It's a fact often ignored by peons, traitors and other non-entities but true royalty does not get ill.

So though it might appear that Queen Chrysalis is ill she obviously isn't.

And while it might appear that she needs looking after, she doesn't!

...but if you insist then she is wise enough to take advantage.

-
A reading from the ever on-the-ball Straight To The Point Studio

Another reading from, uh, Pony & Wolf Productions, apparently. Who I'd never heard of. But good on them!

It's been a year since a tragic accident took Applejack's parents. A year, and she still doesn't know what to do with herself. Encouraged by friends and family, she decides to spend the summer vacation at Fluttershy's beach house on Splendora Island. She's not sure if it's helping.

Then, one night, she finds something injured on the beach. No, not something. Someone.

What starts as good intentions steadily grows into something else. Whether that something else is good for Applejack is another matter entirely.

Have questions regarding the story? Visit the Q&A blog!

Now with a TVTropes page.

"PaulAsaran’s attention to detail and use of repetition, flashback, and expression to create an unforgettable story is something I’m still trying to get a handle on in my own work." — leeroy_glBZ

"Impressed every step of the way. Thoroughly good writing." — Shrink Laureate

Inspired 100% by the cover art. The idea jumped into my skull and refused to leave until it was written out.

Props to my wonderful pre-readers: SorenPixels, NaiadSagaIotaOar, and Wanderer D!

Cover art used with permission from LooknamTCN, verily one of the best RariJack artists ever. Check out their immensely enjoyable Tumblr.

This story is a sequel to Saving Sunset Shimmer

Faced with Nightmare Moon's approaching return, Twilight, Tempest, and their classmates need help from an expert on the subject... a pony named Moondancer. There's just one problem: it's the last thing Moondancer wants to talk about...

For more of this AU, see: Trixie Luna Moon

And also check out the series, beginning with Not Exactly Friends.

Celestia is a princess, elegant, regal, and certainly not secretly trying to mess with everyone around her for her own amusement...

Brought to you by watching Jordanis play Untitled Goose Game a bunch. Plus having Celestia be the goose instead of making Celestia deal with the goose was also his idea, and he edited it super well, so pretty much this is Jordanis' story, I just wrote bits of it.

Story is now complete!

This story is a sequel to Never Any Doubt

Needing advice on an important project, Twilight, Tempest, and their friends work to reopen the mirror portal, and rescue a former student of Celestia's... Sunset Shimmer.

Note: This story assumes the backstory for Sunset presented in: Sunset -- Part I and Part II.

For more of this AU, see: By the Light of the Moon

And also check out the series, beginning with Not Exactly Friends.

This story is a sequel to Sunset -- Part I

On the other side of the mirror, Sunset unexpectedly discovers a world that offers everything she could have hoped for and more... if only she could see the answer that's standing right in front of her...

An origin story for Sunset Shimmer, as a basis for her episode of the Not Exactly Friends series: Saving Sunset Shimmer

Sunset Shimmer never intended to hurt anyone. She simply had a dream of who she wanted to be. And nothing's more gut-wrenching than realizing real life simply doesn't include your life-long dream...

An origin story for Sunset Shimmer, as a basis for her episode of the Not Exactly Friends series. (Note: I treat the comics backstory as helpful guidance here, rather than canon.)

For more in this timeline, see: Sunset -- Part II

This story is a sequel to Without Your Cutie Mark

The Great and Powerful Trixie has her eye on a place in Twilight's circle of friends at Celestia's School... and then suddenly discovers it may be her only chance to stay at the School...

For more of this AU, see: Saving Sunset Shimmer (Note: You could also optionally take a detour through its backstory prequels: Sunset -- Part I and Part II.)

And check out the series, beginning with Not Exactly Friends.

Special talents.
That thing that sets ponies apart from each other and gives them a path in life. The one thing that they excel at, broadcast to the world by their cutie mark.
The spectrum of special talents is as wide as the day is long and twice as varied as you think it is.
But, interesting talent or mundane, everypony needs a job to put food on the table and not every talent lends itself to one.

After all, not everyone can be blessed with specific high-demand talents like "growing plants" or "cleaning" or "flying". Even less often does a pony get a particularly nebulous concept or multi-faceted skill like "magic" or "partying" that can apply to any number of jobs.

Sometimes, no matter how good you are at what you do, it's just not something you can make a career out of.

But for those unlucky few, there's a group filled with other ponies who face the same problem that they do.

---

Editted and proofread by the wonderfully helpful NecroHorse!

This story is a sequel to Not Exactly Friends

On a dark night, in a gathering storm, Tempest waits to walk Twilight back to her room... and is almost certain that something is out there, watching her...

For more of this AU, see: Without Your Cutie Mark

And also check out the series, beginning with Not Exactly Friends.