When deafness stole away her music, Octavia Melody became the greatest composer in Equestria. Her Tenth Symphony lies finished before her, the pinnacle of all her work, done against all odds at the very end of her life.

Yet the clock ticks, and she finds herself under the gaze of gods and devils. With only Discord's mocking aid, Octavia must journey through her past to save her very soul.

Cover art by JowyB!

(A ponified take on "Beethoven's Last Night" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.)

(AU-tagged because the quasi-godly figures such as Celestia, Tirek, and Discord occupy a pantheon with rules and limits instead of simply being protagonists and villains.)

I almost called it "A Brony's Tail" for the novelty, but I couldn't because that would imply that I got a mane and hooves in this story.
I'm a brony, yes, plucked out of my life and plopped in Equestria for reasons I don't know and by methods I don't understand. Yet, I should count my blessings. After all, who else could enjoy front row seats to the events of MLP: FIM unfolding in real life. Starting, much to my amusement, with the return of Nightmare Moon herself!
However, not everything is rated TV-Y, and what should I do when some of the characters begin deviating from their scripts?

Edit: July 2nd 2015. F-featured!? Thank you so much!

To be inserted into Equestria, it's a dream come true for anybrony!

Meet the ponies!

Have super awesome magical adventures!

Use foreknowledge to avoid all those silly pratfall moments without screwing things up and causing irreparable harm to the Mane 6...uh...hopefully!

And all for the low cost of possessing Princess Luna, denying her any real freedom or the ability to move on with her life since she's in your head and you're walking around as Nightmare Moon!

Yeah...there had to be a catch in there somewhere, didn't there?

Eventide Trailblazer is a mare obsessed. While the rest of Equestria shuns the name Sunset Shimmer, she spends her time dwelling on the true story of the mare behind the myth, a story that culminated in a horrible disaster five years ago. Trusting no one but her best friend and her therapist Eventide plots in secret, making plans that will fix things once and for all. But while her intentions might be good, do her plans truly benefit anyone but herself?

Twenty five years prior to Eventide's own plans the object of her obsession returns to Equestria from parts unknown. The end of Twilight's inter-dimensional duel across time with Starlight Glimmer also marks Sunset's unexpected return from CHS, yet when Twilight meets up with her she can barely recognize her friend from the other world. Scared, paranoid and horribly injured, Sunset claims to have spent the last seven weeks of her life trapped in her own inter-dimensional journey, a journey that sounds worryingly familiar to Twilight.

Set directly after cutie re-mark for Twilight chapters and approximately 25 years after season 5 for Eventide. Other Tag is for Flurry Heart.

Possible spoilers in comments

The newly coronated Princess Twilight suffers an abrupt tragedy. Having lost two loved ones, she begins to question her own mortality, and that of her friends.

AJ, Dash, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy. . . they are just the beginning. Twilight will live for thousands of years, so every pony she cares about—every pony she will ever care about, will die.

She could barely handle the pain of one funeral, let alone the thought of hundreds of them. Twilight finds a clever way to ensure all of her friends never die. They can’t all be ageless alicorns, but they can all move into Twilight’s Dollhouse. Then they can be best friends forever.

Sequel: Twilight's Dollhouse 2
Fanmade Song: Twilight's Dollhouse

Source: Dreampaw
Editor: Gage of Grandiloquence, Breath of Plagues
Pre-read & Idea pony: TypeWriterError,
v1.1 Revised chapters 1-10 on May 1st 2013
--Pending a few more revisions, including ch. 14
Now on TV Tropes.

3/14/24 Still Alive Edition

There's only one pony in Ponyville that the Mane Six have never met. Pinkie Pie has never thrown him a party, Applejack has never sold him a mug of cider, and Twilight has never seen him check out any books. And as far as that unicorn, Lapis Print, is concerned, that's exactly how it should be.

Lapis can't risk them knowing where he lives, what he does for a living, or even what his name is - if he gets his way, the Mane Six won't even know he exists, and nopony in Ponyville will miss him once he's gone.

It should be a piece of cake - after all, it's not like the biggest magical power in Equestria is about making sure everypony looks out for each other, right?

(Rated Teen for language - mental cursing mostly.)

Bright lights! Busy streets! The hustle and bustle of city life! All of this means absolutely nothing to Queen Chrysalis, who is currently huddled in the darkest depths of the Everfree, talking to her pet log. But changelings - true changelings - are always hungry, and Chrissy hasn't fed in a long time. Attacking ponies and stealing their love is a risky proposition, though, so her options are limited. Necessity reminds her of a target she can feed upon safely... even if it means travelling to the heart of Manehattan itself.

(Now broken into smaller, easier-to-consume chapters. Takes place before Season 9)

Twilight and Shining Armor have a little sister named Light Step. Everypony tells Light Step how lucky she is to be related to such great heroes.

Light Step wishes she could smother them both.

Big Macintosh goes on strike when he sees he's the one doing all the heavy lifting and harder work at Sweet Apple Acres while his sisters frolic. His idea catches fire throughout Ponyville, and soon every stallion is up in arms! Sexism explodes in the tiny town, it's Stallions on Strike!

Being trapped in stone doesn't give a little filly much to do. She has a lot of anger and regrets over her situation, but the one thing she misses the most was the love and comfort of her first, and perhaps only, friend.

This story is posted for Short Story Cozy Glow contest of 2020.

Additional Genre Tags: Slice of Life, Drama, Tragedy,

Note: as of 7/15/2021, there is now a reading by a youtube named Anthropomorphic Nerd who read this story >here<. Go check it out and give him some love if you're interested.