The alignment of stars can strongly affect certain magic and Discord sees a narrow window of opportunity for his most complicated and yet simple scheme ever.

The cost of failure will be high and the Alicorn monarchs will certainly not take kindly to the amount of energy used.
One mistake and all of Equestria would be bearing down on him if there was even an Equestria left.

SF (canon species only; no humans) Ponies were magically and genetically engineered to be the perfect servitor race. They are powerful, adaptable, intelligent and completely under the control of their creators. A laboratory accident frees one such pony from her mental chains, but how can one mare save herself and the rest of her kind if she doesn't even know she's a slave?
This is not the Equestria you know and these are not your little ponies... not yet, anyway.

Tags: Adventure, Diamond Dogs, Gryphons, NO HUMANS (did I mention that already?)
Other tags: historical, mind control, Clarke's 3rd Law, excessive use of high energy physics, before they were famous.
Detailed review by PaulAsaran.
Cover art by endrome , used with permission.
Russian translation (partial -- 'unofficially' completed in the comments)
A Soot-Covered World, book 1.

Young Nictis had one dream: to serve his hive by becoming an Infiltrator, the most vital and vaunted role a changeling could aspire to. To hide in plain sight among the other species, blending in, while gathering the vital emotional energies that fueled his people. Few were deemed worthy of the dangerous job. He was one of the few nymphs selected for training, in the hopes that one of them would develop the skills needed to be entrusted with such a treacherous task.

But when a training expedition ends in tragedy, Nictis finds himself thrust into the role not to serve his hive and people, but to preserve his own life. Separated from the hive, alone, he must put what little training he has to the test. He must blend in with the hive's greatest source of food, and its most dangerous enemy: the ponies of Equestria.

(This story takes place in the same continuity as Fragments, but stands on its own. Reading that story isn't necessary for this one.)

TV Tropes page

Book cover art by viwrastupr

Set in the Optimalverse, a middle-aged woman enamored of 'Equestria Online' confronts what permanent emigration to Equestria - uploading to a virtual existence - really means... but can she even hope to truly understand such a thing - and more importantly, can she trust the artificial intelligence known as 'Celestia'?

♥ As Horrified Eliezer Yudkowsky!

Princess Celestia has a nightmare of her faithful student dying in a horrible attack that destroys most of Ponyville.
What is worse, though - is her response within the nightmare.

This story is an indirect prequel to my other story: An Old Guardspony'sLast Duty.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/13398/An-Old-Guardspony%E2%80%99s-Last-Duty

I wrote it as a separate story because mixing too much [Dark] into [Normal] stories is frowned upon – and I wanted to describe a nightmare that is vividly bad enough to make Celestia want to do something about it.

~~~~~
Many Thanks to my Moony Maiden - you know who you are! Your editing prowess has made this work at LEAST 20% cooler.

(As always - MLP:FiM belongs to Hasbro. They own the world - I only play in it.)
Picture used under Creative Commons License (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickgensel/7003567267/in/photostream/)

An old stallion is tasked by a mysterious god with keeping the fire burning in an old lighthouse. He guides the way for the ponies of Equestria's past, present, and future, both teaching and learning the simplest truths of life in the process.

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The comments are gone because of my fiddling with the powers that be (that is, removing chapters and reposting them after editing) a few years ago, when I had no idea of how Fimfic works. I don't remove comments willingly.

Edited and preread by the omniscient, omnibenevolent and omnipotent sourichan,
jeray2000 and JeffCvt.

In the closing days of the Pre-Classical Era, at the dawn of the rule of the Royal Pony Sisters, the devastation of Discord’s cruelty hits hard and leaves an open wound. As the young and inexperienced Princesses Celestia and Luna struggle to keep the peace, powerful figures in all three Pony tribes bridle at the upstart Alicorns who so quickly and easily claimed power...

Fic reading with soundtrack can be found here!

Rainbow Dash was the Iron Wing. She was a war hero, the Slayer of Shadows, the Liberator of the Crystal Empire, the Wrath of Celestia. And depending on who you ask, she still is.

But the war is over. There's little need for a pony like her in peacetime. So she keeps telling herself that she needs to adjust, that she needs to find a new role to fill in the world that she saved. But Equestria seems content to let her remain what she has become, even though they have no need of a warrior.

"This isn't how it's supposed to be", is something she keeps telling herself. But every time she says it, the only thing she can reply is, "so what should it be?"

One whole year after the close of the war, and Rainbow Dash still doesn't have the answer.

Art by NCMares.

No one expected an experimental spell to transform Fluttershy. Even fewer expected her to enjoy it, enough that she'd want to do it again. Still, being friends with the spirit of Harmony comes with its perks. And with her friends checking in with her regularly, what could go wrong?

Set in the Oversaturated World.

Content Warning: Later chapters have elements of psychological horror.

Rated Teen for suggestive themes and potentially disturbing content.

It's been a long, long time since Spike was stolen from her, but Twilight hasn't forgotten nor forgiven. After a long and arduous journey, she has finally found him and his kidnapper.

She will save him.

No matter the cost.

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Featured on EQD.
Now with Dramatic Reading by Joehighlord!
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Side story: A Dragon Whispers Her Name

Set in the future, after an unspecified amount of time has passed. Accurate to the canon set before 31/01/2013.
Inspired and loosely based on the short film 'Sintel'.
Elements of the story taken from the 'Where the World Ends' universe (by hlissner).

Image is fanart by NCMares.
Pre-read by ThoseRemainingSilent and Bleeding Rain.
Story formerly known as 'Twintel'.