horizon's Fugue State

By any sane standard, musicals are a terrifying nightmare world. How does everyone know the words to a song that's being written on the fly? Mass hysteria? Hypnosis? Some sort of horrible hivemind? Then again, maybe it's just... magic.

[Shipping] • 7,000 words
Ponyville has a problem: Twilight's friends all switched Cutie Marks, and the musical numbers are flying thick and fast.

Lyra has a problem: She can't handle the way musical numbers get into your head and take you over.

Bon Bon has a problem with that.

Hit the break for a chat with horizon and links to Fugue State out on the ponynet. Don't forget to grab your own ebook copy over at the Downloads page!

OtterMatt's Somepony Else's Story

Sometimes as I'm driving, I look around at the cars surrounding me, and meditate (briefly) on the strange concept that nothing about me matters to any of the drivers I'm surrounded by, all of us speeding off to do something that matters very much to each of us and not at all to everyone else. We are all of us background characters in everyone else's lives.

[Slice-of-Life] • 2,800 words
Vinyl Scratch walks into a bar. There is no punchline.

Hit the break for a chat with OtterMatt and links to Somepony Else's Story out on the ponynet. Don't forget to grab your ebook copies over at the Downloads page!

Arcainum's Five Should Be Enough

So here's the thing. I've discovered that I apparently really enjoy time loop stories. This is the third one to join the Vault. What up with that? Maybe it's because it's a fascinating plot device, a interesting way to explore characters and situations.

You've got Capn Chryssalid's Best Night Ever, in which Prince Blueblood what's really important in life.

You've got Eakin's Hard Reset, in which Twilight Sparkle kicks some serious flank and we all enjoy the ride.

And then you've got this story. This story, in which Applejack learns to make a sacrifice those of us with family have surely considered before. It's not heartwarming like Best Night Ever. It's not fun like Hard Reset. It's like Applejack - it makes its point and gets the job done.

[Tragedy] • 8,100 words
When a tragic event befalls Applejack, she takes drastic measures in an effort to prevent it. But can a simple farm pony make a difference in the face of an inevitable end?

A story about the sacrifices we aren't willing to make, and those that we are.

Hit the break for a chat with Arcainum and links to Five Should Be Enough out on the ponynet. Don't forget to grab an ebook copy over at the Downloads page.

D G D Davidson's Forever

In a land where females vastly outnumber males, is friendship magic... or a necessity? What do you do when your best friend leaves?

[Slice-of-Life] • 5,200 words
On the eve of her departure, Lyra pledges her love to Bon Bon.

Hit the break for a chat with D G D Davidson and a link to Forever online. Don't forget to grab your own ebook copy over at the Downloads page!

Eakin's Hard Reset

Today's story is a thoroughly entertaining romp through Canterlot as everyone's favorite purple unicorn, over and over again. We're treated to a first-hand (hoof?) look at her snarky mind... and how she faces the consequences of having no consequences, for a little while at least.

[Adventure][Dark] • 35,000 words
Twilight isn't having a very good day. An experimental spell blew up in her face, an army of changelings is attacking Canterlot, and she just died. Yet somehow, it looks like it's going to keep going downhill from here.

Given the chance to correct what's gone wrong, Twilight swears she's going to fix all this even if it kills her. Which it will. Frequently.

Hit the break for a chat with Eakin, and links to Hard Reset out on the ponynet. Don't forget to grab yourself an ebook copy over at the Downloads page! (And note that the online version features a bonus alternate ending.)