Almost a year after what seemed to be the concluding battle in Celestia's great crusade against necromancers, something Mortem believes to be borderline discrimination, he discovers one of Celestia's armies setting up camp just outside his stronghold.

Not wanting to jump to any conclusions or risk angering the very powerful Princess, he concludes a diplomatic solution would be the best way forward. And so, he writes a letter.

Proofread by the wonderful Soren Mercer
Featured on Equestria Daily here
Audiobook versions by Illya Leonov and TheArchitect are here and here respectively
SoundCloud verion of Illya Leonov's is here

Friendship lasts forever.

Right?

Three years ago, Gilda and Rainbow Dash became fast friends at Junior Speedsters' Flight Camp. Time took its toll, though, and the pair drifted apart.

When Gilda tries to reconnect with her not-so-long lost friend, she'll discover that things can change a pony after three years: a new home, new job, and new friends.

This story continues in Summer Days

Title Image Credits
Original: http://mallorysbeast.deviantart.com
Coloring: Bandit (no link available)

On his deathbed, Starswirl the Bearded writes a letter to his faithful student Celestia, cursing his life.

Written for the One-Shotober Challenge. ONLY THE STRONGEST WILL PROGRESS

BESET BY AN UNCERTAIN ECONOMY and uncooperative weather, the Apples hire three drifters to help out for the season. One of them desires to become more than what he's been, and nopony's life is the same again.

The characterization of everyone—from the Apples to the homeless to the one-off strangers mentioned in passing—was excellent, equal parts real and true to the show—Burraku_Pansa

Special thanks to Rainbooms and ArgonMatrix

Reviewed by Seattle's Angels in Round 38 2^nd Mar 2014

Eighty years after the events of The Dread Chitin, Equestria is a radically different place. The arcane science of the late Duran Thirk and the information found on the Star League library core have combined to catapult the nation's science ahead by hundreds of years.

Now, facing the possible aggression of a completely unknown alien power, Twilight Sparkle and her friends have to gather together once more, leading a crew of the best ponies they could assemble in a voyage outside their own star system. They seek to learn about their potential foe, to explore the galaxy around them, and possibly find allies and friends to stand alongside them. Who knows what they will actually find?

Many years after sending her beloved protege to Ponyville, unease sits heavily on Princess Celestia's heart as her relationship with Twilight Sparkle seems to have cooled despite all they've accomplished together. On the advice of her sister, Celestia sets out to investigate and resolve the lost connection with her most faithful student. What does it mean to be a Faithful Student...or a Princess of the Sun?

Earned a six-star rating on Equestria Daily and featured on its very own TVTropes page!.