Sunset Shimmer's life was good, she had plenty of friends and greatly enjoyed where she had eventually ended up in life. It's a shame then that reality had a different opinion on where she belonged. Now stuck in the past prior to first leaving for the human world, Sunset will have to figure out what kind of direction she wants to take in life this time around.

After all, the future she herself lived with her friends was not reachable without doing things that she now found appalling. Even so, she knows that staying in Equestria could very well doom the world to a much darker future. If she had time to draft a plan she could probably figure out something that would keep herself out of the way while also not affecting the timeline, it's a shame then that the two princesses of Canterlot would just not leave her alone!

Apparently this thing got feature mere days after publishing... somehow.

Princess Twilight embraces the dark side... of currency! And assistant-to-the-crown Raven Inkwell gets Spiked.

- Content Notice: Ch1: An off-colour insult ; "buck" curse used once ; Ch3: possible death alluded to.

-Ch 1: Comedy/Drama; Ch2: Adventure/Mystery; Ch3; Adventure/Drama
- For the My Little Pony Renaissance Contest: "[it can be]... as dramatic as Princess Twilight Embracing the Dark Side."
- The dark side of what was not specified, be it the moon or otherwise. Several commentators assumed Princess Twilight would be embracing HER dark side (whichever side points away from the sun?), but why read a pronoun into the statement when we all know Princess Twilight has absolutely no dark side! She never bewitched a town into hatred over desiring her stuffed foaltoy--that was an alternative universe--YOUR Little Pony, not MY Little Pony. (j/k?).

The Contest Theme is Change.
- We've got ch-ch-ch--changes here. Turn the bit and face the strange changes in change (currency, rather). Changes in Rulership, Changes in seconds-in-command, changes in jobs, roles, maturity, relationship, story tones per chapter, and more! Contest Folder.

* Era: Post-Season 9. (See an index of my stories, sorted by My Little Pony Season).

* Made the "Popular Stories" list on 21, July, 21.

Image Rights Only: by Delapouite, the Image Only is CC BY 3.0.

Rainbow Dash's morning was pretty much ruined.
She tripped getting out of bed and landed flat on her face, giving herself an aching muzzle.
She forgot to buy her favorite brand of hay flakes at the store yesterday and had to eat plain toast for breakfast.
She found out she had to pull double-duty today and tomorrow on the weather patrol.
Oh, and she found a nearly-dead foal, broken and bleeding at the edge of Ponyville.

The rest of her day became a whirlpool of stress and worry but the colt woke up, thank Celestia.
Something's not right, though. Nopony can find his parents, he's not in the registers, and there's an unsettling look in his eye...

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YouTube reading by Fire Hearth

Chinese Translation by forgivenlove

Russian Translation by Likantrop

TV Tropes page, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Princess Cadance, just like everypony else, needs some time of leisure from her many duties. While Shining Armor is taking care of their daughter, Cadance enjoys her lone trips to the nearby Nephrite Forest, where she can be away from all of her burdens and obligations for at least a short while.

She was simply destined to get mugged eventually, wasn’t she? Why not by somepony who takes his job very seriously.

Also available in Mandarin Chinese (translation by keplebletbett) and Spanish (translation by SPANIARD KIWI).

Hello, friends! My name is Lemony Cutewhistle.

I am probably a normal pony.

-

Editing thanks to Aquaman and Masked Ferret.

Idol Hooves holds a special place in Equestria. He's probably the only exiled changeling to serve in the Royal Guard, or at least, that's what he expects, as exiles don't really broadcast that fact. However, it's well known that Princess Celestia loves all of her little ponies, and her guards perhaps more so, and that makes it one of the best ways for a changeling to discreetly feed.

But how does a changeling even get there, let alone get exiled in the first place? For that matter, why would it ever go to Canterlot? Set a number of years before the series proper, before Luna’s redemption, Idol details how he was exiled, the ponies he’s met, and the series of misadventures that led him to joining the Royal Guard, and should continue a good ways into the series, as something of an alternate perspective.

Soon, he’ll have to deal with a boisterous new princess to serve and a royal wedding in the works bringing a third to power. Will his old instincts bring this new life crashing down around him? What precipitates Chrysalis’s ill-fated assault on Canterlot? Is it really so wrong for a changeling to enjoy good craftsmanship to an obsessive degree?

New cover art provided by the fantastic Carnifex

And a TVTropes page here.

And an Ask Blog of questionable canonity!
Out of Idol Curiosity

Fanart by Norad2! Major thanks! Short For a Royal Guard

Art by Egophiliac of Idol and his Daring Duckie Please don't tell him what that brush is meant for.

Rating updated to (T), it's a bit darker than (E)
Comedy Tag added as well
And changed the character tags a bit.

This story is a sequel to Twilight's Dollhouse

Thirty ponies remained trapped in plastic shells as Twilight’s dolls. Lyra left them behind without a second thought. She joins Scootaloo to help rescue them, lest they be trapped for eternity as the last of Twilight’s sanity slips away. . .

Scootaloo will have to get past thoughts of revenge and her anger. Lyra will have to move past her guilt of failure. Once they have learned the skills they will need to defend themselves they will set out to find the Dollhouse and rescue their friends.

Unfortunately, time waits for no pony.

Pre-readers / Editors: Selbi, Abcron, Jaestring, TypewriterError, Breath of Plagues

Limited Liability is a changeling with a very routine life. He works at a bank. He lives with a marefriend. He goes through every day making sure he isn't discovered.

At least, that is, until the day that the hive has planned to invade Canterlot. On that day, his love runs out, and his disguise fails. Trapped in public with a chitinous body for all of Equestria to see, Liability has to find a way not only to survive, but to avoid ruining an invasion years in the making. Along the way, he learns a very interesting lesson about the ponies around him.

Written for the Equestria Daily "Outside Insight" contest.

Cover Art by Ruirik.

The princesses gave their magic to Twilight to prevent Tirek from stealing it. As a result, they end up stuck in Tartarus.

Marvelous place, Tartarus. Really brings ponies together. The fact that things manage to go downhill here says a lot about the wonders of family and alicornhood.

Spanish translation by SPANIARD KIWI

Audio Drama by Espa_Roba_5 and Ajvasquezbrony28
Live reading by The Living Library
Live reading by Astro-Brony

Proofread by Octavia Harmony

Ocellus was a bookworm. Everycreature at the School of Friendship knows about Ocellus's constant reading habits. It could sometimes be a hassle to get her away from the latest tome she was digesting! But no one would have her any other way.

But when her friends ask her where she became such a bookworm, she's hesitant to say anything about it. Why would she have something to hide about her love of reading? Little by little, her friends uncover what sparked her love of books... and Ocellus may face a long-standing problem of her own.

Takes place some time before the Young 6 grew up. Whether this story takes place before or after Twilight's final coronation would not change how the story unfolds, methinks.

Crude coverart done by myself.