How did Fluttershy acquire her "Freaky knowledge ah' sewin'!" as Applejack called it? The answer is simple, Rarity taught her! Yet a winter full of struggle takes its toll on the two and brings their friendship to the breaking point.

During a day at the fair Spike wins a prize at a carnival game! As he enjoys all that the fair offers his mind continues to return to the token...and what a fair marking the turning point between summer and autumn means for him and the ponies he loves.

Wander is a city colt who works his way up through the ranks. Green Brier is gentry who holds to his ideals.

No two ponies in Equestria are probably more different, yet they both keep inside themselves a powerful secret. Both of them have memories of a time of horrific war fought by baffling creatures on a distant world. Of those creatures two have shown them what it means to be an officer, to be a soldier...and to be a friend.

In this story, the first of The Somewhere Cycle, Wander and Green Brier share with you, the reader, these memories. See if you can figure out who their beloved masters were and what horse they were in our reality before the story ends!

*Resubmitted following revisions.*

September 17th, 1862 became the single bloodiest day in American history when a battle was fought along the Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland.

Yesterday, Fluttershy hummed happily as she watered her garden.

The two events are not unrelated.

Gathered here are a series of short Pony stories for your enjoyment, pondering, bemusement, and mortification.

The Singular Constant (Slice of Life)(Random) - Twilight and Spike's surrealist exploration of their relationship.

Apples to Apples (Slice of Life)(Shipping) - Applejack tells us all about apples! And, well... Apples.

If You Give a Changeling a Cupcake (Comedy) - Carrot Cake chases a changeling around Sugar Cube Corner� with a golf club. Based on a series of children's books.

First Day on the Job (Slice of Life)(Adventure) - After his first adventure helping the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Spike has an epiphany.

Hello (Dark) - A draconiquis meets someone new.

By Shades (Slice of Life) - Celestia awaits the return of a loved one... and finds out why she arrived where she did.

Pony Joe awakens before the dawn each morning, readies himself for his day, and then walks through Canterlot's cold and silent streets to his doughnut shop.

Life has become pretty mundane for Joe, but as he serves his customers and chats with his regulars he realizes that he has come to rely on that repetition...he relies on it to keep from remembering.

As a casual utterance by a new customer sends Joe into a spiral of haunting memories we learn about his life...and what he must give up if he wishes to move beyond his past.

Rainbow Dash attends her hometown's Millennial Summer Sun Celebration, where she meets a peculiar pink pony. When a strange portal appears during the testing of Twilight Sparkle's latest invention, and pulls their new companion inside, the two friends give chase and embark on the most important adventure in all of history.

Equestria Daily | TVTropes

Mort, also known as the Pale Pony (of Death), has been tasked to take time off from his rigorous duties of reaping souls. Seeking guidance, he is directed towards the town of Ponyville, to learn about the magic of friendship from Twilight Sparkle and her friends. All he needs to do is keep his true nature a secret. That shouldn't be too difficult...right?

Special thanks to Specter-Von-Baren and Pyrite Foolsgold for their help in proofreading and editing this story, as I really needed it. Additional thanks to Pilate, Chuckle5, Unimpressive Vagaries and Admiral Biscuit as well! Couldn't have done it without all their help!

Credit for the title card goes to Siansaar, AKA Carnifex.

For another excellent take on Mort, check out Sip's version!

To Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia, it is a simple surprise visit to Canterlot. To the ponies of the Equestrian Civil Service, it is twenty-four hours of chaos, politics, weaponized dessert, politics, underhooved manipulation of media, politics, and things batrachian and tentacular. Who said bureaucracy isn't exciting?

You'd think that being trapped in stone would mean that, if nothing else, I could get some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, it seems that Celestia has other ideas.

She has appointed these ponies... these 'Keepers', as she calls them, to keep me entertained during my incarceration.

Honestly? I'd prefer the boredom.

Cover art by matrosha123
Spanish Translation by SPANIARD KIWI found here