Twilight, having just been through a harrowing time-travel ordeal thanks to Starlight, is finally able to enjoy some time with her friends. And naturally, they're keen to know of what she and Spike saw in all those parallel versions of Equestria, with one in particular catching their interest.

Starlight Glimmer runs out of coffee.

Equestria may never recover.

Pre-read by Daemon of Decay.

This story is a sequel to The Dresden Fillies: False Masks

It's been a while since the girls have seen their good friend Harry Dresden. Discord escaped, Luna attended her first Nightmare Night, the Royal Wedding was crashed by hordes of changelings, and Pinkie Pie threw a statistically improbable number of parties. They tried inviting Dresden, but between his new job and new apprentice, he always claimed to be too busy. The solution was obvious; if he couldn't come to his friends, they needed to go visit him. Besides, they say Earth is lovely this time of year. What could go wrong?

Heroes.

Whether they are supermen with incredible strength and speed or alicorn princesses with the power of magic, they fight a never ending battle to uphold truth, justice and friendship. They are the pillars of the world, keeping it safe when all else fails.

But what if those six pillars are reduced to one? Can a single hero hold up the weight of the world? That is what the new ruler of Equestria Twilight is trying to figure out when a superhero enters her life. Strong, fast, impossibly white teeth, the hero All Might is the lone pillar that holds up his world. And perhaps this hero can show her how to be that lone pillar.

Or perhaps she will show him why one pillar cannot stand alone.

First you're born, and then you're recorded in triplicate. The end of labor is the start of a very long paper trail, because nopony can exist without being documented. Sending copies of a new foal's documents to the Herdbook Registry is perfectly normal. And of course, in order to make sure there's nothing strange going on, that paperwork gets reviewed. Which is done by bureaucrats who establish absolute control inside their office while having no idea of what's happening in the actual world. So as far as they're concerned, the forms associated with somepony named 'Flurry Heart'...

Don't tell them. It's funnier if they find out on their own.

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages. (Due to minimal story length, this was a pledge freebie.))

Realistically, they have options. For example, they could flee to another country, except that the Princesses could track them down and besides, one of those borders just effectively closed. There's probably some caves around which nopony's ever fully explored. A life spent reeking of fur dye might be possible. Or they can just stay in the hallway outside the throne room, waiting to be called in so they can explain how their good intentions turned that last mission into the biggest fiasco in Bearer history.

...so where were those caves again?

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)

Cover art taken from an image created by ExitMothership. Commission information can be found here.

Nightmare Moon captures Celestia. Celestia is kind of annoyed.

Spoilers, look at the tags.

Chrysalis was blasted from Canterlot by Shining’s and Cadance’s love for each other, but she hasn’t lost yet, she still has a secret weapon against them.

A weapon that only an ancient love-sucking being with a keen mind and an army of spies can wield; a deep understanding of the pony’s laws.

So, she arms herself with a business suit, glasses, and a briefcase full of documents, and marches on towards Canterlot.

Featured 4/20/2020, this time was intentional!

Narrated by StraightToThePointStudio: Narration

Reviewed by Javarod: Review

Now translated to russian! by GrandCat

On the longest day, of the thousandth year, the stars aided in her escape.

Then Nightmare Moon looked out upon the land that would soon be her empire, and found a world she no longer existed in. In a thousand years, she had been all but forgotten.
She could conquer, and continue to be hated. She could put aside her pride, and be redundant. Or, she could disappear, and fade into the glorious night.

AN: While Princess of Equestria takes place before this, neither are required reading for the other. Rather, they complement each other.

Luna has a secret.

A secret that she's kept close to her heart ever since her return from the moon, a secret she's hidden for so long that she's no longer even sure if it's real. At least until it returns to haunt her, and she has no choice but to confide in Celestia and hope her sister trusts that she hasn't gone mad.

It's time to tell Celestia about the circles.