After the treacherous happenings of In the Background, Octavia and Vinyl managed to escape with only scars and nightmares of their time in the Everfree. Octavia, on the other hand, is now being haunted by nightmares that are slowly revealing that the mysterious alicorn of nursery rhymes exists and has freed himself from his imprisonment. Are they all chess pieces in a large plot to kill the princesses in a power struggle that caused the sisters to split in the first place?

**This is a sequel to In the Background. If you have not read it, it would help in understanding what all is going on in this story. Comment, Rate, and Enjoy.**

After the mishap of the Grand Galloping Gala, Octavia Pie's Prestigious Classical Career came to a screeching halt as the disgruntled party planner fired her for her mistaken playful participation in the Pony Pokey. Feeling down and angry, Octavia can only look to the future and hope to salvage what's left of her reputation, and with a surprise opportunity, she plans on presenting Equestria with a masterpiece. The road to find inspiration is a long an arduous one, but one can only dream of the gifts and realizations that lie at the end.

**Sequel can be found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/12089/Everything-Ends...

Octavia has finally been promoted to first chair, unfortunately for her, that chair is in the new (and as of yet unformed) Royal Ponyville Orchestra. Now, the best cellist in Equestria (Her words) is being sent to the cultural gulag of Ponyville (Also her words) to form and lead the Royal Ponyville Orchestra to greatness (Princess Luna's words).

Now has a sequel, Princess Luna's Academy of the Arts and Sciences.

And an online reading.

Credit goes to jlm123hi for arranging the cover art
Vectors used:
The stage
Vinyl
Lyra
Fiddlesticks
Octavia

Bonus: Have some fan art made by GamingMelody I found when I accidentally typed my username into Deviant Art's search tool instead of logging in. It's cool someone liked my words enough to draw them, and I hope anyone who does so in the future will send me a link so I can plug them in whatever way I can.

It has been exactly one year since the defeat of Nightmare Moon and the return of Princess Luna. As preparations get underway for the Summer Sun Celebration once again, Luna is called upon to fulfill a promise she made to the very ponies who saved her from the Nightmare.

This was my submission to Happy Luna's Super Magically Fun Storytime Adventure Challenge held by Midnight Shadow on Equestria Daily.

To prove she's ready for more responsibility on the farm Apple Bloom decides to raise her own tree, with no help from the rest of her family.

A young filly should not be put up to this. A filly shouldn't have to face such a disaster head on. A filly shouldn't be the only one to go up against a Manticore alone. Why me, then? Why was I chosen to fight this thing? Why was I the only one willing to put my life on the line to protect what was important to me?

Why couldn't I have been stronger? Why couldn't I have been faster? Why couldn't I...

Silver Spoon has always been a loyal friend to Diamond Tiara. In the years since the Cutie Mark Crusaders earned their cutie marks, however, she has tried and failed to get Diamond to leave them alone. Secretly, she never bore the Crusaders ill will but she always feared incurring Diamond's wrath. When a secret Silver was keeping comes out and destroys her friendship with Diamond, Silver takes it as an opportunity to mend some fences and re-discover just what kind of pony she is.

This story follows the timeline of Raiders of the Cutie Mark from the second ending where the CMC earn their cutie marks.

Spiders. Oh, how I hate spiders. And yet Luna insists on keeping one as a...pet.

Just a little fun story to keep my skills sharp, so don't expect it to last very long!