"They take da' pain out, make it somethin' good, somethin' good. Wear yer' blues well, colt, you gonna earn every drop of em'. Yer' gonna be tangled up in blues," the old stallion told Blues, presenting him with the saxophone.

Blues himself tells us of his life after that day and as he explores what it means to be "painted blue"; to hope, to fear, to love, to lose. He tells us as he learns what really makes a stallion a stallion, what it's like to leave something you love behind, and what risks one must face in life or risk becoming nothing at all.

All of this, Blues tells us, takes place against the background of critical moments in his life and as he travels the scope of Equestria from Manehattan to Ponyville and Appleoosa. All the while the songs he learns from his pain mingle with the one his mentor, Moody Blues, revealed within him...something unbelievable the old pony did to bring it forth.

A recurring nightmare convinces Luna that, since her return, she has never regained her sister's complete trust. And at the forthcoming Festival of the Eclipse, she decides to make amends with a bold gesture.

But Luna's solution causes consequences she never anticipated. Consequences the whole world will feel. Now, Celestia and Luna must set forth on an adventure that will take them even into Tartarus itself, and set everything right before it's too late.

And if they're lucky, they'll rediscover the trust they once had a thousand years ago.

She's the original. She won the paint-watching test, fair and square.

So why do the townsponies keep avoiding her? Why do all her friends keep whispering around her? And why does Twilight keep insisting that she isn't any good at baking or throwing parties?

She's the original. The best Pinkie. She won the test, fair and square. She's not some copy, not anymore…but perhaps being a copy would be easier than being herself.

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Comments contain spoilers.

Partially inspired by Quadrophenia by The Who. The [Pinkie Pie] and [Other] tags together represent Pinkie Pie's clone.

Editing and prereading thanks; Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi, CDRW, Sereg, JapaneseTeeth, MidnightRambler, and especially Nonagon. If you liked this story, be sure to check out their pages too!

Now I'm to begin
The life that I'm assigned
A life that's been used before
A thousand times
—The Who, "905"

A single changeling is blamed for making Chrysalis' plan to take over Equestria fail. He's banished and thrown out of the hive, ending up somewhere far away.

Luckily, he ends up not too far from a certain well-known village, where he can feed to his heart's content.

Needless to say, not everything goes according to plan.

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Now with a French version, courtesy of Wansdich, here.
Fanart! Check it out here. And even more here!
Now in ereader-friendly PDF version, by Starflower Hooves! You can view and download it here.
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While harvesting apples, Applejack is approached by a curious young lamb who has a simple but difficult question:

Why are ponies in charge of sheep and cows and other sentient races?

Applejack explains how this came to be, and why ponies are in charge.

When Rarity is overwhelmed with making designs for an agriculture exhibition, she turns to Applejack for advice. But when she gives Applejack a hair style treatment in return, the apple farmer lets her accent slip from southern drawl to sophisticated Manehattenite. The result? More fancy parties than you can shake a candy apple at!

Wet. It’s the first thing I can remember. The water of the Mirror Pool dripped off of me as I stepped out and took my first breath. After that, it was just sort of a blur for a while.

What if instead of the real Pinkie Pie, one of the duplicates passed the test? They'd do anything to survive unexposed. And Pinkie's friends would do anything to get her back.

Now in Twilight's Library and Twenty Great Stories.

When Princess Celestia faces a harsh choice to execute an innocent and virtually harmless changeling, will she be able to go through with the notion of taking the filly's life, or will sympathy overtake her moral alignment?

*In this story, the changelings are based off of Season 2, so it's as if they've never given love freely. Sept 4th, 2017

You'd think that being trapped in stone would mean that, if nothing else, I could get some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, it seems that Celestia has other ideas.

She has appointed these ponies... these 'Keepers', as she calls them, to keep me entertained during my incarceration.

Honestly? I'd prefer the boredom.

Cover art by matrosha123
Spanish Translation by SPANIARD KIWI found here

Rainbow Dash isn't bitter about the whole Mare-Do-Well incident. Or at least that's what she tells herself. Either way, she's not going to miss this chance for some harmless revenge pranks, and so she constructs a plan to prank all of her best friends, starting with Twilight Sparkle. All Dash needs is a quill and some paper.

Thanks to the amazing DShou for the cover image.