=====Originally Written February 2012===== EQD Post=====
After overwhelming Ponyville's mayor, the main six must fill in as she takes a much needed vacation. Yet, only one pony can take the title of mayor at one time. Which of our favorite ponies will be the first substitute mayor? How long will she be able to last before passing the job to somepony else? And in the end, will Ponyville survive long enough for its real mayor to return?

This story was written as a prize commission for the Smile Album Charity Event. The original prize was one by Stormy Seas and he provided the original premise for this story. He always wanted a story that could be shared and enjoyed by everyone, so be sure to thank him if you know him.

Rarity returns to Ponyville from a business vacation in the camel homeland, bringing gifts for all her friends. Amongst the souvenirs, Fluttershy receives is a beautiful, blue bottle. Yet, upon taking the bottle home, she quickly discovers it contains something magical: a genie.

How will Fluttershy use the three near-limitless wishes she has been given, and why does this feline genie's smile seem to mask more than it reveals?

Written to be somewhat episode like. Was apart of the FimFiction LOEG Story Swap of August 2012. Originally appeared on Ninestempest's account

Diamond Tiara, with the encouragement of Silver Spoon goes to Ponyville's local pawn shop to do some shopping. There, she finds a mysterious artifact that allows her to see into another pony's mind! Sadly, everything comes crashing down as she learns one pony's deep, dark secret.

Pre-read by: Theo Vellum

After an accident involving some cattle dying, Winona decides that the only honorable thing to do is to commit ritual suicide. Applejack, Twilight, and Fluttershy try their best to stop her, but this dog is on a mission, and nothing is going to stop her. Well, nothing except spontaneous enlightenment and subsequent immortality.

Written after a really terrible joke about dog seppuku was made on the Seattle's Angels podcast.

Becoming an immortal alicorn princess pony can be hard on a mare. On the one hand, Twilight now has near limitless power, but on the other, with great power comes great annoyance. Luckily that whole "near limitless power" thing kinda negates that. Still though, no one ever said banishing everypony to the moon would be easy.

Written for The Writeoff Association's inaugural writeoff, Lonely Happiness.

Twilight Sparkle, waking one morning from uneasy dreams, discovers, accidentally, that she can transcend time. What follows is her misadventures as she stumbles through different time periods and at least one alternate universe. At least she'll have company...

Rarity's latest design, the möbius scarf, brings a new dimension to fashion... literally. Unfortunately for Sweetie Belle, she's about to experience this new dimension firsthand. Luckily Twilight and Fluttershy have a lot of experience in dealing with dimensional rifts.

Hope you kids like barely-passable science jokes.

This one you can blame on FloydienSlip because when I jokingly said the words Möbius Rarity, he told me to write it, not realizing that I'm me. The foolish fool...

It's been a couple of weeks and way more than a couple of games since Pinkie Pie introduced the Mane Six to the joys of playing the classic real-time strategy title, Age of Empires II. Unanswered questions surround this mysterious game: where did it come from? Who made it? Why is there so much killing?

Never mind all that - Twilight Sparkle and her friends have a game to play!

NOTE: Though I've tried to make the story more about the relationships between the four gamers (no Rarity or Fluttershy, sorry!) than about the game itself, some rudimentary knowledge about Age of Empires II is required if you want to understand what is going on. I wrote this as a short-ish story so I'm not really going to go into technical details much.

=====INFO AFTER BREAK=====
References consulted while writing story:
ZeroEmpires (Commentary on Competitive AoE II matches)
wikiHow (5 Ways to Make Your Economy Boom in Age of Empires II)
Wikipedia (for info on Byzantines, Moon & Vikings)
Luttwak, E. "The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire" (Harvard University Press, USA), 2009 (Byzantine military strategy)

Youtube links:
Prologue - PakAttack95 (Youtube Channel)
Main Menu and Victory Music - mikec1000 Civilization Themes

Cover Image:
Wikipedia
Age of Empires II
Cutie Mark Vectors by Hawk9mm (deviantART page)

Twilight's friends may not be immortal like her, but she's not going to let a stupid little thing like death get in the way of friendship. Now the ruler of Equestria, Princess Twilight Sparkle discovers the truth of life after death: More life. Armed with this new knowledge, Twilight ventures from Canterlot Castle to find and befriend the reincarnations of her oldest friends, whether they like it or not.

Image used with permission of Heavens and Asteri

Feature box story of December 27, 2013. Thanks, everyone!

Twilight has always loved mysteries. Researching them, dissecting them, and finally, solving them. Almost nothing could compare to the joy she feels when finding an answer to a question no pony knew.

But there are mysteries with answers better left unheard, truths that aren't meant to be known. Now Twilight has solved a mystery with an answer she doesn't want, an answer she can never forget.