It is the day of the Summer Sun Celebration, and Princess Celestia is coming to Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle is overseeing preparations yet again, and has meticulously planned every last detail to ensure that everything is perfect for her mentor's arrival. Nothing is going to go wrong.

Except when the big day comes, Twilight has gotten four hours of sleep and Fluttershy is nowhere to be found. Pinkie Pie sets off after her with nothing but a dark coat and the voice of a chain-smoking stallion, and the Apples and the Carrots are at each other's throats while Rainbow Dash is attempting to fill in for Fluttershy.

As her plans collapse around her and Ponyville descends into chaos, Twilight Sparkle must focus on obtaining the one thing that can set everything right: the all-powerful, awe-inspiring magic of caffeine.

Six Star Equestria Daily Feature

After the Changeling invasion, Celestia and Luna make the decision to have Twilight investigate the Elements of Harmony and solve the mystery of their power.

A thousand years later, Rainbow Dash awakens in a world she does not recognize. She has no idea how or why she came to be there. She does not know the language, the geography or any of the rules of this new time. She soon finds allies in Star Fall, a scholarly pegasus whose Talent is Magic, and Astrid, Star Fall's Griffin guardian. Together they set out to discover why Dash has been sent to the future, and how she might return to when she belongs.

War threatens the nations, a Nightmare stalks the shadows, and Rainbow Dash's arrival has turned her into a wild card in a deadly game that pits the law on both sides of a broken Equestria against a mysterious criminal figure, Max Cash. Yet the stakes are higher than anyone knows, for in her research Twilight Sparkle discovered a dark secret about the Elements, something that will shake the foundations of the world.

Cover image by SierraEx
Has a TvTropes page

This story is a sequel to Where Loyalties Lie: Honor Guard

After risking her own life in a daring adventure across the world to save Princess Luna, Rainbow Dash wants nothing more than for her life to return to normal. In her mind, what happened is in the past, and she wants nothing more to do with it. But a past abandoned is doomed to be repeated, and with an ancient threat rising beneath the snows, Rainbow may be the only mare who can truly save Equestria.

A Price of Loyalty story.
No longer canon to the 'PoL' universe; see author's note on chapter 1.

Twilight reads a book about literature and, analysing her world, decides that everything she does is planned by someone other than her.

She does not take it very well.

Rated Everyone for adult humour.

now with a reading

Rainbow Dash's courage and ego are put to the test when Spitfire challenges her to a race through obstacles only expert pegasi dare to face.

Twilight Sparkle realizes that Rainbow Dash has been keeping a secret from her ever since the Mare Do Well incident. When she goes to confront her about it, she finds out more than she bargained for. And then Twilight reveals that she's been keeping something from her friends ever since the Royal Wedding. Now everything is out there; harsh words have been spoken and a once strong friendship hangs in the balance.

Something is eating at Rainbow Dash. Ever since the Royal Wedding in Canterlot, she's been quiet, aloof, and distracted. After a long day's work of shaping the rainclouds over Ponyville, she can no longer keep the truth bottled in. The only problem is, as a picnic with her close friends looms over the horizon, she's at a loss to find a pony she can comfortably share her thoughts with.

Dismayed after her loss to Chrysalis, Celestia departs the royal wedding reception early, retreating to her royal chambers to console herself with a bottle of wine. Concerned for her sister, Luna soon follows to check up on her...

(Rated Teen for tipsy princesses, and thanks to Junglepony for the cover art!)

In the heat of the moment, some ponies have a habit of letting things out. Sometimes they are minor things that most just shrug off and forget about in a matter of milliseconds. Sometimes they are things that, once revealed, shake the very foundation of their existence.

Rarity's latest revelation falls into the latter.

"Equestria's Guard: the Bravest and the Best. Do you have what it takes?"

So the advertisements say. When Rainbow Dash saves the life of Princess Luna, however, she quickly comes to learn that there's a lot more to the guard than what everypony knows. As she faces down threats to her friends, her Princesses, and her country, Rainbow will have to decide exactly who she is loyal to.

A Price of Loyalty story.