One jolly morning, Pinkie Pie decided to take on one of the most challenging tasks for a baker: baking the best cake she had ever baked! After putting the cake’s base in the oven, she thought her day couldn’t get any better, when she found it- an odd device that can open portals to other universes. Sounds great, right? Pinkie thought so too!

That is, until she realized she didn’t know how to return to her universe. And that means the cake, which was still in the oven, would be…

Yikes.

Now in a race against the clock, Pinkie must return to her home in time. Otherwise, she’ll just have to… bake another one, which would kinda suck.

Cover art by yours truly.

Pinkie tries to steal Twilight's heart with a kiss and a love note.

Twilight has other plans.

Thanks to Steady Gaze for proofreading.

Cover done by IrradiatedPirateBooty.

Translated into Ukrainian by volkov, available here.

It was nearly one thousand years ago that Opaline Arcana defeated Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Her plan had succeeded, and the three ponykinds were split, their bonds broken. However, the ordeal left Opaline drained of her magic. If she revealed herself too soon, everything would have been for naught. She had a castle, but she couldn't leave.

While she still had her followers, there was one major issue: She is immortal, and they were not. Thus, she was eventually the only one left, and she required an assistant. Unfortunately, enchantments will only get a pony so far, and wild creatures aren't exactly reliable. While a young unicorn mare named Misty Brightdawn would come to her a few years before she would finally get her chance to return to the public eye, there were hundreds of years where very little happened.

However, about sixty of those years are an exception. Those were the years that she found herself with something she never expected.

A companion. A human companion.

Suggested by Wanderer312.

This story is a sequel to And Now For Something Exactly the Same

Twilight Sparkle is now Princess Twilight Sparkle and she's successfully rescued Sergeant Lyra Heartstrings from spreading herself too thin into early burnout in Canterlot—by ordering everypony who might have some claim to the mare's time to surrender her at their earliest opportunity.

It's a new life for Lyra Heartstrings, a new set of responsibilities, and a new princess to serve. Now she just needs to survive Ponyville to fully enjoy this new future.

See This Blog for licensing.

October 26th, 2023 update: This story's going back in the oven. There's some changes I want to make. Details here.

Sunset Shimmer lived a perfect life: an aspiring career as Princess Celestia’s star pupil, a budding romance, and the perfect best friend to discover the wonders of the world that made life worth living.  But under the guise of a new friend Sunset met in her dreams, Nightmare Moon sought to upend everything in the name of vengeance, and the powers that be demanded their pound of flesh.

Years later, long after the dust had settled, Sunset found her home beyond the portal. Life was good, if a little strange.  But when Princess Luna comes seeking to quell the nightmares of a past that still haunt her, those nightmares rapidly spiral out of control, and Sunset is faced with the impossible decision of allying herself with the very individual who had destroyed her life.

With little choice, they strike a tentative partnership, and as past and present converge to threaten all that Sunset holds dear, she is left standing at the precarious ledge of a question that may very well have no answer:

Is there a limit to forgiveness?

[Non-con] tag for story elements, not on-page events.
Edited by RBDash47.
Cover art by Ventious.
Chapter header art by Smeows_isgood.

Cherry Jubilee’s lived in Dodge Junction her whole life. She knows the ropes—she’s tied them twenty times over.

Somepony comes into the shop with pretty makeup running all down her face. It's no hard decision of what to do next.

Written for the New Blood Contest, where it tied for third place. Uses the bonus "an unusual matchup."

Review by Loganberry. Review by PaulAsaran.

Equestria has seen better days even before the return of Nightmare Moon herself; of course, if one were anything like a certain princess, then perhaps the tale was already told: as a matter of fact, it was how her legacy had been cemented from the start.

On the other appendage, what many of her subjects don't know is how damaged it all is; although with proper governance and good values, trouble brewed, boiling and doubling: foreign aggression and domestic woes went in pairs matched, heavens fell, hells raised.

Such is the life of Twilight Sparkle, the princess' pupil turned princess herself as is: the time, unknown but otherwise treated as tbe dead of night itself as far as the eyes see; the place, some facility in which still remains unknown to the public, let alone kith and kin.

Written for the A Thousand Words Contest II in the Horror category, but otherwise inadmissible.

Since graduating from Canterlot High, Twilight Sparkle has started dating her formed vice-principal, Luna. Though they've been close now, they want to eventually take things to the next level. But for now, a lovely date at the beach will be fun for the two.

This is part of my 1K Challenge
Everyone is 18+ years old.

Oh, golly! So, six months ago, I became the Supreme Empress of Friendship in all of Equestria, right? Yeah, I dethroned the existing princesses and imprisoned the Mane Six in Tartarus... But later, I found this Guardian Amethyst thingy and that transformed me into an alicorn! And then, for four long months, I was the only pony with magick... I saw how they all looked at me... I just knew they weren't happy and well, I can't really explain it, but something inside me kinda just broke?

And then three months ago, I decided that I needed a new assistant! Now, I needed somepony knowledgeable on what the other ponies want and need... And so, after talking with her about parole and freedoms, I released and employed Twilight Sparkle! Her friends must remain locked up for the time being as there's simply too many of them...

And then there was yesterday, when I decided to open the vortex again and allow magick to stream back into Equestria... I saw how happy that seemed to make everypony. I went to bed shortly thereafter and later woke up. I just had breakfast and was meeting with my assistant later that morning...

Fluttershy has been keeping a secret from everypony she knows. A problem she's tried dealing with on her own, but it's been getting harder. Hearing about a place for ponies with her... condition, she decides to visit to hopefully find somepony to help her before somepony gets hurt.

Of course, things never go as expected, and she finds a familiar creature under any other circumstances she would rather avoid...

This story was written for the New Blood Contest 2023, and I would love feedback from the judges.
I'm also fulfilling the bonus "Include a bug"

The changeling heart icon used in the cover image was found: https://derpibooru.org/images/2381676