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!

The law exists to protect Equestrian citizens, and must be enacted in a fair and even manner. Prince Blueblood knows this; he's accepted punishment for his numerous minor disturbances of the Equestrian legal system, without ever trying to slip out of it.

Fluttershy is in violation the law. Ergo, she must be brought to justice. That's just logic.

Now if only he can get the captain of the guard and his annoyingly lackidasial aunt to cooperate...

Made for the eighth FTP competition. Cover art by hwaho.

Twilight was never one to break the rules, but she has an unexpected experience when she enters...the door.

A short fic written for Halloween in the spirit of the season. :)

"Faster," whispered Twilight as she cleaned up the mess. "They need to be faster."

On a cliff overlooking an ocean, Sunset Shimmer is asked an important question:

"Our little ponies. Our kingdom. Are they just as peaceful and prosperous as ever, Princess Sunset?"

Art by OverlordNeon

All year, a malevolent creature watches and judges ponies, and as winter falls it rises from its torpor. On the longest night of the year, it swoops down and renders its verdict on all the fillies and colts of Equestria and there is nothing that they can do to stop it.

None of the adults see a problem with this, but Cozy Glow does, and she's determined to stop it, or at least avoid it.

Written for Equimorto for Jinglemas 2024

Now with a Russian translation by NovemberDragon:
Ponyfiction
The Herd
gDocs (for that old-timey vibe)

Ponyville is quiet today. Disturbingly quiet. So are all of Fluttershy's friends. But Fluttershy is completely comfortable with it. She loves days like this...

This story is a sequel to Alarm Clock

Ditzy Doo, Royal Secret Service agent in training, tracks an architect whose building almost destroyed Ponyville. The trail leads right to one of Canterlot’s most prestigious art museums. Help from fellow agent Time Turner ensures this job won’t be too hard; help from an unexpected old acquaintance ensures this won’t be too easy, either.

It means days of research, prep work, and amateur art criticism; five minutes of sheer terror; and hours of cleanup—in other words, an average job for the Royal Secret Service.

Many thanks to my prereaders:
Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi
Japanese Teeth
Sereg
Yami Vizzini
Justanotherbrony

Cover art assembled from:
Composition VI by Wassily Kandinsky, horizontally flipped because I'm a bad person.
Derpy vector by Euguene-Joe-C.
Dr. Hooves vector by Haretrinity.
Trixie vector by Tourniquetmuffin.

Scholarly analysis #1
Scholarly analysis #2.
Scholarly analysis #3.

Chrysalis knows the world is a simple place. There's people who have power, and people who don't.

Sunset Shimmer is about to make things complicated.

Earned second place in Oroboro's Sunset Shipping Contest: Changing Seasons.

Twilight Sparkle has had to adjust to a great deal as Equestria’s newest princess—safeguard the Cutie Map, solving friendship problems, managing her new guard, and saving Equestria on a semi-regular basis. However, her routine grinds to a halt when a new threat emerges in the Smoky Mountains. One of King Sombra’s artifacts has resurfaced, an object whose dark reach threatens the whole region. With no time to lose, Twilight must gather her untested guard and face the malicious power of the Umbral Shard.

A Winningverse story.