This story is a sequel to What Lies Beyond the Dance

Season 5 Spoilers

In a place beyond time itself Celestia, Chrysalis, and Discord play games with the fates of mortals. But why? And what could have caused such games to come about?

Only one being knows the full answer. Luna, witness to her sister's fall. She alone has lived countless lives as her sister remakes the world time and time again.

Her tale is tragedy, her suffering endless. But she must remember, for is both arbiter and victim of her sister's crime. So she tells her tale again.

Sonata Dusk plays in the park under the watchful eyes of Aria and Adagio.

Preread by Rainedash!

Twilight goes for a walk.

Reading by PresentPerfect!

After wandering into the old Castle in the Everfree Forest in pursuit of an odd looking hare Fluttershy finds herself trapped inside, and her will being imposed on by the remnants of the powerful being of hate known as the Nightmare...

Audio reading here by Lotus Moon

In a freak accident from the Cloudsdale weather control team, Twilight is struck down by an errant lightning bolt. But the veil of death is relatively thin...

When Button Mash finds an old game in his attic, the Crusaders and their friends gather around to play it, completely unaware of the consequences.

Minor ButtonBelle in the story, though it's not a big part of the story. But, in all seriousness, Ouija boards are SCREWED UP and you should absolutely NEVER use one unless you know for sure how to use one(unlike the Crusaders, of course).

So, if you want to know more about Ouija boards, here are some links~:
How to use the Ouija Board
4 Ways to Use a Ouija Board
23 Terrifying True Tales of People Messing Around With Ouija Boards

Canterlot... For centuries, Canterlot was the shining gem of Equestria, the pinnacle of pony society. Now, it’s a reminder, a bleak and monolithic warning to the world. 

Changed by the chemical and technological poisons that plague the mountain, an abomination of nature, I wander the greatest disaster Equestria has ever seen. 

... I will escape eventually, and when I do, I hope my friends still see me as Twilight Sparkle, and not the monster that hides among the ruins. 

Friendship School needs more than five students to really get off the ground. Twilight has an elegant solution for some definition of "elegant."

Princess Celestia is a living legend, but much of her life is shrouded in mystery. Records have long since been lost to the decay of time, and the tale of her triumph over Discord has become a fable. The Princess's memory of the event has long since faded... or has it?

Her faithful student lending an eager ear, Celestia recounts the true story of a war-torn Equestria, the struggle against Discord, and the early years of her own life.

Before she was the Princess of the Sun, she was merely a stranger.

(Featured on Equestria Daily!)

This isn't where I belong. I left all this behind years ago, moved on with my life. But a mare from my past brought me back, and now she won't let me go. So I'm stuck here, trying to make the best of it with ponies that don't understand me, don't even like me. But when something moves in the darkness, and when things go wrong in the cold, dead night, they'll turn to me to try to set things right.

Why? Because once a police pony, always a police pony.
~~
This is a spin-off story to 'Why am I Pinkie Pie?!', and will contain spoilers for that story, but it's not necessary to read that story to understand this one.
Cover art by the talented Conicer
Need more Cinnamon Swirl? Merlos the Mad wrote a fanfic of this story!

There is now a side-story: A Hard Day's Nightmare Night