All mothers love their children, and all mothers feed their children. Princess Chrysalis and her mother are no different, except that to a changeling, "love" and "food" are the same thing.

Well... mostly.

This was the "Usurper Chrysalis" story in FOME's Imposing Sovereigns Contest.

Princess Twilight Sparkle has been losing her mind. She lives plagued by nightmares and hallucinations.

Discovering she's not alone, Twilight realizes Equestria may be in great danger. She seeks counsel with Princess Luna to discover the truth about her nightmares. However, Luna warns Twilight the knowledge she seeks will come at great personal cost.

Twilight Sparkle would give up anything to save Equestria, but how much will she sacrifice just to learn the truth?

Special thanks to Bradel for his editing advice.

All his life, Angel Bunny has been plagued by a single question. At long last, he has an answer, and he longs to reveal it. Doing so may be the single most important thing he's ever done, but Angel doesn't know how to deliver the message. After all, rabbits have no need of writing.

Angel needs to learn. Knowing this task is far too important to let his pride get the better of him, Angel does something he never thought he'd do: ask for help. There's only one pony for the job.

One of the most unique fics I have ever read. —PresentPerfect

A hugely welcome addition to the small pile of stories that take Angel's character seriously. —Louder Yay

The structural gimmick is both well-used and well-explored. —Royal Canterlot Library

A deeply emotional tale, told piece-by-piece through the perspective of someone who desperately wants to say something but is unable to say it. —Bad_Seed_72

...unique, endearing, heartwarming, cute, and proved to me you can write Angel Bunny in a way that doesn’t make me want to strangle him. That last part alone is enough for me to think this story is a work of genius. —Vertigo22

Preread by Dash the Stampede
Edited by Hopeless Appraisal
Cover art used with permission from WhitediamondsLtd (click image for White's DeviantArt page)

3/29/2015: Now featured on Equestria Daily!
11/28/2015: Now featured in the Royal Canterlot Library!

Rainbow Dash's latest flying routine was interrupted by a sudden mountain, and Twilight can hardly sleep at night. No pony should be this excited to play with necromancy.

Edited by Deceased and JustAnotherTimeLord.

Cover art courtesy of pony-berserker.

Dramatic reading by WritingStylus

Polish translation by atom2004
Spanish translation by Spaniard Kiwi
Russian translation by NovemberDragon

Daring Do cannot believe her luck when she is asked to help explore the most ancient tomb known to ponykind. But terrible danger awaits her, for beneath the earth rests something beyond equine understanding.

Warning: comments contain ending spoilers.

TVTropes page.
Alternate ending by Duplex Fields.
Archived in the Pony Fiction Vault.
Reviews:
One Man's Pony Ramblings
Louder Yay
PresentPerfect
The Royal Guard
Cleverpun's Critique Corner
The Goodfic Bin

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!

Once upon a time, there was a pony named Fan Service. She had an amazing life -- money, fame, good looks, but she realized it was missing something: character depth. And so she set out to seek the one thing that would make her life complete.

Written in four hours during a speed writing exercise. Totally unedited. Enjoy!

Twilight Sparkle is a happy pony. With the help of her friends she defeated Tirek. She has a shiny new castle, the kingdom is safe, and she knows the reason behind her ascension. What more could a young princess want?

She is happy, she tells herself as she digs through the ruins of her home. She is so happy she can barely smell the ashes any more.

But in those ashes she finds something unexpected: a small porcelain vase, and with it a decade's worth of unspoken questions. A mystery hiding beneath her hooves, waiting to be put to rest.

Winner of the November Writeoff event.

I am Cold, swirling snow that turns ponies against each other, searing ice that freezes them solid. I am Survivor, the one the Friendfyre spell didn't catch, an exception that proves an impossible rule. I am Fear, Frustration, Anger, Hatred, every emotion my Creator has ever felt. I am her Future. I am her Past.

I am Demon, and Clover the Clever is my Master.

Winner of Equestria Daily's Outside Insight Summer Fanfic Contest.

Featured in The Royal Canterlot Library on March 6th, 2015.

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.