Ivan is just your everyday type of guy. Middle-aged, balding, Eastern European, grew up in harsh and merciless communism, and took to smoking three packs of cigarettes a day since childhood, washing it down with vodka as well. When he heard about the great opportunities the magical land of Equestria were offering, he got one of the first green cards there and opened up shop in Ponyville. A saddle shop, to be specific, where he sells saddles and saddle accessories.

Why ponies buy saddles, Ivan doesn't know, and when he finds out, he'd like very much to go back to not knowing.

Thanks to my pre-reader RedSquirrel456 for all his help.

As a general rule, leaving your future bride at the altar and abandoning your entire family to flee the city of Canterlot is a bad idea.

Then again, you never know just who you'll meet on the train to your new life.

Twilight Sparkle always wrote to Princess Celestia about her lessons in friendship. Sometimes, Celestia wrote back. Even if Twilight didn't know it.

Expanded version of the ninth-place winner in the /fic/ mini write-off "Just Over the Horizon."

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Aloe and Lotus love the looks on their customers' faces during a nice soak in the tub, a relaxing massage, a new pony greeting them in the mirror. But it wasn't always that way, and even now, the occasional difficult customer can prove trying.

Expanded from the third-place winner in the /fic/ mini write-off "For Old Times' Sake."

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This story is a sequel to A Sleeping Rose

It's been a week since Sam spent the night at Rose's house, and the two have grown closer. Rose helped plant flowerbeds all around the house, but a surprise visit to check on the flowers on laundry day puts a slight strain on their budding friendship. Now Sam's forced to make some choices she's not quite ready for.

Caramel is tired of his cousins ragging on him for having a pegasus marefriend, so he proposes a drinking game for the three of them to play.

Edited by Noble Thought.

During an evening performance at a private manor, Octavia is shown one of the rarest and finest instruments known to Equestria, a Stellar Variance cello. Just being in the same room as one is a dream come true for Octavia, but then she is given the chance to play it. It is an opportunity Octavia can't pass up, no matter the consequences.

Yet, the next morning Vinyl finds herself at the same private estate, searching for the friend and roommate who never came back.

Golden Harvest takes Noi to the park to burn off some extra energy. After a dip in a puddle, and a rousing game of Settlers and Buffalo, Noi is a filly in serious need of a bath. Only problem is she hates bathing.

Reading by AShadowOfCygnus

Crossing Guard works in Equestria's Immigration Department: among other things, he serves as the final check on whether a non-pony can take up residence in Canterlot. It's not a simple job, especially given the follow-ups when a new resident or citizen-in-waiting inevitably gets into trouble. But Gerald Gristle is an exceptionally calm applicant, Crossing's tired from a long day, and so he allows the griffon to begin the five-year process, with the announced food supply business set to open two weeks in.

Which is when Crossing finds out just what kind of food the griffon is supplying.

After all, carnivores and omnivores have to eat too...

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group -- but can be read as a stand-alone, and no knowledge of the other stories is required. New members and trope edits are welcome.)

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Trick or treating is over, and Noi, Berry Pinch, and Dinky have sorted through their candy. What's left but to cuddle up under a blanket together and tell scary stories?

Audio reading by AShadowOfCygnus