In the far reaches of Canterlot Castle, high above in the towers lived the archmage. Everypony knew her, yet few had met her.

Twilight Sparkle sighed, having teleported away another noble seeking favors before reaching the top of the stairs for the second time today. They never learned. As the archmage, she already dealt with political squabbles far too often without inviting them into her home. Aside from personal favors for Celestia, she did what was required of her position and then returned to seclusion and research.

The nobility grumbled that no archmage should be a commoner, and Twilight’s disrespect toward them proved it. Each and every time they were forced to bow to her, they hated what they saw: the position, the status, the deference.

Was she not powerful? Was she not great?

Twilight, now reading through dusty scrolls and long forgotten tales, wrote in her notes — notes gathering dust of their own. A brief thought flashed through her mind.

Am I not powerful? Am I not great?

And then Twilight picked up The Tale of the Royal Pony Sisters.

Defunct side stories told in Across the Boundary. They can still provide a little context, but when in doubt, the main story here is canon.

Cover art provided by Lafiir

A thousand years ago in Equestria, Luna's frustration and desperation has been building for years and years as her social and political isolation grows, but just before Luna's jealousy and resentment can turn into murderous hatred against her sister, a new event triggars Luna's mental collapse and pushes her over the edge. When Luna by circumstance finds herself alone in Celestia's room she reads her sister's diary out of curiosity and discovers all of the disparaging criticism that Celestia has leveled at her over the years about how much of a nuisance Luna has been to her, but has been too polite to say directly to Luna's face.

Luna and Celestia had always supported and stuck with each other all their lives. Even when the common-ponies critisism and shunning of her was at its worst, the knowledge that her sister loved her kept Luna going. The realization that nopony, not even her own sister valued her or thought she was fit for the throne completely shattered whatever remained of her fragile psyche.

And so Luna just gave up...

She gave in...

If no one wanted her there...

Then she wouldn't stay there...

She would leave.

The doctors didn’t mince their words:  Applebloom would never be able to walk again.  Devastating news, to be sure, but it was her own fault.  Now her roommate, though…  Nothing about her situation was her fault.  It’s important that she understands that.

Content Warning: attempted suicide (overdose), dysphoria, ableism, transphobia, dismemberment mentions, gore (implicit).

Set in the same universe as Testi d'Amore, but neither is required reading for the other.

Black Lives Matter. Always have and they always will. Trans children matter too, and they deserve nothing less than love and support.

Art by me.

Once upon a time there was a little pink pony who lived on a rock farm and wanted nothing more than to be happy.

Donut Joe keeps his store open on Hearth’s Warming Eve. And why not? He doesn’t have anywhere else to be, and neither do the tired, bitter ponies who find their way inside.

But the Eve is young, and strange things lie ahead. Who knows what might happen on a night like tonight?

(Inspired by the song "Old City Bar," by Trans-Siberian Orchestra)

Reviewed by TheifofZ here.

Twilight discovers a book about the history of the Apple family, but it's missing some information. While it tells all about Granny Smith's life, there's no mention of a husband or any children. Twilight goes to Sweet Apple Acres to fill in the gaps and gets a lesson about what it means to be a family.

Principal Celestia always has wings in her dreams.

They got her into trouble, once. She let herself believe that they meant she was an angel. Then she grew up, and learned some hard lessons about what being an angel really required.

Now six magical girls have just fought a demon in front of her school. And her phantom wings are itching.

Her life is turning upside down ... and she hasn't even heard about Equestria yet.

Rated Highly Recommended (Top 15 Stories Sitewide) by Present Perfect! "It's f**king flawless, you guys. … The first [6]00-word chapter by itself is a masterpiece."

"Literally the single best EqG story on the site." —Professor Plum
"[One] of the best stories on the site, period." —Pearple Prose
"One of my all-time favorite pieces of fanfiction." –brokenimage321
"My favorite EQG fic of absolute all." -Skywriter

Rated Why Haven't You Read This Yet? by PaulAsaran! "I might have been skeptical going in, but horizon knocked it out of the park."

Rated 5/5 by csquared08! "The opening chapter here was truly something else. ... Then I hit the end of chapter 3. holy crap."

Rated ★★★★ by Louder Yay! "A lesser writer might have made a horrible, cliché-ridden mess of this story, but fortunately horizon is not a lesser writer. For a start, it's by some distance the best portrayal of the human world's Celestia I've read."

Third place in the "Under the Sun" June 2017 Writeoff!  (That first draft has been revised and expanded for FIMFiction.) Praise for the Writeoff version:

"Holy cow ... That's how you write an EqG fanfic! You captured the heart and SOUL of this/your version of Principal Celestia, wrapped it up in bi-universal consistency, and sold me on an idea of redemption I didn't even know I needed." —Xepher

"This is gorgeous. A thorough, exhaustive, incredibly moving portrait of a character who I don't think I've ever seen get quite this much development or attention." —Posh

"This is actually, after all these years, an original take on a story on Luna's banishment. If that's not something to be celebrated I don't know what is." —Quill Scratch, Radio Writeoff

MORE REVIEWER PRAISE: Rated "Definitely Read" by Super Trampoline! Reviewed by City of Doors! Reviewed by Titanium Dragon! Featured on Equestria Daily!

Rated T for brief cursing and alcohol use. Cover art by Seniloko, used under Creative Commons license.

Translations:

中文 - 行政天使

After unusual circumstances leave them forever changed, the Cutie Mark Crusaders embark on one final adventure to regain what they've lost.

Gore tag is chiefly due to Zombie Apple Bloom being kind of icky and zombie-ish. Read at your own discretion.

Written (partly) for Equestria Daily's Friend Off Event. Based upon the artwork of Balooga.

Even if you are lost in the dark, all you need is a single light to find your way home.

Every friendship has its origins, even the most sinister.

And revenge is a dish best shared.

Written for the Cozy Glow Short Story Contest.
Edited by Miss Direction and Pascoite.
Original art by Plainoasis.

No knowledge of the IDW Reflection comics is necessary to read this; it's just the framing device for a pair of parallel ponies feeling responsible for the actions of their counterparts.

Going on six years after the Reflections Incident that nearly tore apart both canon and inverted Equestria, the latter timeline is finally safe under Sombra's benevolent watch. No urgent correspondence has gone through the Mirror Portal since things re-stabilized, but it wouldn’t be much of a story if things remained that way.

This is an entry in the Snippet Series, an anthology of old oneshots I (and my good buddy Str8aura) wrote based around interesting pics I found. New ones will be posted every Thursday for the foreseeable future.