The challenge? Daunting. The reward? Worthy. Failure? Not an option. For Big Macintosh has accepted the bet, and thus begins A Ballad of Eeyup and Nope - in which he isn't allowed to say either.

Applejack lives under the sword of Damocles. Her family, her friendships, and her happy life in Ponyville would come crashing down if anypony ever asked her one simple question: "Are you an alicorn?"

A dragon wanders through a starless night, into a land that banished him centuries ago. Never did he imagine he would return to the world that cursed his very existence, but when the sun and moon failed to rise one fateful day, something compelled him to begin the long journey home to the princess who shattered his heart.

I've spent the majority of my life tilling the desolate land in which I live. Every day, I wake up to move useless rocks from one location to another. This is an archaic line of work that my family has clung to for generations. It is a dull, grey existence.

Today, I have woken up in a strange room, lying in a bed that isn't mine. I'm surrounded by five mares whom I've never seen in my life. They claim to be my friends, and expect me to bring joy to the hearts of everypony.

Joy? I don't think I've ever experienced this for myself, so how am I supposed to thrust it upon others?

My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie, and I'm not sure what to make of this situation.

Who would have thought a pony and a changeling could have children together. I certainly wouldn't have. This is Shining Armor, and I'm in a weird situation. Chrysalis has shown up to my home and dropped a kid off stating that it was our son.

What will Cadance think? How am I going to raise a changeling child? Why does Chrysalis keep coming into my life, and why am I finding it harder to keep her away? Hopefully answers can be found with as little problems as possible. Oh who the Tartarus am I kidding, my seed is a changeling! There's bound to be a problem along the way.

Story inspired by Bakki's excellent fanart.

Cover done by Droll3. Thanks Droll3, and go check his work out

Following the assassination of Princess Celestia, the Long Night withered the once bountiful Apple Harvests of the Apple family. In the years since, they have been reduced to dumpster diving and street life. Applebloom, unwilling to continue in such a state, violates her elder sister's wishes in order to find help from Applejack's friends, who surely must be better off.

Unfortunately, Applebloom's journey to Canterlot shows her the true fates of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, who are as unable to help Applebloom as they are to help themselves. Applebloom's desperation grows with each reunion. In the end, she must turn to powers greater than begging to save her own future and those of many others.

Illustrations by the very talented Cyaneus!

Each season will have three parts. Including the introduction, it will be 13 chapters.

Spring: Fluttershy sees Big Macintosh bucking apples one day, and can't possibly get him out of her head.

Summer: Sea Spray finds himself in Ponyville with a broken wing, and must stay at a house with Lyra and Bon Bon.

Autumn: A human who dies before his time is given another chance to start over in Equestria, finding a charming young wall-eyed mare.

Winter: Gilda the griffin is insulted out of Ponyville, where she is found and befriended by Alkaline Grey, forcing her to re-think her place in the world.

Heavily inspired by the "Griffin Village" album by Jackle App. This is what I think of every time I listen to them.

Thanks to Jackle App for giving the go-ahead, and thanks to Pandykissu for the awesome cover art!

To those who don't feel like reading, there's also a Fanfic Reading by Lucero the Pegasus that I found just now.

Long live the Queen.

An evil mastermind once attempted to take control of Canterlot for herself, if only for the understandable reason of being hungry and wanting to feed her army. She was quickly taken care of. But although nothing has been heard from her since and her army presumably since starved or perished, nothing can push away darkness forever.

When a select few Changelings return to Ponyville, their reception is understandably negative, and questions are asked. What brought them here? Why are they here? What are their intentions? These are only a few of their stories. Each of the Six responds to their arrival a bit differently, from sympathy to distrust to outright hatred.

All of this takes place over the course of one day, at the same time, through parallel perspectives.

EDITING UPDATES

6/26
Sad category removed. Comedy added.
6/27
Grammatical errors fixed. Continuity tightened. Short chapters extended to meet 1000 word goal.

Rarity moves to Canterlot. Rainbow joins the Wonderbolts. Fluttershy and Twilight are shut-ins, to an extent. The friends remain so, but they have lost some of the freshness of their connection. Rarity, in her new home, invites all of her dearest friends to join her in the ancient city. Twilight struggles with her attraction to Rarity, long a secret, while another pony's plan comes to fruition.

After the Smarty Pants incident, Big Mac ran off with Twilight's Smarty Pants doll, much to his little sisters' amusement. When he refused to return it, an anger fueled spell from Twilight resulted in a BIG problem for Big Mac, with Smarty Pants at the 'heart' of it

Cover art by Paper-pony