Twilight didn’t know what to say. How easy it sounded, to just not think about things that hurt, but thoughts were all she had.

Thoughts were the only thing that were hers, for better or worse.

Special thanks to lilfunkman for the cover art and for generally being the best support I could ask for.

Twilight Velvet has been feeling a disconnect with her daughter for a long time. When things come to a head, they finally talk.

FEATURED 8/3/2019!

This story is a sequel to Breakfast with Rose

Spurred on by a class presentation and an unexpected—but not entirely unwelcome—new day job, I began to more seriously consider how I might fit myself into pony society.

Manual labor provides plenty of time to think, and strips away facades.

I wasn’t sure that I was ready for that, but I couldn’t put it off forever, either.

Sunset Shimmer is having the worst day of her life. She used to be important. She was the personal student of Princess Celestia. She was a future leader of Equestria. She was the kind of mare that everypony envied.

Today, it's all crashing down around her.

Alternate Universe: What if Sunset Shimmer hadn't gone through the mirror?

A suicide right by the school of friendship.
Why would someone do that when there was help so close?
Twilight can't let this go as just a tragic incident. There has to be a reason.
*UPDATED*
I just added some detail and fixed a couple small problems. The story itself is unchanged.

To a ground-bound pony, a cloud is a collection of rain that hasn’t fallen yet. To Rainbow Dash, it's so much more. It's a place to nap, a launchpad into her mind, and depending on the company, a point of grievous contention.

This story is a sequel to Pandemic

Six months ago, the world humanity knew had been irrevocably shattered in a way they would never have imagined. ETS -- Equine Transformation Syndrome -- had arrived, a powerful transformation spell attached to an otherwise ordinary flu virus. Only with the assistance of Equestria in the form of Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer had ETS been stopped from transforming all of humanity into ponies.

Humanity had been saved, but at a cost. Hundreds of millions of humans had been fully transformed into ponies, and many did not want to go back. The United States was hit especially hard, with over a quarter of its population as ponies. Friction between humans and ponies, Earth and Equestria, has been growing. Families torn apart by ETS had yet to reconcile.

The collision of worlds that the pandemic had brought had only just begun.

Updates weekly FOR NOW -- may switch to every two weeks in the future. I will announce as such.

Something bad has happened to Sweetie Belle, so why won’t anypony tell Apple Bloom what? At least she can keep her friend company, and Sweetie Belle can hear her talking. Everypony says so. She can hear.

If friendship really is magic, she sure could use some now.

An entry in the write-off event “There’s Magic in Everything.”

”I think this is best for both of us,” Twilight had said, with the kind of smile that betrayed no joy in what she was saying, ”I think this is what we both want, too.”

It was what she wanted. They'd needed to break up. It wasn't working.

At least, that's what she told herself. Every day for a month, every night when her bed felt too big, too empty.

It was what she wanted.

It had been mutual.

The will to fly is not found in the wings, but in the heart.

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Fluttershy’s parents are concerned. Her brother is hysterical. Her neighbors are downright confused.

Fluttershy is insistent. She needs to find her own way into the air. The wings on her back aren't enough to make her fly. She needs something more. She needs to find her real pegasus wings.