If there's anyone who has learned the importance of friendship, it's Sunset. And if there's one thing she loves more than her friends, it's spending time with them. And this week is no different.

Sunset's favorite jacket is looking pretty beaten up after that whole rainbow laser explosion, and she doesn't know the first thing about fixing leather. Obviously she knows someone who could help her, someone who's already agreed to be her friend. But after everything she's done, she doesn't really think she's in a position to be asking favors. She hasn't earned anyone's friendship yet, and she certainly doesn't deserve anyone's help. Still, she's got no other options. So she'll just have to swallow her pride and beg Rarity to take some pity on her.
Rarity certainly has her work cut out explaining to her how friendship works.

Set after Equestria Girls, but before Rainbow Rocks. No shipping. Just awkward, self-loathing Sunset and generous, understanding Rarity.

This is the second story published in a fairy-tale collection gleaned from the ancient stories of Equestria. Like the first such story, The Good King, it is told in the classic fairy-tale style, and once again commentary and analysis have been generously provided by Equestrian royalty (though why they would be so kind as to do so is beyond me... proof, I suppose, that it never hurts to ask!). Though this literary form is far from popular these days, it is nonetheless the form in which these tales have been passed down, and the author is not about to change this. Just as in haute couture, literature is subject to whim and fashion, but some styles are timeless.

I would love to hear from parents who might read this to their young audiences. It is the reaction of the most important critics of all... the children... which is most valuable to such a project.

Princess Celestia, tired of the constant pressure that ruling a nation puts on her, decides to take a day off and let Luna take her responsibilities for a day, something the younger alicorn is more than happy to do. She disguises herself as a pink maned pegasus pony named Sunny Skies and decides to go walking around Canterlot without any supervision. Unfortunately for her, not all parts of Canterlot are as safe as the palace, and she finds herself at the wrong end of a gang of muggers, who decide to kidnap her for a ransom when they see how much money she has on her.

Luna freaks out.

Celestia thinks it's hilarious.

Find this story and more in a print copy! Just click these words here!

Featured on Equestria Daily 8/15/13

Go here for the French translation!

[img]http://i.imgur.com/CUBPvKI.png[/img]

Edited wonderfully by sqarishoctagon and Cloud Hop

Updated cover art by Dominatore

Sometimes extreme measures need to be taken to reassure a friend who is hurting, especially when the hurt is self-inflicted. All it takes is trust.

note: this story was written between season 1 and season 2, and takes place during that time

There's a new night-spot in town and Luna wants to go more than anything. But who shall she go with? What could she wear? And can a princess mingle with ordinary ponies at all?

Surely, scandal is in the air.

NOTE: This story was written between season 1 and season 2, before anybody knew anything about Luna's personality. However, I am not going to revise the story... it is what it is. The extent to which this can be reconciled with Royal Canterlot Voice Luna is in the reader's hands now. Take it for what it is.

Rarity is a pony of many talents. Her greatest goal, though, is not the praise of critics... it is the approval of friends. Can she make the grade in a talent that does not involve a sewing machine? There is only one way to find out, because the proof of the baking is in the eating.

A historical pony "fairy tale" which, like most such fairy tales, is intended as much to instruct as to entertain the young. This ancient story (older than Equestria itself) demonstrates how sovereign rulers can lose touch with those whom they rule, and how to make amends when such things happen. This story is told in a very old style, but its lessons are as applicable today as they were before the Great Equestrian Migration. As this is as much a work of scholarship as it is of storytelling, historical analysis is provided by Royal Archivist the Crown Princess Twilight Sparkle, and commentary graciously provided by Her Royal Highness the Princess Celestia.

Perhaps Sombra would have benefited from having this read to him before his bedtime, and Crystalline history would have been a very different thing indeed.

This story is suitable for all ages, from the youngest just learning to speak to the oldest who wish to feel young again.

What starts out as an ordinary afternoon for Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash quickly turns deadly, as forgotten schemes of vengeance awaken and come to fruition. Rainbow Dash will learn the true purpose of the Wonderbolts, what it means to be a hero, and what it costs.

This is the story of a very ordinary pony's extraordinary day. Carrot Top and Derpy are good friends indeed, and sometimes friendship can lead to wonderful surprises. It can also lead to arguments, frustration, and general grumpiness, of course, and this story has all of those things as well. But mostly, this is a story about the day Carrot Top learned how to fly.

*****

Originally written for the Hearth's Warming Care Package contest. Many thanks to the contestants who commented on this story, to my EqD pre-reader, and especially to Sessalisk, for helping to polish this story to its present state. Cover art by the incomparable Elosande, used with permission.

Fanart here, courtesy of lalieri!

Audiobook here, courtesy of Deftfunk and Scribbler!

Now available in Spanish, courtesy of SPANIARD KIWI.