When it's too late, what happens?

As time passes everything decays, and we realize that any birthday could be our last.

"Her parents hadn’t come close to telling us what had happened. As I read her newest letter I couldn't believe what she was telling me. This kid hadn’t 'had an accident'… this kid, damn, this kid had been buckin' broken... she’d been broken…"

Based on characters and situations from "Tiny Wings" by DeadParrot222.
Image "Filly Dash" by Imalou. Both used with permission.

Pony Joe awakens before the dawn each morning, readies himself for his day, and then walks through Canterlot's cold and silent streets to his doughnut shop.

Life has become pretty mundane for Joe, but as he serves his customers and chats with his regulars he realizes that he has come to rely on that repetition...he relies on it to keep from remembering.

As a casual utterance by a new customer sends Joe into a spiral of haunting memories we learn about his life...and what he must give up if he wishes to move beyond his past.

Whilst enjoying the company of Twilight Sparkle and her friends in the doughnut shop immediately following the events of The Best Night Ever a disappointed Princess Celestia send a letter off to Prince Blueblood explaining the implications of his failure of the "Rarity Test", among other things...

Having trouble making friends, Princess Luna decides that using some magic might be just the thing to help her out. Things don't go as planned, however, when the spell she casts gives her some unexpected results.

When they began to read the ancient book Twilight and Spike only had the slightest of ideas what it could possibly be about. As the illuminated inks revealed to them an image of Princess Celestia locked in combat with a massive dragon and his sons they realized that the song written upon the aged pages was telling of a long forgotten battle...

... and that the Celestia they know and love is capable of things they dare not imagine.

Inspired by the image "By Celestia's Might" by John Joseco.

When a freak reading accident causes Twilight to be admitted to the Ponyville hospital, Rainbow Dash is right by her side. Compelled by a sense of duty and repayment, she takes it upon herself to cheer up her friend.

In the end, the prices we pay are worth what we receive in return - and none understand this more than a certain pegasus mare.

Uneasy is the heart on which lies a crown of guilt. Luna, formerly known as Nightmare Moon, knows this better than most.

Apologies are in order, for the truth behind the thousand years' exile is at once more mundane and even less likely than the legends suggest. Nearing the threshold of a brighter future, Luna writes a simple letter - and in doing so, attempts to leave the shadows of her past behind.

When Scootaloo moves to Ponyville, she meets a certain cyan pegasus who becomes her idol. Things go well until a pivotal event causes her hopes and dreams to come crashing down around her. Broken and betrayed, Scootaloo must learn to accept her reality and embrace her inner strength with the help of her father and two best friends.

[Now with a super awesome reading by Neighrator Pony.]
[This story's sequel can be found here.]