Special talents.
That thing that sets ponies apart from each other and gives them a path in life. The one thing that they excel at, broadcast to the world by their cutie mark.
The spectrum of special talents is as wide as the day is long and twice as varied as you think it is.
But, interesting talent or mundane, everypony needs a job to put food on the table and not every talent lends itself to one.

After all, not everyone can be blessed with specific high-demand talents like "growing plants" or "cleaning" or "flying". Even less often does a pony get a particularly nebulous concept or multi-faceted skill like "magic" or "partying" that can apply to any number of jobs.

Sometimes, no matter how good you are at what you do, it's just not something you can make a career out of.

But for those unlucky few, there's a group filled with other ponies who face the same problem that they do.

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Editted and proofread by the wonderfully helpful NecroHorse!

You wake up in the middle of an unknown forest, surrounded by alien plants and animals, and a frightened bat filly. You take it upon yourself to help this filly get back to civilization, by way of miles of dangerous obstacles, bat filly antics, and the dread you'll never be able to get back home. But by the end, will you want to?

Cover art by Ravensun. Edited slightly to match Mischievous' colors.

WARNING: Contents may contain Adorable bat filly antics, Potential 'D'aww' moments, Feels

Featured 8/27/19! My first featured fic if I'm not mistaken. Thank you all so much!

Featured on Equestria Daily!

What Readers Are Saying...

"You make the waterworks happen," -Stardust_Scratch

"It has been like watching a gruesome car crash. You cannot look away from it, and it tears you apart, you are sure you are gonna have nightmares about it, but you just keep reading." -llDenkerll

"Have any of you ever accidentally’ed your way into a horror story, that was way darker than you thought it was going to be? ...I’m going to go scrub my brain down with a few hours of mindless pony fluff... I am enjoying the story I swear," -fargo11

"The ending of the last chapter left me with hope, with expectations, while the end of this chapter leaves me with sorrow, with emptiness, with hopelessness. I need more," -Anshlun

"I lack any words to describe how fucked this whole situation is. It hurts so much. Good job," -Hermaeus xerxes

"This story has some painful feels to it... I need time to think now," -Destiny Chaser

"Every time I read the witches' dialogue I feel genuinely scared... I don't have a clue of what's going to happen," -TheFaceofMercy

Starlight Glimmer had always been a difficult pony.

She's getting better, though! Really! Three years of living with the Princess of Friendship, one of the most beloved ponies in Equestria, is bound to rub off on a mare. Though Starlight continues to grapple with her insecurities and past mistakes, she never would have presumed she'd be free of the guilt - as it should be.

Yet over the years, she's come into her own as a devoted, passionate, and empathetic friend (despite a few bumps here and there).

But one day, like any other, a strange illness befalls Princess Twilight Sparkle. Starlight is driven to a foal's storybook for answers. Armed with her magic and faith, the ex-student follows a crumb trail leading to one reclusive group dwelling in the heart of an otherworldly bog. If there was any salvation for the pony who'd saved Starlight, it lay solely with them. Except when the time comes for payment to be collected, what's left behind is picked up by Twilight and her friends.

And Starlight doesn't want them to. For how can something so broken be put back together? She'd much rather save them all the trouble...

^{Canon divergence one year after 'The Movie,' post-season seven}

Rated-T for some disturbing imagery and heavy themes concerning depression

Artwork of the Witches by Hermaeus Xerxes: https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/9/22/2150483.png

Starlight's Theme: Above and Beyond by Paul Dinletir
Twilight's Theme: Homecoming by Jeff Marsh
The Broken Bond Theme: The Birth of a Soul by Fran Soto

Pre-reader/Editor: JD McGregor
Cover Artist: Calenita

Given a unique perspective on negative emotion, less than a foal's knowledge of ordinary magic, a healthy schadenfreude, and danger bearing down on all sides, the self-proclaimed "Weiss Noir" makes no plans accounting for his death, and plans to keep it that way, even after being torn away from earth, turned into a unicorn, and dumped into one of the most inhospitable locations and times in all of Equestria.

Stranded in the Frozen North, a place where biting cold ends lives, and one thousand years in the past, in a time when peril is the norm, rather than the exception, Weiss decides to indulge in sorcery most foul, stolen ideas, and human ingenuity to survive.

Given the choice between a mad slaver and a mad sage, however, there is no avoiding an inevitable tide of ponies escaping the conquered Crystal Empire to bask in the warmth of his well-stoked hate. Something which draws attention, enemies, and most worryingly, the rivalry of his "peers".

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Another super villain appears in Equestria! A former villain that was sealed away by Celestia and her sister, Luna, over a 1000 years ago (again). But now he is free and causing a rampage throughout the world! Now it is up to Twilight and her friends to stop him! But first, Twilight has to give Celestia a piece of her mind by withholding information about ANOTHER sealed away villain that escaped because of moronic reasons. Seriously, this is like what? The sixth one?!

Started Writing this in early 2017 but never finished due to reasons, so it takes place before season 7.

Featured 7/4/19 - 7/8/19!

Anon, presently living with Twilight, is looking a little bit the worse for wear. He seems to be having some difficulty sleeping. More unusually, he seems oddly keen to keep it that way…

Realistically, they have options. For example, they could flee to another country, except that the Princesses could track them down and besides, one of those borders just effectively closed. There's probably some caves around which nopony's ever fully explored. A life spent reeking of fur dye might be possible. Or they can just stay in the hallway outside the throne room, waiting to be called in so they can explain how their good intentions turned that last mission into the biggest fiasco in Bearer history.

...so where were those caves again?

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

Cover art taken from an image created by ExitMothership. Commission information can be found here.

To escape from Tartarus is nearly impossible, even for one of great magical power. When you've lost your powers and are little more than a withered old centaur, it's even harder. But Tirek has a plan, one that will draw in a creature from a world where life is cheap, hats are plentiful, and gravel is king. Will the Spy take the opportunity to enjoy a well-earned vacation in this new world, or will he see the population of friendly, innocent ponies as just a fresh selection of backs to stab? It could be both!

(Takes place before the beginning of Season 9.)

In an unremarkable city, in an unremarkable hospital, to two unremarkable ponies, a filly was born. A filly who was all too remarkable. A filly who radiated Destiny, and Adventure.

Her parents, however, liked their unremarkable life, in their unremarkable city, and wanted nothing more for their little filly than to have a nice, normal, unremarkable youth. So whenever Destiny or Adventure reared their heads, they made sure to nip it in the bud. Magical portals, foreign princes, time travellers and mysterious salesponies of magical musical instruments all got the same answer:

Nope.

Based on the Nope: The Anime joke (original posts) that went around on Tumblr some years ago. Expect silliness.

Covert art based on a picture by greyscale / Theponysketchguy, edited by me to change her hair and eye colour and make her look younger.

Spanish version:
Un poni llamado Nop on DeviantArt, translated by SPANIARD KIWI.

This story is a sequel to Bedbound (And Beyond)

More settled now, and with all of that obliviousness cleared out of the way, John and Celestia attempt to work out a comfortable rhythm in life and generally just try to enjoy themselves in their own singular way.

Possibly there may be obstacles in this. Probably not though.

Probability of cake, tea and cuddling. Among other things.