In a world where the immortal ruler of All Ponykind is a kind-hearted old lady, Twilight Sparkle has to hide her amorality to climb to the top. Can she manage the asymmetry of information to send costly signals that demonstrate her fitness as a friend to assemble enough allies? Can her abstract, robotic outlook on life make her better at interaction with others, or will her cynicism poison all of her relationships?

Twilight Sparkle learned how to be a unicorn at Celestia's knee, and few know more about her than magic. She learned how to be a pony from her five PFFs, and they count her as one of their most treasured friends. Now, Celestia wants her to learn the science of living deliberately, which will take all of the skills and resources she's accumulated so far.

A note on tags: FIMFiction considers 'Adventure' and 'Slice of Life' to be opposed tags, but I wish I could have both. A mighty river is fed by many streams. (Maybe I should just alternate each week.)