Applejack is chosen as The Nightmare's new host.

It really isn't that big of a deal. Until it is.

This story is a sequel to Old Friends

Her oldest friend tries to save her, but they both discover it's too late.

Cover art by DaisyAzuras

A mysterious “World Circus” has come to Ponyville; though, not all is as it seems. When Twilight learns the motives behind the grandeur, she finds only death and despair lying within its machinations. But somewhere in the illusions and fabricated realities lies the truth she so desperately must find to save herself and the world as she knows it.

When you lose a tooth, you put it under your pillow. Then, in the dead of night while you slumber, the Tooth Fairy comes to take your tooth and gives you some money in exchange. This is a simple and harmless procedure.

...Or at least it's supposed to be. The Cutie Mark Crusaders don't know the meaning of "simple and harmless."

Pinkie Pie has a new friend who just arrived in Ponyville. She sees him every morning, when he orders a plain old breakfast muffin. She's tried several times to surprise him with parties, but he always manages to disappear. Today, however, will be different!

On the first morning after her sister's return, Princess Celestia does something she hasn't done for a thousand years.

Ever since she was a filly, Applejack has lived in Manehattan. And ever since Nightmare Moon took over, she’s had plenty of work as a private eye. When a tall stallion walks into her office and asks her to find his missing fiancé, it seems like just another case. But when a trail of clues and bodies leads her deeper into the darkened heart of the city, Applejack may find herself in over her fedora, and quite literally gambling for her life.

How does Derpy put up with one of the most boring jobs in Equestria?

With the most active imagination in Equestria, of course.

"We live in what we believe is a shell, a closed sphere where all is constant. As physics would have it, nothing in the universe is unique, nothing is wasted or destroyed: it is repurposed. But now I prove them wrong. With a single idea, I realize that we are not so insignificant as we think. We are not slaves to destiny and existence. We are the ashes of gods, the fruits of eternity, the products of choice and fate. We are not meaningless. This universe is not our prison.

This is our empire."

- Excerpt from A Lexicon of Impossibilities, by Cypher

Special thanks:
AeronJVL, for the amazing cover art.
Emberspeak, Forderz, RTStephens, PropMaster, and RazgrizS57 for their editing.
shortskirtsandexplosions for the idea.

Giant mutant spiders have ensnared Rainbow Dash's friends with plans to lay eggs in the mares' soft, squishy, bellies. This is the sort of evil that no normal pony can handle. Who should Ponyville call? Who else?

Enter Amethyst Star: Spider Slayer

Dedicated to RazgrizS57 and written in under six hours before a live audience on Google Drive.

Cover art by Darkflame