One thing ponies lack in Equestria is Taco Bells. With enough hard work from enough ponies, that can change.

Negotiations and raising capital are one way to get an official franchise. Alternately, there’s the Glen Bell method: learn how it’s done, then copy it. Get ponies into every level of production, from the tomato fields to the restaurants, find out who supplies the machines and buy their own.

Is it ethical? That’s a grey area, but it might be the only chance to save 7-Layer Burritos.

Now with a reading by StraightToThePointStudio!

Thornycroft has a dream: start a railroad. If she can’t get a charter in Equestria, there’s Earth—America is big, and needs railways.

. . .

America has railways, and building or buying one is too expensive anyway, so she can start a truckway instead, shipping oversized loads a few illegitimate thaums at a time.

It’s not like DOT inspectors even know what a thaum is.

This story is a sequel to Sunbeam

Long days at the shop are made at least somewhat more bearable by friendly voices on the phone, and Kat is no exception. That she’s far more competent than most parts people is the cherry on top.

We work on fleet trucks, mostly, and a few company cars and favors for the boss cars. So when Kat called and wanted me to look at her car, I didn’t know what to expect.

It wasn’t what I was expecting.

Now with a reading by StraightToThePointStudio!

Saturday was a day to unwind, a day to sleep late, to eat brunch instead of breakfast, go out to the lake, or to invite friends over for a barbeque. Unless the lawnmower was broken and Ms. Bundermann is on the prowl.

Having a unicorn friend doesn’t help fix the lawnmower, but friends of friends can make short work of the lawn. It’s technically not a barbeque if the grill isn’t on, but with a whole herd of ponies nomming the grass and musicals on the boombox, with a selection of drinks to suit everypony’s taste, it’s close enough.

Now with a reading by StraightToThePointStudio!

It’s often been said that horses ponies cannot operate automobiles.

Whether that’s true or not, ponies shouldn’t buy a car beyond their skill level, even if they’ve got the bits to afford it. It’s only a matter of time before the car winds up a twisted wreck in the woods.

Now with a reading by StraightToThePointStudio

This story is a sequel to Interview with a Cab Driver

While Spuds doesn’t always enjoy travel for the sake of it, the ponies he meets along the way often make it worth it, and this trip is no exception. The trip up the hill is in a creaky superannuated combine with the entire car to himself, but at the summit one of the railroaders from the helper climbs aboard the coach, and she’s got a story to tell.

Burger King’s tenuous foothold in Equestria could be more profitable if they were able to source beef locally, rather than import it from Earth. A purely financial decision, although the king of the minotaurs and by extension, cows, doesn’t exactly have the same view of the matter.

They think he’s open to negotiations; he knows they’re open to capitulation.

Now with a reading by StraightToThePointStudios!

This story is a sequel to A Sleeping Rose

Lily's conspiracy newspaper said that there was a monster near Ponyville, and while it was mostly wild speculation, town gossip said that Ginger Gold suddenly had somebody—something—unexpected working in her woodlot.

Lily had her thoughts about that, and so did I. Assuming it actually existed, would Ginger Gold hire it if it was really a monster? I didn’t think so, but the only way to find out was to see for myself.

Pre-read by TheLegendaryBillCipher, The Red Parade and Topaz Moon

“Tour America by Rail!” the sign said, and so Sweetsong does. Everything she needs for a journey fits into her saddlebags, and there are plenty of trains to choose from if she’s resourceful enough.

There’s nothing quite like having her hooves over the side of an empty gondola watching the world speed by, or looking at the stars overhead through the end bracing on a grain car. Sometimes box cars have their doors left open, and she knows how to jam them so they won’t close en route.

When she gets where the train takes her, she can live off the land or sing and play her guitar for money. When it’s time to move on? There’s always another train.

Pre-read by AlwaysDressesInStyle

The Admiral's second One-Shot-Ober attempt, this time with 80% fewer words! Arranged for your pleasure like a box of chocolates which contains at least one Spring Surprise.

There might be a bonus chapter or two tossed in here just to confuse things. Why? Because I can, that's why.

Now with a reading by AShadowOfCygnus!