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This story was written for the Tropical Post-Apocalyptic Story Contest, but was cut down due to wordcount limits. I am currently working on a full-length expanded version of the story that will be the definitive edition, which I will link here when it goes up in a week or so. If you can be patient, please read that one instead! Or read this one and then read that one when it goes up.

longdesc

It was supposed to be an easy way back home. Jump into the quicksand pit, go through the portal to Equestria beneath it, get to Twilight's Castle's Basement, go through the Magic Mirror, and before she knew it, Sunset and all of her friends and everyone they rescued from that sinking cruise ship would find themselves on the manicured green lawns of Canterlot High.

Instead, they wake up scattered around the quicksand pit, still on the desert tropical island they were trying to escape. Only there isn't a portal to Equestria anymore. And none of them can get a cell phone signal.

And then Bon Bon's phone lights up.

ATTN AGENT SWEETIE DROPS: BRILLIG BLACK EVENT CONFIRMED. FOUNDATION CONTINUITY SCENARIO OMEGA-OMEGA-OMEGA. FINAL DIRECTIVE: ENSURE LONG-TERM SURVIVAL OF HUMANITY BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

It turns out that Bon Bon was a secret agent for a secret spy organization this whole time. And they just told her that the world has ended, and no rescue is coming for them. Ever.

content

Note that this is rated T, that is, while things implied by the red tags will happen the story will not linger on them in graphic detail when they are depicted.

Spoil at your own risk!:

Overall: Gore, death, gory death, limb dismemberment, guns, being shot by guns, being killed by guns, suicide by gun, suicidal ideation but it's only one time, starvation, questions about the nature of humanity, questions about the relationship between humans and the animals they raise and slaughter, existential horror, body horror, existential horror arising from body horror, relationships in all sorts of combinations even including cis-hetero, one of those is Rarity x Ragamuffin, pregnancy so sexhaving is implied to have happened but is not depicted, one of those is Rarity x Ragamuffin, almost everyone in the world dying but it's not depicted and all offscreen so it's okay, gaslighting, gatekeeping, girlbossing

Chapter-by-chapter:
Chapter 1: Surprise death and gore. "Spring Breakdown" plot inconsistency lampshading.
Chapter 2: Death and gore, possibly of a child. Rainbow Dash no longer having a leg.
Chapter 3: Suicidal ideation. Implied offscreen apocalypse where everyone died.
Chapter 4: Discussion of corpse disposal. Discussion of cannibalism. Discussion of how many calories a human body has.
Chapter 5: Implied but not depicted gore. Funerals and grieving.
Chapter 6: No actual content warning here so this is just to pad out the spoiler bar.
Chapter 7: Physical effects of the early stages of starvation depicted. An animal in chronic pain depicted.
Chapter 8: Talk of creating tulpas and I guess that's called tulpomancy?
Chapter 9: Suicide mentioned as having happened. Contemplating the consequences of philosophical solipsism, the nature of happiness
Chapter 10: Underage drinking, pregnancy announcement, planning estrogen extraction from pregnant woman urine
Chapter 11: Gore. Death. A skull getting blown half-off which is pretty gory.
Chapter 12: Gore. Death. Suicide. Sucking chest wound, a body being riddled with bullets, suicide by shooting self in head.
Chapter 13: Death. Suicide. A mother shooting her daughter and then herself.
Chapter 14: Gore, by PTSD flashbacks to the events of the previous three chapters.
Chapter 15: Childbirth! I mean I tried to describe the events without going into vivid description even though it's a perfectly natural and glorious event.
Chapter 16: Unsettling implications of what the characters are saying but nothing graphic or anything
Chapter 17: A reveal that recontextualizes the previous events of the story with horrific implications. Nothing graphic tho
Chapter 18: Continuation of the above, plus physical violence and swearing.

info

an entry into Tropical Post-Apocalyptic Story Contest and the Sunset x Villain “Monster-Shipping” Competition. originally a May Pairings entry, but withdrawn due to going over the length limit

thank you to Crack-Fic Kai, Shrink Laureate, and Drider for prereading Chapters 1-6!

thank you to FanOfMostEverything for commenting so quickly on chapters when they were posted and thus being an inadvertent post-publication prereader for later tweaks.

A distress call issues from a mansion in the snow-capped peaks of the Crystal Mountains. One of the six young residents is reporting evidence of a changeling among them. The Royal Guard rallies to their remote location with all haste, but they are days away—they have charged Detective Pesco and his apprentice Bluebird with investigating the scene in advance.

There's nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. Identity is a delicate thing, and the changeling's isn't the only one on the brink of unraveling.

A novel-length mystery (social deduction, closed room, limited suspect pool) with an emphasis on character drama. Entirely original cast split among canonical and semicanonical MLP species: ponies, griffons, reindeer, zebra—and among them, the changeling.

Assumed to take place prior/alternative to the changeling reformation in season 6.

Cover art (one and two) by Rocket Lawnchair.

Many thanks for the catches and suggestions from my beta readers, including: wonderkid125, Miller Minus, mikemeiers, Secret Moon, Majora.

A psychological thriller meant to explore the more abnormal aspects of foalhood psychology. What if there were deeper reasons why you couldn't achieve your cutie mark? Why you felt so alone in the world?

This story is a sequel to Gloria Celestia

A rumor here, a scandal there, and a peppering of negative publicity can easily provide all the ammunition necessary to take down some of the most powerful players of the Canterlot nobility. But when one party foul too far turns the entirety of the upper class against DJ Pon-3, Upper Crust leads an unrelenting blitz against her, and Vinyl Scratch's world begins to crumble all around her.

