Sofia was bored. There wasn't any better way to put it. She'd been at the Sorcerer's Soirée for hours now, and nothing fun had happened at all. First, all the sorcerers had come together to talk about the latest advancements in magic and new spells and potions and all sorts of boring things. Who cared if there was a new crazy theory that tied together the geometry of ancient ritual circles with the nine fundamental principles of alchemy? If it didn't help with pranking, tricking, or otherwise fooling, it was all useless. And plus, it wasn't like Sofia could even understand half of what the sorcerers were saying. She couldn't believe her other half had been looking forward to this.

Then, after Sofia spent what felt like hours twiddling her thumbs, all the sorcerers went onto the ballroom floor to dance. That was a little better, since Sofia got to trip plenty of unfortunate sorcerers and pretend it was all a misunderstanding. But Cedric, no matter how much she pestered the sorcerer, wouldn't get onto the dance floor. And none of it was really that exciting. Tripping people? Puh-lease. She could do that back at the castle a million times over. No, she was here for something bigger, something grander.

After the dance, the sorcerers retreated back to the tables for dinner. That was where Sofia was now, seated at a table with Cedric and a handful of other sorcerers. She boredly stirred some type of exotic soup with her spoon. When would the sorcerer's competition start again? That was what she was here for. To watch Cedric fumble a spell that was so easy even she could do it right, in front of hundreds of other sorcerers.

She leaned back in her chair, hearing a whispered conversation between two sorcerers.

"Tomorrow at noon?" whispered one to the other.

"Exactly," said the other. He smiled. "Those fairies won't know what hit them."

Sofia raised an eyebrow and tried to listen in closer. Whatever they were talking about sounded at least more exciting than strange soup. But when she tried to lean towards them, one of the sorcerers seemed to notice her, and he motioned to the other. Both sorcerers stood up at once, moving to a quieter part of the dining area. Sofia sighed in disappointment and looked back at her food. She idly pushed a potato with her fork.

Cedric looked down at her. He'd already finished his plate. "Are you ready for the competition?" he said.

Sofia nodded. "I can't wait," she said, giving him an innocent smile.

"Me neither," agreed Cedric. "Just a few more minutes and then I will—" He stopped himself suddenly and looked down at Sofia. "—I will finally show the other sorcerers the duplication spell I've been practicing," he finished, awkwardly. Sofia rolled her eyes. Could Cedric go five minutes without accidentally almost revealing his plans to steal her amulet?

Right on time, the lights in the room turned off, all at once. One sorceress wearing an indigo robe and standing at a podium near the front of the room, spoke into a megaphone, her voice echoing through the large room.

"Sorcerers and Sorceresses, welcome to the final event of the night, the Sorcerer's Competition!" announced the sorceress in the indigo robe. She waved her wand once in the air, and Sofia started as the tables they were eating at vanished immediately. Then the sorceress waved her wand again, and all the chairs across the floor whizzed across the floor, forming orderly lines. Sofia's and Cedric's chairs both made their way to the one of the middle row, next to each other. The chairs, settled into rows, covered the back half of the room. The front half, which had once been the dance floor, was now completely empty. The floating disco ball had been magicked away, and only a few spotlights remained, illuminating the front of the hall and the entrance nearby.

The announcer spoke into the megaphone once more. "As I'm sure you all are aware, now begins the Sorcerer's Competition! Each Royal Sorcerer, one from each kingdom, must come up to the stage and perform a spell they've been practicing. After every sorcerer is done performing, the other sorcerers shall proclaim a winner." She flicked her wand one final time, and a bowl full of crumpled pieces of paper appeared. The sorcerer reached inside and grabbed a piece of paper at random, unfolding it and reading the text inside. "The first Royal Sorcerer to perform will be… Darulok of Friezenberg!" She bowed, and one of the sorcerers stood up from the crowd and made his way to the front of the room, under the light of the spotlights.

