Warning: This is a sad story.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, back when there weren’t many princesses or fairy godmothers and there wasn’t even a rule book, there lived a very young and very lively fairy godmother. She was known for her pure heart and beautiful laugh. Every day, she could be found dancing around the fairy godmother world.

She was very talented, so she was paired with the most beautiful and beloved princess the regular world had ever known.

This princess was sweet and smart and kind to everyone she met. Every time she made a wish, her fairy godmother took out her wand and her sparkles and got to work. It was so much fun making her princess happily ever after. So she got some more sparkles. And then just a few more.

The fairy godmother didn’t listen to warnings that sparkles should be used in moderation. She didn’t realize that if she used too many sparkles, they could stop working altogether.

One day, the fairy godmother’s magic was—poof!—gone. She couldn’t make any more wishes come true. Her princess was distraught. She cried over everything—even puppies. Or kittens. Or something like a glass of spilled milk. Her fairy godmother tried everything to get her magic back. She would not give up.

One day, the princess became so unhappy that she decided she didn’t want to be a princess anymore. She gave up her crown and ran away. She told her fairy godmother to leave her alone—forever.

People all over the land cried for their lost princess. But they never blamed her. They didn’t blame the king or the queen (who usually got blamed for these things).

Instead, they blamed her fairy godmother. And because they blamed her, all girls stopped making wishes. They stopped believing in magic. And that meant the fairy godmothers had no one to make happy. For a very long time, they didn’t have anything to do.

This was a very dark and lonely time.

A world without fairy godmothers, without wishing, without happily ever afters, was too grim. The elder godmothers decided they had to do something.

So they came up with new rules. They started training new godmothers. They guaranteed the regular world that every single princess would get a wise and careful and smart fairy godmother—one who knew all the rules and didn’t take too many risks.

And the fairy godmother who lost her magic?

The fairy godmothers took away her wand and her sparkles. Even though they didn’t want to, they told her she could no longer be a fairy godmother. This is another sad part: Even though she promised to be good and quiet and not make any more trouble, they told her she could no longer live in the fairy godmother world.

In the name of happily ever after, she had to leave.

So she did.

And this is the really sad part: She was never heard from again.