The Summer Solstice approaches and Equestria prepares for the welcome break, but in Canterlot Celestia plans in secret for the return of Nightmare Moon. Her duty is clear: take the five known Elements of Harmony and cast her own sister from the world forever. So what if her heart shatters into a million pieces? A fair price for the safety of all.

Yet as the hour approaches, Celestia’s resolve weakens as she is haunted by memories of happier times. She starts to entertain an insane, maybe treasonous, plan, but a plan that might just return her sister to her.

But no plan, however well thought out, ever survives execution and as matters spiral out of control strengths sequestered deep within others will surprise even the celestial princess herself. As you well know, this story has a happy ending but it is the journey that matters.

Many thanks to GhostOfHeraclitus and Bradel for prereading above and beyond the call of duty. Seriously it would not exist without their patience.

Vectors used in cover: 1 2

I am...

...I'm really not sure who I am. Who I am seems to change with alarming frequency throughout the day. One moment I'm a unicorn who has an obsession with creatures who don't exist, and the other I'm a diminutive rabbit who wants to rule the world.

I don't know what's going on and I have no idea how this works.

I'm just along for the ride.

Based on the prompt from reddit user Moonbutters. Pretty sure this isn't exactly what he was expecting.

-GM, master of FIRST.

Sometimes it's not a matter of being the best mare for the job. Sometimes you're just the only one left. That's how a pegasus with no internal compass has been saddled with guiding back migratory birds for the last three Winter Wrap-Ups. Surely this year, Twilight Sparkle will see reason, right?

Right?

A long-delayed entry in Estee's technically open TEMPorary Insanity contest. Graciously preread by themaskedferret.

Twilight takes Moondancer through "The Chalice of Moonlight" via Haycartes' spell.

Written for the Writer's Training Grounds '15 #9.

Seeking her destiny, Flurry Heart has set off on a voyage through space... yet memories are not so easily left behind.

Written for the Imposing Sovereigns contest.

Special thanks to KingMoriarty, Fahrenheit, and Wing for editing.

Rainbow Dash is a pony who stares danger in the face, seeks to earn well-deserved fame, inspires the ponies around her, bravely fights villains, rescues those in peril, and strives to make every moment awesome.

One important day, she utterly fails to do those things.

But that's okay.

A/N: This is a present-tense first-person-narrated tale taking place during the events of "The Crystal Empire". A story with an unclear moral, little excitement, thin character development, rehashed plot, and a foregone conclusion. The most bland, pointless FiMFic I've ever written. Read at your peril.

Hayfever's lived in southern Equestria her whole life, never going far from the town in which she was born. But one day, during her midlife crisis, she decides to get out and see the world, traveling to the Crystal Empire alone and on foot. Her journey will take her all across Equestria, opening her eyes to the land she lives in. As she travels, she records her day-to-day adventures in her journal, slowly compiling a travelogue of all sides of Equestria, of big cities and secluded villages, of mountain peaks and river valleys, of ponies friendly and hostile. This is her journal. These are her tales.

Twilight takes Applejack up on a chance to study new kinds of relationship, but will this experiment end pleasantly, or will their relationship crash and burn around them?

When a dark shadow comes crawling out of the past, the pair may find themselves lost in Ponyville's twilight hours.

Thanks to Meta Four for proofreading.

Wanted: Porter, assistant, jack-of-all-trades, minion. Applicants should be strong, loyal, pain tolerant, cold tolerant, unambitious. Must be capable of following simple instructions. Ideal applicant should be of low to average intelligence and mildly deformed, but exceptions will be made for extraordinary candidates, with extraordinariness to be determined by employer. Must be willing to begin work immediately.

Remuneration will be in the form of room, board, and insight into the true nature of the cosmos. Extremely generous bonuses up to and including subcontinents may be awarded if merited and if circumstances permit. Interviews for the position to be conducted at 108 Haybale lane at 10:00 AM sharp on 4/7. Applicants are expected to be punctual.

—The Dark Lord Sassaflash

Editing and indispensable writer-prodding by The Masked Ferret

Prophecy is a dangerous game; meanings which are obvious can become obscure in an instant, and fates are laid bare only in hindsight.

After the fall of Discord but before the rise of Nightmare Moon, a dragon breaks the peace between its race and ponykind, and Princess Luna flies to mete out justice.

Editing courtesy of the speedy, thorough, and unfailingly helpful Pascoite, whose assistance has proved invaluable once again.

Cover image by the astonishingly talented GenjiLim, used with permission.

Now in (breathtakingly excellent) audiobook form, courtesy of Illya Leonov and co.!

Now available in Spanish, courtesy of SPANIARD KIWI.