The local crime syndicate sees Miller's lack of ID as an advantage. Before too long, our poor former human is eyeball-deep in the scum of Canterlot. Forget going home - the challenge is trying to stay one step ahead of police, criminals, and a pair of persistent mares.

Swansong, an exiled changeling, is living in Equestria; surviving by any means she can. There’s a reason it’s considered Equestria’s second oldest profession. Swansong ekes out a living as best she can, until she finds herself in an impossible situation; she has laid an egg, a privilege normally restricted to the Queen’s brood.

As the the little hatchling grows, Swansong knows something is wrong. The child eats regular pony food, and she feels the love emanating from it. Her fellow changelings would either steal the child as a resource, to be fed on until she died; or they would kill her as an abomination.

She knows this, because being around the child makes her hungry herself.

A lawyer doesn't always want to know what really happened. It's a tightrope walk. Whether or not the lawyer believes in his client's innocence is not the issue. It's his duty to defend his client - no more and no less.
— Ferdinand von Schirach

Proofreading done by Dancing Mop, Sevenofeleven, Setokaiva and N4.
Credit for many images goes to N4.

Now also featured on TvTropes.org!

Nearly one year has passed since Australian pilots discovered Equestria in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

Now the world watches in awe as, with the Princesses' blessings, one of the most ferocious and dangerous tyrants of the equine world - none other than Chrysalis, the Queen of all Changelings - is marched before one of the highest courts of law of the human world - the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands.

But the Queen is wrathful and determined, still one of the planet's single most powerful creatures.
How can mere humans, who know next to nothing of her mystical home, achieve justice for the Equestrians?

Alexander Estermann is a conceited defence attorney who will have to wade through a quagmire of vengeance, racism, manipulation, lies, hearsay and self-deception to get to the core of the affair.
Seemingly the whole world is working against him - up and including the Queen herself.

Rated teen for liberal swearing and gore for minor gory descriptions and pictures.

Disclaimer: This is not a story that is meant to reflect reality. Several things about international law have been changed to accomodate the scenario and make it, well, readable. If that should offend you for any reason, I wish to apologise in advance.

A Japanese warrior monk, known as Saito Musashibo Benkei, finds himself still alive and kicking, despite having died only days earlier. He finds himself in a strange, confusing, yet wondrous land, full of magical talking ponies who speak an equally bizzare language.

Follow Benkei as he copes with his new world, discovers new allies and friends, and comes to appreciate his new life. But Benkei was not sent to Equestria by chance to enjoy himself and live the rest of his days happily and care free. He was sent for a reason.

He was sent to help.

He was sent to enlighten others.

But most importantly, he was sent, to save Equestria.

Meanwhile, an oddly intelligent bunny by the name of Akeeta befriends Benkei, discovers the truth behind her consciousness, all while dealing with mixed feelings about a certain white bunny.

Note: Character tags will be added as they appear in the story. The mane 6, Spike, and Princess Celestia are the main cast from the show appearing in this story, but appear later on.

This will be my first shot at a historical fiction (sort've, since it's a legend crossed with MLP) , which means I actually had to do a fair bit of research on Japanese warrior monks and folklore to accomplish accurately and smoothly. That said, this is fiction, this is the MLP Universe, and Benkei himself is from a legend, so its still gonna be pretty unrealistic in that sense. I decided against using the japanese names for armor as it just serves to confuse people. However, if you prefer the japanese names, here is a helpful diagram. Also, the weapon Benkei is holding in the cover art is a naginata, in case that wasn't clear.

Also, for those wondering, no, Benkei will not be speaking Japanese for the whole story as I don't actually speak Japanese and have been relying on painstaking crosschecking with google translate to get the simple Japanese phrases that have been included to make sense when translated back to English. Don't worry, he'll be speaking English soon enough.

Lastly, this story will be updated every month . Its sortve a background project I want to continue to write to see how far I can take it while I write other things.

Side Note: Sex Tag is for references to sex, talk about sex, and some heated situations. This is a teen story, and there will be no directly written clop. Sorry!

Comments are very much welcome, even if you just want to say you hate it, so long as a valid reason is provided to enable me to grow as a writer. Thanks for reading!

Below is a simple summary of Benkei's REAL legend that happened preceeding chapter 1, and partially during the prologue.

