Sleep is an interesting thing. For some creatures, it is a an undesired necessity. Children, for example, will refuse to go to bed, no matter how tired they truly are.

Spike is a child and it doesn't matter how much he's yawning or how much difficult he has keeping his little balance; he is not tired and he will not sleep.

"Bedtime," says Twilight.

"Not without a fight," says Spike.

Featured on Equestia Daily.

Approved by Twilight's Library

[EQD Featured - 10/04/12] Derpy Hooves loses her job and home to personal failures and finds that her life of passivity and reckless indulgence have left her with nothing but an empty void in her heart. When she cries out for help, she receives two answers—one from a concerned Twilight Sparkle who tries to set her life back on track, and the other from a phantom mare who lashes her spirit to that of Silver Cross, traveling warrior and refugee of a destroyed nation.

The clumsy but well-intentioned optimism of the Elements of Harmony and the unshakable death wish of her new "soulmate" are challenging enough, but Derpy will have to contend with overzealous agents of the crown, romantic entanglements, wielders of impossible magic, an outrageously evil despot, and even the dreaded contents of Spike's Secret Stash before all's said and done. Little does Derpy understand that her pursuit of a way to fill the holes in her heart and mind will only draw her ever closer to the forbidden truths of Equestria's Lost History . . .

Cover Art by the talented McLarenF1LM22

The following is supplemental material. Do not read before finishing Episode 03.

APPENDIX

Character Ages
Ponies keep track of their age by seasons, not years. Birthdays are still celebrated annually, but measuring age in years is an unreasonable choice for creatures with a lifespan of roughly 25-30 - there just isn't enough room for demarcations that any reader could relate to. For clarity, the character's ages as of the time of this story are given in three categories below.

MLPL2 Character Age Chart [GDocs Format]

For reference, please note that MLPL2 begins about three years after the Nightmare Moon incident.
More characters will be added as they receive significant roles in the story.

Deleted Scenes

Episode 01, Scene 1 (Draft 4)
Episode 01 [ver. 1]

This a story that takes place before Princess Twilight arrives in this world and shows Sci-Twi and Spike become friends who will do anything to defend their city from the forces of magic. They will fight to learn the nature of the magic that is in them and meet characters that we never saw in the movies or series. Both friends and foes will be confronted as the future of Canterlot City is thrown into question.

(Season One completed)

The SCPs have gone missing and appeared in Equestria.

SCP-2000 Equestria. Class: Euclid

Enjoy, and remember.

To secure, contain, and protect.

The Sequel to 'Faith and Doubt'.

It's been two months since the changeling attack and Shining's almost-wedding and much has changed. Twilight Sparkle is now an alicorn and has left Equestria to master her new powers. The sixth element of harmony, the corrupt abstract Doubt, has been reborn in his original form: Faith. He, along with Spike, have gone with Twilight as she sought to heal after the betrayal by her friends and family.

But Twilight's return to Ponyville will not be a happy one; in her absence her friends Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie have been turned into alicorns themselves and the embodiments of their elements. They have seized power and now rule Equestria with iron hooves, using banned magic to turn their friends and family into zealots that obey their every command.

To save Equestria, Twilight will have to do the unthinkable: form a rebellion and declare war on her friends. But will she be willing to make the tough decisions... even if it means choosing between friendship and freedom?

Everything is bad in large doses.

Thank you to all that got this story featured!

The TVTropes page for Faith and Doubt/The Abundance can be found here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/FaithAndDoubt

Cover by the wonderful FerGarcia220!

Episode 1 (Chapters 1 to 20)
Episode 1 Cover Art created by white-tigress-12158 on deviantArt
“A young man witnessed a strange storm, but seeing that no one else was as intrigued as him, he shrugged it off and continued his life, but after getting into a fight, he was rushed to the nearest hospital.
After regaining his consciousness, he suddenly found himself in Equestria as an earth pony, where things aren't really the same as in the series.
With a voice that kept echoing inside his head, he embarks on a quest to return home and be reunited with his beloved family, as he tries not to get too involved in the chaotic war of the unicorns against the pegasi.”

Episode 2 (Chapters 21 to 81)
Episode 2 Cover Art created by GenericDrawfag on deviantArt
“After learning that the human world is somehow affected by the unnatural phenomenon that Equestria was also suffering of, Gold Blitz, the young man who turned into an earth pony, will now embark on a journey to try and fix it so his family will have a better world to live on.
With Spike's assistance, the duo will embark on a quest to bring back the world he once knew.”

Episode 3 (Chapters 82 to 95)
“After discovering the dimensional portal located on Mount Comet, a group of human scientists began their experiments, which resulted to catastrophic events where monsters from the world of ponies were transported to the human world.
Jay, the human who turns into an earth pony known as Gold Blitz in the pony world, will now try his best to save his world from the looming darkness.”

Episode 4 (Chapters 96 to 115)
“After learning that Jay is in trouble, Spike sets out on a quest towards the Crystal Kingdom to retrieve the ancient item that could help him, with the help of the three young mares that calls themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
What lies ahead of their path, they do not know. However, they are determined to accomplish their mission, no matter what it takes.”

Episode 5 (Chapters 116 to 148)
Episode 5 Cover Art created by white-tigress-12158 on deviantArt
“After recovering from Sombra's curse, Jay must now go back to the island and retrieve the Crystal Heart to stop Sombra from conquering more cities in his world. However, he wasn't sure if he could do it. After all, he's just one ordinary human.
Thankfully, he has his brothers to help him, and Rainbow Dash, and other ponies' assistance from the other world.”

/Author's Notes/
- Everything in this story, even the locations and names in the 'human world', is pure fiction.
- First person point of view. Sometimes the story switches to a third person PoV.
- Current cover art created by white-tigress-12158 on deviantArt.

My entry for the Equestria Daily Writers Training Grounds for May 2nd. The prompt was "Spike has eaten the book of Inspiration Manifestation. It has some side effects..." - which was come up with by none other than my good friend Servant Phoenix! Since it was a prompt by him, and I loved the episode, I couldn't resist giving this a try.

The cover art was the only picture I could find of Spike as a Unicorn. Spike in this story is a little more grown-up looking than that. Older than a colt, but not quite a stallion. I decided that because even though he's a baby dragon, he was born when Twilight was a filly, so he should only be a few years behind her as far as pony aging is concerned.

I hope you like it, I didn't have as much time to work on it throughout the week as I had hoped.

A mysterious disease has been spreading all over Equestria turning all kinds of ponies into brain-eating zombies. The disease has reached all over Equestria and threatens to wipe out the pony race. The pony gang, along with the help of Spike, Shining Armor, and Princess Luna, try to figure out how to stop the disease before it's too late. But with friends dropping like flies on either side, will they make it in time?

Pinkie Pie agrees to perform an epic April Fool's prank on behalf of a mysterious stranger. It's unintended effects eventually put the whole town in danger. Meanwhile, Spike just wants to fly...

Note: As of the episode "Secret of my Excess", this story takes place in an alternate universe.