Sister-story to Paul's Peculiarly Puny Practice Pieces

A collection of short stories written as contest entries for the Writeoff Association. This collection will only feature the stories with word counts between 2,000 and 8,000 words. The contests with shorter word count limits have their own separate compendium: Paul's Peculiarly Puny Practice Pieces. Check below for a list of each story and a short description.

Note: Random tag added because I have no idea what prompts will arise in the future. Check each story's description to see its individual tags.

As One Falls: [sad]
Celestia and Luna have been waiting patiently for the world to wake up from the madness of Starlight Glimmer. At last the time has come to be freed of their long imprisonment and fix the damage caused by a society based on equality. Yet Luna senses a far greater threat on the horizon than a regime at the end of it's rope.

The Secret Weapon: [dark?] [comedy?] [weaponized cuteness]
The worst has come to pass. One of Earth's interdimensional explorers has been compromised and brought some of them through the portal. They claim to be friendly and peaceful, but León knows better. He won't let these ponies get to him, oh no! They are certainly not adorable, they absolutely cannot be allowed to roam free, and they truly are a clear and present threat to the world. If only he wasn't trapped in a file closet while the accursed things spread like a plague of cuteness. But he won't give in, oh no.

Banned for a Reason: [comedy] [fluff] [no thinking required] [foal princess]
Starswirl returns to his laboratory one evening to find it occupied by a little blue foal whose smile has a few too many teeth...

This story is a sequel to Twilight Sparkle of the Royal Guard

Between castle gossip, professional rivalries, a blooming romance, and a mysterious malefactor still at large, Decurion Twilight Sparkle has a lot on her plate. Hopefully, she'll make a few new friends as she moves towards the destiny she's chosen for herself.

As per usual, big thanks to Magello for the rad cover art!

This story is a sequel to If You Came to Conquer

Princess Nightmare Moon had tried to keep it secret. She had suppressed her power, feigned ignorance, played the outdated fool at every opportunity. She should have known that something like this would happen. A threat that would reveal her, whether she played dumb or not.

If she had to reveal herself, then at least she could protect Equestria in the process. She nocked the arrow. The bow felt so flimsy, but she could not risk him absorbing a spell. She laced magic across the arrow and the string and the air, enough to make it fly faster and aim smoother. She sighted him easily; Tirek was a large target. Now he only had to turn around. An arrow to the spine would kill him simply and instantly, no matter how much magic he had absorbed.

Once he was dead, the hard part would come: explaining herself to Celestia.

Prereading thanks; Meta Four, Blank!, Yami Vizzini, and especially Craine

Russian translation by Doof
Chinese Translation by Dreams Set Free

Comments contain spoilers.

Noticing her Princess' plight, the kitchen mare helpfully offers some of Luna's "special brew" to jumpstart Celestia's day. Chaos ensues when an overly percolated princess can't handle her caffeine!

(Rated "Teen" for the single use of one naughty word.)

Daybreak's story is told here in Sometimes It Takes a Double Shot!

(Many thanks to CaptainBron3y for this live reading!)

Don't miss the unofficial sequel "A Princess Needs her Coffee", a lovely story by my wonderful friend Broman.

This story is a sequel to Rise of the Phoenix Empress

It has been nearly nine hundred years since Sunbeam Sparkle claimed the throne of Equestria after Celestia’s abdication. In that time, she has forged Equestria into a powerful centralized empire that spans most of the known world. Even the distant griffons and zebras pay reluctant homage to the Phoenix Empress.

In this series of connected one-shots, we’ll be taking a look at life the new Equestria Sunbeam Sparkle has forged, through the eyes of its inhabitants.

Study Buddies: Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle are the Empress’ co-students. They also rather dislike each other, mostly due to Sunset’s less than friendly attitude. Can they find a way to work together to fulfill the Empress’ high expectations, or will they just end up trying to kill each other?

Sunbeam Sparkle is not a good pony. She might not be pure evil, but she is ruthless, ambitious, and so power-hungry that she would even aspire to usurp Celestia's throne. Worse, she succeeds in manipulating Celestia into not only surrendering rule over Equestria, but her immortality as well.

It is often said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In most cases that’s true. Many good ponies have begun with good intentions, but slowly lost their way. However, this is not always the case. A rare few virtuous ponies have the character and strength of will to resist temptation, and are never corrupted by their authority.

Even rarer, there comes a time when gaining power makes a pony better than they were before. This is one such story.

This story is a sequel to A Moment in the Sun

Sunset Shimmer is on the run. It's been six months since she left her life as Princess Celestia's student behind, but she can't escape her own past. Her parents are offering a reward for her safe return home, and Celestia's agents are watching her every step. She might have gotten out of Canterlot, but the runaway student is still a long way from freedom. Especially since her education with the Princess of Equestria didn’t cover things like how to make a living wage with her magical skills.

However, there might still be one place where she can escape all of them. The infamous island nation of Freeport has long had a reputation as a haven for pirates, criminals, and exiles, but there's no better place in the world for somepony who wants to disappear. The only question is whether Sunset will live long enough to pull it off.

As the eternal regent of Equestria, Princess Celestia's knowledge of magic is without equal. Over her long life, only a few gifted ponies who had a great destiny before them have had the honor of learning at her side. Sunset Shimmer was one such pony: one of Celestia’s best and most promising students. As she learned at Celestia’s hooves, their bond strengthened until they became far more than student and teacher to one another.

Sometimes those closest to us are the ones who can hurt us the most.

[Note: This story does not directly tie into Equestria Girls]

One day, Rainbow Dash notices something about Sunset Shimmer: she only eats salads, fruit, and non-meat products. So she decides to dare the former pony to try a meat product the next day at lunch. Little do they know what's on the menu that day...

Set in the Equestria Girls universe.

When the light dims and the flame burns out, the magic inside us all will forever endure.