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...

Discord has trapped Twilight in a vast, seemingly unending library. This library has a copy of every spell checked book that could possibly exist. Twilight's only way out of the library would be to find the book that explains how to escape. But when every single idea, story, possibility, and random book exists, how can she find the one book that can teach her how to leave this unfathomably large library?

This fanfic is a crossover based on the ideas presented in the short story, "The Library of Babel," by Jorge Luis Borges, and influenced by "A Short Stay in Hell" by Steven L. Peck.

The sequel to this story is also sequel to A Place for Pinkie.

Listen to the audio play on Youtube.
Read the complete Esperanto translation by Amphicoelias via .pdf, .odt or .epub!

In which Shining Armor receives a promotion, Princess Cadance reunites with an old friend, and cloudfall is finally made. Part of the "Cadance of Cloudsdale" cycle, now with its own group!

A man comes across a filly, however she's not one of the Mane Six.

Sometimes life plays games with you. Everything you felt was important to you is taken and your past seems to have more stark moments of things you'd rather forget. Living alone and battling your own demons seems to be the only thing you have to look forward to. However, one night while walking home in the middle of a freak late summer storm in the middle of the night, something happened. Something terrifying. Something wonderful. Something unexpected.

It's an old trope, not a fresh idea, but this is a story about me and My Little Chryssie...

Cover art by ZuTheSkunk. Check out dat artwork! A special thanks goes out to this artist who so graciously allowed me to use his work.

MLP:FiM is owned by Hasbro
MLP:FiM was created by Lauren Faust
OCs are mine unless specified.

Thirty years ago — before Luna's return, before the Mane Six, before everything — Equestria stands on the brink. A harsh winter threatens starvation, discontent threatens to bubble over to full-blown rebellion, and to the south lurk dragons, hungry for vengeance and waiting for a moment of Equestrian weakness.
But Celestia knows how the game is played, and if anyone can right the ship of state, it's her. No one can dance on the edge of a blade like she can; after all, she was there when it was forged. Slowly, delicately, she charts her course —
And then everything goes wrong.

Blackacre is somewhat different fare than the usual you might find here, telling a much darker story than the sort we usually see on Saturday mornings. It won't be for everyone, but then again what is? This is a story of the long con, of the world as it is — a story both of those who reason why, and those who do and die.

Blackacre has a relatively long history. The notion took root in August 2013; it gestated for a time and took its first real steps as part of NaNo in November 2013. It took a finalized shape around April 2014, whereupon the editing started. The text here was updated in July 2014 to reflect those edits — a comprehensive revision and polishing of the text, including several new chapters and several entirely rewritten ones.
The text you see here is the final version of Blackacre; at least, I don't intend on working it over again. That's not to say I don't welcome and encourage comments, questions, or suggestions, either on the text itself or the style; I certainly spent long enough working on it the first time around, and if you enjoyed it (or didn't!) I'd be happy to talk.
Besides, there will always be room for improvement — and there will be a next time.

Blackacre has no sequel proper. At least, not yet. It does, however, have companion stories, set at different times in the same universe:
Dr. Strangehorn; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Elements — a one-shot set in Twilight's future, well after her rise to power.
Twelve Angry Mares — an adaptation of the classic story of a murder trial, set after Blackacre but before the show.

Reviewed one year out — and accurately so, too — by Chris.
Analytically reviewed by Cosmic Cowboy.
Rated four moustaches out of five, and later referenced, by xTSGx.

Far off to the west of Equestria lay The Eternal Lands, an immense expanse of desert that holds at its heart a precious jewel: the city of Gallopfree, sprung up around a peculiar bit of water known as the Well of Eternity.

Prodded by a little whimsical intuition, Princess Luna finds herself walking those winding streets of her ancient past, and holding conference with the enigmatic Steward of the Well...

