After Twilight delivers a batch of books to Sweet Apple Acres as a gesture of goodwill, she finds that one member of the Apple Family is not interested in her offerings. Through her efforts to discover why, she inadvertently discovers Big Macintosh's most shameful secret.

Thanks to JBL for the story idea.

Thanks to Holo, Midnight Legend, ajvasquezbrony28, Sir Rustbucket, ValorlordV5, and Sage Runner for editing.

Now with a YouTube reading by Thornquill!

Rated Teen for some thematic elements.

Twilight Sparkle struggles to find a meaningful gift for Princess Celestia.

Twilight confronts the Tree of Harmony about the way it never sends her on Friendship Missions. The Tree explains itself. Kind of.

The original version of this story got 4th place in the Writeoff Association's 56th contest, "*Princess Not Included."

In the wake of her battle with the evil Tirek, Twilight Sparkle takes a moment to honor the memory of her fallen friends.

It's taken months to get to this moment. Months of planning, testing, and tearing her mane out. This is one time she can't afford to fail.

Today is the day. It's cold, her nose is runny, and she's scared out of her wits, but she's finally going to do it. She's finally going to tell the Princess how she feels.

Twilight Sparkle and Spike share an almost mother-son relationship. This relationship is reflected in a brief scene as Twilight tucks the young dragon into bed for the night.

Ponyville's new 'code enforcement professional' has got it into her thick, monotonous head that Fluttershy has too great a density of pet animals, and she's set out to rectify that situation.

Twilight, though, has a problem with this, and she'll have to use her full authority as an alicorn princess to put a stop to it.

Audio reading by Crafty Arts | Dramatic reading by DRWolf

Other stories based on this story:
Six to Eight Weeks Unnecessary
Five to Seven Weeks Detention

Twilight Sparkle had been looking forward to a quiet, relaxing day with a friend, and at first it seemed that Fluttershy could provide just that. But when Twilight makes a rather unsettling discovery about the pegasus – and her unusually sanguine appetite – the knowledge proves to be anything but relaxing...

Twilight stumbles upon another secret room of Pinkie Pie's, but this one isn't for party planning.

In fact, it's for something completely terrifying.

Under normal circumstances, Twilight would have no problem writing a simple essay assigned to her by Princess Celestia. But sometimes, simplicity can spell disaster in the mind of an egghead.

Will Twilight finish her essay in time to enjoy the party? And at what cost?