Sometimes, it's good to talk about your feelings. Other times, the only way we can understand ourselves is to sit and listen to the silence...

8th place finalist in the Forbidden Knowledge Writeoff event. With a huge thank you to everyone who commented on it over there.

Octavia didn't want to be in Hilltop for Hearth's Warming Eve. The remote mountain town was just a stopover, a distraction from her true home back in Ponyville. She just needs to wait for the blizzard to die down and the next sled out of town to arrive.

Unfortunately for her, the townsfolk are looking for a good Hearth's Warming show. Even worse, there's another pony from out of town more than eager to satisfy their craving.

And she just so happens to need an assistant...

Takes place during Season 6, after "No Second Prances" and before "To Where and Back Again".

This was written for Short-Tale as a part of Jinglemas 2020! For more information about Jinglemas, checkout our group!

Featured on Seattle's Angels #184! Be sure to check their group out if you want to find other lesser known stories!

As the eternal regent of Equestria, Princess Celestia's knowledge of magic is without equal. Over her long life, only a few gifted ponies who had a great destiny before them have had the honor of learning at her side. Sunset Shimmer was one such pony: one of Celestia’s best and most promising students. As she learned at Celestia’s hooves, their bond strengthened until they became far more than student and teacher to one another.

Sometimes those closest to us are the ones who can hurt us the most.

[Note: This story does not directly tie into Equestria Girls]

In the aftermath of the Changeling incursion of Canterlot during the marriage of Shining Armour and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Equestria gears itself for war against the Changeling menace. Against a foe that can take the shape of anypony, assume their life, and undermine Equestria from within, the Royal Pony Sisters create a new institution to monitor their Royal Guard for any Changeling corruption, cowardice, and incompetence: the Commissariat. As total war rages across the land one hero stands out above the rest; Commissar Blueblood, Hero of Equestria. Or at least that's what the propaganda says. The truth, as ever, is far more complex, as the esteemed Blueblood is merely looking for an easy and sedate life. Unfortunately, fate has a habit of throwing him into increasingly dangerous and suicidal missions, which he must survive with a combination of self-preservation, lying, and sheer blind luck, even if doing so only fuels his soaring reputation!

Equine military fiction in the style of Ciaphas Cain and Flashman.

Cover art done by me.

Proofread and edited by the always dependable Setokaiva.

Five hundred years after the Discord's first defeat, a lone unicorn scientist makes an interesting discovery. Across Canterlot, over the last few centuries, accident rates have increased in the area around the Royal Palace. His work is ridiculed by his peers, but comes to the attention of the Princesses, who know exactly what is happening: Discord is waking up. With Luna and Celestia, he concocts a plan to stop the Lord of Chaos forever.

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Cover art butchered from UnderwoodART's render of the stained glass in S02E01.
This story is based on S1/S2 (Discord was never released and reformed) and sits within my Soot-Covered World canon, but is stand-alone. No knowledge of the other books is required.

All thanks to ascendant, NoeCarrier, turol, KMCA, Caliaponia and billymorph for their prereading and editing over the life of this story.

This story is a sequel to Courtesans

Princess Cadence adopted a changeling, and now little Cheval is Flurry Heart's younger sister. As old enemies resurface, their sisterly love may be all that can save the Crystal Empire.

For a changeling like Iqqel, the Ceremony of Names is what getting a cutie mark is for a pony. It has a lot to do with your destiny and who you are meant to become. Iqqel dared to refuse all that and chose to shape her own future.

Reviewed by Chris and Matthewl419 here and by PaulAsaran here!

(This story occurs after the events of "Biased and Incomplete")

Rainbow Dash was astonished when she encountered the real life Derring-Do that inspired her favorite string of novels, but was crushed to learn that her hero wasn't what she expected at all. The two parted ways in anger, but Dash hasn't given up on her completely: When an opportunity arises to heal the professor's crippled wing, Dash and Derring go on a real life adventure... but adventures have a way of spiraling out of control. The bookish archeologist knows nothing about swinging from vines and swiping ancient idols (and she prefers it that way), but an unbreakable curse of death forces her to dive right into a frantic race for the greatest discovery of all time: the secret to immortality itself.

Whether she believes it or not, Derring-Do has only a few short weeks left to live. But with the incomparable Rainbow Dash by her side, that's more than enough time to save the world.

Awake and alone, Applejack will find a way to survive.

And here's a TV Tropes page, if you're into that kind of thing.

The Millennial Summer Sun Celebration is only a few years away, but Rarity’s fashion career seems to be ending before she can begin it. Now, she has one last chance to find a place for her talent.

But as she works to create the boutique of her dreams, a forgotten piece of Ponyville’s past is waking up. Secret memories lie forgotten in dusty basements, unrighted wrongs scratch at locked doors, and Rarity finds herself caught up in a history that may be doomed to repeat itself.

For although she is the first to set hoof in the Old Town Hall in thirty years, she can’t help but feel that something inside was waiting for her.

A slow-burning, atmospheric horror.

Now with an audiobook by AShadowOfCygnus! Find Chapter 1 here!

Special thanks to Neighrator Pony, GutiuSerenade, and ObabScribbler for pre-reading and feedback!

Cover art by Amiki.