Everyone wears a mask. For the rulers of Equestria, that mask must be impeccable for their subjects. Only around their guards can the two Princesses relax ever so slightly, occasionally showing that they are just as fallible as any other creature. For one Princess, the burdens of her own mind begin to make the mask crack. However, when Private Steel Heart notices that it is, in fact, the pony underneath the mask that is beginning to splinter, he offers to help.

He had no idea such help would first involve getting attacked with a large brush.

Warning: Involves slow-burn romances, lots of feelings, comforting moments, adorable affectionate gestures, lethal amounts of fluff, feel-good auras, and a deadly combing implement.
Takes place around Season 8-9 (ish)

Cover art used with permission by the talented Yakovlev-Vad, seriously, check out his art. He's fantastic!
https://www.deviantart.com/yakovlev-vad/art/Oops-Sketch-743917791
*Edit. Featured on the first day? WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Sunset Shimmer, twenty-four years old, woke up on a cruise ship, without knowing how she got there, or why. She encountered fifteen other souls, all of them trapped aboard by a mysterious pony known only as Monoponi, who informed them they are there for one purpose, and one purpose only:

To kill each other.

Now struggling to survive while desperately trying to recover what memories she's lost, Sunset is thrust into a deadly situation, where anyone, at any turn, could become the next killer. Who will survive? Who will die? What is Monoponi's true goal? Who is he, really?

Sunset can only hope to find out before she, too, becomes a victim of the killing game.

A Danganronpa/My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Equestria Girls crossover, taking place post season nine of Friendship is Magic, featuring complex mysteries, flash-in-the-pan romances, and various custom art pieces along the way. Now completed! All art credits can be found on my blog. Thank you especially to lennardd and JQarp of Archive of Our Own for inspiration, and to any and all who read this story.

Now featuring a TVTropes page created by SuperSonicHeroes. A big thank you to them as well. And if you enjoy this story and want to support it and future works, please feel free to donate to my Ko-Fi account.

Hungry for more DR:IHW? There is a now a compilation of alternate moments/other stuff called Lost Moments. Check it out!

Starlight has a problem. Twilight left on an ambassadorial mission to the zebras less than a week ago. Just this morning, a businesspony showed up on the doorstep of the Castle of Friendship and stole the Alicorn Amulet right out from under her nose.

Rainbow Dash has a solution. Steal the Amulet back. How hard could it possibly be, right? Okay, so the Amulet's being kept in one of the most secure vaults in Equestria. And it's surrounded by guards and bystanders. And there's no one in Ponyville who has much experience in heists or robberies or law-breaking of any kind. Oh, and said businesspony is planning on selling the powerful artifact of dark magic on the black market, putting the whole thing on a time crunch. And they don't even have the blueprints to the place. But other than that, it'll be easy!

Starlight has a problem. This is the closest thing to a solution she has.

This can only end well.

Takes place before the season 6 finale.

Octavia has finally been promoted to first chair, unfortunately for her, that chair is in the new (and as of yet unformed) Royal Ponyville Orchestra. Now, the best cellist in Equestria (Her words) is being sent to the cultural gulag of Ponyville (Also her words) to form and lead the Royal Ponyville Orchestra to greatness (Princess Luna's words).

Now has a sequel, Princess Luna's Academy of the Arts and Sciences.

And an online reading.

Credit goes to jlm123hi for arranging the cover art
Vectors used:
The stage
Vinyl
Lyra
Fiddlesticks
Octavia

Bonus: Have some fan art made by GamingMelody I found when I accidentally typed my username into Deviant Art's search tool instead of logging in. It's cool someone liked my words enough to draw them, and I hope anyone who does so in the future will send me a link so I can plug them in whatever way I can.

Vinyl Scratch and Octavia are on holiday when they are separated from their tour group, and get lost in the jungle. Hope you survive the experience, ladies!

Special thanks to the awesome artist Whatsapokemon for the cover art, and to syvvak for proofreading!

The Vinyl and Octavia Series
1. Vinyl and Octavia Machete Their Way Through the Jungle
2. Vinyl and Octavia Move House
3. Vinyl and Octavia Get Incredibly Drunk
4. Vinyl and Octavia are Forcibly Shipped
5. Vinyl and Octavia Fight Ten Thousand Ninjas
6. Vinyl and Octavia Have Multiple Dates
7. Vinyl and Octavia Engage in Roleplay
8. Vinyl and Octavia in 'Dial D for Detectives'
9. Vinyl and Octavia Duel Destiny
10. Vinyl and Octavia Bust Out of Prison
11. Vinyl and Octavia Join COBRA
12. Vinyl and Octavia Break the Timestream
13. Vinyl and Octavia Rob a Casino
14. Vinyl and Octavia's Freaky Day
15. Vinyl and Octavia Jump the Shark

Talk to someone on the telephone enough and you get an idea of what they look like.

And then you meet them for the first time, and they're not at all what you expected.

During a diplomatic visit from King Thorax, Princess Luna discovers that, inexplicably, his brother Pharynx hates her lavender. And for that matter, potted plants in general.

That won't do, of course – even if Pharynx is the new Changeling Prince – and so she'll need to teach him a lesson.

And one lesson won't be enough.

Featured from 18/05/2020 to 20/05/2020, peaking at #4 in the box.
Featured on Equestria Daily! Also featured in Equestria Daily's 38 Fanfics to Read for Luna Day 2020!
9/10, from My Little Reviews & Feedback.
8.8/10 and 8/10, from the Reviewer's Mansion.

Edited and proofread by VoxAdam, pre-read by Valtyra. Thanks, you guys

Written for the May 2020 Original Pairing Contest.

Cover by hosikawa_choco.

Author's Commentary

Queen Chrysalis likes it when I boop her on the nose. It helps her relax. However, one day, Princess Twilight Sparkle bursts in, thinking that Queen Chrysalis has put a spell on me.

Surely, when I explain to her that I boop her, she'll understand. Right?

Right?

Inspired by a delightful flash game that can be found here.

Featured on August 28th, 2016. This is as unexpected as it is amazing.

Coco Pommel narrowly avoided a bleak future - beaten down, degraded and her will worn away, she was rescued from Suri Polomare by Rarity's generosity.

Now, she's been called on to pay that forward to someone: herself.

Because sometimes the best way to save a person is via an extradimensional horse version of themselves.

Written for A Most Delightful Ponidox, where it took a Judge's Choice!

Featured 10/5/2020 - 10/6/2020 and 10/14/2020 and 10/17/2020!

Reviewed by PresentPerfect to earn a rating of Highly Recommended!

Featured on Equestria Daily on 9/12/2021!

When Bon-Bon has to leave Ponyville for a while to deal with a family crisis in Manehattan, Lyra writes her a letter every day. And every day, she gets a letter back. What could possibly be wrong with such loving devotion?

So why is everyone growing steadily more worried about her?

Written for the 2014 Friend-Off on EQD. Based on this picture.

Reviewed by Singularity Dream here.