Royal Guard Silver Birch knows Princess Luna's history, and her... extreme reactions to being neglected in the past. When it seems Luna has been snubbed yet again, he and his partner Winter Garden take action to shield their Princess from this slight, and spare Equestria her terrible wrath.

(Inspired by a really dumb blog I did.)

"...The test ends when you open that door."

Princess Luna has begun searching for her own personal student, and her test has hit a small snag: Not a single unicorn, out of the dozens of applicants, has passed. In fact, every last candidate has failed the test in seconds.

But just what is the purpose of this test? And how can somepony pass it?

A young earth pony named Morning Glory is going to find out.

How much can change in a hundred years? How much can change in a thousand? The day of the Nightmare’s defeat Princess Luna finds herself adrift, a thousand years away from the world she knew. With her home in ruins and Equestria changed beyond all recognition, is there anything left for her when even apples are strange?

Winner of August's Write-off! - Distant Shores

With thanks to JCatt and Lord of Dorkness for their help pre-reading.

After storming into Princess Celestia's personal study unannounced, Twilight Sparkle soon learns her yearly battles against the forces of evil are a little more scripted than she'd thought.

And this year, Princess Celestia might've just outdone herself.

Now with a youtube reading! Here!

Spike reveals the secret of Second Birthday to the girls. Twilight is not amused.

Vector by The Mad Shipwright

Sonata Dusk: A bimbo, an airhead, a moron, a fool, a girl without even two brain cells to rub together to generate thought... right?

...Right?

While trying to make her family tree, Rainbow Dash finds her mother's family totally missing from public records. Maybe with Twilight's help, she'll learn something about her ancestry.

SPOILERS IN COMMENTS:
DO NOT READ THE COMMENTS UNTILL AFTER YOU READ THE STORY.

Editing and creative help from BionicBrony

Twilight Sparkle has important friendship problems to solve. However, that's hard to do with a "reformed" villain following you around all day.

(Context for later readers: This is based on the old Season 5 buzz when Starlight Glimmer — who got beaten in the Season 5 opener but escaped — canonically showed up in the background of the café in "Amending Fences". It was a big deal at the time.)

Audio versions:
Livereading by mindlessgonzo and friend!
Reading by Pony&Wolf Productions!

Finalist in the July 2015 Writeoff! Now revised and expanded for FIMFiction!

"Highly Recommended" by MLPmatthewl419! * Other reviews: Present Perfect, Titanium Dragon, PaulAsaran, Ghost Mike

This story is a sequel to Smoothing the Knots

Princesses Celestia and Luna take tea under less than ideal circumstances: house arrest for psychiatric care following Luna's revelation about the her use of the Tantabus to torture herself.

Ever the thoughtful sister, Celestia tries to help Luna open up about her addiction to guilt and suffering in order to understand why Luna isn't happy now that the pain has finally left her. But Luna has a very different topic she wishes to discuss.

Just because the two sisters have led Equestria through thousands of years of peace doesn't mean there aren't those who think they can do better.

With a powerful artifact on their side, a group of rebels has sealed Celestia in her palace and stripped her of the majority of her powers. As the last of her guards fall, she hears the pounding on the throne room doors and knows the end is coming soon...

**Featured on the front page on 8/12/15; both surprising and flattering seeing as how this is the first thing of substantial length I've posted here. Thanks all!

**Now with a dramatic reading!