Apple Bloom never thought of herself as a "s'phisticated" pony. She lives on a farm, she eats what's put in front of her, she follows the advice of her kin without question or doubt. That's all there is to it.

Rarity, on the other hoof, is so "s'phisticated" she can actually spell it. Probably too "s'phisticated" for her own good. The life of an artist - even one who actually makes money - is never a simple one.

But truth, like life, is like the gleam off a sun-caught apple. Turn it around, and though it was once dull and uninteresting, the flash of light may well catch your eye in a way that sparks something new and exciting. As if you'd found your cutie mark all over again. A life-changing moment of pure inspiration.

Maybe these two socially sensitive ponies have more in common than they'd ever thought possible...

From everyone's friend to everyone's enemy, Gladmane has always been larger than life.

He started off as a used cart salespony in a backwater desert village, but there was no way he was staying there. For he has dreamed the Equestrian Dream, and why be a small-time businesspony when you can be a king?

In a humble hotel, in Las Pegasus the city of dreams, where even the clouds are within an earth pony's grasp, Gladmane plans to show what a heart of gold he truly has. And to hide his mind of steel.

After all, he's good at making friends. He makes everyone happy. And he knows how mean and ruthless the world can be; it's what he's had to fight against just to get here.

So why does his conscience start to prick him, the closer and closer he gets to his greatest performance ever?

Sweetie Belle has spent most of her life trying to be like Rarity. That engenders a certain beau monde sophistication regarding one's life philosophy.

It ain't got nothing on Rainbow Dash, though, who'd probably think "engender" meant "make someone a boy or a girl". Assuming she knew words that long.

However, if these two ponies are going to spend a day together, they'll have to commit to it. But then, who knows? There are times when even beauty comes in the most unexpected and unlikely of forms.

And when it comes to picking things up on the fly, Sweetie Belle's nothing if not a keen student. Always eager to please a sister.

Cloudchaser is the perfect big sister: cool, calm, collected, and carefree. Flitter is a lot of things – most of them insanely annoying – but she’ll always see her sister as a true paragon.

That’s because Cloudchaser’s determined to act like one. Always. No matter what the cost.

So when they both apply for the Wonderbolt Academy, and only one of them gets in, it’s a very bad time to let the façade crack under the sudden pressure.

Then again, why not crack? After all, she’s walked on the edge of the storm every day. She has to stop acting sometime.

Storms that strong can’t hide forever.

Some might think Twilight Velvet is the luckiest mother in the world. Yet she hasn't seen her daughter since her little girl was crowned princess. Velvet isn't even royalty herself. How can she be a mother to someone so radically different? So far away? So unreal?

Worse, it's now Mare's Day - a day for celebrating motherhood - and the situation is so bizarre that Velvet is in the odd position of having to go visit her little princess in Ponyville, by appointment, to bring the flowers that Twilight will then give back to her as a Mare's Day gift.

Twilight Sparkle's mother, they call her. Always and always. Princess this and princess that. Wouldn't it just be nice if someone looked at her life from any angle other than "Twilight Sparkle's mother"? For a day, at least. A few hours. Anything.

So who should she stumble across in Ponyville but the oddest and most extraordinary mother of all: Derpy, a mail mare capable of looking from all kinds of angles indeed. Sometimes in ways other ponies can scarcely imagine...

Written for the May 2020 Pairing Contest. Full details can also be found here.

Like spring, friendship warms.
A haiku challenge flies forth.
Two poets find joy.

Written for the May 2020 Pairing Contest. Full details can also be found here.

Economic Fact of Life #1: A pony in Equestria should always check their own name before applying for a job.

Economic Fact of Life #2: You will successfully not die if you refrain from mentioning Ooh La La in Filthy Rich's face.

Economic Fact of Life #3: Movies are the opium of the working class.

Economic Fact of Life #4: You cannot solve all your financial problems with carrot cake.

Economic Fact of Life #5: Finding a good job is haaarrrd. But...

Economic Fact of Life #6: ...sometimes you get one by pure, blind luck.

Endings come to everything, even for the unending. At the threshold of change, two ponies search for the way forward, and for what waits beyond goodbye.

Cover art by Hollow. Find them here and here!

Sunset Shimmer and her friends receive remarkable news: Princess Twilight is poised to become the queen of all Equestria! As the girls celebrate the invitation to their friend's upcoming coronation, Sunset's horrified to find that she's not just selflessly happy for her best friend. If not princesshood, what's she meant to do with her life anyway? What's her destiny in the human world?

As Equestrian Magic grows more powerful due to an ominous, inter-dimensional rip in space-time above Canterlot High, Sunset's friends are affected by a dangerous, new magic and she's left to wonder if she's done more harm here than good.

This story is a sequel to The Exes Club. Helpful, but not required reading. Themes and ideas introduced there are developed further here.

Story development, visual direction, and illustrations by the badass Bevin Brand.
Editing and support by the lovely Space Jazz and LordJanitor.
Special thanks to one of my best friends, Bookish Delight, for her immeasurable support, guidance, and all around awesomeness.

Featured on June 2nd, 2020
Featured as a Scouted Fanfic on Equestria Daily June 5th, 2020

Print Editions:
Colour Edition (Novel)
Black & White Edition (Novel)
Behind the Zines (Art Book)

Tagged with Sex for sexual discussion, no graphic depictions. Tagged with Profanity because teenagers.

Fluttershy has been having a recurring nightmare about her friends begging her to 'not trust him' and to 'help them before it's too late'.
At first, it seems that perhaps this is just one of those nightmares that Fluttershy has all the time and it's nothing to worry about. Discord assists her in erasing the unpleasant dream memories from her mind.
Yet, this dream simply won't be forgotten.
Fluttershy is then faced with the question...is seeing really believing, or can she truly not believe her eyes?

(This story takes place sometime after Princess Twilight Sparkle and before Twilight's Kingdom.
It was written after Twilight's Kingdom premiered and before Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks premiered. Any similarities are purely coincidental.
Furthermore, the relationship between Discord and Fluttershy in this story is very much platonic.)