Maud Pie's not like most ponies. That's okay. She has a wonderful Ma and Pa, a sister coarser than sandstone but who still gets her, and she has rocks. Rocks make sense, unlike ponies. Rocks always tell you everything about them from the outside.

This unicorn filly is the opposite of making sense. She's dirty and hungry. She prefers to talk about Maud over herself, something nopony else does around Maud for long. And despite her age, she doesn't have a cutie mark.

Still, Maud's not one to look some gift quartz in the mouth. Maybe this stranger can help her. Herself too, for Maud's idea involves rocks. And rocks always cheer Maud up.

This story was written as a gift for darkcyan as a part of Jinglemas 2023. Happy Hearth's Warming!

In the wake of a distressing experience, Spike has been helping out around Ponyville. He doesn't have to, but he feels he needs to. And while not every day has gone great, most have. Already he's feeling better about… what happened.

The last pony on the schedule, Berry Punch, isn't someone he knows much beyond being the town's premier fruit drinks vendor. He certainly isn't quite prepared for her… particular brand of eccentricity.

A different tack may be needed to make this productive.

This story was written as a gift for Winter_Solstice as a part of Jinglemas 2022. Happy Hearth's Warming!

Hit the FIMFiction Featured Box on Dec 27^th/28^th 2022!
Featured on Equestria Daily, December 11^th 2023, and previously on January 16^th 2023 for 25 More Fanfics to Read for Dragon Day.

Even if it probably won't measure up to those back in Canterlot, Twilight is so excited now that the Ponyville Science Fair is upon them. A chance to see what the town's young minds have cooked up to show their intellectual prowess to the wider world? She can't wait!

Course, she didn't count on Pinkie Pie entering what she assumed was a foal-only event. Turns out that due to an odd loophole, there's nothing stopping grown ponies from competing.

An entry for the first Thousand Words Contest.

On the heels of discovering her cutie mark, Vinyl Scratch finds herself alone in a snowy park with no music. Searching around for something to entertain herself, she finds a most unusual sight: a filly about her age, playing music far removed from her preferred tunes.

It doesn't take long for Vinyl to form an unflattering opinion of this snobby filly. Culture clashes will do that. Yet perhaps there's more to her music, and her, than meets the eye. All that's needed is some common ground.

Nopony said the ground had to be solid earth.

This story was written as a gift for Greatazuredragon as a part of Jinglemas 2021. Happy Hearth's Warming!

Thanks to hawthornbunny for prereading.

Featured on Equestria Daily, December 28^th 2022.

Phyllis Cloverleaf, founder and leader of Canterlogic, prides herself on looking after everypony in town. You can never be too careful when it comes to defending yourself. Thankfully, everypony sees it that way.

Well, almost everypony. It pains her that one pony continues to hold out, to not only resist seeing the truth, but to endeavor for an impossible change, one that will endanger everypony by trying.

Phyllis has tried much to appeal to Sunny. It's never easy to help somepony who doesn’t see it as help. Perhaps, by approaching her not as the leader of Canterlogic, but as just another citizen of Maretime Bay, Phyllis might be able to get through.

Perhaps, a pony who really needs help might let it in.

An entry in Imposing Sovereigns III, using the prompt "Phyllis Cloverleaf/Integrity".

Thanks to hawthornbunny for prereading the initial revised version of Chapter 2 (updated on Nov 13^th 2021).

Featured on Equestria Daily, April 5^th 2022.

Featured in TCC56's It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes.
Rated Pretty Good! in PaulAsaran's Thursday Reviews.
Rated ★★★ in Loganberry's Ponyfic Roundup.

Silverstream can't wait to get home to Mt. Aris for the holidays. Sure, she had no problem staying behind last Hearth's Warming, but it did mean she missed the first ever Three Days of Freedom Celebration. With everything she has planned this year, it's sure to be a hoot!

But when she discovers something about one of her friends mere days before departing, she finds something she'd hoped she never would – a friendship problem that can't be solved.

This story was written as a gift for Jack of a Few Trades as a part of Jinglemas 2020. Happy Hearth's Warming!

Featured on Equestria Daily, December 13^th 2021.