Dragon Lord Ember took her throne from her father when she won the power of the Bloodstone Scepter, ancient magic capable of controlling dragons' minds.

In a world linked to Equestria, a very different version of Ember chafes under her father's leadership, waiting for her chance to truly wield the instinct-controlling power of the long-lost Bloodstone Crown.

Their two worlds are about to meet. And only one dragon will stand between Equestria and the deadly, unforgiving call of the wild.

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Recommended by brokenimage321! "A moving story about inadequacy and adaptation. And it has some of the best combat scenes I've ever read, in any genre, period."

An entry for the Imposing Sovereigns II contest (prompt: Ember, War). A huge thank you to Skywriter for prereading assistance!

This story is a sequel to Administrative Angel

Discord is having a gloriously unlucky day. First he accidentally got sucked into a human high-school version of Equestria. Then he got stuck there after blowing up the portal home. His life hasn't been this chaotic in ages!

But a burst of reverse future memory is about to convince him to destroy this new world — and the power of Harmony seems to be on his side. Against those odds, it will take the full wit, courage, and magic of Celestia and Luna to save the day.

No, not the Princesses.  That would have been simple.

Recommended by Present Perfect! "The same strong writing and the same authorly voice as the original ... it's thrilling watching a world-ending threat through the villain's eyes."

Silver medalist in the January 2019 "Reversal of Fortune" Writeoff! Significantly expanded and edited for FIMFiction!

Praise for the Writeoff version:
"There are clever stories that make you feel smart, and clever stories that make you feel dumb, and I'm finding this very much in the first category." –Chris
"Things just don't stop moving." –Xepher

Snk'Skzz'thwt the Bargainer, High Demon Lord of the Eighth Circle, receives an unexpected visitor.

And some ginger cookies.

Originally written for the Quills & Sofas "Technically Not Terrible" MLP speedfic competition. Edited and expanded for FIMFiction!

Clover the Clever never asked for his life to get so complicated.  It was bad enough tricking a drunk Imperatrix Celestia, war goddess of the Three Tribes, out of her accidental coup against Queen Platinum.  But now the most dangerous pony in Equestria has returned to trade her claim on the sun for a chance to woo him.

On top of that, his erstwhile mentor Star Swirl the Bearded has saddled him with a mysterious magical necklace and a uniquely bleak and pointless prophecy: If he's brave enough, and if he's clever enough, he just might survive Celestia for long enough to break her heart.

First place, "Out of Time" Writeoff! (11/2015) At long last, expanded to novella size! The world-spanning, centuries-spanning romance as it was always meant to be told!

PRAISE FOR THE WRITEOFF VERSION:
"One of my favorite depictions of Celestia in a long time." –billymorph
"To the top of the ballot with it." –AugieDog
"There’s going to be a lot of tears shed when this one hits publish." –Georg
"You need to read Time Enough For Love. I literally swore out loud when my computer crashed when I was halfway through, and then I immediately whipped out my smartphone to finish it. And now I'm reading it again in a desperate attempt to figure out how it does its job so damn well." –Bachiavellian
"I can get behind some historical revisionism for such a brilliant story. The writing is second-to-none … I laughed, I cried, and I felt other things too." –Trick Question

Cover art by Nadnerb.

Chrysalis has once again overrun Equestria — and this time, her victory is complete. She's captured all four princesses and the Elements of Harmony, and the clock is ticking on their death sentence. She'll show those pathetic ponies the true meaning of power.

So why can't she beat them in a simple game show?

Third place, "Keep Pretending" Writeoff! Expanded and edited for FIMFiction.

Story occurs during the Season 6 finale ("To Where And Back Again").

A Cutie Mark amplifies potential. It makes a pony formidable — but it makes a human a god.

When humans started visiting Equestria and returning with Cutie Marks on their hips, Earth changed overnight. Now a young man with an unwritten future is about to discover the true consequences of that change … and his choice of Marks will forever alter the fate of two worlds.

** CONTENT WARNING: Offscreen rape, mind control.** Earns its Dark tag.

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Highly Recommended by Present Perfect! "Completely memorable ... I've never read anything like it. Also perfectly terrifying."

