several short breaths before resuming her spiel. 

     “I mean, Princess Celestia [i]herself[/i] lives in Canterlot! I’ll have to live out the rest of my life in self-exile some place far, far away just to try and cope with the shame of being named a plagiarizer! And that’s assuming Celestia doesn’t banish me herself! Or worse!” She turned her full attention to Spike. “What if she sends me back to kindergarten to learn how to write all over again? Not even magic kindergarten, but [i]actual[/i] kindergarten!”

     “Aw, enough with the kindergarten already, Twilight! Get ahold of yourself!” Spike said. “It’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be. You’ve got to take action!”

     Upon hearing Spike’s advice, Twilight was struck with an epiphany. “You’re right, Spike. I have to act rationally. And right now, there’s only one rational thing to do. If anypony needs me, I’ll be right over there in the corner, curled up in the fetal position, cuddling my blankie and sucking my hoof.”

     Spike slapped a claw over his face. He allowed his claw to slide down his face and his eyes to reopen, only to see Twilight levitate a rug to use as her “blankie” and do exactly as she said. Spike sighed and crossed the room. “C’mon, Twilight. All you did was play—playjuh—whatever’ed one of your friendship reports.”

     Twilight removed her hoof from her mouth, producing an audible pop. “Plagiarized! Spike, do you even know what that means?”

     Spike scratched his head. “Actually, no.”

     Twilight was in Spike’s face a moment later. “Stealing! Theft! Taking somepony else’s words and claiming them as your own! As a writer, it’s the one thing you’re never, ever, ever supposed to do! And I did it! Since my friendship reports led me to becoming the Princess of Friendship, I can only imagine the consequences will be loss of my title and wings! And it wasn’t just one friendship report, either! Celestia only [i]found[/i] one! I must have plagiarized at least five!” When she had finished speaking, she whimpered, returned to the fetal position, and began petting the rug.

     Spike’s expression dropped. “Oh. Well, in that case, you might actually have a good reason to worry about getting punished.”

[hr]

    Twilight looked out the train car’s window, watching the countryside flash past her field of vision as the train hurtled them towards Canterlot. She walked to the back of the sparsely-populated train car once more and looked out that window. A moment later, she focused on her reflection in the glass and straightened her tiara for the hundredth time before beginning the trek to the front of the car again.

     “Hey, Twi, could you please quit pacing? You’re making [i]me[/i] nervous,” said Spike as she passed him. Twilight sat down next to her dragon and elicited a sound that was half sigh and half whimper.

     “I’m sorry, Spike. It’s just—well, I’m so stressed—I can’t even—”

     Spike put a claw on Twilight’s right foreleg. “Remember that trick Princess Cadance taught you?” Twilight nodded. She drew a deep breath, closed her eyes, and extended her right foreleg into the air. She retracted her foreleg to her chest while simultaneously exhaling. With her eyes still closed, she extended her leg again.

     Without warning, her mind’s eye was filled with a vision of a shining white alicorn standing upon a towering throne. She stared down her muzzle at Twilight, appearing both regal and very dissatisfied with her actions. “Twilight Sparkle,” her Royal Canterlot voice boomed. “I am most disappointed in you. You were my most trusted student; now you have committed the highest offence any writer can commit: plagiarism. As such, I hereby revoke all privileges you possess regarding your status as my student and as the Princess of Friendship.” With that, Twilight was lifted into the air, and her tiara flew across the room by Celestia’s magic. Her former mentor’s eyes glowed white and the golden tiara studded with purple gems disintegrated into a pile of black dust. Golden magic surrounded and forcefully unfurled her lavender wings, and she soon felt a vague sense of pressure as if her wings were being pulled in opposite directions. She glanced in both directions and confirmed what her senses were telling her. When her pleading eyes returned to Celestia, she was met only with a cold, almost hateful glower. Twilight shouted in fear and fell, as it were, into the real world, where she collapsed onto the floor of the train car.

