A damaged robot pony, unlike anything ever seen in pre-industrial Equestria, is found in the orchard. Before it collapses, it says only two words: "Twilight Sparkle..."

Twilight fixes the mechanical mare and gives her a new directive: "Make friends." Now a robot must learn what it takes to be a good friend and, while she's at it, what it means to live...

Featured on Equestria Daily (11/22/15) and The Goodfic Bin! (3/20/16)!
Featuring illustrations by Colby Green (Illustration Gallery found HERE.)
Editors: GaPJaxie,The Knight Templar, GenerousGhibli, E3gner, and Reese.
Technical Consultants: Artichoke Lust and JFalk.

Now with its own TV Tropes page!

For most ponies the day they get their cutie mark is the day everything changes. That was especially true for Twilight Sparkle, as the day she got her cutie mark was also the day Princess Celestia took her on as a student, she gained a new little brother and started on the road to her future.

It was also the day she became a dragon.

Custom cover artwork by Elza Fox
Editing and so much more by Klamnei

A teenage Twilight Sparkle asks Princess Celestia a complicated question with a simple answer.

In a world of snakes and ladders, Rarity has had to learn a single, simple fact:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single mare who desires recognition and success must, without a doubt, be a social-climbing bitch.

Edited version of my entry to Everfree Northwest's Iron Author competition. Special thanks to Swan Song for the encouragement, support, and for believing in this story strongly enough to throw money at it when I was ready to give up on it.

Amazing cover art by the fantastic lilfunkman

Rainbow Dash is a mare of many talents, among them incredible passive observation skills. Once she no longer worried about getting her chance to ride the most amazing roller coaster that ever was like any proper Wonderbolt, she could take the time to process everything her brain noticed while she was busy.

That's when the family resemblance hit her.

Then some other things.

This is going to be awkward.

Rated Teen for frank discussion of the production of Trixie.

Princess Celestia has been planning for this day for years: the return of Nightmare Moon, the restoration of the Elements of Harmony, and the ushering of Equestria into a new age of friendship and love. Now that it's finally arrived, all she has to do is wait for Twilight to get to Ponyville, make some friends, hunt down the Elements, and save the...

Wait, what'd that letter say?

She didn't get on the chariot?

She went to whose party instead?

Oh. Oh, this could be bad. And more importantly, it's gonna need some hooves-on interference from Celestia to get her master plan back on track. But it'll probably all work out in the end. After all, how big a deal could one party be?

Third-place finalist in Aragon's "Comedy (Is Serious Business)" contest

Even Wallflower Blush had to admit that Sunset changed after she admitted she made a mistake to the entire world and worked to fix it. But even a new world of magic and wonder hasn't made Wallflower stand out any more. As far as she can tell, all that changed was her nails.

It turns out that even she didn't notice her magic's capabilities for a while. But it can only stay under the radar for so long, given who's looking...

Part of the Oversaturated World, folding in more Magic: the Gathering elements than average. Takes place about a week after the much-delayed Friendship Games.

Wilting flower isolated from this image, and extrapolated from Wallflower's backpack before that.

Anypony will tell you that Princess Celestia is the most amazing pony in Equestria. She's graceful, she's beautiful, and she always knows just what to say. Her decisions are wise and her manners are impeccable. Some might go so far as to say she's completely perfect.

Celestia has a secret, however. As it turns out, she actually is completely perfect. She's utterly infallible in every aspect. And boy, is she sick of it.

Now she's determined to manage to make just one little thing go wrong.

It won't, of course. After all, she's perfect.

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Written for the Equestria Daily Pre-reader battle: April 2013- The prompt was "Celestia's terrible secret- Revealed!" Unfortunately it didn't work nearly as well as I'd hoped, but hopefully someone gets a cheap chuckle out of it.

Once upon a time there was a very lazy dragon who did not want to find a town to pillage.

So he decided to make one of his own.

Editors: Mitch H, Dlafrferg
Jake the Army Guy has done an amazing reading of this on YouTube
Excellent cover picture credit: Harwick on Fimfiction or Harwicks-art on Deviantart.com
Also, the Audio Project has done a reading of this and other stories on YouTube

As Celestia can attest, nothing is ever simple. A stallion may walk through a portal in a huff and everycreature may cheer his departure, but that doesn't make him any less of an important functionary in the greater scheme of things. And so, while the Princess of Friendship can handle the straightforward task of averting world war, Celestia must shoulder a heavier burden.

She has to convince a bureaucrat that he made a mistake.