It's a Dangerous Business, Going Out Your Door

It started so simply, on what should have been a wonderful Plowpony's Day... Twilight Sparkle was just trying to help her friend Rarity learn how to teleport. But when an attempt to demonstrate goes horribly wrong, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity set out to find a way to fix her damaged horn before she runs out of time. But their quest will take them out of Equestria, forcing them to face the elements, the unknown, and their own demons and self-doubt along the way.

A My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Fanfic by Jetfire, It's a Dangerous Business, Going Out Your Door fleshes out the lands beyond Ponyville with a grand tale of adventure, rife with Character Development, particularly for its three heroines. A short fluffy informal sequel by the same author can be read here.

"Lady Falalauria: You ponies must because we deer broke it."
 * Action Mare: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity (which might be surprising until you see her in the show).
 * A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 13 focuses entirely on Rainbow Dash, and 15 focuses entirely on Rarity. Chapter 11 is the only one dedicated entirely to Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie.
 * Art Shift: A minor, text-based example. In the scene where  the text changes to bold, spoken lines are given colors to show who's talking, and everything is referred to in present-tense rather than past-tense. It changes back to normal eventually, though.
 * A Storm Is Coming: Observed by Applejack mere moments before.
 * Aerith and Bob: Justified; different cultures have different styles of naming.
 * Alliterative Name: Niles Nigellus, messenger of the Pronghorn Network. All the other pronghorn follow the same pattern, with names like Clive Croeuxus and Audrey Alleinus.
 * Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The girls' final challenge before they can get the Beneviolet home?
 * A reader from the story's comments section did the math, and concluded that
 * Barrier Maiden: According to Lady Falalauria,.
 * Big Damn Heroes: In chapter 18,
 * Big Eater: Since she burns off so much energy flying, Rainbow Dash has to eat a lot more than the others.
 * Blow You Away: Dash's ability to spin up tornados proves useful at times.
 * Brick Joke: When first starting their journey, Applejack is furious when she realizes she forgot one particular tool: . Much later on,.
 * Call Forward: Lady Falalauria's parting words to the trio asks them, much to their confusion.
 * Captain Ersatz: Gildedale is seen by a lot of fans as a pony version of Rohan.
 * Similarly, Falalauria has a lot of parallels to Galadriel, in particular her noble beauty and one very brief, very terrifying moment that reveals a darker side of her.
 * Charm Person: The Bearer of Loyalty can inspire and strengthen the loyalty of others. Upon learning this, Rainbow Dash briefly worries if this means she can unintentionally charm others into becoming her friends, but is reassured.
 * The Charmer: Niles Nigellus.
 * Chekhov's Gun: To ease the burden of their deadline, Spike gives the girls a bottle of his dragonfire so that they can send the Beneviolet back immediately.
 * In an early chapter, Rainbow Dash is forced to admit she's never been able to get the hang of generating lightning. Several chapters later, she runs into a storm-riding pronghorn courier who offers to teach her.
 * Similarly, much is made of Rarity's difficulty in learning to teleport in early chapters, and she eventually learns how from the deer-folk of the Shimmerwood.
 * And everything the girls learn-- Applejack learning to Stand Firm from the earth ponies of Gildedale, Rainbow Dash learning to control lightning from the pronghorns, Rarity learning how to teleport from the deer--comes in handy during the confrontation with  in Chapter 18. Basically, had anything gone differently, Twilight would have been toast.
 * Not in the main story, but discussed. Rarity had always given gifts to ponies before they were needed, even if it was days, weeks, months, or years later. It's revealed that this is because
 * Claustrophobia:  seems to have it, though she sees it less as "fear of enclosed spaces" and more "fear of not being able to see the sky", as seen when.
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: The earth ponies of Gildedale have darker coats, rather than the pastels of Ponyville.
 * Cooldown Hug: Used twice.
 * Culture Clash: Gildedale is a FAR cry from what the heroines are used to in Ponyville...
 * Darker and Edgier: Though not in an unrelentingly grimdark fashion; compared to what they are used to in Equestria, Gildedale is much rawer and filled with more perils.
 * Defictionalization: Fluttershy's lullaby in Chapter 11 has been recorded by a fan and can be found here.
 * Defrosting Ice Queen: Or king, rather. Lord Hammer Hoof of Thatcholm starts off a jerk who will allow only Applejack to cross Gildedale, but later opens up considerably after AJ, Dash, and Rarity prove to him that the Komagas can be herded away from residential areas, negating the need to constantly battle them.
 * Determinator: What keeps all three on course, but especially Applejack.
 * Rarity during the  showdown.
 * Die or Fly:
 * Don't Think, Feel: The difference between.
 * It's also the secret to "controlling" lightning, as all pronghorns know.
 * Dreaming of Things to Come: Rarity has dreams throughout their journey, growing stronger as time passes.
 * As of Chapter 15, this includes.
 * End of an Age: Ushered in by the great war between the deer; as Lady Falalauria eventually reveals, they are responsible for.
 * End of an Age: Ushered in by the great war between the deer; as Lady Falalauria eventually reveals, they are responsible for.