Isolated from her friends and taken prisoner in the middle of a war, Twilight must deal with the very real dangers of being percieved as an enemy as well as the nightmares of her arrival on 'Earth'. Can she overcome her own fears and the fears of her captors? Will the wayward unicorn's assistance be a boon or a curse to the 'humans?' Most importantly, will she ever find her way home?

"In short, it's a story of friendship and plasma rifles, with the emphasis on the friendship. The characters are well written, the XCOM setting is fleshed out very well, and the story is compelling. If you love XCOM, you'll love the story, but even if you've never heard of it, it's more than worth giving the first 3 chapters a read.

There's excellent action later on, but the real strength lies in the collision between the friendly and naive world of Twilight Sparkle and the desperate world of humans fighting a losing war for survival and willing to do anything to turn the tide."

--Arzoo

(XCOM/FiM crossover)
(Cover art commissioned by a friend and created by the magnificent FoxInShadow!)
(Original cover art by the amazing Carnelian can be viewed here!)
(Gore tag for blood and some violence)
(Many thanks to the studius OminousTen, Arzoo, xXFluttershyForeverXx and finally Setokaiva for giving my rambles a once-over)
(Now with it's own TV Tropes page! Get to tropin' folks!)

Curious about Five Score? Come check out the story that inspired dozens of side fics and been enjoyed by bronies for years!

Original Synopsis Even though MLP:FiM ended a few years ago, my friends and I still loved the show. Stories, merch, fan art, I loved it all. Things started to get a weird though when I found myself with a cutie mark appearing on my leg. Humans aren't supposed to get cutie marks, so where the heck did this come from? And what's going on with my hair?

More Detailed Synopsis: Five Score is an action/adventure story of the human-to-pony transformation genre. It’s unique from most transformation stories because the transformation itself is not really the point of the story. It’s the inciting incident that raises countless challenges that must be resolved. They are on earth, as a pony, and need to fix this before things get worse. Think about yourself in their hooves for a moment. How are you supposed to change back or even figure out what caused it in the first place? How are you supposed to get food or do anything on Earth without being spotted by humans? If you are spotted or captured, how would you escape? How does one even open a door with hooves!? Did anyone else on Earth get changed as well? How could you get the word out to the other ponies who are themselves hiding? Is it worth risking travel across the country to reach the others? Which of your friends would you trust to help you deal with this? And why did you turn into this particular pony? Surely it wasn’t random chance, right?

These challenges are the tip of the iceberg in this full length adventure novel There’s a lot of humor, many tense scenes, and hell maybe even a war.

But don’t just take it from me, Look what random people on the internet are saying about Five Score, Divided by Four

One of the best things to come out of this fandom.
-IrraticDrop

This made me change how I think about fictional worlds, imagination, and creativity
-relgukxilef

The only story on FimFiction to have me literally shaking with excitement.
-jeramiahsental

SWEET FILLY LUNA I AM FLIPPING MY SHIT RIGHT NOW
-Shadow Reaper

Five Score master editor:
Scrub

Five Score proofreaders:
Comrade Sparkle
Rustle my Jimmies

At 3:15 AM, Adams woke me with a loud knock on my front door.
"Put your boots on," he said when I answered. "There's a biblical monster in my house."

* * *

A Visual Companion, by the author
Interview with the author, from the Royal Canterlot Library.
Audiobook by Robin Jacks and Wubcake.
Audiobook by Scribbler.
In-depth analysis by the Heroic Tales cast.
Literary Analysis by ScarletWeather.
Special thanks to GaryOak.
Reviews:
City of Doors
One Man's Pony Ramblings
PresentPerfect
Louder Yay
Between Lines
Bad Horse

It has been more than one hundred years since Celestia banished Nightmare Moon. While Equestria has enjoyed a century of relative peace and prosperity, there are still lingering tensions between the three pony tribes.

Shadow Kicker, a proud warrior of Pegasopolis, must navigate the treacherous noble court of Canterlot and address the concerns and wounded pride of her own tribe in a desperate effort to prevent matters from coming to open warfare.