Sofia smiled. Soon, it would be Cedric under that spotlight, trying and failing a duplication spell. She smiled and looked from the bowl of crumpled names to the training wand in her hand. It was just a matter of time, now.


The air was thin and cold, hundreds of feet off the ground. Sofin clutched Clover tightly with both hands, using his legs to keep balance on Minimus. The winged horse was gliding across the sky as fast as he could, headed towards the Soirée. Sofin bit back a gasp as a particularly icy wind buffeted the flying horse.

"How high are we?" asked Clover weakly. The bunny didn't seem to enjoy flying by pegasus. In this weather? Sofin could hardly blame him.

Sofin looked down, seeing the ground hundreds of feet below. "Don't look down," he told Clover.

"Got it," he said weakly. "No looking down." He peeked out of Sofin's fingers and looked down. "Aah!" he screamed, and nearly leaped out of Sofin's hands.

The Enchancian prince tightened his grip. "Sorry, Clover," he said. "There just wasn't any time to get a coach."

The bunny shivered in Sofin's hands. "I know," he said. "I just hope we stop that Sofia girl before she does something bad."

Sofin sighed. "I just hope it's not too late," he replied. He looked across the horizon, searching for the shadow of Hexley Hall across the twilit horizon. Though night had fallen, the sky was still bright enough to make out buildings. Suddenly, at the corners of his vision, Sofin spied the silhouette of a large, castle-looking structure, far off in the distance.

"There!" he pointed, and Minimus swooped down. Sofin held on tight to the winged horse's back with one hand, clutching Clover with the other. The Soirée was held in the ballroom every year. He just needed to find Sofia and put a stop to whatever she was planning.


The acts passed by with agonizingly slowness. Sorcerers and sorceresses walked to the stage, one by one, and showed off 'feats of magic'. It would have been one thing for Sofia to dismiss the magic acts just cause they weren't fun to her—no, these performances were genuinely bad. Whether it was conjuration, transportation, or transmutation, the one thing every act shared in common was that it wasn't flashy. There was no show. Magic class in school was more exciting than this, and that was saying a lot. Cedric was no source of entertainment, either: he alternated between paying nervous attention to the stage, sneaking glances at her amulet, and rubbing his hands in anticipation.

A few of the sorcerers tried to conjure magical lights which floated across the room. Sofia was pretty sure she could do better with a disco ball and a couple well-placed flashlights. A sorcerer conjured an orb that seemed to be made of water and fire at the same time. That would have been at least a little exciting—if it weren't the size of an orange, making it almost impossible for Sofia to see from where she was seated. One dull-witted sorceress didn't even demonstrate magic at all. Instead, she tried to give what seemed like a lecture on something called "semisimple thaumaturgic manifolds." Within five minutes, the hostess sent her back to her seat.

Each time an act finished, Sofia looked to the bowl of crumpled papers, hoping the sorceress would draw Cedric's name and put an end to this torture. And each time, the sorceress would say someone else's name, and Sofia would slouch into her chair, ready to scream. She should have just stayed at the castle. By the time there were only two slips left, Sofia was starting to wonder if there had been a mix-up and Cedric's name wasn't even in the bowl.

The announcer reached into the bowl for the second-to-last time, swirled her hand around for a moment, then pulled one of the two slips of paper out. Sofia perked up. Surely this had to be Cedric's name.

"Our penultimate act of the night is by, oh, a double act! Please welcome Damien and Samael of Mistavar!"

Sofia glared daggers at the final slip in the paper even as the rest of the audience broke into applause. Could one thing go right today?

The two sorcerers from earlier, who had been whispering to each other about something happening tomorrow, came to the front of the stage. Now that they were both directly in front of Sofia, she could see they shared an uncanny resemblance. Twins, maybe? Both were sallow, pale-skinned sorcerers, with tall and thin figures. Both wore black robes, as did half the sorcerers, but on them the dark clothing looked menacing and very slightly evil. Sofia's interest perked up. Perhaps this act might be at least a little interesting?

