Use this thread for posting concepts which would comfortably work for all audiences.

CMC: Disasters For Hire (Everyone: Dark? Comedy? Slice Of Life?)

This is a concept I came up with months ago and honestly don't want anything to do with because there's just so many directions to take it -- and in a lot of ways, this could be a very dark fic.

Yes, a dark Everyone story. Give me a minute here.

The base idea comes from a wild theory which I gave to Applejack in two stories. In short, imagine that the Crusaders already have their cutie marks. In fact, they've had them since the day they first began their quest together. Each of them has the exact same mark. Three identical special talents.

The talent is for creating disasters.

The mark is invisible.

Why? Because an invisible mark is how the talent stays active and expressed. If the CMC feels they haven't found their marks, they'll keep looking. Everything they try leads to more disasters -- and no visible mark. So they keep trying to get their marks. Which creates more disasters. And so on through the vicious cycle while Ponyville burns.

Now... what if somepony figured that out?

What do you do with three fillies whose talent is for turning every innocent plan they come up with into the center of the most recent blast radius?

If the Diarchy caught on? 'I see the possibility of war with the griffons is beginning to reach a head. I'm sending Cheerliee's class on a field trip to their central government building. The rest should take care of itself.'

Enemy forces? We're just gonna borrow your fillies for a day...

The CMC themselves? Would they drop into depression? (It's not necessarily a happy talent.) Go into denial, which just makes things that much worse? Decide to found a demolitions company? turn into the government's most effective and feared saboteurs?

How do other ponies react to somepony whose talent is for making things go horribly wrong?

There's a lot of places to take this idea, and some of them could be really funny ones. But I suspect Dark is always going to be just around the corner -- which is part of why I don't want it, because that would come in eventually. For me, I suspect I'd send the entire thing cascading into a depressing mess. But in the hands of the right writer, it could be a truly Dark fic -- or a wild comedy.

Anyone want to see what they can get out of it?

I think I have one to show off:

Sombra, a literal shadow of his former self after his defeat in the Crystal Empire, seeks a way to regain and bolster his lost powers. He finds it in the Dreamstone, an ancient and powerful artifact that allows the wielder's wildest dreams to become reality. It was given to the dragon matriarch by Celestia and Luna, both as a peace offering for the dragons to stop terrorizing Equestria and to get rid of the object, since dragons lack the magical aptitude to use the Dreamstone. Sombra thieves it away, but realizes that, in his current state, he cannot physically use the stone. He finds a lonely foal who is reasonably talented in the arts, but lacks training and confidence in his/herself. Sombra begins to guide the foal, all the while slowly corrupting his/her thoughts and dreams to use to his ends.

The dragon matriarch, meanwhile, enraged and convinced that the Equestrians have stolen back the Dreamstone (due to clues Sombra intentionally left behind to cover his tracks), marches up to Castle Canter and gives an ultimatum: give back the Dreamstone, or she'll send the dragons to conquer Equestria. Celestia and Luna explain the situation, promising to find the lost artifact. While the matriarch is convinced, the greedy dragoness demands collateral to ensure that, in the chance they don't find the Dreamstone, she'll still get something in return. She demands Twilight Sparkle become her servant, promising to make good on her threat to Equestria if she doesn't comply.

