Practice makes perfect. And Princess Twilight wants everything to be perfect. Especially the end of the world.

Reeling from the loss of her brother, Twilight has slipped into depression so deep that even reading the most cheerful romance novel can't make her smile in the least bit. Her marefriend of four years, Fluttershy, has gotten more and more worried as the days passed. Perhaps she has a sweet surprise for our depressed unicorn.

This is my entry for the TwiShy Group August Dual Contest. This follows both possible prompts.

After learning how to cast Rarity’s gem-finding spell, Sweetie accidentally exposes the Alicorn Amulet’s hidden location in the Everfree Forest. The Cutie Mark Crusaders decide to try the amulet’s power before returning it to its hiding place. Two of the crusaders find that their enhanced abilities are not worth what the amulet demands of them. One, however, comes to the see the amulet as the only way that she can obtain her dreams.

Twilight has finally achieved her lifelong goal of having her article published in the local newspaper. It's been a long time coming, but now that she's done it, she's so excited that she runs around town shoving her achievement in everyone's face. It doesn't take long before Twilight discovers that no one cares if you get published in the local newspaper. After all, it's just the local paper.

In the wake of her coronation, Twilight Sparkle worries that the tides of life and responsibility are pulling her away from her friends.

All in all, it's not the ideal time for a mysterious force to suck all the colors from Ponyville.

"Nopony exists but you, and you are but a thought."

Twilight's life as she knows it harbored a sense of security, but all that changes when Princess Celestia then arrives to deliver a message. To reveal the truth about Twilight's world that the mare's conscious mind has long since forgotten.

As her memories return, she is forced to come to terms with the fact that she was never Twilight Sparkle at all, but rather a structured thought experiment whose knowledge expanded through lives she herself requested to live in order to harbor a greater understanding of existence.

But sometimes there's one life among many that's the hardest to let go of...

Inspired in part by a "Three words" game in The Writer's Group, and Mark Twain's "The Mysterious Stranger".

Edited by Breath of Plagues

Featured on Equestria Daily!
TV Tropes page.

Mystery. Love. Magic. Murder. Truth. These are all important elements in the murder mystery Fluttershy has written, and is now asking Twilight to read. But the novel stars 'Twilight Sparkle', and she wrestles with the metafictional dissonance involved in reading a novel about herself and her friends. Twilight must do her best to solve the mystery, reconcile her own feelings about this ordeal, and figure out just what Fluttershy is trying to say by writing all of this in the first place as the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur.

This is a thematic crossover with the visual novel 'Umineko No Naku Koro Ni.' No prior knowledge of Umineko should be necessary.
Cover art commission done by SynCalio

Meet Lavender, a rare offspring brought into the world by a loving dragon and a beautiful pony. She is told constantly by her parents that she is a beautiful gift of nature, but she is reminded everyday about just how different she is from the rest of the world. She is going to learn very rapidly how cruel and unforgiving the world can be for anything different from them.

Follow the journey of Spike, Rarity, and their offspring Lavender from birth to adulthood as they try to survive prejudice, natural impulses, and even their relationship between each other.

The character of Lavender and the artwork included all belong to Carnifex
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Someone actually thought this fic was worthy to be in the Twilight Library. Well... if you say so.

It's been said in prophecies that nopony will know the time or date the magic of Equestria that empowers its citizens would leave. I thought it was just superstitious nonsense written by ancient witch doctors. In a sense, they were right. But I would have never expected it to come like this. —Princess Twilight Sparkle, 05/05/1268

AU tag added due to the Cutie Mark Crusaders getting Cutie Marked.

After a recent cluster of calamities cursing her farm, Applejack's livelihood stands on the brink of financial ruin. Desperate, she asks Twilight Sparkle for a loan to keep Sweet Apple Acres running.

But when Twilight's unexpected answer inadvertently causes the two mares to butt heads, the stalemate threatens not only Ponyville's food supply but also their friendship.

With the two obstinate mares sticking to their principles come Tartarus or tidal surges, can Pinkie Pie bridge their ideological gap and save Applejack's farm?