Finished. It's nearly finished, now.

After the world, there are two ponies. One who sits and watches. One who comes and goes. They cannot leave each other, but they cannot stay in one place together. One works towards some last great mystery, and the other explores the darkness outside. But they never leave.

Twilight Sparkle is going to do the impossible. Again. And she knows that she will be successful, because she has already done it.

Loosely inspired by Endgame, by Samuel Beckett

This story is a sequel to If You Came to Conquer

Princess Nightmare Moon had tried to keep it secret. She had suppressed her power, feigned ignorance, played the outdated fool at every opportunity. She should have known that something like this would happen. A threat that would reveal her, whether she played dumb or not.

If she had to reveal herself, then at least she could protect Equestria in the process. She nocked the arrow. The bow felt so flimsy, but she could not risk him absorbing a spell. She laced magic across the arrow and the string and the air, enough to make it fly faster and aim smoother. She sighted him easily; Tirek was a large target. Now he only had to turn around. An arrow to the spine would kill him simply and instantly, no matter how much magic he had absorbed.

Once he was dead, the hard part would come: explaining herself to Celestia.

Prereading thanks; Meta Four, Blank!, Yami Vizzini, and especially Craine

Russian translation by Doof
Chinese Translation by Dreams Set Free

Comments contain spoilers.

In life, we can only truly trust what our senses tell us, but what if our senses are wrong? When does the real world end, and fantasy begin? And when do they bleed into the other?

Dramatic Reading by Scarlett Blade: here

Minuette sits outside, sipping tea and waiting for something. This is about to become the best day of her life. She knows it, and yet she doesn't.

Twilight forgets to tuck something in when she wakes up.

"A spell that makes destiny less demanding on the caster, and makes your own choices become more prominent." It sounded perfect. Just what Princess Twilight Sparkle needed.

Ponyville didn’t need her, not really. She just needed a respite, however small. If she had to use magic, then so be it.

She took a deep breath and let her magic focus. She lifted her head, closed her eyes, and pushed more magic into the spell. It felt like teleporting.

No Sad or Tragedy tag, but may contain Existentialism.

Thanks to Yami Vizzini, RK Striker JK 5, Unknownlight and Connelly for prereading. A big thanks to Nonagon for editing and plot/pacing assistance.

Equestrian history books are bathed in lies. Then again, that statement is incorrect. Equestrian history books are incomplete. They don't tell of everything Equestria did to get where it was today. They don't tell of the assassinations, the cover ups, the proxy wars, the uprisings and rebellions that were crushed before they could even start, the secret agreements, and most importantly,the very group that was responsible for all of these. Who is this group? That's a simple answer. We, are the Solar Cross. And you might ask how, how have we remained a secret for so long? Again, a simple answer. It is because of the one we serve. It is because of none other than Princess Celestia herself.

There is a secret about her building Rarity never shared with anypony: there is a hidden room inside the Carousel Boutique.

She's kept it from everypony for a reason though.

Every mare deserves to have her secrets, after all.

Edited by Nahmala

Thanks to DWK for being my "Rarity Consultant" for this story.

Prompt for story acquired from here.

Fact can be stranger than fiction. When Discord's biology proves that again, Fluttershy has announcements to make.

I come here sometimes and bring them out again.

It's okay to hate them. I don't hate myself.

It's okay to hurt them. I won't hurt myself.

I want to smile like them. I don't smile for myself.