"Applejack: Well, I'd never want to be anyplace but right here in Ponyville. I'm not the adventurous type."
 * Fainting Seer: A side-effect of Horn Rot is going into random fits that involve visions of the past or future. Very painful fits with difficult-to-decode visions.
 * Fantastic Racism: Gildedale, an Earth Pony country, looks down upon pegasi and unicorns and scorns their magic. Naturally, this causes tension when they discover Dash and Rarity's presence in their land...
 * Find the Cure: The entire journey centers around doing this for Twilight.
 * Flower From the Mountaintop: Exaggerated with the Beneviolet, a flower that grows high in the Archback Mountains, is a powerful healing plant, and is able to cure many illnesses, especially those of a magically degenerative nature. It's worth mentioning that the Archback Mountains, home to the magical cure-all, are also past the Everfree Forest, over another mountain range, across the plains of Gildedale, and finally through the enchanted forest of Shimmerwood.
 * Foreshadowing: Plenty in the first chapter, but this line stands out:

"Niles: Good manners are essential for a messenger. It gains us access to reluctant destinations and wins us favor with hesitant recipients. Not to mention it saves us from the wrath of bad news."
 * Early on, Rainbow Dash mentions that pegasi don't get cold. Turns out.
 * In chapter 3, Pinkie Pie worries about the monsters Rainbow Dash could meet beyond Equestria's borders. Unfortunately for Applejack and company, one of them turns out to be real:
 * Grammar Nightmare: Rarity gets irritated when Rainbow Dash refers to her race as 'pegasuses' instead of 'pegasi'.
 * This becomes a Running Gag, as other characters start correcting Rainbow Dash on this point. In fact, it seems that the only character who doesn't use the correct pluralization is Rainbow Dash herself.
 * Eventually becomes an Overused Running Gag in Applejack's eyes.
 * Heinz Hybrid: Lady Falalauria is half red deer, which gives her the power of farsight, and half white-tail, which gives her the ability to see the truth of things.
 * Heroic BSOD: Rainbow Dash starts being affected when snow obscures her view of the sky, then goes into a full-blown panic attack when they're buried in an avalanche.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Performed by.
 * Falalauria's lie seems to foreshadow that
 * High Concept: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic meets Lord of the Rings.
 * Irony: Early on, Rainbow Dash vows that if they haven't found the Beneviolet after ten days traveling together, she'll ditch Applejack and Rarity and go on alone. When the tenth day comes,.
 * And shortly after the above, they learn.
 * Insult Friendly Fire: Rainbow complains to the other two for not keeping up, including Rarity not knowing teleportation. Applejack curtly reminds her of the situation (see It's All My Fault below) and Rainbow is horrified at what she said.
 * It's All My Fault: Despite Twilight's reassurances, Rarity still struggles with feeling guilty after the accident.
 * It's the Journey That Counts: It's a recurring theme in the story that "the journey is more important than the destination".
 * Kill the Messenger: Referenced by Niles:

