It isn't often that things go well for Derpy. Between her eyes, her clumsiness, and her propensity for disaster, it's hard enough just to make friends. Add to that a revolving door of jobs and a daughter to raise, it's a miracle that she has much time for herself at all. So when her date stands her up at a loud, flashy club, it hurts.

Maybe she should just give up. Or, maybe she just needs the kindness of a strange bartender in purple shades.

Image source.

After returning from her adventures in an alternate world of bipedal creatures with 'hands', Twilight struggles with the reality of becoming a princess. And fears that it might be a burden greater than she could bear.

Unbeknownst to her and her friends, a great evil has arrived to the peaceful lands of Equestria. An evil that threatens to wipe out all that they hold dear in this world. And the little ponies will be forced to come to grips with the discovery that they are not alone in the multiverse...

Will the bearers of the Elements of Harmony be able to face this new enemy, or will their circle of friendship be broken... forever?

(cover done by bakki from DeviantArt, click on image to view the artist's gallery or go to this link = http://bakki.deviantart.com/ if you'd like to see more of bakki's art)

No singing, no baking, no parties, no smiling.

The accident five years ago didn't just drive a wedge between Pinkie Pie and her friends, it stole her very identity. She had no choice but to move back home, to a hard life of farming rocks and managing her condition. Since then, she's built her family's farm into a successful corporation and the backwater town of Big Rock into a bustling city. But none of that gives her purpose.

When a new danger arises, threatening everything she's worked for an everypony she loves, will Pinkie be able to do what's necessary to save them? Or will her demons finally overtake her?

Note: The Crossover tag is a spoiler, but this story should be accessible to most readers. Comments that discuss the crossover and spoilers for the story without [ spoiler ] tags will be deleted!

5th place finalist in the May 2014 writeoff, "Beneath the Mask". Artwork by zanefir-dran!

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.

My unicorn parents called me a worthless mud pony. They pushed me every day to overcome my lowly status. When I woke up one morning with my cutie mark, I thought they would love me. I couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

It was not destiny or enjoyment that led me to discover the cello and composing. My parents made that decision, deciding before I was born I would continue their family legacy of famous musicians.

They did not realize what that decision would cost them.

Special Thanks and Links:

Cover Art: Dreampaw. The inspiration for the story.
Dramatic reading of Act I-III by Malao567. June 2013
Reading with music by ObabScribbler. June 2014
Song: Hooks and Strings by Reverb Brony. May 2014

Style inspired by H.P. Lovecraft
TypeWriterError: Editor & Rating Board
Gage of Grandiloquence: Editor
The11thWonder: Pre-reader
Nharctic: Pre-reader
Breath of Plagues: My Pinch Editor.
ArgonMatrix: Bad Grammar Exterminator
Daemon of Decay: Advice, also inspired me to write fan fiction. Blame him!