With Sombra's machinations, Equestria has simultaneously been robbed of its greatest weapon and put under threat of a powerful and ancient enemy. Can the rest of the Mane 6 pull together to solve the mystery of the missing Dreamstone without their fearless leader? And can Twilight melt the fiery dragon's icy heart?
~~~
I really would love to write this story, but I'm convinced that I don't have what it takes to pull off a multi-chapter epic of this magnitude (or of ANY kind of magnitude, tbh ). Does anyone else think they can make this dream into a reality?

Here's a fun one:

Applejack and Rainbow Dash decide to go on a date. It's a perfectly ordinary first date, and they figure they could do it again later. This story isn't about that though. This story is about how their friends, upon finding out about the date, completely freak out.

-Pinkie Pie, being Pinkie Pie, subscribes to a horoscope. According to her horoscope, Dash and Applejack are incompatible. She attempts to warn them both, but her rambling is constantly misinterpreted as something else. Then she tries to sabotage their dates, but her sabotage is contantly accidentally foiled by somepony else.
-Fluttershy has very distinct memories of Dash being teased due to her rainbow mane connecting her with some obscure "pro-gay" rioters. (Despite the fact that gay marriage has been legal in Equestria for centuries). She incorrectly assumes that Applejack asked Rainbow out, further assumes that Rainbow is hiding her pain (Rainbow didn't get the references), and tries her darndest to pull "If you ever hurt her" speeches and/or sabotage the dates.
-Rarity, in a dramatic failing of her social prowess, flat out did not know about homosexuality. She spends most of the fic awkwardly trying to support her friends while dealing with her own shock (not disgust, it's more a "wait this exists?" thing) and starts imagining all manner of females hitting on her despite her definite hetrosexuality.
-Recently Crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle has been researching noble politics and gotten a little frazzled from lack of sleep. She can't help but see the blooming relationship in political context, which leads to her suspecting power blocks are making moves, which causes her to grow increasingly paranoid and try to subtly get answers out of the two.
-As this is a comedy fic, Applejack and Rainbow Dash remain completely oblivious to all the above. More importantly, however, their friends remain oblivious to each other's machinations, and the whole situation just gets crazier as more and more of Ponyville gets involved.

...hmm, I'm not sure if this is Everyone or Teen. I'll put it in both.

Isolation Provoked Relapse
Tags: Tragedy, Dark, Sad, Comedy
Characters: Luna, Nightmare Moon

Luna was cured of Nightmare Moon when she was hit by the Elements of Harmony.

The first time.

Celestia didn't know that would happen though, so she put a little extra oomph into it and banished Luna to the moon. At first, Luna went through the emotions you'd expect; confusion, realization, happiness to be herself again, regret over what she'd done and was about to do, &ct. Once she settled down and found out she couldn't return under her own power, she panicked again; the she expected Celestia to come get her, and bring her back to Equestria where she could start making amends.

But Celestia never came.

And so Luna fell into the same downward spiral that prompted Nightmare Moon in the first place; loneliness, depression, no positive feedback, all with an extra dollop of guilt added to the mix this time. After stewing for... a decade? A century?.. Nightmare Moon returned again.

So why didn't the Elements banish her to the moon when Twilight got her hooves on them? Man, look at her. She had no idea what she was doing.

Why the tags?
Depending on how much detail the author wants to go into, Luna's loneliness and relapse into Nightmare Moon could either be merely sad, heartbreakingly tragic, or a grim look at a pony in a really, really dark place. Or, you know, have a few scenes of cartoonish madness before the depression really hits - talking to moon rocks and constructing elaborate sub-lunar bases, designing elaborate uniforms for the army she'll amass when she returns, etc.

What's that, First Lieutenant Pebble? Why would my soldiers need eyes on their breastplates? Why, so they can watch their own backs without having to worry about what's in front of them! It's brilliant! Ensign Boulder! Stop lollygagging and finish sewing those sequins onto the capes!

Speak Softly and Walk Tall
Tags: Slice of Life, Comedy
Characters: Big Mac, Snails

He's bigger than most ponies he knows.
He's been made fun of for the way he talks.
He can't imagine life without his family by his side.

But at some point, Snails will have to face the world on his own four hooves.... and maybe with a little mentoring from Big Mac, he can find his place in it.

After all, Mac knows exactly what Snails is going through, having been there himself.

Possible Lesson Plans: Coordination, Speaking Rarely (to appear wise), Self-confidence

"Now, yer not gonna believe this, but in a few years, the fillies are gonna be all over you."

Snails stared blankly at Mac. The individual words made sense, but...

"I'm not kiddin'. Somethin' about a tall stallion just... I dunno what it is. Mares just like lookin' up at a pony, I guess. And durn near every filly will have to look up at you. I remember my first year in-" Mac remembered who he was talking to and coughed. "Yeah, uh... trust me on this one. You'll do fine."

A Small Part of Something Bigger
Tags: Sad, Tragedy, Adventure
Characters: Celestia, Blueblood

The Backstory:
After Nightmare Moon, Celestia had to be a paragon of pony virtues, more so than ever. The ponies' faith in the alicorns had been shaken, and any misstep, any hint that she was fallible, that she could fall as well... it would tear the nation apart. But even alicorns can't just wish their flaws away.

They can, however, form multiple bodies and dump all of their negativity into one.

And so Celestia created a shell, and filled it with all the aspects that would be deemed "unprincess-like". Vanity. Boredom with tedious official work. Carnal urges. Nearly all of the enormous storm of guilt and anguish she was feeling after having to banish her sister (not all; she couldn't bring herself to do that). A quick temper. Greed and ambition. Self-doubt. Cowardice.