"Rainbow Dash: Ican'tseeIcan'tmoveIcan'tseeIcan'tmoveIcan'tseeIcan'tmove..."
 * Large and In Charge: Lord Hammer Hoof and Lady Falalauria.
 * Leap of Faith: In Chapter 18,.
 * Leeroy Jenkins: Rainbow Dash, true to form, charges in with a cry of "EQUESTRIA!" when.
 * Living Lie Detector: According to the Deerfolk, Applejack's alignment with the Element of Honesty helps her to see through falsehoods of all kinds, from little white lies to illusion magic.
 * Madness Mantra:

"Rarity: I've got no grand designs to be a great sorceress, like that wretched Trixie; I want to make my mark designing the crème de la crème of Equestrian fashion. I do one thing, and I do it well."
 * Marked Change: As of Chapter 13,.
 * Meaningful Rename: In Gildedale society, young ponies are simply called 'Filly/Colt [Body Color]' until they earn their cutie mark, at which point they choose a name that informs others of their role in life. Shield Maiden, for instance, is a warrior, and Birdspeak speaks with birds.
 * Mood Whiplash: Used to drive home how abruptly and without warning the side-effects of Horn Rot can hit when Twilight is playing a game with Pinkie and Spike.
 * News Travels Fast: Averted; the ponies of Gildedale were unaware of.
 * Quite comical when only a few chapters later are the magical messengers in charge of delivering that explanation encountered.
 * In fact, in Chapter 14 one of the characters wonders why the Pronghorns didn't stop by Gildedale what with it being so close to Equestria, and it's suggested Celestia wants to deliver the news herself as a professional courtesy.
 * Not Helping Your Case: When Rarity turns up her nose at teleporting, Pinkie cheerfully chimes in with all the nasty accidents that could've happened. Twilight adding that accidents are rare doesn't help.
 * Dash is rude and brash to the Dale Guard, and makes a scene at the dining hall, as well as being hostile and snappy in general. Understandable, given their rude welcoming and everything else stressing her, but not really helping to endear her to anyone, either...
 * Our Dragons Are Different: According to Dale legend, the komaga are dragons punished by their gods with the loss of their wings and fire, who over the aeons have degraded into mindless, slavering beasts.
 * Our Elves Are Better: The Pronghorn, whose horns are functionally similar to those of unicorns. The first pronghorn introduced, Niles Nigellus, is a polite, smooth-talking and well-traveled charmer who offers Dash the chance to realize one of her greatest dreams by guiding her through The Dreaming.
 * There's also the Deer of the Shimmerwood, who are known as aloof guardians of the forest who speak in riddles, come from an ancient civilization, and use powerful magic. As Dash puts it, "Deer are weird."
 * Out of Focus: After the journey begins, only chapter 11, half of 17, and a few snippets in 18 focus on what's going on back in Ponyville with Twilight.
 * Phlebotinum Overdose: An inadvertent case of this causes Twilight's accident.
 * Pinky Swear: To reassure Sweetie Belle, Rarity makes a tail-twister promise with her, winding their tails together and swearing that she'll find the Beneviolet in time.
 * Plot Detour: Applejack is extremely worried about this, to the point that she calls Rainbow Dash on wanting to learn more about the Pronghorns and, in Chapter 14,
 * Plot Hole:
 * Precursors: In ancient times, the Deer were the dominiant race, but grew too proud and all but destroyed themselves in a vast, sprawling war. While pockets survive, such as the denizens of the Shimmerwood, they can no longer rise to their former glory, nor do they wish to.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Pretty much everyone the pony trio comes across, although the denizens of Gildedale (especially Lord Hammer Hoof) require a bit more effort.
 * The Resenter: Rainbow Dash resents having to take Applejack and Rarity along, believing they'll only slow her down -- without them, she just KNOWS she could've made the trip in two days flat! Worried about running out of time, she vows to herself that if they haven't found the Beneviolet after ten days, she'll go on ahead without them...
 * Resigned to the Call: Applejack isn't too thrilled about leaving Ponyville, but can't bring herself to refuse when Twilight already has so much faith in her.
 * Rhyming with Itself: Zecora does this once with two different meanings for 'patient', and gets called on it by Dash.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something:
 * Surprisingly, not Celestia or Luna. Intervention on their part could resolve the entire plot quickly and without incident.
 * Although to be fair, nopony contacts them about what's happening.
 * Lady Falalauria of the Deerfolk.
 * Rule of Empathy: Despite their distaste for pegasi and unicorns, several members of the Dale Guard clearly sympathize with their plight.
 * Rainbow Dash also alters her impression of Shield Maiden after.
 * Running Gag: Rainbow Dash being corrected on her pluralization of 'pegasus'.
 * Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: In this story, as in original My Little Pony Canon, all unicorns can learn how to teleport. Rarity, however, chose not to study any magic aside from what directly helps in her chosen line of work.

