Strange dreams are haunting the night in Ponyville.

The dreams are lucid and clear, indistinguishable from reality. And sometimes, when ponies wake up, the dreams don't go away.

Hallucinations stalk the waking world. Reality is bending in ways that Twilight Sparkle doesn't understand. But she intends to get to the bottom of this mystery and save Equestria from whatever is hiding in the dark.

Twilight Sparkle wonders, sometimes, if the pony in her dreams is the real her. If that is her soul laid bare.

She's about to find out.

Written for the Distant Shores Writeoff. Cover art by CosmicUnicorn, used with permission.

The rain comes falling from the sky. It brings out all the good and bad in the ponies living in Ponyville.

Today is such a rainy day.

Donut Joe keeps his store open on Hearth’s Warming Eve. And why not? He doesn’t have anywhere else to be, and neither do the tired, bitter ponies who find their way inside.

But the Eve is young, and strange things lie ahead. Who knows what might happen on a night like tonight?

(Inspired by the song "Old City Bar," by Trans-Siberian Orchestra)

Reviewed by TheifofZ here.

Dear Diary,
Looking back, a scientific, step-by-step plan is completely ineffective for social situations (Note to self: don't do them, ever). Inviting Princess Luna to a Pinkie Pie Hearth's Warming party, with a checklist of steps in your head, was an awful idea. There are too many variables that a checklist cannot prepare for, such as an entrancing outfit. The plan resulted in a spectacular failure of when awkward meets anxious.
For future use, a spreadsheet might be better.
- TS

A super-duper, awesomely-wonderful, amazing podcast review of this fic can be found here by Lapis Lazuli and Inky J! Seriously, they're great. <3
More Awesomeness! Doom Pie has done a super-duper reading for this fic! Thank you so much!

Cover art courtesy of the wonderful lovelyneckbeard, which can be found here.

The tyrannical Shadow Stallion oppresses Equestria, coating the land in a thick layer of clouds, tightly controlling the population. Three children, the unicorns Celestia and Luna, along with a Draconequus, Discord, must live up to their fate. They must find the Elements of Harmony and take up their rightful place as Equestrias new gods and saviors.

Adventure and Friendshipping mix, intended to be a possible prequel to the show. Featured on EqD since January 09, 2012. Six Stars.

(Credit to Primogenitor34 for Cover-Art)
(Credit to smellyfeetyouhave and Thunder Blaze for the old cover-art)
(Now 20% CYOA... okay maybe a little more than that. Please use the [Continue] option to go from Chapter to Chapter. If you just want the straight up story, go green)

"It's going to be a long night..."

When a mansion appears out of nowhere in the outskirts of town, The Mane 6, are all invited to a housewarming by Specter Yield, the owner of the strange mansion. Hours after they leave to attend the party, the Cutie Mark Crusaders find themselves in this mansion. Eventually, Sweetie Belle finds herself alone in this massive mansion, trying to save her friends, and discovering the truth behind this haunted mansion. Will she be able to rescue her friends... and possibly all of Equestria from the ghostly presence?

Hope is the faith of the young. Losing everything she holds dear, Puppysmiles embarks on the adventure of her life to find her mother, her hopes of meeting her again driving her through the horrors of a world not of her making. Too bad the Wastelands doesn't care about hope.

What if Twilight Sparkle's letters to Princess Celestia started a religion?

This is the story of Brother White and Brother Scroll. One of them is an upstanding young unicorn eager to do whatever he can to make other ponies happy. The other is a shy little loner who's never had a real friend before. What do these two young stallions have in common? They are both members of the Fraternity of the Joyous Friends of Princess Celestia, an organization dedicated to teaching Equestria and the world about the magic of friendship. When Scroll and White are assigned to Earthquake Island, however, they find themselves in over their heads. Can the teachings of the Book of Friendship help them save an island run by a brutal warlord, wracked by war, poverty, and hatred?

Quizzical Greystone has just come to Ponyville as an assistant in Friendship Research. Such a socially inept filly might not be the best pony for the job. But this just might be the job she needs. If you can't make friends in Ponyville can you make friends anywhere?

Twilight's just received her official government escort license, which allows her to legally take on passengers during a teleport. Unfortunately, the fee was hideously expensive -- enough to completely wipe out all her spare bits. And there's a major purchase coming up which she refuses to put off. So what better way to raise the money than by giving her freshly-approved skill a workout? After all, it's winter, it's cold, ponies will get home all the faster, and since Twilight knows what 'escort' means, so will everypony else.

It's probably best not to bet on that last part.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group -- but can be read as a stand-alone, and no knowledge of the other stories is required. New members and trope edits are welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Current cover art by Harwick: please contact him for commission rates. Original cover art by EquesTRON.