Spike is a kind, loyal, selfless dragon. To many, he's not only Twilight's number one assistant, but rather an assistant to the entire town. Tragedy strikes when the adolescent succumbs to a fatal illness. It hits the townsfolk hard, especially Twilight Sparkle.

Sulking in her own despair, the faithful student asks herself the same, fruitless question: 'How does one cope with losing their only son?'

Sadness Porn at its smuttiest. You've been warned.

The spirit of madness learned his lesson after those pesky ponies re-sealed him in his stone tomb. This time around there would be no princess Celestia, no elements of harmony, and most important of all, no magic of friendship. His plan was to tear the kingdom apart at the seams, and this time, his scheme was perfect. An infinite jest that was to be the jewel in his chaotic crown. Equestria would be torn asunder and his sweet insanity would rule the land once again until the end of time.

A pianist from Earth is home on a lonely Saturday, getting ready to enjoy his weekend, when he is suddenly summoned to Equestria - only to find himself being held captive by The Great and Powerful Trixie, who plans to use him as a piano-playing slave in her show.

If you came here looking for the sequel, 'The Piano Man: Act II', it can be found here.

The Piano Man has spent the last month in captivity, forced to play the piano as part of The Great and Powerful Trixie's traveling show. Now he's free, and recovering under the care of the Equestrian monarchy while Trixie awaits trial for her crimes.
All is not well, however. The Piano Man has a long road of recovery ahead, and all the time he must compete with overbearing carers, his own mental trauma, and even discrimination from members of Equestria's unicorn supremacist subculture.

This story is the kinda (can't stress that part enough) better-written sequel to 'The Piano Man'. Because the first story involved some rather dark scenes, I have included a helpful catch-up in the first chapter - so if you have no interest in reading a dark story, then you can ignore the first piece and skip straight ahead to this one.
'The Piano Man: Act II' is most certainly not a dark story, and neither is it sad. The sad tag is in place for scenes in which I reference the previous installment, and nothing else.

The absolutely amazing cover image was created by the even more amazing WIL_I_ZIN, (deviantART) who is just... just awesome, for helping out.

When your life is as dull a gray as the world that surrounds you, the mundanities can make it all seem meaningless. Sometimes we need a couple drugs -- or six -- and maybe a pegasus, to reintroduce us to what truly makes life worth living.

Even in a world of love, there are those ponies who sleep alone, and go on their days alone. Where is the love, when it is all around you?

After GLaDOS is uploaded into a potato battery, Wheatley humiliates the AI even further by uploading her into a project that was abandoned by Aperture a long time ago. In the blink of an eye, she finds herself in a deformed body of flesh and bone that resembles an equine, and is just as powerless as one too. It comes with all of its needs and bodily functions as well. To make matters worse, she's trapped in a land full of insufferable creatures that just want to make 'friends.' Will GLaDOS' cold, sadistic sense of humor and morals get the better of the ponies? Or will they peel away the once artificial being's metallic shell and find that there's a softer side? Probably not, but it's worth a try.

Story Theme: Tyler Bates - I Love You (Watchmen OST)

Thanks to Meeester, MrJoshy, and funkyferret for proofreading/reviewing.

Cover by Fedte16.

Twilight Sparkle flagrantly abuses her Come-To-Life spell, and learns a little bit about love in the process. Also, puns.

Now with actual cover art, thanks to the generous SuddenlyFerrets!

Now with a Spanish translation by Spaniard Kiwi!

Twilight Sparkle has every intention of crawling in to her freshly cleaned bed sheets.

So why is it so hard to get there?

READ THIS DESCRIPTION. ALL OF IT.

[2nd-Person Fic starring you and Rainbow Dash]

Having turned away from the spotlight, you preferred to distance yourself from fame and popularity. Instead, you chose to live a simple life away from the crowds and fortune. But when you meet a multicolored mare with an unusual request, can you find it in yourself to go for the gold again?

A/N: Okay, this is going to make very little sense at first, but just bear with me.

So I've been playing a ton of Kid Icarus: Uprising lately. It is hella fun, and Sakurai did an amazing job at revitalizing the series. It has easily stolen the spot of "favorite 3DS title" in my heart, and I can't put it down.

So you're probably wondering, "what does Kody's videogame preferences have anything to do with a romance story involving Rainbow Dash?" Well, everything, actually.

A friend of mine noticed my new addiction to this title. He knows I write about ponies, and as such, he jokingly made a bet with me saying that I should write a story in which I use music from said game in every chapter. I shrugged it off and ignored it at first, but I went and started to listen to the soundtrack. Somehow, I developed a plan and storyline from doing so. Now, this story won't reflect the events or storyline from this title. It is entirely original.

The rules I was given are simple:
1. The music must come from Kid Icarus: Uprising.
2. At least one song must be used in each chapter. More than one song is viable.
3. The same song may not be used more than once.
4. Remixes or fan-made renditions of songs are not allowed.
5. The song must be used in a way that enhances the reading experience. I can't just toss a song in and say 'mission accomplished.' It must complement the events and make sense.

Now, I know what you are thinking, and yes. This is really weird. But hey, it worked, and this story was born as a result.

EDIT: It has been brought to my attention that some of the songs used in the story are blocked in certain countries. As much as I would love to get this fixed, I'm afraid I don't have much of a way around this. If this affects you, I apologize deeply.

ANOTHER EDIT: Since Youtube is such a fickle thing when it comes to copyrighted music, a link may end up leading to a broken video. If this is the case for any of the songs, please let me know via PM so I can fix it ASAP. Thanks!

This is how it works. When you get to a bit of blue text such as this, that's a link to the song. Open it in a new tab and continue reading as the music plays. Simple. When you get to some red, underlined text, that is the cue to stop the music. Sometimes, that cue may not be there, and the song is meant to play until the end of the chapter. Songs don't carry over to other chapters, however.

The music is not required for the reading experience. It is entirely optional. Well, for you it is.

I hope you enjoy my nerd-ery!

Artwork by celebi-yoshi of dA.