Fire.
Panic in the streets.
Canterlot lies in rubble and ruins, the citizenry in chains.
Calamity has come to Equestria.

But that's none of Derpy Hooves' concern. Leave that mess for the Heroes to deal with (they always win in the end, right?). Besides, she's got her own problems to deal with. Problems that take the form of a very tall and intimidating figure engaged in a very one-sided affection.

Entry for the May Pairings 2023 Contest.
Cover art provided by Mutter_Butter

One evening, Twilight Velvet, book editor for Hoovesbury Publishing and mother of two, meets her newest client: aspiring writer Sunny Skies, who writes of distant lands and people from across the world, who has as many secrets as Celestia has loving subjects.

It didn't matter to her much, so long as Sunny did her work, and Velvet hers. But as the seasons pass by and their acquaintance grows, Velvet finds that perhaps she and Sunny are more alike than she could have ever imagined.

Set before Season 1.

Now with an audio reading by skysayl! Thanks a bunch

Third Place in the 2023 May Pairings Contest!

4/5 Stars from Loganberry's Louder Yay!

Featured on Equestria Daily!

A standalone piece in the Spectrum-verse. TV Tropes page here!

Edited by VoxAdam, proofread by skysayl and EileenSaysHi. Thanks, everyone

The Great Hall of Asterion excerpts adapted by VoxAdam.

Cover by egriz.

Featured on 29/5/2023-3/6/2023, reaching #1 three hours after publishing!

As part of Princess Luna's retirement, she needs to hand off her duties in the dream realm to another pony.

She has chosen Rarity to succeed her - but for a reason that Rarity is less than happy about.

Rarity has tried to forget the Nightmare, after all.

Featured 08/28/2022 - 08/31/2022!

Reviewed by PaulAsaran, with a rating of Pretty Good!.

Reviewed in Ghost Mike's Monday Musings with a rating of Really Good!

Sunset Shimmer wants to become an alicorn more than anything - it's the entire reason why she's Princess Celestia's student. But she's run out of ways to research it and Princess Celestia has blocked her at every turn.

Fortunately for her, there's a new Princess on the block - Cadance. One who's already ascended. One who knows personally and intimately how she did it.

To get her to talk, Sunset will do anything. Even if it means pretending to like - really like - the Pink Pony Of Passion.

Cover art by daOtterGuy.

Featured 8/28/2021-08/30/2021! (And basically every update date after that.)

Now with a TVTropes page thanks to ZanarNaryon!

Sunset Shimmer is the daughter of the Sun and the cleverest pony of her age. Yet still she craves more.

For in her sleep and waking hours, Sunset dreams of flight. Every day she longs for the skies she deserved, cursed to be beyond her reach, for it is everything she has ever wanted.

Then along comes a stranger from a faraway land, with rose-coloured wings and love in her heart, and all Sunset wanted to know was how she lived her dream and flew where she could only run.

Meanwhile, Mi Amore Cadenza dreams of a garden wreathed in stardust, with the legacy of a long-forgotten realm shouldered upon her, and her alone...

Set before Season 1.

A standalone piece in the Spectrum-verse. TV Tropes page here!

A story in three acts. Each act is completed first before being published. Chapters in each act published every three days.

Featured from 3/2/2023 to 4/2/2023, reaching the #4 spot. Featured again on 6/2/2023 and 9/2/2023.

Edited by VoxAdam, proofread by skysayl, EileenSaysHi, and Gay For Gadot

Cover drawn by my good friend Grace

Ko-Fi page, leave a tip if you feel like it!

Once upon a time, Princess Celestia meant the world to her young protégée, Sunset Shimmer. In many ways, she was the world to the unicorn filly.

Now, the relationship between mentor and student has become deeply strained. Some weeks ago, the two suffered a major spat. As the rift between them grows and emotions churn inside Sunset, she begins to wonder exactly who she is in the eyes of the age-old alicorn who controls the sun.

And as Celestia prepares to leave for a diplomatic errand, she finds herself confronted by her volatile pupil -- and, put on the spot, must find a way to bridge the gap before it's too late.

Ignores the depiction of events in the comic The Fall of Sunset Shimmer. While the story works as a standalone prequel to canon G4 animated media, it is also canon with my ongoing longform story Together from Canterlot to Canterlot, as well as, separately, my alternate universe setting established by What My Destiny is Telling Me. (Despite the name, it is not directly related to my story Late-Night Conversations.)

Cover art by daOtterGuy, who pre-read the story along with The Sleepless Beholder. Special thanks to TCC56 (First Hoof Account) and Sledge115 (Sogno di Volare) for inspiring me to dabble in this period of Sunset's life.

Featured on 11/8/22-11/10/22! Re-edited 1/14/23. Now featured on Equestria Daily!

This story is a sequel to The Enchanted Library

It's easy to think about fairytales when you’re an ancient alicorn trapped in a library for centuries on end. It's easy to wonder how one would go about rescuing you, to think and devise and plot out how to free you in a blaze of glory, intrigue, adventure, and romance.

Or, rather, it’s easy until suddenly it happens and you’re forced to ask yourself the one terrifying question you’d yet to consider.

Now what?

PATREON!
Original story inspired by an old oneshot.
Chapter Art by Arctic Waters and lilfunkman// Graphic Design and Typography by Swan Song.

Izzy Moonbow has always felt alone. Bridlewood was quiet, and its people quieter still.

Then one day, she comes across a moonlit garden, hidden deep amongst the trees. Its caretaker is a strange mare who speaks of the days of old when friends were plentiful and the nights were beautiful.

Her name is Luna.

Received an Honourable Mention / Judge's Pick for the 2022 May Pairings Contest.

Rated Excellent by Ghost Mike!

5/5 Stars from Loganberry's Louder Yay!

Now with an audio reading by StraightToThePointStudio. Stay tuned!

Now translated into Chinese!

Edited by VoxAdam, proofread by The Sleepless Beholder, SockPuppet, Bicyclette, and skysayl. Thanks, everyone

Cover by Plainoasis.

Featured on 25/05/22-31/05/22, reaching the #1 spot in the Featured Box on the first day.

Welcome to Ponyville, Population One.

A nurse has seen it all. A combat medic has seen even more.

Princess Celestia sends her elite Household Battalion—"Celestia's Own"—south, far beyond the borders of Equestria, to break the slave trade and to free the oppressed. Medic Redheart, a young rookie among the Guard's hardened veterans, is with her Battalion every step of the way.

She's never told anypony her story. Until now.

A side story/prequel to my The Ponies in the Caves and A Story to Relate To, but reads independently.

This story is fantastic. There wasn't a single chapter that didn't give me chills or bring a tear to my eye. The way you describe the selflessness of the soldiers, and Redheart's unrelenting drive to save them, no matter the personal cost, was exemplary. I look forward to more of your work.

-SGTBRONY

Has a Black Company feel to it with the medic POV. Great story so far!

-Lerris

Cover art by Pabbles, by commission. Thanks!

With massive thanks to the folks in the Discord for comments and advice, and Totallynotabrony, Raleigh, Sledge115, and ChudoJogurt for detailed pre-reading, in whole or in part. Any remaining errors are fully my own.

Author's notes and commentary blog, with big spoilers.