It had been hard enough, being one of the first. With the walls dropped, leaving her nation, her herd, traveling to Japan and trying to exist among so many strangers... every day had been a challenge. But she'd tried. Day by day, hoofstep by hoofstep, she'd felt she was finding her place in the human world.

But now there are no humans. No other demis or liminals. Nothing to anchor her. She exists among tiny horses and the scent of their fear, or at least what little of it drifts into her cell.

For nopony can look at a centaur and see anything but a monster.

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages -- and the TVTropes page just went live.)

Cover art by Harwick. Please contact him for commission rates & prints.

Trigger warning: character interpretation.

Prior to the events of "A Canterlot Wedding" Princess Celestia asks Cadance what ought to be done with the changelings that have been discovered living hidden in Equestria. Cadance's proposed plan of action is swift, brutal, and ruthless, but absolutely unnecessarily so. Celestia has never heard Cadance speak an ill word of anyone, and she cannot fathom why the young princess seems to so despise the uncovered changelings.

Cadance just can't fathom why the uncovered changelings have chosen to forsake their own kind to live among the ponies.

*SNAP*

A hypothetical mare hypothetically has a hypothetical choice to make.

The clock is ticking.

Won gold medal in Bicyclette's "A Thousand Words" contest in category "Angst."

Dramatic reading by The Mystery Fluttershy Fan.
Dramatic reading by Pony&Wolf Productions.

Thanks to Equimorto and various Anons for proofreading and feedback.

In her short time on the Wonderbolts roster, Rainbow Dash has become the star atraction of the locker room with her wild stories. It was amusing at first, but Spitfire's gotten sick of it. Clearly, the best way to stop these tall tales is to see just how mundane Dash's home life really is. Hearth's Warming will provide the perfect excuse.

And that's where the problem really started, Chief Rights...

Written for The Iguana Man for Jinglemas 2021. Miranda Rights borrowed with permission from Estee, who wants it on record that they had nothing to do with the title. Rated Teen for significant alcohol use.

Rarity is a successful fashion designer slowly growing to hate what she's doing.

Gertie the Dinosaur is one of the first cartoon characters ever animated.

Winsor McCay is her creator, a pioneer of early animation.

...At night, the three of them dream together.

Click here to see Gertie the Dinosaur! (watch it, it's fun!)

A crossover with Winsor McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur, considered by some wikipedia editors to be the first proper “character” brought to life by animation. McCay, a newspaper cartoonist, pioneered for the film several techniques that remain essential to animation today – including keyframes, registration marks, and animation loops. McCay's animations were variously successful, but as time went on he became increasingly disillusioned with the burgeoning industry, and in 1921 was forced by his editor to give up animation almost entirely. In 1934, he woke to discover his drawing hand completely paralysed, and was pronounced dead later that afternoon.

Winner (!) of Estee's Who Crossed Over My Little Pony? contest. Check out the other entries here!

It's the oldest chocolate shop in Equestria, the very first -- and on this night, it's also out of business. The final treats have been sold, the vultures have already begun to circle the equipment, and the proprietor polishes the remains out of pure habit while wondering what to do with her life. But that question will have to wait, as she has one more customer to take care of.

The very first.

(A stand-alone, no-prior-reading necessary part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.
Cover art by Pikamander2.

The Bearers have encountered more than a few mysterious hidden villages, and that just never works out. But when they come across one whose residents believe that ponies must have their bodies covered at all times, Rarity starts to wonder if she's finally found her ideal audience.

For the answer, please see 'just never works out.'

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Starlight Glimmer and Trixie Lulamoon bake muffins inside the palace kitchen.

The hive is in celebration. The invasion goes well, and soon all Equestria will surely fall. The victorious changeling soldiers will be covered in wealth and glory, and poor young Thorax fears the war will end before he can enlist.

It does not.

Bitter from her defeat and exile, the Mare in the Moon watches Equestria move on without her.