Twilight Sparkle is a happy pony. With the help of her friends she defeated Tirek. She has a shiny new castle, the kingdom is safe, and she knows the reason behind her ascension. What more could a young princess want?

She is happy, she tells herself as she digs through the ruins of her home. She is so happy she can barely smell the ashes any more.

But in those ashes she finds something unexpected: a small porcelain vase, and with it a decade's worth of unspoken questions. A mystery hiding beneath her hooves, waiting to be put to rest.

Winner of the November Writeoff event.

Twilight is asked to choose which branch of the Equestrian forces she would like her guards to come from. In response, she invites one representative from each of the three branches to stay in Ponyville so she and the Elements can choose her and Ponyville's protectors with the proper amount of knowledge. Nocturnal is picked by Luna as the representative for her forces. He does his best to meet Luna's expectations, educate ponies about what it means to be a bat pony, and stay out of trouble during his brief stay.

4th Place winner of Equestria Daily's Bat Pony Write Off event.

With Twilight's help, Sunset has continued to study the strange magic contained within her and her friends. With magic quickly becoming a constant in their lives, the questions about how it works have been weighing on Sunset's mind.

The answers she finds will prove to be more than she was expecting.

Princess Luna is ready to take on her role as Princess of the Night once again upon the night of the winter solstice. She remains unhappy, though, for her subjects don't seem interested in what the night sky has to offer. Twilight Sparkle must take it upon herself to prove to the princess just how much Equestria loves the stars, and make this the best winter solstice ever.

Sunset Shimmer wants nothing more than to be able to enjoy the holidays with her friends, but the festive season does nothing more than remind her of how alone and cold she's been for so many years. Is it possible for her to learn to love the holidays again?

Maybe with the help of some friends, she can.

Sunset's favorite jacket is looking pretty beaten up after that whole rainbow laser explosion, and she doesn't know the first thing about fixing leather. Obviously she knows someone who could help her, someone who's already agreed to be her friend. But after everything she's done, she doesn't really think she's in a position to be asking favors. She hasn't earned anyone's friendship yet, and she certainly doesn't deserve anyone's help. Still, she's got no other options. So she'll just have to swallow her pride and beg Rarity to take some pity on her.
Rarity certainly has her work cut out explaining to her how friendship works.

Set after Equestria Girls, but before Rainbow Rocks. No shipping. Just awkward, self-loathing Sunset and generous, understanding Rarity.