All those vices and neuroses, stuffed into one unicorn-shaped bundle... which Celestia decided to name Blueblood, as a mocking gesture to the upper crust that she still hadn't quite forgiven (she still had a sense of humor, after all).

And so, for a couple of centuries, Blueblood was her jester; acting out, being a fool, and doing all the things that Celestia wanted to do, but could never allow herself to.

Over time though, Blueblood mellowed. He was still a deeply, deeply flawed pony, but really no worse than any of the other nobles. Thus began his transition to "Prince."

The Conflict:
Bottling up your emotions and never dealing with them isn't actually healthy.

Maybe Luna notices how Celestia never seems to relax and stop being the Princess. Maybe Twilight asks how her mentor deals with the headache of leadership and is horrified by her solution. Maybe there are side-effects to forcibly divorcing a part of herself for 1000 years. For one reason or another, Celestia has to reintegrate Blueblood back into herself... except that Blueblood isn't just an extension of herself anymore. After 1000 years, he's his own pony.

And reintegration would essentially be killing him.

Maybe Blueblood would welcome it; he's tired after spending 1000 years as one of the worst ponies he knows. He's locked into his bad behaviors and habits by the very nature of his creation. This would be the ONLY way for him stop being a jerk.

Maybe he would run away, or try to find someway to escape; he doesn't have Celestia's generous nature or bravery, so he can't accept it as a noble sacrfice and he's scared of not being anymore.

Possible Resolutions:
Pure Tragedy:
Nothing can be done. The reintegration has to happen, and Blueblood will be no more. He and Celestia sit down for one last night together, and reminisce about all the times they've had together. All the Galas that went off the rails, all the nobles he used to imitate and insult, that one time he managed to get the whole senate to go bar-hopping with him... the first time they had cake. The last time she'd needed him to make her smile (it was just before she discovered Twilight). That first moment, right after she'd made him, and he'd looked at her...

Tears are shed. The sun rises. And only Celestia leaves the room.

Pure Happy:
It turns out, Blueblood's grown enough as a pony that when Celestia is done taking back her flaws, there's enough him left to continue existing! He's free now, to live, to change, to grow; he can be stallion he's wanted to be.

A Bit of Both:
Reintegration WILL kill Blueblood. But! Since dumping 1000 years of repressed flaws and vices back into Celestia all in one shot would be bad (not good for her mind AND she would seem like a totally different pony to the folks around her, causing alarm and rumors of changelings), they decide to take it slowly. Say, about the length of a pony's natural life-span.

Celestia will slowly grow accustomed to all the feelings she's been denying for the past millennium, and learn how to deal with them in a mature, healthy way.

Blueblood will stop being the eternal 20-something, vapid playcolt and will appear to start aging and grow more mature.

And one day, decades later, Blueblood will quietly disappear and Celestia will hold a closed-casket funeral for him, praising his service & sacrifices for the crown.

These Hands Understand My Battle - War
Tags: Comedy, Adventure
Characters: Spike, Iron Will, Diamond Dogs, Discord

Equestria faces a new threat. One that horns, wings and hooves are helpless against. No pony, not even alicorns, can stand against it.

The fate of the nation rests in the hands of one young dragon.

Literally.

Follow Spike as he travels the length and breadth of the world, learning a way of fighting that no pony could ever teach him... thumb wrestling.

From the minotaurs, he'll learn when to be aggressive and make his attack!
From the diamond dogs, he'll learn how to slip out from under any pin!
From Discord, he'll learn how to twist and weave, confusing his opponent! (unless he's the bad guy, I suppose)

1... 2... 3... 4... I declare a T.H.U.M.B. WAR.

Luna's Inconvenient Truth
Tags: Adventure, Sad
Characters: Luna, Celestia

Luna did not actually go mad with jealousy and frustration, becoming Nightmare Moon and promising to bring eternal night to Equestria.

Luna, in full possession of her faculties and reason, intentionally provoked Celestia into banishing her to the moon for 1000 years.

Why?
For a reason I haven't come up with, Luna needed to make Celestia burn off massive amounts of energy, and the best solution she could come up with was to force her to maintain the day/night cycle entirely by herself.

Maybe bearing half of the Elements of Harmony (or just Magic specifically) was increasing her powers to dangerous levels.
Maybe being the focus of all of the love & trust of the entire nation of Equestria was increasing &ct.
Maybe her love of cake was getting out of hand, and magic is the only way for alicorns to burn it off.

Whatever the reason, Luna simply could not convince Celestia of the situation, and was forced to take drastic action.

Bonus ending!
Luna didn't just stage Nightmare Moon and the fight with Celestia... she also faked her banishment!

Immediately after being hit with the Elements, Luna slapped a mare's head on the moon and just laid low for 1000 years. Maybe she pretended to be a normal pony, maybe she explored the world outside Equestria... she didn't have any responsibilities for the next 1000 years, after all!

Equestria's Eminent Entomologist! -or- Changelings in the Mist
Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life, Romance, Adventure, Random... could be anything, really.
Characters: Snails, Chrysalis, Changelings

Changelings look like bugs. Giant, pony-sized bugs. That unsettles most ponies, since... ew. Bugs.

But not Snails. He's fascinated by them. Everything else in his life is just so boring and unable to hold his interest, but he knows everything there is to know about bugs. (he can't always remember how many degrees are in a triangle, but he can give you a detailed explanation of the square-cube law and why it means magic is involved whenever you see a bug bigger than your head)

So, when...
Ambassador! a pony is needed to go among the hives, he leaps at the chance to see them up close and personal.
Scholar! the opportunity arises to study them in the field, he leaps at the chance to lead the expedition.
Medic! some malady is sweeping through the hives, he's the only pony with the talent and the inclination to help.

