After millennia of reflexive compassion, the abdicant diarchy have retired from princesshood but not from meddling. Benevolence is a hard habit to break. So, when a haunted orphanage is discovered on the unsettled frontiers of Equestria, two retired princesses arrive to shepherd the dead to their rest.

Retired Ex-Princess Luna has joined the Wonderbolts to stave off her boredom. Rainbow Dash isn't exactly thrilled to have her aboard.

This fic is a gift for the wonderful, amazing Zontan. Love ya, buddy <3

Twilight Sparkle is a happy pony. With the help of her friends she defeated Tirek. She has a shiny new castle, the kingdom is safe, and she knows the reason behind her ascension. What more could a young princess want?

She is happy, she tells herself as she digs through the ruins of her home. She is so happy she can barely smell the ashes any more.

But in those ashes she finds something unexpected: a small porcelain vase, and with it a decade's worth of unspoken questions. A mystery hiding beneath her hooves, waiting to be put to rest.

Winner of the November Writeoff event.

One day you were living an ordinary, dreary life. The next, you were in a magical world of friendship and ponies. Your new life took a lot of getting used to, but you eventually found happiness in your new friends, particularly the ruler of Equestria herself, Princess Celestia. Then one day, you found yourself somehow saving the world, and Celestia wanted to thank you by offering you one request. Feeling content with your life, you decide to make the best use of the request that you can think of by helping Celestia with whatever seems to be bothering her. But getting Celestia to open up to you about her troubles may be more difficult than you first imagined. Tea for two it is, then.

Rainbow Dash's life is full of colour: of sunrises and sunsets that dance, of skies so blue you can taste them, of prisms that fracture light and fill one's soul with rainbows. Truly, it is a life where she couldn't ask for more.

Why do ponies fear that? It's as if they're scared of beauty. Or maybe scared of her, possibly.

If only they'd let her enlighten them. But maybe today will be a luckier day...

I know I made promises about what my 50th fic would be. Trust me, I do have them in mind and I will finish writing and publish them, for your sakes and mine. I just didn't want to write two romance stories in a row, that's all, and I figured that I could shake things up a little and try something new.

Art commissioned from the ever-wonderful Cyonix!

Thanks to Flashgen for helping me write this. And my sincerest thanks to Hay Tea for making this possible.

After another stunt gone wrong, Rainbow finds herself cooped up in a hospital room again. But when she ends up getting roomed with a nine-year-old colt, her stay at Ponyville General takes a turn that's worth just a little more than reading a book about an archaeologist.

Metal ponies tell their stories,
Scientists in laboratories,
Lay the wire, mount the brain,
Mount their hips, teach them pain.
Teach them fear of revolution,
Internalize the evolution.
Set their ruin on the throne,
Until their chains become their own.
Palaces and hollow eyes,
To the Masters goes the prize.
And if this act should be maligned:
"For the good of ponykind."

Winner of the September Writeoff Contest, "True Colors." Edited by Horizon.

Sometimes you get scared and need to sleep in somepony else's room. It's okay. It happens to everypony. Sometimes, it even happens to everypony all at once.

When it does, excessive cuddling ensues...

Takes place during season 1 because it wouldn't make sense anywhere else.

Twilight has a migraine.

Migraines can be quite bad.

Weird experimental piece that took third place in Seer's Spookfest - a Quills and Sofas speedwriting contest that took place over a year ago. It was originally written in 75 minutes, and this version has a new ending ;)

Thanks very much to the lovely folks who read and commented during my first ever speedwrite: Mousse, The Legendary Bill Cipher, applezombi, Vis-a-Viscera, Seer, rice, Red, Equus, Novelle Tale, Silent Whisper, Buttery Biscuit, Emotion Nexus, Sweet Banana, Zontan, Hat Man, and Flashgen. I'm so glad I met you all!!

Dusk Shine is completely fine with being a stallion.

Sure, he doesn’t like it, but I mean who does, right? He isn’t good enough to be a mare, like his friends are, so there’s no way he could be transgender.

Feeling out of place and alienated around his closest friends has to be some kind of friendship problem, and that is what he’s here to study after all.

Maybe once he fixes this hole in his heart, he’ll understand why his friends seem to want him around. Maybe he’ll even be somepony who deserves them.