One of the two, either Damien or Samael, came to the front of the room. The stage had been set up with a sound amplification charm, so that the voices of the people onstage could be heard all through the ballroom. The pale-skinned sorcerer in the front cleared his throat, then in a pompous voice, announced, "We cannot possibly show you all a magic act today, for soon we shall be able to show you the most powerful magic act of all!"

His statement was met with awkward silence. Sofia stared in appalled shock. At least that other sorceress had tried to give an act. This? This was just pathetic. The sorcerer, either Damien or Samael, walked silently off the stage and back to his seat. There was no applause.

The announcer coughed, awkwardly, then spoke into her megaphone. "Er, in that case, I suppose we should move onto our final act of the night." She reached into her bowl and drew the final slip of paper. "Please welcome Cedric of Enchancia."

Sofia huffed, exasperated. Finally. It'd taken them long enough. She followed Cedric along the side of the seats and to the front stage, where the announcer gave them a friendly wave. "Start whenever you're ready," she said. Sofia took a deep breath and looked out towards the crowd.

"I, um, yes," said Cedric. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Sofia, then suddenly realized he should probably explain his trick. "Er, today I shall perform a duplication spell on my young assistant Sofin here!" said Cedric with some awkwardness.

Sofia waved.

"And now, witness as I perform the spell! Doppler Duplicato!" cried Cedric triumphantly, his wand pointed at Sofia. Magic formed at the tip of his wand and shot towards Sofia, striking her on the shoulder.

Nothing happened. Sofia didn't glow with the telltale light that accompanied most magic. Cedric looked down at his wand, an expression of confusion and shame on his face. Some of the sorcerers murmured to each other in hushed tones.

Sofia smirked. "Oh no!" she said in mock surprise. "I guess it didn't—"

And then the doors flew open.


Sofin stood in the doorway, a determined expression on his face. It seemed the Sorcerer's Competition had already begun. To his right, rows of sorcerers were seated, all faced towards the front of the floor. Sofin listened as astonished whispers flew through the crowd. "A duplication spell to a different location?" whispered one sorcerer to the sorcerer beside him.

At the front of the room, Cedric stood, his wand in his hand, looking at Sofin with a surprised expression. And in the center of the stage, spotlights shining down on her, stood Sofia.

It was a little bit scary how much they looked alike, now that Sofia had cut her hair and put on his set of sorcerer's robes. If Sofin didn't know it was her, he would have thought he was looking in a mirror. That strange pit in his stomach when he had first seen Sofia was long gone. Now there was only the cold feeling of grim determination. He'd been right. Sofia had cut her hair and worn his set of robes to go to the Soirée, breaking her promise to him. Clover's bad feeling was right. She really was rotten. He looked at the wand Sofia held at her side, his training wand. So she had taken that too.

Sofia wore a surprised expression. "What? How?" she blubbered.

Sofin's eyes narrowed. "Sorry," he said. "But it's time for you to go back to where you came from." And then he lunged forward at Sofia.

The next few moments were a whirlwind of motion as Sofin did his best to grab the wand out of Sofia's hands. She spun around and tried to kick him but he nimbly dodged out of the way and tried to grab her on the shoulder. She twisted around, grabbing at his neck, but he pushed himself forward, catching her off-guard and sending both of them tumbling to the floor. Sofin, who was atop his evil clone, made a grab for the training wand in her right hand, but she rolled over, freeing herself from his attack. She tried to plant her hands on the ground and stand up, but before she could, Sofin jumped at her again, reaching for her arm. This time, he caught it, but she pulled away before he could get a good grip, dancing away and landing on her hands and feet a few feet from Sofin, still holding the wand.

They locked eyes for a moment, both of them breathing heavily, and then Sofia raised the training wand, beginning to cast the words for a spell.

