Ponies attain redemption different ways. Some do community service for the less fortunate. Others visit estranged relatives to sort out the troubled past. A few even go on grand adventures across Equestria, saving the innocent and weak from terrifying monsters and villains.

Lightning Dust didn't need any of that. She didn't bow and throw herself down in pitiful humility, begging for a second chance or whipping her back. She took her life by the reigns and steered headlong into the dangerous stunts her flight coaches told her never to do. With a little luck and a lot of skill, she managed to build a crew that attracts record crowds and can go head-to-head with the Wonderbolts.

But when the rival that sent her into this tailspin of success appears at her show, she learns time doesn't heal all wounds. Sometimes, it just makes them deeper.

Takes place before and during "The Washouts".

Editing by zalla661 and Darkswirl.

Now part of the Endings collection.

Lightning Dust has been in a bit of a rut ever since getting kicked out of the Wonderbolt Academy. Day after day, she's been sticking to a strict exercise regimen under the guidance of Cloudsdale's premier personal trainer, Haymaker. Her hope is that she'll unlock her true potential and show Haymaker how awesome she is, thus prompting him to use his connections to get her back into the Wonderbolts. No matter how many times Haymaker tells her it's impossible, Lightning simply refuses to listen.

Then one fateful night, Lightning Dust's training is interrupted by the appearance of her greatest idol, Wind Rider. It turns out he too has difficulty accepting reality, and he has his own, more nefarious schemes to get himself back in the game. Haymaker sees this as his last chance to save Lightning Dust from walking Wind Rider's path. And if that means rubbing salt in a few wounds and shattering a few dreams, then so be it.

Cover art provided by the amazingly talented Cyrano.

During her time-twisting battle with Starlight Glimmer, Twilight finds herself in an Equestria ruled by a tyrant alicorn that calls herself the Queen of Equestria. In this world, Twilight's friends are gone and beyond her aid, and Equestria's citizens live in fear of their ruler's wrath should they anger her.

But no one has ever seen the pony who suffers the most in this world.

Pre-read by MythrilMoth and RT Stephens. Cover art vector by kindkristy99

"Most things out here are ambivalent. The animals, the forest, they don't care about you. But the river? The river is trying to kill you."

"I have found that in our darkest days, we judge ourselves not in terms of what we can do, but in what we fail to do."

CW: death by drowning in the background, implied suicide attempt

Entry for the Twilight Files contest. This story is a media fic best read on the site. If any piece of media is not working (and Red is still active on FimFic) please let him know.

Time travel is not a simple case of following someone back to stop them from committing whatever evil deeds they plan on. To stop a change to the past, one must prevent the traveler from going there in the first place.

Twilight and Spike failed to do this, but that's okay.

Tirek, Devourer of Magic, and Lord of Power, lies broken and defeated in his prison in Tartarus. His only company is the one he wants to see least of all.

Starlight Glimmer had all she could want. She was in charge of a village of ponies, and she had convinced them all to give up their cutie marks in pursuit of what she believed was true and irrefutable friendship.

Now though, the house of cards has come crashing down. Starlight is revealed as a fraud and captured by the element bearers. Her villagers reclaim their cutie marks and renounce her beliefs. However, one of the ponies formerly living under her rules decides she needs a punishment most befitting of her crime.

This story is part of a group of stories I'm calling the Taste of Their Own Medicine series. In all of these stories, the message is clear: It ain't so great to have a taste of your own medicine.

Diamond Tiara regrets many things in her life. She meets with Apple Bloom, by chance, at a Manehattan coffee shop and pours her heart out to her old enemy-turned-friend.

Sometimes life just doesn't turn out like how you want it.

Originally written for Quills and Sofas' 2024 Hearts & Hooves speedwriting contest. Heavily edited from the original version.

Thanks to ScreamQueen3 for prereading.

Cover art by qimono on pixabay, edited.

Twilight Sparkle didn't think much of the spell at the time. Using her student's music box to keep an eye on her seemed like an excellent idea! There was just one problem: she couldn't change back.

A darker take on the events of S.7 E.10, so probably watch that first. Fantastic cover by Zutcha, who has a perfect record.

Twilight Sparkle's state of mind has deteriorated ever since she got diagnosed with R.O.A.M. (Rapid Onset Alicorn Memory disorder), leaving her hapless in the care of her friends and family.