With the newest bio-engineering technologies available in any pharmacy, getting body modifications has never been easier and painless.

Take a pill, close your eyes, count to ten. Now you can enjoy your pretty pony ears for a couple of days. Animale is trending - it's cheap, cute, and safe.

99.8% of the time...

This story is a prequel to What does it mean to be?

Twilight Sparkle has a problem.
And she needs to fix it.

Applejack finally gets time to herself while her family’s gone on a trip. However, instead of taking the time to relax on her own, she decides to invite Twilight over. After a long time of not seeing each other, they both regret not having spent more time together in the past, and do their best to remedy that.

_{Narcotics tag is for casual drinking. No inebriation.}

_{Cover art made by an AI, edited by me just a bit to make two blobs that were there look like Twi and AJ hehe.}

Limestone Pie goes to Rockville to enjoy the Friday night.

Things only go down from there.

===
Preread by Bootsy Slickmane and Dragonborne Fox.
Additional edits by kalash93.
🇺🇦Russian translation🇺🇦 by FoxcubRandy, edited by ColdSky.
Coverart created using vectors by Aethon056 (Limestone), TheSharp0ne (bits), Korikian (bottles and table), and OceanRailoader (background).

As an old Rainbow Dash in the twilight of her life watches the newest Wonderbolts Cadets perform, she dreams of the days when the sky was hers.

It is not something she can forget—it is forever etched within her mind, no matter how she tried.

The days where impossible feats lay at her hooves and adventure seemed to always lay around the corner.

Back when the world made sense.

Now with an audio reading! by WindsweptArctic. Huge thanks to them!

Set several years after the Epilogue.

Narcotics tag for a mention of alcohol.

All credit for artwork is due to Tyruas

Retirement has offered a welcome change from Celestia's centuries of responsibility. She can at last breathe easy, knowing that Equestria is safe in the hooves of a capable successor.

But when her successor faces a crisis of confidence, Celestia is quick to share what wisdom she’s learned through the centuries, and a few of the things that have helped keep her sane.

Narcotics tag for alcohol references.

This story has been revised from its original appearance in the April 2020 Writeoff, "Alone Together." Cover art sourced from Vecteezy's free library.

The long trial was over, and Twilight - no, Dusk Shine's finally out from under that terrible shadow. Poor little Skyla and her auntie could move on with their life. Skyla's murderous grandfather was behind bars, and Dashville was simply beautiful in the fall!

And all Dusk Shine needed to do was stay out of the public eye, and never catch the eye of 'King' Sombra's secretive confederates. And make sure that she stayed in the local deputy marshals' good graces.

How much trouble could a slightly witchy woman and her orphaned niece get up to in a quiet Applelachian town like Dashville, anyways? Even if they were hiding in witness protection from their incarcerated drug-cult kingpin of a patriarch.

This story is a sequel to Played for a Foal

Knowledge of the previous story is not required.

The tale of how Anon, a human completely unrelated to the Crystal Empire's royal family, came to be known as Flurry Heart's uncle is a long one. The important part is that Flurry, now sixteen years old, sees him as a role model. She admires his sense of freedom and his carefree outlook on life. That's what she wants for herself, too. Unfortunately, her parents seem dead set on forcing her to be a picture perfect princess.

Ugh, growing up sucks.

It's been a few weeks since the Friendship Games. This world's Twilight Sparkle is struggling to adjust to her new school and her new friends. Sunset sees this, and resolves to help ease Twilight into their group in any way she can.

A late night encounter, a pep talk, and a little bit of whipped cream – all things that seem insignificant on their own – cause Sunset to reflect on how she feels about her new friend and herself. Is she really just trying to be a good friend to Twilight because it's the right thing to do, or do her motives run deeper than even she realizes?

11/21/22 Update: New cover!

1/26/23 Update: Big thanks to EileenSaysHi who has edited and proofread this story!

Tagged as teen for tobacco/alcohol use and profanity. Nothing spicier than that.

Hope you enjoy!

Winter Wrap Up was an annual tradition that Rainbow Dash and Applejack participated in every year. Now it will never happen again.

(Tagged narcotics for alcohol use.)

Check out the sequel by Applejackofalltrades!

<sub>Originally written for Quills and Sofas as an entry in the Stirrings of Spring contest.

Thanks to NoponyPones, mushroompone, The Red Parade, Snow Quill, Lofty Withers, and LostInFandom for feedback on this story.</sub>