When deafness stole away her music, Octavia Melody became the greatest composer in Equestria. Her Tenth Symphony lies finished before her, the pinnacle of all her work, done against all odds at the very end of her life.

Yet the clock ticks, and she finds herself under the gaze of gods and devils. With only Discord's mocking aid, Octavia must journey through her past to save her very soul.

Cover art by JowyB!

(A ponified take on "Beethoven's Last Night" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.)

(AU-tagged because the quasi-godly figures such as Celestia, Tirek, and Discord occupy a pantheon with rules and limits instead of simply being protagonists and villains.)

Sometimes it's not a matter of being the best mare for the job. Sometimes you're just the only one left. That's how a pegasus with no internal compass has been saddled with guiding back migratory birds for the last three Winter Wrap-Ups. Surely this year, Twilight Sparkle will see reason, right?

Right?

A long-delayed entry in Estee's technically open TEMPorary Insanity contest. Graciously preread by themaskedferret.

The most powerful sorcerer in history rescues a young Princess from her own curiosity, and helps her found a new Empire. But the sorcerer has her own reasons for doing so -- and they're not nice reasons...

In canon, Sacanas is only mentioned in passing as the creator of the Staff of Sacanas, used by Tempest Shadow in her attempt to conquer Equestria. Yet what kind of sorcerer would fashion a staff designed to steal the magic of alicorns? Why was Tempest, while wielding the Staff and its power, so implacably, coldly vicious? And why does history seem to say so little about such a powerful mage? There's a backstory here, and this is my take on it...

One final note: I do not agree with or defend the opinions expressed here. My intent is merely to explore the question: can a pony somehow end up doing all the right things, for all the wrong reasons?

Celestia had a problem. Somepony wrote a novel about Nightmare Moon's rebellion. This made Luna quite unhappy, and unfortunately for her sister, Luna has not yet gotten the hang of modern traditions like freedom of speech, the abolition of the death penalty, and not bothering Princess Celestia when she's trying to sleep.

Fortunately, Celestia also had a faithful student, one who is now a Princess with an ill-defined portfolio and perfectly capable of dispensing justice by the laws of both today and one thousand years ago.

Now Twilight Sparkle has a problem.

(Title image hacked together from vectors by Martinnus1, Hawk9mm, and Paulie15.)

Diamond Tiara always knew that someday she'd be invited to dine with the Princess at the Royal Palace. She didn't think it would happen like this.

But she's going to sit there and be polite and smile and not be bothered by all the ways this is all wrong. Because that's what good fillies do, and Diamond Tiara is a good filly now.

Right?

Cover art by iisaw.
Preread by SIGAWESOME.

Featured on Equestria Daily.
Featured on the Royal Canterlot Library.

Fanart!

Night Glider, having a difficult time readjusting to her career as a search-and-rescue worker, takes up a position as a fire lookout in Smokey Mountains National Park.

Though she is physically isolated from the rest of ponykind, the voices on her radio ensure she is never truly alone.

Winner of Bicyclette's Crackship Contest!

This fic is heavily inspired by Firewatch, but should be enjoyable to all - those who have played and those who have not.

An inspired linguist. An ancient stone tablet. And the story of how a new species, made in love and forged in fire, came to be.

1st Place in the Everfree Northwest Iron Author Competition 2022. Many thanks to the judges -- Aquaman, Grand Moff Pony, and Xepher -- for their kind comments, and to my fellow winners: FanOfMostEverything, Mica, Scampy, Steady Gaze, and Admiral Biscuit.

Editing by LevelDasher (who is now on a much-deserved editing sabbatical).

Cover Art by CadetRedShirt [DeviantArt] [Twitter]
(I commissioned this one. Give Cadet monies and she will make art and/or sing for you!)

Story notes in this week's MT File.

Featured on EQD, 10/23/22.

Inspired by her favourite books, and keen to settle once and for all who's the fastest, bravest, overall best pony around here, Rainbow Dash challenges Applejack to a race full of perils and pitfalls. To the winner, the title of Most Awesome Pony. To the loser, defeat, shame and ignominity. But when the dangers start getting a little too real, they have to decide what's more important. Victory, or friendship.

The tale of Cadence's ascension to alicornhood.

Cover vector by Icaron.

A charity commission for the incredibly generous WTFHIW.

Now available in Spanish, courtesy of SPANIARD KIWI.

Five days ago, the Friendship Map called Rarity to a task. It called her alone. It called her to the middle of an uninhabited swamp.

Today, she's returned to Ponyville, and she's asked her friends to meet her right away.

The Friendship Map never calls without a purpose.

*****

Originally written for the "Ot" writeoff event. Thank you to the other participants for their advice and encouragement.

Cover art by the excellent StarBlaze25.

Now available in Spanish, courtesy of SPANIARD KIWI.