"Som—" she cried, but before she could say anything else, Sofin jumped at her hand, grabbing her wand in his left hand. He wrenched it out of her hand, stumbling backwards. But before he could regain his balance, Sofia ran at him once more, crashing into his chest and causing the wand to slip out of his fingers. It flew through the air and eventually slid to a stop a few feet away from the pair. Sofin, off-balance, could only watch as Sofia grabbed towards the wand, a triumphant smile on her face.

But before her fingers could close around the wand, a gray-and-white blur shot across the floor, grabbing the wand between his teeth. Sofia's fingers closed on nothing, and she stood up in unison with Sofin, both of them looking at the rabbit which had taken the wand.

Clover stood on his hind legs triumphantly, the wand held tightly between his teeth. He looked between the two identical clones, a confused expression on his face.

"It's me, Clover!" said Sofin.

"Give me that wand, bunny!" shouted Sofia at the same time.

Clover's eyes lit up in recognition, and he hopped towards Sofin, nimbly jumping out of the way as Sofia tried to grab for him. Sofin took the wand from Clover and brandished it towards Sofia. The words to the counterspell flew through his mind. "Doppler terminus!" he shouted, pointing the wand at Sofia.

Sofia turned to him and held a hand out, fear in her eyes. "Wait!" she cried, but it was too late. The spell was already flying through the air. It struck her directly, and then Sofia glowed with an otherworldly white light for a moment before vanishing into thin air.

The hall was silent. Sofin looked at the place where Sofia had just been. The thrilling burst of adrenaline died down all at once, and Sofin was left alone in the center of the stage, still breathing heavily, Clover by his side.

The Enchancian prince looked down, noticing his amulet was on the ground. It must have fallen off during his scuffle with Sofia. He grabbed it and discreetly clasped it back around his neck, hoping nobody had noticed. His gaze turned up to the crowd of sorcerers, who were all staring, wide-eyed at the stage. Sofin took a deep breath, preparing to explain everything. But before he could even say a word, the crowd broke into raucous applause, the hundreds of sorcerers in the crowd all wildly clapping for Sofin. Confused, Sofin turned towards Mr. Cedric, but the Royal Sorcerer just bowed at the crowd, wearing a triumphant grin. His left hand was clenched into a fist, as if he were holding something.

Sofin turned back towards the mass of applauding sorcerers. He wasn't sure why they were clapping, but dozens of hours of practice kicked in, and Sofin dipped into a bow. When he rose, an indigo-robed sorceress standing in front of a podium spoke loudly into a megaphone.

"What an exciting show of magic!" announced the sorceress. "First, Cedric combined a duplication spell with a transportation spell, sending his assistant outside the ballroom. And then, after an entertaining battle…" The crowd broke into laughter at this, and the sorceress paused to let the merriment die down. "After an entertaining battle," she continued, "Cedric's apprentice Sofin demonstrated perfect execution of the counterspell."

Sofin thought for a second. He had gotten the counterspell right on his very first try. And that wasn't an easy spell to do. He hadn't even realized in the heat of the moment, but casting the counterspell was pretty impressive for a sorcerer's apprentice.

Turning to look at the crowd, Sofin suddenly realized where he was. He was at the Sorcerer's Soirée, an event he'd been waiting for forever to go to. He was in front of the most talented Royal Sorcerers from every kingdom. And he'd just shown them a really impressive spell.

The worry and stress that had been slowly building over the last few hours broke all at once, and Sofin's face split into a huge smile. He didn't know exactly what Mr. Cedric had done, but he would always ask the Royal Sorcerer for details later. Right now, what mattered was that all the other sorcerers were impressed by Mr. Cedric's magic—and his own, too. It was a dream come true. Sofin felt like his heart might burst from excitement.

But it seemed like the announcer wasn't done speaking. "After that stunning display, I think we all know which Royal Sorcerer deserves tonight's magical prize," she said. A murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd. The announcer stepped out from behind the podium, holding two pairs of what looked like large goggles. She handed one to Mr. Cedric and the other to Sofin, who took it, wide-eyed. Looking closer, it did seem to be a pair of goggles, but the lenses were extremely thick and shimmered in the glow of the ballroom lights high overhead. Sofin moved to put them on, curious, but the announcer grasped his wrist, holding it down.

