The night stars and full moon shone brightly through the open windows of Canterlot Palace’s Great Hall where four crowned ponies sat around a great circular stone table. Princess Celestia sat regal and imperious, her gaze cold and piercing as it darted between the three Princesses opposite her. “It seems,” she said slowly and deliberately, “we have a dilemma on our hooves.”
“Indeed,” nodded Luna. “a veritable quandary.”
Cadance ran a hoof through her mane. “Quite a pickle.”
“A problem,” Twilight smiled. “A vexation. A predicament, an impasse, a situation, a -“
“We get it,” the other three answered.
“The reality is this,” Celestia said, leaning forward on her hooves. “Twilight can’t keep wandering aimlessly around the palace with nothing to do. We got around the problem at her coronation by announcing her as 'Equestria’s newest Princess', but we never said precisely what she was Princess of.”
Twilight hopped and bounced in place, beaming and grinning. “I know! I know! I can be Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Magic!”
Celestia sighed and smiled. “No, my faithful st… er, Princess. Too corny.”
Twilight twisted her head and furrowed her brow. “Too… Too Alicorn-y?”
“Too Unicorn-y,” she responded. “Can’t have you being Princess of just a third of Equestria. And before you answer, yes, all ponies have magic, but good luck getting Pegasi and Earth Ponies to remember that.”
Sinking back onto her haunches, Twilight sat silent for long seconds before her eyes widened and she stood up, head held high and one hoof to her chest. “Then I can be Princess of Friendship!”
Cadance’s eyes narrowed and she glared pastel holes in the newest Princess at the table. “Get your hooves off it, Ladybug!” Twilight stepped back and opened her mouth to protest when Cadance cut her off. “Friendship’s too close to Love, and I can’t have you poaching titles and responsibilities from me. My Royal portfolio’s tight enough as it is.”
Luna leaned close to Twilight, whispering behind a raised hoof. “I have seen thy brother, her husband. Methinks her portfolio may be all about her that remains tight.”
Cadance glared across the table. “I heard that!”
Muzzle twitching, Twilight looked around the room. “Princess of Books?”
“No,” said Cadance.
“Research?”
“No,” said Celestia.
“Learning?”
“No,” said Luna.
Twilight paused. “Princess of Ponyville?”
“No!” shouted the other three.
Celestia rubbed her chin for a moment. “Perhaps Twilight could borrow a heavenly body, Luna." Cadance snorted and snickered until Celestia cut a withering glare at her. "As I was saying, could Twilight share in our sacred duties?”
Luna tapped a hoof to her chin for a moment. “A fine plan, Sister! I believe the Solar Orb would be a most fitting reward for her Royal service.”
"The sun?” Celestia raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “I don’t think that’s possible, or even appropriate.”
Smiling a toothy grin, Luna leaned in, hooves on the table. “Whysoever not, dear Sister? Surely there exists enough of thy sun to share with young Sparkle. After all, thy sun is vast and blotteth out the sky, much like the very selfsame sun adorning thy posterior.”
Celestia glared at the younger alicorn. “Funny, Lulu. And no, there’s no splitting up the Sun. I couldn’t share it if I wanted to. Princess Cadenza?”
“Don’t look at me,” Cadance protested, hooves raised. “The skies belong to you two. The only heavenly body I raise is Shining Armor’s - “
“LA! LA! LA! LA! LA!” shouted Twilight, hooves held to her ears.
Luna sat back, sighed heavily, and groaned, “Oh, fine. Twilight, thou mayest have…” She looked through open doors leading onto a sweeping balcony, eyes scanning the midnight sky. Finally she raised a hoof and pointed. “There. That one.”
“The moon? You’re giving me the moon?” Twilight’s eyes grew wide and watery as she trembled. “I - I can’t believe it! Thank you! Thank you, oh, Luna, I - “
Luna recoiled. “The moon? Dear heavens, no! Thou mayest have the star.”
“The.. The stars?” Twilight spluttered.
Luna rolled her eyes. “No, Little Spark. Just that one star. Epsilon Indi B, I believe. The tiny brown winky one, there below the Moon.”
“Ah, I see," Twilight grumbled. "Solving Starswirl’s final spell made me Princess of All Things Tiny, Brown, and Winky. No wonder he died friendless and batpoop crazy.” Rubbing her temple with a hoof, Twilight looked around. “Well, what, then? Princess of Change? Twilight is the time between Day and Night, the time of transitions and new beginnings. Change makes sense, if you think about it.”
Celestia exhaled overloudly as her ears fell flat. “Sorry, Queen Chrysalis has that one locked up.”
“But she’s a bug!” Twilight whined.
“And holey,” Cadance added.
“And greenish,” Luna offered.
“Exactly!” Celestia said, her ears perking up as she smiled beatifically. “Chrysalis may have been a holey traitorous greenish chitin-flanked bug-queen, but she’s still worshipped - well, venerated, hated, and feared, really - as the Dark Goddess of Change. Really, Twilight, Equestria’s had the same borders, equine sub-races, and political system for ten thousand years. When have you ever known ponies to willingly and happily embrace change?”
Twilight banged her head on the table, the repeated clangs from her star-jeweled crown echoing through the Great Hall. “Fine,” she growled, “just pick something.”
Three days later a Royal Herald blew his trumpet and announced grandly, “Dusk Court is now in session! All hail the presence of Her Majesty, Princess Twilight Sparkle!” As the sun set behind Canterlot Mountain, he turned to a little unicorn filly waiting in the entryway, her beaming parents waving enthusiastically nearby. “Petitioner, you may approach the Amethyst Throne.”
Twilight smiled as the diminutive pony cantered forward, cradling a wiggling russet puppy in her flickering magic. “P… Princess T… Twilight?” the filly stammered, “Will you bless my new puppy dog? I even named him in your honor, ma’am!” She grinned and held the tiny critter aloft. “I’m going to call him Little Winky.”