Lightning Dust has been in a bit of a rut ever since getting kicked out of the Wonderbolt Academy. Day after day, she's been sticking to a strict exercise regimen under the guidance of Cloudsdale's premier personal trainer, Haymaker. Her hope is that she'll unlock her true potential and show Haymaker how awesome she is, thus prompting him to use his connections to get her back into the Wonderbolts. No matter how many times Haymaker tells her it's impossible, Lightning simply refuses to listen.

Then one fateful night, Lightning Dust's training is interrupted by the appearance of her greatest idol, Wind Rider. It turns out he too has difficulty accepting reality, and he has his own, more nefarious schemes to get himself back in the game. Haymaker sees this as his last chance to save Lightning Dust from walking Wind Rider's path. And if that means rubbing salt in a few wounds and shattering a few dreams, then so be it.

Cover art provided by the amazingly talented Cyrano.

Princess Twilight Sparkle lay there in anguished silence for almost a minute until she decided to let Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and me help her. It came out as a whisper: "My special talent isn't magic." Of all the ponies we might help, I had never imagined our first might be Twilight, or that it would essential for Equestria that we got it right.

Featured (as high as #2) from Oct 18th through Oct 22nd 2015 for 100 hours.
Thank you everypony!

In the wake of the Canterlot Wedding, Fluttershy has to ask Twilight a very difficult question.

Now available in spanish! Spinoff stories can be found in Would It Matter If I Made This Group?

Now with a TVTropes page.

Apple is a funny word, one that Winona doesn't quite understand.

Her family uses it to refer to food, to trees, to themselves and to each other. It's all very inconsistent.

But whether she understands it or not, she'll always be there for the pony she knows as Little Apple.

Luna has been Vice Principal of Canterlot High School for years, and she couldn't be happier. So she tells herself, and so she will keep telling herself, until she believes it.

However, after the Battle of the Bands, Luna finds a kindred spirit in the last place she would ever have thought to look.

And that kindred spirit isn't afraid to tell Luna what she really thinks.

Editing duties courtesy of nanashi_jones.

Twilight does some research into her tried and true teleportation spell.

Twilight faces the thought of immortality with her usual aplomb: falling down into a ball of misery and confusion about her role, and what she will do in the eventual absence of her friends and family.

That is, until a much older Twilight Sparkle takes the time to talk to her.

Twilight Sparkle asks each of her friends, "Do you believe in God?"

This story is a sequel to If You Came to Conquer

Princess Nightmare Moon had tried to keep it secret. She had suppressed her power, feigned ignorance, played the outdated fool at every opportunity. She should have known that something like this would happen. A threat that would reveal her, whether she played dumb or not.

If she had to reveal herself, then at least she could protect Equestria in the process. She nocked the arrow. The bow felt so flimsy, but she could not risk him absorbing a spell. She laced magic across the arrow and the string and the air, enough to make it fly faster and aim smoother. She sighted him easily; Tirek was a large target. Now he only had to turn around. An arrow to the spine would kill him simply and instantly, no matter how much magic he had absorbed.

Once he was dead, the hard part would come: explaining herself to Celestia.

Prereading thanks; Meta Four, Blank!, Yami Vizzini, and especially Craine

Russian translation by Doof
Chinese Translation by Dreams Set Free

Comments contain spoilers.

Nightmare Moon won. She defeated Celestia, broke the Elements, banished the sun. This all happened a very long time ago. So long ago, that she has had plenty of time to change her mind.

Of course, fixing our mistakes is never so simple, and never without consequences. Even with particularly potent help.

"If you came to conquer, you'll be king for a day. / But you too will deteriorate and quickly fade away."
— "No Control" by Bad Religion

A big thanks to Craine, Sorren, and Idylia for prereading and editing. If you enjoyed the story, don't forget to check out their pages.

Equestria Daily
Royal Canterlot Library (FIMfic version)
Russian translation by Doof
Chinese translation by Dreams Set Free

Kitsune Heart has done a dramatic reading of this story! Find it over here.
ObabScribbler has done a dramatic reading of this story! It includes a full cast of voice actors. Find it over here.

Comments contain spoilers.