This story is a sequel to Lost Cities

Once upon a time there was a high tower at the edge of the world. The ponies who lived there thought it would last forever.

It did not. Neither did the great pegasus cloud fortresses, or the earth ponies's mighty metropolises, or even Everfree, home of the Sisters and the glorious capital from which they ruled an empire. Cities, it seems, are as mortal as ponies – they are born, they live, and someday they must die.

But the world goes on. The stories never end.

When a story touches you deeply, sometimes the only appropriate reaction is to respond in kind.

This is an open anthology of minifics which continue or revisit other authors' fanfics — embracing and extending, and reflecting on questions raised by the work. Due to the nature of the collection, this contains spoilers for other authors' stories, though each chapter contains a link to let you read the source first (and a spoilered summary, if you want to jump right in).

Sept. 2017 note: This anthology is closed, but the project continues with Never The Final Word, Vol. 2 — now curated by FanOfMostEverything.

Many of the included chapters are reviewed by Present Perfect here. Several are Highly Recommended by Titanium Dragon!

Obiter dicta -- things said in passing.

A collection of short stories, vignettes, and delete scenes, mostly based in the Civil Serviceverse and tending to be either slice of life or comedy. Also contains contest entries including FanOfMostEverything's Imposing Sovereigns.

Currently contains:

1. An Afternoon For Dotted Line [slice of life] [comedy]
2. The Game The Princesses Play [comedy]
3. On the Inaccuracy of Proverbs [slice of life] [comedy][sad]
4. The Nature of War [history]
5. On Forensic Accounting & Choral Singing [comedy]
6. Hoofprints [human][sad]
7. Dr. Spinning Top—Specimen Annotated Daily Schedule [slice of life]
8. Love and Other Acquired Tastes [comedy][sad]
9. Any Other Business? [comedy]
10. Songs Like Snow [romance]
11. Civics [comedy]
12. The Other Princess [slice of life] [comedy]

Ponyville has grown boring for Rainbow Dash. Sometimes, an entire week will pass between monster attacks.

What's a mare of action to do when her neighbors are all celebrating apples and hard work? When the weather bureau insists on gentle showers and sunny days, instead of something more exciting?

She has to find adventure, obviously. And when an airship captained by a pegasus pony flies through Ponyville one lazy summer day, dragging a flying iceberg behind it, Rainbow Dash realizes this might be the opportunity she's been waiting for.

But nopony ever said adventuring was easy.

Sometimes I start things and don't finish them. Probably because I'm a terrible person. As a result, my Google Drive is full of half-finished ponyfics.

This story is a collection of those fics.

My name is Short Skirts and Explosions, and I write a lot of crap.

That said, here's a collection of incomplete stories and/or rough drafts of stories that I would eventually improve into final drafts worthy of Fimfiction and Equestria Daily. This is by no means supposed to add canonical weight to any of the other drivel that I have written, but rather it's meant to show off lengthy pieces of literature that I've poured my heart and soul into, regardless of how much they might suck the proverbial teat of lameness. The material provided here is either stuff that I won't release in complete form, or is writing that is so incredibly different from the final drafts that they almost feel like completely separate stories on their own. Sometimes I like to share the worst I have to offer, as well as the best. Dislike to your heart's content, or else enjoy the junk for what it is.

Luna is no stranger to fighting darkness - both within and without. But when a new predator arises in the dreaming realm, she must fight like never before.

When the abyss gazes also into you, you can't afford to blink first.

Cover art from the gallery of Crowik.

There is a mare who lives in a lighthouse. She may have a story of her own, but nobody knows that. All they know is that she has stories of others; those of bedraggled travelers soaked in rain and sweat, those of ships aground and cannon's blasts, those of ghouls and whispering things in the night.

She will tell these stories to those who ask. After all, she spends her days simply turning the lighthouse light. Nothing more, nothing less. That is kind of what she is, nothing more and nothing less.

This story will span different genres as different stories are told. Slice of life, being the main genre, will be the one tagged. Thank you.

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** This story was written when I was 16, and the quality and content reflect that. Please be aware that my position on topics contained within may have changed in the time between publishing and now, and I apologize for any offensive material that I may have condoned in my younger years. **

Kids. Kids. Who are you gonna believe, some old book, or your Uncle Bad Horse?

So, anyway. Like I was saying. Once upon a time...

(One of those damn kids had a wire on him, and put recordings on that tubey thing, one, two, three. And made a video. And wrote it all down, in Russian.)

When the guards find a foal crying in the city streets, they bring him to Celestia's attention. Soon after, It becomes apparent he has fallen through every crack in Equestria's society. Feeling she has failed the colt, Celestia takes him into her own home.

Special thanks to my editors: ersmiller and Rinnaul and to my comrades in crazy ideas Exelzior and BionicBrony.