Stress levels were already high, with Twilight directing her first royal Hearth's Warming pageant and unexpected snowstorms escaping the Everfree. Then the changeling army arrived.

Now, with Queen Chrysalis holding Ponyville hostage and the clock ticking on suspiciously pointless negotiations, it's up to Rarity to match wits with the invaders and save the holiday. However, as she digs ever deeper into the queen's tangled plot, what she learns could force her to choose between her friendships and her conscience.

Off-season note: This is a Hearth's Warming story like Die Hard is a Christmas movie (but with espionage instead of explosions). Don't skip it just because the holiday's over.

Critical praise:

"A high-tension thriller where nothing is what it seems." — Titanium Dragon (rating: "Highly Recommended")

"An entertaining ride from start to finish … watching all the pieces fall into place is fantastic." — Present Perfect (rating: "Highly Recommended")

"Props to horizon for an intricate web of deception. Most writers have difficulty with crafting mysteries … this one, however, had me completely fooled from beginning to end." — PaulAsaran (rating: "Why Haven't You Read This Yet?")

"It’s a rare mystery and thriller that can keep things tense and make the mystery actually tough to guess as you go along, while still feeling like a natural conclusion. ... The end result of layers unveiled and red herrings contradicted makes it sing." — Ghost Mike (rating: "Really Good")

Second-place winner in the "Behind Closed Doors" December writeoff, now expanded and revised! Featured on EqD! Rated "Recommended" by MLPmatthewl419!

Big thanks to Titanium Dragon for post-Writeoff editing assistance.

Comments contain spoilers!

When Scootaloo and a new student get into a fight at school, it's up to Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle to teach her the importance of Griffon/Pony relations by reading the story of the first encounter between a Griffon huntress and a Pegasus soldier.

Now on Equestria Daily

Cover Art By
StinkHund

Editing and Pre-reading done by
NotMurphy
Georg
Ping111
DistaffPope

Holly Bud is a rock star. One of the greats, in fact: everypony has heard at least one of his songs, and just about all the other rock & roll musicians cite him as an inspiration for their own music.

He's also a changeling.

While waiting for investigations into his past and his eventual trial for any possible role he might have in a changeling conspiracy he agrees to an interview for a local Canterlot music magazine.

The story he will tell will rock Equestria to its core.

Big McIntosh has a unique way of appreciating music, and Octavia certainly provides an experience. Octavia would love to get in touch with her earth pony roots, and Big McIntosh has the deepest roots around. They could learn so much from each other about why they do what they do, and they just might gain some insight into their own simple gifts in the process.

Featured on Equestria Daily!

Reading by Goombasa.

After Queen Chrysalis' defeat, the few changelings who survived the battle fled into the night. Carbon Copy, a love-starved changeling, encounters a stallion who has attempted suicide. Finding that his life brought nothing but suffering to those he loved, Carbon decides to make some alterations.

To finally give the stallion's daughter the father she deserved.

First story in the Change of Heart collection.

Eternal. Infinite. Immortal. To all but a few these words are a fleeting dream, an imagined respite as time wears away even the highest mountain. But as everyone else rises and falls through the ages, I will rise from the ashes once more. This is the story of how I came to be, how I found another being who shares both my gift and my curse, and the reflections I have made in the the time I've had.

Written as part of the Equestria Daily Outside Insight Contest.

One of perhaps the last to be 100% Twilight's Library Approved as of 22/12/14

Frosty Mug runs the premiere (and only) watering hole in Ponyville. He's been behind the pine for years, and listened to many a sob story, and joyous announcement. Enjoy his recollections of a rather strange week in which he served a different Element of Harmony every day, and a pony he would have never thought he'd have the honor of getting drunk. These are the memoirs of a Ponyville booze vendor.

Now with bonus drinks! Consider it 'Happy Hour'!

Warning: Shipping is mentioned.

The time comes in every newly-ascended Princess' life when she needs to date a pony or something more becoming of her stature. What could be more appropriate than a centaur?

Audio reading by AShadowOfCygnus

Evil is as evil does. Therefore, King Sombra is a monster, and there's no debating it. So when Sombra is discovered alive it should be obvious that he's up to nothing good and needs to be taken down... So why isn't he doing anything? Twilight Sparkle is sent in to try to answer this question by talking to him, while she also tries to determine what the future will hold for the ex-king. Is there even a chance for Sombra's future? Or is the shadow of his actions destined to destroy him?

Cover art by Flam3Zero used with permission.

In times of old and new and now, we seek stories of greatness and wow. But what of the lessons we gained from tales of old? Will they withstand the test of time, be worth as much as gold?
An old dragon, wise and long-lived, sits in his cave, way up high; with a treasure reaching as far as the open sky.
Who shall claim it, and when, and where? And will it prove to be a prize most fair?
Time waits not for the champion to come by, so the dragon wonders, will his hoard with him die?