     “Twilight, what happened?” asked Spike. “Are you ok?”

     Twilight ignored the question and instead began sobbing as she lay there on the floor. “What am I going to do, Spike?” she asked in a defeated tone.

     Spike offered no answer other than hopping down from the bench and hugging Twilight’s neck, a gesture the alicorn readily returned.

[hr]

    Twilight paced back and forth in one of the palace hallways, glancing occasionally at the door to Celestia’s throne room. Honestly, she wasn’t sure what was worse, getting the actual punishment, or experiencing the dread and suspense of waiting for it. After a half hour of pacing, she looked up at a clock at the end of the hall to see that only five minutes had elapsed. She had just resumed her pacing when the door behind her opened, startling the already on-edge Princess. A guard poked his head out and declared flatly, “Princess Celestia will see you now.”

     Twilight’s heart jumped up into her throat, and her stomach nearly went with it. Her entire body felt cold and clammy. She tried to begin walking, but her body protested.

     [i]You know what’s going to happen. You’ll never forgive yourself for this. Nopony will blame you for running away now. Pull a “Sunset Shimmer,”[/i] her intellect told her.

     [i]What will everypony think of you?[/i] asked her emotions. [i]You’ll be the laughing stock of Equestria! Just run away![/i]

     With pure willpower, Twilight forced her mind and body into submission and began the walk of shame down the carpeted aisle of Celestia’s throne room. Each step, each movement of each step, was a battle to keep herself moving forward. She fought through the dread that pulled her backwards with the force of a team of earth ponies pulling the train to Appleoosa. Lift right front hoof. Lift left rear hoof. Move both hooves. Lower right front hoof. Lower left rear hoof and lift left front hoof. Lift right rear hoof. Move both hooves. Lower left front hoof. Lower right rear hoof and raise right front hoof.

     Twilight kept her eyes on the segment of carpet directly in front of her, for she knew that Celestia—no, Princess Celestia; best to address her by her title from now on—was at the end of the room, watching her as she tediously and laboriously trudged onward towards the throne. She glanced sideways at the stained-glass windows from time to time to get her bearings and judge how far she had ventured into the throne room, but she didn’t dare look up.

     Once she reached the foot of the throne, she came to a halt, closed her eyes, and braced herself for the worst. “Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia called out.

     “Y—” The word caught in Twilight’s throat. “Yes?” she finally eked out.

     “I’m quite sure you know exactly why I have summoned you here. I need to know, Twilight, did you or did you not plagiarize one of your friendship reports?”

     Twilight’s ears instinctively pointed backwards as she lifted her head and gazed upon Princess Celestia with tear-filled eyes. She answered her teacher—her former teacher—with a quaking voice. “I—I’m sorry, Princess Celestia. I—I did.” If Twilight could have been given a choice between being stabbed with a dagger or seeing that look of disappointment appear on Celestia’s face, she would have chosen the dagger; the knife would have hurt far less. She abruptly bowed her head low as the tears begin to flow. In doing so, her tiara slipped from her head, clanging unceremoniously onto the ground. She glanced at it briefly, before symbolically deciding to leave it where it had fallen.

     “I don’t believe I need to remind you how serious a breach of professionalism an act of plagiarism is, Twilight. There will be serious repercussions as a result of your actions.” Twilight heard Celestia’s wings ruffle. She imagined the same Celestia as from her vision; a regal, towering figure who stood as ready to pass judgment on her as a lion ready to pounce on a mouse. Rounding out the analogy, she felt every bit as helpless as the mouse. “Effective immediately, you shall forfeit your tiara, your title as Princess of Friendship, and your right to rule Equestria and Ponyville.”

