Realistically, they have options. For example, they could flee to another country, except that the Princesses could track them down and besides, one of those borders just effectively closed. There's probably some caves around which nopony's ever fully explored. A life spent reeking of fur dye might be possible. Or they can just stay in the hallway outside the throne room, waiting to be called in so they can explain how their good intentions turned that last mission into the biggest fiasco in Bearer history.

...so where were those caves again?

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)

Cover art taken from an image created by ExitMothership. Commission information can be found here.

Missions and Bearer responsibilities can mean spending a lot of time away from loved ones, and that's one of the reasons Rainbow has brought Tank (the most awesome pet ever!) along with her to the Trottingham fair. Sure, she'll be stuck at the Meet A Wonderbolt booth for the whole weekend while the rest of the team actually does stuff, but at least she'll have company. And since being at the booth gives her the chance to sleep in, Tank can just use his rotor to go out and grab her some breakfast. Besides, even if something happens to go wrong along the way like, say, having the rotor leaking glow, it'll all work out. Ponyville's perfectly used to this sort of thing.

This isn't Ponyville.

And Trottingham's residents can be a little... off.

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)

Ladybugs. Cute, harmless, helpful for protecting crops.

And a source of dread for the Princess of Friendship, all thanks to her brother’s foalhood pranks and hoaxes.

Or is that all there is to it?

Content Warning: Sleep deprived ravings of a madman

When the Bearers go forth on missions, somepony has to cover for their day jobs. In Twilight's case, this means the palace assigns a temporary to the tree, and that pony keeps the library running to government standards. The usual problems come in when Twilight gets back and finds the results aren't up to hers.

The disaster starts when she learns the latest hire has Standards of her own.

There's nothing a compulsive reorganizer hates so much as being compulsively reorganized.

(A stand-alone, no-prior-reading necessary part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

There's really no way to prevent it. No matter how careful you are, regardless of one's dedication to personal cleanliness, they're going to get in eventually. And for most ponies, it's a moment of deep gross-out, followed by scrubbing down their entire pantry, kicking out far too much of what's in it, and ending with a regretfully expensive shopping trip to replace what was lost.

But this is Rarity. The situation was unacceptable. And her intention was to take out the problem at the source.

Now if she can just find a way of explaining that to the jury...

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Rated C for Crackfic.

After Rainbow Dash accidentally says the wrong two words to exactly the wrong unicorn, she learns a lesson about the power of language -- in more than one way.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Diamond Tiara knows all about work delegation: if you want something done, have other ponies do it for you. In the name of that goal, Silver Spoon studies for both and Diamond copies her friend's efforts. It works every time. Except that Cheerilee just forced Diamond to switch desks. And with finals a week away and no personal knowledge for most of the subjects, the only ponies she can now hope to copy from are Snips and Snails. Something which may get her sent all the way back to preschool. And there's no way Diamond is going to lower herself to doing her own work.

Which means the colts are going to be learning on her behalf.

No matter what she has to do to make that happen.

It's for the best cause ever, after all.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Cover art by GroaningGreyAgony

Rarity tends to embrace innovation: after all, a pony who wishes to stay on trend must move with the times. And she loves anything which gets rid of dirt. So when she sees a new kind of shower at an expo, she becomes the budding company's first customer. Because what could be more important than cleanliness?

The common sense required not to be a new product's tester. That's much more important.

(A stand-alone, no-prior-reading-necessary part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group: new members and trope edits are welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Since the rediscovery of the Elements, the reputation of the Bearers has been slow to spread -- but it has spread. And so some ponies are now aware that if they ever truly want to know what an animal is thinking, all they need to do is go to Ponyville, approach the cottage on the settled zone's border, and request a consultation -- whereupon the pegasus who lives there will typically do everything she can to turn them away.

After all, most ponies really don't want to know that their favorite companions are, at heart, complete morons.

(A stand-alone, no-prior-reading-necessary part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group: new members and trope edits are welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

The Cakes have received a special commission: making some of the desserts for a global conference which will be hosted by the Diarchy themselves. As such, they're a little nervous about creating the right dish. And so after consulting a very old book, they're going to make something which nopony has seen (or smelled) for a very long time, a cake which requires one extremely special filling.

A very old book, the Princess, and a certain fruit.

Combine, then bake recipe for disaster for one day on low simmer.

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)