Some ponies seem to be born knowing what they are meant to do. Some discover it. A few need to be shown. Star Swirl the Bearded was in this latter group. This entry of his journal recounts the encounter that turned an apprentice lens grinder into the greatest wizard of all time.

Rated Teen for some coarse humor and language.
Originally an entry in the February 2015 Writeoff Competition.

For several years now, Tom has been maintaining a vigil over the Everfree Forest. Set to guard the secret of the Mirror Pool, he has never once let anything through.

He is surrounded by life and vibrancy, but he feels none of it. Nothing notices him or cares to notice him. He is alone, as alone as a rock can be.

Bloomberg similarly feels lonely, but is surrounded by wanton lust and fake intimacy. He stands apart, but wishes for the eternal coupling that he remembers so many of his elder trees having in Sweet Apple Acres.

Separated by distance and only able to see each other in their dreams, these two must find a way to reconcile far more than their inhibitions if they have any hope of being together.

This was written completely seriously. There's a few puns and whatnot, but this is legitimately a ship between Tom and Bloomberg. You've been warned.

Also featured on a Fic Spotlight. I love you, Tooly Royal Guard.

Also resides in the shelves of Twilight's Library.

Also reviewed by Seattle's Angels. It means a lot to me. Thank you guys for being awesome.

After conquering yet another ancient evil, Twilight returns to her library. There, she encounters the ghost of King Sombra, who delivers a terrible warning about the dangers of helping emopones.

A touching, heartfelt tragedy, except it was written by Fiddlebottoms, so it is not.

When darkness and despair comes to claim you, it doesn't matter what you fight for, so long as you fight for something that matters.

"War is hell, but this story is poetry. The unnamed protagonist in battle, an uncomfortably parallel to reality, masterfully paints a picture in such a short amount of time. It is, indeed, poetry."
—Flint Sparks, The Royal Guard

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A 90-minute midnight-vignette inspired by The Descendent.
Reading by Scribbler.

When the Gates of Tartarus are shattered by a cataclysmic explosion, Princess Celestia hurries to assemble a team of Equestria's finest to defend the peaceful nation. Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony are joined by an unlikely collection of twelve allies — some familiar, some obscure — to form the Equestrian Elite, who are thrust hastily into battle against a series of dangerous foes.
[Note: A new revision of this story is currently under way. It will include significant grammatical and writing style improvements, along with a new cover and new illustrations. It is scheduled for release in early 2014. However, the overall story itself will not change. Feel free to read it now, or favorite it to be notified when its new version comes out. Enjoy!]

Pincer is a changeling, a proud soldier of Queen Chrysalis. After the failed invasion of Canterlot, he finds himself trapped and at the mercy of Princess Celestia's Royal Guard. Believing that Celestia sees his species as nothing but soulless monsters, he prepares himself for the worst. The weeks crawl by, marked by an endless series of questions he will not answer for fear of endangering his friends and family at The Hive. As his nerves wear down and his interrogators learn just how ruthless he thinks they are, they have nothing to report but his belief that they will kill and destroy his kind without mercy.

Celestia steps in to prove him wrong, and what Pincer learns leaves him questioning everything he has ever known — but also gives him hope for what he'd never thought possible.

Cover art commissioned from http://www.demonkings.com.

Now with a TVTropes page.

Being an up-and-coming business pony's not easy—Carob knew that when he opened his plant nursery in his hometown of Ponyville. But since the local librarian became a princess, he's found it much more difficult to focus on, well, on just about anything other than her...

Inspired by the 4th and 5th prompts in Obselescence's Most Dangerous Game contest—"Second Person Perspective" and "An OC and a major canon character (such as one of the Mane Six) fall in love with each other"—the original version of this story ended up in 10th place out of 66 entries. The cover image was commissioned from DarkerSounds.

The two great dragon clans have united and summoned Celestia to their lair, demanding that Celestia give up her hold on the Sun and Moon. Celestia and her advisors must now decide between surrendering Celestia's greatest gift to Equestria and a war with some of the most powerful and ancient beings in existence.

Meanwhile, the changeling queen confronts Celestia in Canterlot Castle, pleading for the enfranchisement of her kin. Can Celestia trust the changelings, or is there too much to lose with an existential threat on the horizon?

The Glorious Thousand were the ones who stayed. They were the ones who fought. They were the ones who died so that others may live. This was their final moment of respite, in the face of certain death. Here they waited, at the end of it all.

The discovery of a tiny extraterrestrial object within our own solar system makes a strangely equine alien race aware that the Earth is inhabited by an intelligent species, and they're on their way to come visit.

But since space is a really, really, really big place, they aren't going to get here for about a thousand years. They do have FTL communication, though, so while we wait maybe we'd like to be pen pals...

You could win a free one shot commission! Check the associated blog post for details.