It's like how that one joke goes: a mare walks into a bar. Cherry Jubilee might have expected some kind of punchline to follow. But the mare doesn't seem like a jokester. She doesn't crack a smile or offer a humorous anecdote about her day.

Maybe that's why Cherry's attracted to her. Even if she knows, by the end of tonight, the mare will have broken her heart.

An entry into the (Un)Happy New Yuri Contest, written for the Doomed Yuri category. Sex tag is for suggestive language, but nothing explicit appears.

Cover art by VanillaGhosties.

Pet the koi.

With the arrival of a cool autumn day, it seems the perfect occasion for Rarity to take Hondo out to spend some time together. Perhaps this weather will do him some good, keep him grounded, keep him calm. Maybe bring him back longer this time around. Goodness knows, they could both use that. Goodness knows, Rarity would rather be focusing on him right now, rather than, say, the ring burning a hole in her purse.

But this is a day that invites introspection. It invites memory. And for Rarity, still reeling from fresh wounds, that's the most painful part.

Pre-read and edited by Math Spook and Mockingbirb.

Further support and encouragement graciously provided by the folks in Harmony Reviews.

There are things older than princesses, than castles, than names, and than time. Some of them live in remote corners of the world, shuttered away in an inaccessible crevasse. Some take refuge below the sea, in cities older than minds can comprehend. Some sift among the stars and dance maddeningly against the backdrop of the crawling chaos.

Twilight Sparkle met one such thing in a small cottage outside of Canterlot.

Now, two hundred seventy-three years after the fact, she vividly recalls how that meeting went.

Cover art adapted from an Unsplash image.

Cypress Flash has worked at Station Thirteen as part of the Logistics department for a month, and has had no reason to believe that it would ever be interesting. That changes when one day, he uncovers a perplexing mystery in the form of components missing from the storeroom. It'll be up to him and Kai, the station's only Changeling, to figure out not just who stole these supplies, but also why.

An entry for the 2023 Science Fiction Contest II.

Cover art adapted from this image. All credit goes to the original artist.

Chamomile isn't a train conductor. She isn't an engineer, either. She's just a widow taking care of her lonely Bridlewood tea shop and disabled son. Yet, when she receives word of a job opportunity from the newly instituted Equestrian Railroad Company, asking for ponies to extend the railroad to a forgotten realm in the Frozen North, she is intrigued. Perhaps such a place holds the key to changing her son's life for the better.

This simple task is colored by the group she's paired with: a reserved unicorn, a gung-ho pegasus, and an earth pony no less burdened than herself. As they journey forward, she'll find they bring out sides of her long since buried, and new sides altogether—not least the earth pony, whom Chamomile finds herself growing inexplicably closer to.

It'll be up to her how to react to this change—and what kinds of memories she wants to make.

This story is complete, and will be updated every Tuesday and Friday.

My eternal gratitude to all of my pre-readers and editors who, with all their various contributions, comments, and concerns, helped me bring out the best in this story:
Stinium Ruide
Ghost Mike
VoxArachne
Sledge115

Little Tigress provided the cover art. Their deviantart can be found at this link. Thank you so much!

This story was written and revised to be set during the Tell Your Tale YouTube Series and after the Make Your Mark special, and as such, departs from the Make Your Mark series. That said, I have tried to make it so that watching either the special or the series is not necessary to understand the story's contents.

In the city of Cóltoba, Stormy Flare contemplates her failures. But a chance encounter will remind her that they weren't all in vain.

Second-place winner in the Ancestral Tribute contest.

Cover art adapted from an image on Unsplash.

Inspired by the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Rated Really Good in Ghost Mike's Ponyfic Review Monday Musings #39

Rated Why Haven't You Read These Yet in PaulAsaran's Thursday Reviews CCCXXVI

Argyle came to us by sea. He brought us his notes, a smile, and an impossible dream.

This story is complete, and will be updated every other day.

Pre-read and edited by Stinium_Ruide, Nailah, and applezombi. Thank you for your help!

Featured on Equestria Daily.

Rated Excellent in Ghost Mike's Ponyfic Review #5.

Recommended by TCC56.

When Spike catches a terrible cold, Pinkie offers him a treatment plan in the form of a special kind of soup.

A special Reviewer's Mansion Secret Santa Gift Exchange story for the one-and-only Ninjadeadbeard, who asked for "Spike and Pinkie, Comedy or Slice of Life." Comedy isn't really my forte, but I tried to incorporate some semblance of humor into this piece. I hope you enjoy it! Happy holidays!

No actual relation to the real Crystal Noodle Soup product.

Over the weekend some ravens got into the abandoned shop down the street.

That was when Brimstone knew his time was up.

A story set in the Rekindled Embers universe, which was created by my friend, applezombi. Please send him your support.

Join the RE Discord server here!

You can neither escape nor forget the life you lead, much as Twilight Velvet wants to. Though proud of her children, she can't deny that being known only as the mother to two of the most powerful ponies in all of Equestria hasn't been easy. She'd like to forget her doubts, though, and a riverboat cruise seems like the perfect opportunity.

But still: you can neither escape nor forget the life you lead, regardless of whether it's the one you thought you'd have. But that's not what matters. Sometimes it takes being on a riverboat to the sea to remember that.

Runner-up for the My Little Renaissance Contest, and ended up placing 5th overall.

Pre-read and edited by the ever-wonderful Stinium Ruide, Ninjadeadbeard, Seriff Pilcrow, and applezombi. Thank you for all your help!

Cover art drawn by the wonderful Cyonix. My only edit was adding in the text.