Twilight Sparkle is relatively new to being a princess, but that doesn't stop the ponies in Ponyville from coming to her regarding official or otherwise important matters. Such is the case when Twilight receives a request from the director of the local hospital, Ponyville General. It turns out that bodies have gone missing from the morgue, which is among the most worrying sorts of things to go missing. So Twilight sets out to investigate. Hopefully this can be wrapped up by morning.

We are all familiar with the story of the Canterlot Wedding, where the queen of the changelings foalnaps and impersonates Princess Cadance during her wedding as a ploy to invade the city with her army. Yet there is another Equestria out there where the roles of the impersonated and the impersonator are a little different.

We enter at the wedding ceremony; the nobles, the friends and family, the bride and groom have gathered, but the best mare hasn't been seen since her outburst at the rehearsal...

Discord. Tirek. Sombra. The Flim-Flam Brothers. Twilight and Spike saw the terrifying results of each foes' victory as they battled Starlight Glimmer. But there was one timeline that had no immediate explanation, and they didn't stick around to investigate. Let's see what happened through the eyes of somepony who was there.

Nightmare Moon reigns over an Equestria veiled by eternal night, forcing the ponies to worship her and shower her with tribute, even as they struggle to live without the Sun. Princess Celestia has been sealed away in the Moon, and the Queen of Nightmares has crushed all resistance underhoof. At least, that's what some ponies want her to think. A loose network of rebels works under perpetual cloak of darkness to see the Sun rise again... and a brief visit from a timeline-hopping alicorn might provide just the edge they need.

Royal guards have many duties; one of the most important ones is to keep quiet about what they see and hear in the privacy of the palace halls. We observe one guard learning this lesson during one of Princess Twilight Sparkle's stays in Canterlot Castle.

Rainbow Dash has one goal this Hearth's Warming morning: Sleep. But instead, she gets roped into one of Twilight's harebrained schemes. Now she has to help her friend with a back-ordered present… by being the present herself.

A collection of short stories, including those written for various prompts. See below for the descriptions of each entry.

The first three were written for Equestria Daily's 2015 Writer's Training Grounds:

1. Racing Shadows {Adventure/Drama}
“Rainbow Dash sets out to find Spitfire, but finds more is at stake than she thought. An old enemy is there to meet her.”
This story was written for the Rarity Investigates WTG, for the third prompt, about Rainbow Dash's trip to retrieve Spitfire. I spent some more time and effort on this one than I did on the other two.

2. Tactical Retreat {Adventure}
“Starlight Glimmer reflects upon her recent defeat.”
This story was written for week 2. It doesn't even reach the minimum length requirements… but it's still something. I think. It doesn't exactly fit any of the prompts, either.

3. Clydesdale's Mark {Sad/Drama}
“When ‘Troubleshoes’ Clydesdale tried out for the Rope-n-Rodeo rodeo school, he didn't expect to get his cutie mark. But when he did get it, he really wished he hadn't. His friend tries to comfort him in his darkest hour.”
This was written for week 1. I'm not even sure if it technically fits any of the prompts, but… I guess it's closest to prompt 1?

4. Changing Your Baby {Dark/Drama}
“The royal baby's diaper is changed. So is the rest of her.”
There be Changelings ahead. I needed to write this after the Season 6 opener. Partially so that I could say ‘I told you so’ in the event that this is actually what happened.

Rainbow Dash doesn't want to lose her pet Tank forever… or three months, whichever came first. So she hatched a brilliant plan to stop winter at its source: The Cloudsdale Weather Factory.

But when she tries to sabotage the magical machinery inside, she gets more than she bargained for.

So, Rainbow Dash gets turned into a cloud when she's sucked into the weather machine. Somebody had to do it, right?
…Right?

In Ponyville, there is a group of six friends whom every resident knows. Rainbow Dash, weather captain and skilled athlete. Pinkie Pie, apprentice baker and town party specialist. Rarity, the fashionable fashion-designer. Fluttershy, the introversive animal caretaker. Applejack, the co-heir of the famous Apple Family Acres apple farm. And Twilight Sparkle, a bookworm who rose to be one of the four Princesses of the realm.

Still, everypony has their secrets, and these six mares are no exception. Each of them has a past that no one in Ponyville has heard; that they keep even from their closest friends. For some, scars have followed them into the present. Others have tried to leave their pasts behind them. And a few only have pieces of the story themselves.

But secrets don’t last forever. When Fluttershy vanishes from Ponyville, the subsequent search will force each of these friends to face the consequences of their long-hidden pasts.

The Golden Oak Library is gone. Destroyed. Murdered.

Or is she?

With her final day upon her, the great Oak herself knew something was wrong. But that premonition may not have foretold an injustice as great as some feared...