At first glance, Princess Luna's charioteers might appear to be little more than Royal Guards dressed in festive apparel for Nightmare Night. However, there is far more to the story than that - the Night Guards once played a pivotal role in the history of Equestria, and have sacrificed more for their beloved princess than most ponies are even aware of.

Necromancers. Sickly ponies bathed in cloaks of darkness, bringing ruin to all who fall under their shadow, terror to those who meet their gaze. Ripping the dead from the grave and conscripting them to their army of evil and conquest. Woe to the towns that dare draw their interest.

Such are the legends.

This is a story about one of the kindest ponies I know.

---

Now on Equestria Daily!

Now with a sequel, From Dusk to Night.

Beta Reader Special Thanks:

Blissey1
Clever Pun
Japanese Teeth
Pannic
Meta Four
Sereg
Connelly
Invidlord
Jezendar
TerribleTransit

"Kill Rainbow Dash." That's the story. An assassin is hired to carry out that single command.

With the idea that he can't kill unless he has proven to himself the pony deserves death, he sets out to end her life. However, when he finds himself incapable of finding any reason to kill Rainbow Dash, he ends up trapped in a moral dilemma with no way out.

To save her sister and her faithful student, Celestia herself must travel into the ancient tunnels beneath the ruined castle in the Everfree Forest. She, and the guards who accompany her, must face the dark, twisting corridors. Still, what was Luna and Twilight's purpose at the old castle? Why were they unable to return of their own accord?

And what watches Celestia from beyond the light's edge?

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?

"All my life, I've wanted to fly
But I don't have the wings, and I wonder why
I can't break away..."
Most pegasi figure out flying easily enough. Heck, most of them figure out how to do it before they even get their cutie marks.

But not me. I couldn’t do it, no matter how hard I tried. I couldn’t even hover. Not for more than a few seconds, anyway. And not even Rainbow Dash, the greatest flier in Equestria, could seem to help me. We tried everything, and I failed every time. Day after day, I tried – and day after day, I failed, until finally I was ready to just give up. I’d never be able to do it. Nopony would ever be able to help me to fly...

...until one day, somepony did.

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.

Ponyville is getting ready to host a Dodgeball Tournament when Gilda shows up, challenging them against her own team. As they prepare themselves, Twilight and her friends learn a surprising secret about a certain crossed-eyed mailpony. Will Ponyville be able to beat Gilda and her team? Or will they taste rubbery defeat?

A pegasus woke in the woods. He was lost, injured, and had only the vaguest of dreams for memories; nightmares of a Canterlot engulfed in shadow and flame, of an invading swarm lead by one great and terrible dark figure. As he begins a new life, the dreams continue to taunt him. Will he ever find out who he was? And if he does, can he -- and his newfound friends -- accept what he finds?

(Credit also goes to Mekhazzio for help with editing)

TV Tropes page

Book cover art by viwrastupr

As an unstoppable hurricane bears down on Manehatten, Rainbow Dash has to face the unpleasant truth that not all of life's obstacles can be overcome. Sometimes you just have to do your best to get by. And when Dash gets the opportunity to become a Wonderbolt for a day, doing her best takes on a whole new, unexpected, meaning.

Editing provided by: Spabble
If you like this, try: Words Failed Her