"It went on my Favorites shelf, and I really don't do dark." –iisaw

Third-place winner in the September 2014 Writeoff Association competition! Newly edited for FIMFiction!

Praise for the Writeoff version:
"What in the hell. … This is a really remarkable and surprising piece, one of the best HiE’s I’ve ever read, and the best Friendship Is Optimal-style sci-fi I’ve read since FiO itself." –Present Perfect

"F**k you for writing an HiE that I actually thoroughly enjoyed. Just f**k you." –Golden Vision

Lyra and Bon Bon love each other, but they have a ... somewhat unusual relationship. One of them is a secret agent. One of them is a changeling.

And the third one is a perfectly normal pony, about to have her life turned upside down.

This may result in some questionable relationship decisions.

Third-place winner of FamousLastWords' "A Two-Faced Charade" competition!
"This story [is] a ride … chaotic, crazy, wild, an emotional rollercoaster." –FamousLastWords

Reviewed by Hopeling! "Now this is an odd, interesting and touching one. ... Go read it, you won’t regret it."

Thanks to Titanium Dragon and BlazzingInferno for prereading suggestions. Cover art by mostlyponyart (whose blog seems to have vanished).

There's a crime wave gripping the sleepy town of Apple-Morepone, and nopony on the City Watch seems to care. Corporal "Rainbow" M. Dash naps through her patrols, her partner Dobby is an infamous kleptomaniac, Captain Rhymes is a drunkard, and the entire Watch is a group of burnt-out misfits.

They're about to meet a batpony (adopted) by the name of Carrot, visiting town to return an overdue library book.

And none of their lives will ever be the same.

A crossover/homage to the "City Watch" books of Terry Pratchett's Discworld, written to be readable without any familiarity with the series (though they're excellent, and if you do read them you'll catch my Pratchett in-jokes).

Winner of Aragon's "Comedy Is Serious Business" Contest! "I was quoting this offline for days, forgetting where I was remembering the lines from. … This story made me legitimately jealous, both of its cleverness and of its funniness." –Contest judge MrNumbers

Rated ★★★★★ by Louder Yay! "The best comedy I've read in a long time."

"Highly Recommended" by Super Trampoline! (Video review here @ 09:17) "It's 13,000 words long, but it doesn't feel long, because so much fun stuff is happening."

Other reviews: Present Perfect | City of Doors

Thank you to Themaskedferret and Caliaponia for prereading, and GaPJaxie for motivation/inspiration!

A delinquent young alicorn named Luna just transferred to the Royal Crystal Academy, and Drying Paint has fallen head-over-hooves in love. But she doesn't care about him — or seemingly anything, except for the dark, mysterious gathering place she disappears to on weekends.

Paint might just find a chance to win her heart there. But the shadows hold dangers he never would have expected, and everyone must walk into the darkness alone.

Highly Recommended by Present Perfect! "It's won one contest and taken second in another … because it's outlandish, ballsy, and utterly unique. Read it."

Winner of Cynewulf's Worldbuilding Contest! "Horizon manages to hit both the kind of reader who likes Infinite Jest and the kind who hasn't cracked a physical book since high school, and he does so simultaneously. This is one of his better stories."

Won second place in the 9/2017 "True Colors" Writeoff (as a first draft)! Then third place in the Lunbra group's "An Unexpected Meeting" contest! Also featured by Seattle's Angels!

Praise for the Writeoff version:
"Seriously though, Loveless is one of the coolest things I've yet seen in the fandom." —CoffeeMinion
"Dear god I love this so much. ... The story crashed into me with energy, style, and pizzazz." —MrExtra
"Literally the story of how gothic clubbing destroyed the Crystal Empire." —horizon

Cover art by Graypaint. My thanks to GaPJaxie and Haze for editing assistance!

Twilight Sparkle only wanted to go off-script in her Harvestfeast speech to talk about books — upending the Equestrian calendar wasn't the plan. But there's no stopping an idea whose time has come.

She and her friends just invented Black Friday.

Celestia help them all.

Written for the "Here at the End of All Things" Writeoff, and lightly edited for FIMFiction.

Cover art by karpet-shark.