Why Snails, and not Fluttershy? Two reasons: first, Snails' talent is more specialized. Fluttershy loves all critters, while Snails is exclusively bugs, insects & other creepy-crawlies. Secondly, the Changelings are too pony-esque for Fluttershy's comfort, and trigger her shy-response.

Possible Scenes for a Few Tags:
Comedy - The changeling was confused. No, baffled. It had approached the colt in a series of disguises, from classmates to the bearers of the Elements of Harmony to that loud unicorn who spoke in third person, and had gotten nothing out of him. No love, no crushes, just some bland respect and (with the last one) a little excitement.

So when it reverted to its true form in preparation to just dragging him back to the hive for cocooning, the sudden blast of joy/admiration/amazement came as a bit of a surprise.

Slice of Life - Snails weaved his way through the Hive. He was in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike, but he knew his way around these days. He nodded to some of the drones going the other way, clicking a "hello" as best he could while lacking any mandibles.

Romance - Chrysalis glared down at the gangly colt before her. "You're all alike, you ponies. You speak of love and friendship... but unless I'm somepony else, all you've ever shown me is fear and hatred!"

With a contemptuous hiss, she dropped her disguise and stood before him in all her chitinous glory. "Where is the pony who would be friends with this? Who could ever claim to love me?"

"I would."

Chrysalis started to call him out on his obvious lie when it struck her that he actually meant it. He was looking up at her, not with shock or fear, or even confusion... he saw her clearly, knew exactly what she was... and loved her. She could feel it, the way it wasn't directed at her disguise but directly at her.

Suddenly, Chrysalis didn't know what to do with her hooves, and her face felt strangely warm. "... oh my."

I already posted the idea I'm about to post in Stories That Don't Exist But Should, but I am unaware of anybody having taken it, so it goes here, too.

Also, I don't have a title.

Suggested Tags: Slice of Life
Description:
After a spell gone awry, Fluttershy finds herself having to take care of her five closest friends who've been turned into fillies by that spell. Will Fluttershy get through this with her sanity intact?

Okay, we've all seen The Stare Master (or at least read it), so that doesn't need to happen again. Especially since they aren't still trying to get their cutie marks. Which leads me to the next thing:

*The five still have their cutie marks.
*And any memories they had before. (optional; if you think it would be more interesting and as doable to roll their memories back to their fillyhood, as well, then go for it)
*They are physically only as old as the Cutie Mark Crusaders were in TSM, maybe a little younger, but I'm not sure I want them baby-aged.
*Speaking of the CMCs, they can certainly appear if you like. The up-to-date memory/rolled-back memory decision will definitely play into this; if you go the rolled-back route, the big sisters might wonder how their youngers got to be so big, or might not remember them at all.

I'm thinking a good dose of cuteness, sweetness, and humor will do nicely, along with whatever other ingredients you feel like.

One Summers' Day

Comedy

A major mixup at the weather bureau has left Canterlot suffering from one of the worst heat waves on record. While most ponies are able to do the sensible thing (stay indoors, rest, good fluid intake, etc), the government stops for no pony and Celestia must keep working. Forced to skip breakfast (reasons?) events conspire to prevent her from getting a drink of water (interrupted as she's lifting the glass, pulled from one meeting to the next before she could pour another, prank dribble glass set up by Pinkie or Luna?).

As she is walking through the Royal gardens at midday to meet foreign dignitaries, the heatstroke finally gets to her and she passes out.

Canterlot is thrown into chaos.

The Royal Guard throw Canterlot Castle into lockdown. Nobles either panic, or try their long awaited takeover plans. Media speculation runs rampant. Everything from illness to assignation attempt. It's reported that she died. With nopony to move the sun, it's the end of the world.

Some garbled message comprising parts of the above gets to Twilight, and she goes into her own freak out over the situation.

Before the end of the day, the chaos has spread to the major population centres of Equestria. Madness in the streets, with the rumours becoming more outragous by the moment.

And all could have been avoided with a simple glass of water.

When the sun sets on time (Luna, Twilight? Recovered Celestia?) things start to calm down. When dawn comes the next day, and Celestia is able to explain exactly what happened, everypony's embarrassed.

As Celestia attempts to resume her duties, (heat wave still ongoing) everywhere she turns ponies are offering her water and other refreshments. (Cue face hoof.)

Yeah, the thought that the goddess of the sun would suffer heatstroke amuses me...

In Love With the Squall
Tags: Romance, Sad, Comedy
Characters: Fluttershy

A pony (haven't thought of who, probably a background character who wouldn't know her very well) falls in love with Fluttershy. The angry, dominant Fluttershy from Putting Your Hoof Down.

The problem is, that's not who Fluttershy is in this story; she's uncomfortable with that part of her and has no desire in being like that again. It's not something she's repressing, and it's not something she'd like to indulge in privately with a special somepony.

And so, the pony with a crush has to deal with having feelings for a mare that doesn't really exist.

Maybe they'll refuse to accept it at first and try to draw Fluttershy's aggressive side out again.

Maybe they'll just pine from afar, and sigh every time Fluttershy passes.

Maybe Rarity finds out about it and tries to help them, relating her own experience with loving a pony who turned out to be completely different than what she'd dreamed of. (although, this is kind of the reverse - rather than a slow build-up of interest and an abrupt dislike, this is an abrupt interest and a slow acceptance of reality)

Two Possible Directions:
Romantic Comedy - Pony falls in love with Fluttershy (at least, with their idea of Fluttershy)! Other Character gets roped in to help woo her, trigger her aggressive side and/or console them when it doesn't work out! Wacky hi-jinx ensue as Fluttershy doesn't flip out, and the second character starts to develop feelings for the first. In the end, the pony crushing on Fluttershy realizes love was in front of them the whole time, and hooks up with Other Character. D'awwww~ (more than a little cliche, but D'awwww~)

