After it all, after what I had to do to protect my realm, she promised me quit, a treacherous voice hissed. She promised me that I would be mourned, my duty honoured, and my life forgotten. How easily the trappings of power overcome such a promise.

A mare with a past, Carmen Heartstrings is recalled to her duty by her Liege, without regard for the life she has built for herself in Ponyville. As she prepares to leave, faking her own death in the process, she feels that, even if her small daughter Lyra cannot ever know the truth, she must somehow explain.

Practising for the next Young Fliers Competition, Rainbow Dash plans to make history by being the first pegasus in living memory to pull off a Double Rainboom. Unfortunately, she crashes into Ponyville's favourite mailmare, the adorable Derpy....

A story that is somewhat less fluffy than it was originally intended to be.