From the outside, she seems to be a very lucky girl. She has a loving family, lots of friends at school, a comfortable home to call her own.

In her head, things are different. Trapped in her own mind, surrounded by the ruins of her life, the only survivor of the death of her soul. She has no family, no friends, no home, nothing.

And one enemy.

Ruby Pinch is not alone. Ruby Pinch is never alone.

Lemon Hearts is an Equestrian matchmaker. That's sort of like a doctor for ponies with a very specific and persistent disease. And like most doctors, she hasn't picked the soft option.

In the magical land of Equestria, even love isn't a fairy tale. Not all the time. Certainly not forever after.

Of course, she's got the backstage pass to love: the black, unsavoury-looking one that lets her access all floors, including its classy penthouse apartment. And its rotten underbelly.

Mad couples, unhealthy habits, lots of cider, and a princess who's a little too perfect... You gotta laugh, because you're not allowed to cry...

Ever since Dean Cadence became Principal Cadence, she's learned the hard way that running a school as prestigious as Crystal Prep Academy is a bureaucratic knife-edge. Among other things, she has to deal with spiky students, a terrifying janitor, and constant comparisons between her and Cinch – which are somehow always in Cinch's favour.

Hardest of all might be getting one of her students – Sour Sweet – to apologize for years and years of bullying. Not least because she must convince the girl it's for her own good too…

An entry in Imposing Sovereigns III, using the prompt "Dean Cadence/Justice".

In the world of ponydom, Equestria is but a young and vulnerable nation. It needs heroes to defend it. It needs authority. It needs pillars.

Yet Star Swirl and his legendary Pillars have mysteriously vanished. After guiding ponydom for so long, their absence is sorely felt, their stability lost, their legacy in peril.

Young Celestia knows this. But what can she do? She's just a disobedient student.

Young Cinch knows this too. And in her mind, it's not a question of what she can do. It's a question of what she will do. For she is always working – she prides herself on it – and now she is working on a solution to everything...

An entry in Imposing Sovereigns III, using the prompt "Cinch/Integrity".

The first alicorn to be born rather than made. A pony of incredible power. A pony with a very important destiny.

Under the guidance of the fretful Princess Twilight, the sardonic Spike, and the ever-loyal crystal ponies, she will rise from the ashes of a childhood nightmare to become the princess she was always meant to be.

The journey won't be easy, but she won't give up. She was meant to be the Crystal Princess. That is her purpose.

And she will stop at nothing to keep it that way.

An entry in Imposing Sovereigns III, using the prompt "Flurry Heart/DETERMINATION".

Muddled, distracted, and ineffectual, Cloudkicker isn't exactly the sort of carer most ponies think of when they think of reliable older sisters. Her own sister, Alula, certainly doesn't. She doesn't think of anything; she just does things! Like a proper pegasus is supposed to do! Yeah!

If she ever thought at all, she might think how lucky she was...

“Moondancer–?”

“What!? Oh. Minuette. It’s just you. What the hay are you doing? How did you even get in my house?”

“Ye-heh! Just little old me. Sorry, did I interrupt your reading? I just wondered where you’d b–”

“My next question is: Why are you here? Sorry, sorry, that came out wrong. I meant: What brings you here, Minuette? Uh… 'my little friend'… you…?”

“It’s OK. It’s just… only… you know there’s a party on right now?”

Originally intended for Loganberry's Flashfic 150, February 2021: "Two Truths and a Lie" event.

This story is a sequel to Impossible Numbers' Flashfic Anthology, Volume Four

Cloudchaser is the one who bids her sister goodnight. She knows precisely why; she's just trying to forget it. After all, ignorance is bliss.

Genres: Sad, Slice of Life
Prompt: "So Long and Goodnight"
Original Source: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212112/flashfic/thread/432899/flashfic-150-april-2020-so-long-and-goodnight#comment/7198414

A pegasus - Raindrops - is intrigued as to why an earth pony - Cherry Berry - would have any interest in defying her tribe's traditional biological limits. Maybe she sees a chance herself...?

Genres: Slice of Life
Prompt: "I'm Flying Without Wings"
Original Source: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212112/flashfic/thread/435203/flashfic-150-may-2020-im-flying-without-wings#comment/7208622

She was legend. She was real. She was the Ultimate Crusader. She... was Scootaloo.

Genres: Adventure
Prompt: "Dream A Little Dream"
Original Source: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212112/flashfic/thread/437919/flashfic-150-june-2020-dream-a-little-dream#comment/7253781

N.B.: This fic is preserved more for historical interest than for its quality. It was later adapted to a much more comprehensive and complete version under the same title, accessible here.

On Sweet Apple Acres, some things have to be done. No one said they had to like it.

Genres: Dark, Sad, Slice of Life
Prompt: "After the Storm"
Original Source: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212112/flashfic/thread/440844/flashfic-150-july-2020-after-the-storm#comment/7275689

N.B.: Original title was "Storm and Stress, Then Healthy Crops". This was later changed in light of the critical feedback.

Starry Eyes loves Twinkleshine. Such a princess among unicorns, the beauty of astronomy, the brightest star in his sky! Well, it can't be hard for him to tell her how he feels, can it? He's a pegasus, after all. Pegasi are supposed to be fearless...

Genres: Romance, Sad
Prompt: "Early Bird"
Original Source: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212112/flashfic/thread/443711/flashfic-150-august-2020-early-bird#comment/7289694

Where Luna chose the night, Celestia chose the day. Except the night is everywhere, in this universe, whereas the day exists only here. After all, the sun is just another star...

Genres: Drama, Horror, Sad
Prompt: "Rising Star"
Original Source: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212112/flashfic/thread/449695/flashfic-150-october-2020-rising-star#comment/7346449

Sweetie Belle remembered the song. Long ago, Rarity had sung it to her: a song of fairy-tale romance. Only in her marehood does she properly understand her sister's secret meaning...

Genres: Slice of Life
Prompt: "A Song I Remember"
Original Source: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212112/flashfic/thread/452549/flashfic-150-november-2020-a-song-i-remember#comment/7364209

Written Script loves "Carrot Top", as her friends call her. Why, he wishes to write the perfect poem for her! The problem is... well... she's Carrot Top. She's not exactly the mushy romantic type.

Genres: Romance
Prompt: "Poetic Justice"
Original Source: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212112/flashfic/thread/458094/flashfic-150-january-2021-poetic-justice#comment/7415927