The Flight of the Alicorn: A masterclass in how being long and verbose needn’t necessarily result in purple prose. Ponydora’s writing is absolutely beautiful, whilst the story itself is as full of adventure as any Indiana Jones film (yes, that’s right, all three of ’em).

The Sweetie Chronicles: Fragments: The potential for tonal whiplash in this fic is mind-boggling, from light-hearted comedy/adventure to almost absurdly dark and then back again – it’s a real testament to Wanderer D’s skill that not only does it work, but that it’s kind of a masterpiece. The scope of it feels enormous. The character development is some of the best I’ve ever read, not just in fanfiction, but generally. It takes a few chapters to truly hit its stride, but once it does, I can’t recommend it enough.

Celestia… It’s Full of Quills!: Strange, delightful, and wonderfully written. Please check this one out, since it doesn’t get nearly the love that it deserves.

Besides the Will of Evil: The wildly uneven sequel to Dangerous Business definitely has its flaws (it’s not that it’s too dark like some have suggested, because frankly, it isn’t... but yikes, does it like to linger on those aspects). Yet for its lows, the highs are just so high – honestly, some of the best stuff on this whole website, period – that in the end it’s thoroughly worth your time. The ending in particular is incredible.

The Star in Yellow: Blueshift’s take on The King in Yellow before True Detective made all that stuff cool. The best thing about this fic is how unexpected the ending is, and how it manages to take such a dark, dark premise and make it fit in perfectly with Friendship is Magic, as opposed to a total betrayal of everything that the show stands for.

The Wreck: This isn’t JohnPerry’s only Daring Do fic, but I think it’s his best. A haunting character examination combined with an interesting mystery, and with some superbly strange dream imagery thrown in as well. Again, it’s another story which I don’t think gets as much love as it deserves, so please do have a look.

The Young Filly and the Sea: Seriously adorable. It’s a story which could so easily have felt mushy and overly sentimental, but Georg is way too talented for that.

The Last Trumpet’s Call: This stuck with me for days after I first read it. It’s at once heart-breaking, fascinating, inspiring, infuriating (depending on your reaction to the ending), and filled with a real feeling of pure adventure. And it’s all delivered in Cold in Gardez’s typically beautiful prose to boot. What more could you want?

You Won’t Understand This: I’m not sure what to say about this one other than to give it a go and see how you feel – it’s pretty much the ultimate in love-it-or-loathe-it type fics. Either way, it’s good to see the barriers of pony fanfiction being tested like this.

The End of Ponies: The longest, most serious story ever written!! But the good parts are so good that... just...

... Just go and read it, for poni's sake

BONUS ROUND!

Ponemurdered: A charming tale in which Celestia teams up with Alan Titchmarsh to renovate a run-down cottage in the West Country. Don’t be put off by the epic 956,000 word length -- it’s totes worth it for the story arc where they go down to St Ives to experience the non-stop excitement of a Real Ale Festival, and also for the 40,000 word chapter in which they very politely argue over when exactly Come Dine With Me jumped the shark. Riveting stuff!