Neither Sunburst nor Zephyr did much with their lives. Sunburst subsisted on the bare minimum of his magical talent, while Zephyr coasted from job to job, relying on others. When the two of them happen to meet in a hair salon and strike up a conversation, their pasts come to light in way that would be impossible for any other pony.

The Realm of Chaos. A bewildering, distorted mess of a place, where black is white, up is down, short is long, and the laws of physics sometimes forget to exist. Someplace only the bravest, boldest of ponies would dare to go. And yet, this pony not only goes there, but does so so frequently it has become routine. This is just one of their many, many journeys.

While trying to fix Starlight's meddling with time, Twilight winds up face-to-face with herself. As she prepares to leave, her other self tries to persuade her to stay and help save this version of Equestria. And her other self makes some pretty compelling arguments.

It's been fifty years since Rainbow Dash first performed the rainboom, and she's slowly slipping over the hill. She's slowing down, sliding off her game. As the younger generation steps up, breaks her records, and makes rainbooms of their own, she contemplates her history in the world of speedsters and her importance to it.

After Twilight destroyed her utopia of equal ponies, Starlight knew she would strike back. And now, she's ready. Her plan is flawless; sublime, even. She will make Twilight regret the day she ever crossed paths with her. She even has a dramatic entrance planned for maximum effect.

Now if only she can find Twilight without getting lost in the Castle of Friendship.

There's an old book that's falling apart. Twilight wants to copy it down to preserve it. But it needs to be as accurate and precise as possible, to preserve the state of the original. That shouldn't be too hard. After all, it's not like the text will change whenever she looks away.

Right?

Zebras. None of Twilight's friends had even known they existed before seeing Zecora. But zebras exist, and are sorely absent in Equestrian society. Seeing a gap to bridge, Twilight decides to head to Zebrabwe, the zebra homeland, as an ambassador and open diplomatic relations. New friends are new friends, no matter where they are.

But things aren't all as they seem; Equestria isn't the only country interested in Zebrabwe, and definitely not the closest. Zebrabwe has neighbors of its own, and there's a reason zebras in Equestria are harder to find than needles in haystacks.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: "Zebrabwe" was originally "Gondwana" before I decided that the country needed a horse-pun name. Early comments mention Gondwana rather than Zebrabwe.

She was stuck at the top of a broken Marris wheel when the stallion in the next gondola over started talking to her. With nothing else to do, she talked back. Once the wheel got fixed, they agreed to keep talking. Now, they wander around around the carnival, conversing about nothing in particular. Growing up, griffons, mortality, stars, rigged carnival games, alicornhood, whatever crosses their minds. It's a great way for them to get to know each other.

But they only have until the carnival closes. After that, they'll need to go their separate ways. Even if they don't want to.

Inspired by Before Sunrise.

This story is a sequel to Rigid

Sombra's forces are in disarray. The EUP has advanced swiftly, smashing his armies and cutting off his supply lines. Now they have the Crystal Empire surrounded, completely cut off from the outside world. Victory is a certainty; it's only a matter of time. Dash can feel it. Everyone can.

But Sombra won't go down without a fight, and he has one last trick up his sleeve...

Trying to patrol the dreams of every pony in Equestria can be stressful. To ease her burden, Luna retools the Tantabus to turn nightmares into good dreams instead of vice versa. Aware of her mistakes from last time, she tests it out thoroughly, making sure there are no unexpected behaviors. And as far as she can tell, there are none.

Except that it's started calling her "Mom".

Faced with the prospect of possibly creating life, Luna seeks out Twilight's advice and assistance. With a little luck, they can get this all sorted out before the sun rises.