When Sunset was just a filly under the tutelage of Princess Celestia, she developed a powerful crush on her mentor.

It didn’t end well.

Years later, Sunset is older, wiser, and ready to finally reconcile. But as she’s prepared to put her past behind her, Sunset finds out with growing horror that some feelings aren’t so easily forgotten.

Rarity can see it clearly.

The way Applejack laughs around Coloratura, the way she smiles. The way Coloratura hangs on Applejack's every word, the way her eyes light up whenever they glance at each other.

Friends since fillyhood, Applejack and Coloratura share a relationship deeper and more special than most ponies will ever know.

But Rarity and Applejack were fillyhood friends too. Shouldn't that be just as special?

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity brave the last minute shopping crowds of Manehatten to get the Cutie Mark Crusaders the perfect gifts for Hearth's Warming Eve.

Sometimes things just don't work out.

When Twilight Sparkle was just a kid, her best friend was a girl named Sunset Shimmer. Though their friendship had a bit of a rocky start, they quickly became inseparable, no matter how much everyone thought of them as ‘weird’. They were there for each other.

Were.

Years after the tragic accident that tore them apart, Twilight is determined to move on from her loss, and she sets off on an independent research project to investigate the strange happenings at Canterlot High. Little does she know that she will soon come face to face with what appears to be a literal ghost from her past.

Coverart by Kare-Valgon. Chapter illustrations by Zorbitas.

Edited and Pre-read by Dubs Rewatcher, r5h, and Kalan.

Takes place after Rainbow Rocks, but was written before Friendship Games and does not take it into account.

Chinese translation

Print copies now available.

The Cutie Map calls on Twilight and Rarity in order to investigate the town of Hollow Shades, a gloomy village with a fearful populace and an unsettling fixation on dolls. On top of it all, there's a new leader running the show: a mysterious unicorn known as Lady Mari who protects the town in exchange for their servitude.

For some reason Twilight and Rarity can't shake the feeling that they've seen this all before. But that can't be true—this is just another friendship problem, right?

Helping a lost filly find her way home should have been a walk in the park for Princess Twilight Sparkle, but this time things turned out to be a bit stranger than she was expecting.

"My name is Sunset Shimmer, and there are two Twilight Sparkles who are both madly in love with me.

Please help."

When Twilight visits home for Mother's Day, along with Shining Armor, Cadance, and their newborn daughter, she learns that a mother's work is never truly finished.

Dramatic reading by CoffeeMinion

Sunset Shimmer knew she was better than the other ponies around her, even if she didn't have her cutie mark yet. She had to be.

She just needed to find a way to prove it.

As Apple Bloom escorts a drunken Applejack home, Applejack decides to tell her the story of how Equestria came into existence and how ponies were made.

What little of it she can remember, anyway.