"You shouldn't wear those just now," whispered the sorceress discreetly to Sofin. They're magiocules, a special type of magical item which lets you see magic in the air as it happens." Sofin's jaw dropped. Now he was more curious than ever to try them on. "But," cautioned the sorceress, "there's so much magic around this place that if you wore them right now, you'd be blinded. Wait until tomorrow to wear them."

Sofin nodded, wide-eyed, then stuffed the magiocules into his robe's pocket. Special goggles that could see magic? He couldn't wait to try them out!

The announcer stepped back and gestured towards Mr. Cedric and Sofin once again. "Can we have one final round of applause for the winners of the Sorcerer's Competition?" she said, and the crowd happily broke into applause once more.

Sofin felt a tug at the leg of his robes, and looked down to see Clover pulling the edge of his clothes gently. With a wide grin, Sofin picked his friend up and set him on his shoulder, then moved to stand by Mr. Cedric. "Thank you!" he shouted to the crowd of waving sorcerers and sorceresses. Despite everything crazy that had happened, it seemed like things had turned out okay in the end. Lady Joy had been shown around, he'd gotten to go to the Soirée for at least a little while, and Sofia…well, Sofia was gone. All that was left to do was enjoy the rest of the day, and then finally go home.


Dear Diary,

So much happened today, I'm not sure where to start. Today was the day of the Sorcerer's Soirée, which I've been waiting for for weeks now. But dad said Lady Joy was coming to the castle today instead of tomorrow, and I promised to show her around. I even got a doll from Amber's collection to give to her as a present. By the way, did you know Amber has a doll collection? And she decided to give all of it to me! But she was acting a bit weird when she gave me it. I don't know why. But Amber gave her collection of dolls to me and it's huge and there's so much there and I just love it! I really need to apologize to her for running off after I found out what my copy was doing. I was in such a hurry I didn't even think about explaining everything.

Anyways, before I went to go meet Lady Joy, I ran into Cedric, who was practicing a duplication spell. I thought I could do the duplication spell on myself to go to the Soirée and still spend the day with Lady Joy. But when I cast the duplication spell on myself, a perfect copy of me came out, and she was

I was really

I felt

She called herself Sofia.

When I looked at her, I

The quill fell out of Sofin's hands, and he huffed in frustration.

Clover hopped up to the desk Sofin was sitting at. "What's got you all worked up?" asked the rabbit.

"I'm trying to write about what happened today in my diary," answered Sofin. "I just can't find the right words to describe Sofia."

Clover put a paw to his chin. "I dunno," he said, "how about evil? Or rotten? Or a no-good crooked two-faced liar?"

"No, no," responded Sofin. "Well, all of that is true, but I meant what she was like when I first saw her."

"You mean, like how she looked? Well, she was a lot like you, big blue eyes, purple amulet and all. And she had this curly brown hair and pink ballgown."

"I mean, I want to describe how I felt when I saw her," said Sofin. "It was like there was this cold pit somewhere in my stomach, and I was feeling something all over, something that made my legs tremble and my arms shake and my heart drop."

Clover tilted his head to one side, thinking. "You mean surprise?" he suggested. Sofin shook his head. "Confusion?" Another head shake. "Hatred?" Sofin shook his head firmly.

"None of those," said Sofin. The word came to him suddenly. "I was jealous," said Sofin quietly.

Clover fell silent.

"I was jealous," repeated Sofin. It felt so wrong to say, and yet Sofin knew in his heart that he was right.

"I don't get it. Jealous of what?" asked Clover. "Sofia lied to you and tried to steal your place at the Sorcerer's Soirée! What's there to be jealous of?"

