Cadance isn't Sombra. But Sombra's leadership is all the crystal ponies remember, a ruler they had to love at all costs, with the final payment being their own lives. And as they gradually come to see their new Princess as leader instead of savior, too much of that residual fear is being transferred to her. They praise her, adore her, refuse to correct her no matter what she does -- because they live in terror of the consequences for doing anything else. They have yet to find their own voices, and may go on repeating hers until Celestia and Luna switch shifts. So how can she make them tell her when she's wrong, see that there's nothing to be afraid of, and take the next step in coming back to themselves once and for all?

Forbidding them to do anything other than criticize her should do the trick, right?

...right?

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group -- but can be read as a stand-alone, and no knowledge of the other stories is required. New members and trope edits are welcome.)

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Diamond Tiara knows all about work delegation: if you want something done, have other ponies do it for you. In the name of that goal, Silver Spoon studies for both and Diamond copies her friend's efforts. It works every time. Except that Cheerilee just forced Diamond to switch desks. And with finals a week away and no personal knowledge for most of the subjects, the only ponies she can now hope to copy from are Snips and Snails. Something which may get her sent all the way back to preschool. And there's no way Diamond is going to lower herself to doing her own work.

Which means the colts are going to be learning on her behalf.

No matter what she has to do to make that happen.

It's for the best cause ever, after all.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Cover art by GroaningGreyAgony

Equestria has just entered the first era of movie-making. Ponies now have a brand-new medium to express themselves in any way they wish, with no limits whatsoever, showing anything and everything they might dare to dream of.

Well, clearly nopony of morals would ever allow that!

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

There's one week to go until the second Hearth's Warming Eve since Rainbow claimed her Element, and that week finds her in Ponyville. Where everypony is playing the same old holiday standards, over and over: gramophones in every store, carolers on every street, without mercy. Where the sheer pointless din of it all can grind against a pony's nerves after a while, at least if that pony is bright enough to recognize how meaningless all those sounds are. Ponyville just before the holiday, in a gentle snowfall, with music all around.

It's the last place in the world Rainbow wants to be.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page, FIMFiction group, and a newborn character page: new members and trope edits are welcome. This story can be read as a standalone, and no knowledge of the others is required.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

There are a thousand reasons for not making a purchase at the Carousel Boutique. Some of them are legitimate. Many are excuses. The majority are lies. Falsehoods which Rarity has been listening to for years now, without the slightest touch of variety in the performances. Lies which, during the first week of Ponyville's summer tourist season. have escalated to the point where it feels like they're the only words being said at all.

So if nopony is going to buy anything no matter what Rarity does -- why not call them out on a few? Surely that couldn't do any harm, at least not more than what's already been done?

Surely...

(A stand-alone, no prior-reading-necessary part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page (with new Recap section) and FIMFiction group: new members and trope edits are welcome. )

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Princess.

Some hear the word and think of power. Others take it further. To move Sun, to create the cycle of day and night... surely that indicates something more. Something which can be called on. Pleaded with.

Celestia knows what ponies believe about her. She also knows there's no way to make them stop. Because there are times when the most powerful weapon against despair is faith...

...and the blade is always double-edged.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

In the moons since her parents died, Applejack has hardly left the Acres. Pinkie has barely seen her. She's willing to do anything in order to get some crucial time with her only friend -- but Applejack always seems to have something else to do. Somepony else to speak with.

Somepony else she can listen to.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group -- but can be read as a stand-alone, and no knowledge of the other stories is required. New members and trope edits are welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

After three years, Luna's almost become used to human incursions. The chaos, the open attempts at invasion, the innocent lost souls along with those looking to cleanse the entire planet of pony presence... it may never be routine, but the weariness of it has turned into something of a daily grind.

But that's for humans. The newest incursion isn't human at all. And all it wants to is bring LAW and order to Equestria and the nations beyond.

Whether anypony likes it or not.

(Part of the CDA series. Now has a TVTropes page and character sheet. New edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Discord feels Fluttershy needs to be a little more assertive when it comes to expressing her own views and maintaining her beliefs against the weight of other arguments, especially when those counter-debates turn... well, personal. Fluttershy doesn't want to risk it.

So Discord mentions a simple fact: two plus two equals five.

Fluttershy naturally disagrees.

It gets worse from there.

(A stand-alone, no prior-reading-necessary part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page (with new Recap section) and FIMFiction group: new members and trope edits are welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Officially, it's the 'temporary human settlement camp': land set aside for the most peaceful arrivals in Equestria -- those who cannot be sent home -- to live until a means arrives to return them to their birthplaces. Most of the ponies who supervise the place call it 'the zoo'. The residents use New Cynosure. And Ben, one of the earliest incursions, has been there for nearly three years -- the only one from his world to live in New Cynosure at all. As such, he's the one the ponies turn to when someone else showing all the signs of his home comes in.

Someone else from that home just arrived to be given the usual choice of prisons: the cells for those who won't live in peace, confinement under the outdoor shield for the humans who will --

-- or the one in their head.

(Follows up on Tales Of The Canterlot Deportation Agency: A Typical Day.)

Has a TVTropes page and character sheet. New edits welcome.

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)