A terrible storm strikes Ponyville without warning. Thanks to Pinkie Pie, Scootaloo makes it to safety in a basement shelter with a few other fillies and colts, but days pass with no word from above and food starts to run out.

Somepony has to go outside.

Born of the brainstorm that spawned Penalt's Equestria, Destroyed and Black Flash by Damaged, and set in the same world. Special thanks to solocitizen, Garnot, Penalt, Damaged, and Cross Lament for their contributions.

At the apex of King Sombra's tyrannical rule, six crystal ponies venture through the driving snow and icy underground caverns in an attempt to flee the oppressive Crystal Empire to the mythical Equestria, far past the miles of frozen wasteland.

But the caverns below hold terrifying secrets, and the road to Equestria is a long one.

Special thanks to Ice Star for prereading help. (1-2)
This story, besides the obvious horror elements, contains heavy themes of domestic abuse and slavery.

In between the events of "Rainbow Rocks" and "Friendship Games," Sunset visits Rarity's boutique, seeking a new outfit to reflect her new personality and outlook on life.

*Written at Fillycon 2016 in Philadelphia, PA.

After realizing her dream of earning her cutie mark—in the company of her best friends, no less—Scootaloo’s life should have been on an upward course. Instead, she sees herself on yet another crusade, one which will lead her to question her friends, her family, and what it means to love, and be loved. — Takes place immediately after "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" (S05E18).

New to the story? Start with the Recap Chapter!

Chapters 1-36 written by jowijo. Chapters 37+ written by myself. Information here.

(Need more? Scrapped chapters)

Editors:
Dreams of Ponies (21-36)
Level Dasher (36)
brokenimage321 (1-23;31)
Eruantalon (21 & 22)
JackRipper (26, 29, 31)

Prereaders:
I Thought I Was Toast (31-37)
TheGreatEater (1-24)
Krack-fic Kai (37)
jowijo (37)

Believe it or not, the Friendship Games wasn't an easy film to make. Various scenes had to be redone because of random shenanigans, misspoken lines, or general silliness.

Here's an exclusive behind the scenes look of what never made it into the movie...

This story was based off of the Friendship Games Blooper Reel that recently released.

Apple Bloom swore she saw Babs Seed's eye color change during the Apple Family Reunion, and she demands explanations. They may be just a little bit...stranger than she thought.

My attempt at creating either the perfect fixfic or the perfect fixfic parody.

Rainbow Dash has no experience in dealing with doctrines nor demons. In fact, she doesn't have any knowledge of their existence. When she is thrust head first into a steadily building catastrophe, she will have to put her life on hold in an attempt to do her civic duty.

Discord, however, has a history with these creatures, being almost as ancient as them, but after three and a half thousand years encased in stone, he is feeling a little stiff. He also doesn't want to be stiffed, knowing that one of the ponies who incarcerated him in the first place will not release him lightly; not without an ace in her mane. Especially not Luna, she disliked him especially.

Luna knows a great deal of the past: Centuries of research and innumerous amounts of time spent delving into magics that no unicorn could hope to perform has allowed her that luxury.

The princess realises that those who do not learn from the past are destined to repeat it. She also wonders which of her companions will be the most difficult to control. The only thing she knows for certain is that her sister cannot catch wind of the situation arising, nor of her plans to suppress it.

If Celestia found out, Equestria would never survive.

"It has been theorised that this great land once had another ruler, one that shaped and molded it into the place we now know. One far older than our fair princesses and those who came before them, one that breathed our ancestors to life. Of course, no amount of theological discussion can lead to any concrete evidence, and the teleological debates regarding the extrinsic value of our own land and technology is inconclusive also. Epistomologically, we must assume that there is no greater power than the entities which we are aware of, until it is shown otherwise."

Swirl, Star. The Extrinsic Elements of Metaphysics: A Compendium of Theory and Conjecture. Canterlot, Royal Canterlot Library, 2988 ND. 3rd edition.

A sleeping Rarity mysteriously appears in her friends' beds, and nopony knows how or why. Her friends are determined to discover the truth behind Rarity's night-time snuggling spree.

Spike has a bad dream, and goes to find Twilight.

A paid commission request for B_25.