[Complete] Celestia awakens to see an empty world, white sandstone stretching the horizon. She wanders the world as she builds it from her imagination, filling it with life, but as time passes, the world that she created begins to seem like little more than a lucid dream, conjured from the dust.

Princess Twilight Sparkle discovers a centuries-old mystery hidden in the Royal Archives. Her investigation leads through layer after layer of deception and misdirection, setting her hooves on a path that seems to be leading to a mysterious secret. Along the way, she learns that some friendships can be very, very strange.

Book 1 of the Alicorn Adventure series.

AUDIOBOOK by VisualPony
Featured at the Royal Canterlot Library
TV Tropes Page (Courtesy of Sandtalon)
Goodreads Page (Courtesy of Facedeer)
Equestria Daily Page

WARNING: Major spoilers in the comments. Takes place several months after the end of season four. (Not a Da Vinci Code crossover, BTW!)

Do you see a dark tag? No, you don't. Not dark. Well, okay, there are a couple of dark-ish bits, but that's all. Not enough to warrant a tag. Speaking of tags, there really ought to be "Badass Twilight" and "Friendshipping" ones.

Sequels and side-stories (and more) can be found here Offprint and AO3, and a hardbound two-volume set of all that can be ordered from The Ministry of Image.

My editor for the first edition of this story was Gogito, and I can't thank him enough for all the hard work he did. My editor for the revised version was PresentPerfect, and he did a terrific job of getting the story into excellent shape.

[ Inspired off Season 5 Finale - Nightmare Moon Verse ]
Social reject, blank flank, and failed candidate for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, Twilight Sparkle's life couldn't get anymore depressing even if she tried. Yet still she looks to the other things in her life to get by, such as her job selling donuts at Joe's Bakery, her best friend Smarty Pants, as well as her inspiration to someday be as great as The Great and Powerful Trixie herself! Life isn't as bad as it may seem, and she enjoys the simplicity of her daily routine, the peace of her recluse world. That is until suddenly she is targeted by the current ruling body of Equestria, Nightmare Moon herself!? Perhaps she spoke too soon. Better run Twilight, destiny is calling!

Falling in love with the mythological book series Midnight Castle, Lyra Heartstrings has created her very own fan fiction site, a home to all that enjoy reading and writing human fiction.

This is the life and times of that site.