Wallflower dreads having to let Sunset go.

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for the Sunset’s Sci-fi Shipping x Villain Contest

This story is a sequel to Blessing

All Rainbow wanted to do was give her friends what she saw as the ultimate gift: the placement of their marks within the night sky. But the offer was a lie. And after Twilight finds out what happened with Rainbow's trial run, she heads off to confront the con artists and get Rainbow's bits back. After all, nopony can just go and create an official constellation just because they feel like it.

But recovering the money isn't that simple.

And neither are constellations.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group: new members and trope edits are welcome. However, this story can be read as a stand-alone, with no knowledge of the others required -- and while it's technically a sequel, it's not necessary to have read the previous story first.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

For centuries, the galaxy has burned in an eternal war. Wielding their magical might, the Enti sweep across space, slaughtering and enslaving all they encounter. A loose alliance of the remaining intelligence races, without magic of their own, can barely even slow them down.

Scouting on a remote edge of the galactic rim, humanity discovers a trump card: Equus. This planet overflows with magic, and has a culture inherently friendly and receptive to diplomacy. First contact was made, and soon all of Equus took a giant leap into the space age. Despite their incredible magic, Equestria is a minor power, with very little to offer the war. Instead of giving ships, Equus volunteer their diplomatic aptitude. They can't save the galaxy by force of arms, but maybe they can find the free people of the galaxy some powerful new friends.

Princess Twilight nominates six of her most loyal and trustworthy students to perform this incredible task. Armed with powerful artifacts of protection, they set out to meet with the only powerful neutral party in the war, and win them over to the Stellar Compact.

If they fail, all nonmagical life in the galaxy may be doomed to conquest and death. No pressure, Ocellus.

Cover by Zutcha. Edited by Two Bit and Sparktail
Commissioned by Vilken666 on my Patreon

Tomorrow is the 950th Summer Sun Celebration, and with it, the bond between a nation and its princess will be renewed once more. For the 950th time, Celestia will take up the burden of rule, the worries of her people, and the divine task which she alone can fulfill.

Tonight, Celestia reaches the end of one journey. Tomorrow, she begins again.

An entry in the Imposing Sovereigns IV contest, using the prompts Celestia/Persistence.

CW: Self-Harm tag included as a precaution for non mental-health induced events.

Pre-reading assistance by Dewdrops on the Grass
Cover art by Melody Libris

Star Swirl never did write a time travel spell.

To keep history intact, Princess Twilight and Luster Dawn must go back in time to place a scroll in the Canterlot archives where it can be found by the younger Twilight Sparkle. But when they run into other ponies in the past, will they do more harm than good?

An entry in the Most Delightful Ponidox.

Thanks to Solstice Shimmer, MitchH and Oliver for editing and assistance.

Cover sources: this + this + this.

I like to think of the Company as an island of order and sanity in a sea of chaos, selfishness and irrationality. My fellow soldiers tell me I'm a damn foal, and an idealist, and I white-wash the mercenaries of the Black Company in ways that doesn't serve either the Company or them. But I've been given the role of Annalist, in the absence of anyone better-suited and properly lettered, so until they take the Annals away from me, I'm going to write them as I see fit. The Company has been my home since it forcefully recruited me from my unending apprenticeship, and I've seen more interesting medicine in the years since then than a hundred apothecaries, a dozen chirurgeons, or three other doctors with, pfft, "degrees". Most of it screaming for its mama and bleeding out on my surgery table.

They call me Sawbones, and this is the story of the last of the Black Companies.

Trixie has read literally dozens of true crime stories. She has no idea why it takes the police so long to solve the crimes when they're so obvious -- especially in hindsight. When a murder happens right in front of her, its her chance to prove her expertise to the doubters and claim her rightful title as the Intelligent and Insightful Trixie, Equestria's Greatest Magical Detective!

Assuming it actually is a murder, anyway.

An entry in the 2023 Whodunnit Contest

This story is a sequel to Administrative Angel

Discord is having a gloriously unlucky day. First he accidentally got sucked into a human high-school version of Equestria. Then he got stuck there after blowing up the portal home. His life hasn't been this chaotic in ages!

