The sensation has plagued her ever since she was a little girl.

It never goes away.

It hurts.

But most of all...

It burns.

Twilight is used to getting texts before bed. These ones are just a bit different than she is used to.

She didn't think anypony would notice. Nopony ever had before. Not her parents, not her brother, no one.

But then somepony did.

She wasn't ready to be confronted about it.

In hindsight, she was happy that somepony had.

Celestia liked to think of herself as a good ruler, and a good pony.

Sometimes, that just wasn't true.

Sometimes, you just have to let yourself go.

Twilight Sparkle wasn't expecting Sombra to be there when she woke up in her cage, not that she was expecting the cage in the first place.

But even if she had guessed correctly on those two outcomes, the conversation that followed was unexpected. Especially his views on ruler-ship.

A set of short stories regarding the characters found in The Champion of Harmony, featuring different scenarios that could've happened if things went differently. These stories were begun as a celebration of the one year anniversary of The Champion of Harmony. All stories that appear here are, of course, non-canon.

Reading the original story is not required to enjoy these at all, but you'll probably miss a few little easter eggs or references here and there.

That being said, enjoy!

Ever since the return of Nightmare Moon, Princess Celestia has noticed that her student and her friends have been getting into a lot of trouble, so, naturally, she worries that they may end up getting hurt while they're unable to protect themselves. Thus, she assigns a very special guard to keep watch over them, without them knowing, of course.

Ever since he'd met the Princess, he'd been serving her faithfully, how could he not? But when she tells him to head down to Ponyville to keep her student and her friends safe, he can't help but wonder if this is the best use of his time.

Unfortunately for Emerald Skies, a job is a job, and he'd be loathe to ignore an order from his Princess.