Ponies on Earth have worked a variety of jobs.  Changelings on Earth, though, find their employment prospects limited. Especially the ones who didn't follow Thorax into redemption.

One of them decides to broaden her options by finding … creative financial opportunities … at a college campus.  And then things start going catastrophically wrong.

Rated T for profanity, offscreen violence, and brief discussion of prostitution.

Cover art by Common Tragedy. Additional thanks to GaPJaxie, Sunny, Monochromatic and evelili for prereading feedback!

Written for Admiral Biscuit’s Not A Contest.

(Update: Complete!)

Chester is on a routine recruitment mission for the Holy Mother when he becomes a witness to attempted murder.  And that quickly becomes the least remarkable part of his day.

Suddenly, in every possible sense, he’s caught between two worlds – between Equestria and the human realm; civilization and wilderness; heroes and villains; and most importantly, between two versions of the most remarkable woman he’s ever met, embroiled in a lethal magically-augmented feud.  

Armed with nothing but the power to see emotions, Chester’s going to need to learn how to navigate them.  And fast.

There is a prequel short story, Fang and Flame, which introduces two of the three main characters — but this was written to be accessible without it. I recommend reading it as well, but this blog post has everything you need to know.

hawthornbunny has written a fanmade guide to Chester's color sight!

Featured on Equestria Daily!

Cover art by Evelili!
A huge thank-you to my prereaders: Skywriter, BlazzingInferno, Caliaponia

Rated PG-13 for action-movie violence, occasional swear words, and brief sexual situations/light discussion of sex.

Dragon Lord Ember took her throne when she won the Bloodstone Scepter, and its ancient magic which controls dragon minds.

In a world linked to Equestria, a very different Ember chafes under her father's leadership, hungry to take ownership of the instinct-controlling power of the Bloodstone Crown.

Their two worlds are about to meet. And one dragon must take a desperate stand between Equestria and the deadly, unforgiving call of the wild.

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Winner of the Imposing Sovereigns II contest!
"Equal parts character piece and action movie, and it is amazing. I can’t recommend it enough." –FanOfMostEverything
"For anyone who thinks that ‘mere’ fanfiction cannot be art, I can safely add this to the list of counterarguments." –cleverpun
"This is a good story, an important story, because it is so very relevant. Behind the fire, scales and teeth, is a very simple but incredibly real story about finding one’s true place in the world." –Venerable Ro

Highly Recommended by Present Perfect! "Treat yourself to the most unique story on Fimfiction ... a pulse-pounding thriller that explores Dragon Lord Ember in ways no one else has."
Rated Why Haven't You Read This Yet? by PaulAsaran! "Original in its premise, adventurous in its nature ... ceaselessly interesting."
Featured by Seattle's Angels! "[Horizon] goes the extra mile ... if you’re looking for a great character-driven story about characters confronting their EqG counterparts, but especially if you are a fan of Ember or just dragons in general, then go check this out."
Recommended by brokenimage321! "Drop what you're doing and go read [it] ... A moving story about inadequacy and adaptation. And it has some of the best combat scenes I've ever read, in any genre, period."
Recommended by HapHazred! "Distinctively written ... Exciting, interesting, and gets more intense and cerebral as time goes on."
Reviewed by cleverpun! "[W]ell worth your time."

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.

Rated 'Why Haven't You Read This Yet?' by PaulAsaran! "I can’t stress enough how good this was in all aspects, from the narrative voice to the characterizations to the creativity underlining it all, to say nothing for how much fun it is. ... I greatly enjoyed this and think most people will too, be you a casual reader just wanting to enjoy Discord, a more technically minded one looking to see Discord done right, or someone who just wants a worthy follow up of Administrative Angel."

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.

Now with an audio reading by Quinch!

Recommended by Present Perfect! "Really funny. :D"

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.

Now with an audio reading by ScarlettBlade!

Recommended by PresentPerfect! "horizon gave me the story I needed rather than the one I wanted ... along the way we get some very strong lessons about love, and meditations on the value of a lifetime and what one pony can achieve on their own."

Featured on Equestria Daily!

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."

Reviewed by Ghost Mike! "It features meticulously laboured-over prose, rhyming with actual metre for Zecora, perfectly-timed jokes and reveals that are often outrageous, a sneakily clever plot and character investment that works its magic throughout ... This is a phenomenally executed piece of work."

Other reviews: Present Perfect | City of Doors

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