Celestia's chief aide and advisor is retiring. Celestia has certain requirements for the position, so she must come up with a novel way of testing the applicants.

Being an alicorn is wonderful... except when it isn't. There are plenty of things that put a damper on limitless vistas of possibility afforded by such a long life: Court, mortal needs and expectations, the occasional decade of ennui.

And the dreams, of course. Agelessness comes with its own special kind of dreaming. Celestia finds that her own "Inner Court" is a bit too literal, and it--and she--are troubled at the prospect of a near-immortal Twilight Sparkle.

If only she could articulate exactly why that was.

art by spectralunicorn

Part of the Monophysite Quartet, which also includes Celestia Isn't Real, Have You Considered My Servant, Twilight?, and The Esoteric Rites of Darkness. All four stories have a common origin point in an old story idea I called "Monophysite" and touch on who or what Celestia really is in some way. They are otherwise unrelated.

This story is a sequel to The Sun Also Surprises

Picking up where The Sun Also Surprises left off, we continue to witness the romance of swans.

Restored content!

Private Gosling, now courting Princess Celestia, must learn to play a difficult and sometimes dangerous game. Gosling, known for being cool, calm, and collected under pressure, soon finds that he is in over his head. Nobles, the press, one somewhat miffed prince, plus one terrifying Night Princess who roams the castle halls at night all continue to test him and try his patience.

Princess Celestia, a seasoned veteran of the game, instead faces an internal set of challenges.

Will the two of them overcome the odds or will this budding romance end in heartbreak?

An entry in the Weedverse.

Gosling

More Gosling.

Princess Celestia, who is feeling a little lonely, asks Princess Cadance for a little help in finding a special somepony.

Along the way, Princess Celestia rediscovers herself.

An entry in the Weedverse.

This story is a sequel to The Enforcer and Her Blackmailers

After the crystalling, after the banquets, after the private party, Starlight gets her chance to be alone with Sunburst. They realize that they share two things in common: their friendship and a different perspective on what happened that day he got his cutie mark. It leaves the closeness Starlight desires in peril.

While it contains minor spoilers for The Enforcer and Her Blackmailers, the story was written to be enjoyed standalone. It is set in Season 6 Episode 2 after the crystalling and before the train ride. It is intended to be in-canon, and should remain so until such time as we meet Starlight's family. Rated Teen for innuendo.

Cover Art (c)2016 by Misty Dash. Hover over the cover image and click SOURCE to display Misty Dash's Deviant Art page.

Sunset Shimmer, twice savior of Canterlot High who earned her wings by using the combined magic of the Earth elements of harmony to save the world from Twilight Sparkle (you know... the one with the glasses). She's offered to help Twilight's (you know.. the alicorn Princess of Friendship) new student learn about friendship while the whole crew embarks on a trip to the Crystal Empire. This should be a fairly relaxing and stress free trip. Right? RIGHT?!

It should go without saying, but MAJOR spoilers to the season 6 premier.

Sunset vector by mighty355. Other cover art stuff by Novel Idea!

Trying to patrol the dreams of every pony in Equestria can be stressful. To ease her burden, Luna retools the Tantabus to turn nightmares into good dreams instead of vice versa. Aware of her mistakes from last time, she tests it out thoroughly, making sure there are no unexpected behaviors. And as far as she can tell, there are none.

Except that it's started calling her "Mom".

Faced with the prospect of possibly creating life, Luna seeks out Twilight's advice and assistance. With a little luck, they can get this all sorted out before the sun rises.

During her time in the human world, Sunset Shimmer has experienced many things.

Including, unfortunately, the frustration of having to deal with incompetent, negligent, or just plain rude package delivery service.

After putting up with one package delivery nightmare too many, Sunset Shimmer decides enough is enough.

Now, it's time to make a delivery of her own.

For Zef.

This story is a sequel to The Most Annoying Infestation

Rainbow Dash's plan was just to relax and read Daring Do books all night long. Too bad it was interupted by a certain bat pony colt, begging "Blue Mommy" to have a sleepover with him.

This is a contest entry for ocalhoun's Big 250k Contest.

Review by MixMassBasher

Awesome Reading by Winged T. Spears

The perfect bioweapon: takes effect within minutes of exposure, has a 100% success rate, and those exposed spread it wherever they go. Armed with this powerful new weapon, an evil organization attempts to bring about a reign of terror unlike any seen in the world before. Unfortunately, the perfect weapon doesn't work quite as intended. Instead of killing its victims, it changes them into ponies.

Tiny, adorable ponies.

The world is doomed.

This story was written for the Transformations group story contest. It was originally published under the name "Consequences," though this story has been heavily revised since then.

Thanks to my usual crew Two Bit and Sparktail for the editing, and for everyone who submitted feedback on the original contest entry. As usual, my coverart is by the fantastic Zutcha, so go ahead and check him out of you haven't already! The story's changed a great deal since then, hopefully for the better.