This story is a sequel to A Beautiful Night

A standalone story in the Beautiful Night setting - reading the prequel is not required

In the shadow of Nightmare Moon's rule, the ponies of Equestria live in uneasy peace. Vinyl Scratch refuses to accept the new status quo, making seditious films in secret out of a hidden basement below the streets of Manehattan.

Octavia, meanwhile, busies herself with running a successful nightclub, finding audiences for illicit screenings of Vinyl's films, and preparing for the day when they draw the wrong kind of attention.

Vinyl might be willing to die for her art, but Octavia refuses to let that happen.

Special thanks to Pearple Prose, Aragon and Carabas for editing, and Monochromatic for prereading.

The coverart has been altered. Click the link to see the original.

Featured on Equestria Daily!

What Readers Are Saying...

"You make the waterworks happen," -Stardust_Scratch

"It has been like watching a gruesome car crash. You cannot look away from it, and it tears you apart, you are sure you are gonna have nightmares about it, but you just keep reading." -llDenkerll

"Have any of you ever accidentally’ed your way into a horror story, that was way darker than you thought it was going to be? ...I’m going to go scrub my brain down with a few hours of mindless pony fluff... I am enjoying the story I swear," -fargo11

"The ending of the last chapter left me with hope, with expectations, while the end of this chapter leaves me with sorrow, with emptiness, with hopelessness. I need more," -Anshlun

"I lack any words to describe how fucked this whole situation is. It hurts so much. Good job," -Hermaeus xerxes

"This story has some painful feels to it... I need time to think now," -Destiny Chaser

"Every time I read the witches' dialogue I feel genuinely scared... I don't have a clue of what's going to happen," -TheFaceofMercy

Starlight Glimmer had always been a difficult pony.

She's getting better, though! Really! Three years of living with the Princess of Friendship, one of the most beloved ponies in Equestria, is bound to rub off on a mare. Though Starlight continues to grapple with her insecurities and past mistakes, she never would have presumed she'd be free of the guilt - as it should be.

Yet over the years, she's come into her own as a devoted, passionate, and empathetic friend (despite a few bumps here and there).

But one day, like any other, a strange illness befalls Princess Twilight Sparkle. Starlight is driven to a foal's storybook for answers. Armed with her magic and faith, the ex-student follows a crumb trail leading to one reclusive group dwelling in the heart of an otherworldly bog. If there was any salvation for the pony who'd saved Starlight, it lay solely with them. Except when the time comes for payment to be collected, what's left behind is picked up by Twilight and her friends.

And Starlight doesn't want them to. For how can something so broken be put back together? She'd much rather save them all the trouble...

^{Canon divergence one year after 'The Movie,' post-season seven}

Rated-T for some disturbing imagery and heavy themes concerning depression

Artwork of the Witches by Hermaeus Xerxes: https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/9/22/2150483.png

Starlight's Theme: Above and Beyond by Paul Dinletir
Twilight's Theme: Homecoming by Jeff Marsh
The Broken Bond Theme: The Birth of a Soul by Fran Soto

Pre-reader/Editor: JD McGregor
Cover Artist: Calenita

When Twilight Sparkle slipped beneath the covers last night, everything had been fine. She had friends whom she loved, a teacher she adored, and a bright future ahead of her. But when she woke up, her blankets and quilts had been replaced by hospital gowns and padded restraints.

Everything is wrong and nothing makes sense; even her friends have changed. The doctors keep telling her that she is sick, that none of it was real and that it was all in her head. Yet she remembers a life far beyond the hospital walls. She couldn't have made it all up on her own. They must be lying… right?

Ask Asylum Twilight - Still updating regularly!
Equestria Daily
TVTropes
Asylum Fan Group
The Tartarus Project
Russian Translation
The Asylum 20,000 View Spectacular Stage Show!

