When Shining Armor was in high school, he was given an assignment to take care of a bag of flour decorated like an infant filly. By the end of the week, "Floury Armor" was a prize-winning batch of muffins and the yearbook committee had unanimously voted him "Most Likely to Appear in a Future Villain's Tragic Backstory." This really should have been a red flag, but for some reason the Queen Bee of the school still married him anyway.

When Shining Armor found out that his wife was pregnant, he was quick to introduce the Crystal Empire to the idea of a gender reveal party. Luckily, that quarter of the city had been due for extensive renovation anyway and his explosion-proof wife appreciated the sentiment.

Now, when his daughter is turning into a pony he no longer recognizes (and he can't even blame the changelings this time), it's up to him and his self-proclaimed stellar parenting skills to save her from herself.

My entry for the Shining Armor is a terrible dad competition.

Proofreading and pre-reading very helpfully contributed by Light Striker, GreyTheGriffon, RB, Pneu, and Scream Queen

Flash Sentry is a noble pony. A loyal member of the Guard. His record is spotless; his image pristine.

He is praised by his bosses and adored by his squadmates.

His life is on a clear and unobstructed upward trajectory.

Until he has the terrible misfortune to wake up one morning and find his life overturned by a simple, dreadful declaration:

Written as part of the Quills & Sofas' Holiday Fic Exchange Event for daOtterGuy

Ponyville is not Canterlot, and a Ponyville Hearth's Warming is a far cry from a Canterlot Hearth's Warming.

Twilight thought she understood this when her first holiday season in the village rolled around, but the physical reality of it still hit her harder than expected.

It'll take discovering someone with an even greater gap in holiday expectations to break her out of her weltschmerz.

Written for 6-D Pegasus for Jinglemas 2023

When the world is ending, where do you go?
Into Ships, sailing off into space? Hoping some new world will fare better than your last?
Into Vaults, buried deep underground? Waiting in stale air and light for the world to hopefully heal without you?
Into Portals, to new reflections of reality? Praying that alternate people made different mistakes?

When Equestria passed its point of no return, her citizens did as they always had in times of crisis: they herded together in one place.

And then they built a Spire.

Several centuries later, the daily life of your average pony is unrecognizably different...

...and yet, the more things change the more they echo the past.

Written for the 2023 Seerver Fic Exchange for Silent Whisper whose request was for a cyberpunk dystopia.

It was supposed to be a routine check-up.
A few tests. Some scans. Nothing special.
At worst, they should have left with some supplements and advice.

Instead, she left alone.

An entry for the Thousand Words II contest in the "Drama" category.

Content Warning for sensitive viewers: Discussions of abortion and, tangentially, sex

Special thanks to SwordTune, thesmokinguy, and sheppard741 for pre-reading and providing vitally helpful feedback.

Despite their bickering over the years, Rarity always knew her parents would eventually settle their differences at the end of the day.

It was only natural that her father's triumphant announcement of his recent divorce came as quite a shock.

Even more so that he was already remarried.

An entry for the Thousand Words II contest in the "Comedy" category.

Art courtesy of Shaslan, however, due to a minor miscommunication over narrative details, it has little to do with the story itself beyond representing Rarity's mental state throughout.

What happens when you die?
Is there Paradise? Or Oblivion?
Are your loved ones there with open arms? Or everyone you ever wronged eager for their pound of flesh?

When it's Applejack's time to go, she learns that the truth is both far worse (and far better) than she could have ever imagined.

An entry for the Thousand Words II contest in the "Slice of Life" category.

Fire.
Panic in the streets.
Canterlot lies in rubble and ruins, the citizenry in chains.
Calamity has come to Equestria.

But that's none of Derpy Hooves' concern. Leave that mess for the Heroes to deal with (they always win in the end, right?). Besides, she's got her own problems to deal with. Problems that take the form of a very tall and intimidating figure engaged in a very one-sided affection.

Entry for the May Pairings 2023 Contest.
Cover art provided by Mutter_Butter

There's a hot new toy craze in Canterlot, and young Twilight Sparkle is determined to get ahold of one to make her BBBFF's Hearth's Warming absolutely perfect.

This should have been a simple and straightforward quest, except for two things: that she waited until the last minute to do her shopping, and the intervention of a disagreeable stallion who'd rather hoard the toys to himself.

Special thanks to Yoshikage Kira for help with lore consulting and pre-reading.

Written for IgnisKitsune for Jinglemas 2022

The worst part of a betrayal is often not the act itself, but everything that lingers after. Trying to piece together the motivations of someone you once trusted, sifting through memories for some sign you might have missed.

Wondering if, somehow, they had a good reason behind it all.

Seeking closure, Twilight tries to find answers in Cozy Glow's abandoned possessions, but the truth she discovers is one that will make her question everything.

Written for the 3rd Annual Cozy Glow Short Story Contest.

Prompts used:
-Twilight Sparkle gathers Cozy’s belongings for disposal. One object surprises her.
-Cozy’s got a secret!