“All unicorns build doomsday devices!” Those five words were words that Twilight Sparkle never expected to hear next to each other and in that specific order in a sentence.

King Sombra has returned, and upon discovering that Twilight Sparkle has not even considered building a doomsday device, has given her an ultimatum: Either she builds a device that has the sole purpose of destroying the world, or he starts defacing her books.

The clock is ticking: Will Twilight be able to get in touch with her inner mad science and save her imperiled reading material? More importantly, is she really destined to bring about the end of the world? Are unicorns really nothing more than a cosmic reset button, poised to bring a halt to all existence at a moment's notice even in the face of past evidence suggesting that they're not very good at it? Will Twilight succeed where all others have presumably failed? Does she even want to?

Join in as we follow the journey to answer the question on minds the world over: “Anypony for Doomsday?”

Rarity is a busy mare, but such is the life of an up-and-coming young fashionista like her. Between designing her newest gowns, overseeing multiple shops in multiple cities, all while managing to maintain her social life, she hardly has time for anything else. There are some things, however, some ponies, that she will always have time for, such as that little red-headed filly gazing through her window of her boutique.

Featured 12/3/22 - 12/10/22

The birth of cinema created multiple additional industries, along with inspiring a fleet of new marks. In particular, there's a need for sound design, and Foley Artist stands ready to bring the natural beats of the outside world into the enclosed studios. And when a recording session for Canterlot's streets just happens to record the most distinctive scream ever... well, what kind of pony would Foley be if he didn't share it with the entire planet? After all, sound belongs to the people.

To the people. Not to a person. That would just be silly.

But that scream has a source. A fast-approaching, very unhappy source. And she has so many more sounds to share...

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)

Art from a vector capture by AJDiSpirito. Title suggested by Sanguine Potato.

Diamond dogs don't concern themselves with the affairs of the surface and, if they had their way, wouldn't go topside at all. Unfortunately, there's things of value up there, and so they regularly send scouts, with scout duty the punishment for disruptive dogs to remind them why they stay beneath the earth.

Precious has been exiled to scout duty, but she doesn't mind that at all. The surface world can be downright beautiful, and when she's up here she doesn't have to deal with Rover's ego. She's very content to spend her days beneath the sun, watching for any ponies that become separated from the herd.

Until she meets a pony. One who talks to her. And she figures she can afford to let one pony go. No one will ever know.

She should have realized that one pony never stays just one pony.

An entry in Choices: A Species Change Contest.
A branch in the Eventide multiverse.
Also check out author Patreon, Ko-Fi and commissions.

To assist her in her duties, Princess Celestia has the ancient bloodline of Inkwells; a role passed down through their family through generations, from mother to daughter, father to son.

And Princess Luna?

Luna has Sunset Shimmer.

Written for the Choices - Species Change Contest.

Special thanks to my lovely beta readers Sadie, Chloe, and Josie for helping me proofread this and beating my inner critic back with a stick. <3

Pinkamena just wants to stay in her own lane. If Pinkie has a problem that needs yelled at, kicked at, or jeeringly tolerated until it goes away, she can handle it. But what’s a sourfaced split personality to do when her agreeable half vanishes overnight like a fart in the wind?

Pinkamena is not a sleuth. Nor a convincing actress. But she’ll need to be both to guise as Pinkie and solve the mystery of where her better half went.

What a pain in the flank.

(Teen rating for Pinkamena’s crassness and comically short temper.)

Its National Novel Writing Month! I'm breaking my regular short story conventions for a multi-chapter tale of fumbling comedy, uneasy mystery, and (most frightful of all) first-person narration.

Years ago, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria helped show a group of humans the magic of friendship, and they've never forgotten how much it meant to them. Since then, Twilight has continued to return to visit her friends in their world, and even as her coronation looms large on the horizon, they'd been confident things would work out.

But when a serious malfunction renders the device keeping the portal open useless and seemingly irreparable, Princess Twilight is left struggling to come up with a solution, or even answers. As the possibility that they might never see their old friend in person again grows, the Rainbooms decide to send a series of letters to the Princess, expressing their personal gratitude for the influence she's had in their lives, well-wishes for her rule in Equestria and cautious optimism for the future.

Cover art by D+CON! Used with permission.

Written for Bicyclette's The Twilight Files contest. See the other entries here! Pre-read by The Sleepless Beholder. The chapter "Letter 1: Rarity" ties in with the Bean's Writing Group prompt "An Artistic Touch", while "Letter 7: Fluttershy" ties in with "Someone is Missing".

Featured on 7/19/22 to 7/23/22!

Note this story only considers animated media as canon, and deviates from the depiction of events seen in literary or comic media like The Fall of Sunset Shimmer and Twilight's Sparkly Sleepover Surprise.

It was a major shake-up for most ponies: the loss of magic from Equestria. But for Cozy Glow, it just meant swapping her enchanted stone prison for a normal ball-and-chain one. Besides, that was ten years ago. What does she care of the humbled world outside? Or that it just delivered her an uppity new cellmate?

Luster Dawn cares. A lot. It's why she's here.

(Takes place between The Last Problem and Gen 5. AU Tag because these events are probably gonna get invalidated by canon someday.)

Second place winner of the 3rd Annual Cozy Glow Short Story Contest, double-dipping prompts with "Cozy's got a secret!" and "Cozy makes an unusual friend."

Luna's return and Twilight's ascension to rulership of Equestria helped usher in an age of scientific and magical innovation. She and her slow-aging and long-lived friends lived through tumultous times of discovery and progress, and now Equestria is beginning its first true forays into deep space.

But someone has to be out there, representing Twilight and speaking on her behalf. She can't go herself--FTL travel is still primitive and time consuming. She needs someone out there trekking the stars, keeping up with the growing network of colonies. Someone with diplomatic chops, a vivid imagination, impeccable manners, and a lot of charisma. Rarity is eager to help her wife out in a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the worlds, literally.

Izzy Moonbow decides to make a fun Livestream of herself sliding around on a frozen lake. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen consequences, things take an odd turn for the worse. Can Izzy get through this video without getting in serious trouble? No.