"She—she's just…" Something broke inside Sofin, and suddenly the words kept coming and coming. "She was pretty! And her brown hair—the curls were perfect, the way it fell down to her shoulders and curled softly around her neck. And her big blue doe eyes and thin arched eyebrows and rosy-pink cheeks. And the way my amulet fit on her, now I get what Amber was saying about amulets being for girls because it looked so good on her, like it was always supposed to belong there. And the way she wore that pink ballgown—it's perfect, it fit on her shoulders and the ones Amber lets me try on don't and it didn't drag on the ground at all."

"Hey, kid?" said Clover.

Sofin couldn't have stopped if he tried. "It's more than that, too!" he exclaimed, the words gradually growing louder. "Sofia was so confident and sure of herself, and that's never me. And then she curtsied, using one hand of hers to hold up that gown, and all of it felt so weird to see myself doing that but it felt so good at the same time! Why did it feel so right to see her walk around the table and tilt her head to one side and use my laugh and why did I want that to be—"

"Kid, you're crying," interrupted Clover.

Sofin's mouth shut abruptly, the shouts through the air giving way to silence. He hadn't noticed, but he could feel the tears streaming down his cheeks. The prince stumbled over to his bedroom mirror and wiped away the tears with a handkerchief.

"Sorry," said Sofin to his rabbit friend. "I—I just—". He struggled desperately to say something, but couldn't find the words. Tears began to leak from his eyes once again.

Clover looked worried. "Hey, hey, don't cry, kid," he said, patting Sofin's back with his tiny forepaws. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No," responded Sofin, still on the verge of tears. "I do need to talk about it. I really do." And it was true.

Clover gave his best encouraging smile. "Okay, kid. Then talk."

Sofin was silent for a moment. "Promise you won't judge?" he eventually whispered.

"I promise," assured Clover.

Sofin took a deep breath. "I…I like doing things that girls normally do. Like cheerleading, and hiking with the Buttercups, and playing with dolls. And most of my friends are girls, too. Ruby, and Jade, and Vivian, and Hildegard and Cleo and Charlene. I guess they're just easier to talk to than boys." He looked up at Clover, who was wearing a sour grin. Sofin smiled. "Not you," he said, running a finger across the bunny's neck. "You're great to talk to."

"That's me, bunny numero uno," agreed Clover, relaxing at the touch.

"But there's more than just those two things. I hate it when group activities in school make us split into boys and girls because I feel like I'm on the wrong side," continued Sofin. "Going trick-or-treating with Amber and Lucinda last year was so much fun! I felt like I was really part of the group instead of just being…" He looked down. "The only boy in a group full of girls."

"Hey!" said Clover. "I've seen you with Jade and Ruby. They like you for who you are, and I know they don't think any less of you for being a boy."

Sofin tried to smile back at the rabbit, but his heart wasn't in it. "I guess," he agreed. "But there's even more. I like wearing dresses and looking pretty and tiaras and amulets and gowns and picking out jewelry. I love spending time with Amber and styling her hair and talking about bracelets. Not that I don't like James. I love both my siblings, but… I don't like racing toy cars and pretending to make cannons with James as much as I like talking about magical creatures with Amber."

"But what about flying derby?" asked Clover. "You love being in the air, and flying derby is definitely a boy's sport.

"I guess," said Sofin. "But that's just because I love the thrill of flying through the air. And that's not something only boys do. Oona's even more of a daredevil than I am."

Clover wriggled out from under Sofin's finger and turned towards the prince, his wide brown eyes glinting in the lamplight. "So you like girl stuff," he said. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," agreed Sofin. "But there's one more thing. Ever since I became a prince, I've been keeping this diary." He stepped back to the desk, flipping the pages of the diary backwards. "But it's not supposed to be a diary. It's supposed to be a story about a girl who became a princess overnight. About how she came to terms with being a princess and about her adventures and friends and each new thing she learned." The pages kept flipping back, until they settled on the very first page, where, in stylized letters, stood the title of the book: 'Diary of Sofia the First'.