Art:
Asylum Cover by conicer
Twilight and Twilight Smiles by dreamingnoctis
Mirror Twilight and Plague Doctor by Jaestring / BloodGoldWings
Twilight Smiles and Doctor AJ by conicer
Nurse Ratchet and Silas and What's in the mirror? by Archonix
Doctor AJ Sketch by Archonix | Colored and vectored version by ReFro82
Twilight's Asylum by Khan the Cake Lover
Smilight by HappySwitch
Twilight Waking Up by Dombrus
Fan Art by toxicdemon10
Asylum Twilight by Madness-With-Reason
Asylum Fluttershy and Asylum Ch 26 by Downburst-Backspace
Twilight and her Twin by v747
Birdgirl by sirValter

Readings and Videos:
Asylum Animated Trailer Video by formuladash
Reading by Gammarobot (SugarCubeRadio): All Chapters Here
Reading by Ender Brony: All Chapters Here
Reading by VisualPony: All Chapters Here
Reading by MelancholyIguana: All Chapters Here
Fan Trailer by Kaidan: Asylum FanFic Trailer Cuckoo's Nest

Sanctuary by Kaidan
Broadhoof Files: Dr. Humors by TypewriterError
Broadhoof Files: Corporal Phalanx Spear (Ret.) by Phalanx Spear
A Hearth's Warming Tragedy by Seven Fates

A special thanks to Breath of Plagues, Rex Ivan,
ChudoJogurt, Cynewulf, Death the Kid, Selbi, PrinceDolph, Blahman2816, Queue, and Gage!

Axan Zenith - Dr. Dreamer
Dratini4 - Way Finder
psychicscubadiver - Bright Mind
Velkaden - Dream Chaser
Reese - Silver Glow
Viola Heartstrings - Clover
Archonix - Spinney Whiteacre

Why do ponies dream? Why do we all seem to dream the same dreams?

What if we started to dream new things?

Discord said he wanted to make our dreams more interesting. Add some spice to our boring nocturnal lives. Nothing dangerous – just a bit of excitement to talk about in the mornings.

"Stop worrying so much, Twilight Sparkle," he said. "After all, dreams never hurt anypony."

How I wish he’d been right.

Gold Medalist in the Under the Sun Writeoff Event.

Now with Russian translation, courtesy of Cloud Ring! https://darkpony.space/the-archetypist-1/

The Elements of Harmony didn't work. Nightmare Moon won. Her beautiful night has been unending for over two years now, and her reign over Equestria is total.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie never gave up, even after everyone else did.

An infinity of praise be to Harwick for the cover art.

Twilight lives a comfortable, expected life with the security of being surrounded by her mentors and friends. As she grows into a model unicorn, a dangerous being takes hold of the volatile Brood and drives them to war, breaking a long period of peace. After years of preparation for a higher order, Twilight is chosen to ascend beyond that of a typical sorcerer in a mysterious plan to counter the impending conflict.

During her dark, trying mission Twilight will discover a caged soul and unknowingly set them free, gradually acquiring an affinity for the darkness as a result. As she struggles within deepening conflict, she must push on and fight for what she believes in. With manipulation, deceit, and betrayal storming around, will she be able to contain herself and protect those she loves, or will she succumb to the creeping darkness and abandon everything she stands for?

*Warning: Comments may contain spoilers.*

After the changelings' failed invasion of Canterlot, Twilight tries to soothe some of Ponyville's rampant paranoia by casting a spell to prove there are no imposters hiding in the town. But her spell leaves her in an alien body, facing a mob of angry ponies who just don't believe her when she says she is Twilight Sparkle.

Or, at least, she was Twilight Sparkle, anyway...

Featured on Equestria Daily, 2/17/13
Cover art is by the awesome and amazing Conicer

Canterlot... For centuries, Canterlot was the shining gem of Equestria, the pinnacle of pony society. Now, it’s a reminder, a bleak and monolithic warning to the world. 

Changed by the chemical and technological poisons that plague the mountain, an abomination of nature, I wander the greatest disaster Equestria has ever seen. 

... I will escape eventually, and when I do, I hope my friends still see me as Twilight Sparkle, and not the monster that hides among the ruins. 

She couldn't remember how it had happened. The serenity of life on land had long been since stripped away, dragging her out to an endless sea which she couldn't escape. With nobody but herself, she was left to question what would find her first: Insanity, or death. For now she searches aimlessly, along an ocean of light and dark with no beginning and no end, with no purpose. Like it or not, a purpose will find her, one that will shake her sanity and grip on reality to it's very core.

The ocean is a strange mistress, calm as a summer day and vicious as a pack of wolves, it heeds the command of none.

"Oh, Ye great mysterious Shepard of waves...
Offer me your Secrets...
I turn my body from the sun...
And the great shroud of the sea...
Into the dark...deep..."