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.

The Princesses' birthday celebration is here again, and Mayor Mare needs a scapegoat—er, trusted citizen—to handle Ponyville's gift. Certainly, deciding what to get for an ancient ruler who's seen everything will be a piece of cake. Hm, cake. Maybe that's not such a bad idea.

Third-place winner in The Write-Off Association's contest "Lonely Happiness."

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Twilight decides to research the mirror that took her to another world, but what she discovers is more than what she bargained for...

Now, with a new human to take care of, and a near-impossible mystery to solve, Twilight begins to come into her own as a princess, and discovers what it truly means to be a protector of the people.

What will happen when Maud Pie is sent on a secret mission by the moon goddess herself?

This story is a sequel to The Sun Burns Brightly

When you're the immortal ruler of an entire kingdom, the most important quality to possess is a passion for your work. No princess can rule her nation if she can't find it in herself to give her best effort every day and night. Luna knows this better than anypony, and puts her whole heart into everything she does.

But passion, unless tempered by restraint, has a way of biting one in the flank.

There are many reasons to go into the West. Abandonment of things best left behind is high on the list, right next to the seeking of something important. Something worth any amount of risk or sacrifice.

In June of 1867, along the southern border of the Idaho Territory, an abandoned, wounded traveler, his search and life at risk, is lucky enough to stumble across a decidedly singular horse. One who is also searching for something important, something where no amount of sacrifice or risk could ever be too much.

Man and mare will travel together for a time. And if they're lucky enough to survive the experience, they might just find what they're looking for.

If.

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