Romantic Melancholy - Pony just has to deal with pining for a love that can never be. No sudden reversal of Fluttershy's character, the universe doesn't immediately present them with an even better alternative, they just have these feelings and have to learn to live with them. Stuff like that just happens sometimes.

Idea: Gilda comes back to ponyville to try and make up for what she's done. Meanwhile the mane 6 finds out that scootaloo is a orphan who doesn't want to go back to the orphanage. Seeing a chance to redeem herself Gilda adopts scootaloo.
Not a short fic. More of a chapter story. I would love to see this story made

3362755
I see lots of scenes with Gilda just hucking Scootaloo like a football and telling her "Keep your wings out! Keep your wings out!!"

3362770 i want to see Gilda regretting her actions and becomes nicer

3363156
Actually, it could still fit in with that.

The first time, it could be a scene to show that she's still struggling with how to be a nicer person, and doesn't immediately grasp how nice people act; a pony could be watching her and immediately tell her to stop, explaining why what she's doing is wrong.

Maybe Gilda tries to defend herself by explaining that this is the traditional way to teach young griffons how to fly, and thought the only reason Scootaloo had never experienced it was because she was an orphan.

Then it turns out that Scootaloo is totally into it. After all the crashes & tumbles she's taken in the scooter, this is nothing!

Then it turns out that it's actually working, and Scootaloo is getting better at flying...

3363252 I like it do you think you might write it

3363293
Nah, sorry. I've got my own pet project with reinterpreting Blueblood, and I'm not looking to start anything else anytime soon. (why do you think I've been sharing so many ideas here, after all? ;p)

Also, I don't feel I know Gilda, Scootaloo or the Mane 6 well enough to write anything for them.

3363416 ok

Sly Little Pony: Friendship is Misdirection
Tags: Alternate Universe, anything else you feel like
Characters: Trixie, Flim & Flam, Chrysalis

An AU that prizes fooling ponies over friendship. Maybe Chrysalis pulled a sneak attack on Nightmare Moon & Celestia and has been ruling for the last 1000 years?

Chrysalis took Trixie on as her personal student, and has been teaching her the secrets of "it's not what you can do, it's what you can make them THINK you can do." Everyone in Canterlot is wise to her these days, so Chrysalis sent her to Ponyville for new, more gullible ponies. She expects weekly tales of how she pulled another fast one on the rural rubes, and hey! If she makes it up and it fools the Queen, that's just extra credit!

Along the way, she makes friends with Flim & Flam (maybe some others? Need to think of other fast-talking ponies... ooh, maybe Derpy! She hasn't been fired, and doesn't appear to have to pay for any of the damage she causes! She's tricked everyone into thinking it's all been "accidents" )

Typical Episode Synopsis:
The ongoing adventures of The Great and Powerful Trixie, and her friends Flim & Flam! This week, watch as they bamboozle the dragon covering Ponyville with smog into thinking the cave he's in belongs to another, bigger dragon. What'll they do when the bigger dragon actually shows up? Will they have to ask Queen Chrysalis for help, or can they handle things on their own?

Rainbow dash turns herself into a cat to prank ponies. When Diamond Tiara finds her she captures her and keeps her as a pet

Inspires by a fic but drastically different

Idea

Scootaloo's dad is Bulk Biceps

Reminds me of I'm A Cat! by NightWolf289 (Filly RD pretends to be a cat) and A Feline's Point of View by Zman537 (HiE, but the human turns into a talking cat in the process of going), but yeah, sounds like quite a different idea.

Do you even lift
Tags:Comedy
Characters:Scootaloo, Bulk Biceps

Inspired by this comic:
http://mrs1989.deviantart.com/art/Like-a-Bulk-454854539

Feeling down about not being able to fly, Scootaloo gets some encouragement from an old picture of Bulk Biceps as a colt where he was like her.

Except she takes the message the wrong way and goes on a bodybuilding spree. So we join Scoots on her quest for hugeness.

3377320

*reels begin to move*

*movie starts*

Oh, gawdsdamnit... claimed. The final result isn't going to be exactly that (and will tend more towards Slice Of Life), but it'll have enough aspects in common that you'll at least be able to vaguely recognize the source.

However, it'll be a Triptych Continuum story. So -- Snowflake.

Title: Working It Out. And yes, I'll put the credit in the long description.

3380988

Thank you! I hope it involves playing Eye of the Tiger and a montage.

What DID Go Wrong?
Tags: Slice of Life, Comedy, Random
Characters: Derpy

In Ponyville, there's one mare who's even more of a conspiracy nut than Lyra... Derpy Hooves.

After one accident too many, Derpy decides to find out, once and for all, just what went wrong. What she discovers could rock Equestria to its core!

Optional joke:
Have the whole Ditzy/Derpy/Bright Eyes thing be a paranoid attempt at keeping the Mares In Black from tracking her down.

What Were You Expecting, A Princess?
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Random
Characters: Spike, Starswirl the Bearded

5 Second Pitch:
Spike is actually Starswirl the Bearded, who ascended into a dragon instead of an alicorn when he finished his secret masterpiece.

Long pitch!
Starswirl the Bearded was a brilliant spellworker, but not very good about taking notes. His method was to test an idea, then record the results. Not really a big deal, until he got to his "Secret, Unfinished Masterpiece"

He actually DID finish it. And like Twilight, centuries later, he too ascended into a new and more powerful form.

... sort of.

Being a stallion, he couldn't turn into a Princess, could he? Of course not! Instead, he turned into a dragon. Nigh-immortal, nigh-indestructible, fire-breathing, strong enough to break diamonds with his teeth, THUMBS... being a dragon is awesome! At least, it would be if he wasn't stuck in an egg.

Celestia came looking for Starswirl later, and found only his unfinished notes, a dragon egg in the middle of his lab, and no trace of the pony himself. For the longest time, Celestia took care of the egg, not knowing if or when Starswirl would return. Eventually though, it got donated to the School of Gifted Unicorns for use during foal testing, and was exposed to years of trace magic exposure. Twilight managed to hit both the right frequency & magical critical mass to hatch the egg, freeing Starswirl.

