The Cutie Mark Crusaders have a history presentation today, and who better for Applebloom to bring than her Uncle Apple Strudel? He'd just love to talk to the class about his old country roots!

Applebloom is going to get an A for this, for sure!

You are entering another dimension, a land not of sight or sound, but of mind and magic. It is a realm where light hides amongst the shadows, and your enemies wear the faces of your friends. This is a dimension we call … The Gray Zone.

Submitted for your consideration: Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, the gleaming city on the mountain. Just yesterday, the city was host to a lavish Royal Wedding—and it fought off an invasion of shapeshifting insects. Today, the ponies fancy themselves safe. But as they will soon discover, their worst enemy still walks among them, unseen. The real nightmare has only begun …

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My tribute to a classic episode of The Twilight Zone.

Many thanks to my pre-readers:
JapaneseTeeth
KuroiTsubasaTenshi
Yami Vizzini

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Review and such.

They say you can’t miss what you’ve never had. And Scootaloo would be inclined to agree with them. Except, she did have all a little filly would want from a home, and she does miss what she lost. Not that anypony would help her get it back.

Would they?

Edited by the incomperable Inky Jay - Go give him some love.
Cover art by Dat Ensayne

This is Equestria. But something went differently this time. The Everfree is even more out of control, and has become a breeding ground and nesting place for thousands of dangerous creatures. With so many new threats constantly changing, evolving in the darkness, no one knows what the next monster could be capable of. In such a world, the Unknown means Danger.

Meet Pinkie Pie. She's an earth pony who likes parties and making everyone smile. She's very, very good at it.

That's a bad thing.

You see, some of the things she does are... strange. Unnatural. Sure, parties may be her special talent, but that doesn't explain where she got a cannon that can decorate a room. And it doesn't stop at parties. There's something unnatural about that mare. No one can explain it.

Pinkie Pie is an Unknown.

Unknowns are dangerous.

Princess Celestia has taken the poor pony under her wing, and raised her away from unfriendly eyes, allowing her to live what approaches a normal life. Soon, Pinkie will be reintroduced to the world at large, starting with a little town called Ponyville, on the day of the one-thousandth Summer Sun Celebration.

Let's see how that goes.

Sunset Shimmer is having the worst day of her life. She used to be important. She was the personal student of Princess Celestia. She was a future leader of Equestria. She was the kind of mare that everypony envied.

Today, it's all crashing down around her.

Alternate Universe: What if Sunset Shimmer hadn't gone through the mirror?

Certain alicorns have no regard for the rules of space and time. An astral sub-dimension becomes a potent weapon in what appears to be a divine prank war. Shining Armor hits the sauce.

Written for this contest thinger.

Celestia's morning has been difficult enough, between hearing Twilight's confession of love, and then breaking her heart as gently as possible. Mere moments later, her private chambers are rocked by the shockwaves of a time-traveling spell. This marks the arrival of Celestia's alleged lover from five thousand years in the future, Princess Twilight Sparkle—or as she insists on Celestia referring to her, Glitter-Flanks.

Armed with thousands of years of knowledge of which buttons to push and how to make her squirm, Glitter-Flanks has traveled back to this date for one singular purpose: to establish the closed time loop that sets the two of them up as a couple.

Fillydelphia! City of a thousand glittering opportunities! Come to Fillydelphia! Get your mane cut! Divorce your spouse! Buy a chariot! Rent a condo! Fillydelphia! The city that glows like the gin blossoms on its mayor’s face!

Trixie and Gilda have been in Fillydelphia for some time, and it’s almost, but not quite, to their taste. There’s no good work — at least, no good work with monthly paychecks, annual performance reviews and a promotion track that doesn’t involve murder — for a travelling illusionist and an uncertified bouncer, so to cover the rent they’ve had to resort to bad work.

Well, not bad bad work. And certainly not that sort of bad work. The hours are good, the pay is more than adequate, and the people they meet are interesting.

They cater to a certain clientele, ponies who know it’s not just what you have in life that makes you happy, but what you don’t have. Like vengeful rivals. Or snitches. Or nosy detectives.

Or dead bodies.

When that is the particular problem, Gilda and Trixie get a call. For a reasonable price and a good reference, they’ll make your problem disappear...

Applejack is chosen as The Nightmare's new host.

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

In the wake of Chrysalis' failed invasion, a different hive breaks tradition and steps into the light to open relations with Equestria. The ever eager scholar, Twilight Sparkle, uses this truce as the perfect opportunity to learn more about this enigmatic race. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, she will learn all there is to know about what it means to be a changeling.

But will Twilight lose herself in the hive, or will she regain what she has lost? Only time will tell.

Featured on 9/24/13

My first featured story! You guys are awesome.

Story readings and cover art by Luminescent Skies: Click here for some audio novel treatment

My Editor in Chief: Cloud Hop