"We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes."
— Paul Laurence Dunbar

It started as a normal Equestrian morning, but doesn't it always? The princesses are frightened, and in Ponyville, a creature from a forgotten race walks into town. His kind hasn't been seen in over a thousand years, but even then he's still far from what he appears to be.

Arc 1: The First Day

Author's Note: Hey guys! This is my first story, so constructive criticism is more than welcome. I'll take this moment to say that I own nothing but my main character, the plot, and a few surprises which will appear later. All other characters and linked music are NOT mine. A word on music. At times I might offer two links to a song. The first is the OFFICIAL version, the second is the closest approximation to how I feel it is sung in the story. Just warning you, because I know some people hate covers. This story is rated teen for occasional language, implied sex, and gruesome imagery (mostly late in the story and in flashbacks). Now with technical out of the way, I wish you all happy reading, and I hope you have fun.

Edit: Bug the writer! He writes faster when you do.

"Ponykind must have run out of colours when they finally got to this pony. Everything from his mane to his ass was all seven colours of gloom and doom. He was so dark and brooding he probably ate glittery emos and shat vampire bats.” - Quote of the Week

1000 years the ponies have prayed for a saviour to deliver them, whether it was their long lost sun goddess Celestia, or even Nightmare Moon, maybe even the chaos lord Discord, anypony! After suffering under the yoke of a tyrant god for so long, they decided any saviour will do, even a dark demonic overlord. One unicorn sorceress finally decides to take matters into her own hooves. She sets out to the frozen ruins of a long lost Empire in the Crystal Mountains bearing a grand sacrifice of 1000 ponies in an attempt to summon the dark demonic overlord of the Crystal Empire.

When the dark ritual turned up a blank, the universe decides to shuffle in the next best thing. Will he rise up to the expectations of his newfound flock? He'd better, and quickly, for the tyrant god's inquisition is out to get him and the 1000 'blasphemers' involved in his summoning. With a nation to build and an evil tyrant god to fight, never has there been a taller order to fill. But it's alright, he's a dark demonic overlord, right? He quickly finds that with some smokes and mirrors and the help of 1000 very magical ponies, anyone can look the part, even an entirely magic-inert pizza delivery dude.

Now a long-haul fic! Many thanks to everyone who convinced me to make this a reality!

Many many thanks to the Editing team, Dumbgamer99, Not A Hat, and Brad The Brony. Be sure to thank them by checking out their pages!

Our lovable number one overdude assistant, Crystal Heart, now has a musical theme, aptly titled 'Dual Core A.I.', kindly provided by AdmiralTigerclaw! Epic now comes in an entirely new flavour! Many thanks!

Somebody kindly messaged me and told me I should announce here that the story was featured from 27 - 30th of April. I completely missed that but many thanks for making that possible, everyone!

Cover Art: Placeholder drawn by me. Will be a background for a full cover at some point.

Solutions to war, famine, disease and societal collapse are not easily happened upon. For Celestia and Luna, the solution was a mystery for eons, until their top six battle mages forged a plan from their very essence. To unite their absolute individual powers into one worthy host. One who could put an end to the horrors plaguing the budding nation of Equestria.

Only one pony was ever worthy. His deeds and heroism ultimately culled evil and hatred from Equestria and allowed peace to reign. After this achievement, the power vanished of its own accord upon the natural death of its wielder.

However, it seems that something in the shadows has provoked the lost power's return in the form of a new carrier, and she's going to find out her true destiny through a series of literal trials by fire.

(Updated on 3/1/2019, I'm ashamed that its been almost 5 years since my last chapter update...)

This is my take on the origin of "Super Rainbow Dash." Shout out to the creator of Super Rainbow Dash, Super Klonoa. My apologies for not finding out who you were sooner!

Thanks to unexpectedly high ratings, this story has been moved from an experimental work to a full production. Edited by the Awesome Amazing Regular... uh.. "Solid" SolidFire.

It's late. So late, in fact, that it's early. The clock in the room reads well past one in the morning. There's also a storm hammering against this girl's home, trying to lull her to sleep. Stubbornly, she remains awake, drawing, surfing the internet, and basically procrastinating another night away.

So, what is it that makes this night any different from another one that she has lived through? What strange occurrence occurs that makes it stand out? That changes her life forever? That changes the course of- Oh you get the idea.

Have a look through "A Twilight Landing" and find out. Follow Twilight through her journey on Earth, her quest to return home, and the people that help her along the way.

Diplomacy has failed. Six years have passed Equestria's crowning of the princess of friendship, ushering in a supposed unprecedented age of peace and harmony. The concept of warfare is, to most ponies, nothing more than an unfathomable legend. They have let their guard down.

