It's a wicked life, isn't it, Trixie?

That's how you really feel, isn't it, Trixie?

You'd like a different life, wouldn't you, Trixie?

Trixie, Trixie, Trixie... if only it were that easy.

Everypony has to live with their mistakes, after all.

Why should you get to be any different?

Thank you to Ice Star, Gay For Godot, and Themoontonite. Love you

Coverart edited from batshaped.

Grief can give you new perspective.
Anger can give you new strength.
Love and wisdom abide.

Written for the November 2016 Writeoffs, where it reached ninth place.

Many ponies leave out cookies on the night of Hearth's Warming Eve. It's tradition, after all.

It's been a tradition for a very long time.

This story is a sequel to "There's A Monster in my Bedroom!"

Pre-read by ST4RSK1MM3R, Octavias Melody, and Midnight Coder.

Edited by James Fire.

Cover art by HPBudgecraft.

For countless moons, he waited. Ever sleeping as his young spoke of her. The one that had escaped him all that time ago.

Twilight Sparkle.

So when the day came, he knew that nothing would stand in the way of his quest for revenge. All he needed was her location and a meal to satisfy the hunger of him and his ilk. Luckily, there just happens to be a place where they can feast...

Once everypony has gone to enjoy the rest of the night, the great mystery of Nightmare Night remains: what really happens to all that delicious candy when nopony else is around? Does Nightmare Moon gobble it up, or is there something even more sinister (and entertaining) at work?

Bloo knows. Bloo's mother knows too. And the problem is that once everypony else has had their fun, the other side of Nightmare Night has barely any leftovers of fun worth talking about.

Perhaps this year will be different. There's a special guest at this year's Nightmare Night: THE special guest. And in the gathering darkness, maybe Bloo will see the light more clearly than ever before...

Twilight Sparkle's Potion of the Past can only be drunk by alicorns. Otherwise, the results might be tragic.
But what if somepony else drinks it, and not for the noblest of reasons? One pony finds out the harshest lesson of his life.
Image "Potion of the past" by derpyworks. Check out his art at this site.

Twilight Sparkle didn't think much of the spell at the time. Using her student's music box to keep an eye on her seemed like an excellent idea! There was just one problem: she couldn't change back.

A darker take on the events of S.7 E.10, so probably watch that first. Fantastic cover by Zutcha, who has a perfect record.

Rival camp counselors get each others' goats, but they've goat a bigger problem to address at summer camp.

- Chapter 1 is stand-alone if you want to avoid 'content warning' tags.
- Chapter 5 touches on some dark issues. To avoid, read that chapter's first segment, then skip to its final two.

Content Note: (throughout) massive jerkery, insults against earth ponies, pegasi and donkeys, mild 'naughty words' [not enough for the tag], bullying, southern-ish accent, (ch. 2) reference to past domestic violence, background & historical intercourse, (ch. 3-5) Narcotics involved although not glorified, (ch. 5) past assault discussed; "tawdry" museum mentioned; (throughout) new yawk-adjacent accent (using 'youse' for plural AND singular ).

Era: The year before the Summer Sun Celebration that brought us Nightmare Moon in Episode 1, Season 1.

An entry in the Fiddledust competition, themed "Kids of Summer"... which obviously was referring to goats. (Results). Excerpts from the Judge's Review:

"...Goats of Summer delivered one of the most creative takes on the prompt in the entire contest. ... an intriguing, brilliant world ... watching them (try to) interact with one another was exceptionally hilarious. The story was full of special and unique plot points that flowed so well into each other, with an ending that capitalized on the buildup and story threads that have been woven together over the course of the entire story. It was absolutely memorable and a great read!"

Image: Source on the image itself as a link. Rights (only to the image) at the link.

Luna and Celestia hold a slumber party to celebrate Luna's return from the moon.

In a fit of pique, Twilight summons the Cutie Mark Inspector to Ponyville to conduct a cutie mark review of the townsfolk. When it transpires that every pony has been interpreting their cutie marks wrong, Ponyville is thrown into chaos. Has Twilight bitten off more than she can chew?