Possible Directions to Go:
Maybe Starswirl remembers everything, but is taking Celestia's advice from so long ago to try and learn more about friendship. Thus, he pretends to be the young, naive drake, running around town, helping out Twilight and trying to impress Rarity. It might explain his obsession with facial hair, and why a dragon is attracted to a pony.

Maybe he remembers nothing, and honestly believes he's just Spike. The story could be entirely about his origins, without exploring what it would mean to his present day life.

Maybe Spike starts remembering things. After another growth spurt, he starts knowing more about magical theory than even time around Twilight could account for. He slips into some "thou"s and "thine"s around Luna, and neither of them notice. He starts hoarding bells and having strange dreams of Clover the Clever. How would this affect his relationship with everypony? Twilight's #1 Assistant and sort-of little brother is also one of her biggest idols! Celestia and Luna are sort-of reunited with an old, old friend! Can Rarity still see him as a child, as he begins to recall an entire lifetime of experience?

Not Far From the Tree -or- Just Like A Sister
Tags: Slice of Life, Tragedy, Sad, Comedy
Characters: Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Applejack, the whole Apple clan

Posit 1: The Apple parents are dead.
Posit 2: Scootaloo is an orphan.
Assumption: Scootaloo is an unknown member of the Apple family.

Almost immediately after Apple Bloom's birth, Mama Apple was pregnant again. For some reason though, there were complications with the pregnancy despite their hardy Earth pony heritage; after seeing some specialists, it turns out this is because the new foal will be a pegasus. (I leave it to the writer to decide if this is a cause of strife with the Apple parents, or if there's just some pegasus blood in the family tree that finally resurfaced and everyone's fine with it).

The Apple parents have to go see more specialists for the delivery, somewhere far away. (Manehattan, Canterlot... somewhere with real fancy hospitals, y'know?)

Things more or less go smoothly, until it's time to come home. I figure... tragic accident on the train back.

Tragic Accident Time!
Ma & Pa Apple were on the train back to Ponyville, when it was attacked. Hydra, Ursa, whatever. Big nasty thing starts wrecking the train from the caboose forward. Lots of screaming, ponies stampeding to the front cars... somehow, the couple get separated. The one with Scootaloo realizes this, is torn between keeping an eye on the newborn and going back for their spouse. They hand the baby to a nearby pony, only managing to get out her name (Scootaloo) and where she's headed (Ponyville) before rushing back to look for their spouse. A crushed hat (or something more graphic) convinces them that they're too late, and screams from the front reveal that there's no more room to run. In a noble sacrifice, they pull the pin and release the car, letting the engine and other cars pull away to safety.

And so, Scootaloo arrives in Ponyville. No one knows who her parents were. The Apple family assumes the baby died with the parents. Since she's a pegasus, no one makes the connection.

Now What?
Really Tragic: Just end it there. Leave Scootaloo without a family when it's right there, and have the Apples mourning a sister they think is dead.

Tearful Reunion: Twilight comes up with... heck, I dunno, a "Find Your Nearest Relative" spell. (Useful for search & rescues, cheating at hide & seek, meeting relatives in distant cities...) Twi's testing it out and Scootaloo, secretly hoping she turns out to be related to Rainbow Dash, volunteers. When it keeps pointing to Apple Bloom or Applejack, they think it's a glitch, but then the truth comes out...

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are overjoyed to be closer than ever, while Mac & Jack nearly break down sobbing, overwhelmed at discovering the sister they'd thought lost. (you can already feel the FEELS, can't you?)

That's Just Backstory: Use all that a launching point for the adventures of the newest Apple.

Scootaloo has to adapt to life on the farm! (chores! really bad at bucking! realizing she's better used carting stuff to the barn quickly!)
Apple Bloom & Scoots have to share a room! (sitcom-style conflict! One side of the room is covered in Wonderbolts & Rainbow Dash posters, there's tape running down the middle, the whole bit)
So much catching up! (years of missed holidays and family reunions!)

=edit=
Just another point to consider: Scootaloo & Applejack have the exact same coat color. Not a huge coincidence, but...

3362770 that image is hillarious

A Marked Improvement
Tags: Whatever you feel is appropriate.
Characters: Rarity, obviously, but also the rest of the Manes will be involved. Maybe Twilight more than the others.

With Spike's honest assessment, the Inspiration Manifestation spell's hold on Rarity was broken.

Mostly.

Something triggers her to turn her inspirational eye on the most personal of pony adornments: their cutie marks. And so, the alterations begin...

Assumption: Cutie marks can be "changed" to some extent as long as you don't erase the real one.

Now What?
The other 5 and Spike will probably end up having to chase her down, perhaps tracking her through multiple cities. Maybe the CMCs will hear about and try to use her to get one in the first place... but (probably) nothing happens because there's nothing for it to work on.

3335116 Claimed. Might be about a ten thousand words, but I'd like to do it. I have other things under construction, but I have time on my hands. May I take it?

3395653
Certainly! I look forward to what you do with it.

Basis:
MLP:FiM universe had Windigoes, but now they're nowhere to see.
MLP:FiM universe have pony version of The Doctor, ergo, there must be some daleks. And daleks are the greatest haters in all Multiverse, and they think hate is beautiful and precious...

Idea #1:
Windigoes found daleks and left Equus to feed on this agressive pepper-cans, there was war between daleks and windigoes, and both races died.

Idea #2:
Daleks found Equus and saw what windigoes do and how they feed. They think it's unacceptable - eat such beautiful hate and freeze such strong haters, so they tried to EXTERMINATE windigoes, there was war between daleks and windigoes, and both races died.

