Friendship was power, and power gave me control. I decided where I went, decided what I did, decided how to live. I told myself I'd never lose control, that I'd never be trapped. All of Equestria would bow to me.

I won't be trapped.

Not again.

Written based on a prompt from Bean's Writing Group.

Edited by Yutah123
Proofread by Javarod

Many thanks to these wonderful people for feedback!
Thesmokinguy
RDT
Short-tale
Gay For Gadot
Punished Bean
Techno Flare
Yutah123
iAmSiNnEr

Its been centuries since Twilight's friends passed and since then the alicorn has taken many students. The latest one of which is about to get to the bottom of a two hundred-year-old lie.

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Now with a reading!

Apple Bloom never thought of herself as a "s'phisticated" pony. She lives on a farm, she eats what's put in front of her, she follows the advice of her kin without question or doubt. That's all there is to it.

Rarity, on the other hoof, is so "s'phisticated" she can actually spell it. Probably too "s'phisticated" for her own good. The life of an artist - even one who actually makes money - is never a simple one.

But truth, like life, is like the gleam off a sun-caught apple. Turn it around, and though it was once dull and uninteresting, the flash of light may well catch your eye in a way that sparks something new and exciting. As if you'd found your cutie mark all over again. A life-changing moment of pure inspiration.

Maybe these two socially sensitive ponies have more in common than they'd ever thought possible...

Scootaloo might be no good at sums, but she knows Scootaloo plus scooter equals the fastest, awesomest, most attention-grabbing-est thing on the ground.

She also knows Applejack minus anyone actually fun to be with equals one really lame time.

And yet, spending a day with the Apple farmer and her broader Apple family seems strangely attractive to her. They might not be the most exciting of ponies, (and when it comes to cool, they're certainly the most clueless), but they have something Scootaloo really, really wants. Deep down. Something she keeps coming back for.

Not that she's going to admit it. Cos that would be seriously lame.

Sweetie Belle has spent most of her life trying to be like Rarity. That engenders a certain beau monde sophistication regarding one's life philosophy.

It ain't got nothing on Rainbow Dash, though, who'd probably think "engender" meant "make someone a boy or a girl". Assuming she knew words that long.

However, if these two ponies are going to spend a day together, they'll have to commit to it. But then, who knows? There are times when even beauty comes in the most unexpected and unlikely of forms.

And when it comes to picking things up on the fly, Sweetie Belle's nothing if not a keen student. Always eager to please a sister.

The Circle was everything.

His walk in the mechanical walker had been everything for as long as he could remember, and the Circle it forced him into would be everything for the rest of his life.

But could one random child - out of the hundreds who had paid to ride the ponies - have a way for him to escape the Circle and the perpetually gray land that held him captive?

Editors:
Georg
Sipioc
Zen and Ponies

Throughout his time in Equestria, Anon has seen a great many things - that being said, he's in for a first. The strange behemoth is as beautiful as she is baffling, leaving the man in a bit of a pickle. What does one do when faced with a literal giant of a pony?

Artwork by AnonTheAnon (Twitter @RealAnonTheAnon)
Big shout-out to MiddyNight (Twitter @Middynight_) for help with the Scottish accent for her!

If you want to help support me, I have a Tip-Jar/Patreon HERE

Your Twilight Sparkle ran into a problem and needs to restart. We’re just collecting some error info, and then we’ll restart for you. 

As Seen on Equestria Daily!

With special thanks to Georg for beta testing and debugging services.

Quality Control team:
Georg
Zen and Ponies

Chinese localization provided by Miracle_
Korean localization provided by Ad Hoc
Russian localization provided by GrandCat

Starlight Glimmer is what you might call a problem teenager, and her peer mentor, Sunset Shimmer, doesn't know what to do with her. Until she comes up with the one person who might be able to understand Starlight: herself.

My entry in FanOfMostEverything's A Most Delightful Ponidox contest.

Working in a dump has its ups and downs - sure, you may go home smelling like trash, but the riches you can find more than make up for it. Gently used furniture, perfectly good books, and even some nearly intact action figures are just the tip of the iceberg of what Anon has found on his daily duties - still, even after years of working at the junkyard, he still stumbles across a few surprises.

Artwork by AnonTheAnon

If you want to help support me, I have a Tip-Jar/Patreon HERE