Fourteen authors, one story. I foresee precisely zero problems.

This is the culmination of a round-robin event in which a whole bunch of neato folks whose words you may have read before wrote a chapter each in one big story, with the proviso that they were only allowed to see the preceding chapter. This was totally a cool idea, like, a year ago.

This is the story that they wrote, and these are the people who wrote it:

Arcainum
Blueshift
Zay-el
Alexstrazsa
Ninestempest
Lucky Dreams
Obselescence
Whatever Rusty's Fimfic Name Is
Ponydora Prancypants
Cold in Gardez
Eakin
Wanderer D
Dawn Scroll
Pen Stroke

There are no elephants.

Things happen. Nothing happens in between these things. If they did, they'd simply be things with more nothing between 'em. So how do you measure the nothing? Two ponies, equally flawed, intend to find out together... no matter how far it takes them.

This is the story that won first place in /fic/'s eighteenth write-off competition. The original story--here, split into three chapters--was written and edited over a period of just seventy two hours. I intend to add additional chapters whenever the fit comes upon me. Do yourself a big favor and check out all the other awesome entries as well!

My name is Ryan Chaser. I am currently the only human living in a world filled with sapient ponies. I have lived in solitude on this world for almost seven years now, and have so far been able to keep my life a secret. Recently, however, it is getting more and more difficult to stay hidden like I have. It's only a matter of time before something happens and my existence is revealed to the world. Though I am not certain of what their reactions will be...

Just a side note, this will follow cannon episodes from the beginning. This story also goes along the assumption that ponies are officially considered "adult" at a much younger age.

Chapters after 4 edited by: Mourning Zephyr

For so long I've been living life like a marionette on its last string. Only one thing kept me from falling into emptiness. That one thing that kept me going. It gave me a reason to pretend that life still mattered.

Only one pony in the world ever showed me a speck of kindness when I never deserved it. And now she's gone.

I'm falling, and the only thing that scares me is what I'll find when I hit the ground.

(Comments contain spoilers.)

A big thank you to PresentPerfect for his tireless help in editing this fic.

Alone and far from Equestria lies a dragon; before him, a photograph of him and a mare he once loved. He remembers the moments they spent together, the moments that made him who he is, the moments that explain how he got here, and the moments that tell him where he is going.

Star Swirl the Bearded is lost. Very, very lost. He was certain the world was round -- or at least a hemisphere -- and not, as it now appears to be, flat and riding on the backs of four elephants, themselves riding on the back of a massive turtle, swimming through the vast expanses of space.

He's going to need a lot of magical help to get home, and the Disc is going to need help to deal with the strange creatures that followed him through from his home world - creatures whose icy nature threatens to bring about the Apocralypse.

Fortunately, the first person he meets is a wizard. He even has "Wizzard" written on his hat...

Now has a sequel!

One day, Rarity does something incredible.

A collaboration between the members of the Spanish Announce Table Goes First.

Cover art provided by darkflame.

Or: How to Fry Your Career in Eight Easy Steps
(Featured on Equestria Daily 1/8/13)

I'm Amber Spice, and I was Royal Chef to his royal highness Lanthanum, King of Unicornia. Was.

Now I've somehow gotten myself banished from the land, perhaps forever. Now how did I manage that, you may ask? Let's look back and see. I can't exactly sleep, so this isn't a bad way to spend my last night here.

Turns out a little bit of soul-crushing boredom, a tenacious and chaotically creative mind, and a tangent to launch off of form a dangerous recipe together.

And the result tastes like heresy.

Praise for Tastes Like Heresy:

"...very well-written. It's clever, silly, and perhaps even a bit anarchic." — Ottermatt of WRITE
"It is all very well thought out, yet feels organic instead of rigidly planned..." — Soge
"This is how original characters should be done." — Shahrazad of The Equestrian Critics Society
"Shut up and take my bits!" — SIGAWESOME

Now has its own Tropes Page.

Can a utopian paradise that preaches love and tolerance really make ponies happy? Does contentment really lie in free universal healthcare and open government?

Twilight Sparkle is determined to resist this happy world on a matter of principle, and finds herself sneaking off with a mare called Trixie to hate and loathe each other in secret.

Will their hate-nest go undetected? Or will they be forced to face the dangers of the Ministry of Love and the mysterious Room 101?

When a freak and powerful storm rolls in from the Everfree, strange events are set in motion. Reports of bizarre creatures, odd ponies and wild magic abound.

The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony must face down their enemies, fight for their world and face their fears. Some of the bearers must face even more than that, and face them alone. Read now as ancient secrets are unveiled, powers thought lost are unearthed and powerful despots seek to rule with an iron hoof.