Poor Spike, all he wanted to do is spend time near the pony he adores. Now, because of one little lie, he's in real trouble. A geography bee, a macabre doppelgänger, and an icebox all play their part as Spike and Rarity once again find themselves on pins and needles...

It's Sisterhooves Social time again. This year, Dash catches wind of two new competitors and gets Spike to bet on the race. When her team is revealed to be a rather famous set of siblings, it looks like poor Spike will be her slave for a week! However, due to a team of masseurs, a minor invasion, unfortunate addictions, and dubious barrel components, victory might not be as near as she thinks...

It was a surprise that Dash offered a kiss as a prize at the charity auction. It was a surprise that the colts were as "enthusiastic" as they were. It was a surprise that Dash didn't leap on the colts and beat them for their comments.

But, the biggest surprise of all was which one of her friends bid on her kiss... and why.

I was still a young colt when I took my first steps into the world of steam engines and railroading. I was meant to sing the song of steel, the chorus of the railways. Despite the challenges, discomfort, and dangers, I wanted to be a railway pony. I wanted a fine steam engine like #3803. I wanted to be like Highball.

What I got? Well now, there's a story worth telling...

Wander is a city colt who works his way up through the ranks. Green Brier is gentry who holds to his ideals.

No two ponies in Equestria are probably more different, yet they both keep inside themselves a powerful secret. Both of them have memories of a time of horrific war fought by baffling creatures on a distant world. Of those creatures two have shown them what it means to be an officer, to be a soldier...and to be a friend.

In this story, the first of The Somewhere Cycle, Wander and Green Brier share with you, the reader, these memories. See if you can figure out who their beloved masters were and what horse they were in our reality before the story ends!

*Resubmitted following revisions.*

Have Spike take the C.M.C.'s on a tour of Canterlot so that they don't interrupt Braeburn's ceremony? It was such a simple solution, but even the best laid plans can go awry. Now, Luna and Applejack must contend with some unfinished business from the princess's past as Twilight deals with the fears and concerns of two little fillies... and two little dragons.

How did Fluttershy acquire her "Freaky knowledge ah' sewin'!" as Applejack called it? The answer is simple, Rarity taught her! Yet a winter full of struggle takes its toll on the two and brings their friendship to the breaking point.

Spike has finally saved up his allowance, and on a beautiful winter's day he buys his first material possession, a sled!

When a technical difficulty causes him to doubt his purchase Twilight quietly uses her magic to solve the problem. But what awaits the dragon whelp as her magic turns an average sled into the Super Amazing Rocket Sled of Awesome?

"Oh," sings Pinkie Pie, "Today's a day of laughs, a day of jokes...a day for pranking lots of folks!"

Yet an plea from Applejack keeps Pinkie from helping Rainbow Dash with their planned prank. As a conspiracy is revealed Pinkie Pie's friends try their best to put one over on the greatest prankster in Equestria...but will Dash spoil it?

During a day at the fair Spike wins a prize at a carnival game! As he enjoys all that the fair offers his mind continues to return to the token...and what a fair marking the turning point between summer and autumn means for him and the ponies he loves.