As the centuries pass, cutie marks come and go. Some are common: the healing cross, the basic compass rose, the courier bag. Others are extinct: no more mercenary companies, no more mercenary marks. A few are incredibly scarce, coming along once a generation or less: the mark for luck falls into that category. A number only manifest when the call for them arrives: train tracks didn't appear until it was railroading time. But for the most part, ponies take their mark with its associated talent and magic as a blessing in their lives -- no matter what that mark turns out to be. And they accept it as they accept themselves.

Luna, in her first truly open palace session dealing with the public, is about to meet the exception: Joyous Release, a pony who wants nothing more than to be rid of her mark forever -- and every bit of the talent which comes with it.

But marks are permanent...

(This story takes place shortly after A Total Eclipse Of The Fun.)

Cover art by Harwick.

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

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Rarity likes to believe that her intellect, social grace, and etiquette can get her out of virtually any situation. Trees, however, are notoriously difficult to reason with -- as is the pony who stuck her in one.

So to get her out of this, she has logic, reason, magic, careful consideration of all available options, and her true best efforts going into solving the problem.

...it's going to be a long night.

(This story takes place after On The Application..., but it's not necessary to have read that one before this.)

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.

There are many reasons to go into the West. Abandonment of things best left behind is high on the list, right next to the seeking of something important. Something worth any amount of risk or sacrifice.

In June of 1867, along the southern border of the Idaho Territory, an abandoned, wounded traveler, his search and life at risk, is lucky enough to stumble across a decidedly singular horse. One who is also searching for something important, something where no amount of sacrifice or risk could ever be too much.

Man and mare will travel together for a time. And if they're lucky enough to survive the experience, they might just find what they're looking for.

If.

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Flitter doesn't like most ponies. There's hardly anything in the world Flitter likes, very few which she can even remotely tolerate, and only a couple which she truly loves. Fluttershy is not in the last two categories. Flitter sees Fluttershy as weak, and weakness disgusts her.

But when you're trying to help someone you love, you'll look for help in a lot of places -- including the cottage of the weakest pony in the world.

And for those willing to listen past their pain, it might be the place where they start to learn what true strength is.

(This story takes place about five moons before Triptych and well after On The Application...)

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

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Audiobook production by ObabScribbler.

She just wants to get home. Explaining the group's actions during that last mission took hours longer than it should and now that the palace has finally been fully briefed, all Applejack has to do is make her way to the capital's central train station. Enter the Grand Gymkhana, catch the last westbound of the night and eventually, she'll be in Ponyville. Back on the Acres. Surely she can manage that much, even when stumbling through an empty city while half-lost within a thick winter fog. But the mists are making edges blur, and it's becoming so hard to perceive what truly is.

And then she finds somepony who can no longer truly see the world at all.

Tonight, Applejack is the enemy. And there can be no peace with those who already lost the inner war.

(A standalone, no-prior-reading-required part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

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Hitch doesn't really like change. It used to be that if tomorrow wound up pretty much the same as today, with forensic analysis needed to distinguish either from the day before... then that meant he'd done his job. The peace had been kept.

And now everything has changed. There are pegasi and unicorns in Maretime Bay, some of whom seem to believe that they've brought their own laws with them. The task of keeping those interactions from becoming explosive is being pressed between the hooves of one stallion. A decidedly harried, extremely overworked stallion who doesn't like change, happens to be raising a baby dragon on the side, and doesn't understand the other two cultures at all.

Hitch is tired. That's probably not going to change any time soon.

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Only a few days have passed since magic's restoration and when it comes to the little things, Pipp is still trying to adjust. Minor details like 'all of Zephyr Heights still knows I couldn't really fly' and 'I went outside and the dirt got me.' The royal family's reputation still needs a touch of repair, and that's why her mother is considering whether to send the siblings away for a while. Just until the gossip cools down.

Zipp wants to go investigate the new. Pipp would like to have her status quo back, thank you very much. So they can really fly now? Why does that mean things have to change?

...and maybe she can also make... lightning? Electricity? As in 'that stuff which keeps my phone, and therefore me, alive'?

The new might have possibilities. Which includes an increased chance of exile.

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There's a certain risk in sending this particular class of students on field trips, and Ponyville's school board is tired of seeing all of the disaster odds come through. So if the kids want to visit the Autarky Magic Center, then they're going to provide the security deposit. And that money can only come from one source: the classic school fundraiser. The corporate adults providing the 'chocolate' even promised a personal reward for selling lots of the stuff!

Cheerilee is putting Diamond in charge of the sales brigade.

The adults are going to regret that.

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They love each other. But they don’t always understand. Centuries of shared time still haven’t been enough for each sister to fully comprehend how the other views the world, and that’s just one of the reasons Celestia and Luna still have fights. And sometimes it’s the smallest, stupidest differences, like how Luna prefers the longest of baths and Celestia doesn’t…

Luna feels that being immersed brings a pony closer to her world. And Celestia doesn’t understand.

Some lessons require special measures. Along with a lot of water.

And tiles. There’s definitely going to be tiles.

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Ever since moving to Ponyville, Twilight has neglected something: her other residence. The rooms she used in the Canterlot Archives are still filled with her possessions. It's been nearly a year, and the Archives want her to clear out already so the place can go to the new departmental librarian. She has until sunset -- or anything still there just might remain so. Spike, knowing the deadline is hours away from arriving, recruits the Bearers to help her.

But Twilight doesn't want help.

A deadline is in front of her, and she's -- stalling.

They have until sunset...

(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.