An emotionally distant Celestia begins to reconnect with her ponies thanks to a young filly called Twilight Sparkle. (A Celestia adopts Twilight story)
After a heist gone awry and the royal crowns now out of reach, a reluctant thief is given the choice to become the personal attendant to a ruler who shines like the sun.
Princess Celestia has something important to tell Princess Cadance on the cusp of her marriage to Shining Armor, which is kind of too bad, considering.
Twilight is unable to control her powers during the entrance exam to the School for Talented Unicorns, and in order to reduce the damage caused by her power surges, Celestia shrinks her down until she would later learn how to control her powers.
Celestia wants a quiet evening in. Shining Armour wants a word with her. These two things are, unfortunately, incompatible. Because Shining Armour's words are all about his little sister, and her place in the monarchy.
Twilight writes to Princess Celestia for an explanation of an insidious issue Shining Armor told her about... but she ends up finding a secret that will change her life forever.
It has been almost a century since Twilight and her friends had discovered their destiny, and Celestia has been wracked with constant regret over the fate she has condemned her friends to. Luna looks to those very ponies to help Celestia smile again.