//------------------------------//
// The Birth Of Spike 
// Story: The Rise Of Twilight Sparkle 
// by StevieBond 
//------------------------------//

It was the next day after the breakdown, the Princess was feeling much better but was still worried about nightmare's return. But then again, Twilight had assured her that she will succeed at any cost which had been proven correctly, due to her resilience against the accelerated training which slowed down gradually.

Twilight was a little excited today because her foal-sitter was coming to visit her in the castle, both she and Celestia were in the throne room.

"I'm so happy to be seeing Cadance today, I've missed her so much!" she said happily as she held her smarty pants doll.

"I'm sure you have, my faithful student." Celestia replied, "I do hope this makes up for everything I had to put you through."

"It more than does, Princess. By the way, what kind of exam is it I'm preparing for?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you, but I can tell you that it will take place at the filly school auditorium."

"But why my school?"

"There were no other places available and it was decided by the examiner team with the principle's approval."

"Won't the other fillies pick on me and throw me off my concentration?"

"Don't worry Twilight, that will not be happening." Celestia placed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder, "It will only be just you, your parents, myself, the principle and the examination team."

Twilight perked up a bit and smiled again.

"Okay."

Just then, the doors to the throne room were opened and in came Cadance and the two guards who escorted her.

"Twilight!" Cadance called whilst she trotted towards her.

"Cadance!" she replied as they hugged before doing thier chant.

"Sunshine, sunshine ladybugs awake!
Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"

Celestia smiled at the cuteness she was seeing.

"I've missed you so much, Twilight."

"Me too, Cadance...it was very hard, but it's been worth it."

"And Princess Celestia, I am honoured to see you."

Cadance bowed at the princess in respect.

"Thank you Cadance." the princess replied, "I've heard so much about you and your foal-sitting, you have a wonderful gift."

"Why thank you your highness."

Soon, Cadance took Twilight out of the castle to spend quality time they've missed for a few years by travelling around Canterlot and even seeing her parents with open arms and happy tears, which the purple filly had missed so much.

She knocked on her parents front door and her mother opened it.

"Twilight my darling!" her mother exclaimed.

"Mother!" Twilight replied as she jumped into her mum's hooves for a tight hug.

"I've missed you for so many years, Twilight."

"I've missed you too, mom..."

"Twilight! I've missed you, my little girl!" her dad said as he hugged her.

"I've missed you too dad." she replied.

They shared a few tears together, having missed each other for over two years.

Since then, the accelerated training period was over and her studying at the filly school began to improve once again, even though she didn't have much in the way of friends now ever since she was hoof picked by Celestia.

Unfortunately, the bad memories from the bullying to possibly failing her exam were continuing to play in Twilight's mind, but only when she was sleeping, she would try to hide it whenever she dreamt about it.

However one night, in her bed beside the Princess in the bed chambers, Twilight woke with a jolt. The only sounds in her room were the cold breeze and her own heavy breaths. The nightmare of those memories had returned once again, worse than ever.

"I mustn't fail her," she whimpered to herself as tears began streaming down her face. "I mustn't fail her, I must-"

Her sobs finally rendered her unable to talk as she held Smarty Pants close and wept openly. The very thought of failing the Princess and her exam now took any control from her and she buried herself beneath the blankets so that nopony else could hear her lonely suffering.

She didn't even notice the noises or the hoof-prints behind her. Twilight jumped when she felt a nuzzle on the back of her head, and turned around. Standing before her at her bedside, was Princess Celestia herself, a look of concern on her face for the first time.

"My dearest student, what's wrong? Is it the dream?" she asked gently.

Twilight nodded with a hint of fear.

"Twilight," she said warmly, "your nerves are getting the best of you! Everypony gets scared the night before their first and most important exam." She chuckled as she wiped her student's tears away. "Especially if they try to calm themselves by eating an entire cake."  She poked Twilight on the nose and the little filly giggled.

"Don't worry, I won't let any of it happen outside of the dream..." Celestia put her hooves around her, and held her tight. Twilight smiled and hugged her back until she fell asleep in her hooves. After tucking her in and kissing her goodnight, she looked out the window to the full moon with the mark shown clearly in the sky and whispered sadly, "...not again."

The next morning arrived and Celestia woke up first with a smile on her face and walked over to Twilight who was sleeping peacefully away, she gently stroked her mane which caused her to wake up slightly.

"Wake up Twilight." Celestia whispered. "It's your big day today."

Twilight woke up and sat herself up in her bed, before rubbing her eyes and yawned.

"Morning Princess." she replied, "Is it time already?"

"Yes, my student. But there needs to be preparations made before your exam. I advise you to ask for your parents to come along to give you extra support."

"Okay, I'll do that right now."

