"Dear Princess Celestia; WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME," Twilight muttered, a quill dancing in the air as she wrote. Then it stopped as she glared at the letter.

"ARGH!" she shouted, and her horn flashed as the letter burst into flames, ashes drifting down to form another layer on an already large pile.

"Twilight, Rarity's here to see you!" Spike called from the library's front door.

"I don't want to talk to anyone!" she yelled back. "Make something up and tell her to come back later!"

"Umm... I kind of already let her in," Spike replied apologetically. Twilight poked her head up from the loft to see that, indeed, Rarity was standing there, concern and insult warring on her face.

Apparently concern won out. "Twilight dear, I can see you've been crying. I know this must be a tough time for you, but becoming an alicorn princess, it’s something you should be celebrating."

Twilight lit her horn and teleported down to her friend. "Rarity, I know you want to help. But there's nothing you can do. Just, ugh, please leave me alone."

"You know you can trust us, Twilight," Rarity said. She gently reached forward, draping a foreleg around her friend.

Twilight closed her eyes, but even that couldn't stop the tears from pouring out. Rarity noticed and tried to pull her into a hug.

That was just too much. Twilight screamed even as a lavender aura pushed Rarity away, and the new Alicorn disappeared in a flash of light.

[hr]

“And that’s when she burst into tears! I’ve never seen her in such distress,” Rarity told 

“I don’t get it. Why would anypony be upset about growing wings?” Rainbow Dash asked, folding her forelegs across her ribs.

“Why, perhaps she’s afraid immortality means losing all her friends,” Rarity responded. “Or being a princess! Life at court may be glamorous, but it can be so turbulent. The arranged marriages, the stern but gentle stallions, the forbidden loves with foreign agents-”

“I think that’s only in the books you read,” Applejack interrupted.

Rarity sniffed. “Well, regardless, it’s a very chaotic time for poor Twilight, and I think we should all be there to help.”

“And just how are we supposed to do that?”

“Oooh!” Pinkie offered. “We could find Trixie, and then when Twilight tries to say her wings are ugly, Trixie could say ‘no, your wings are beautiful!’”

Everypony looked at Pinkie for a moment. Then, by mutual consent, they all turned back to Rarity.

“Seriously, just how are we supposed to do that?” Applejack asked.

“I think we should make sure she always has someone to talk to, and doesn’t try to do anything rash,” Rarity suggested.

“Rash?” Rainbow asked. “What’s rash supposed to mean? It’s not like she can go to the hospital and ask them to cut her wings off.”

“Don’t be morbid. I merely mean that-” Rarity began, only to be interrupted as Fluttershy flew down out of the sky.

“Excuse me, umm, not to interrupt or anything, but is Twilight alright? Because, I, uhh, think I saw her running towards Zecora’s hut, and [size="2"]it kind of looked like she was crying[/size].

[hr]

“Are you sure this will work, Zecora?” Twilight asked “I’m not sure I can stand it much longer.”

“Willow bark, poppy, aloe; all have brewed, so here you go,” the Zebra responded, filling a large bottle from her cauldron. Before Twilight could take it, a rainbow blur crashed through Zecora’s window and grabbed the potion from her hooves. 

“Gotcha!” Rainbow Dash cried triumphantly. She tried to fly back out the window, only to find her tail immobilized by a lavender aura.

Beside her the door flew open and Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack all spilled inside.

“Don’t do it, Twilight! You have so much to live for!” Pinkie cried.

“She’d not going to die, Pinkie.”

“Ohh.”

Twilight ignored the newcomers and immediately launched herself towards Rainbow, reaching for the potion.

“Applejack! Catch!” Rainbow cried, tossing the potion.

“Twilight, please, I know these changes are sudden, but don’t do this!” Rarity pleaded.

Twilight gritted her teeth and grabbed for the potion. “Give me-”

Then her wing brushed against a table. Twilight immediately let out a shriek and collapsed, her magic aura vanishing and dropping Rainbow Dash to the floor.

Rarity and Applejack exchanged confused looks.

“Anyone want to tell me exactly what’s going on here?” Applejack asked.

“I slept on my wing!” Twilight wailed. "It's been cramping all morning!"