Rarity and Rainbow Dash take a princessy bath together in a vat of steaming tomato soup in the Canterlot Castle royal suite. Along with the brothy broiling bubbles, long hidden feelings rise to the surface. Rarity finds that she must make a choice that may change her life forever, a choice between love and fabulousness.

Trigger warning: tomato soup

Sometimes, a spark is just a spark. Nothing comes of it, nothing grows. But sometimes, a spark can become a fire, burning bright and powerful.
It will not last forever. But it has a beauty all its own.

A series of moments throughout the lives of Rarity and Fluttershy.

Pre-reading and editing provided by Timaeus and auramane, and also pre-read by Carapace and MewKat.
Special thanks to Feenkatze for their help with straightening this out.

Dust and Harmony is a familiar story re-imagined in a western world called Dust.

Ever since she was a filly, Applejack has lived in Manehattan. And ever since Nightmare Moon took over, she’s had plenty of work as a private eye. When a tall stallion walks into her office and asks her to find his missing fiancé, it seems like just another case. But when a trail of clues and bodies leads her deeper into the darkened heart of the city, Applejack may find herself in over her fedora, and quite literally gambling for her life.

Howdy there.

Name's Applejack, and I like to consider myself a simple mare. I had a job on a rock farm, and before that, I was a simple dress-maker. I ain't bein' humble, but those days, nothin' too out of the ordinary really happened to me.

Then I met Earth Pony. She came out of the blue, but she was the sort of pony who could drag you along on anythin'. Lucky for me, I wanted to go, least at first. After that... well, I'll let you read those parts.

This story was written as a commission for someone who wishes to remain anonymous. He or she also provided the cover art, so credit goes goes to the anonymous commissioner of this story.

You've made a lot of assumptions. You've been told a lot of lies. Could you even know the truth if you read it? After all, everything depends on your point of view...

"There is a dark edge to everything underlying this fic. Like a stone caught in the threads of one’s sock, it grates against the comfortable coziness that is the show, a niggling point of misanthropy against the heel of the reader’s perceptions."
—Belligerent Sock, Seattle's Angels

Tall Tales didn't intend to be in Ponyville for long. It was supposed to be a brief stop on the way to the storytellers' gathering in Connemara, and nothing more. How was he to know he'd be offered the opportunity to show southerners real storytelling? More to the point, how was he supposed to refuse? And just what does this pink pony want with him, anyway?
Now he's shanghaied himself into performing, and must use all his skill to stay on stage, on target, and within the bounds of sanity. So gather round, pull up a bollard, and listen to some proper Equestrian folk tales.
Or watch one stallion go slowly mad in public. Either way, you're in for a treat.

Twilight receives another visit from Future Twilight Sparkle, who speaks only in questions. Present Twilight attempts to deduce the reason for her future counterpart's vagueness - and the reason for her visit.

Hey you.

Yeah, you.

C'mere, sugarcube.

Lemme tell ya a story.

She's the artist of the two of us. She's always been the dreamer, and she always drifts off somewhere between a fantasy and the stars above us. And I'll always be nearby to pull her back to the ground. Every day she shows me how to be more, and I show her how to be herself again. It's not perfect, but it works, and that's what matters.

Cover art provided by the wonderful Esle Ynopemos. (Seriously, check his stuff out. He's wonderful)