This story is a sequel to A Foreign Education

Twilight was sixteen when she became an alicorn. She hasn't aged a day since. Some ponies ask her what it's like, not being able to grow up.

Twilight can't really say. She's never known anything else.

Sunset Shimmer is having the worst day of her life. She used to be important. She was the personal student of Princess Celestia. She was a future leader of Equestria. She was the kind of mare that everypony envied.

Today, it's all crashing down around her.

Alternate Universe: What if Sunset Shimmer hadn't gone through the mirror?

Now with an audio reading by Skijarama!

Now with a print version available for order!

A purple Alicorn shows up one night and then vanishes into thin air. Many wouldn't think anything of it besides how strange it was.

Not Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash has met that Alicorn before.

The implication it brings and the guilt that follows leaves Rainbow Dash with questions weighing on her mind.

Luckily, in the crushing pain of reality, she still has friends.

***

Cover art created by the extremely talented invertigo and paid for by the amazingly awesome Shipmun. Oh my gosh it's just so cool.

The sirens are defeated and Sunset Shimmer has restored her magic. All's well and good, right?

Of course not. What begins with Sunset's friends wanting to have a very important talk with her will escalate until the fate of at least one world hangs in the balance.

Rated Teen for cosmic calamities, trace amounts of waifu theft, and a bit more skin than Hasbro is likely to show. Cover by iisaw.

The Story Shuffle short stories "Aftershock" and "Rock On" take place in the same continuity as this story. The background details of "Fish Out of Water" apply, but the story itself does not.

The portal between Equestria and Sunset Shimmer’s world has closed unexpectedly. Despite Twilight and Sunset’s best efforts, the girls have been unable to come up with a solution. Running low on pages to talk across the dimensional rift, Twilight reads what might be Sunset’s final message to her. However much to Twilight’s surprise, there’s also another message to a different pony.

Inspired by a conversation with Tired Old Man and the story The Last Page, with apologies to Holy.

To Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia, it is a simple surprise visit to Canterlot. To the ponies of the Equestrian Civil Service, it is twenty-four hours of chaos, politics, weaponized dessert, politics, underhooved manipulation of media, politics, and things batrachian and tentacular. Who said bureaucracy isn't exciting?

No one alive today can say where she came from; simply that she has always been there.

And yet, few ponies have had a greater impact on Princess Celestia's life than Raven, her most faithful aide.

Inspired by and based off of a headcanon put forth by Heir-of-Rick, though perhaps a bit less insidious than what he had in mind. He very kindly provided an alternate version of his image for me to use as my cover image! Text added by me.

All comments and criticism very welcome!

Featured in the Royal Canterlot Library! Go there to read the interview for some behind-the-scenes info on this story!

Translations: Chinese, Spanish!

Sunset and Celestia have a conversation.

It's a perfect day in the life of Twilight Sparkle. Ponyville's chief librarian has everything she wants: her books, her studies, a faithful dragon assistant, and the opportunity to go visit Sugarcube Corner on a beautiful afternoon, hanging out with the best friends that a young unicorn could ever ask for.

And yet, in spite of all this, Twilight has the distinct feeling that something is missing...

Season 5 Finale-related.
So many realities. So many horrible futures. But in yet another alternate timeline, Twilight finds herself in the Golden Oak Library with the Princess of Friendship: Sunset Shimmer. Rather than the awful futures she's seen before, she now finds herself in a timeline that actually seems nice. But that means she has a tough decision to make...

-Awesome cover art used with permission from the amazingly talented Huussii (Teemu Husso).
-Based on an idea from Silver Quill.
-Featured as of 12/8/15! Thank you to all the readers!
-Editors: GenerousGhibli and E3gner