     Twilight’s cries began anew, this time audibly. She fought a losing battle to keep herself composed, biting her lip to stifle her whimpers. She watched through blurred vision as her tears landed on the carpet. She heard the sound of Princess Celestia’s hoofsteps as she descended her throne, and out of her peripheral vision she watched a golden aura engulf her old tiara and remove it from her line of sight. She glanced up just in time to see Celestia raise a hoof towards her.

[hr]

     In truth, Celestia hated acting as disciplinarian to her beloved pupil. It broke her heart to see Twilight sobbing at the foot of her throne, even more than it broke her heart to confirm that she had, in fact, plagiarized one of her friendship reports. She walked towards her pupil and extended a hoof to embrace Twilight. Just as she was about to initiate the embrace, Twilight looked up and—flinched away? Did her own dear pupil really think that the punishment for plagiarism would be physical abuse? Celestia recoiled at the sight of her cowering pupil as the final vestiges of her resolve melted away.

     “My dear Twilight Sparkle,” she said, fighting back tears of her own as she enveloped Twilight in a golden aura. “I love you like the daughter I never had. Why do you think I would raise a hoof to strike out at you?”

     “Because—” she sniffled. “Because I don’t deserve to be an alicorn and I don’t deserve a castle and I’ll never be your student again! You’re going to take away my wings and my castle and my friends, and you’re going to exile me some place far away! Or worse!”

     Celestia pulled Twilight into a tight embrace and let her cry on her shoulder. She gently stroked the back of Twilight’s neck and waited for her crying to subside. At length, she placed Twilight back on her own hooves. Once she had composed herself, Twilight began. “Princess Celestia, before you send me away, I want to thank you for this wonderful opportunity you’ve given—”

     “My dear pupil,” Celestia said with a chuckle. “What makes you so sure that I am going to banish you?”

     A look of confusion crossed Twilight’s face. “You mean—you mean you [i]aren’t[/i] going to banish me?” Celestia shook her head. “Well, then where will I live?”

     “Princess or not, the Tree of Harmony gave that castle to you. It is your home, Twilight, and I would not take it from you.”

     Twilight furled her wings, giving them one last sorrowful glance. “Is it going to hurt when you take away my wings?” she nervously asked.

     “You will keep your alicorn wings as a sign of my mercy, just as you lost your tiara and title as a sign of my justice and judgement.”

     Twilight turned her gaze to the tiara still floating in Celestia’s magic. “So, who’s going to be Princess of Friendship now?”

     “That I do not know,” Celestia replied as she looked thoughtfully at her student’s former tiara. “In time a new candidate may reveal herself, or perhaps [i]him[/i]self. And maybe, just maybe, it will one day return from where it came,” she said with a wink. Twilight’s face was graced with the first genuine smile it had worn in the past two days, though it was soon replaced with a renewed expression of confusion.

     “But, I failed at being your pupil. Surely I can’t be the Princess of Friendship again if I can’t even be the student of a Princess.”

     “Know this, Twilight, that you are still my most faithful student, and that I am reinstating your friendship report assignment. You may have faltered in your actions, but I saw how heavily your heart weighed on you, and how much you value my forgiveness. However,” she paused a moment and donned an expression indicative of the highest degree of seriousness. “Should I catch you plagiarizing again…”

     “I swear, Princess Celestia, I will never plagiarize another friendship report ever again. I’ve learned my lesson.”

     “Really?” the Princess replied with a gentle smile. “And tell me, what lesson have you learned?”

     “Everypony makes mistakes. Sometimes, those mistakes have life-altering consequences. I’ve learned through my own mistakes the value of maintaining my professional integrity. But even more important, I’ve learned that having a faithful mentor in my life is invaluable, and that it’s never too late to ask for forgiveness and start down the right path again. There are going to be consequences, but there is also hope.”

     Celestia spread her right wing and turned towards Twilight Sparkle, indicating a wing hug, which her restored pupil readily accepted. “I look forward to reading more of your friendship reports in the future, Twilight Sparkle.”

     “And I can’t wait to get back on the right track,” replied Twilight.