There are a thousand reasons for not making a purchase at the Carousel Boutique. Some of them are legitimate. Many are excuses. The majority are lies. Falsehoods which Rarity has been listening to for years now, without the slightest touch of variety in the performances. Lies which, during the first week of Ponyville's summer tourist season. have escalated to the point where it feels like they're the only words being said at all.

So if nopony is going to buy anything no matter what Rarity does -- why not call them out on a few? Surely that couldn't do any harm, at least not more than what's already been done?

Surely...

(A stand-alone, no prior-reading-necessary part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page (with new Recap section) and FIMFiction group: new members and trope edits are welcome. )

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Mystery. Love. Magic. Murder. Truth. These are all important elements in the murder mystery Fluttershy has written, and is now asking Twilight to read. But the novel stars 'Twilight Sparkle', and she wrestles with the metafictional dissonance involved in reading a novel about herself and her friends. Twilight must do her best to solve the mystery, reconcile her own feelings about this ordeal, and figure out just what Fluttershy is trying to say by writing all of this in the first place as the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur.

This is a thematic crossover with the visual novel 'Umineko No Naku Koro Ni.' No prior knowledge of Umineko should be necessary.
Cover art commission done by SynCalio

The Cutie Map calls on Twilight and Rarity in order to investigate the town of Hollow Shades, a gloomy village with a fearful populace and an unsettling fixation on dolls. On top of it all, there's a new leader running the show: a mysterious unicorn known as Lady Mari who protects the town in exchange for their servitude.

For some reason Twilight and Rarity can't shake the feeling that they've seen this all before. But that can't be true—this is just another friendship problem, right?

The P.E.R. - Ponification for the Earth's Rebirth is a rogue organization that forcibly converts humans into ponies. They are reviled by those who oppose the Conversion Bureaus and denounced by Celestia Herself - but they see themselves as knights of Equestria, following a higher cause. Michelson is a Knight of the P.E.R. Morely is a Squire. Together, they'll ponify the world.

Ponies say that if you wait at a crossroads with darkness in your heart, you can trade your soul away for power.

Trixie thinks this sounds like a good deal. Surely her soul is worth much more than the average one. Certainly enough to afford revenge against that life-ruining Twilight Sparkle.

But maybe exchange rates for souls are not as favorable as she expected.

Parcel Post, the long-missing mailpony who delivered Discord's ticket to the Gala, staggers into work to explain where he's been. Spoilers for "Make New Friends But Keep Discord", but not serious ones.

Space Princess Luna returns to New Canterlot to charm her love and root out a dangerous spy known only as The Broker. A tale of space, spears, and thrilling intrigue!

This is a planetary romance and a love-letter to the works of Jack Vance, Robert E Howard, and Ray Bradbury. Expect high camp, purple prose, and space duels.

A Fate/Zero crossover of sorts.

Equestria is dying, and always has been.

The whole world has been this way for a thousand years, ever since Princess Celestia sacrificed herself to bind the fallen Princess Luna. Year by year the soil turns barren, the oceans turn still, the sun glows colder, and civilization slowly crumbles. The pegasi have not controlled the weather for centuries. Soon, the unicorns will lack the strength to raise the sun each morning. The world will be bare of life in less than two centuries. Even the most powerful magical artifacts cannot halt the decline.

Until now.

An old power has resurfaced, and five ponies race to claim it. A young duke, desperate to save his city and reclaim his family honor. A bounty hunter who speaks to the earth. A scion of magical power. A purposeless prodigy. And a college dropout. They will raise powerful servants and fight for the Grail of Magic.

Dark factions plot on the horizons and strange beings peer in from outside places. One master of magic will claim the Grail. They will save the fading world... or rule its ashes.

Ponyville has come adrift. It no longer sings its songs and sleeps its nights, it drifts through shifting shadows and the hiss of entropy. Princess Luna's influence has vanished and the diarch herself is nowhere to be found.

Pipsqueak still believes the pony she met as a foal is out there. And she'll find her.

If her mind doesn't slip away first.

Edited by the unparalleled themaskedferret and pre-read by the loveable ScarletWeather.

Side Story to The Demesne of the Reluctant Twilight Sparkle

When Doctor Princess Twilight Sparkle got Ponyville and the surrounding lands as her exclusive demesne, she knew it meant changes and stuff. Glittering opportunities. Dire crises. Friendships gained and imperiled. The dawn of a new age for Ponyville. A renaissance of the arts and sciences. A great test of her abilities as a leader and as a friend.

The brewing civil war took her by surprise, on the other claw.

The Princesses and their allies in Canterlot are working to change the laws, disband the new militias and ensure a lasting peace, but they need time. Soon, this cold war of arms and intimidation will heat up, and all the laws and decrees in the world ain't stopping it.

Doctor Princess Twilight Sparkle will buy them time. She will do what it takes to keep her friends, her family, and yes, her demesne safe.

With the help of a handsome griffon security professional—that's me, by the way—a devious illusionist, a ruthless athlete, a bored noble, and a pair of boater-clad con-ponies, she'll stop the damn war herself if she has to.

Touch wood I'll live to tell about it...