3392509

I'll take this.

Cutie Mark Expo
Tags: Slice of Life + any
Characters: Cherilee, CMC, Mane 6, any other fillies
Type: One shot
Description: Cherilee is tired of constant trouble from Cutie Mark Crusaders in their quest to get cutie marks and bullying problems from other fillies. She decides to enrol Mane 6 to set up only kind of function: Cutie Mark Expo (CMX), where colts and fillies of any age could try to explore their talents and even to earn their own cutie mark!

Extra Info: Parents, sometimes obvious of their kids' talents sometimes will try to present gifts to their kids, usually items connected with their talent.

I'm dumping a bunch of old ideas I had. If you decide to adopt a whole story, let me know. Maybe I can help.

Also check out totallynotabrony's totallynotastory!

1. A pony is about to lose his job to human technology
Example: The new diesel locomotives being imported from Earth have nearly rendered the train ponies useless. What will they and their families do?

1B. A human is about to lose his job to pony abilities
Example: A skyscraper window washer finds that his insurance costs the company more than if they hired a pegasus. This could easily be a TCB story.

2. Scootaloo Meets Tony Hawk
Set in the Battleships Universe. Scootaloo goes to the X Games, and, well, I'm sure you can figure it out.

3. Summer Camp
Either the Boy Scouts set up troops in Equestria, or perhaps Equestria already had Colt Scouts. Anyway, a guy gets a job as a counselor at an Equestrian summer camp. Some speciesist tension breaks out with foals not wanting to respect the authority of a human, but, being good scouts, they get through it.

The Equestrian Nobility is introduced to the 1812 Overture.

This version!

I just posted this in my compilation story as a lark, but it just might work for a story concept:

Every once in a while, Twilight Sparkle encounters a problem where even her profound intelligence can make little headway. Sometimes, instead of thinking the problem away or negotiating with wise words, she simply needs to kick twice as much ass as usual.

In times like these, she will often temporarily summon a human from our dimension to serve as a mobile weapons platform on her back. The humans she chooses for this purpose are a select few—untroubled by fantastic events, skilled with firearms, steady in the saddle and cool under fire.

These are their stories.

They are known as the Riders of the Purple Sage.

First, a brief thanks to the founder of this group for providing such an excellent platform.

I've got plenty of ideas in that noggin o' mine I'd never get around to realizing myself. Thusly, I'd like to share, and hopefully see some of them take off.

Let's start simple.

Title: "Rise of the Planet of the Bunny-Rabbits"
Tags: Comedy
Characters: Carrot Top, flower trio, Angel Bunny, others...
Description: Angel Bunny steals the alicorn amulet and raises an army of bunnies to take over Carrot Top's farm.

EDIT: Now with pre-emptive cover-art for an unwritten story.

Probably starts off with Fluttershy leaving for a trip or something, and/or Angel doesn't get his favourite meal. Completely logical progression.

Bonus-points if the story tries to take itself at least a little bit serious;
As in, how could a group of small forest-critters have any sort of realistic chance against the magic-wielding / flying / super-strong ponies 10 times their own size?

Keep in mind that Equestrian animals appear to be far more intelligent than their Earth-counterparts.

First of all, have the bunnies cut Carrot's farm-house off from the outside world. Overwhelm the few inhabitants and guests of the Carrot-household (Carrot Top, Derpy?, flower-trio) with sheer numbers, bind them with rope, etc, etc.

Possible angle could be for the flower trio to overcome their fear of rabbits and have them fight of the "adorable mennace".

Another possible angle: First the carrot-patch, then Ponyville, then the world! Mwahaha!

Angel Bunny actually succeeds in taking over the carrot farm. Then, he sets his sights on bigger targets.
Possibly rope Applejack and Sweet Apple Acers in on the action (neighbors to the Carrots). Next up, estabilish a "base".

Now, how does an army of rabbits take over a town like Ponyville?

Attack with both cute-ness and sharp teeth.

"Aww, but I can't hit them, they're so adorable!"
"Aaaaah, it bit my wing!" *CRASH*
"Aaaah, let go of my horn!" *BZZZT/electro-magical backlash SFX*
"Mister Fluffikens, how could you?!"

Use their small size to their advantage, crawl into buildings through small spots, etc.

Corrupted Angel Bunny uses dirty tactics. (No surprise there.) Poison the water-supply with poison joke, hold the foals as "hostages" to prevent siblings from making a move (threaten to use poison joke or equivalent threat, cut of mane/tail as a warning sign [Rarity would have a freakout]), that sort of thing.
(That can be a story in itself, school house surrounded by evil rabbits, Cutie Mark Crusaders have to "fight" their way through.)

Telekinesis would be an issue, they'd either need to somehow find a way to disrupt it (rabbit gnawing on unicorn horn mid-cast = pain / temporary magic-blockage), or mayhaps half the unicorns are already conviniently sick due to magic flu.

Twilight probably should be out of town, she'd be a bit too OP here.

Possible bonus idea: The ponies aren't the ones who save the day, but their pets.

Got several ideas recently, so I'm dumping them here. Or most of them at least.

1.) The mane 6 meet Shêtân, better known as The Black Stallion.
A.) AU, Human
B.) In Equestria, or at Hopeful Farm?

2.) Equestria wins the Olympic games after making human contact.
A.) Reaction to the equestrian events?

Title: Harshwhinny Is Magic

Tags:Comedy

Characters:Ms. Harshwhinny and Everypony else

Plot: Viewers of Regular Show should be familiar with the episode: Benson Be Gone. In it the Park Manager Benson is replaced by a strict pantsuit wearing woman named Susan. Susan then proceeds to transform everyone working at the park into more Susans.

So it's kinda like that. Rainbow Dash leaves Ponyville for a meeting with Ms Harshwhinny about something Games related. When she returns there is something off about her. Something more Professional.

As Twilight investigates more and more ponies appear to be changing. We get Dashwhinny, Flutterwhinny, etc. Even Spike isn't spared, becoming Spikewhinny.

Inspired by this pic:

