Things happen. Nothing happens in between these things. If they did, they'd simply be things with more nothing between 'em. So how do you measure the nothing? Two ponies, equally flawed, intend to find out together... no matter how far it takes them.

This is the story that won first place in /fic/'s eighteenth write-off competition. The original story--here, split into three chapters--was written and edited over a period of just seventy two hours. I intend to add additional chapters whenever the fit comes upon me. Do yourself a big favor and check out all the other awesome entries as well!

A story about two alicorn sisters who love each other, and the worst decision they never made.

Now with FIMFic-exclusive bonus material!

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(Featured in the Everfree NW 2012 conbook • Featured on EqD • ★★★★ rating from One Man's Pony Ramblings)

On an unassuming carnival midway in central Equestria sits the key to your dreams: A machine that lets you, for a short time, live a life in which your greatest regret never occurred.

These are the stories of what happens after those fantasies are over.

Each chapter is a complete, self-contained vignette (though their order of presentation is deliberate).

Reviews and other word-of-mouth:
• Highly Recommended by Titanium Dragon! "Each of the four stories is good in their own way."
• Featured by Seattle's Angels! "If the introspection or feels aren’t quite up your alley, the comedic punchline just might be, thus this fic has a little something for everyone."
• Also reviewed by PaulAsaran, Present Perfect, City of Doors, and Chris! Recommended by The Brony Bookclub!
• "'The Lotus Eaters' was the story that made me realize horizon wasn't just good, he was really good." —Bad Horse

CONTINUITY NOTE:
This is set in the same continuity as my previous story No Regrets. Reading that first will enhance your enjoyment of both stories, but is not required to appreciate this.

After you're done with TLE, here are the author's notes (contain mild spoilers).

Stress levels were already high, with Twilight directing her first royal Hearth's Warming pageant and unexpected snowstorms escaping the Everfree. Then the changeling army arrived.

Now, with Queen Chrysalis holding Ponyville hostage and the clock ticking on suspiciously pointless negotiations, it's up to Rarity to match wits with the invaders and save the holiday. However, as she digs ever deeper into the queen's tangled plot, what she learns could force her to choose between her friendships and her conscience.

Off-season note: This is a Hearth's Warming story like Die Hard is a Christmas movie (but with espionage instead of explosions). Don't skip it just because the holiday's over.

Critical praise:

"A high-tension thriller where nothing is what it seems." — Titanium Dragon (rating: "Highly Recommended")

"An entertaining ride from start to finish … watching all the pieces fall into place is fantastic." — Present Perfect (rating: "Highly Recommended")

"Props to horizon for an intricate web of deception. Most writers have difficulty with crafting mysteries … this one, however, had me completely fooled from beginning to end." — PaulAsaran (rating: "Why Haven't You Read This Yet?")

"It’s a rare mystery and thriller that can keep things tense and make the mystery actually tough to guess as you go along, while still feeling like a natural conclusion. ... The end result of layers unveiled and red herrings contradicted makes it sing." — Ghost Mike (rating: "Really Good")

Second-place winner in the "Behind Closed Doors" December writeoff, now expanded and revised! Featured on EqD! Rated "Recommended" by MLPmatthewl419!

Big thanks to Titanium Dragon for post-Writeoff editing assistance.

Comments contain spoilers!

Crime was easy before Princess Twilight and the First Five ushered in a golden age of Harmony. Back then, any idiot could plan a robbery, just like any rat could sneak through the cracks in wooden granary walls. But now that everything is cloudstone and clearsteel, with magical countermeasures over the few remaining holes, it takes a different breed of rat to survive.

"Slippery" Jimmy the Grey is one of the rare few ponies who can still slip through the cracks — even with the legendary Rainbow Corps on his tail. Now he's got a billion-bit heist planned in the gleaming skyscrapers of Cloudsdale. If only he hadn't made the mistake of stealing from a dragon …

Now with a reading by Illya Leonov and Scribbler!

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This is a crossover with Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat novels, but it assumes no knowledge of the series.

Winner of February's Writeoff Association competition! * Featured by Equestria Daily! * Featured by Seattle's Angels!

REVIEWS: "Highly Recommended" by Titanium Dragon; "Recommended" by Present Perfect; rated "Why Haven't You Read This Yet?" by PaulAsaran

WORD OF MOUTH:
"The Iridescent Iron Rat was not only my favorite story from the most recent writeoff... it's my favorite story of anything I've read in months." —Sharp Spark

"What a ride it is. This story is made of awesome moments." —Casca, Seattle's Angels

"[A]stounding on so many levels. … If there’s one story from this round you have to pick, make it this one." —Corejo, Seattle's Angels

"Absolutely beautifully done. It fits the style and feel of the books to a perfect T." —Themaskedferret

A server waits on six ponies in a restaurant. The diners have drinking contests and discuss social responsibility. The clock ticks ever on and on.

Practicing her sonic rainboom technique on a cool morning in Ponyville with Applejack as her spotter, Rainbow Dash rescues another pegasus from an imfamous Falling Leaf Spin.

Upon recovery, they discover that the young mare had been in posession of an extremely sophisticated camera, now a pile of scrap metal on the ground.

In an attempt to console the distraught pegasus, Dash and AJ search for a solution to her busted optics, only to end with the young pegasus leaving for the manufacturer in a rush of excitement.

Things take a turn for the strange when the same pegasus returns four hours later with a brand new camera... From a round-trip journey of over five thousand miles.

Tempers flare, challenges are issued, and Rainbow Dash's pride is put to the ultimate test.

What is the secret of the photographer known as Dainty Dish?

Big Macintosh's life has taken a surprising turn in the form of a pink pony with a penchant for partying. But even amongst all the gossip and the dozens of parties appearing on his calendar, he still manages to live the same life he’s always lived (to a certain degree). However, sometimes it’s not the great big changes that are the most affecting.

The Medallion of Light and the Medallion of Shadow are some of the most powerful yet obscure artifacts of antiquity. Created by a now-vanished cult of assassins, the two devices together give their bearer the incredible power to walk the worlds with but a single step.

Nefarious forces are closing in on both artifacts, and very little stands in their way. Heinrich Himmler's agents covet the medallions for the greater glory of the Third Reich. Ahuizotl's simply want their master to get what's coming to him: the world, and everything in it.

With the fate of all good people and ponies in doubt, one thing's for certain: saving two worlds would be one hell of an adventure. And if adventure has a name, it must be Daring Do… or is that Indiana Jones?

Will our heroes win the day? Find out in... Daring Do and the Medallion of Shadow! Or, Indiana Jones and the Medallion of Light!

NOTE: there will be some violence in this story, but nothing more than you would expect to see in an Indiana Jones movie-- so I didn't check the "gore" content box.

Artwork by Tzelly-el.

Special thanks to SapphireStarlightPony & Rated Ponystar for helping with the brainstorming on this one.

Thanks to this stupid thing I've had the Indiana Jones theme song stuck in my head for like the past four days and I am about to claw my eyes out AAAAAAAHHHHH @_@

Every department has them. The standouts. The supercops. The other guys. And for some reason, there's always one or two of THEM... a pair of loose-cannon cops who refuse to play by the rules, taking the law and throwing it in cuffs right alongside every mook and petty criminal they've apprehended on the mean streets of Ponyville.

These are the reports of two such officers in the Ponyville Police Department, Officer Cherry n' Berries and Officer Dodge Charger. Two officers that seem as determined to uphold law and order in town as they are to rip the place to shreds, upholding the hell out of law and order in town.

Image courtesy of TapeDiggity.