Sofin ran a finger across the letters. "I called her Sofia. Like my name, but with an 'a' at the end. Anytime I had an adventure, Sofia had it too. Whenever I wrote down an entry, I imagined it wasn't me meeting trolls or visiting Tangu or finding dad in the snow last Wassalia, it was all Sofia. She was like…a copy of me, except she was a girl and I'm not. Writing it all down—I guess it kept me from realizing how badly I wanted that to be my life."

"You called her Sofia?" asked Clover, just to be sure.

Sofin nodded. "I did. But then I went to Atlantis with Oona and I looked in the room where the mermaids had seen the future and it was right there. Her name. 'Princess Sofia'. At first, I was so scared. What did it mean? I thought it might be some other Princess Sofia, but there aren't any. Amber told me so. None of it made any sense. Why did this girl who only lived in my diary show up in the records of a long-lost mermaid kingdom? I was terrified that maybe I was connected to some prophecy that the mermaids found."

"It wasn't easy to move past that, but I did. I tried not to let it get to me. Maybe it was all some crazy coincidence. Maybe Sofia was just a name. Maybe it didn't mean anything at all. I tried my best to keep all that hidden down, and it worked. I thought I had it under control. I liked girly stuff and that was it. Sofia wasn't real."

"Until today," finished Clover, realizing where this was going.

"Until today," Sofin repeated. "When all of a sudden, she was real. And it all hit me at once. Everything Sofia is…." He looked down at himself. "And everything I'm not."

"I didn't want to think she was evil. I was hoping that maybe she'd be the girl in my diary come to life. Someone I could be friends with. Someone I could trust to make friends. Someone to go to cheerleading practice with me. Someone to go on adventures with. Maybe even someone I could live through. But now she's gone and I'm still me."

Clover looked confused. "I don't get it," said the rabbit. "What's Sofia got that you don't have?"

Sofin opened his mouth to respond, then closed it. There were a million things he could have said, but only one that captured everything he was feeling.

"She's a girl," whispered Sofin. "And I'm not."

"And you wanna be a girl?" asked Clover bluntly.

Sofin looked up from the diary, his eyes tracking to the mirror in his room. He could see the reflection of his tearstained face and sorcerer's robes in the mirror. The edges of his reflection blurred in the dim candlelight, and if Sofin squinted, he could almost imagine it was Sofia's reflection staring back at him.

Did he want to be a girl?

There was only one answer to that.

"Yes," said Sofin, and even as he said it, he knew it was true.

"Then be a girl," said Clover.

"It's not—it's not that easy," stammered Sofin, caught a little off-guard by the bluntness of the response. "I'm a boy. That means I'm not supposed to wear dresses or play with dolls or—I mean—I just—I can't just be a girl!"

"Says who?" argued Clover.

"Says everyone!" responded Sofin.

"And since when do you let 'everyone' tell you what to do?" retorted Clover. He stood up on his hindpaws and looked Sofin in the eyes. "Listen, kid. We've been friends ever since you came to the castle. More than a year now. I know you. You're kind and caring and honest, and more than anything, you stand up for yourself. If there's something out there that makes you happy, you get yourself out there and you do it, no matter what anyone else says. So if someone says you can't be a girl, I'll show 'em who's boss."

"So…so you don't think I'm weird?" asked Sofin, just to make sure.

"Weird?" said Clover. "I don't know if I really get it…but you're my best friend. I've got your back, kid."

Happiness swelled inside Sofin. He felt like crying again, only with tears of relief this time. Until Clover had said it, he hadn't realized how much he was worried about Clover's opinion. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you," he repeated over and over, grabbing Clover and hugging the rabbit close to his chest.

"Woah, personal space, kid!" complained Clover. "Just cause you're a princess now doesn't mean you get to hug me!"

Sofin gasped. He was a princess now! The thought sent an electric tingle shooting through his veins, and a feeling of lighthearted giddiness bloomed within his chest. It was as if someone had taken all the joy in the world and given it all to Sofin at that very moment. He hugged Clover tighter.

