A lonely boy. Originally, he thought he had no friends. No real bonds. A dire sickness changed that for him, one day. Now... Characters from a certain show are egging him to reach out to the few he realizes he has. One... last... time...

It should have been so simple. Twilight and the gang travel to the Crystal Empire to see Shining Armor and Princess Cadence's second foal. What could possibly go wrong?
***
Published in celebration of Season 7! (Also, it was published before Honest Apple aired.)
***
Thanks to Rdasher12 for pre-reading this story.
***
The cover art comes from the The Crystalling episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
***
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all related content is owned by Hasbro. CYA.

Everypony has someone who influences them, changes their lives. For Lyric, that someone was Finner, an old stallion who lived by the sea.

This story was greatly inspired by the song From Finner by Of Monsters and Men.

Many thanks to these wonderful people for helping to turn this story into the best that it could be: KellyTheDrawingUni, Protopony350, Kirito-Persona, MelancholyIguana, Will-Owl-the-Wisp, and Haycart.

Cover art by KellyTheDrawingUni

Warning: Some spoilers in the comments

Four months after Chrysalis' defeat and the reformation of the entire changeling race, Twilight wakes up in a cage, deep inside the changeling hive, with a glass chain around her ankle and an insecure Thorax staring at her from across the bars.

At least it isn't a pool of changeling mucus this time.

Meanwhile, Trixie and her chitinous new friend work together to take down Thorax's empire of evil and glitter.

This story is a sequel to Feeling That Way

The war's over and your fiancé is back. Your once dead town is showing signs of life again. But you feel more muted than ever. Only one thing is there for you, anytime at all.

"Feeling That Way"/"Anytime" are two popular Journey songs from their breakout album Infinity, often played back to back on the radio.

Preread by Yamgoth the Moth and the Dobermans
Recommended by Present Perfect

Pony: source
Background: source

Derpy Hooves is your typical mailmare. She has a good job, has a nice house, and is a loving mother. Just don't keep her from her daughter.

However, when there's a real crisis, Celestia turns to our favorite gray pegasus with her wonderful golden eyes to save the world! Derpy has the best weapon at her disposal for just such a crisis!

This story is a thank-you for Cross Lament.

Image source.

After the second attack from Chrysalis, Twilight Sparkle considers getting her own Guard. She discusses it with her fellow Royals, including ways to make the Guard more suitable to Ponyville.
She gains five Guards, each with their own skills.

Part of the Cornerverse-MLP Universe.

What happens when Octavia's family comes by storm to Ponyville?

Shark happens.

Blame Syeekoh for the contest I wrote this for (which this story is now probably invalid for anyways so what the hell)

and

Thought Prism for the excessive sharks a.k.a. Sharktavianado

Things weren't making sense. Ponies, not-Ponies, and even an entire Empire had been erased from history, and no one knew why. So what does Twilight Sparkle do when something doesn't make sense? Research it until it does.
She heads out to the castle in Everfree. There she meets the Forest Guardian, who shows her where to look. Of course, the answers raise more questions. That, and she wonders if she can trust the word of some stallion that could really be a cute forest-dwelling conspiracy theorist.

Part of the Cornerverse-MLP Universe.

The Gentle Folk.

The Fae.

Fairies.

They have many names, many shapes, and many voices. They do have one common interest: foals. What they do with the young ones they take is unknown. One can only assume the worst.

Sarsaparilla Rind wakes one morning to find her son missing from his cradle. She knows who is responsible, and stakes out into the Whitetail Woods to rescue him. She is aware of the stories, the tales, and the rumors. They have many endings, many lessons, and many rules. They all have one common theme:

Never make a deal with the Gentle Folk.

Written for The Monthly Contest Club's April 2017 short fic contest.