There are many things Clover would like to be doing today: Studying the unexplained magic that saved the world last night, discussing the new nation she and her friends are founding, even spending time with those friends, enjoying having ponies around who actually like her for once.

Attending a party is not among those things. Interacting with the unicorn nobles who hate her is definitely not among those things. And giving up the ratty mage's robes she's worn for years as she suffered their judgement is absolutely not on the list.

But Princess Platinum is throwing a party, and Clover will be there and presentable, whether she likes it or not.

This is a stand alone story in the same setting as Sun and Hearth. It was written for FanOfMostEverything's Imposing Sovereigns contest, and I'd like to thank Themaskedferret, bats, Bradel, and Merc the Jerk for prereading.

You know the story: The sirens rampaged across the land, sowing havoc until Star Swirl the Bearded banished them to a magicless backwater of a universe full of naked apes.

The problem with historical narratives, as Clover the Clever can attest, is that the reality is rarely so cut and dry.

Technically part of the Oversaturated World, though no knowledge of it is required.

Thanks to my beta readers Daedelus Aegle, Masterweaver, and themaskedferret.

In the early days of Equestria, a dragon threatens the fledgling realm. It falls to Clover the Clever and Smart Cookie to find a way to defeat the beast.

Princess Platinum's helping too, though. Whether they want her to or not.

Cover art from the gallery of scrimpeh. Proofread by themaskedferret. Written for the Imposing Sovereigns contest and for the Marching Forth theme for the Time Action Glory Challenge! group.

Spanish translation, by SPANIARD-KIWI.

The friendship between Clover the Clever, Smart Cookie, and Private Pansy led to the founding of Equestria. But what can they do in the face of a new and chaotic menace who calls himself Discord?

Two events from December 2011 led directly to this story: the revelation in "Hearth's Warming Eve" that the princesses were nowhere in sight when Equestria was founded, and the announcement of the existence of Cadance, the third Princess. Unfortunately, at the time, I was in the middle of several non-Pony related projects, but I wanted to get the idea written up before the Cadance episode aired and made canon-fodder out of the whole thing. So I carved ten days out of my schedule in the middle of January 2012 and wrote it up in two parts. It made Equestria Daily, but I've always felt it needed one more run through the word processor.

So I'm suspending my usual "write it, submit it, move on to the next" rule and giving the story another spin. I'm also, after a year and a half, giving it a sequel: "Calling You."

Being the Deity of Time is tough work. You've got to protect the timestream, save ponies that tamper with time and get stuck in infinite loops.

There's also a lot of experimenting one can get done with the ability to reset the universe each time.

a lot of experimenting.

Point is, she's done a lot, for a LONG time. So, after her latest experiment goes very wrong, she decides to take a vacation.

Back to where she was once known as Twilight Sparkle.

Also, Discord does some things too.

Upon Equestria's founding, Clover the Clever and Princess Platinum discuss its future... and theirs.

If Starswirl the Bearded mentored Clover the Clever sometime before the events of "Hearth's Warming Eve" and mentored the Royal Pony Sisters sometime after, where was he during the coming together of the tribes and the founding of Equestria?

What if a fan of My Little Pony was suddenly sent to the world of the show, before Equestria was even founded? In an attempt to get home and survive tribal pony society, Astraeus must enlist the help of the royal sisters before they've ascended.

Can he return to his family without permanently ruining the sisters' future and that of all of Equestria? And will he be able to resist using his knowledge of both the show and modern technology to help his new allies?

Special thanks to PeerImagination for being an amazing editor. You rock!

Cover by slifertheskydragon.

Star Swirl the Bearded, exiled by Princess Platinum and worried for his continued survival, sends a letter to Clover the Clever briefly detailing his views on ponykind's origins, the nature of the physical world, and the future of his species.

Ruling a nation on the brink of collapse is a stressful job, and nopony knows that better than Princess Platinum. With the pressure of a starving kingdom and fraying relationships with the Pegasus tribes, she has little option other than to seek the advice of her best friend and, perhaps, to take the first step to save everypony.