But a burst of reverse future memory is about to convince him to destroy this new world — and the power of Harmony seems to be on his side. Against those odds, it will take the full wit, courage, and magic of Celestia and Luna to save the day.

No, not the Princesses.  That would have been simple.

Rated 'Why Haven't You Read This Yet?' by PaulAsaran! "I can’t stress enough how good this was in all aspects, from the narrative voice to the characterizations to the creativity underlining it all, to say nothing for how much fun it is. ... I greatly enjoyed this and think most people will too, be you a casual reader just wanting to enjoy Discord, a more technically minded one looking to see Discord done right, or someone who just wants a worthy follow up of Administrative Angel."

Recommended by Present Perfect! "The same strong writing and the same authorly voice as the original ... it's thrilling watching a world-ending threat through the villain's eyes."

Silver medalist in the January 2019 "Reversal of Fortune" Writeoff! Significantly expanded and edited for FIMFiction!

Praise for the Writeoff version:
"There are clever stories that make you feel smart, and clever stories that make you feel dumb, and I'm finding this very much in the first category." –Chris
"Things just don't stop moving." –Xepher

Stress levels were already high, with Twilight directing her first royal Hearth's Warming pageant and unexpected snowstorms escaping the Everfree. Then the changeling army arrived.

Now, with Queen Chrysalis holding Ponyville hostage and the clock ticking on suspiciously pointless negotiations, it's up to Rarity to match wits with the invaders and save the holiday. However, as she digs ever deeper into the queen's tangled plot, what she learns could force her to choose between her friendships and her conscience.

Off-season note: This is a Hearth's Warming story like Die Hard is a Christmas movie (but with espionage instead of explosions). Don't skip it just because the holiday's over.

Critical praise:

"A high-tension thriller where nothing is what it seems." — Titanium Dragon (rating: "Highly Recommended")

"An entertaining ride from start to finish … watching all the pieces fall into place is fantastic." — Present Perfect (rating: "Highly Recommended")

"Props to horizon for an intricate web of deception. Most writers have difficulty with crafting mysteries … this one, however, had me completely fooled from beginning to end." — PaulAsaran (rating: "Why Haven't You Read This Yet?")

"It’s a rare mystery and thriller that can keep things tense and make the mystery actually tough to guess as you go along, while still feeling like a natural conclusion. ... The end result of layers unveiled and red herrings contradicted makes it sing." — Ghost Mike (rating: "Really Good")

Second-place winner in the "Behind Closed Doors" December writeoff, now expanded and revised! Featured on EqD! Rated "Recommended" by MLPmatthewl419!

Big thanks to Titanium Dragon for post-Writeoff editing assistance.

Comments contain spoilers!

Crime was easy before Princess Twilight and the First Five ushered in a golden age of Harmony. Back then, any idiot could plan a robbery, just like any rat could sneak through the cracks in wooden granary walls. But now that everything is cloudstone and clearsteel, with magical countermeasures over the few remaining holes, it takes a different breed of rat to survive.

"Slippery" Jimmy the Grey is one of the rare few ponies who can still slip through the cracks — even with the legendary Rainbow Corps on his tail. Now he's got a billion-bit heist planned in the gleaming skyscrapers of Cloudsdale. If only he hadn't made the mistake of stealing from a dragon …

Now with a reading by Illya Leonov and Scribbler!

* * *

This is a crossover with Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat novels, but it assumes no knowledge of the series.

Winner of February's Writeoff Association competition! * Featured by Equestria Daily! * Featured by Seattle's Angels!

REVIEWS: "Highly Recommended" by Titanium Dragon; "Recommended" by Present Perfect; rated "Why Haven't You Read This Yet?" by PaulAsaran

WORD OF MOUTH:
"The Iridescent Iron Rat was not only my favorite story from the most recent writeoff... it's my favorite story of anything I've read in months." —Sharp Spark

"What a ride it is. This story is made of awesome moments." —Casca, Seattle's Angels

"[A]stounding on so many levels. … If there’s one story from this round you have to pick, make it this one." —Corejo, Seattle's Angels

"Absolutely beautifully done. It fits the style and feel of the books to a perfect T." —Themaskedferret