A letter from Celestia interrupts one of Pinkie's parties with disturbing news. Now friendships will be pushed to the limit as Twilight struggles to uncover which of her friends is not who, or even what, she appears to be.

(While not a romance, this does contain a shipped pair)

in Russian

An angry old stallion frustrates the citizens of Ponyville with his insulting, cantankerous ways. Nopony can stand him, including Princess Twilight and her circle of friends. All the while, Fluttershy quietly looks on.

Sugarcube Corner has been closed for a week and the only clue as to what is going on is a letter sent to Rainbow Dash.

This is my entry into The More Most Dangerous Game contest.

It's under the Cupcakes prompt but is NOT a retelling of Cupcakes.

For hundreds of years, Twilight Sparkle has managed to go through her life by working day and night as the sole ruler of Equestria. Sensing her life coming to an end, Twilight looks back at her achievements and believes like something is missing since the last of her loved ones died.

One day, Twilight finds some old relics with her great-great-great-great-great granddaughter with one of them being her old doll, Smartypants. Memories of the time she used to play with her favorite doll, even bringing it to life with a spell, flood her as long-buried emotions come out. It is with Smartypants that Twilight will find what she has been missing all this time.

***

Inspired by BerrryPAWNCH's Growing Pains Comic, who I thank for the permission to do this fic.

Thanks to my Editors: Darth Link 22, First Down, Chaotic Note, BronyWriter, and Socks

Daring Do cannot believe her luck when she is asked to help explore the most ancient tomb known to ponykind. But terrible danger awaits her, for beneath the earth rests something beyond equine understanding.

Warning: comments contain ending spoilers.

TVTropes page.
Alternate ending by Duplex Fields.
Archived in the Pony Fiction Vault.
Reviews:
One Man's Pony Ramblings
Louder Yay
PresentPerfect
The Royal Guard
Cleverpun's Critique Corner
The Goodfic Bin

Princess Celestia writes a report to her teacher on what she has learned about mortality.

On EQD Sept. 7, 2012.
Hungarian translation by Shidotoku
Spanish translation by SPANIARD KIWI

Once upon a time, everypony spoke the same language.

Then came Discord, and everything changed. Was it a malicious prank? Boredom? An attempt to teach everypony a lesson? We can't ask him, because he's gone, and who knows when he'll be back.

If language is the glue that holds society together, what happens when it turns to sand?

Winner of the October Writeoff competition, "Illusion of Choice."

After a harrowing and dangerous quest, Twilight Sparkle and her friends have recovered Excelsior's Ecstatic Codex from an evil zebra cult intent on ending the world. The Codex, one of the greatest works of dark magic ever forged, carries within its pages a limitless collection of vile, twisted spells, all specially devised for anypony who opens the cover.

What do you do with a book of dark magic? If you're Twilight Sparkle, you put it in your library. Because that's where books go.

After all, books are for everypony.

There's an old book that's falling apart. Twilight wants to copy it down to preserve it. But it needs to be as accurate and precise as possible, to preserve the state of the original. That shouldn't be too hard. After all, it's not like the text will change whenever she looks away.

Right?

It was supposed to be an easy delve. In, explore, and out.

Instead Daring Do finds herself wandering through an endless corridor, wishing for nothing more than to see the sky once more. And when she reaches the end of the maze, she discovers something waiting for her that hasn't felt the sun for a long, long time. Something very lonely.

And hungry.