"Rarity: I! Am! A! Fashion! Designer!"
 * Seer: Falalauria, Lady of the Shimmerwood, has this power. Specifically, she can see the network of Choices set before a given individual, as well as divine their True Nature and which Choices they are most likely to make, drastically raising the accuracy of her predictions.
 * Sequel Hook: There are multiple hints that in the process of completing their quest, the three travelers have unleashed "something," according to Falalauria; hence why  It's also stated that the other members of the mane cast who didn't get to go on the adventure will have the opportunity to learn about what their elements do for them.
 * Plus,
 * The short sequel 'A Day for Spike And Twilight' also adds to the number of hooks with
 * Shared Universe: An author named Solaris90 is using this work as part of the back story for his "Knights of Equestria" series.
 * Shout-Out: The title is one (of many) to The Lord of the Rings.
 * When Rainbow Dash, she says "I am a leaf on the wind."
 * Even better, her mentor was called Firefly.
 * Dragons are apparently from Carcosa.
 * Shock and Awe: The Pronghorns can harness and ride the lightning.
 * Smart People Play Chess: To distract Pinkie Pie, Twilight teaches her how to play chess, and notes that she's much better at it than she expected.
 * Speaks Fluent Animal: Birdspeak, a Dale guardspony, can understand her hawk Aeleroth.
 * Stealth Hi Bye: The Deer of the Shimmerwood are good at this.
 * Talking the Monster to Death: Rarity, upon reflection, realizes she may have pulled this off when.
 * Team Mom: Applejack steps even further into this role during their journey.
 * At the same time, Fluttershy is stepping up to fill the void for the other half of their Nakama in her absence.
 * Teleportation: Rarity's inability to do so -- and Twilight's determination to teach her despite her insistence that she's perfectly alright with not knowing -- leads to Twilight's accident and sets off the plot.
 * The Deer of the Shimmerwood are excellent teleporters, though in a different fashion; instead of the sparkly bursts that accompany unicorns, they are simply here one moment and there another.
 * This Is Sparta:


 * She has another epic one at the beginning of chapter 18.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Applejack, upon learning.
 * Rainbow Dash, upon discovering.
 * Rarity, who.
 * All three of them during the showdown with
 * The Un-Reveal: You never do find out what was in the cave at the top of the Drackenridge Mountains. Falalauria surmises that a Siren or a Balrog could have produced the enchanting song, but also states that Sirens don't live in caves and that only original Balrogs have that power.
 * You also never find out what scares the Komagas into stampeding across Gildedale every year.
 * Though it's quite possibly
 * Somewhat unlikely given that the Komogas stampede from south to north, while
 * What the Hell, Hero?: When Dash tells her friends about Niles and the Pronghorn Network, Applejack furiously calls her on not immediately telling him about Twilight's plight and asking for help. Dash's protests about his offer to teach her how to ride the lightning only makes it worse, with Applejack flat-out accusing her of being selfish and short-sighted.
 * Even so
 * Rainbow Dash also quite thoughtlessly mocks Rarity for not being able to teleport, when she's already feeling tremendously guilty about that inability being the reason for Twilight's accident. Applejack quickly gets her to realize the mistake.
 * X Meets Y: MLP:FiM as written by Tolkien.
 * Your Days Are Numbered: The normal cure for Horn Rot takes three weeks to brew. But Twilight's case is more severe; Zecora predicts she has two weeks, two-and-a-half at most.
 * This is eventually explained as.
 * This is eventually explained as.