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.

During the celebration of another victory for Equestria, Rainbow Dash asks Celestia why she never helps them fight the bad guys. She never thought the answer involves ancient history and Daybreaker...

Meta:

Cover based on the image from: https://derpibooru.org/images/1724452
Proofread by Ginger and Grammarly
Now, with YT reading by Lotus Moon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWA7iHqyY7Y . Go check out her channel for more great readings ! Additional thanks go to TheOneAJ for notifying me about the existence of the video ).
Another one to get into the feature box. Thank you, dear readers, I hope you enjoyed it

Celestia: a filly of twelve. A cynical, hungry pauper, with a young sister to protect and feed.

But the food has run out. Winter has gripped the land for too long, and now the pair face starvation.

The cynic in Celestia knows she can't move the sun. But the child in her wonders... and so she tries.

(Inspired by the Donovan song of the same name.)

(Now with a dramatic reading here, by Crafty Arts, and here, by KeyframeProductions.)

(Now with a Spanish translation here.)

Sunbeam Sparkle is not a good pony. She might not be pure evil, but she is ruthless, ambitious, and so power-hungry that she would even aspire to usurp Celestia's throne. Worse, she succeeds in manipulating Celestia into not only surrendering rule over Equestria, but her immortality as well.

It is often said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In most cases that’s true. Many good ponies have begun with good intentions, but slowly lost their way. However, this is not always the case. A rare few virtuous ponies have the character and strength of will to resist temptation, and are never corrupted by their authority.

Even rarer, there comes a time when gaining power makes a pony better than they were before. This is one such story.

Racist—I mean race-based story submitted for Jake the Army Guy’s Horseword Extravaganza 2.

This is the story of what happened to the thestral race during Luna’s rebellion and after it.

Stupid shipping story submitted for the approval of Jake the Army Guy's Horse Words Extravaganza, the theme being Obscure Shipping.

Limestone Pie is an expert in making things work. Taking charge of the sprawling family business? She'll take the job. Completely useless, airheaded sisters not helping out? She'll work around them. Lazy, incompetent workers? She'll beat them into shape. The only one concerned with keeping the line of Pies going? Not a problem.

So when the Choosing Stone picks a prospective husband...well, she's got her work cut out for her and she's not backing out.

Yona and Sandbar have been going steady for about 3 months now, and all their other friends find it cute. However, maybe they've gone too fast in this relationship when Sandbar tells them they've done... IT!

Thanks to Darth Link 22 and CrackedInkWell for helping edit this.

My unicorn parents called me a worthless mud pony. They pushed me every day to overcome my lowly status. When I woke up one morning with my cutie mark, I thought they would love me. I couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

It was not destiny or enjoyment that led me to discover the cello and composing. My parents made that decision, deciding before I was born I would continue their family legacy of famous musicians.

They did not realize what that decision would cost them.

Special Thanks and Links:

Cover Art: Dreampaw. The inspiration for the story.
Dramatic reading of Act I-III by Malao567. June 2013
Reading with music by ObabScribbler. June 2014
Song: Hooks and Strings by Reverb Brony. May 2014

Style inspired by H.P. Lovecraft
TypeWriterError: Editor & Rating Board
Gage of Grandiloquence: Editor
The11thWonder: Pre-reader
Nharctic: Pre-reader
Breath of Plagues: My Pinch Editor.
ArgonMatrix: Bad Grammar Exterminator
Daemon of Decay: Advice, also inspired me to write fan fiction. Blame him!

The war between Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia has destroyed Equestria, leaving the few survivors to struggle to survive in a dying world of eternal twilight. Fluttershy, twisted by the war, now ekes out an existence in Everfree forest, but even that life is under threat. Twilight Sparkle is coming, leading the last army of Dawn, and she will let nothing stop her from retrieving the Elements of Harmony and saving the world; not even old friends.

---

First Place in the Equestria Daily More Most Dangerous Game contest

With thanks to Luna-tic Scientist, Lord Of Dorkness, Nopony_Important and Monanniverse for their help in bringing this story to completion. Cover art is credit to 5kmoe.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/X4NpPxt.jpg[/img]

One day, Rainbow Dash notices something about Sunset Shimmer: she only eats salads, fruit, and non-meat products. So she decides to dare the former pony to try a meat product the next day at lunch. Little do they know what's on the menu that day...

Set in the Equestria Girls universe.