Winter Blossom watched the final pink petal tremble on the flower. The naked branches of the cherry tree were stark and black against the pale sky.

A short experimental fic focusing on split concurrent timelines, written as a gift.

Following the accidental demise of an aging Lightning Dust, her lifelong photographer Photo Finish opens a new show in her memory. You wander the gallery walls examining each image carefully. As they flow together, slowly, a story begins to emerge. Is it the right one? Who gets to tell it? Who was Lightning Dust, really?

A meditation on memory, art, and time.

An entry for the May Pairings Contest 2023. Check out the other entries here!

Apple Bloom thought it was just a game at first. That was what Sweetie Belle had said anyways. It was just something to bring out at sleep overs to scare each other silly before going to bed.

But then Apple Bloom started playing with the Ouija board by herself... or so she thought. At first she’s thrilled when her parents contact her. It gives her a connection with them she always wanted but never had. But as time goes on, the things they say sound less and less like what a parent would say to a child. The things they ask her to do become more and more unthinkable.

When she decides to throw away the board game, she thinks that will be the end of it. Unfortunately, she might be done playing with it, but it isn’t done playing with her.

- Inspired by a series of artworks by xxmarkingxx

I am Breaking Scoop, news editor for CNN (Canterlot News Network). Recently, I was afforded the great opportunity to interview Twilight Sparkle and her friends about their views on politics.
This group of national heroes has saved Equestria no less than half a dozen times, and includes not only a full-fledged Princess, but also the Hero of the Crystal Empire, a Wonderbolt, and arguably Equestria's most famous designer. Naturally, I was thrilled to have the chance to hear about their well-reasoned views on the issues that impact ponies' everyday lives.
Boy, was I surprised at what I found! These are their philosophies.

This is a sort of semi-dark satire about political roles. What would they look like in Equestria (there are a lot of political themes present in the show)!? Sure to be a treat for political junkies!

Everypony's gone camping and it's Twilight's turn to tell a story. Apparently nobody wants a science lecture, so she tries her hoof at a scary story. A tale of foalhood, and a strange presence...

Author's Notes: A story I've been holding onto for a long time, but finally had a chance to release thanks to my good friend Flint Sparks.

Princess Luna is supposed to be her sister's equal. She watches over 12 of every 24 hours, after all. But she isn't, and everybody knows it. Equestria adores the one who brings warm, sunny days, and ponies sleep through her nights. Even her sister sometimes seems to forget that she's supposed to be one of Equestria's ruling diarchs.

Luna seeks help from the only pony she thinks can make a difference: Star Swirl the Bearded. He provides a spell, one she can use to change herself into the pony she wants to be.

Unfortunately for her (and the rest of Equestria), things don't go quite as expected.

Updates Wednesdays, though it may update a little quicker at first as the Fimfiction version of this story catches up to the one posted on Patreon. Cover by Zutcha, as always. These just keep getting better, don't they?

This is a Patreon-sponsored story, written for Aurora Gleam. So tremendous thanks to them for making this adventure possible.

When Nightmare Moon’s rebellion tore across Equestria, leaving a trail of blood and horror in its wake, Princess Celestia knew that merely banishing her sister wouldn’t be enough. Her army was too powerful, and too bloodthirsty, to be left behind without a leader. When she finally turned the Elements of Harmony against her, she didn’t just banish Nightmare Moon. She banished thousands.

Now they’re in a race against time, to find a way to survive in an environment so alien that every aspect of it is trying to kill them. They face suffocation, freezing, boiling, starvation, radiation, meteorite impacts, low gravity… the list goes on.

Nightmare Moon thought she should be the ruler of all Equestria. Now, in a world nopony was ever meant to survive, her abilities will be put to the ultimate test.

This story now has a hardcover! If you'd like one of your own, you can grab it here: https://starscribe.net/

Editing by the indulgent and patient Two Bit and Sparktail. Coverart by Zutcha.

Note: I intend this story to be as faithful to our current scientific understanding of the moon, and I’ve consulted for help with the aspects outside my technical purview. That said, I fully expect to make decisions that some may see as mistakes, based on their own independent interpretations.

I am a storyteller first, and I realize it’s likely I’ll eventually make a mistake, or an arbitrary decision to simplify the storytelling over accuracy. I’m doing my best here, but this isn’t a NASA white paper. Set your expectations accordingly.

This story was commissioned by Canary in the Coal Mine on my Patreon, feel free to contact me if you’d like one of your own!

Despite Princess Luna being rescued from the cruel embrace of Nightmare Moon and returned to her sister’s loving side, there is a dark secret of death and betrayal lurking in the moon’s shadow. Soon it will threaten the Royal Sisters’ reunion and ignite the flames of their deadly conflict again, unless a mere child can show them the way.

The last Nightguard is coming. Nothing will stop him until his nemesis is destroyed, not even death.

Fantastic cover art by Harwick
Now featured on Equestria Daily

Editors include: Tek, Irrespective

Rainbow Dash lived alone; Tank had long since disappeared, having left her to herself. Her cloud-house, high above the town of Ponyville, was isolated from everypony she knew, and she hated it.

Because, while Rainbow Dash knows she's alone... why does it feel like she isn't?

* = i mean, eventually, right?

This is an entry to the Cozy Glow Contest #3. The prompt selected is:

That weird foal was being so extra ‘specially nice to her. Rejecting the pathetic loser was going to be just the best!

Minor edit: rating changed to T upon re-evaluation. This fic contains implied dark themes, but no graphic depictions or descriptions of death.

Cozy Glow is in a new space. An orphan relocated to Ponyville, she’s looking for a new start. The Manehattan committee decided the School of Friendship would be a nice place for a pony as lost in life as her, but her cynical nature and dark outlook on life is making things hard.

And this weird filly won’t leave her alone.