An unknown enemy has seized the opportunity to attack Equestria with terrifying new weapons of war, bent on taking the fertile land and restoring an ancient order. The valiant efforts of the Royal Guard have given Princess Twilight and her arcane scientists time to research and develop a response to their attackers, and the time has come for that response to be implemented. Utilizing weapons and tactics borrowed from another world, five squads under the command of Princess Luna will infiltrate the forests of the Equestrian Northwest to destroy a revolutionary magical matrix that Twilight refers to as the "radio" - a tool that allows enemy ponies to communicate across vast distances instantly.

Nightmare Two is comprised of three foalhood friends who, rather than be separated from each other in the draft, volunteer to become one of the five Nightmare squads. With their bodies forever altered to suit the needs of their mission, the three young mares join legions of ponies armed with powerful weapons to partake in a horrifying new breed of warfare - Equestria's first in over one thousand years.

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Heads up, folks. If you wouldn't mind leaving a comment alongside the thumbs-down, I'd appreciate it. This is my first foray into fan fiction and although it's a hobby I nonetheless wish to get better. :)

Got some FAQ's for you guys as well!

- Alternate universe in which the events of "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" did not occur. (As much as I loved it! :D)

- Numerical age tends to vary with headcanon, but the CMC here were just getting started with their adult lives when the draft went into effect.

- The war is pony v. pony, utilizing firearms and the Equestrian equivalent of a tank. The underlying headcanon is that ponies used firearms similar to muskets and tracked armored vehicles akin to our tanks in times of old, and what the enemy currently employs is essentially the natural progression of these technologies.

- There are no real-world weapons or equipment i.e. "Panzer IV," or "M16 assault rifle." Particularly acute details such as the caliber of weapons are also absent.

- Technology is based on that of WWI with some WWII elements. Firearms are primarily bolt-action.

- The "radio" spell matrix functions as what we know to be a radio, but is not identical.

- All four of a Night Mare's legs are permanently replaced by the augments.

- Night Mares are female. Stallions proved unable to properly animate the limbs.

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Hold up, now - fanart? You guys rock. Like, for real. Thanks a lot!

1. A great YouTube video coming from The_Pegasus_Box. Thanks, bud!
Check it out!

2. Click here for the collection on DArt.

3. https://derpibooru.org/740375?scope=scpeac921b191f688d04521575f31608785cbc3bbaa1
[img]https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/10/10/740375__safe_anthro_apple+bloom_gun_artist-colon-pusspuss_night+mares.png[/img]

Bonbon has been trying to get to know Lyra for years, but the unicorn refuses to show her true self or accept Bonbon's advances. When Bonbon discovers that Lyra is leaving town without even saying goodbye, Bonbon decides to follow, no matter how far they must go or how hard Lyra protests. Rainbow Dash tags along as a guide, paid by Lyra for her services, but the tight-lipped Wonderbolt appears to have her own motivations as well.

It's all secrets and lies, but Bonbon is determined to get to the truth, even if it takes her to the end of the world. And it just might.

- Big thanks to Thanqol for his aid in prereading and reviewing
- Featured on Equestria Daily
- Interview about this story

I've had my fair share of critics in my line of work. It's understandable—someone with the power to invoke fear in those he touches? Yeah, that's someone I want to watch over me and my children.

But that's what I am now; a Metahuman Agent, using this and the other 'perks' of my unique condition to help my team in taking down the baddie of the day. Of course, it was while taking down the baddie of the day that I fell victim to his malfunctioning machine; a Rift that tossed me, randomly, to a head-scratchingly insane world of magical, talking ponies...

All I can do now is wait, pray I can get home, and try to show them I'm not the monster I appear to be.

(Dread's homeworld is based somewhat on the Little Victory comics by jollyjack; an Earth where metahumans are enlisted and trained by the government to defend the populace from threats, big and small.)

It's the year 2559. The UNSC barely managed to fight off the hordes of the Covenant. That victory came at a hefty price. With the war over and the rebuilding process beginning, the UNSC Tuscany is sent out to investigate potential new worlds to colonize. It's crew and captain are in for a surprise when a gravitational anomaly turns into a tense situation where cooler heads must prevail.

Super-Edited Version Coming Soon

Proofread by: Alex Nuage and way2dawn

Now 100% Twilight's Library Approved
[img]http://i.imgur.com/6MrWqNZ.png[/img]

Awesome fan-art by Gothshy [Check it out]

After a tragic accident, a human ends up in Lord Tirek's body, as part of an attempt to reform the villain after his recent escapades. While the hero of our tale is trying to make sense of his new surroundings, the rest of Equestria thinks that the most terrible threat that their world has ever seen is back...
And the powers that be are definitely not happy about it.
New Cover Art By Shadow Bolt

On behalf of the Canterlot University of Electrical Engineering, Princess Celestia sends her star pupil a mysterious contraption she wants her to take for "beta testing".

A mysterious, new invention dubbed the "Xbox 360".

Shenanigans and hilarity will ensue.

Link to TVTropes page: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/TheElementsOfGaming
Link to story on EqD: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/07/story-elements-of-gaming.html