Come closer here—my heart, my host.
Come closer. Hear my heart, my host,

Is only staid with presence close.
Were love a potion, ample dose.

My night-ful bride, I need your boon.
My baleful bride, I need you soon:

For what’s eclipsed by half a moon?

[Cover art by by tractareSolidum
Now featured in the Royal Canterlot Library!]

Dreams. In some ways they are the most delicate, ephemeral part of one's consciousness. In others, they are a direct path to the mind's deepest hidden desires, fears and doubts. Despite this, ponies are told from a young age that they are harmless. That dreams have no power over them. That they hold nothing that must be feared.

Nothing... save the nightmares that strive to prove them wrong.

Nightmare Moon has returned. Princess Celestia lied and betrayed her star pupil, Twilight Sparkle, leaving her woefully unprepared to fight the Queen of the Night.

But when she fails, rather than disposing of her and the ponies that tried to help her, Nightmare Moon sees an opportunity and a necessity. Having been locked away for one thousand years, who better to help her solidify her rule and keep Equestria from collapsing, all while rubbing it in her sister's face, than her own betrayed pupil?

A human joins the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville during Nightmare Moon's return. He thinks he's going to regret it. He's probably right.

A three part silly short, reboot of the "Hands" universe but doesn't require prior knowledge of that fic. Just for fun.

EDIT: Featured from 12/15/2019 to 12/21/2019.

Nightmare has it all. Everything she worked for is now hers. Equestria? Check. Eternal night? Double-check. But there's always a price to pay. For Nightmare Moon? It's the two voices in her head. But the solution may lie in the kitchen.

Featured 9/16/2021

In an alternate universe, Empress Celestia is the sole ruler of Equestria - later to be surpassed by her daughters; her heirs, Princesses Sunset and Twilight.

Nightmare Moon had long since banished to the moon, but even for such an exile, there's only so much a moon banishment can do. Her body may be chained, but not her spirit.

Takes place years before Tough Love

A few years back, two sisters came into town. Both of law and order, they reigned supreme over the land, one with honorable law by day, the other with ruthless vigilantism by night. The town and its surroundings lived in harmony for a time, but there came a point where the townsfolk could no longer stand the brutality of the vigilante. A disparity in punishment, and a fairness sought after. Come high noon on one fateful day, and the sisters approached each other in the center of town, they each took three steps back, and drew...

Nightmare Moon may have been defeated, but Princess Luna still struggles with her inner nightmares. It was so easy to give into the temptations of power the first time, now that she had a taste of it, can she give it up for good? Or will she return to her old ways and have to be banished again, this time forever?

In the long history of Equestria, the two royal sisters are an enigma. Why are Celestia and Luna on the Equestrian flag when they were not there during the founding? How did they come to rule over the nation? And what really caused Luna to become Nightmare Moon?

For a full understanding of this story, it is recommended that you read Paradise, to which this story is a spiritual sequel.

Everypony knows which princess watches over their dreams. She is the one who they pray to every night, wishing for their rest to bring comfort rather than suffering.

One night, other duties exhaust her ahead of time, and the princess falls asleep on the job. Nopony is there to watch over her.

What does she see?

Dramatic reading by Wandering Pony here: (link)