Following a Changeling attack that scatters every resident in Ponyville, Applejack holes up in her family home with only Apple Bloom for support. The doors and windows have been boarded shut. A thick fog covers everything in sight. Soon the first visitor comes to her door.

Now the only question is whether they're actually who they say they are.

Edited by spigo.

No one's important. No one's special. Except for the princesses.

Blueblood's always known this. He's always accepted this. He'll never be special. He'll never do anything important.

But now he has to. There's too much at stake.

He knows he'll fail, but he has to try. Because...

A strange mare arrives in Twilight’s library, claiming to be her future self—here to stop a terrible plague. But Twilight worries that this stranger’s bold claims may hide something more sinister.

Cover art by Cold in Gardez.

The world is dangerous. It is not safe, not as safe as it used to be.
But this is why you are here. This is who you are, what you are.
You must protect the ponies.

Always.
You will protect.

A reading was made by the very talented (and very tired) TheExhaustedBrony!

Crime was easy before Princess Twilight and the First Five ushered in a golden age of Harmony. Back then, any idiot could plan a robbery, just like any rat could sneak through the cracks in wooden granary walls. But now that everything is cloudstone and clearsteel, with magical countermeasures over the few remaining holes, it takes a different breed of rat to survive.

"Slippery" Jimmy the Grey is one of the rare few ponies who can still slip through the cracks — even with the legendary Rainbow Corps on his tail. Now he's got a billion-bit heist planned in the gleaming skyscrapers of Cloudsdale. If only he hadn't made the mistake of stealing from a dragon …

Now with a reading by Illya Leonov and Scribbler!

* * *

This is a crossover with Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat novels, but it assumes no knowledge of the series.

Winner of February's Writeoff Association competition! * Featured by Equestria Daily! * Featured by Seattle's Angels!

REVIEWS: "Highly Recommended" by Titanium Dragon; "Recommended" by Present Perfect; rated "Why Haven't You Read This Yet?" by PaulAsaran

WORD OF MOUTH:
"The Iridescent Iron Rat was not only my favorite story from the most recent writeoff... it's my favorite story of anything I've read in months." —Sharp Spark

"What a ride it is. This story is made of awesome moments." —Casca, Seattle's Angels

"[A]stounding on so many levels. … If there’s one story from this round you have to pick, make it this one." —Corejo, Seattle's Angels

"Absolutely beautifully done. It fits the style and feel of the books to a perfect T." —Themaskedferret

Being Princess Celestia's personal guard is a gruelling, thankless job. However, when the Princess begins tutoring a small purple filly, Bastion finds himself on the receiving end of a much needed hug.

Entry for the EFNW Pre-Con Writing Contest 2015.

Five ponies, a gazebo, and a rain shower: There should be a joke here, but instead it's just five mare friends having to take shelter somewhere in the middle of an afternoon shower, and trying to make the best of it.

Every decade Celestia holds the Symposium, the most important forum on the state of philosophy and culture in Equestria, where the smartest ponies of their generation meet and discuss in a frank, open manner. Shining Armor is on guard duty, and he is starting to doubt that he will live to see another day.

Written for a Write-off contest, the prompt being "The Best Medicine".

Now with dramatic reading by CaptainBron3y

Love. It transcends the mightiest of barriers... and death is no exception.

Featured by the Everfree Northwest Fanfic Spotlight!

On a warm, rainy afternoon, two young ponies take shelter in a gazebo. One is hoping to find a job at a bakery nearby, and just wants the rain to go away so she can make it to her interview. The other isn't really a pony, and just wants the rain to go away so he isn't caught.

Life tends to work that way, I suppose.

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Written for the Outside Insight Fanfiction Contest.
Featured 8-10-14!