3/14/24 Still Alive Edition

There's only one pony in Ponyville that the Mane Six have never met. Pinkie Pie has never thrown him a party, Applejack has never sold him a mug of cider, and Twilight has never seen him check out any books. And as far as that unicorn, Lapis Print, is concerned, that's exactly how it should be.

Lapis can't risk them knowing where he lives, what he does for a living, or even what his name is - if he gets his way, the Mane Six won't even know he exists, and nopony in Ponyville will miss him once he's gone.

It should be a piece of cake - after all, it's not like the biggest magical power in Equestria is about making sure everypony looks out for each other, right?

(Rated Teen for language - mental cursing mostly.)

Five humans fell through the barrier between two worlds, straight into the clutches of King Sombra. Forced to drink from a mystical teapot, their bodies transformed into beasts he could use. With his helmets in place he now commands them:

The Yak with brutish strength, the Unicorn and his piercing spells, the Thestral who stalks the night battlefields, and the Dragon that rains down fire on those who oppose their Great King. All four now loyal soldiers.

But what of the fifth? What happened to the last human in the group and why does he not fight alongside the others?

Warnings:
- The death and gore tags relate to particular moments that are more implied than seen and described.
- Darker themes are usually in, but not exclusive to, the main story arcs.
- There is also minor talk of suicide in a very short part, so I have added the tag just to be safe.
- Contains themes regarding gender identity and dysphoria which play out over the course of the entire story.

As before, this may need to change rating from Teen to Mature.

Cover art is by the very talented Mix-up.

Um, apparently this made the featured list on January 15th 2020... Thank you all so much!
Featured on Equestria Daily on May 26th 2020!

This is the home of the stories known as the Teapot Tales.
Side story arcs will be between the main arcs.
Side stories along with a second and third arc are already planned.

TTS Reading of the entire fiction: Courtesy of the FanFiction Reader on Youtube.

Character List: Courtesy of TruthHut (A work in progress)

Handy is not a happy man at the best of times.

He was even less happy to find himself in an alien world that offended the very laws of physics and got injured for his own stubborn refusal to accept the obvious path fate had apparently laid out for him.

For his trouble he is now on a journey, with the long term goal of finding his way back home, only to find himself involved in plots and machinations so far above his head and cares that he quickly becomes a pawn in a game played by powers who care not for his well-being.

Quite like his life back on Earth if you think about it.

Needless to say, Handy does not care for any of it. He is much more preoccupied with the more immediate and pressing mundane concerns of day to day life a human needs to worry about while in Equestria.

Obtaining a new pair of shoes for example.

All this and one almighty hangover, what's the worst that could happen?

Rated teen for harsh language and minor violence

Proofread by JBL, Jude and Usurper

Mandibles "Mandy" Carapace hated Queen Chrysalis.

He hated her hare-brained schemes, he hated her commanding and dominating nature, and he especially hated her unending arrogance.

So, when the Canterlot Invasion failed and he was sent careening into Ponyville, he felt no particular rush to return to her.

Author's note: Contains Romance, but there aren't enough tags to include it, so I chose Drama over Romance (because the Drama is the main theme of the story, while the Romance is a side-plot that feeds into said Drama).

And now, I've also added the "Alternate Universe" tag, because of the stuff involving Mothra and Chrysalis.

Sequel is here.

What is it about broken people that is so intriguing? Is it the way in which their lives are presently shattered, or is it the curiosity of what could have possibly broken them in this way that captures our attention so fully? Whatever the case, this story is about one such broken pony. Once a student of Princess Celestia, member of the honorary Royal Family, and head of a para-scientific organization, this pony now spends his days roaming the halls of his family's estate in Northern Equestria, banished from Canterlot for endangering the entire world. Months of monotony are one day broken by his saving of a down on her luck showmare, and from there an interesting history unfolds: a history involving a student's faith in their teacher being shattered, Changelings, the origins of Princess Cadence, and what was once the inevitable end of the world, courtesy of the fabled Mare in the Moon.

This work acts as a life story to an anti-villain original character featured in A Journey Unthought Of and A Journey Unthought Of: Revival of Chaos

Anon's dead, apparently, and Death has come to claim his soul. There's just one problem: he doesn't want to go. And there's nothing Death can do to make him.

The Piano Man has spent the last month in captivity, forced to play the piano as part of The Great and Powerful Trixie's traveling show. Now he's free, and recovering under the care of the Equestrian monarchy while Trixie awaits trial for her crimes.
All is not well, however. The Piano Man has a long road of recovery ahead, and all the time he must compete with overbearing carers, his own mental trauma, and even discrimination from members of Equestria's unicorn supremacist subculture.

This story is the kinda (can't stress that part enough) better-written sequel to 'The Piano Man'. Because the first story involved some rather dark scenes, I have included a helpful catch-up in the first chapter - so if you have no interest in reading a dark story, then you can ignore the first piece and skip straight ahead to this one.
'The Piano Man: Act II' is most certainly not a dark story, and neither is it sad. The sad tag is in place for scenes in which I reference the previous installment, and nothing else.

The absolutely amazing cover image was created by the even more amazing WIL_I_ZIN, (deviantART) who is just... just awesome, for helping out.

A pianist from Earth is home on a lonely Saturday, getting ready to enjoy his weekend, when he is suddenly summoned to Equestria - only to find himself being held captive by The Great and Powerful Trixie, who plans to use him as a piano-playing slave in her show.

If you came here looking for the sequel, 'The Piano Man: Act II', it can be found here.

When facing Twilight Sparkle, Nightmare Moon was given a choice: redemption or revenge. What if she had chosen the latter? A grim fate awaits Equestria, but in a time of greater strife and conflict, Discord's return is accelerated. While he expected to bring chaos, he did not anticipate that he would end the Longest Night and bring hope and joy back to the land.

Discord struggles to reconcile his nature with his desire for admiration. While Twilight's friends strive to carve a new life in the ever-shifting Equestria, she searches for Celestia, the only one who can bring harmony back to her lands. But Nightmare Moon also seeks her sister in a desperate attempt to find her place in the world. New dangers lurk in the wild and more threaten to fall over Equestria. Nightmare Moon's decision broke the balance of the world. Will Equestria ever turn to peace, or will the spiral of chaos and destruction be the end of everything?

(An alternate history, this story takes the universe established by the canon and explores one possible outcome if Princess Luna had not been redeemed.)

Comments contain huge spoilers. Walk softly.

Special thanks to my pre-readers, MmmandarinOrange and DarkmatterButterflies for keeping my head on, taking the journey of the story, and making it so much better than it would have been if I wrote it alone.

==Originally written Fall 2011== Equestria Daily Post==
After a long day of ruling Equestria, the Royal Sisters need a chance to unwind. Luna's solution is a few glasses of her once famous Moonshine, a drink distilled from moonlight. Celestia has been sober for a thousand years, but the temptation to have "just one" glass proves too great. Yet, when that one glass turns into several, it's Twilight who will have to deal with the princesses when they’re drunk off their flanks.