What is a mediocre villain to do these days? How in Equestria do you compete with the likes of Chaos gods and love-stealing shapeshifters? Ever since those Bearer brats found the Elements of Harmony and Princess Celestia's long-lost and kind-of-evil-but-not-really-in-the-end sister returned, nopony bats an eye at the small potatoes any more.

Small Potatoes himself just cannot take being relegated to the side lines any longer! He has one, glorious plan in the works, one that might finally see it - his name, that is - go down in history. He's going to do the one thing that villains all over Equestria have been failing to do since that fateful Summer Sun Celebration to stop the Guardians of Harmony once and for all.

He's going to hire somepony else to do the job for him.

[This story contains scenes about death, attempted murder, some blood and an injury described in light-moderate detail (and with a humourous bent, I'm hoping.)]

The relationship between Celestia and Hydia, the Queen of the Lamias, goes back quite a ways: Hydia was the first of Equestria's enemies that Celestia consigned to Tartarus instead of killing, after all.

But as the centuries roll on, their relationship changes somewhat.

This was going to be my entry in the 193rd Writeoff competition, "How the Mighty Have Fallen," but I didn't get it finished before the deadline. Then along came the My Little Pony Renaissance Contest with its theme of "Change," and, well, here we are!

When the city of Vanhoover rebels against the Crown, threatening to ignite civil war and tear Equestria apart, it is up to the Princess of the Day to step forth and to do what is necessary to ensure that, no matter what, the Sun shines bright upon Equestria.

And she must do it alone.

First Place Winner of the My Little Pony Renaissance Contest!

Featured for Equestria Daily's Celestia Day!

Recommended by TCC56!

A standalone piece in the Spectrum-verse. TV Tropes page here!

Based off an idea by SockPuppet.

Edited by VoxAdam, proofread by Bicyclette, SockPuppet, Raleigh, skysayl, and TheIdiot. Thanks, everyone

Cover by Plainoasis.

Featured from 28/06/2021-2/7/2021, reaching #1 three hours after publishing!

This story is a sequel to The Persistence of Love

Twilight, Cadance, and Discord go fishing in order to remember their loved ones.

Second-place finalist in the Quills and Sofas Speedwriting Bi Pride contest.

An entry into the Pride and Positivity event. Please consider donating to help those in need:

• Transgender Law Center
• Palestine Children's Relief Fund
• Sewa International (Indian charity collecting funds for COVID relief)

"Mom, can you pass the cereal?"

When Twilight Sparkle heard the m-word, she must find out what it means. Meanwhile, Spike consults Starlight

This story happens after Father Knows Best

P.S this is my first story

Cheerilee has a difficult job. Ponies often believe that children are perfectly innocent. They are, most of the time, perfectly wrong about this. Small fillies are remarkably inventive, and will often stop at nothing to do exactly the opposite of what parents ask them to do. As a result, Cheerilee has become something of an expert in things that most parents assume are simply not a problem when dealing with schoolchildren.

Today, Cheerilee has just met the first perfectly innocent filly she has ever seen. The thing is, her name is the exact opposite of innocent.

This story contains dirty words, particularly with regard to sexual content of a kind that would get FiMFiction kicked off Patreon. Viewer discretion is advised.

Blame FOME for this.

A horrible Cataclysm has turned all of Equestria into a Wasteland of barren ash and twilight desolation. The Sun and the Moon have been destroyed. Everypony has died--including Princesses Luna and Celestia. But one pony miraculously survives; she is a lone wanderer, the last of her kind, surrounded by menacing creatures that hate her. She navigates the Wastes in an airship and scavenges off the blighted landscape to keep herself alive.

Then one day she meets an old companion who grants her a gift, the chance to go back in time to the warm and sunny days of Ponyville, where her dead friends live in happiness. How far will the last pony venture into this joyous age of Equestria, even if she fully knows that there is no way to change the horrible fate of everypony she loves?

2013 Edition: Smaller Chapters, Better Grammar, and a Few New Scenes

(A shout-out to Vimbert, pre-reader and gentlecolt)

Dear Princess Celestia,

The land is at peace once and for all. Twilight Sparkle is ready to take on her new duties, and the known foes we once faced have finally been vanquished. We expect little in the way of new trouble to arise from this day onward.

Across Equestria,
Raven Inkwell.

Chapter groups:

• Group 1: Introduction

  1. Raven of Canterlot
  2. Raven of Ponyville
  3. Raven of Crystal
  4. Raven of the Shadows
  5. Raven of the Light
  6. Raven the First
  7. Raven the Last

• Group 2: Raven of the Shadows

  1. Birth of an Alicorn
  2. The Raven who lurks
  3. Ravens of Klugetown
  4. A disciple is gained
  5. The twin plots of Raven
  6. The necessary preparations
  7. Like hammers against nails
  8. The treachery of two
  9. Monsters within the temple
  10. Under the moonlit sky
• Group 3: Beginnings(?)

Starlight Glimmer is one of the most trusted members of the Special Branch of the Equestrian Intelligence Service. When the job must be done, she is the one they send.

Sometimes, those missions are filled with action and danger, romance and violence.

Other times, they involve lying prone on a rooftop, waiting for just the right moment to help somepony take a one-way trip to Tartarus.

Cover art crafted by my friend CrazyDiamond, using art from a few different sources. He also did the pre-reading, so extra thanks for that.

Now with an audio reading by StraightToThePointStudio!

Featured 4-27-21 to 4-28-21, peaking in the #3 spot. Thanks, everypony!

Sunny believed the tales. Really believed, in a way that most ponies didn't anymore. About the Elements of Harmony, and about Twilight Sparkle. Back when Equestria had princesses, and was whole, when every creature knew the real power of Friendship. She believed⁠—and she knew that, one day, if she believed hard enough, it could be again.

Elsewhere, distant, Twilight Sparkle watches her would-be student, and frets.

A Russian translation by NovemberDragon is available here. | Русский перевод от NovemberDragon доступен здесь.

A Chinese translation by forgivenlove is available here here. | 这里有forgivenlove的中文翻译。

A reading by ObabScribbler is available here.

Part 1 of Equestrian Scions, which continues with The Dreamer and Me.

A late addition to the "But what happened to Equestria?" story pile.

[04/29/21 - 05/02/21] Featured. That's a first for me. Thank you all so much.