Sirens? Check. Villain songs? Check. Pinkie Pie? ...Uh-oh.

Musical mayhem threatens Equestria so often you can set your watch by it. That's where the Versebreakers come in. They're often mistrusted and always misunderstood, but these brave souls won't rest until everypony's safe from the threat of out-of-control musical numbers.

In this anthology, eight authors offer ten stories on ponies whose job is to halt songs. Each chapter is a stand-alone, unrelated story with its own unique take on the core Versebreaker concept. An anthology overview, and a brief introduction to each of the included stories, can be found here.

CONTRIBUTORS: AugieDog • BlazzingInferno • Caliaponia • FanOfMostEverything • Flink • horizon • Orbiting Kettle • Sharp Spark
Cover art: alittleofsomething

Stories reviewed by Louder Yay! "Some interesting twists ... it's more than worth reading all 25,000 words if you find the concept catches your imagination enough."

Anthology reviewed by PresentPerfect! "This anthology features some excellent authors doing excellent work ... So if you like the idea of comedy, read Manehattan Takes Rarity and 4th District Court, Canterlot, 11:35 A.M.. If you want to try the darker side, read Song and Seal. Everyone should read Heart of Silence, which is a ponification of Heart of Darkness and absolutely spectacular."

What happens, happens. I think that is one of the rules of Causality as stated by the late, great Douglas Adams. It is a pretty important rule and I use it to guide me through life, no matter what goes on in it. So, when I was driving to an out of town job and found myself in another world, I did my best to take everything in stride.

I would be the first to say the adjustment is not easy. Especially, when the first thing you do is make yourself a pony distrusted, disliked and defamed by some national heros. Thinking about that, I think I have to invoke another Douglas Adams quote. "Don't Panic."

--

This is the result of me getting bored one day and starting writing. Now that I got a bit of it done, I wouldn't mind honest opinions, and flame away if you feel the need. I have thick skin.

As you might notice, there are a few chapters with a box at the top. These are the ones that my editor and I went through again, and hopefully improved. I'll refrain from changing plot but spelling, grammar and flow are all up for grab. Especially for the early chapters.

In the shadows of a forgotten realm, one mare trudges onward with music, and a cute little house cat, as her sole companions. Lyra Heartstrings has fought against a dark curse for more than a year, and it's now beginning to take a toll on her mind. Will she be able to keep everything together in light of her choice? Or will the spanning abyss inevitably claim her as one of its own?

Cloudsdale. Bastion of the Pegasi, linchpin of weather control, home to the Wonderbolts. A magnificent metropolis gracing the skies of Equestria. So what happens when an oblivious human starts stumbling around in a sailplane? As they say, hilarity ensues.

Twilight Sparkle is a happy pony. With the help of her friends she defeated Tirek. She has a shiny new castle, the kingdom is safe, and she knows the reason behind her ascension. What more could a young princess want?

She is happy, she tells herself as she digs through the ruins of her home. She is so happy she can barely smell the ashes any more.

But in those ashes she finds something unexpected: a small porcelain vase, and with it a decade's worth of unspoken questions. A mystery hiding beneath her hooves, waiting to be put to rest.

Winner of the November Writeoff event.

Most of the year, Written Script enjoys his job as town treasurer--but not when tax time rolls around, and everypony thinks they're paying too much. Then he becomes the most disliked stallion in all of Ponyville.

Now with an audio reading by TheCaptainSand (CaptainBron3y)
Now with a reading by AShadowOfCygnus!

This story is a sequel to Dresden Gets Schooled

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden's life has been even stranger than usual ever since he first got involved with Equestria. However, after his last adventure sent him to some strange high school dimension, things have finally settled down into something approaching normalcy. Or at least as normal as Harry's life ever gets. His new apprentice Sunset Shimmer is proving to be quite a handful, but Harry has experience with handling headstrong young women.

However, things take a turn for the worse when he learns that a new threat from Equestria has made its way to Earth. And naturally it's up to him to stop the Sirens before they rock the world's foundations.

Cover art by Pon3Splash

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.

After putting on the Element of Magic, Sunset Shimmer was shown just how much of a monster she really is. But that wasn't all the Elements did to her.

Sunset has now been forced to serve penance by answering any question truthfully and by doing anything asked of her, whether she wants to or not.

And she really doesn't want to.

Until all of the hatred in her heart is gone, Sunset is at the whim of her peers, unbeknownst to them of course. Can her new "friends" help her down the road to redemption?

If not, there's always that other Twilight Sparkle she keeps running into.

Current editor: Nomad_Sigma
Guest editors: Cerulean Voice, Flint Sparks, Starlight Nova, and Sholan
Extra thanks to Icarus_Gizmo, JustAnotherTimeLord, and HenryAnthonyCourtler

Cover art customized by Amber Spark!

Now with it's own TV Tropes page!
Posted on EQD June 25, 2014
Wanna read it in French?
Or, read the E-Pub version here or the online version here
Now available in print format!

Sunset's favorite jacket is looking pretty beaten up after that whole rainbow laser explosion, and she doesn't know the first thing about fixing leather. Obviously she knows someone who could help her, someone who's already agreed to be her friend. But after everything she's done, she doesn't really think she's in a position to be asking favors. She hasn't earned anyone's friendship yet, and she certainly doesn't deserve anyone's help. Still, she's got no other options. So she'll just have to swallow her pride and beg Rarity to take some pity on her.
Rarity certainly has her work cut out explaining to her how friendship works.

Set after Equestria Girls, but before Rainbow Rocks. No shipping. Just awkward, self-loathing Sunset and generous, understanding Rarity.