The world ended.

That, at least, is what it sounded like. Screaming, howling, and then deathly silence.

A month later, Cheerilee and Scootaloo emerge from their shelter in search of food. As they search among the dead bodies of their friends, only one question comes to mind:

Where are the unicorns?

--------

Written for the Quills and Sofas Cheerilee contest.

Featured on May 18th, 2021!

Princess Twilight has seen some strange things in the past few years. She made the best friends a mare could have, she had some amazing adventures, became an alicorn princess, saved the world a few times, and got a palace to call her very own. Yet for all that, the strangest has yet to come.

There are new strangers in Ponyville. That's not too odd, but they're not ponies. They're human! But they're not like any human Twilight saw on the other side of the Mirror. Their magic isn't like anything she's ever seen, either. She'd love to learn more, but there's a problem. These humans could give Fluttershy lessons in keeping out of sight.

Dealing with snooping aliens was not exactly what Twilight had planned to put on top of her royal agenda.

I started writing this back before Season Five. It's not a new idea, not hardly, but no matter how many first contact stories I sifted through, always it was from the alien perspective. The pony perspective would come to the fore only rarely, and usually only with sizable external influences.

This story takes the idea of an alien observation team but is entirely from the locals' standpoint. What do you do when there's an alien science outpost next door?

As the centuries pass, cutie marks come and go. Some are common: the healing cross, the basic compass rose, the courier bag. Others are extinct: no more mercenary companies, no more mercenary marks. A few are incredibly scarce, coming along once a generation or less: the mark for luck falls into that category. A number only manifest when the call for them arrives: train tracks didn't appear until it was railroading time. But for the most part, ponies take their mark with its associated talent and magic as a blessing in their lives -- no matter what that mark turns out to be. And they accept it as they accept themselves.

Luna, in her first truly open palace session dealing with the public, is about to meet the exception: Joyous Release, a pony who wants nothing more than to be rid of her mark forever -- and every bit of the talent which comes with it.

But marks are permanent...

(This story takes place shortly after A Total Eclipse Of The Fun.)

Cover art by Harwick.

Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

This story is a sequel to The Life and Times of a Winning Pony

In the time since she became Derpy's daughter, Sparkler Doo has come to trust and love her mother more than words can express. Three years of tender, loving care and patience brought Sparkler out of her shell, showing a scared little filly that she was loved—and safe.

All it took was one fateful lapse in judgement to bring that crashing down. Now, with her faith in her mother shaken to its core, Sparkler has to take a step back and try to pick up the pieces.

Assuming she wants to.

This story takes place in tandem with the events of Chapter 19 of The Life and Times of a Winning Pony

SPOILERS for Gravity Falls' season 2 & series finale (Seriously, GF is best gone into blind!). Set during MLP:FIM Season 6 after "The Crystalling". You have been warned!

This cover art is not mine. It's a placeholder until I can make my own. Found it through google. It belongs to Pony Stark. Go check out their other artwork too.

One year after Weirdmageddon, the Pines reunite in Gravity Falls for another summer of adventure. A fall into Equestria wasn't what they had in mind though, or being turned into colorful ponies...

Twilight and friends seek to help the lost travelers return home, but meanwhile, a new danger sets its sights on Equestria, and revenge.

MLP / Gravity Falls Crossover

Big Thanks to MyOwnNameWasTaken for being my Beta Reader. Go check out his stories, too!

Author's Note: So after the epic Gravity Falls finale that was Weirdmageddon, and the welcome surprise of MLP's season 6 starting, I got inspired to write this. Hope you like it! Also, to those wondering about Daring Do and the Order of the Eagle, yes, I do plan on continuing it and fixing those first chapters. But I currently have writer's block for it, unfortunately, as well as other projects, so that might take a little while.

P.S. To those readers who feel the need to give me "thumbs down" votes: I would really appreciate it if you would please leave a comment telling me why you down-voted. I can't improve my writing if I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Thank you.

Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own Gravity Falls or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Gravity Falls is owned by Disney. Everybody here already knows who MLP is owned by.

Princess Cadance's life is fraught with intrigue, chaos, and diplomacy. She has been trained for it—educated, prepared, and hardened by her Aunt Celestia. However, all the training in the world couldn't prepare her for real life. Things only become crazier with the return of her formerly exiled and insane Aunt Luna, and she finds herself responsible for her newfound aunt amid the mysteries in the seaside town of Queensmouth.

A standalone Winningverse story.

Shining Armor is an eager young officer in the Royal Guard, fresh out of the West Hoof Military Academy. When his mother asks him to help family friend Vinyl Scratch deal with an overenthusiastic admirer, he jumps at the chance to aid a damsel in distress. Perhaps he'd have second thought if he knew just how much of a mess he would be getting himself into...

...ain't nopony gonna sleep. Not while she's trying to manage the usually-automatic feat while within her first-ever bout of insomnia...

...and given that it's Rainbow trying to work this out, probably not even after.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

In the moons since her parents died, Applejack has hardly left the Acres. Pinkie has barely seen her. She's willing to do anything in order to get some crucial time with her only friend -- but Applejack always seems to have something else to do. Somepony else to speak with.

Somepony else she can listen to.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group -- but can be read as a stand-alone, and no knowledge of the other stories is required. New members and trope edits are welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

This story is a sequel to What I've Done

This is the third book in The Humanity Within Trilogy. If you haven't read the other two books first, go back and do that now. Don't worry, this will still be here when you get back...

Also, if you've already finished this trilogy, you should be happy to know that the next book in the series, A Darkened Sky, is out right now! Go read it, follow it, and all that stuff!

I don't know what to believe anymore. I was sure they were all monsters, all demons bent on destroying any peace I and my new friends might find in this life.

I was wrong.

Instead of burning this world down around me, their weapons are pointed away from the planet, not towards it.

As if that conundrum wasn't perplexing enough, I also have to deal with finding my own place in this odd, yet familiar society. But how does one simply go back to being normal? Especially knowing that the real monsters that caused this mess in the first place could be just around the corner?

After all, it's not like I'll ever see my home planet again. They may not be here to hurt me or my friends, but I still don't trust these 'friendly' aliens to get me a ride home...