Sometimes, it's good to talk about your feelings. Other times, the only way we can understand ourselves is to sit and listen to the silence...

8th place finalist in the Forbidden Knowledge Writeoff event. With a huge thank you to everyone who commented on it over there.

A young star learns her father must aid in Nightmare Moon's escape...

"Dear Princess Celestia, as your (former) most faithful student, I feel I have to warn you that this is probably a trap. Chrysalis cannot possibly be serious about this. Why would anyone, much less her, want to shoot a documentary on us?"

Chrysalis, queen of all the changeling hives and infinitely cunning architect of their plans to conquer Equestria, has a problem: She knows diddly-squat about ponies. But Chrysalis is cleverer than most—or all—changelings, and she's already devised a brilliant solution to this trifling issue: Make a movie about them.

Tenth place winner in Equestria Daily's Outside Insight contest.

When the Bearers go forth on missions, somepony has to cover for their day jobs. In Twilight's case, this means the palace assigns a temporary to the tree, and that pony keeps the library running to government standards. The usual problems come in when Twilight gets back and finds the results aren't up to hers.

The disaster starts when she learns the latest hire has Standards of her own.

There's nothing a compulsive reorganizer hates so much as being compulsively reorganized.

(A stand-alone, no-prior-reading necessary part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

The Apple family house is empty. Winona sits alone, waiting for the day it'll feel full again.

Featured as of 7/17/23

An athlete like Lightning Dust is no stranger to doctor visits, and a nurse like Speedy Recovery is no stranger to receiving patients. It would take something pretty cataclysmic to throw them both off.

Or maybe all it takes is three bolded words on a psych results sheet.

This is an entry in the Snippet Series, an anthology of old oneshots I (and my good buddy Str8aura) wrote based around interesting pics I found. New ones will be posted every Thursday for the foreseeable future. If you like this one, check out the others!

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!

Fleur Lumineuse, daughter of Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis, has made a mistake. A serious one. She never intended so much harm but, even with her eyes now open, can she make amends?

Sometimes, what a pony really needs is somepony else to reach out to them.

AShadowOfCygnus did an amazing Audio Recording of the story!
Rated "Highly Recommended" by PresentPerfect's Fic Reviews!
Also recommended by one of my own favorite authors: Crystal Wishes
Good heavens, this made it into The Royal Canterlot Library?!

Every night, in a little stable just outside of town, an old mare lays down to sleep. And every night she has the same dream of rainbows and open sky...

When you fear the cure worse than the affliction, how can you ever hope to recover? For Berry Punch, there's never been an easy answer.

And when she is forced to confront consequences worse than any she could have imagined, it's just going to get harder.

With only her newfound desperation to drive her forwards, Berry Punch throws herself into what might truly be her last living attempt at recovery.

My appreciation goes to Simon_oSullivan, Tired Old Man, and Burraku_Pansa for their contributions.

Featured on Equestria Daily 05/04/2014