My dear sister Pinkie Pie,

I will be arriving in Ponyville tomorrow.
I have made a reservation for us at Hearty Grains Bistro for seven o' clock.
Please be on time. I'll be bringing somepony special I'd like you to meet.
I think you will be surprised.

Sincerely,
Emp- Your sister Maud

An Entry for Bicyclette's Crackship Contest hosted by the Original Pairings group
Preread by: HapHazred

Magic is real, and Derek is on the verge of unlocking its secrets. It doesn't matter that his best friend doesn't believe any of it, he'll still go along to his first real spell. Unfortunately for the two of them, the magic works a little too well.

Soon they're taken to a strange new world of supernatural horses, a world where intrigue and spellcraft are interwoven to an inescapable prison. An mysterious cult dedicated to the worship of the ancient Alicorns has finally brought two of the ancients back from banishment. Their spell didn't quite work out; they definitely expected the Old Gods to be a little... older.

If the two former humans want to have any hope of seeing their old world and old bodies again, they'll have to make quite an impression to their secret worshipers, or else find themselves at the mercy of the same Alicorn sisters who took over Equestria all those centuries ago.

That's only where their problems start. Growing up as a little pony in a town like Willowbrook might be the greatest challenge they've ever faced.

Updates on Saturdays. This story was edited by Bitera and Sparktail. Cover by Zutcha.

This story was commissioned as a Patreon reward.

Just over a decade ago, two budding entrepreneurs made a major discovery: changelings convert love into power. And that power could be extracted.

Spurred on by the sudden infusion of energy, Equestria has rapidly industrialized and modernized. Transformed, technology and society has advanced by leaps and bounds - all thanks to Flim/Flam Corp and their changeling batteries.

Not every pony is accepting, however. Not every pony is okay with mass-produced changelings kept in tanks to turn Equestria's ambient love into electricity.

After years of leading her rebel organization on a campaign against the changes, the former Princess Cadance has finally made a breakthrough. Though it has cost her dearly, she's found the key to bringing down Flim/Flam, freeing the changelings and returning Equestria to its normal state.

Unfortunately, Shining Armor - her personal Javert - is blocking the only exit.

Written for Imposing Sovereigns III.

Have a helping of Princess Cadance and Integrity.

Or alternately, Shining Armor and Justice.

Featured 10/19/2021 - 10/22/2021!

And reviewed by Reviewfilly!

And listed in Equestria Daily's 25 of the Best Shining Armor and Cadance Day Fanfics on 2/14/2022!

Inspired by Parting Words, by RHJunior

Princess Celestia is the paragon of Harmony. She is kind to her subjects and generous to those in need. She is loyal to her ideals and never compromised. She has a good, if mostly unknown, sense of humor. Above all else, she is always honest. Right?

Twilight Sparkle trusts Princess Celestia implicitly and in all things. The Princess has never steered her wrong, not once. When Twilight thought that her concerns for Nightmare Moon were being ignored, Celestia had her back, even if she was withholding information.

Wait a minute.

Shortly before Celestia leaves for Canterlot with the redeemed Luna, Twilight has a conversation with her mentor that will change her perspective on the Princess forever. She will receive something new, beautiful, and damning all the same.

Cynicism.

Six Little Words or: The Question That Twilight Didn’t Ask in Canon.

Violence Tag: Implied torture.

Comments are back open. Please try to keep it cordial.

"Rule number one." Pipp put on an uncharacteristically serious face. "Your fans cannot be your friends."

Sunny blinked. "What?"

"Oh here we go," Zipp muttered to herself.

Sunny believed the tales. Really believed, in a way that most ponies didn't anymore. About the Elements of Harmony, and about Twilight Sparkle. Back when Equestria had princesses, and was whole, when every creature knew the real power of Friendship. She believed⁠—and she knew that, one day, if she believed hard enough, it could be again.

Elsewhere, distant, Twilight Sparkle watches her would-be student, and frets.

A Russian translation by NovemberDragon is available here. | Русский перевод от NovemberDragon доступен здесь.

A Chinese translation by forgivenlove is available here here. | 这里有forgivenlove的中文翻译。

A reading by ObabScribbler is available here.

Part 1 of Equestrian Scions, which continues with The Dreamer and Me.

A late addition to the "But what happened to Equestria?" story pile.

[04/29/21 - 05/02/21] Featured. That's a first for me. Thank you all so much.

One strange day, Harry Dresden turned into a tiny pastel horse with two girly tattoos on the rump.

She was not pleased about this.

And as strange and horrifying as this was, even by Chicago's only professional wizard’s standards there was a new job to do, and some new bunch of bastards to thump until they stopped their dastardly pony plans!

Except… there seemingly wasn’t a culprit to be found. No dark gods with a thing for horses had risen. No doomsday cults with a thing for pastel had declared their vile, equine intentions. Not as much as an ifrit with a lisp...

It seemed as if whatever had turned so many humans into ponies would simply be a strange and unsolved mystery.

Reluctantly, life simply had to go on, even if it was with double the number of legs as normal.

Now, months later however, this country with the rather silly name of Equestria wonders what became of one of their lost champions, and just why she never returned to them...

Five Score universe by TwistedSpectrum.
Dresden Files and all characters belong to Jim Butcher.
MLP:FIM is Hasbro's, but you should know that by now.

Written as a small Christmas 2014 gift to my followers.

Character tags to be added once done, to maintain surprise.

Story contains spoilers for the Dresden Files series, up to Skin Games! Also, spoilers in the comments!

Cover given by the amazing Tulip.

This isn't where I belong. I left all this behind years ago, moved on with my life. But a mare from my past brought me back, and now she won't let me go. So I'm stuck here, trying to make the best of it with ponies that don't understand me, don't even like me. But when something moves in the darkness, and when things go wrong in the cold, dead night, they'll turn to me to try to set things right.

Why? Because once a police pony, always a police pony.
~~
This is a spin-off story to 'Why am I Pinkie Pie?!', and will contain spoilers for that story, but it's not necessary to read that story to understand this one.
Cover art by the talented Conicer
Need more Cinnamon Swirl? Merlos the Mad wrote a fanfic of this story!

There is now a side-story: A Hard Day's Nightmare Night

Cranky Doodle Donkey has spent years searching Equestria for that special jenny he lost at the Grand Galloping Gala. He's been to cities far and wide, and searched from the peaks of the tallest mountains to the floors of the lowest valleys. He's seen it all, or so he claims. The roads are his and his alone, and the solitude is something he's simply grown used to.

Until one night, he discovers a filly hiding in a snowy hollow, scared, alone, and freezing to death...

Inspired by a discussion at Bronycon. Coverart by Ruirik.
Awesome audiobook by Illya Leonov!
Featured in the Royal Canterlot Library!
Featured in the Seattle's Angels!

This story is a sequel to The One Who Got Away

A frustrated young orphan colt with a talent for painting is determined to run away from his dead-end rural village for the distant cultural haven of Baltimare. All he needs to do is slip aboard a raft and drift down the river Fen until he reaches his destination. It’s a simple plan, and would have worked just fine except for one thing.

Seaponies.

Editors: Tek, Docontra, Themaskedferret,

Image credit: Pen Mightier(pencil) and Manifest Harmony (colors)

Now Featured on Equestria Daily
And a wonderful review by Paul Asaran
Available in paperback at Lulu.com at cost