To Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia, it is a simple surprise visit to Canterlot. To the ponies of the Equestrian Civil Service, it is twenty-four hours of chaos, politics, weaponized dessert, politics, underhooved manipulation of media, politics, and things batrachian and tentacular. Who said bureaucracy isn't exciting?

Twilight has developed a device that can detect strange signals coming from outer space; signals from aliens! She gathers her friends so that they can all listen in.

But they may not like what they hear...

cover image courtesy of DocWario

I'd appreciate if everyone could keep the YouTube embeds in the comments to a minimum. The sheer number of them is putting a bit more strain on my connection than I'd like. I'm going to start deleting any comments with 2 or more embeds in them.

Twilight Sparkle has always been frustrated with Discord. His ability to do anything, with no more effort than a snap of his claw. It shouldn't be possible. His power had to come from somewhere.
Then, one day, Twilight lets slip how she feels. Surprisingly Discord agrees to explain it to her. To give her the secret to all of his powers. If she's willing to pay the price that knowing it all will bring.

„In a secluded desert on the frontiers of Equestria, an eccentric genius works to bring the stars within reach of everypony. But can smiths and metalworkers who never made anything more difficult than ploughs or golden trinkets really make the dream a reality? Or has inspiration arrived a hundred years too early?“

Originally published on Equestria Daily (6-star), uploaded to FimFiction upon request.
Imported from GoogleDocs in order to preserve formatting (italics/etc.); this may have resulted in table-breaking and other various display bugs. Should you see such issues, please do not hesitate reporting them!

A human and Princess Celestia wake up in bed together with head-splitting hangovers. They have no idea what happened the previous night, and they're not sure they want to know.

This is a stupid fic, but I had a ton of fun writing it. 'Fraid it'll only be two chapters long though.

Every week or so, Rarity gathers all of her friends for a little get-together at her boutique. Or at a cafe. Or in Sugarcube Corner. Anywhere that serves tea or tea can be brought in.

And every time, as soon as their conversation steers towards that most intimate of topics, Rainbow Dash falls silent.

Kids. Kids. Who are you gonna believe, some old book, or your Uncle Bad Horse?

So, anyway. Like I was saying. Once upon a time...

(One of those damn kids had a wire on him, and put recordings on that tubey thing, one, two, three. And made a video. And wrote it all down, in Russian.)

This story is a sequel to Triptych

He can't sleep. It was hard enough just getting Twilight back to bed and now that she's resting, all he can do is toss, turn, and completely fail to find a better placement for the basket. So as long as he's up anyway and trying to avoid disturbing his sister, there are worse things to do than take a quiet stroll around his sleeping town. Seeing what the world is like when he's the only one moving through it.

But there is one who knows that quiet world better than anypony, who isn't willing to let him travel without company.

And when two who share a secret meet under Moon, time becomes just one more thing to move through.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon, SubscribeStar, and Ko-Fi pages.

Cover art by Foxy Noxy, used under open permission.

One night, just like that, Celestia realizes she's going to die in less than twenty-four hours.

Proofread by:

• Selbi
• Neko Majin C

Featured on EQD!

Polish translation made by Dolar84

Crossing Guard works in Equestria's Immigration Department: among other things, he serves as the final check on whether a non-pony can take up residence in Canterlot. It's not a simple job, especially given the follow-ups when a new resident or citizen-in-waiting inevitably gets into trouble. But Gerald Gristle is an exceptionally calm applicant, Crossing's tired from a long day, and so he allows the griffon to begin the five-year process, with the announced food supply business set to open two weeks in.

Which is when Crossing finds out just what kind of food the griffon is supplying.

After all, carnivores and omnivores have to eat too...

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group -- but can be read as a stand-alone, and no knowledge of the other stories is required. New members and trope edits are welcome.)

Now with author Patreon, SubscribeStar, and Ko-Fi pages.