There’s no end to the monsters that lurk in the dark.

Ghosts, werewolves, mad scientists, cultists, mutants, zombies, vampires, aliens and more lie in wait in the dark corners of Equestria, terrorizing the night. But the most infamous and dangerous of them all is the legendary witch Twilight Sparkle, with a five hundred million bit bounty on her head.

Seeking fame and fortune, Rainbow Dash sets out to defeat the legendary witch and collect the massive reward. The one thing she wasn't counting on was Twilight being less evil than she expected.

More stories set in this AU can be found here.

Cover art is a work in progress by Abode_WTF

This story is a sequel to The Education of Clover the Clever

History is full of mysteries.

Before the first Hearth's Warming, when the pony tribes were divided and weak, the Griffon Empire threatened to conquer the lands of ponies. The Unicorn King sent his court wizard Star Swirl the Bearded to the Griffon King to persuade him not to.

When the dust had settled the Griffon Empire ceased all expansion, and for many decades afterwards the Griffon King sent assassins to kill the wizard.

No-one knows what the two of them said to each other when they met, and over time the meeting between them became shrouded in myth. Legends sprang up about what had happened, each wilder than the last.

Now the story is told.

(New to the series? Unsure where to start? Don't worry! While they share a history, all these stories are meant to work on their own, and explain themselves along the way. Feel free to try this one, or start with one of the others. The Education of Clover the Clever is considered the best, and is a great place to begin.

This is an AU I started writing in 2013, and it has diverged from canon in ways large and small, but it rarely matters. When this story begins Starlight Glimmer is here, and the Castle of Friendship, but Star Swirl the Bearded hasn't returned to G4's present.)

After a harrowing and dangerous quest, Twilight Sparkle and her friends have recovered Excelsior's Ecstatic Codex from an evil zebra cult intent on ending the world. The Codex, one of the greatest works of dark magic ever forged, carries within its pages a limitless collection of vile, twisted spells, all specially devised for anypony who opens the cover.

What do you do with a book of dark magic? If you're Twilight Sparkle, you put it in your library. Because that's where books go.

After all, books are for everypony.

The holidays are meant to be a time of holly jolly fun, spending time with friends and family, and celebrating the magic of friendship. You usually couldn't pay most ponies to take a work shift on Hearth's Warming. Redheart, of course, loves the Hearth's Warming shift. It's her favorite time of year, and she can spend it with the only friends and family she has: her patients.

But this particular Hearth's Warming might be different.

Written for NeirdaE for Jinglemas 2021

Applejack is not having a good day.

She was nopony special: a gardener and sometime-engineer aboard the Golden Oaks space station, providing food and oxygen for the CelesTech researchers living and performing experiments there. She vaguely knew everypony, performed good work, and even was on first-name terms with a certain royal, but wasn't noteworthy. She was nice, a dependable worker, and not much else.

But when the Stellar Thrones send up representatives for a routine tour, something goes wrong. Applejack wakes up a week later, with no memories of what occurred in the meantime, to find Golden Oaks ravaged. The entire station is in lockdown. Communications are nonexistent. The shuttles are destroyed. Power is unreliable. Most of the crew have been slaughtered. The escape pods don't work. Every module has been badly damaged. And something is prowling the station. Something capable of disguising itself as anything.

With only a wrench and herself to rely on, Applejack pushes through the crumbling station to unravel the mystery. But her every step is being watched, her every movement is a risk. Because Golden Oaks isn't a research facility anymore. It's a hunting ground. And ponies are the prey.

Although this is a crossover with Prey, no knowledge of it is required.

Set only a week after the banishment of Princess Luna to the moon, the realm of Equestria is in a state of upheaval. Celestia's royal guard attempt to regain control over the vast empire once ruled by dual monarchs, and the young alicorn's actions as a ruler have become a subject of scrutiny after her sister's attempted coup. Two factions have risen in the turmoil: The Knights of the Sun and The Bright Moon.

Far away from the political infighting and sword rattling exists a small mining town on the outskirts of Equestrian territory. Where once the royal guard would have no trouble fending off raids from bandits or other criminals, the panic of the capitol has caused a withdrawal of military forces to more essential cities and trading ports. Completely undefended and without a spell or sword amongst them, this town was soon overrun by a band of bi-pedal canines calling themselves the Diamond Dogs. As brutal as they are lazy, the Diamond Dogs have forced the local population to work until collapse to collect gems from the town mine.

Outraged by his inability to fend off these bandits and thieves, a young unicorn named Bone Marrow tries with all of his might to find his purpose in life - his cutie mark - and hopes that it will be enough to drive off the invaders of his home. He will soon discover that his special talent is far more than he bargained for.

((A Sequel will begin for this story as soon as I finish I Am a Pet Changeling. Stay tuned on Discord! https://discord.gg/nDXd3AB ))

When the princesses receive word of a mysterious illness breaking out at an archaeological survey site in the Badlands, they send Twilight, Spike, and Starlight to investigate. They find a bizarre sequence of markers, signs, and hints left long before pony civilisation as they know it, leading the way to place long forgotten by history. Together, the ponies must uncover their meaning, before an ancient evil from a past not even remembered by ponies leaves its mark on the future.

Thanks to Alden MacManx for proof reading.

Featured 31/10 - 05/11/21

Centuries after most of her friends have all passed away, Twilight decides to make one last trip into the past. No interacting, no greeting deceased friends, no reunion with her beloved marefriend. Just one quick glance at a life long lost.

However, for better or worse, she'll end up getting much, much more than that.

This story has a prequel entitled The Last Train Home.
Cover art by Swan Song

This story is a sequel to The Enchanted Library

It's easy to think about fairytales when you’re an ancient alicorn trapped in a library for centuries on end. It's easy to wonder how one would go about rescuing you, to think and devise and plot out how to free you in a blaze of glory, intrigue, adventure, and romance.

Or, rather, it’s easy until suddenly it happens and you’re forced to ask yourself the one terrifying question you’d yet to consider.

Now what?

PATREON!
Original story inspired by an old oneshot.
Chapter Art by Arctic Waters and lilfunkman// Graphic Design and Typography by Swan Song.

Everypony enjoys myths and ponytales, even if they know such things aren't real. Alicorns fighting against a spirit of chaos? An ancient princess trapped in a library under a tree, waiting to be found? Quite enchanting and fantastic tales yes, but nonetheless as fictional as Daring Do and other such stories. At least, that's what Rarity used to think.

She doesn't anymore.

Dedicated to Annuska for being as amazing a writer as she is a friend.

Now a physical book!!!
Patreon!
Based on an old oneshot.
Chapter Art by Arctic Waters // Graphic Design and Typography by Swan Song.