To a ground-bound pony, a cloud is a collection of rain that hasn’t fallen yet. To Rainbow Dash, it's so much more. It's a place to nap, a launchpad into her mind, and depending on the company, a point of grievous contention.

In a world of snakes and ladders, Rarity has had to learn a single, simple fact:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single mare who desires recognition and success must, without a doubt, be a social-climbing bitch.

Edited version of my entry to Everfree Northwest's Iron Author competition. Special thanks to Swan Song for the encouragement, support, and for believing in this story strongly enough to throw money at it when I was ready to give up on it.

Amazing cover art by the fantastic lilfunkman

Thanks to Seattle's Angels for their review of this story!

Winter is at it's apex in Ponyville, but the year is not long for the world. New Year's is in full swing at Sweet Apple Acres. Two spent nags, mugs of cider in their hooves, sit before a roaring fire and find that their score is not yet settled. In the fields, a quiet blanket of snow and an emotional rollercoaster await. It's time to step outside.

(The song featured in this tale, "What are you Doing New Year's Eve?" is a favorite holiday song of the author. It was written in 1947 by Frank Loesser, and popularized by the author's favorite voice in music, Ella Fitzgerald.)
Cover Art By: Nemo2D. Used c/o blanket permission.

Celestia spends an inordinate amount of time talking to herself. One day, she talks back.

How do you kill a pegasus's soul? Put her in charge of the town's weather, then only let her schedule sunny days and gentle evening showers. Not thunderstorms, not blizzards, certainly not hail or tornadoes.

Nothing fun, in other words. Celestia forbid the weather team make some real weather, the kind Rainbow Dash dreams about. The farmers would never stand for that.

Well, screw the farmers. Screw the fashionistas and screw the library princess too if she complains. Rainbow Dash has a dream and she's going to share it with the world, whether the world wants it or not.

A story dedicated to anyone who's ever been passionate about something.

Every Friday, from five in the afternoon to eleven at night, Pinkie Pie does volunteer work. She doesn't have to do it, the world won't stop if she doesn't, but she chooses to do it anyway. Even if it's doing seemingly insignificant little things.

It is a matter of life and death, after all. Literally.

On one day each year, Celestia and Luna turn control of the sun and moon over to a group of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria. Twilight is finally old enough to take part.

But she can't.

*****

Winner of the Princesses Not Included Writeoff event. Thank you to all of the participants for both your support and your help in bringing this to its current form.

Cover art courtesy of the wonderfully talented CosmicUnicorn.

Now available in Spanish, courtesy of SPANIARD KIWI.

For the past few weeks, Princess Celestia has been quite used to Daybreaker tempting her in her dreams. Unfortunately for Daybreaker, Celestia doesn't have much use for even greater power or the terrified fealty of others, and even threatening Celestia doesn't seem to perturb the princess in the slightest.

But Celestia wasn't prepared for a dream about making conversation over pancakes with Daybreaker. And she certainly wasn't expecting the loud-mouthed and melodramatic alicorn to be horrifyingly effective at crushing her will with breakfast and cold, twisted logic.

Now featured on Equestria Daily! (4/19/18)

All of my thanks to Door Belle, Garnot, Pearple Prose and Pascoite for helping me write this. I'm profoundly thankful for their help.

Indirectly inspired by the works of Boundlessanon.

Twilight takes Moondancer through "The Chalice of Moonlight" via Haycartes' spell.

Written for the Writer's Training Grounds '15 #9.

Cadance isn't Sombra. But Sombra's leadership is all the crystal ponies remember, a ruler they had to love at all costs, with the final payment being their own lives. And as they gradually come to see their new Princess as leader instead of savior, too much of that residual fear is being transferred to her. They praise her, adore her, refuse to correct her no matter what she does -- because they live in terror of the consequences for doing anything else. They have yet to find their own voices, and may go on repeating hers until Celestia and Luna switch shifts. So how can she make them tell her when she's wrong, see that there's nothing to be afraid of, and take the next step in coming back to themselves once and for all?

Forbidding them to do anything other than criticize her should do the trick, right?

...right?

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group -- but can be read as a stand-alone, and no knowledge of the other stories is required. New members and trope edits are welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.