Unwilling to let an accident ruin the DJ's reputation on the callous whims of Canterlot's elite, Fancy Pants decides to make a risky investment into counter-culture and help Vinyl get back on her hooves. However, it's going to take more than the prestige of the Kingmaker of Canterlot to get this record spinning again, especially when real royal matters start spiraling out of control.

Edited by: TheAncientPolitzanian
Preread by: Alchemik and Jymbroni
Cover Art by: W. Viloria of Vintage Future Games
Takes place shortly after the events of The Crystal Empire - Part 2
Part of the Silent-verse AU of stories. While not necessary reading, be sure to check out the other stories in the universe:
Forbidden Melodies - Breaking the Silence
Gloria Celestia - The Origins of the Silence
A Peach is Worth a Thousand Problems - The Silly Spin-off for Fun!

Chapter 31 Preread by Wanderer D
Special Thanks to ShutterflyYay for their contributions to the original drafts.
Special Thanks to anonixar for helping ensure accuracy in French with this fiction.
Special Thanks to Stormfox from the Discord server for helping with the costuming research.
Special Thanks to BirdsBooksBrownies for finding many numerous typos

Twilight Sparkle, in her bid to exercise her magical talents, tries her luck in a confidence spell of her own design. In order to prove it works as intended, she had Spike send a letter to Princess Celestia to meet her in Ponyville. Normally, a regular conversation would be plenty enough to talk to her mentor, but to put her spell to the test, she wrote a list of embarrassing and potentially private questions to ask her.

Unfortunately, Twilight’s spell backfires when Celestia arrives. Now instead of an extra confident pupil, there was an introverted and shy ruler of Equestria. Chaos, an adorably cute and shy Celestia, and wholesome moments ensue.

Rated teen for mature discussions between princesses.

As a timeless immortal being, I never understood death and loss. I was willing to make friends and play nice, I even fell in love. But then one day I lost the pony I loved most, and sought to escape my grief. It went fine for a time, until somepony restored magic to Equestria.

Hitch was having a pretty normal day, until a strange creature appeared on the road and transformed him into a mare. He kept going on about somepony named Fluttershy, before vanishing and imploding a few buildings. Hitch misses the days before he was a national hero in constant peril.

"So... you weren't going to tell me?" The pink pegasus had tears in her eyes, feeling like a tiny filly again as she looked up at her mother.

"Dearest..." There was sorrow in Queen Haven's eyes, and Pipp didn't even need to hear what she'd say next. She already knew she was right. But her mother spoke anyway. "Before today, it wouldn't have mattered."

An ongoing collection of stories and poems too short for standalone FIMFic publication. NOT a scraps file — there are some contest winners in here! Contents, newest first:

The Pony Door [Crossover] – A cult leader, in their pursuit of secret truths, makes a startling discovery about the goddess(es) they are chasing. (8/2021)
Retirees [Drama] – Celestia and Luna have a plan for their post-princess days. Fifth place, "Through A Mirror Brightly" Writeoff! (3/2019)
The Shipper Is: IN [Random] [Romance] – Discord takes advantage of Cadance's metaromantic powers.
The Illusion Of Choice, Or Vice Versa [Drama] – A prodigious filly struggles with the burden of high expectations. Finalist, "Illusion of Choice" Writeoff! (10/2015)
Moon Bright [Slice of Life] – Two isolated farmers try to figure out how to react to Princess Luna's return. Third place, "The Morning After" Writeoff! (12/2016)
We Only Live Twice [Slice of Life] – When Bon Bon walked into her own funeral, that didn't shock us nearly so much as Lyra walking in alongside her. Tenth place, "It's Your Funeral" Writeoff (3/2016)
Charlotte's Goop [AU] [Crossover] [Comedy] – A changeling queen is leaving messages on Applejack's barn about her farm animals.
F=MC^2 [Alternate Universe] – The great and terrible road to the Manehattan Project.
Through The Fire And Flames [Random] [Comedy] [Equestria Girls] – Blue Oyster has a fever, and the only cure is a brainless minific.
The Slow Fall of an Unfamiliar Star [Sad] [Romance] [Human] – Sunset watches a sunset, alone with her memories. Eighth place, "Just Over The Horizon" writeoff (10/2014)
Eponalepsis [Slice of Life] [Far Future] – The immortals gather at Celestia's end, and debate forgiveness. 22nd place, "Famous Last Words" writeoff. "Highly Recommended" by Present Perfect! (8/2014)
Why I Left [Human] – A chance encounter at a failed pony convention. Eighth place, "Long Way Home" writeoff (6/2014)
Torn, Discarded Pages From An Old Notebook [Romance] [Adventure] – A young Twilight Sparkle writes about the adventures of a pony who is completely made up and imaginary. First place winner in the Twilight Sparkle's Secret Shipfic Folder badfic contest! "Highly Recommended" by Present Perfect! (6/2014)
You, Ms. Harshwhinny, And A Pair Of Cougars Go On A Double Date [Random] – what
Night Mare's Party [Filk] – Luna's transformation vs. Oingo Boingo.
Alicornication [Filk] – Twilight Sparkle's ascension vs. the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
On Alicorn Fiction [Slice of Life] – Twilight has found plenty of nonfiction for her collection of Celestia's writings, but she's having a hard time finding any novels.
Deleted Scenes [Comedy] – Celestia introduces Luna to movies.
War Averted [Alternate Universe] – Cadence solves a problem.
From The Stars [Adventure] [Poem] – When a star falls upon ancient Equestria, a filly journeys to save what remains of her tribe.
Breaking The News [Comedy] – Ponyville prepares for disaster. (Published in the Everfree NW 2013 conbook!)