“Always remember that it is the storyteller who determines the roles of hero and villain.”

Since their banishment to the human world, all the Dazzlings have known is hunger, nearly to the point of starvation. However, with the sudden rediscovery of Equestrian Magic, that hunger may nearly be over, and for what seems like the first time, the truly feel nourished and satiated. But the more they feed, the more they feel something within them is changing; and very soon, fractured memories begin to surface, memories that do not seem like their own.

Unable to ignore such thoughts, on the day before the Battle of the Bands, each of them finds herself wondering who she really is; and more importantly, who is the real villain of their story?

[Be advised that this fic includes some allusions to sexual activities, but they are generalized descriptions rather than explicit content and as such I have chosen not to include the "Sex" tag.]

"Sometimes the only reason we smile is to keep ourselves from crying."

Everypony in Ponyville knows Derpy Hooves, their friendly, cross-eyed and clumsy but reliable mailmare, a hard-working single mother who is never seen without a smile. For years, she and her family have been residents of the small town, and yet she has never once spoken of where she came from or what she did before her job with the Ponyville Post. Most ponies have simply written such things off over time as curiosity gives way to routine. Some, however, have started to notice just how strained the seemingly happy Pegasus' smile is becoming.

(Gore tag added as a precaution for implication rather than explicit description)
(A huge Thank you! to both Bad_Seed_72 and my brother Corwin for pre-reading this for me)

Six months after the events of the Crystal Empire, Princess Celestia finds that she must go to a place she does not want to be to perform a duty she does not wish to undertake. But as the steward of the world, it is both her duty and obligation to attempt to redeem one who has fallen. Doing so is always a gamble, but will her gable pay off, or will the butcher of the north show her his true colors once and for all?

[Rated Teen and tagged just to be on the safe side. Sex and Gore, however, are implied rather than full explicit descriptions. Still, I advise caution.]

The events of the Wonderbolt Academy have played out and Rainbow Dash is in the stretch to achieving her dream but still has a hard time getting a certain erstwhile friend out of her mind. After taking a few minutes to contemplate things, she decides that she's been given enough second chances in her life to see to it that somepony else gets one as well.

Rated Teen for some language later on, though nothing extremely vulgar.

Time waits for nopony.

For fifty years, Shining Armor has served the Equestrian Royal Guard with distinction and has, in his own way, become as legendary as Bearers of Harmony. He has been cited for tactical brilliance and bravery in more battles than he would care to count and has trained hundreds of new guards to defend his beloved Equestria. But that time is ending.

Forced to retire despite his health and prowess he spends his last day as Captain going over his old things as he cleans out his office and reminisces about his time as a guard along with the old friends he has both gained and lost over the years. But as he does so he begins to question if what he's done with his life has really mattered or not.

Trapped in his own darkest moment, will he find the courage to move forward...?