In the many years after the Conversion Bureaus' shutdown, Twilight Sparkle is tasked by the Princesses with finding the last living human on Earth, Isaac Hamilton, and learning the story of his past. What she hears is a tale of loss, tragedy, joy, and the discovery of one's place in the world. But how much longer would that place last with what Twilight has to tell him?

No pony could have prepared for the adventure or horror Cerberus would bring to Equestria.

A single pound is added to the scale of love and tolerance in Ponyville, and everything changes.
A colt with a strange body structure and even stranger past...
Four mysterious horses wanted for treason...
A shift in Princess Celestia's disposition...
The sun at it's peak...
A heartbreaking inferno...
A war against everything everypony has ever believed in...

Zecora is coming to market today
So Applejack tells Apple Bloom, stay away!
When the filly tries anyway, she's quite quickly caught
And AJ sends her right back home at a trot.

Though I have the actual plot line derailed,
We'll push right on through with an alternate tale
Of how Applejack learns about stripes, fur, and skin--
And how little they're worth next to what lies within.

So sit yourself down please, and read to the end
About how an earth pony got her zebra friend.
It's not all in rhyme, though; don't give in to gloom
But after this dear God I am not putting two zebra characters in a room together because GOOD LORD SO MUCH RHYMING; WHAT WAS I THINKING AAAAAHHHH! Er, I mean...
But new personal rule: JUST ONE ZEBRA PER ROOM.

A/N: Special thanks to Rated-R PonyStar for providing me with much-needed editing / pre-reading / input.

So yes as you may have guessed this is a rewrite of the season 1 episode Bridle Gossip in which I take the starting point and go wandering off towards the same general destination by an entirely different route.

Art for this is from Alfa995, the guy who runs the Ask Nightmare Moon HQ Tumblr.

I initially got the idea from this picture by the artist Elosande

(Author's note: This is not a shipfic. I wish they'd put tags on the main page.)

After a tragic magical accident, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie have lost two of their friends, but gained a new one.

There is a flood on the horizon. Equestria's enemies have united, and the coming tide will not only change the course of history on one world, but two, and bring about a monumental meeting that will bring brothers and sisters from those two worlds together.

At long last, the downtrodden will rise.

The battle begins.

When your life is as dull a gray as the world that surrounds you, the mundanities can make it all seem meaningless. Sometimes all we need is a little color -- or six -- to reintroduce us to what truly makes life worth living.

*6-16-2017 Edit, added Rainbow Dash tag because it triggered knighty.*

"I'm a hero! Not that Mysterious Mare Do Well!" She screamed at her bathroom mirror. "I am Rainbow Miriam Dash! The best young flier and fastest pony in Equestria! She is nothing! I'm everything Ponyville needs in a hero!" She continued screaming before tugging at her mane and shouting obscenities.
"Ponyville doesn't want me as a hero?" She asked no pony in particular as she pulled some dyes out of her cupboard. "Fine. Let's see their precious Mare Do Well handle a villain." Rainbow eyed her Nightmare Night costume and began to cackle madly.

Rating and tags may be subject to change as the story progresses

It's almost Mother's Day. Scootaloo comes to Rainbow Dash with a startling question, but then backs off, feeling ashamed she asked it. Rainbow Dash, taken off-guard by the question, starts to question both herself, how she feels about Scootaloo, and about her past...