Mysterious portals to a “First World” are appearing all around Equestria. Even worse, there are unknown creatures coming through! When it’s discovered that these creatures are immune to unicorn spells, Twilight comes up with a bold idea to harness earth pony magic to combat the menace. Applejack must take the first steps on a new path she never expected, which just might be the biggest challenge she’s faced yet.

Inspired by JinYaranda/InkyBeaker’s artwork On the Run, used here with his permission.

Featured on Equestria Daily!
----------
This is pretty much my first work of fiction, so I greatly appreciate any and all feedback. Let me know what you think!

Might contain some incidental Dungeons & Dragons crossover elements, but not enough to warrant the tag, I think.
Rated Teen for mild violence and language.
----------
This story made FIMFiction's Hot box on 12/24/14 -- I never expected such a response! Thanks everyone!!
04/17/15 -- Wow, hot box again. Thanks guys!!
08/02/15 -- You guys are swell. :)
01/12/16 --

Through a long-forgotten mirror buried deep within Starswirl the Bearded's laboratory lies the equine kingdom of Hevosenvalta. There, the unicorn medical mare Silver Scalpel has just received an honorable discharge from Her Majesty's cavalry due to injuries she sustained on the frontier. She finds herself at loose ends in the capital city of Ehwazton until a chance encounter with the aardhorse detective Currycombs changes both their lives forever.

The cover art was commissioned from Wilvarin-Liadon, and the first chapter, "A Study in Sorrel," was originally published in NonBinary Review #9, Spring 2016. But the rest of the stories are all new to the site here.

The independent nation of Pinery is just that: Independent. Separate. Self-sufficient. Princess Celestia respects this, which is why when their head chef disappears without a trace, she sends three bright young members of her royal guard to settle some nerves.

On paper, the team makes a lot of sense: Captain Minerva the Brave, a stalwart pegasus with enough brawn to make up for her brains; Lieutenant Terrain, a cunning earth pony with enough brains to make up for his brawn; and Foghorn, who is determined not to screw it up for the other two.

Together, these three friends embark on a polite and respectful security mission to Castle Pinery. Together, they'll discover that just because it’s hard to keep secrets behind wooden walls, that doesn’t mean they aren’t there to be found.

Featured on Equestria Daily.
Featured on FiMFiction.
Review by Cerulean Voice.
Review by Undead_Wanderer

When a debt-collection company sends a representative to collect on Lyra's parents' debts, they don't care that her parents have been missing for years - the debt is legally hers. If she can't pay up, she'll lose her house.

In order to pay the debt, Lyra devises a plan that simply can not fail - she'll convert her home into an item shop and sell her way to riches! Surely Bon Bon will help, too. What could possibly go wrong?

Inspired by Recettear

How does one start a revolution?
For Evenstar Boral, the question was always an academic one, suitable for late night conversations and maybe an article in the university newspaper.
Now she's getting a little more field experience than she'd like.
With strange ponies recognizing her on the street and her best friend plagued by nightmares, Evenstar finds herself thrust into events seven thousand years in the making. What is the strange symbol that keeps cropping up in her life? How can someone she's never met know so much about her? And who was Twilight Sparkle?
But there is still hope, for even in a world of shadow and fear, true friendships never fade.

--------------------------------------------

Thanks to Rain-Gear for the awesome photo, and to pre-Readers Starswirl the Goateed, Granit, and Silver Flare.

My name is Derpy Hooves. Up until recently, I was just your almost typical local mailmare. Accidents tended to happen around me a lot, but everypony has to have something that's a little off, right? Things changed a bit when my ex-husband turned into a vampire and tried to kill me. Now I hunt down monsters for a living so that your average pony can continue to ignore their existence.

Monster hunting is dangerous work, but satisfying. From what I've been hearing from my new friends, though, a lot of the monsters we've been fighting lately have been—different. They've been more organized, for starters, and their attacks seem to have some larger goal in mind...

Rated T and tagged for gore and darkness because there will be many fight scenes, and you should expect them to get messy. Nothing too gratuitous, though.

Based loosely on Larry Correia's Monster Hunter: International. No familiarity with it is required for reading, but this work should be similar to it in spirit.

Editing and prereading by SirNotAppearingInThisFic, cogwheelbrain, FanOfMostEverything, and Doc Crowl

Starlight Glimmer's attempts to stop the Rainboom pulled Twilight Sparkle into many possible timestreams.

In one, Rarity and Rainbow Dash survived Nightmare Moon's victory over the forces of light, eventually attaining positions of prominence and comfort in the Nightmare's service. But when the unexpected visit of an Alicorn and Dragon sheds light on a growing conspiracy against the wicked mistress of the night, Rarity and Rainbow Dash may yet be inspired to risk what they have gained to join the fight for a better world.

Yet darkness lingers even in the hearts of some who would oppose the Nightmare, and not all agree on what a better world would look like...

This story would not have been possible without the indescribably vast help and unwavering support of Moosetasm, the pre-reading assistance of I-A-M and Waxworks, as well as the editing prowess of OnionPie and Pascoite! Cover by Novel Idea, using Rarity by miracle32 and background by Drakizora! Featured on Equestria Daily 17Jul.2016! Featured on FimFiction 2Feb.2017 and many times thereafter!

Shelves aren't the only place Twilight Sparkle keeps books. In her room, beneath her mattress, lies a hidden enclave of romances that have rarely seen the light of the sun. Maybe she's read a few too many romance books before bed because, just as much as the characters in those books, she's in love. If only the author of those romance books could help her.

It's a good thing she knows the author. She just doesn't know it yet.

High Flyer is hopelessly in love with Ditzy Doo.

He plans on asking her out the next time she delivers a package to his door.

He's basically a huge coward. He buys more packages. He plans more. He becomes broke.

Inspired by the absolutely incredible song from the Wasteland Wailers! Go give 'em some love!

The surface isn't safe anymore.

In the ruined depths of Canterlot, a team of brave salvagers discover six mares, long forgotten but miraculously preserved. Though these mares cannot remember what happened to their world, they possess powerful magic that hasn't been seen for centuries.

Now the Elements of Harmony are thrust headlong into a world beyond recognition. Twilight and her friends must dive into the sunken remains of history to determine what happened, but Equestria isn't the harmonious land it once was. Before they can focus wholly on the past, they may first have to survive the present.

It isn't going to be easy.

Audiobook by Skijarama!
Original Soundtrack by Noc!

Special thanks to Doccular42 for the original concept, and M1ntf4n for editing!

Join the Empty Horizons Discord!

Big thanks to dA artist fantazyme and reader jeffh4 for making this fantastic rendition of Rarity at Mr. Rich's party!

On the fence of whether to read? Check out the Rage Review or hear PaulAsaran's thoughts!