Twilight has something she needs to tell Princess Celestia--something that means a chance at getting everything she's ever wanted, or of losing everything she's ever had.

Something so terrifying that the only way she could say it was in a letter...and so wonderful that she had the courage to send it.

(Thanks to Cenit V for the cover!)

Special talents.
That thing that sets ponies apart from each other and gives them a path in life. The one thing that they excel at, broadcast to the world by their cutie mark.
The spectrum of special talents is as wide as the day is long and twice as varied as you think it is.
But, interesting talent or mundane, everypony needs a job to put food on the table and not every talent lends itself to one.

After all, not everyone can be blessed with specific high-demand talents like "growing plants" or "cleaning" or "flying". Even less often does a pony get a particularly nebulous concept or multi-faceted skill like "magic" or "partying" that can apply to any number of jobs.

Sometimes, no matter how good you are at what you do, it's just not something you can make a career out of.

But for those unlucky few, there's a group filled with other ponies who face the same problem that they do.

---

Editted and proofread by the wonderfully helpful NecroHorse!

Three missing pieces, two loving alicorns, and a single stupid decision that will set young Princess Cadence on a fresh new course. Story One of the "Cadance of Cloudsdale" cycle.

Cadance of Cloudsdale (so far!) is serialized in Spanish! See here for the Spanish translation courtesy of SPANIARD KIWI!

Rainbow discovers that she has a pest problem in her house. The pest turns out to be both cuter and more annoying than she expected.

A winner of the 2015 Bat Pony writing contest.

Russian translation by KoylanGOLD
Also read: The Most Annoying House Guest

To Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia, it is a simple surprise visit to Canterlot. To the ponies of the Equestrian Civil Service, it is twenty-four hours of chaos, politics, weaponized dessert, politics, underhooved manipulation of media, politics, and things batrachian and tentacular. Who said bureaucracy isn't exciting?

NEW PRINCESS ATTACKS GRIFFONSTAN IMPORTS

The Equestria Daily can exclusively report that newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle became embroiled in an argument with the Griffonstani trade minister about the inferior quality of griffon quills, alleging that "they just don't hold ink as well as pegasus quills". Import markets tumbled overnight, threatening the solvency of numerous Equestrian quill merchants. Princess Sparkle could not be reached for comment.

(When you're done, bookplayer has a fun "Let's Read" commentary version!)
(Also, GhostOfHeraclitus wrote a prequel from the perspective of Dr. Spinning Top!)
(Also also, now available in Spanish thanks to Spaniard-Kiwi!)

"All my life, I've wanted to fly
But I don't have the wings, and I wonder why
I can't break away..."
Most pegasi figure out flying easily enough. Heck, most of them figure out how to do it before they even get their cutie marks.

But not me. I couldn’t do it, no matter how hard I tried. I couldn’t even hover. Not for more than a few seconds, anyway. And not even Rainbow Dash, the greatest flier in Equestria, could seem to help me. We tried everything, and I failed every time. Day after day, I tried – and day after day, I failed, until finally I was ready to just give up. I’d never be able to do it. Nopony would ever be able to help me to fly...

...until one day, somepony did.

After a discussion in class, Twilight has a very important question to ask her mentor Princess Celestia.

Pre read by ZOMG, Jumbled Thought, Cerulean Voice and Zodiac.
Edited by Dont Look At My Name Bro

It took many long years and far more defeats than he'd care to admit, but at last—at long last—victory was finally within the great Ahuizotl's reach. Absolutely nothing, not even that meddlesome Daring Do, would be able to stand in his way any longer. Yet even with his arch nemesis facing her inevitable demise and the ultimate power literally in his grasp, he can't shake the feeling that he's forgotten about something.

One tiny, crucial detail. Something very important. As in, 'could easily ruin his plans if not attended to' important.

...

Eh, maybe he just left the oven on again.

She's seen Rainbow Dash do it. How hard could it be?

Spanish translation by SPANIARD KIWI