Our six heroes decide to settle down for the night with a few bottles of their choice beverage and a few hands of poker.

The night was going so well until Rarity decided to wager her virginity.

Now she's desperate to get it back.

(Formerly known as Rarity Loses Her Virginity in a Poker Game. The author's artistic integrity was long gone by the time of writing this.)

Special thanks to Blue_Paladin42.

While having tea together, Celestia asks Twilight an important question that could change the meaning of their relationship forever. And create a pretty awkward silence as well.

Thanks to my editors Selbi and Hobbes for all their help!

The shy one goes to extreme measures to overcome her shyness. However, things quickly get out of hand.

NOTE: This is not related to Applejack gets a Backrub, nor is this adult material.

Rainbow Dash would rather do anything else than sit in an office and discuss problems she didn't have. Yet here she was, waiting for it to be over. Her only real hope was that Applejack would come to her senses before the next appointment.

The night after the Crystal Empire was saved, Twilight Sparkle had a vision in her sleep of King Sombra warning her that he would return soon. Twilight grows worried but has faith that the power of friendship will conquer him. King Sombra may have not spoken much during the battle, but he has plenty to say to Twilight...

This short story was written up in just a few days and might be a bit choppy so I apologize if it seems that way...

Image drawn by atryl on deviant art. http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=King+Sombra#/d5ktry5

As Princess Cadance and Shining Armor leave to spend their wedding night, Twilight Sparkle and her friends get to kick back and relax after a successful wedding. And just as she's getting comfortable, the conversation veers onto the subject of... sex. And before she knows it, Twilight faces the terrifying prospect of having to tell her friends about her first time. A special, magical, enchanted moment.

Some unicorn spells should have never been devised...

DISCLAIMER: I came up with this story in late 2011 and started writing it in 2012. There are tremendous inconsistencies you will notice in this story, mostly having to do with Starswirl the Bearded and the Elements of Harmony. This is merely due to the fact that I had the summary drafted long before we saw the Season 7 finale which completely debunked my head-canon. Even though I have been able to change some things in this story to fit along with some canon in the past, I have decided to not change anything about Starswirl or the Elements since it was already a good enough story and I want to complete it as I originally intended to. As of now, you can consider this story to be "alternate universe" or "fan theory".

The pony residents of Equestria live in peace in their magnificent kingdom ruled by King Solmidas and Queen Chernalia. As their two daughters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have both earned their cutie marks, it is now time for them to learn how to rule a country so that the crown can be passed on to them when the day comes for the King and Queen to give up their authority. With some training and help from their parents as well as the renowned unicorn wizard, Starswirl the Bearded, Celestia and Luna undergo many tasks and assignments. Once such assignment: making peace with the Griffon Kingdom lead by General Leogle.

Meanwhile, a wise magician and senator of the Alicornian parliament and a good friend to the royal family, known as Accord, sacrifices much of his own time to help improve the kingdom and make an even grander domain for the ponies he loves. Things seem to be going very well for the royals, but happiness soon turns to despair as the princesses' tasks become increasingly difficult and nearly impossible. Negotiations with the griffons continue to fail and rumors of war break out causing Celestia and Luna to doubt their abilities to rule Equestria.

Can the alicorns stop the imminent war to come between the once coexisting races? Why did general Leogle betray the alicorns so suddenly? And who is the real enemy in the midst of all this chaos? All will soon be revealed but it may come at the cost of dealing with the ultimate betrayal. Celestia and Luna will soon find that despite their failures, they are the only ones who can put an end to all of this. Together they will embark on a mission to save all of Equestria, unlock an ancient power hidden away for centuries, and learn that no matter how many times you fail, you are never useless and can still do great things if you believe in yourself.

Written by Aleximus Prime
Proofread by Starbat and Dynasty-Dawn

Please visit my Deviant Art for artwork based on this fic: http://aleximusprime.deviantart.com/gallery/38578033

Also be sure to check out my new Tumblr blog "Ask Accord" which ties in with this story:
http://askaccord.tumblr.com

This story is a sequel to Drop of Moonshine

Sequel to Drop of Moonshine -

Applejack receives an order from Princess Celestia, for a batch of cider prepared with a very special recipe that involves honey, yeast, and time. She's even invited to taste the special cider when it's ready. But, when Rainbow Dash finds out about the special tasting, the three mares soon have a little too much to drink. What shenanigans will unfold and how will Twilight keep a lid on things this time?

Princess Celestia was there before the oldest mortal pony was born; she will be there when the youngest foal dies of old age. She is as much a fixture of Equestria as the sun, the land, and the sky. She is also the rock that keeps Twilight Sparkle's hooves on the ground. No matter how bad things get, they will always be there for each other.

Princess Luna is a newcomer to modern Equestria: a stranger in a strange land. She is a pony out of her time and out of her place, struggling to escape the shackles of her mistakes. When a spectre from the past manifests in the present and incapacitates Rarity, the two cross paths for the first time since Luna's return and something unexpected happens: they see something they need in each other.

Struggling with self-doubt and haunted by a magical malady, Rarity reaches out to the princess and learns more about Luna than most ponies ever will. While Twilight throws herself at unravelling a magical mystery, Luna and Rarity, with the help of a few of Celestia's hoof-picked elite guards, must fight to make peace with themselves before they can make peace with the past. Luna seeks to reconcile her relationship with Celestia, and Rarity must learn to overcome the harshest, most bitter, most devious enemy she has ever faced: herself.

Completed in it's entirety for the second time, Shades of Grey version 3 is the culmination out many hundreds of hours or work, both mine and that of the editors, teachers, pre-readers, and readers. It is the first story I conceived, and it's taken over two years to bring it to this final revision that I am happy with. This is a story I am proud to have written. For better or worse, it will always be a piece of me and vice versa.

Special thanks go to Chris, without whom my ability to write at all would never have gotten off the ground.
Huge appreciation goes to ReplayMasterOfTime for the cover art that I have come to love so dearly in those two years.
Additional thanks go to: Pascoite, who has helped me grow through his reviewing; Mystic, the one-time EqD pre-reader who also helped with early editing and learning; and InsertAuthorHere, just for being an established name who gave me a shout out and filled me with the will to keep going.

There are dozens more to whom I owe the existence of this story. They know who they are, and I love them all.

Please enjoy this legacy of mine.

-Scott

This is it. Twilight has set aside a whole day for fun, fun, fun, and her newest instruction book is going to show her exactly how to do it.