Shining Armor is neck and neck with his sister in this week's race for Sibling Supreme. All he needs is one star to clinch his lead. After a particularly rambunctious New Year's morning, his parents throw down the rubicon: the quietest sibling earns a star. That means no talking, no conversing, no dialogue, nothing that will stop Twilight Velvet and Night Light from getting some rest. When you have a sister as annoying as Twilight, though, it's easier said than done.

_{Written for the No Dialogue Contest.}

Parables are stories written by accomplished astrologists, intended to help unicorns studying magic by teaching them how it feels to attune themselves to a particular star and harness its power. Young Twilight Sparkle is learning to teleport, but Asterism's Parable of the River vexes her. How can one say two different things are in fact the same?

Princess Celestia knows the feeling all too well. As Twilight forges forward, she wonders whether where she finds herself and what she tried to escape are really so different.

A diamond ring is often given as a symbol of betrothal, representing an agreement to be wed. The diamond ring effect appears when the moon eclipses the sun, highlighting the topography of the lunar surface for a moment before the light disappears entirely.

Based on the timeline where Nightmare Moon won from the season 5 finale.

An entry for the (Un)Happy New Yuri Contest (pet the koi), under the categories Toxic, Doomed, and Unrequited.

_{Contains the kind of multilayered power dynamics you typically get when an evil presence dominates someone's body, and uses said body to dominate someone else's body.}

A poem about Rarity's upbringing, craft, and love.

_{contains copious comphet and allusions to alcoholism
an entry for the pony poetry contest}

After a particularly challenging session of court, Princess Celestia takes her sister deep into the castle, to a room where she can indulge the instincts that modern ponies have left behind.

_{honorable mention in thousand words iii (drama)
readings: RainbowInfinityReadings
reviews: louderyay}

Discord approaches Twilight Sparkle for a conversation about heroism.

_{silver medal in thousand words iii (experimental)}

You've heard all sorts of horror stories about ponies being gripped by the malicious intents of cursed artifacts from other planes. Starlight isn't just some schlub, though: she's been studying magic her whole life! So of course she knows the proper precautions to take when she finds a scary-looking artifact in Twilight's mail pile.

Oh, and Trixie is here too.

_{bronze medal in thousand words iii (comedy)
reviews: louderyay}

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville.

_{pewter medal in thousand words iii (horror)
translations: russian
reviews: louderyay}

On a visit home to Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash finds a futuristic library she's never seen before. The books within are fascinating, even if the fiction section is smaller than she'd like it to be. Not long after settling down with a good adventure novel, she's warned about closing hours, but she's not a nerd, and this is Cloudsdale anyway, so what do stupid rules like that matter?

_{a rejected candidate for thousand words iii (horror)
check out my actual horror entry, it was a beautiful day in ponyville}

Soon after meeting Coco Pommel and rescuing her from Suri Polomare, Rarity returns to Manehattan to help her with the workload of her new job making costumes for theater. They find themselves falling into the rhythms of a couple, though neither wants to say the word.

Rarity wakes up in the middle of the night and contemplates the shadow of Suri that still hangs over Coco.

_{a possible entry for thousand words iii (drama)
contains allusions to abuse and self-blaming}