Couples fight sometimes. Sadly, that's how it is. What matters isn't if you fight, but how you're able to make up and grow from it. A year into their relationship, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are about to learn this lesson.

Rated T for: Mild language

Special thanks to hazeyhooves for being my editor on this

Rainbow Dash. The coolest, toughest mare around. At first glance, you'd think this pony truly has it all.

But looks can be deceiving. Sadness, pain, negativity. Dash had been putting up with crippling depressing for months now. Not even the love of her friends, or most beloved special somepony has been able to help. One night, in the darkness. She cries. She breaks. She snaps. What could push Dash far enough to make an attempt on her own life?

(warning: contains scenes of minor blood, depictions of major depression, as well as attempted suicide.)

On her way to a diplomatic meeting, Celestia's sky chariot gets shot down over a forest. Injured, and her guards kidnapped, the princess gets stuck in a jungle full of changelings. Or is it perhaps the changelings who got stuck with her?

When Pinkie Pie declares that she's taking a day off to have some alone time, her friends can't help but be deeply concerned--after all, what is Pinkie without a party to throw? But, as far as Pinkie's concerned, a party is a party, even if there is only one guest. Even is that guest is herself!

Pinkamena Diane Pie is suffering from waking nightmares.
Ghostly, grossly, creepy, weepy, kooky, spooky nightmares.

But a little bit of a grandmother's love can go a long way.

An ancient pony contemplates the past and what is. It is how she stays sane after so long alone, and how she keeps in touch with who she is. Remembering those who have long passed...

"If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago, I could be flying up there right now. With her, with them, the Wonderbolts. But... would I be better off for it?"

After being expelled from the Wonderbolts Academy, Lightning Dust traveled around Equestria in search of herself. Then, many years later, after a hard day of working she went to a bar and ran into the last pony she ever expected to meet again.

Who is jealous of who, though?

Written for the Everfree Northwest 2015 Iron Author Competition

Even if it probably won't measure up to those back in Canterlot, Twilight is so excited now that the Ponyville Science Fair is upon them. A chance to see what the town's young minds have cooked up to show their intellectual prowess to the wider world? She can't wait!

Course, she didn't count on Pinkie Pie entering what she assumed was a foal-only event. Turns out that due to an odd loophole, there's nothing stopping grown ponies from competing.

An entry for the first Thousand Words Contest.

In all his years of running his own shop, Doughnut Joe has seen thousands of ponies. Some he knew, most he didn't, and many he would never see again. But he never minded that, for he always had his regulars.

Youtube reading by ChaoticSeven!