It is Twilight Sparkle's first night as a princess of Equestria, and she cannot sleep. As the excitement she felt during coronation fades away, it gives way to a deeper anxiety. The young alicorn lies awake, her thoughts dwelling on her new destiny, her responsibilities, her fears, and her own mortality.

Or, as the case may be, her lack of it.

As morning draws nearer, Twilight leaves her bed haunted by a question, and so she decides to seek out the one pony who can answer it.

Now has a dramatic reading on Youtube! Major props to Goombasa.

After the defeat of Tirek, Equestria is safe once more, but Luna can sense that her sister is troubled. When Celestia retreats to the starry realm of ascension in order to look upon the past, Luna joins her to discover what is bothering her.

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

Twilight Velvet loves her daughter with all her heart; she outshines her in every way, is the prized student of Princess Celestia, and will no doubt go on to have an impact on Equestria the likes of which has never been seen before and never will be again. But despite Twilight Velvet's pride and love for Twilight Sparkle, somber thoughts weigh heavily on her mind when her daughter comes to visit.

Why does Velvet feel so inadequate? Why can't she be to her daughter what Princess Celestia is to her? What is the measure of a mother?

Set prior to Season 1. Celestia doesn't physically appear but is mentioned extensively.

This story is a sequel to One Friend

Princess Luna pays Twilight a visit.

Now with a reading, courtesy of PresentPerfect!

Twilight, my Faithful Student, my friend, if there is anypony that can create a world of Harmony, true Harmony, it is you.

More than a thousand years ago, my sister and I sought to create a perfect world, a world ruled by Harmony. A world free of evil. We were powerful and believed ourselves above the laws that governed this world. But this world is governed by the laws of Magic, and Magic, it seems, demands balance.

Where there is Light, there is Darkness.
Where there is Order, there is Chaos.
For there to be Love, there must be Hate.
For every Dream, there is a Nightmare.
Each begets the other.

And like boiling water over a fire, each can extinguish the other.

I should not have been surprised when the day came that the evil I had to fight was my own sister. It was the world restoring the balance we so foalishly ignored.

Perhaps, it is for this balance that I now stay my hoof. I have chosen to have you,Twilight Sparkle, act in my stead as the evils I thought vanquished, inevitably return to Equestria. It is in hopes that you may learn this balance, that you may learn from my mistakes. It is not something I alone can teach you, when I myself still understand so little. It is why I must now rely on the help of an old nemesis.

He intends to take you away, my protégé, and make you his own. You must not succumb to his influence. Yet if you are to learn the balance that is at the essences of all things, it will be through him. For the future of Equestria and for the sake of Friendship, you must prevail.

I hope that some day you can forgive me.

Twilight Sparkle has been imprisoned for the murder of King Sombra in retaliation to the murder of her own brother. Locked away in solitary confinement with no visitation for nearly half a year, Twilight begins to believe that she's all alone, that is until Rainbow Dash sneaks into her cell on Hearts and Hooves Day.

Based on real life events. Inspired by "Painkiller" as made famous by Three Days Grace, "Say it ain't so" as made famous by Weezer and "Behind Blue Eyes" as made famous by The Who. Dedicated to someone very special to me.

Edited by: Crystal Moose, and I can't even describe how grateful I am.

The cover art was drawn by me.

Story One of the upcoming Painkiller Series

For more than a millennium, it was believed that the princesses were immortal. But as time marched ever forward, it become clear that even the alicorns won't live forever.

Princess Celestia is at the end of her life.

While Equestria must find a way to cope with this new reality, those that are truly suffering are those closest to her. None are struggling as much as her sister, Princess Luna. Not only is she forced to handle the duties of ruling Equestria and taking care of the transition, she must also cope with the imminent death of her beloved sister.

Image source.

Warning: comments may contain spoilers.

How do you care for someone who can only try to harm you? How much do you let yourself change when all you want is for things to go back to the way they were? Where is the line between devotion and obsession? What do you do when your closest friend becomes a monster?

Spike doesn't know.
But he tries.

Now with a sequel.

When Pinkie came knocking at her castle door, Twilight herself was a little surprised. She had brought her a gift. But the older mare had a strange, dark mood about her. Shouldn't Twilight be happy, anyway? Yet when she opens the present, it just might be the most heartbreaking thing she has ever recieved.

Twilight takes a walk in the woods near Canterlot to clear her mind, when a mischievous little phoenix starts dropping chestnut shells on her head. Quite a familiar mischievous little phoenix.

Somewhat inspired by the song "Evermore" by Alison Krauss, a story to perhaps make its reader smile.

Thanks go to Skywriter, GhostOfHeraclitus, and "Nettle" for pre-reading; and Ziom05 of deviantART for permission to use "Sun Springs" as the cover art.