The world is dark. But the sun still rises.

The world is quiet. But the moon’s tides pull on.

The world is cold. But there is still warmth in Ponyville.

Placed fourth in the /PJ2023/ competition!

A strange hole opens up outside of Ponyville.

Nopony is sure where it came from.

Or where it goes.

A filly waits in a small white room. Waiting for her friends to visit. "Hi! I'm Silver Spoon and I'm the Perfect Patient! What medical symptoms would you like to treat today?"

Winner of the Magic Fades and Science Grows contest on Quills and Sofas.

TW for lots of gore and emotionally cruel treatment of a child. Read with care, and if emotional child abuse is something you've experienced perhaps steer clear of this one. I think my initial trigger warning wasn't extensive enough, so apologies if anyone was disturbed by the content. This is a grimdark look at sentience, souls, and the way people/ponies treat things they perceive to be inhuman.

Rainbow Dash turns into a ferret. Everypony is somewhat happy about this. Since Rainbow Dash is no longer a pony, her feelings of distress and terror don't count against that.

This is not a comedy.

Written for the Quills and Sofas Genre-Swap Panic. We were given a prompt and a genre that we couldn't write. In my case, that was "The spell wasn't supposed to turn Rainbow Dash into a ferret, I swear!", and my forbidden genre was comedy. Rainbow Dash Ferret Horror, folks! It's a thing now. This one won third place, too! My prize was... getting told I need therapy in the comments, which is, you know, fair. I'm a writer. My brain works in weird directions.

Preread by Jay, nagolucky, Mushroom, applezombi, Scoping Landscape, Emotion Nexus, RedParade, and Sunlight.

Apple Bloom thought it was just a game at first. That was what Sweetie Belle had said anyways. It was just something to bring out at sleep overs to scare each other silly before going to bed.

But then Apple Bloom started playing with the Ouija board by herself... or so she thought. At first she’s thrilled when her parents contact her. It gives her a connection with them she always wanted but never had. But as time goes on, the things they say sound less and less like what a parent would say to a child. The things they ask her to do become more and more unthinkable.

When she decides to throw away the board game, she thinks that will be the end of it. Unfortunately, she might be done playing with it, but it isn’t done playing with her.

- Inspired by a series of artworks by xxmarkingxx

Daring Do has never turned away from a challenge. But when she finds herself trapped beneath an ancient temple with a haunted artifact, she may end up wishing she'd stayed home instead.

First place story in the Equestria Daily 2013 Nightmare Night Contest!

The Gentle Folk.

The Fae.

Fairies.

They have many names, many shapes, and many voices. They do have one common interest: foals. What they do with the young ones they take is unknown. One can only assume the worst.

Sarsaparilla Rind wakes one morning to find her son missing from his cradle. She knows who is responsible, and stakes out into the Whitetail Woods to rescue him. She is aware of the stories, the tales, and the rumors. They have many endings, many lessons, and many rules. They all have one common theme:

Never make a deal with the Gentle Folk.

Written for The Monthly Contest Club's April 2017 short fic contest.

Teleportation. It is the best possible way to travel... As long as you don't think about it too much. As long as you don't ask where Twilight goes in that split second when she's neither here nor there.

The sound I listened to as I wrote it, available to you in order to give you the option of having the same atmosphere.

No relation to the other story with the same name, just a coincidence of both picking the same excellent title. I was unaware that the other one existed.
Dramatic Reading by Charles Spratt | Second Reading by TheDizzyDan | Third Reading by Crafty Arts | Fourth Reading by Stormy787
Russian Translation 1 (by Aloz) | Russian Translation 2 (by Doof Ex Machina)

The most forbidden spells are the ones only the best and brightest mages can cast. Summoning demons is not for the weak willed, and summoning demons and asking for more power is only for the most powerful of mages...so this should be a shoe in for Trixie...right?

Princess Luna is certain, in her final moments on the moon as the last of her strength dies, that she deserves it.

A thousand years later, Princess Celestia prepares for her sister’s return.

Cover art by BlitsAzalisDash.