Rarity has lived in Manehattan for several years. She has started pulling her hair from stress and comes out to Ponyville for her own wellbeing and to support Sweetie Belle in a touring adolescent theater group. Sweetie Belle, whose mental health has deteriorated since her sister's departure, eagerly anticipates the premiere of her company's experimental performance with Rarity in the audience--but a series of missteps reveals that the sisters have begun to grow apart.

Cover image by Koviry. Illustration for "Not All Marks Are Cuties" by monitus. Illustration for "The Lilies of The Field" by Hispers. Pinkie's "Interferometer" drawing by Chocolate Mint Swirl. Special thanks to adlbeay for prereading and indispensable advice, Forcalor for encouraging me to be weird, and to Phyllis & Tom.

Twilight Sparkle, now Princess of Equestria, discovers that Celestia and Luna are spending their retirement larping as powerful spellcasters in the backyard pine forests of Ponyville.

Cover image by Hispers.

R: In my culture, the pumpkin was always codified as something that happens when magic has gone, it's not about perspectives and such. Pretty clean message about 'grabbing it' while its hot, using your chance, or else the clock will strike midnight and you'll lose it all... I guess it colors Cinderella as a pretty opportunistic gal.

A: I think that works too. People often think of roleplaying and video games as a waste of time. We might say that people who have those hobbies live in a world of pumpkins, as C and L seem to do. But there is some different psychological need served in the state of play, some different mode, that is not just a poor substitute for having the real thing. If you look at Cinderella in a different way, her life was more 'human' when she was talking to mice and imagining dresses between the glares of her impenetrable stepsisters.

Ever in search of competitive thrills, Rainbow Dash is out to become the next chess grandmaster of Equestria. Her skills will be put to the test, however, when a bully arrives and knocks Scootaloo out of the upcoming tournament at the elementary school. Can Rainbow Dash take her place and reclaim her young friend's honor, proving that she's capable of anything she sets her mind to?

Uh... Satirical.

Cover image by Conicer.