Some might think that a pony without much to say doesn't have a lot going on in their minds. Those ponies would be wrong. In fact, it's usually the quiet ones that think the most.

Marble Pie thinks a lot. Most of the time, she thinks about rocks, and how scary everything else is.

Big MacIntosh thinks a lot. Most of the time, he thinks about apples, and how complicated everything else is.

Now, throughout the good times and the bad times of Hearth's Warming, they think about each other.

At the height of the Dark Crystal Empire, the King of Shadows sits down to do his accounts, because even a totalitarian dictatorship cannot suppress taxponies.

But as he tries desperately to get through the impenetrable paperwork, Sombra finds himself the victim of a magically manifesting bird. Because of course he does.

I have no idea why I wrote this.

Made as a birthday present for the magnificent Evehly.

Zecora isn't from Equestria. That should be obvious. She hails from a distant land where everything from skin to speech is vastly different. There, she was a skilled shaman, one of the best in all of the land, and the uttering of her name could open more doors than the Abada himself.

So why, then, is she in Equestria? Why would such a powerful zebra leave her rich and vibrant homeland to live in an untamed forest? Why does she never speak of it to anyone? And why is she constantly speaking in rhyme?

Because of mistakes. Her mistakes, his mistakes, and the mistakes they made together.

It's been a long time since Princess Luna did any big stunts with the night sky. Since her return, she's scarcely dared to change the position of a single star, for fear of earning every astronomer's ire. So when somepony brings up lunar eclipses, Luna is eager to make a spectacle out of it.

Silver Spoon has always been fascinated with Diamond Tiara, and everypony knows it. They all see the longing sidelong glances, they all see the unflinching loyalty. They even see, and whisper about, the way Silver Spoon licks her lips when Diamond Tiara leaves the classroom.

Well, those rumors have finally made it to the ears of the blossoming socialite, and she's determined to confront her best friend about these hidden feelings. Oh, if she only knew...

Trigger warnings: stabbing, implied stalking, implied cannibalism

I'd like to take this moment to thank DeviantArt user Koviry for inspiring this story with their truly terrifying and beautiful artwork. Also, shout-out to Tzryylon5 for inspiring the inclusion of Silver Spoon's mother.

This story is a sequel to The Stars Did Aid In Our Escape

Equestria may be the homeland of ponies, but it is not where they came from. Ponies came from a world so distant and far-gone that none now live who remember it. But this is not the story of that place.

Ponies move from world to world, though they spend so much time on each world that nopony ever knows they are not the first ponies to leave their world. And leave they do, for the ones who made them have a plan for the ponies, and they often test to see if the ponies have fulfilled the plan.

The test is a purple pony princess, a change nopony ever expects and, thus far, nopony ever accepts. This is the story of what happens when the Purple Pony Princess Test is given, and fails.

This is the story of Purple Pony Princess Test #7.

Derpy Hooves died a long time ago. She was in Canterlot for the royal wedding, and was one of many unfortunate casualties of the changeling invasion. Her daughter was not there to see Derpy die, but a changeling was there to see the filly lost and crying, stumbling after her mother but not seeing the body.

There was something in those keening cries and those wails of anguish that compelled the changeling to wipe the blood from her mouth and take on a new form. She had meant to take the filly to safety, to her family, to anywhere...

But Derpy was the only pony that little Dinky had. So the changeling stayed with the filly. Day after day, she would tell herself that this was it, that she knew ponies who could take Dinky in, who would be more than happy to. But day after day, the idea of returning to the Hive seemed more and more like a death sentence. She meant to return, she really did.

Until she didn't.

It has been three years since the Canterlot Wedding. Changeling spies have found the renegade that abandoned them at the height of their invasion. Chrysalis intends to punish this rebellion, either by public execution or by forcing Derpy to lead a charge on Ponyville.

But before the sentence is passed, Derpy is given the chance to speak to the Swarm.

Tagged as Crossover for ponifying large parts of Charlie Chaplin's final speech from The Great Dictator. I claim no ownership of those passages or the words therein, regardless of the alterations I made.

Credit to Tumblr and DeviantArt artist Drawponies for the comic that inspired this.

Also, credit to DeviantArt user Brackets002 for giving me the idea to do this. http://comments.deviantart.com/1/515238804/3759395857

Sometimes, the meaning of a cutie mark isn't obvious. What does a bunch of stars have to do with being great at magic, after all?

For the most part, Twilight Sparkle never paid much mind to this question. A lot of cutie marks are abstract, after all. But while browsing the Star Swirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot Archives, she finds an old book with a cover that matches her cutie mark perfectly.

Inside that dusty old tome, Twilight finds the secrets of a bygone age, answers to questions she never would have asked, and a terrifying vision of what could have happened to her.

Ever since she turned fifteen, Pandora Eris Sparkle has wanted to be a princess, to earn the respect and admiration of the ponies who look down on her for who she is. Now at last the day has arrived, but it might not all go according to plan.

Many thanks to Lopoddity for allowing the use of her fantastic characters in this story! You should totally check her stuff out on DeviantArt!