Luna's still settling back into her full duties, and finding out she's somehow responsible for overseeing Equestria's annual freedom festival came as something of a shock. All she really knows about the holiday is that ponies like to celebrate it with explosions. Fireworks, cannonfire... somehow, her citizens have linked 'freedom' with 'stuff blowing up.' So if there's a citizen willing to blow herself up as part of the festivities -- well, what could possibly be more appropriate?

...it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

This story is a sequel to A Confederacy Of Dunce Caps

He's supposed to go on. There's a foal to care for, employees constitute another level of responsibility... in theory, he has so many reasons just to get up on the morning after her death. And the next, and the next, until he meets the lost in the shadowlands once again. When his part of the contract comes due, and he can finally feel whole again.

But he can't seem to remember having gotten up. Going to work. There's snippets, but... just that. Because if he pays attention, he has to live, and living means he has to remember, and if he remembers...

Mr. Rich knows he's supposed to go on alone. He just doesn't know how.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. (New members and trope edits welcome.) This story takes place years before the one linked, and no knowledge of the other is required for reading.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

The palace is ancient. So it makes sense for Celestia and Luna to order a complete overhaul of the waterworks, especially since the old system has been making strange sounds within the walls. All they really wanted was to wash up without dealing with new leaks.

They didn't get it.

They weren't expecting the magical lasers either, but that's plumbing for you.

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)

Rated C for Crackfic.

Missions come with risks. They usually don't think about that. They have many ways of not thinking about it and given how many missions they've been on, some of them have not been thinking about it for a very long time.

They were just waiting for a new mission to start. Then somepony came along and asked them to write down every medical circumstance under which, by their own legally recorded desire, they would prefer to die.

And now the thoughts won't stop.

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)

After you've tried to celebrate it enough times, a holiday might start to feel like nothing more than a group of traditions which all chose the same day to kick you. The bulk of Equestria may see the palace's annual gift-receiving ceremony as their chance to show how much they love their Solar princess, but Celestia mostly perceives it as something she has to get through without dying or actively longing for death. She's usually 50% successful, and most ceremonies end with her convinced it was the wrong half.

But maybe this year will be different.

One of them has to be.

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)

Cover art by BonesWolbach, used under open permission. Please contact him with any special background rendering requests.

She goes for long trots through the forest, as part of the duty. She observes the world around her, does her best to listen, and learns what she can from knowledge gained in solitude.

There are ways in which Fluttershy knows more about the world than anypony, and one of the first lessons was that the world is not what we make of it.

Ultimately, the world doesn't care.

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages. Due to minimal length, this story was a Patreon freebie.)

This story is a sequel to Triptych

There are those who say that a mark is a portion of the soul made visible to the world. That the mark is destiny, and so cannot be denied. Equestria has existed under the influence of marks for all of its recorded history, allowing the ever-changing tide of icons to guide the way.

But it could also be said that every system contains the seed of its own destruction.

There is one who believes destiny is nothing more than a trap. And there is nothing she will not do to make the world free.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

This story is a direct sequel to Triptych. Do not read it unless you've finished the original.

This story is a sequel to Triptych

Her first prison was underground, and it took a lifetime before she recognized its nature. The newest cell has hallways and windows. Her mentor takes her outside, but she always comes back to marble floors and ponies who don't know how to look at her for more than a few minutes. She's too slow when responding to her own name, she can barely reconcile having one, and...

A prison with a lock. A prison with a door.

She's trying to figure out what the difference is. Or whether there's any difference at all.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

This story is a direct sequel to Triptych. Do not read it unless you've finished the original.

Missions are dangerous, and sometimes the Bearers get hurt. But this time, treating Pinkie's injuries only took about an hour. No sealant to constantly reapply and lingering deep aches from the wound: just a simple, magical regrowing of her left forehoof's keratin. Really, it's a pity the procedure isn't available to the public yet.

And because it isn't available to the public yet, there's just one little thing which the inventing company's representative wants Pinkie to do. One little thing that leads into a full swarm of not-so-little things.

It's okay. It's for science!

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)

Why do they keep coming back? Maybe it's wounded pride: they were humiliated once, and so they have to get one con over on Ponyville to heal their egos. Or a lot more than one, given all of the successive embarrassments. But either way, the brothers have returned to the scene of their crime(s) so often as to give Pinkie a tail twitch configuration just for their presence. Something which leads her and Twilight to a huge tent in the Everfree, one which has free drinks, slot machines, and happy ponies who haven't lost so much as a tenth-bit.

They can't lose.

As far as the latest con goes, that's just part of the setup.

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)

Cover art taken from an image created by DrXFizzle.