After the Grand Galloping Gala, when everypony is gathered in the donut shop, Princess Celestia feels the need to apologize for Blueblood's behavior towards Rarity. As she does so, she finds herself getting into a much more in depth account of how she really feels about her nephew.

My story begins where so many others end; with death. None are so familiar with death as I, For I have lived many centuries and died countless times. Untold dozens of lives have ended this same way; a slow decline in health, both physical and mental. This form fades away, my tenuous connection to this world slowly dwindling, like the last glow of a cooling ember. It is here that my tale diverges from the set way of things, for my ember does not simply fade to nothing. Quite the opposite, in fact. With a gout of flame akin to a solar flare, I burn to ash in excruciating pleasure. When the flames subside, I emerge from the ashes as a fledgling.

My name is Philomena.

I am a Phoenix.

And for her, I’d do it all again.

Can you ever truly know somepony, no matter how close they are to you? When a neighboring monarch and friend of Celestia's nears the end, she and her faithful student embark on a journey to seek the aid of those who reside in the lands far beyond Equestrian borders.

Twilight and Celestia only ever wanted to understand what's going on, and to return to their normal lives. But, when they look to solve the greatest riddle ever told, the answers they find... Might not be the ones they seek.

When Cadence told Celestia she was having twins, the princess of the sun wanted to be happy for her. She tried very hard to be happy for her, but she couldn’t. Celestia knew that it was inevitable, but hearing that Cadence was having foals drove a dagger of jealousy through her heart, for she is able to have something that Celestia can never have: foals.

Edited by Rated Ponystar
Proofread by Neko Majin C
Pre-read by RainbowBob

YouTube reading!

Sacrifice.

Celestia and Luna are all too familiar with the concept. It's a concept that has molded them, strengthened them... and in a few tragic cases, betrayed them.

When they are willing to give up everything to save those they hold most dear, what might be left could be just the thing that winds up destroying the sisters in the end.

Awesomely awesome collab partner of awesomeness is Denim_Blue, who I should mention is pretty damn awesome.

Big thanks to the main editors for the story, Jake The Army Guy, Aatxe360 and PaulAsaran!

Art used with permission from this awesome artist which you can find right here!

Twilight Sparkle, scholar and adventurer extraordinaire, has journeyed to the ends of the earth in search of the single most significant find in the history of academia. What she discovers is something else entirely...

Twilight has come to discover that royal politics are complicated, but foreign policy is the worst. When the minotaur king decides to pay a visit, Celestia invites Twilight to be part of her first meeting with a foreign leader. This is her first big chance to impress on an international level... but the king isn't here to celebrate the Magic of Friendship, and he has more than a few choice words for the rookie princess. Twilight might just want to go back to world-saving after this.

Originally written for the write-off prompt "There's Magic in Everything." I was too late, then changed it up, and was left with... well, this. Brilliant!

Thanks to my prereader BlinkyPony along with my editors PaulAsaran and ultra1437 for all their help!

Cover art can be found here.

Only a few weeks have passed since the failed Changeling invasion and their following banishment from Equestria. Celestia, wishing nothing but peace across the entire continent, seeks out Chrysalis in her hive in an effort to sway her, to show her that there are other ways. She knows that convincing Queen Chrysalis that there are other ways than her own will be a difficult ordeal, but she has vowed to try regardless.

An idea that popped up yesterday night... Hope you like it!

Golden Bracer, a Lieutenant of Celestia's Royal Guard, has desires that somewould declare shameful, perhaps even indecent. One day, however, these desires find him invited into Princess Celestia's own private quarters. With his honor as a guardspony on the line, Golden Bracer can only hope to keep his secret safe.

A young Equestrian Guard recruit is ordered to attend - of all things - the retirement party of a complete stranger.

However, things at the party turn out to be not quite what he expected. As the night progresses, he learns some valuable lessons about himself and just what the duties of being a Guardspony in Her Eternal Princesses' Royal Guards entails.

(A slightly humorous yet slightly bittersweet look at the life and traditions of the Royal Guard)