“For want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe, a messenger lost. For want of a messenger, the message was lost. For want of a message, the battle was lost. For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost.”

“All for want of a horseshoe’s nail."

Like many other timelines, the Sonic Rainboom fails to occur. But, Harmony is tenacious. Even without what seems to be a key event, it will have it's bearers. Just perhaps taking a long, winding shortcut around to reach them.

An alternate timeline story inspired by A Minor Variation by notMurphy where the Mane 6 have their elements shuffled. Different events lead to different ponies, so OC tag is here because of how wildly different these Mane 6 ended up.

Cover made by Me.

If Rarity saved half her meals to feed to the fairies so she could stay pretty, Sweetie Belle wasn't going to argue. Rarity was always right, after all.

CW: Eating disorders, anorexia specifically. Hopeful/happy ending, I promise.

Thank you to Snow Quill for prereading!

Fleur, Frosty Orange, and Alizarin Bubblegum make a traditional Maltese dish.

Prereading by SockPuppet and Cinder Vel

Moondancer takes a break from her research on High Energy Magic to check what Canterlot has to offer: watching a charity boxing match with her friends, meeting some new ponies, and making some bad decisions. Also, kirin poetry.

Explicitly set in the same universe as Limelight

Preread by Cinder Vel
Cover image credits: Moondancer by Magister39, Jinx by sofunnyguy, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts by 8-Notes, background by csillaghullo

Diamond Tiara was having a good morning. Then her mother dropped dead. Then things got weird.

A collaboration with SockPuppet. Inspiration in the author's note at the end.
Story notes

Everyone has to sleep eventually—everyone, which means that at some point Sunset's new roommate is going to have to stop messing around with her computer and go to bed. But somehow the one-and-only Twilight Sparkle doesn't need to obey the laws of the universe, and therefore she might just be the one-and-only person who never sleeps.

Written as a study on narrative and preconception. Recommended by TCC56. Reviewed by PaulAsaran. Cover art by me!

This story is a sequel to Fluttershy, Royal Game Warden (?)

Ever since Rarity was a wee filly, she has always fantasized about the life of the nobility. The inestimable glamour! The fabulous balls and galas! The magnificent castles! Even after running roughshod into the very worst of highborn snobbery at the Gala, that little foalish tingle keeps dragging her mind back to that particular whimsy in the quiet times.

Incidentally, Luna needs some poor gullible idiot she can ennoble before throwing them into the very foulest political cesspit in Bitaly on a wild-goose chase for nine million bits. How convenient!

Reading the previous story is highly recommended, not only because this one won't make much sense without it, but also because it's a 100% certified banger. Obviously.

Did you know Fluttershy was made Royal Game Warden of the last remaining Royal Game Preserve in Equestria? Of course, she only has that title because the newly winged Twilight needed something with which to defraud the government, and that "preserve" is, due to centuries of neglect, actually the Everfree Forest, but that's not really important.

Until, of course, the Griffon Ambassador showed up at her door demanding her services as a hunting guide for his lunch.

Then it was a little important.

"Hey, I need to file an insurance claim on my house?"

"Nature of the damage?"

"Oh, a magical bear got dragged into town by a bunch of teenagers to impress their foalish crush and it stepped on my front porch. Also, the next week a god of chaos turned my lamps into sharks and now there's a puddle of milk in my crawlspace."

For Equestria? This is an absurdist tale. For Ponyville's insurance adjuster, it was Wednesday.

A slice of that life, starring the adjuster himself and everyone's ... third(?) favorite glasses-wearing foal.

Indigo Zap was the star athlete of Crystal Prep Academy. Way more athletic than she had any right to be, and always looking for a challenge, she helped the school's reputation immensely. Everyone respected her.

But no one knew what lied beneath the surface. No one knew why she was such a loner, even by Crystal Prep standards.

She rarely, if ever hung out with others, often rushing back home after practice. And she rarely called or texted anyone, and no one even knew what hobbies she had. That was by design, because Indigo didn't WANT them to know.

After all, how could they understand her obsession when even she didn't?

Edit (9/15/22): Edited a small detail about the number of sketchbooks. Not too important, but simply made the number smaller to fit new continuity details.