The rains of Bridlewood have long brought change to the forest's unicorn inhabitants. During one particular downpour, young widower Alphabittle Blossomforth has his life changed forever, in more ways than one.

Cover Art: November Rain by Sallylla.

For the Sixth Annual Equestria at War Writing Contest...
and an Express Ticket to Horse Hell.

The year is 1023.

The world burns. Harmony has been forgotten in the fires of war. Guns, tanks, planes... technology outpaces magic and cruelties hitherto unknown are daily occurrences. One of them is Chiropterra, the last remnant of Nightmare Moon's rebellion. A thousand years ago, her loyalists fled across the sea to Zebrica, and their offspring have built a millennia-long legacy on fear and suffering. The beleaguered Hippogriffs of Aris have been pushed back to their home islands, as they were decades ago under the Storm King.

But no longer. Equestria and the Crystal Empire have withstood the invasion of Queen Chrysalis at great cost. They have rebuilt, and now the Princesses turn their eyes to their last mistake. Across the ocean, the Griffonian Empire, reforged and reformed, sees an opportunity to thaw relations between three species.

The greatest expeditionary force ever assembled, bearing weaponry never used before in war, descends upon north Zebrica to end the long night of terror. Two of the leaders find themselves at one of the first landings: Flurry Heart, the Crystal Princess and heir apparent to the Crystalline Throne, and Grover VI, the constitutional Kaiser of the Griffonian Empire. They are barely adults, and this is their first war.

Everyone wishes they took it seriously.

Have you ever just been having a regular day, then suddenly, BAM, you're dead? Well, no, of course you haven't. But what do you expect to happen after you die? If the answer was getting shoved into an overly pink copy of a pony princess, you'd be lying. Worse yet, she made me an alicorn just like her, which causes a whole new set of problems.

Unfortunately, she was adamant that I stay and become her twin sister. I ditched her immediately in my bumbling confusion and fear, and who could blame me? The last thing on my mind was being here! Ponies, princesses, and twin sisters? What kind of fantasy story was that? I was on the run, hiding from guard patrols, and fighting for my next meal. However, my own hubris caught up to me in the end, and her super powerful mother, Cadance, found me and made me see how stupid I was being. And Cadance, is an absolutely crazy powerful pony, with an even more powerful maternal instinct. So when it came down to her word against mine, she was really hard to convince, and she wasn't taking no for an answer.

(AKA, Super wholesome, fluffy, found family. And me having fun tugging on heartstrings.)
(Cover image by: me)

As far as Goldengrape and Greta were concerned, all they did last night was meet in a diner, chat for a bit, then walk to the nearby carriage bus stop.

But somebody out there really wants everyone to believe that they also murdered someone.

Judge's pick in the May 2023 Pairing Contest.

First featured by 5/28/2023.

Manehattan is such a big place for such little ponies. High rises and concrete make for quite an uninviting, if alluring vista. With so many homes, offices, and shops squished close and stacked high, naturally it's going to get claustrophobic and stuffy; especially so during the summer, where the concrete jungle truly lives up to the moniker. Thankfully, there's one mare on a mission to provide a brand-new, life-saving commodity: air conditioning!

Airflow, the air mare extraordinaire, steps up to rescue ponies everywhere from Celestia's blistering sun (as all batponies should strive for). Join her and her acquaintances as she brings forth the dawn of a new age in home comfort! She'll soon learn however, that not everypony is so appreciative of her rising success...

Cover art was a commission of Airflow by the exceptional Cosmalumi!

Featured 05/23/2023! Thank you!

The Unity Crystals had been acting oddly for a few days, piquing Sunny and her group’s interest. The artifacts' power was unknown, holding untold secrets of the ancient world within them, but what it bestows upon them is beyond any of their wildest imagination. With endless questions, and an absolute need for more information, the ponies begin a journey to find some kind of an answer.

Leading them to the forgotten ends of Equestria, the path to their goal sends them through the ancient world where the foundations of friendship itself were laid. Though the answers they search for may be better off unanswered.

Sunny knew of the ancient world, the Elements of Harmony, and the six ponies that saved Equestria time and time again. She'd learned how the Element bearers' stories started, and how they ended, all except one - Twilight Sparkle. She always dreamed about learning more of her hero, but never would have imagined how she and her friends would soon become entwined in her tale.

Time can do many things, and for the idol of friendship, it can be her undoing.

This story was started and heavily planned when only Chapter 2 of Make Your Mark was available.

Full Resolution Cover Art Here

Thanks to Enigmatic Otaku and Gonderlane for helping edit the story!

Story cover art by: SyrupyyyArt

Ponyville is a special town. Its ambulance requires special equipment.

A collaboration between Samey90 and Sockpuppet!

Authors' notes.

Audio reading (quite excellent).

It has been a peaceful few years under the reign of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Ponies are happy. Equestria is progressing. New technologies have appeared, including the first fixed-wing planes. The first intercontinental flights now soar across Equestria, allowing long-distance friends and family to meet up for the first time without an arduous journey or fancy magic.

Earth Ponies are not meant to fly. Rind Watermelon knows this—and it terrifies him—but he will go with his fiancée Smoldering Ember to meet her family in Kiria, realm of the Kirins. It is only a twenty-hour flight away. He just has to look out the window, and ignore that he is in a metal tube hurtling through the sky on flimsy wings.

And there is something on the wing.

[Based on the EaW 2023 April fools update. Long Live the God-Emperor!]

As Projekt Kristellthron fails (or succeeds, based on who you ask), Grover the Fifith is reborn as the Emperor of Griffonkind, forever upon his golden throne. Despite betrayal from Dawnclaw, Dawnclaw's heresy only ends with the newborn Imperium of Griffonkind rising greater then ever. And as the years go on, the Imperium spreads ever further, until finally, in the mid 1020s, Griffonia, and Griffonkind, are united under one being. The God-Emperor of Griffonkind, the being who was once Grover the Fifth. For he is the physical manifestation of Boreas, Eyr, and Arcturius. Yet, as Griffonia is united and the Emperor dreams of greater conquest for griffonkind. He blinks... and his dream ends.

Right Angle, Ponyville's resident building inspector, has seen a lot of strange domiciles in his life. Twilight Sparkle's castle, however, just might be the strangest.

The castle seems to think so, too.

Inspired by a discussion with the lovely Perfectly Insane. A big thank you to ChudoJogurt, gapty, and AllThatShimmers for prereading.

Ko-Fi. Y'know. If you feel like it.

Featured on Equestria Daily!