Japanese legend tells of a man named Saito Musashibo Benkei. The origins of his birth are unknown, and the first time Benkei was seen, he was a fully grown man. After joining a monastery of monks, and then being exiled from it Benkei built a shrine next to a bridge and stood guard. He defeated 999 swordsmen before being bested, and in a display of honor, he became his adversary's retainer. Benkei fought during the Genpei wars, the giant of a man bringing death on the swift wings of his naginata, a bladed pole sword. He lived a long and exciting life, but all good things come to an end, and Benkei died defending the bridge to his master's castle. He defeated 300 samurai before finally dying of mortal wounds, but Benkei did not fall. He died standing up, at least that's how the legend goes.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends are called to Canterlot for the Summer Sun Celebration at request of Princess Celestia and stumble into a new and terrifying adventure with the discovery of an alien: a creature with an apparent vast intelligence and a strange case of amnesia. Now, the arrival of old friends, powerful allies and new dangers lead to a new age in Equestria- both for the better and for the worse...

Proofread and Edited by: _Demosthenes_
Image Owned by: Korbox

Memoirs of Insanity Series:
Part I: Precursors
Part II: Time

Currently being edited and rewrote to accommodate for the new Hyperverse Canon. Chapters completed: Two*

Life used to be simple. I would learn magic in the Academy, bond with my familiar, and with my sister. Even when I was unwittingly enlisted into a suicide team, life was still simple. But then, perhaps it was Divine Retribution, perhaps it was for kinslaying, and perhaps it was because I asked Mr. Richard for help.

Whatever the cases were, I am now plunged into a world filled with colorful ponies and other sapient magical beings, and unwittingly forced into a game greater than me. Still, with my trusty familiar, a new ghostly companion, perhaps I would survive all of this with only a few limbs lost. Hopefully.

Editor: (Open for whoever wants to volunteer)

P.S. Character and genre tags may be added in time

P.S.S. For those who don't know, in which you should be ashamed of yourself, Ruby is from Story of the blanks, a flash game. Search it on Master Google if you're curious.

Pinkie doesn't tell ponies about Pinkamena and Surprise. The doctors said that they were bad for her, that they were a disease, but she disagrees. Sure, Pinkamena's a bit of a grumpy-pants, but she's still a great friend! She's often the voice of reason to counter-act some of the other two's crazier ideas, after all. Surprise, on the other hand, is a great prank-player, and always up for some fun. She's more like Pinkie, only more hyper. Both are great fun to be around, and they get on well.

Thing is, she knows that if she told ponies about them, then they would be dragged back to the hospital. And then be 'treated' again. None of them want that. Because of this, not even her best not-in-head friends know about them. The three of them have, for years now, been careful enough to keep the existence of Pinkamena and Surprise secret.

This has, of course, gone out the window now that Twilight is hammering on the door after overhearing one third of a conversation, with no sign of anyone else talking.

Hints of F/F shipping inside. Nothing will actually come of it here, though. Maybe in a future story.

Cover art can be found here: http://killryde.deviantart.com/art/Smile-338206490

I have traveled this world for decades. Yet I have seen no sign of life but the predators that hunt their prey.

I have made a home among the jagged peaks of a near dead wasteland. One day a creature fell from the sky, badly wounded.

She calls herself Chrysalis. She tells me that she is the last of her kind.

Or so she thought.

[img]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a331/brittmcgee/MLP%20Minecraft/TLSOA_zps2aa17c49.png[/img]

All her life, Fluttershy felt different from the other pegasi. She preferred the ground to the clouds, and the simple love of her animal friends always seemed to refresh her... And she never really had to eat... She didn't remember her parents, either...

One day, though, her life changes forever, when she and her best friends find out what she truly is.

Adaptation of Bizet's Carmen.
Place: Ponyville, and surrounding countryside.
Time: After the pilot episodes, roughly same as "A Bird in the Hoof".

Philomena, the enigmatic, playful and somewhat arrogant Phoenix had made her presence known in Ponyville. How will the musicians cope with this most unusual bird? And how will they straighten out Fluttershy, who was smitten by her?

(This work is actually meant to be completely sung through. Playing the musical pieces while reading is highly recommended)

Scored to Cadanceverse !