Long ago, in the dead of night, Luster Dawn saw a dark figure in Canterlot Castle's throne room. Longer still before that, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends defeated one of Equestria's greatest enemies in that same room.

Now, Luster Dawn wishes to disprove the existence of ghosts and allay her illogical fears of the castle being haunted, but a lingering presence is about to teach her something far more important.

Entry in the May 2020 Pairing Contest & Third place winner!

After Cozy Glow is caught and the world is saved, a single mare has the nerve to blame the hero of the hour for the near destruction of Equestria.

Fed up with his playcolt lifestyle, Prince Blueblood's parents decide to do something about it. Getting an honest job was out of the question, so instead he must woo and marry a suitable mare.

Blueblood is not pleased with this arrangement, but when he hears that the Elements of Harmony are attending the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala, he makes a plan to meet up with each one in the hope of finding a prospective life partner. A simple task, surely. What pony could resist him?

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Featured on FiMFiction.
Review by Ghost Mike
Review by undead_wanderer
Chinese Translation by Disharmony Tree
Audio Book Version by StraightToThePointStudio.

It's been thirty years since Princess Twilight's coronation. Equestria, now with an abundance of heroes, has pretty much become as peaceful as its ever been—and with Luster Dawn coming to full grips with the magic of friendship, Twilight can finally relax.

At least, she would if it weren't for Cozy Glow escaping from her prison every other day.

Josh, Bill and Blue are hard-working Earth Ponies that haul freight around Ponyville. Sometimes, Bill and Blue envy the freedom and power of the Pegasus and Unicorn Ponies. Josh, older, wiser, and a bit of storyteller, tries to comfort his teammates with the "secret truth" about the other types of ponies. And Bill and Blue... well, there's a short distance between between being open-minded and empty-headed.

These were my first two MLP:FIM fan fictions. The first, "The Truth About Pegasus Ponies," is a little rough, but it was one of those stories that just appeared in my head, whole and entire, and demanded to be written.

The second, "The Shadow Over Ponyville," is a bit more polished. Despite the title, it's not really a Lovecraft pastiche, although HPL obviously influenced my description of Blue's reaction to the "blasphemous truth" about Unicorns. ("Kelpies," by the way, are a real thing, or at least real in terms of folklore. Sometimes, this stuff just writes itself.)

When I wrote these stories (during the break between Seasons One and Two), I thought I had cleverly immunized myself against changes to the canon. Josh is, of course, only telling tall tales, so any changes to the canon couldn't affect his stories. Baby Cakes, however, makes these stories a bit implausible. Still, I'm fond of them anyway.

Josh's full name is Joshington Traveller Pie. In my personal canon, he's Pinkie Pie's uncle, the "bad" one that ran away from the rock farm to join the circus. Oddly, I have yet to write a story that includes both Pinkie and Josh. When I write about him, I imagine he sounds like John Goodman.

Edit: If you liked this story, you might also enjoy my story, "The Boneyard," which directly follows the events in "The Shadow Over Ponyville."

Barney Trotter and his valet, Cheese, struggle to assist young Prince Blueblood, who has accidentally become engaged to be married. On the night of the Grand Galloping Gala, Barney unfolds a masterful plan to rescue his pal from the harness of matrimony.

A parody of PG Wodehouse's Jeeves & Wooster stories.

Eleven months after their wedding, Princess Cadence and Prince-Consort Shining Armor are visiting the new Princess Twilight Sparkle when an unexpected visitor arrives with a surprise gift for the newlyweds.

The little bundle of joy is taken a little differently than Chrysalis or Shining Armor expects.

Having had enough of the “Chrysalis brings home a little bundle of joy for Shining Armor” fics for now, I thought it was high time to deliver a cream pie to the face of this genre. Enjoy.

Contents are to be used for comedy only. No deeper meaning at all. Really. Stop looking. Short one chapter story, which will not get a sequel. Author was heavily influenced by CSIMadMax on Deviant Art. Go read her Cadence/Shining Armor/Chrysalis cartoons. Right after reading this, of course.
Also check out these fics on the same topic:
My Daughter the Teenage Changeling Darn it, he deleted his story. And it was good, too.
It's a Pony by Dr. Atlas.
And All That Implies by VashTheStampede
My Fluttering Heart by Titanium Dragon
A Changeling Effect by Username_Unknown Darnit, this one got deleted too.

Editing assistance by Bad Horse and others.
Credit for cover art goes to ConvoyKaiser

It is said that every dog has its day, that every wrong will be eventually righted, and that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. For Prince Blueblood, these were simply words that applied to other ponies; he had no problem stomping over, mowing down, destroying, or flattening any pony who stood in his way.

Until today.

Twilight Sparkle wasn't expecting Sombra to be there when she woke up in her cage, not that she was expecting the cage in the first place.

But even if she had guessed correctly on those two outcomes, the conversation that followed was unexpected. Especially his views on ruler-ship.

They've finally done it. They beat Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Chrysalis. Twilight became the new ruler of Equestria.

Now there's no better way to wind down than getting drunk and playing party games until they pass out.