Once, they were students. And friends. And, with their otherworldly magic, occasionally heroes.

Then, the Sirens came back. Feasting on the gang war they had created, the sisters’ power quickly became almost unstoppable. In the face of such a threat, the power of friendship didn’t seem to be enough. So, with Sunset leading the way, the Rainbooms ultimately decided to fight fire with fire.

Every step of the way, Twilight told herself they were only doing what they had to do. Even when people died. Even while she felt herself changing. Right up until a friend tried to kill her by blowing up the boat she was on.

Now, three years later, Twilight Sparkle awakens from her coma in a prison infirmary. And while she’s been down, Canterlot’s gotten even worse.

It’s time to take it back.

(Content note: I think this story is going to be a bit darker than I normally write. Not grimdark, by any means, but this is a dystopian near future. So... darker.)

(In the Author’s Notes of each chapter there is a link to a different song, from which the chapter’s name is derived. If this were a video series, those songs would be the music playing over a given episode’s ending credits.)

If you like my writing, feel free to explore my other stories and continuities. I assure you, it only gets more cheerful from here.

ADDENDUM: Fittingly enough, this story was featured on 4/20, 2024. Thank you all so much!

It wasn't Eric's fault he hit the alien with his truck. How was he supposed to see a dog-sized horse walking down the highway in the pouring rain? His life would've been simpler if he just left the animal like any other roadkill. But in his injured delirium, the horse spoke.

This accident soon ends with an intimate personal knowledge of just how dangerous magic can be. An ancient rises, tied to a mysterious tome the pegasus was protecting on the night of the accident. A malevolent force grows within those pages, whispering louder and louder about the cleansing flame. But without the spells inside that cursed tome, Eric's humanity will be gone forever.

He has no choice but to master the words of power contained within, before his life is turned to ashes around him

A commission for Muziki. Edited by Two Bit and Sparktail. Cover by Zutcha.

The various artistic works created for this story are credited to their artists within the chapter they appear.

This story is a sequel to Aunthood Issues

Pop-cultural investigative reporter Coranto has heard some pretty out-there excuses for rumors. Some were even true. But when castle gossip says Luna has had a baby, and she claims she's created an entity to patrol dreams called the Tantabus, Coranto knows she's smelling a load of hogwash. The idea is absurd. Patently. Never one to let the truth hide, Coranto decides she will get to the bottom of these rumors, and nothing will dissuade her. Not anything Luna says. Not even the Tantabus itself taking an interest in her crusade.

...Wait...

This story is a sequel to Tantabus Communication Protocol

What started with laziness and a tiny slip-up in arcane intelligence creation has blossomed into its own being. With Luna's blessing, the second Tantabus is free to flit around the dreamscape as it pleases, unburdened by oversight. And what pleases it is making good dreams. Who couldn't be happy by making others happy?

As the Tantabus settles into its life, its horizons keep expanding, forever revealing more of the world and of ponies. There's always new things to learn. New dreams to spice up. New nightmares to beat down. New ponies to help. New ponies to annoy.

Don't tell Luna about that last part.

Cover art by Harwick.

This story is a sequel to Tantabus, Mk. II

The new and improved Tantabus has behaved itself thus far, but Luna has delayed telling Celestia about it. Until one night when it jumps into Celestia's dreams to say hi and inadvertently reveals itself. Luna must now introduce Celestia to her little bundle of self-aware psychic dream energy sooner than she imagined.

Trying to patrol the dreams of every pony in Equestria can be stressful. To ease her burden, Luna retools the Tantabus to turn nightmares into good dreams instead of vice versa. Aware of her mistakes from last time, she tests it out thoroughly, making sure there are no unexpected behaviors. And as far as she can tell, there are none.

Except that it's started calling her "Mom".

Faced with the prospect of possibly creating life, Luna seeks out Twilight's advice and assistance. With a little luck, they can get this all sorted out before the sun rises.

Anon makes prosthetics, but despite the words of others, he isn't happy with them.

Just a little short story I made while working on another fic. Not sure if I'll do more, but if there's enough interest, I have a few ideas for where to go with it.

Edit: This was initially intended to be a short story where it ended after the first chap, but I've since added more at the request of commenters. I plan to continue adding chaps, but I guarantee nothing. Let me know what you think.

This morning, Shining Armor thought that his daughter's goth phase was his biggest worry. Now, he has to deal with a retired stage magician, a smoke monster that refuses to stay dead, the dumbest possible parallel universe, AND his daughter's goth phase.

Nothing about this makes any sense... and why does King Sombra seem oddly afraid of Trixie...?

Quite possibly the crackiest of all crack fics I have ever written for any fandom to date. I wrote this in about a week and had an absolute BLAST writing it. Contains...

• Trixie's verbal tic maxed out to the point where it becomes a plot point of sorts
• brooding goth Flurry Heart, complete with goth name
• card tricks
• the Crystal Empire having quite possibly worse security protocols than it does in canon
• nopony taking anything quite as seriously as they probably should
• Shining Armor making a few rather questionable choices involving his daughter's safety
• card tricks
• a magic mirror portal that ought to be yeeted into the sun or moved to the SCP Foundation HQ
• trace amounts of Applejack
• an homage to the best Mumbo and Grian comedy skit from the Last Life series on YouTube
• card tricks

Inspired by TWO contests!

Entering this into the Portal Transformations Contest I.

Also, after some consideration and checking with Muggonny, entering this into the Shining Armor is a Terrible Dad 2024 Competition. It blasted WAY past the max word count, but I'll just have to live with the wordcount penalty.

Having received her teaching degree, Sunset Shimmer is back at CHS to help guide along a new generation with the lessons she's had to learn about magic and friendship.

In the many months since Twilight Sparkle transferred to Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer's been to her house a good number of times, enough for it to feel reasonably familiar. So when she notices something she's never seen before -- a large, blue-tinted plush shark she calls her blåhaj -- on Twilight's bed, she can't help but ask about it. She's a little surprised to find Twilight looking a bit embarrassed about her stuffed animal -- but when Sunset realizes it might be emblematic of a sore spot in Twilight's life, she realizes it's up to her to restore the magic of the blåhaj.

Can be read as either platonic or shipping.

What's a blåhaj? Here's a summary. And remember the accent on "blahaj"!

Pre-read by Dewdrops on the Grass and The Sleepless Beholder. Featured 30 January-2 February 2024.