"Need…air…" gasped Clover.

"Oh, sorry!" realized Sofin suddenly. He released Clover, who fell to the desk with a soft thump. To his credit, the bunny stood up after just a few moments, looking none the worse.

"So, are you choosing a new name?" asked Clover, brushing himself off. "Sofin is a boy's name, after all."

"Sofia," decided Sofin without a moment of hesitation. It made sense. It was the same name his copy had chosen. And even if that name meant his fate was tied to Atlantis, it felt too right to choose anything else.

"Princess Sofia," said Clover. "Has a nice ring to it."

"Mhm!" agreed Sofin excitedly. "What next? Dresses? Jewelry? Oh, how am I gonna look tomorrow? There's so much to decide, I don't even know where to start!"

Clover responded with a large yawn. "I dunno, it's getting pretty late," he noticed. "I think I'm gonna take a nice long nap. And you should probably be off to bed, too. You've got school tomorrow."

"Bed?" questioned Sofin incredulously. "But I'm so excited! I'm not tired at all!"

Clover yawned.

Sofin yawned.

"Yes, you are," said Clover, and Sofin pouted but couldn't come up with a reasonable response.

"Okay," agreed Sofin. "I'll go to bed. Good night, Clover."

"Good night, princess," responded Clover, and he hopped down from the desk and out of the open window, off to his own burrow.

Sofin closed the window, excitement still coursing through his veins. Talking with Clover had helped so much. And despite all of Sofin's misgivings, Clover had been right. He wasn't about to let anyone stop him from being a princess.

He walked back to his bed and climbed beneath the covers, letting out one final yawn. Tonight, he was just Sofin, but tomorrow?

Tomorrow, he—no, she would be Princess Sofia.


Epilogue - One Hour Later

Cedric, the Royal Sorcerer of Enchancia, was over the moon. He entered his workshop, shaking with excitement, then set Wormwood's birdcage on its perch and opened the door to let his familiar fly out. In his right hand, the Royal Sorcerer held a familiar-looking purple amulet.

Wormwood flew across the small workshop and landed on one of several perches scattered through the room. He squawked loudly. Cedric imagined the bird must have said "Finally!"

"Yes, yes!" agreed Cedric. "The plan finally worked! I'm not sure what happened with the duplication spell, perhaps some magic gone awry, but at last, I have the real Amulet of Avalor, stolen right from Sofin's neck while he wasn't looking! And that boy won't even know what's happened to his Amulet for a few days yet since the one he has is a copy."

Wormwood squawked twice.

"Why yes, it was rather ingenious," agreed Cedric, completely misinterpreting Wormwood's squawks. "And to top it all off, I won the Sorcerer's Competition! Imagine that, me, Cedric the Great, the most powerful sorcerer in all the kingdoms!"

Wormwood squawked emphatically, then repeated the noise, his cries getting louder and louder.

Cedric turned to him, annoyed. "Now, what are you on about?"

Wormwood squawked, pointing a talon at the amulet held in Cedric's right hand. Cedric turned to it, only to realize the amulet was glowing a faint red and giving off black smoke. With a surprised gasp, the Royal Sorcerer threw the amulet away just in time for it to explode in midair, letting off a flash of light and then turning into purple smoke.

Cedric looked at the smoke, horror-stricken. "That must have been the wrong amulet," he realized. "Merlin's mushrooms!"

Wormwood squawked sadly, and this time Cedric understood exactly what the raven meant.

Author's Note: Finally! I've waited for Sofin to have this moment for a handful of chapters now, and it's finally here. I dropped a lot of clues about this one, so I hope it didn't come as too much of a surprise. If you're wondering if the story is over now: no. There's still plotlines left to unravel, secrets left undiscovered, and a long, crazy path ahead. I've got a lot of stuff going on now, but with all luck, Chapter 7 should be out soon. Thanks for reading!