Each of the Bearers of Harmony came to that first Grand Galloping Gala with a dream in her heart and dreadfully few relevant facts in her mind. Rarity dreamt of finding her Prince Charming. She knew his name, appearance, and not much else.

But in this timeline, one of her friends has her back.

Every night, Princess Luna soars through the land of dreams, shepherding the minds of her subjects. It is lonely, thankless work, forgotten by the ponies she helps as soon as the sun rises.

Luna is not the only one who stalks in the night. Monsters, yes, predators that glide in the dark spaces between the stars. But there are other wanderers as well, spirits who step easily between the worlds. Sometimes she meets them.

And sometimes she comes back with them.

An homage to Luna and little siblings everywhere. Keep up the good fight.

Twilight Sparkle has been abandoned.

After an expedition into the badlands is torn to tatters by an unprecedented monster attack, Twilight finds herself stranded in a hostile environment with no safe way back home. With no supplies and no survival training, It all seems hopeless for the scholarly unicorn until she is discovered by a type of creature she has never seen before. A changeling named Thorax, a native of the badlands.

With Thorax's knowledge of the environment, he is Twilight's best chance of getting home safely. And by that same token, perhaps Twilight is the best chance the timid, pacifistic drone has of discovering something he has lived his entire life without.

Set well before the Season 2 Finale.

Cover art was drawn by me.

This is a spiritual successor to The Bug in The Herd, and The Bug in The Basement.

Edited by Mister Hypothetical.

All of the girls speak directly to his face, and it feels like none of them listen to a single word which emerges from his mouth. They treat him as a prize: something which will say how special they were for being able to win him. There are boys in Hogwarts who would relish that shallow level of attention, and Bill Weasley isn't one of them. Sometimes it feels like there's no one in the world who understands.

But some say there are other worlds. And no one doesn't mean nopony.

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

This story is a sequel to Ring Around The Moon -- Part I

The Sun Celebration has arrived. The Nightmare returns. And with the help of some extra friends, Twilight, Tempest, and their fellow students are about to discover just how far the Dark Mare will go to have her revenge...

This concludes the Nightmare Moon series of Not Exactly Friends... but Twilight, Tempest, and their friends return in A Canterlot Engagement.

Some realize that Trixie is not the first to bear the title of The Great And Powerful.

Few realize that it is less a title and more a curse.

The one who kills The Great And Powerful shall ever after be cursed to become The Great And Powerful.

On a related note, Twilight Sparkle is having a very bad week.

Featured, 12/04/19-12/06/19, and 12/09/19-12/12/19!

Reviewed by PaulAsaran, with a rating of Pretty Good!.

Also reviewed by Titanium Dragon with a rating of Not Recommended.

Listed in Equestria Daily's 21 of the Best Trixie Fanfics for Trixie Day on 10/31/2021!

This story is a sequel to Saving Sunset Shimmer

Faced with Nightmare Moon's approaching return, Twilight, Tempest, and their classmates need help from an expert on the subject... a pony named Moondancer. There's just one problem: it's the last thing Moondancer wants to talk about...

For more of this AU, see: Trixie Luna Moon

And also check out the series, beginning with Not Exactly Friends.

This story is a sequel to Never Any Doubt

Needing advice on an important project, Twilight, Tempest, and their friends work to reopen the mirror portal, and rescue a former student of Celestia's... Sunset Shimmer.

Note: This story assumes the backstory for Sunset presented in: Sunset -- Part I and Part II.

For more of this AU, see: By the Light of the Moon

And also check out the series, beginning with Not Exactly Friends.

After years of being the runt of the litter (despite having no siblings), Spike finally comes into his own and starts to grow up and mature. The result is a unique bit of magic all his own, or so the theory goes: He awakens one morning to find words hanging overhead that call him [The Gamer], along with powers that let him 'live life as though it were a game'.

How he decides to handle all of this, and where things go from there? That would be a spoiler, and you all know how we feel about spoilers around here...

Frequently asked questions will be answered from time to time, and those answers linked here for the curious:
The First FAQ

Sunset Shimmer never intended to hurt anyone. She simply had a dream of who she wanted to be. And nothing's more gut-wrenching than realizing real life simply doesn't include your life-long dream...

An origin story for Sunset Shimmer, as a basis for her episode of the Not Exactly Friends series. (Note: I treat the comics backstory as helpful guidance here, rather than canon.)

For more in this timeline, see: Sunset -- Part II