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!

[Featured on EqD] A changeling worker, stranded and far away from her home, is forced to make a difficult choice. Risk her life, or serve the enemy.

This is 100% Approved by Twilight's Library.

This story is a sequel to Three Wishes: The Cutie Mark Crusaders Before They Changed The World

Twelve years after the Crusaders discovered their true nature, an ancient evil has returned. Celestia is hurt, magic is weakened, and Equestria is nearly lost. Now our heroes must find a way to fix things before time runs out, and the world falls to darkness forever. They'll join forces with friends they've made around the world, utilize amazing new breakthroughs in science and magic, and get help from some of the most unexpected of sources as they try to fix The Hole In The Sun.

Gracious prereading and editing help provided by: Dusk Watch, totallynotabrony, Mares Guyver, CMC4TW, SeaponyLover65, and Web Of Hope.

I consider myself a lucky guy. Good job, good family, and best of all, really, really good friends. We call ourselves MMPD, and together we've had tons of crazy adventures, helped one another discover ourselves, and always have had a good time. It's a shame we've drifted apart since high school, but at least we get to see each other once a year on our shared birthdays.

That tradition turned out to be a lifesaver, because as my friends and I just found out… well, let’s just say we’ve known each other a lot longer than we thought. Now we’ve gotta find a way back home, and hopefully we won't drive each other nuts along the way. We know we’re not the big heroes, and we’re all in WAY over our heads, but hopefully we can do enough to make a difference in the end. If we can do that, then I know we’ll have made our families proud.

I just wish we still had our capes.

Side fic to Five Score, Divided by Four by TwistedSpectrum.The reading of that story is NOT required in order to understand what is going on in this one.

Now with a Chinese translation!

The Last Crusade Tv Tropes Page
Five Score Divided by Four Group

Cover art by Sonson-Sensei.

This follows the events described in the Cutie Mark Chronicles, with one small change: The Sonic Rainboom doesn't happen like it was supposed to. Six destinies fail to start. But when one door closes, another one opens.

Cover Art by Inspired_Light

This is supposed to be close to Canon, but since history is altered and the characters don't experience many of the events that make them who they are in the show I'm listing this as alternate universe (does that make sense?)
For the same reason I'm listing the OC tag, even though the OCs are the mane 6 living different lives.

Nopony dies, nopony suffers permanent psychological scarring, and no irrational whirlwind romances happen.
If I have inadvertently included somepony's OC I apologize.

Warning: contents may contain Existentialism. The facility used also handles peanut based products and wheat gluten.

Once upon a time, Spike went for a walk.

While on his walk, he was judged by an ancient alicorn, lodged with griffons, parlayed with air pirates, charmed a maiden of a mystical race, and dealt with the scourges of hate, fear, and racism while deliberately drawing the armies of myriad nations to the brink of global war.

Once upon a time, Spike went for a walk, and did all of this so that he could keep a promise to the one that meant the most to him... Twilight Sparkle.

In the first of three books, Pillars of the Sun (Chapters 1-15), Spike is devastated by Twilight's fate and grows more and more despondent as he attempts to understand what has happened to his dearest friend. A gentle nudge from a pony he trusts sends him looking for answers. When that nudge becomes a push he unravels ancient secrets... and risks losing himself before his attempt to rescue Twilight can even begin.

Four years ago Vinyl and Octavia broke up. It was messy, painful and left scars on both of them. Four years on, now one of the most successful DJs in Equestria’s history, Vinyl receives news that Octavia has been in a terrible accident. The doctors say she may never recover from her coma, but Vinyl refuses to believe them. There are all sorts of stories about coma patients who are brought back by the voice of someone they care about, right? No matter what anypony else says, offers or threatens, and no matter what it costs her personally or professionally, she is determined to stay by Octavia’s side and do all she can to wake her.

But four years is a long time, and no matter how many fairytales end with the princess waking up, real life owes no-one a happy ending.

Featured on EQD - 3rd August 2013

Now with a fabulous dramatic reading by the even more fabulous Goombasa!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPJutr2gUiE&list=UU4c-khcV1wmr1l_ZRfdp9uQ]
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibcPvvXSn8c&list=UU4c-khcV1wmr1l_ZRfdp9uQ]