This story is a sequel to Equestrian Concepts

(Equestrian Concepts is featured on Equestria Daily. This story makes no sense without reading it first.)

All Ditzy had wanted was rest and a way out of the mad quest that had shoved itself into her life.

Halted by ancient fire and older nightmares, she had hoped that the others would give up—or at the very least leave her in peace to raise her daughter. Perseverance seems a hollow word as Ditzy is again manipulated by the greater forces of the world, yet in the north Tick begins to understand his plague and the strange gift of his eyes.

Additional character tags: Royal Guard, Batpony

A birthday present for EpicLuna

Twilight Sparkle is an intelligent pony, normally well-composed, and blissfully unaware of the state of her plot. But when she overhears a few words not meant for her ears, how will she handle the revelations and the endlessly complex task of determining the condition of her derrière?

Many thanks to Aeteros, DethByGaming, and "Twi" for their help with various parts of the story.

WARNING: Spoilers in the comments

Sections of this story will be rewritten eventually. Part of Equestrian Concepts.

What would you give to forget your past?

Most wouldn't even seriously consider the question: they have too many happy memories to balance the terror of life. Others would gladly do so- whether it was a singular event or a long agony of experiences that make them desire restful forgetfulness, it makes little difference in the end. He thought he had reached that bliss of forgetfulness, but the most innocuous things often bring the most change- painful and hopeful.

Art by Zonalar, (Deviantart). Go tell him he's awesome, because he put at least as much work into that image as I have into this story. Also, look closely at the reflections in the water.

This fiction has been completely rewritten since it was originally posted, and then some. (More rewriting of one particular chapter is in order, if I ever get around to that.)

Acceptance. It is a wonderful thing, sought for by many. For the unfortunate ones who do not find it, it is the symbol of all the joy in life that escapes them. For those that find it, it becomes expected of them: a reality that is neither special nor unexpected. When a seeming misfit by the name of Twilight Sparkle arrives in Ponyville, she becomes the lone hope of a cast-aside, wall-eyed, bluish-grey pegasus in search of a home…

This takes place in and around the first two episodes of season one, and is designed to be canonically accurate. It is only labeled "slice of life" because there is no "normal" tag, although it does fit both tags.

Ditzy's story is continued in Equestrian Concepts.

Experimental story, read at your own risk.

Lightning Dust is a pegasus who has seen very little light. While her past is obscure, that doesn't stop other ponies from their conjectures about her motivations for being so relentlessly, savagely driven- for being who she is. They must be careful in their judgments, though, for they can fall into the same traps that she did...

Picture by the spectacular ClexYoshi.

Now featured on Equestria Daily!

Ditzy had a long and brutal past, no easy journey, and a small respite in a town called Ponyville. Even that respite was hard-fought and meager, but the world has a way of refusing to let the weary rest and the truth a way of revelation. If that truth then comes, comprehension and acceptance are the next and greatest battle. There are a thousand revelations, and if she mastered them all perfectly she would but glimpse the first iota of truth. This is the Life of Ditzy: straightforward, complicated, clear, uncertain, happy, maddening, passionate, furious, ecstatic, depressing, motherly, raging, loving, blind—but last, and most of all—searching.

Monumental thanks to White Cloud and Aeteros for helping make sure the rewrites are going as intended.

Begins between Seasons 2 and 3. Continuation: Under a Grey Sky
This story has been completely rewritten since it was originally posted.