A simple exchange of gifts between the Royal Sisters becomes not-so-simple as the fun gets doubled, then quadrupled, then very nearly octupled.

The original version of this story took 4th place in The Writeoff Association's December 2014 contest, "Behind Closed Doors."

==== Originally Written: Fall 2011 ==== EDQ Link ====
After a party to welcome the season of Nightmare Night, the library becomes the target of strange activity. Minor annoyances prelude greater events, and soon Twilight and Spike each take action to handle the situation in their own way. All the while, questions hang in the air. What lingers amongst the shelves? What watches from the corners? What stands just behind you only to disappear when you turn to look?

What is in the library, and what does it want?

Twilight Sparkle is a happy pony. With the help of her friends she defeated Tirek. She has a shiny new castle, the kingdom is safe, and she knows the reason behind her ascension. What more could a young princess want?

She is happy, she tells herself as she digs through the ruins of her home. She is so happy she can barely smell the ashes any more.

But in those ashes she finds something unexpected: a small porcelain vase, and with it a decade's worth of unspoken questions. A mystery hiding beneath her hooves, waiting to be put to rest.

Winner of the November Writeoff event.

Discord has been defeated, and Twilight and her friends are eager to get back into the swing of everyday life. Shortly after the end of the victory ceremony in Canterlot, Celestia asks a favour of Twilight, to put Discord back where he belongs, and the ever-faithful student accepts.

By noon of the next day, however, Twilight has both a startling revelation, and a terrible new secret to keep. Otherwise, the last thing she sees may in fact be the statue garden.

Acknowledgements
Edited and test-read by DreamVirusOmega (aka PoisonClaw) and Nonagon
Heavily inspired by and adapted from Garden Party: Petrified by PumpkinHipHop
Cover art used with permission by DocWario

Hopes. Dreams. Aspirations. They're what everyone survives, and even thrives, on. What happens, then, when hopes and dreams are dashed? When something so monumentally destructive and life-changing occurs, and dreams, hopes, even ponies' lives are thrown into turmoil, where can solace be found? When somepony's entire world comes crumbling around them, who can they turn to for support? What can they do when everything they once had is shattered?

Her heart was broken. Her reputation in Ponyville was in ruins. A menace, they called her. Said she wasn't a real hero. Blamed her for the sudden disappearance of their real hero, Mare Do Well. She'd even been abandoned by her five best friends. Everything she thought she could count on was destroyed.

Bent on vengeance and driven by her raw emotions, Rainbow Dash becomes a villain that Ponyville won't soon forget. But she soon finds that not everything in Ponyville is quite what it seems.

Special thanks to DragonShadow, who pre-read and helped me revise this story. Thanks also to JofY, who gave suggestions for the second revision.

The comments are full of unmarked spoilers, so watch out.
Obviously, this contains massive spoilers for the season 2 episode "The Mysterious Mare Do Well," and one must have seen it before this story will make much sense.
Rated Teen for violence and some blood.

I don't see what all the fuss about death is. Our princesses have been dodging it for over a thousand years. Who's to say Sweetie and I can't experiment a little? No, don't be ridiculous, zombies don't exist. Not yet, anyway.

[As seen on Equestria Daily.]

Since meeting Apple Bloom, Twilight, and their friends, Zecora's life has become much more filled with warmth and purpose than it has been ever before. But old patterns of thought are hard to change, and becoming part of a community can seem impossible to a recluse.

2014-10-15: Edited by Feo Takahari.

A few month ago, Rainbow Dash found Twilight stargazing up on the balcony of Golden Oaks library. Ever since then she's come back, every night, and listened to Twilight's lectures on everything astronomy.

Twilight never found out why Rainbow came to the library that first night, but when she makes an unusual request one night, she discovers more than she thought she would about her pegasus friend.

New cover art generously provided by Angelic Flight over on DA. Go check her stuff out.