When Rarity is overwhelmed with making designs for an agriculture exhibition, she turns to Applejack for advice. But when she gives Applejack a hair style treatment in return, the apple farmer lets her accent slip from southern drawl to sophisticated Manehattenite. The result? More fancy parties than you can shake a candy apple at!

On an expedition to explore the deeper depths of the Castle of the Two Sisters, Twilight finds something far older.

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In the quiet, she will be tested. It may prove her undoing.

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She will not return the same.

Artwork credit to GroaningGreyAgony.

All good things must come to an end. That is a simple fact of life, however tragic. And now one story is ending, though the participants will never be forgotten.

But while one story must end, another shall begin. This is something Twilight Sparkle will discover for herself... at the close.

Featured on: 13/10/2019.

Years ago, Rainbow Dash achieved her lifelong dream of becoming a Wonderbolt. She'd gone through the academy, been a staple of the main lineup and, eventually, earned the rank of Captain.

At 43 years of age, it's time for Rainbow to leave that dream behind, but not before she can dazzle the ponies of Cloudsdale one last time.

Proofread by AShadowOfCygnus.

Featured on Equestria Daily!

Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends have faced endless troubles while ruling Equestria. There's never been a challenge they could not conquer.

But the end of the world has come, and nopony can stop it.

Contains narrative that jumps ahead into the future, several original characters, a despondent princess, probably some crying, and the magic of friendship.

A huge thank you goes out to Semillon, who beta read this story and provided some invaluable critiques.

Three days into her latest stay on Earth, Twilight Sparkle is enjoying learning about Europe in the company of her mentor while staying in the nation of Equios, a European microstate bordering Switzerland that functions as Equestria's outpost on Earth.

But when a solemn Celestia wakes her early one morning and asks Twilight to accompany her to a new place a thousand miles away, she will learn that not all is Friendship and Harmony when it comes to humans. That there are some very dark and dangerous events in humanity's past whose nature may rock her to her core. Can Twilight solve the mystery her mentor presents of what happened decades earlier near a town named Pripyat? And can anything be the same afterwards if she does...?

Inspired by the HBO series Chernobyl.

Thanks to user Eezee, there is now full text to speech version of the story available with pictures up on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__0FF-VeXKg

Set during FiM season 2, the story takes place in the Phoenixverse of Turnabout Storm and The Lawyer and The Unicorn, but familiarity with those two stories is not required to read this one.

Author: Firesight
Prereaders: AJ_Aficionado, James CyberLink, Silentwoodfire, Denim_Blue

Picture Credit: James CyberLink

• Graded at 25/30 points by Nano Discussions of the My Little Reviews and Feedback Group.

SF (canon species only; no humans) Ponies were magically and genetically engineered to be the perfect servitor race. They are powerful, adaptable, intelligent and completely under the control of their creators. A laboratory accident frees one such pony from her mental chains, but how can one mare save herself and the rest of her kind if she doesn't even know she's a slave?
This is not the Equestria you know and these are not your little ponies... not yet, anyway.

Tags: Adventure, Diamond Dogs, Gryphons, NO HUMANS (did I mention that already?)
Other tags: historical, mind control, Clarke's 3rd Law, excessive use of high energy physics, before they were famous.
Detailed review by PaulAsaran.
Cover art by endrome , used with permission.
Russian translation (partial -- 'unofficially' completed in the comments)
A Soot-Covered World, book 1.

When Rainbow Dash's newest trick backfires spectacularly, she and Fluttershy find themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere. Together, they'll have to survive and find their way back to Equestria and Ponyville...no matter how far the journey.

Now with a Spanish translation by SPANIARD KIWI: https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/Apoteosis-1-3-857109863

(Originally submitted to Equestria Daily)
Art by katwalk.

Takes Place During Friendship is Magic: Part 2

Nightmare Moon has thrown Equestria into an eternal night since returning from her thousand year exile on the moon. Now it's up to a prestigious unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, and a certain group of five other mares to put an end to the tyrant's ruthless regime.

After overcoming every test that Nightmare Moon trialed them with; there seems to be one more before they can reach the castle and retrieve the Elements. They must answer five questions--

Three questions.

Three questions given by a strange looking creature who is apparently blind in one eye. If they succeed in answering the five questions--

Three questions.

Three questions. Then Equestria has hope to restore its harmony. However if they fail in doing so. Then surely the country and all its surrounding continents will be doomed for all eternity.

Tirek had returned and this time there was nothing that could be done to stop him. The Elements of Harmony had been defeated, the Tree of Harmony had been ripped from the ground, and every spell that was thrown at Tirek was useless. It was only a matter of time before he found the alicorns and then all would be lost.

What happened next though, nopony saw coming.

Now with a Russian translation, which can be found here.
Big thanks to Armorer.