Two passengers on a train ride toward an uncertain future. One is a pony. The other only pretends to be.

Sex is tame and non-explicit. Don't be afraid to read.

Written expressly for Equestria Daily's Outside Insight Summer Fanfiction Contest.

Now with a dramatic reading by Illya Leonov!

Russian translation courtesy of Arsus.
Chinese translation courtesy of viczhn.
French translation courtesy of BroNie.

Inspired by the artwork of RubleGun and Raddjuret. Musical accompaniment by Patrick Poe.

Featured at Equestria Daily and the Royal Canterlot Library.

Reader Testimonials

"Vinyl + Octavia is one of the fandom's most cliché and mismatched pairs, and yet this is a real romance with genuine depth and emotion." - horizon
"Holy shit this is impressive. Like... Holy shit, man." - Skeeter The Lurker
"You have crafted something wonderful here, a true gem. You should be proud." - Illya Leonov
"Note that I hate this ship when I say this is far and away the best ScratchTavia I've ever read." - PresentPerfect
"Fuuuuck it's so good!" - Luminary

Lyra Heartstrings is a up-and-coming musician living in the quiet town of Ponyville. Her marefriend Bon Bon owns and operates Canter Candies, the town's specialty sweets shop. They've been together for years, and everypony around knows what a happy couple they are. But any relationship has its ups and downs, and it's hard to ignore every awkward moment.

Like when Lyra's ex arrives in town.
Because she thinks Lyra still has a thing for her.
Because someone's been impersonating her for the past few years.

...Bon Bon might be in trouble here.

Thanks to Einhander for pre-reading and Exuno for editing!

Now with a reading by Goombasa!

Almost a year after what seemed to be the concluding battle in Celestia's great crusade against necromancers, something Mortem believes to be borderline discrimination, he discovers one of Celestia's armies setting up camp just outside his stronghold.

Not wanting to jump to any conclusions or risk angering the very powerful Princess, he concludes a diplomatic solution would be the best way forward. And so, he writes a letter.

Proofread by the wonderful Soren Mercer
Featured on Equestria Daily here
Audiobook versions by Illya Leonov and TheArchitect are here and here respectively
SoundCloud verion of Illya Leonov's is here

Wastelands. Dystopias. Playgrounds for megalomaniacal villains. Each time Starlight forced her into a new world, it was just another variation of Tartarus that she was glad to leave behind and forget about. Unfortunately, thanks to over thirty timeline jumps, Starswirl's spell has gotten worn and frayed, forcing her to stop in this latest world to repair it. Fortunately, things seem relatively peaceful. Unfortunately, Twilight soon finds out the reason for that peace is...complicated.

Rover the Diamond Dog has been pack leader for years now, protecting the Diamond Dogs near Ponyville from all manner of threats. He’s made mistakes, such as the time he thought it would be a good idea to kidnap a unicorn to help find gems. But those mistakes don’t change his responsibilities—their pack has a sacred charge, one he will see fulfilled no matter what.

Takes place immediately following “Dog and Pony Show”

This story was inspired by this thread! Probably read the story first, because it’s going to completely spoil what this is about.

Pre-reading by the patient Bitera and Sparktail. Cover by Zutcha.

Welcome to Trotondo, where the lakes freeze overnight and the snow never stops falling.
Welcome to the outermost Equestrian colony, where the foreign threat is so marginally low that only two royal pegasi guards were needed to keep it safe.
Welcome to the town protected by Dawn Guard and Dust Mote, two peacekeepers so hopelessly in love that they don't even know it.
... Thankfully, the other four hundred and thirty eight denizens of Trotondo are more than willing to help resolve this predicament.

Once upon a time there was a very lazy dragon who did not want to find a town to pillage.

So he decided to make one of his own.

Editors: Mitch H, Dlafrferg
Jake the Army Guy has done an amazing reading of this on YouTube
Excellent cover picture credit: Harwick on Fimfiction or Harwicks-art on Deviantart.com
Also, the Audio Project has done a reading of this and other stories on YouTube

Princess Cadance, just like everypony else, needs some time of leisure from her many duties. While Shining Armor is taking care of their daughter, Cadance enjoys her lone trips to the nearby Nephrite Forest, where she can be away from all of her burdens and obligations for at least a short while.

She was simply destined to get mugged eventually, wasn’t she? Why not by somepony who takes his job very seriously.

Also available in Mandarin Chinese (translation by keplebletbett) and Spanish (translation by SPANIARD KIWI).

Princesses have this bad tendency to make everything they touch shiny, new and boring. But still the Everfree Forest remained, and Scarlet Script was in need of inspiration. He needed something wild and untamed, something dangerous perhaps that he could write about.
His trip takes an unexpected turn when he is followed back to the hotel by a bat pony filly. Everything else is put on hold as he tries to help her find her parents, which may require the assistance of somepony who works at that School of Friendship he hates, or somepony closely related at least.
What he discovers is that the filly's predicament may be much more dangerous than anything he could have hoped for, and it's up to him to finish her story before it comes back to bite her, so to speak.

Coverart by Teaflower!

The banishing of Nightmare Moon has brought much suffering to thestrals throughout Equestria. They are seen as servants to a wicked manifestation of the night, and are treated accordingly. Many officials, including the mayor of Manehattan, use every opportunity to gain from this abuse.

Yet the spirit of the bat-winged ponies is not so easily broken. Count Shadow Wing leads a band of Thestrals to demand their rights be returned... or else.