When Twilight visits Celestia's private hall of stained-glass windows, each bearing the image of a long-gone friend, one in particular catches her eye.

Who was this pony?

Why was she so important to Celestia?

And why does she look so familiar?

There is now a Spanish translation of this story, courtesy of Spaniard Kiwi

Twilight Sparkle is a happy pony. With the help of her friends she defeated Tirek. She has a shiny new castle, the kingdom is safe, and she knows the reason behind her ascension. What more could a young princess want?

She is happy, she tells herself as she digs through the ruins of her home. She is so happy she can barely smell the ashes any more.

But in those ashes she finds something unexpected: a small porcelain vase, and with it a decade's worth of unspoken questions. A mystery hiding beneath her hooves, waiting to be put to rest.

Winner of the November Writeoff event.

When she was birthed with horn and wings she was thought to be a pegacorn, a rare and blessed blending of the tribes, whose long life and power brought wealth and stature.

Then the guards came, seeking the first alicorn born in over a thousand years.

An entry for The Most Dangerous Game contest
Now archived in Twilight's Library

At what should have been a routine doctor's visit, Applejack learns that she can never bear foals of her own. After an emotional breakdown, her friends do their best to calm her.

However, as the discussion develops, nopony is prepared for Twilight's revelation: the grand event which brought them together has left a hidden scar within each of them.

Tempers flare, relationships are strained, and the strength of their friendship is tested as each must come to terms with her newfound sterility.

Now on Equestria Daily
and Twilight's Library

Thanks to these wonderful people for all their help

Cover artist
MuffinExplosion

Editors:
NotMurphy
Georg
Ping111
ocalhoun

Prereadering and suggestions from:
Eakin
Distaff Pope
John Perry
Cartsbeforehorses
JaketheArmyGuy

Princess Celestia sends Twilight Sparkle a letter, asking the same question she always does. Maybe a visit from Spike will prompt her to give an answer at last.

Lengthened version of the 6th-place finisher in the /fic/ mini write-off "One Little Mistake."

Thanks to The Descendant for reading over this for me and making sure it had something useful to say.

Featured on Equestria Daily!

Everypony remembers Tirek, the infamous, magic-stealing monster that walked Equestria all those years ago. However, few remember his brother, or the sacrifice he made to secure the future of ponykind.

Spike on the other hand remembers Scorpan quite well. Far more than he should, in fact. When memories from the distant past begin to emerge, memories of Scorpan and a dragon that looks uncannily similar to Spike, he has many questions, and very few answers.

Why does Spike have memories of a time eons past, and more importantly, why does the name ‘Scorpan’ sound so familiar?

Special thanks to Marshal Twilight for helping me touch up the story and plot, as well as editing.

In the aftermath of her battle against Tirek, Twilight Sparkle is unwell. She wants more. She needs more. And she is afraid of what others might think of her.

But even in the midst of her growing despair that she has betrayed everything she stood for, she learns something about friendship and what it means to be an alicorn.

After finishing her portion of the day's harvest in record time, Applejack heads home early to check on how Apple Bloom's doing alone in their house. What she discovers once she gets there shocks her right to her core, and what happens afterwards changes the way she sees her little sister forever.

First runner-up in Obselescence's The Most Dangerous Game contest, using the prompt "An OC and a major canon character (in this case, Apple Bloom) fall in love with each other."

After putting on the Element of Magic, Sunset Shimmer was shown just how much of a monster she really is. But that wasn't all the Elements did to her.

Sunset has now been forced to serve penance by answering any question truthfully and by doing anything asked of her, whether she wants to or not.

And she really doesn't want to.

Until all of the hatred in her heart is gone, Sunset is at the whim of her peers, unbeknownst to them of course. Can her new "friends" help her down the road to redemption?

If not, there's always that other Twilight Sparkle she keeps running into.

Current editor: Nomad_Sigma
Guest editors: Cerulean Voice, Flint Sparks, Starlight Nova, and Sholan
Extra thanks to Icarus_Gizmo, JustAnotherTimeLord, and HenryAnthonyCourtler

Cover art customized by Amber Spark!

Now with it's own TV Tropes page!
Posted on EQD June 25, 2014
Wanna read it in French?
Or, read the E-Pub version here or the online version here
Now available in print format!

It's been more than a thousand years since the Mane Six's adventures in Ponyville, and things look very different. Equestria is gone, devoured by chaos. Nightmare creatures roam the lands, changelings prey on the few remaining pony settlements, and all trace of the peace and harmony during Princess Celestia's reign has vanished.

Until, that is, a small group of ponies set out to map the Tangle, and find a slumbering dragon inside. Now Spike, a millenium out of his time and with only his memories to comfort him, is ponykind's only hope. Together, he and his new friends set out to find the one pony who can set things right: Twilight Sparkle.

Cover art by the inestimable TheAuthorGl1m0.

Featured by The Royal Guard on February 4th, 2014.

[img]http://tinyurl.com/kaxbtuk[/img]
AUTHOR'S NOTES

- Beware of spoilers in the comment section!
- Currently undergoing heavy revision for chapters nineteen and onward. The "lost" chapters - that is, the story as it was originally published - can be found here.