Garble has won the Gauntlet of Fire and taken the Bloodstone Scepter. Upon hearing of this, Celestia, determined to stop the bloodthirsty Dragon Lord in his tracks, challenges him to a one-on-one duel for the fate of Equestria and the Dragonlands. An immortal alicorn capable of moving the sun with millennia of experience under her belt versus a teenaged dragon with no experience at all.

Garble accepts.

Stupider things have probably happened, but it's hard to say how.

Cover art is taken from this comic by Niban-Destikim.

Dragons are good at fighting. Very good at it. Supurb, even.

So why are the dragonlands utter garbage?

This was the question that plagued Princess Ember when she became the Dragonlord. She had already proven her strength and power in the gauntlet of fire. In the end, though, it was Spike who retrieved the Bloodstone Scepter. Spike the clanless, whose form had no power, who worked with ponies of all things...

Something was going to need to change. And one thing Ember knew, Dragons... disliked... change.

This was originally for the Imposing Sovereigns competition, but was not able to complete it at the time. Cover art by Cider-Crave.

Spike had given up on dragons, considering them all to be delinquants after he met with some of them during the great dragon migration.
But one night after getting into an argument with his friend Twilight, he began to have strange dreams where a strange being would talk to him claiming to be a dragon spirit of a long lost race of dragons with beyond extraordinary power and that Spike himself may be one.
Now Spike is in danger from the very Ponies he called his friends and may even re-awaken a war without end, the eternity war is threatening to return and Spike is the only dragon with the power to stop it.

Equestria has come unstuck in time and space.

The world that Gilda Redbeak knows has detached itself from reality. The true, Platonic nature of existence has become as thin and permeable as muslin. Strange universes are superimposing themselves onto Equestria, bizarre, hollow fictions with only the vaguest resemblance to the truth. Ponies replaced with crude facsimiles, a swarm of alicorns, hordes of green-headed men, pointless invasions by inexplicably evil leaders, sneering egotists in strange costumes, perception-warpers with vast harems, contrivances on an unimaginable scale, and... humans.

If Gilda can't stop this, the entire world will be replaced by something far more sinister, and also dumber. Or worse, the strain on timespace will destroy existence entirely. Either way, she won't be able to make the loan payment on her new scone cart.

With the help of an attention-seeking showmare, a frustrated draconequus, and a deeply-confused sailor from Worcester, Gilda has to banish these false realities, one by one, before they destroy Equestria for good.

Spines never thought about what it was that made the Everfree so horrifying, a chance encounter with an ancient hunter will lead to a powerful bond that just might be the only hope for Equestria.
It's time for Spines to rise or else all will come to ruin.

Once upon a time, Spike went for a walk.

While on his walk, he was judged by an ancient alicorn, lodged with griffons, parlayed with air pirates, charmed a maiden of a mystical race, and dealt with the scourges of hate, fear, and racism while deliberately drawing the armies of myriad nations to the brink of global war.

Once upon a time, Spike went for a walk, and did all of this so that he could keep a promise to the one that meant the most to him... Twilight Sparkle.

In the first of three books, Pillars of the Sun (Chapters 1-15), Spike is devastated by Twilight's fate and grows more and more despondent as he attempts to understand what has happened to his dearest friend. A gentle nudge from a pony he trusts sends him looking for answers. When that nudge becomes a push he unravels ancient secrets... and risks losing himself before his attempt to rescue Twilight can even begin.

Aria Blaze is history's most prolific composer. Writing music constantly for upwards of a thousand years will earn you that title. Now, after a defeat which robbed the three sirens of a magic they've known their entire lives, she relies more than ever on her passion to carry her through an uncertain time. Whatever form fate thrusts upon her, she will never stop making music, and that's all that matters...or it would be, if she could get one roommate to stop pestering her, and the other to stop a downward spiral of self-destruction.

Ember, Starlight, and Rarity have a girl night inside Twilight's castle. After trying a new Apple's creation, zap-apple cider, the three begin talking about many thing. Loves, dreams, and hopes that all find their ways to Spike.

“Sometimes, you can’t have the family you want. Even if you’d give anything for it.”

For Sunburst, risen from obscurity to Court Wizard of the Crystal Empire, life has taken an incomparably good turn. Shining Armor and Cadence have almost become a second family to him, and Princess Flurry Heart like the daughter he never had.

Hoops, by contrast, has lived life on his terms since day one. With flight school behind him, his career in the professional leagues ought to be all but guaranteed—if only the pros would let him in already.

And when Sugarcube Corner burns down, it should not affect either of them.

Yet, when façades start to fracture, their connections to Ponyville's model family will threaten even the most sacred bonds. Before long, Sunburst, Hoops, and the Cakes will all have to decide if the past can be buried again, or if the old, comfortable stories just aren't enough anymore. In only one way, they are all alike: To get what they want, they are all willing to risk shattering every life around them—and maybe even their own.

Audio version by the immensely talented Neighrator Pony here!

Original story concept co-developed with Astro Brony and Obabscribbler. This story would not exist without them.

Special thanks to my beta readers: Luna Farrowe, Neighrator Pony, Chaotic/Sojourner, and AShadowOfCygnus, whose encouragement and guidance made publishing this a reality.

Cover art by UrbanQhoul.

Princess Ember isn't exactly thrilled this day. Her trek through Ponyville on behest of Spike has seen her trying to flee from all the ponies calling her a 'waifu'(des). She can't escape. All she wanted to do was find the little dragon.