Sweetie Belle wakes up. Sweetie Belle takes a shower. Sweetie Belle tries to make breakfast.

Nothing feels the same to her anymore.

Broadhoof Memorial Psychiatric Hospital is a short and long-term care facility for some of Equestria's most vulnerable ponies. For them, every day is a struggle with their illnesses, be it intense bouts of depression or violent outbursts. Whatever the patient's condition, there is one thing they all hold in common. Everypony gets lonely sometimes.

For the panic-prone Lily Valley, her stay at Broadhoof marks the first Hearth's Warming without her sisters at her side. With all of the side effects of her medication, being moved to a higher security wing, and the lack of support from her family, it'll take a Hearth's Warming miracle to prevent this from being the worst Hearth's Warming ever.

Edited by Kaidan and ReFro.

In Saddle Arabia, there lives a young mare named Mawa Sihr, who lives under the tyranny of an oppressive father who treats her like a commodity, and is currently wishing to increase his standing as a noblecolt by forcing her into an arranged marriage with the incredibly misogynistic son of the king.

Mawa, not wanting any part of this, chooses to enact her long thought out plan to escape to the free land of Equestria, using a dark magical spell to conjure up a servant to help her.

Said servant happens to be a human, a man by the name of Marv who was finally ready to die after avenging the death of a prostitute who showed him a kindness, but now thanks to Mawa’s spell has been resurrected in Saddle Arabia (not as a pony though) and now has been bonded to her, and is hunted by the authorities as a monster.

Together, this team of man and mare must go up against an army of soldiers, griffin bounty hunters, diamond dog bandits, and a shadowy group of terrorists in order to reach Equestria, where they might finally find peace. Along the way finding out more about themselves than they’d knew before in one of the most unconventional Bioshock crossovers ever written

Dear Princess Celestia,

I’m sorry I haven’t written in a while. I guess I don’t exactly learn anything Princess-worthy every day. I don’t really think the others do either -write letters that is- but I haven’t exactly talked to them in a while. You can understand why.
I... don’t want this to be a sad letter. I don’t think you need any more sadness in your life, and I’m good too. So this is just a normal letter.

Celestia writes a letter to her imprisoned sister, remembering their time together.

It's short, but I really don't think anything else is necessary.

Note: This was written before season 2, so some of the details might have been de-canoned in the meantime.

Lightning Dust wakes up late, to another grey, gloomy day. She's cold and tired, and she's never felt so terrible in her life. But really, all she needs is to get back into a routine, or to see her friends, or to sleep a little bit longer... then she'll be fine.

Really.

Inspiration.

"Jesus, man."
—TheAspiringWriter93

"I'm sad now. Like.. you don't even know."
—thedarkprep

Dramatic reading by Limey Reads

At 3:15 AM, Adams woke me with a loud knock on my front door.
"Put your boots on," he said when I answered. "There's a biblical monster in my house."

* * *

A Visual Companion, by the author
Interview with the author, from the Royal Canterlot Library.
Audiobook by Robin Jacks and Wubcake.
Audiobook by Scribbler.
In-depth analysis by the Heroic Tales cast.
Literary Analysis by ScarletWeather.
Special thanks to GaryOak.
Reviews:
City of Doors
One Man's Pony Ramblings
PresentPerfect
Louder Yay
Between Lines
Bad Horse

Twilight is sick.

Heavily inspired by

A snapshot of the relationship between Featherweight and his father.

Dearest Shining Armor,

By the time you read this, I’ll be long gone.

Originally a one-shot written during a very trying time, but many people asked for a continuation. You can read the first chapter by itself if you wish, and that may even be advisable, but I still hope that you'll enjoy the rest.

Featured on the front page at release, for the full four days possible under the site's heat system!