I was still a young colt when I took my first steps into the world of steam engines and railroading. I was meant to sing the song of steel, the chorus of the railways. Despite the challenges, discomfort, and dangers, I wanted to be a railway pony. I wanted a fine steam engine like #3803. I wanted to be like Highball.

What I got? Well now, there's a story worth telling...

When Twilight storms into Celestia's and Luna's evening meal, Luna comes up with a unique way to calm her down.

A big thanks to Cerulean Voice and Hopeless Appraisal for their prereading and excellent suggestions!

A particularly big thanks to Lannakitty for her weeks of editing help!

This story is a sequel to What Separates

“There's always going to be melancholy days now and again, that's just the way it is!”

Not much more than two weeks past his arrival into Equestria, the human guest has spent much of his time keeping to himself, facing down the painful and permanent separation from his old world and still unsure of his position in this new one. Twilight struggles to fulfill her official roles as both a watchful eye and a guide, to the detriment of her being a simple friend. In the midst of it all, Princess Celestia calls upon them. Beyond the cozy bounds of Ponyville, something has developed which diverts their attention and presses on their differences.

A story of faith and depression.

Like What Separates, the idea is for a story which at its core is driven by the characters' dialogues with each other. This time however, the story expands and there is a bit more drama thrown in; the characters travel away and find new faces to engage with. While the focus of the prior tale was about what immediate divisions exist between two apparently different peoples, this story is focused on depression and those who retreat from the world.

A duty bound a duty fulfilled. There was an agreement between the close town of Ponyville and the nearby Cloudsdale to have a Wonderbolt take up the duties of a simple officer to boost moral. Having nopony else she believes competent enough to take up the task, Spitfire reluctantly takes up the night shift where she gets the call to investigate a supposed train accident. The report indicated a single fatality on the tracks of a train carrying coal freight near midnight.

Grumbling at the cold, she meets with the one witness and allows herself to be lead to the scene...
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Artwork done by http://spyroconspirator.deviantart.com/

[Featured on EqD and FiM Fiction] It is that time again, the dreaded flu season. Not even Princess Celestia, the ruler of the sun and day, is safe from it. When Celestia contracts the flu, what pony could possibly nurse Celestia back to health? Why none other than her dear, loving sister of course! Enter Nurse Luna!

Between crazed guards, a palace staff desperate to please their rulers, and a crazed unicorn running around, no pony is safe from this madness.

This is 100% Approved by Twilight's Library.

"How could somepony as amazing as you not have a Special Somepony on Hearts and Hooves Day?"

With that single sentence, a thousand memories came flooding back to Cheerilee. A thousand memories of a thousand terrible dates...

Some lessons are too big for one letter. Others are so important that they need to be shared with ponies everywhere. When these two come together, Twilight Sparkle tries something new.

She writes a book.

Everypony remembers exactly what they were doing when they first found out about the griffin invasion. Many saw it as a growing shadow that threatened to overtake all of Equestria. To those in the towns and cities that would become the front lines, it was a terror made real. With Canterlot in flames and Princess Celestia injured, many wondered how anypony could make everything right again. I was among them.

But we did it. Together.

These are my experiences and lessons learned during The Great Griffin Invasion, and it’s not just my story. War is a dark affair, but we can always learn something from the worst of times. In fact, we have to. The lessons are too costly to let them go to waste. And maybe, with a little help from this book, we won’t ever forget.

-Princess Twilight Sparkle

(Valor is Magic is a story of war and values set between seasons two and three of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. As of the end of season three, the events of this story do not justify an AU tag.)

Lyra and Bon Bon: foster parents? It'll happen, if they can only get past their sardonic caseworker, nerve-wracking inspections, and each others' neuroses. That's assuming things work out with any one of the children that passes through their home. After all of that, there's just the matter of the adoption and the birth relatives. Hugs, heartbreak, and humor will follow in droves.

Also, Lyra tries to cook soup.

Cover made by the wonderful Whipstitch.

Celestia wants Twilight and her friends to loosen up a little bit around her. Luna just wants to try the hard cider. During a surprise visit to Sweet Apple Acres at the tail end of cider season, Princess Luna has just a bit too much to drink, and when she makes a rather inappropriate joke, Twilight comes to the very uncomfortable realization that she has never seen Celestia excuse herself to use the restroom.

Centuries ago, Clover the Clever recorded in her personal diary the events surrounding the origins and early lives of Celestia and Luna. Now, thanks to the princesses' gracious consent and the scholarship of Twilight Sparkle, this account may now be read by modern Equestrians.