The Princess then turned and left the bed chamber to make preparations for the day, whilst Twilight got herself alert and awake before she left the castle and trotted back to her parents home. When she arrived, she opened the parents door and walked in to be greeted with hugs.

"Hi mom, I have so much to tell you and Dad about." Twilight said.

"Then come on in, we would like to hear about how much you've done." her mum replied.

Twilight walked inside and her mum closed the door. She found her Dad on the sofa who saw her and went in for a hug.

Shortly, the family got together by the sofa and just in time for lunch. Twilight began telling them the training she had to go through but she assured them that despite the difficulties, it was all worth it for her upcoming exam today.

"So your exam is today?" her dad asked.

"Yes and it'll help me prove if I'm ready to be her permanent and faithful student." Twilight replied.

"Do you want us to comes with you?" her mum asked.

"The princess advised I should so that I have a bit of comfort."

"In that case, we'll be right with you."

"Thank you"

They then had a group hug before they had thier lunch and then made thier way towards the filly school where Celestia was waiting for them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle." the Princess greeted, "I am glad to finally meet the parents of your wonderful daughter."

"And we are honoured to meet you, Princess." Twilight's mom replied.

The parents then bowed in respect and Twilight did so as well.

"Come on in, the examiners have arrived in the auditorium and are ready to start." Celestia said.

They then walked into the school, past the hallways and into the auditorium at the far end. There were four unicorns with clipboards and pens at the ready by the seats. This made Twilight a little nervous since she was still shy and hesitant about showing off her magic, but she knew it had to be done or she would fail her exam.

"Good luck Twilight, I know you can do it." Celestia encouraged.

"We're with you all the way." Twilight's mum added.

Twilight moved forward to the stage and there, one of the workers at the school brought in a small cart with an artistic designed looking egg on a small pile of hay.

She slightly gasped as she knew what that was.

"A dragon egg?" she asked the princess.

"Yes Twilight, your exam to pass is to use your magic to help make this dragon be born from out of it's egg." Celestia explained.

Twilight gulped as she looked at the examiners before turning her attention to the egg. She began to light up her horn and tried to do just about anything she could think of that would help the dragon to be born. After a few minutes of not succeeding, she began to worry and her parents didn't feel confident either.

The Princess was beginning to feel disappointed and worried again when suddenly, a huge bright light and explosion was heard from outside the school, it showed off a ray of rainbow colours in a circle which legends said it was called a sonic rainboom. Twilight was so shocked that she let out huge bursts of magic at the egg, the egg then began to crack away until in it's place was now a baby dragon which began sucking it's tail.

Everypony stood in surprise at what just happened, even Celestia couldn't speak.

The examiners then got back to writing their feedback and they were very impressed.

"Twilight Sparkle...I've never seen you use your magic with that amount of power and ability before." Celestia complimented.

"I never thought I could do it." she replied, "But somehow, I did it and a baby dragon has been born."

"Then from this day onwards, this baby dragon will be yours to look after."

Twilight moved towards the baby dragon and smiled at it as her parents hugged her.

"We're so proud of you Twilight." her dad said.

"Does this mean I've passed?" she asked Celestia.

The examiners nodded in agreement.

"You have passed with extraordinary results." the princess replied confidently.

"WOOHOO!"

Twilight jumped in the air with excitement.

"But you must learn to control your new found power and magic through further studying." Celestia added, "And I think this baby dragon may have some interesting potential as your assistant someday. Twilight, I would like you to be my permanent student."

"I would be honoured, Princess." she replied happily.

"We should go out and celebrate!" Twilight's dad suggested.

"Yay!"

"By the way Twilight, what are you gonna call that baby dragon since it's now yours to look after?" her mum asked.

"I think I'll call it...Spike." 

Whilst the Sparkle family left the school with the baby dragon to celebrate, Celestia returned to her castle and as she took her throne, she looked over to the window frame art designs and saw one of her sister and herself ruling over the planet of Equestria.

"Soon..." Celestia said, "...I will see you again, my sister."

She then carried with her duties for the day and she felt confident that by the time the 1,000th year arrives, Twilight would be ready to face Nightmare Moon's return and perhaps bring back Princess Luna for a long awaited reunion. Of course, it would take a few obstacles to overcome this such as Twilight moving to Ponyville and making friends with the other ponies.

After the celebration, Twilight was then given her own personal tower in Canterlot Castle for becoming Princess Celestia's personal and permanent student and she could not have been happier. Plenty of room, her own bedtime and complete solitude, perfect for an aspiring scholar such as herself.

However, it had it's downsides, such as being in a room far away from other ponies and willing to be friends with others, for now though, she had Spike who will be her number one assistant someday. 

Her own tale is just beginning, but for this story, it ends here.


THE END