Twilight wakes from sleep, but did the dream ever end?

Twilight loves her. She is the Princess, the beautiful, powerful, kind ruler of Equestria. But when the Princess denies her, Twilight vows to become stronger, to be better. Until one day, she will be so powerful that not even her mentor can ignore her any longer. One day, she would make Celestia love her back.

Orphaned from birth, with only the memories of a soft touch and gentle voice to remember her by, Twilight yearns for her mother. What pony wouldn't want to know why they were abandoned, why they were left to be found by the Princess of the Sun herself.

That was nearly two decades ago though. Twilight was older now, and hopefully wiser. She is happy with her two best friends, Cadance and Shining Armor. They are like family to her, the brother and sister she never could have. Though dreams still haunt the young mare, dreams of lullabies and tender kisses, she has moved on.

The personal servant to the Princess of Helios, the land of the Sun, Twilight enjoyed both rank, and knowledge. But it also means that when Princess Luna comes to visit her old friend, Twilight is given the task of tending her. The Princess has come in search of marriage, at the behest of her ruling Council. They demand an heir to ward off the potentially catastrophic attacks of the neighboring dragons.

Soon, Twilight will be tested and tried. She will be given the a choice between the life she has known, and the duty she is sworn to. But never, not once, will she forget.

For who can stop loving their mother.

You're not safe

In this place

All of us warned you of the big white face

Whilst enjoying the company of Twilight Sparkle and her friends in the doughnut shop immediately following the events of The Best Night Ever a disappointed Princess Celestia send a letter off to Prince Blueblood explaining the implications of his failure of the "Rarity Test", among other things...

Roanoak is home to many, many ponies and every single one has a story to tell. And we try to make sure they all get a chance to be told.

But sometimes these stories wind up taking everypony who comes into contact with them for a bit of an adventure. And for the little filly Akasa, her story managed to embroil not only the crown of Roanoak, but also one of the royal sisters of Equestria and Twilight and her friends...

Indeed. Twilight and her friends, emissaries from Equestria, have been in Roanoak for some time to examine the Leylands north of the empire. They have been granted housing for the duration of their stay by the crown of Roanoak, and, in their way, assist as they can. Twilight, for example, has somewhat taken over the library in town and spends her free time tutoring foals in the magical arts.

And that is where our story begins...

Twilight Sparkle travels north to investigate the circumstances surrounding her mother's mysterious death. However, she soon finds herself haunted by the same shadow.

Featured on Equestria Daily January 8, 2013

Source

When Twilight Sparkle slipped beneath the covers last night, everything had been fine. She had friends whom she loved, a teacher she adored, and a bright future ahead of her. But when she woke up, her blankets and quilts had been replaced by hospital gowns and padded restraints.

Everything is wrong and nothing makes sense; even her friends have changed. The doctors, they keep telling her that she is sick, that none of it was real and that it was all in her head. They’re lying.

She remembers a life far beyond the hospital walls. She couldn't have made it all up on her own. They must be lying… right?

Equestria Daily

TVTropes

Reading by Gammarobot (SugarCubeRadio):  Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9

Fan Trailer by Kaidan:  Asylum FanFic Trailer Cuckoo's Nest

Sanctuary by Kaidan

Broadhoof Files: Dr. Humors by TypewriterError

Broadhoof Files: Corporal Phalanx Spear (Ret.) by Phalanx Spear

A special thanks to Breath of Plagues, Rex Ivan, PrinceDolph and Gage!

MyLittlePwny:  The imagery in this is excruciatingly perfect. I actually had to get up and stretch my legs when you were defining the restraints and small room.

The desert brony:  Your story is powerful enough to pull me away from the studying i'm supposed to be doing, I have no regrets.

Graviton:  This.  Is.  Awesome.  Take my favorite and like, and use them as motivation to do MOAR.

Radiant Dawn:  You know, I normally don't read this kind of story...but damn, you caught me with this one.  It's well written, and has caught me hook, line, and sinker.

Irongalley:  How to say this... This story is... Um... Awesome? I don't think it does it justice... Oh well, it is awesome will have to do for now.

TypewriterError:  LOVE LOVE LOVE This concept! Can't wait for the next chapter

Rennoc215:  I don't know what it is you've done to me, Demon, but Something in your writing evoked a strong response. Halfway through, and I was sweating like a horse. I was falling from one word to the next, no hope of ever standing again. My my, my dear author. There really is a time and place for everything.

the parasprite:  fuck i love these kinds of stories

117dragon:  I'm loving this, and I think you've done an excelent job of bluring the lines between whats reality and what's not. The massive amounts of theories in these comments prove this. Well done sir, I'm looking foward to more.

GaruuSpike:  Oh my god, those 7k words just FLEW by. ._. I was so absorbed by the level of detail and excellent showing. I'm on the edge of my seat right now.

OkemosBrony:  As a general rule of thumb, any story that makes you cry at any point, through comedy, sadness, joy, or anger, is definitely outstanding. This story has brought me to tears quite a few times.

Blue Print:  Utterly gripping, and also quite sensitive to the nature of the material. I would be incredibly impressed if you managed to follow this masterwork of a chapter in kind. Please continue.

SonicRainboomGirl:  As a post mental patient, I applaud this story.

Axan Zenith:  Oh my goodness. Simply wonderful. Please keep writing this.

BronyDJ:  Loving this so far. I like this kind of concept, one's life was only in their head. WRITE ON, DEAR AUTHOR, WRITE ON!

Skijarama:  I'm going to be honest, this story... scares me. It's disturbing me on so many levels, yet I just can not stop reading.

TheLocoPony:  ahaha, sneaky and brilliant, I like it, I like it a lot. hehehe

Mania Man:  We've got a mindfucker over here. Someone get me a toilet, I think I'm gonna shit bricks.

Iron Clad:  It's too good not to read, as much as it pains me.

Scootaloser:  I can't say for certain, but I got the nastiest feeling in my gut that this story is going to make me cry.

Axan Zenith - Dr. Dreamer

Dratini4 - Way Finder

psychicscubadiver - Bright Mind

Velkaden - Dream Chaser

Reese - Silver Glow

As an ongoing story, the events of Roanoak are indeed driven by the ponies who live there.

Fallout Equestria is amazingly popular, and we had a region dedicated to portraying this story for many role-players, but when the owner of the region had to close it we created a rather massive story arc to rescue the ponies from that place...

This is that story...

This is back-story for the Empress, and some setting for the world she inhabits - a world of ponies and magic, a world of high adventure and dangerous events... A world we call Roanoak.

This is a real place, with a real population of about a thousand ponies who live and play in a place that truly exists just on the other side of your monitor screen. :)