It's a new day in the Crystal Empire, and Cadence is sent for a nice, relaxing day of magic practice with the abjuration specialist of the EEA.

It doesn't take long for everyone involved to notice: Cadence is weak. Really weak. Weaker than normal, and in fact weaker than she remembers being.

Have her fighting skills deteriorated over the years, or has something else crippled her combat capabilities?

Did she ever have any in the first place?

Twilight and Celestia go off alone, and Twilight will not say what is the matter, only that she may not return at all. Her friends and Luna gather in a vigil at the library the night of the Twilight's unknown trial, waiting for her to come back to them. Twilight faces the most terrible of all decisions, and learns the nature of what she is, and what hopes she may yet have when the sun rises and she returns to her friends.

Graveyards.

They are where the living pass on into the afterlife. Where the dead rest and find peace that will last them for all of eternity, and their living loved ones come to pay respect to them. But for Twilight, an Alicorn who has laid numerous ponies to rest, and has paid her respects to countless souls in the vastness of her lifespan, the graveyard is a lively place. For her, 'best friends forever' isn't just a saying, and the bonds of a true friendship don't end when life does...

Your worst villains are not those born evil, but those who become evil.

Yeah I decided to write something for the Twyrants Kingdom competition So I put a five minute timer on my phone and started writing. I then hit snooze until I had typed for about 35 minutes and then edited for about 10

Also leave a comment for downvotes, I know the story isn't great (I mean you get out what you put in after all), but I still want to know what you did not like so I can avoid it in my more serious stories

Alicorns are immortal. Earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi are not.

Princess Twilight Sparkle has no intention of going through life without her dearest friends...

Even if she has to do something extremely questionable to make that happen.

Since time immemorial, the Grand Council of Immortals has watched over all aspects of Equestrian life. They determine the destinies of all things on the mortal plane, both great and small. They convene once every one hundred years, and the Immortal who plays host to the gathering is permitted one request.

This century, it is Princess Celestia who will host the meeting... and who will ask for an unprecedented gift be granted to the newest alicorn princess.

Inspired by the Rankin/Bass adaptation of the Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.

Excellent live reading by Goombasa.

A bolt of fire, a mighty crash
A demon turns to powdered ash
Remember the day that Tirek died
And also the day the Princess survived
―Equestrian Nursery Rhyme

Every year, on the day Princess Twilight Sparkle saved Equestria from its greatest threat, she mourns the loss of who she was.

Preread by Waterpear!

Edited by Dubs Rewatcher!

Celestia has been waiting for this night her entire life; Twilight Sparkle has been destined to come for years upon decades upon centuries. But she didn't know to expect her student like this.

She steels herself anyway. She pours some tea, and welcomes Twilight with open hooves.

Then the two of them have a talk.

Long ago, the founders of Equestria built a magical portal on sacred ground, hiding their greatest secret on the other side. Generations of leaders stepped through the portal so that they might emerge as the equal of their forebears.

Celestia and Luna were the last to enter. For a thousand years, the portal lay forgotten, its purpose lost.

Luna thinks it is time that Twilight learn what it means to rule.

There is now a Spanish translation of this story, courtesy of Spaniard Kiwi

Rarity gives Celestia a very special, very generous gift for their anniversary.

Maybe too generous.