The Mane 6 are on a mission that has them run into the Wonderbolts. During some crisis Fluttershy goes "emergency mode," and bails out several of the bolts with some great flying.

Afterwards the bolts thank her and make remarks about Ponyville having two amazing flyers calling it home.

Except for Fleetfoot.

It turns out that she takes it as a matter of honor that when in competition you give your absolute best. Anything less is an insult of contempt to your fellow athletes.

So she is deeply offended that by all appearances Fluttershy threw the Equestria Games relay race.

An angry confrontation and hilarity ensues.

Trixie writes Burma-Shave signs!

Down on her luck, decides to try to put her show-biz talent to work in a new profession: Advertising! She finds work writing jingles for series of small roadside signs, and finds success after a rocky start.

Random, Slice of Life

Burma-Shave

Had this idea rattling around in my head for a little bit, but never had the time to really work on it.

A year after Sombra's defeat, a unicorn colt wanders into the Crystal Empire from the frozen wastes, half-starved and nearly frozen to death... and the spitting image of King Sombra as a child. Before long, it is discovered that the small child, nicknamed Colt, is Sombra revived. Well... he is, but not all of him. King Sombra had, in a bid to become immortal, removed his heart from his body... and Colt is the physical embodiment of that heart.

King Sombra wants him so that he can fully revive himself before the magic holding his body together is exhausted.
Queen Chrysalis wants him because he's a limitless fountain of love energy to drain.
Lord Tirek wants him because he's a bottomless well of magical energy to siphon.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders want him because he's a blank flank like them.
And the Mane 6, Celestia, and Luna want him because he's a kind, sweet, generous, loving child... with the potential to become the greatest wizard since Starswirl the Bearded.

Isn't it nice to be wanted?

Title: Language Barrier

Tags: Sad, slice of life? Comedy?

Shortly after her return, Princess Luna has to come to terms with how language has evolved. Not just modern day idioms and grammar, but a whole slew of words that hark back to the nightmare. Her very name has become the root of many synonyms for crazy. Such as lunatic and lunacy. Even her moon has had it's name corrupted into a vulgar expression for exposing oneself. It has even been associated with a crippling disease.

How does a Princess, wounded by her past, come to terms with a vernacular that seemed to be created just to mock her. How does her elder sister help her recover. How do their loyal subjects react when a bunch of words become taboo overnight?

This concept would probably suit a language nerd. Or someone ready to do a "feels" heavy story about the strained relationship between Celestia and Luna.

This idea sprung from a conversation with Green-Kirby on deviantArt, so we share credit. :-)

Title: Favorable Outcome
Short description: A weary timetraveler relates his lifestory.
Characters: Changelings ; (Does NOT contain The Doctor, or if so, only as a one-off cameo.)
Tags: Dark, (Comedy?)

Picture a grizzled, old changeling sitting on a bar stool. The scars on his carapace show that he's lead a rough life. He turns to his audience of one, and relates his lifestory...

"So then I went back in time and assasinated Queen Chrysalis.

Yeah, that did happen.

No, no, I'm not joking. Squashed 'er. Boy, that wasn't a pleasant sight, I tell ya.

...Shut that muzzle of yours, you're only gonna catch flies.

Who'd have thought the almighty Queen could get killed by a rockslide, if the timing was right? The timing was right, of course, spent six jumps ironing out the details.

Changed it right back after how well *that* turned out.

Turns out King Sombra took over the world, again. That damn love-alicorn didn't manage to defeat him. Discord-darn butterfly nonsense again, princess-type didn't do her combat training 'cause she never spent two weeks in a cave.

Sigh... back to the drawing board, it was."

Yes, this is a story about a timetraveling changeling.

And he's going back and forth intent on "fixing" history in favor of the Hive.

For an extra twist: The Invasion of Canterlot was originally successful, but lead to long-term negative consequences. Historians blamed Chrysalis, but history rarely is that simple.

If anyone wants more inspiration on the subject, go check out (and possibly contribute to) this discussion thread over on deviantArt where this idea was originally conceived: [link]

Why I likely won't write it myself: [EDIT November 2015: Claiming it back for myself.]

This story requires several "apocalypsi" or otherwise negative "end states" (changeling society devestated/enslaved/captured/third-class citizens ; Discord/Tirek/Sombra ruling the world unchallenged ; Equestria turned into a wasteland/ice age/plunder-vine jungle ; etc, etc ) to give motivation for the protagonist to go on changing things around.

Granted, "negative end state" is subjective. While the ponies may thrive, the changelings might have it rough. Or maybe the emerging changeling/pony society is so drastically different from what he knows that he rejects it.

I just don't think I'm the right writer to write "dark", I usually don't even read that much "dark" myself.

Plus, it seems rather contrived to have 5+ apocalyptic outcomes in Equestria - unless of course somepony has a better idea to give the protagonist his motivation for continuing his travels for several subjective decades.

Idea: ...Possible limitation of the time spell to work around this might be that he can only ever "commute" between two arrival points, "Home time" (aka the future) and "X years before Canterlot Invasion".

So even if he goes "back to the future" and thinks "Things may look bleak now, but maybe in another 100 years they'll look better?" He can't see it for himself. "My time spell doesn't work like that, all I can do now is go back and do-over."

[EDIT November 2015: Claiming it back for myself.]
[EDIT 2016: The irony is, this idea came up 3 years prior. I finally sat down to write it. The only thing still missing was the ending. ...And then the season 5 finale happened. Err.]
[EDIT JULY 2017] Still working on it.]

EDIT 03/2019: PUBLISHED!

EReshaping History

• MLP: FiM
• Dark
• Adventure
• Sad

A disillusioned changeling tells his life story about seeking a better future – with time travel.

• Alt. Universe
• Changelings

Ultra-the-HedgeToaster · 4.1k words  ·  28  1 · 796 views