Many years after sending her beloved protege to Ponyville, unease sits heavily on Princess Celestia's heart as her relationship with Twilight Sparkle seems to have cooled despite all they've accomplished together. On the advice of her sister, Celestia sets out to investigate and resolve the lost connection with her most faithful student. What does it mean to be a Faithful Student...or a Princess of the Sun?

Earned a six-star rating on Equestria Daily and featured on its very own TVTropes page!.

Obiter dicta -- things said in passing.

A collection of short stories, vignettes, and delete scenes, mostly based in the Civil Serviceverse and tending to be either slice of life or comedy. Also contains contest entries including FanOfMostEverything's Imposing Sovereigns.

Currently contains:

1. An Afternoon For Dotted Line [slice of life] [comedy]
2. The Game The Princesses Play [comedy]
3. On the Inaccuracy of Proverbs [slice of life] [comedy][sad]
4. The Nature of War [history]
5. On Forensic Accounting & Choral Singing [comedy]
6. Hoofprints [human][sad]
7. Dr. Spinning Top—Specimen Annotated Daily Schedule [slice of life]
8. Love and Other Acquired Tastes [comedy][sad]
9. Any Other Business? [comedy]
10. Songs Like Snow [romance]
11. Civics [comedy]
12. The Other Princess [slice of life] [comedy]

The business of government never stops, and paperwork never rests, even on Hearthwarming. But this particular Hearthwarming, Cabinet Secretary and tea enthusiast Dotted Line plans to do his level best to see it, at least, take a break. His ponies need to go home to their families, and he, well, he has plans this Hearthwarming.

To Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia, it is a simple surprise visit to Canterlot. To the ponies of the Equestrian Civil Service, it is twenty-four hours of chaos, politics, weaponized dessert, politics, underhooved manipulation of media, politics, and things batrachian and tentacular. Who said bureaucracy isn't exciting?

Princess Celestia tires of constantly being surrounded by decorum, deference, and formality, and decides to take a day off from being Princess. But visiting Ponyville incognito is harder than she expects. Will she be able to fit in and make friends without blowing her cover?

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria...

One week ago, Twilight Sparkle was crowned the fourth Princess of Equestria. Tonight, Ponyville hosts the 1003rd Summer Sun Celebration, and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna want a vacation. With two fine young princesses like Cadance and Twilight to take over for them, nothing could possibly go wrong.

(Title image hacked together from vectors by sakatagintoki117 and Chrome-MMVII.)

Since her return and rescue, Princess Luna has been looking for some way to properly honor the six mares who saved her from herself, but nothing she has been able to think of has seemed meaningful enough to repay her saviors.

Nothing, at least, until she spends Nightmare Night in Ponyville, and gets to actually know the six ponies to whom she owes such a great debt. She realizes she enjoys their company, and wishes for them to spend more time with her, that she might grow closer to them.

So, in accordance with many fine and ancient traditions, and after thinking it over for a good...couple of hours, easy, she proclaims that she shall marry all six of them. Oh, and that Twilight will be marrying Celestia, too.

Now would be the appropriate time for everypony to panic.

--Cover Art Courtesy of Zemious--
--Editing Graciously Provided By BronyWriter--

NB - The sex tag is in place for sexual situations and suggestions; the story is, and shall remain, free of explicit sex.

It's been uncounted millenia since the last of Twilight's first friends passed away. Even their names have passed into legend and myth, forgotten by the slow march of time. Now on a far away planet, she finds her musing upon all of her friends over the long years interrupted by her latest faithful student, Calming Waltz.

Now if she can only get that silly pony off to her wedding, and maybe teach her something about why her romance and wedding to come is so special and wonderous... Or at least something for Twilight to get a laugh out of, anyway.

Scarlet Letters is a lot of things. A Mare. A pegasus. A former member of the guard. And now, a librarian. She's looking forward to the post-war peace and prosperity that's been promised.

Now if only she could get some sleep.

Notes:
- Cover art by Minibot-1, check out their DeviantArt page here.
- This is a story in the Birthdayverse.
- Blood Lord is best pony and best pre-reader.

Today is Princess Twilight Sparkle’s 500th birthday, and her most faithful student, an earth pony with a familiar name, can’t wait to celebrate!

Notes:
- Cover art by ErinKarsath, used with permission. Check out her DeviantArt page.
- This is a story in the Birthdayverse, and you can find the sequel here.
- Many thanks to my faithful Pre-Reader and all around super-duper best pony, Blood Lord. Go read his story, too!
- This was written during the season 3 hiatus of MLP:FiM.