This story is a sequel to It's a Dangerous Business, Going Out Your Door

EDIT: 6,000 unique views! Thank you so much to everyone who has read and enjoyed this story.

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An ancient evil has awakened. No, really, it has. From the depths of time, a black, noxious threat has risen up after millennia of imprisonment. It washes like oil over Equestria, swallowing up towns and uncovering terrible secrets long buried. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity are prepared to combat this great darkness. However, to do so, they must uncover the truths about the Elements of Harmony, and the truths about the ancient forerunners of Equestrian culture. What they find will challenge their conceptions of their own places in history and ponydom's place in the world. The six Bearers of the Elements must draw upon their friendship and the strength of their hearts to stand firm against the darkness. If they fail, it will mean the end of everything.

Told mostly in "fourteeners," iambic heptameter couplets broken into quatrains, this mini-epic poem follows Princess Luna and Pinkie Pie, drawn together by circumstance and ancient prophecy, as they confront a menace from Equestria's past. Many thanks to Aquillo and Casca for pre-reading, to Illya Leonov for the fine audio version, and to presentperfect for metrical notes above and beyond the call of duty!

Princess Celestia has watched Twilight grow, develop, and endure. Twilight has exceeded her expectations each and every time, and now she's enjoying a productive life full of joy and wonder. As far as Celestia is concerned, their studies together ended quite some time ago. But there's still one thing she'd like for her learn, something she can't exactly teach.

Daring Do goes on an epic quest to cross magnificent landscapes, to scale impenetrable boundaries, and to transcend herself.

Epic Cover art by Dream0rDie

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.

Tall Tales didn't intend to be in Ponyville for long. It was supposed to be a brief stop on the way to the storytellers' gathering in Connemara, and nothing more. How was he to know he'd be offered the opportunity to show southerners real storytelling? More to the point, how was he supposed to refuse? And just what does this pink pony want with him, anyway?
Now he's shanghaied himself into performing, and must use all his skill to stay on stage, on target, and within the bounds of sanity. So gather round, pull up a bollard, and listen to some proper Equestrian folk tales.
Or watch one stallion go slowly mad in public. Either way, you're in for a treat.

[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]

In a world full of magic, mere words can pose a deadly threat. When simply reading a sign can instantly infect the unwary, and cases start to turn up all around Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle casts the only spell she can find that can give her the time she needs to find the cause of the plague. But then she has to figure out how to stop the epidemic... without being able to read.

Editing provided by Spabble
If you like this, try Rainbow Typhoon
Audiobook on YouTube and for download on SoundCloud
Spanish version translated by MIkimoco
Russian version

Rainbow Dash has vanished! To save her, Scootaloo must confront her fears and sail to the land where dreams are made...

Six stars on Equestria Daily!

Princess Celestia lies unconscious without explanation… And the sun refuses to rise. Desperate, Luna calls upon her Sister’s faithful student for help in an effort to enter the Princess of the Sun’s mind through a dreamscape to find the cause of her mysterious coma.

But once they enter, finding themselves in a place of magic itself, a place where a pony’s fears, dreams and histories manifest themselves as worlds of epic proportions, are the two mares ready for what they find inside?

An action fantasy novella.
Featured on EqD!