DataByte's Recommended Reads
by DataByte
6,424,389 Combined Words
1,387 Combined Chapters
To read all of these stories, it would take you:
30 Days, 8 Hours
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Lyra is determined to find out the truth behind the mysterious legends of humans.
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Alone, a young timberwolf must try to survive in the wilderness. Survival above all else.
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"My name's Lyra Heartstrings, but you won't remember anything. Listen to my symphony, for it
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Not all is well in Equestria when a failing portal gun brings Aperture Science to the land of ponies
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A changeling is thrown out of the changeling hive and ends up in a familiar village.
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A changeling attempts to learn about friendship in Ponyville.
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Alan Wake must write a story where Twilight faces the Darkness of his world to save Equestria
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Discord opens a costume shop in Ponyville for Nightmare Night. But is he on the up and up?
Review: Among the funniest fics I've read so far - LOVED it
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As a fan of the show, I always loved Rainbow Dash and her cutie mark, but I never wanted it to appear on my leg! Now that it has, all sorts of things are getting weird around here. I'm a guy, not a mare! Cartoon ponies aren't real... right?
Review: I can no longer look at ponies again without this fic invading my thoughts.
A captivating and intriguing story
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Discord deals with his abusive childhood in his own unique way.
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Guardians come in many colours and personalities, protecting others or misusing their power. As Rainbow Dash finds Scootaloo alone after dark, it is her time to find her own place in the complicated network of protégés and protectors.
Review: What this fic lacks in presentation, it makes up for in heart.
I found it a truely compelling tale of an orhpan refugee finding new hope and a new outlook on life, and the struggles of those trying to bing a better life to one so bleak.
To be picky, the story honestly felt to move a bit quick for me, and the storytelling was a bit bland and even maybe forced at points. There is a great deal that coud have been done, and story elements expanded on, so the net result is to leave me yearning for completion, rather than extension.
But I digress - the love I have for this fic overall transcends its flaws, and puts this towards my personal top favorites.
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Tears freezing on her cheeks in the cold mountain air, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes. In her final seconds, she could think of nothing but her daughter... Scootaloo... (Sequel to Guardians of Many Hues)
Review: I felt as though I nearly died. I wept tears of agony as the clouds loomed over my dreary lot.
Just when I thought I couldn't take anymore, a ray of sunshine broke through, and the rain abated.
Through the rain, I watched as life moved on, and the pain lessened.
History slowly became present, and my life became whole once more.
Seriously, this one is heartbreaking. TadStone's storytelling since this story's prequel shows improvements by leaps and bounds, and left me dazed and happy.
Don't let the intro scare you off, it's actually a happy story, I promise!
Reading Guardians of Many Hues may not actually be required to enjoy this fic, but parts of it will feel more complete if you do.
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Gilda-centric retelling of "Griffon the Brush Off"
Review: This one is amazing!
A wonderfully sad look into what Gilda may have been going through.
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A utopian society cannot exist without the corpses of the revolutionaries.
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A day in the life of the lucky pony who plays Daring Do as she attends a book signing in Ponyville.
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It's always nice when someone's wish comes true, but what if everyone's did?
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The body language of wings.
Review: This fic had me in stitches
Twilight's naiveté is adorabe
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What would you do if you found a Filly Rainbow Dash in a box?
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In the highest spire of the highest tower in Canterlot, Princess Luna dreamed of nightmares....
Review: First of the Nocturne series
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The Royal Equestrian Courier Service visits Ponyville, but packages are only half of the job
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A trip to Ponyville turns into adventures in fashion, love, and romance that unfold like a kick to the head with the two most hapless Night Pegasi ever to work for Princess Luna.
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The Nocturne have waited for a thousand years to meet their Queen of the Night. Tonight, their wait is over.
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Twilight believes the new unicorn magic school teacher is a pretentious royal jerk. Green Grass thinks the town’s librarian is an interfering, arrogant brat. Can they teach each other differently before somepony gets killed, or worse, married
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All Princess Sun Shines wants to do is escape from her stuffy room and explore the castle. All Green Grass wants to do is find some distraction to keep him from worrying about Twilight Sparkle’s most recent dangerous mission. Solution: Tour G
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Princess Luna sends a diplomatic mission to the griffons in the hopes of preventing a deadly war. When disaster strikes, can their weakest member keep them alive?
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Diplomacy, gender and sisterhood in conflict, as reflected in memo form
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For centuries, the stallions of the Royal Guard have protected Equestria from every danger imaginable. Now they face a new threat to their position that will not be so easy to defeat. Mares.
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Colgate, secret dental agent, saves ponies from evil gingivitis.
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Anything is a crime for those willing to see through distorted lenses -- including actions which lead to generosity. An accusation has been made against Rarity by Barneigh's Exclusive Garments And Saddlebags. And no defense will be listened to
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Can Nightmare Moon, reborn without her hate, ever escape her past?
Review: One of my most treasured favorites - a heartwarming tale of finding good in oneself
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In the aftermath of Past Sins, Twilight and Nyx go through the things from Nyx's castle bedchamber
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Can Nyx find acceptance with her extended family during Hearth's Warming, or will she find the holiday hymns are filled with nothing but hollow promises?
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These are Nyx's first hours.
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Can Spike trust Nyx again after her actions almost got Twilight hung?
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While the town is sleeping, Ponyville PD keeps them safe and hits the mean streets. With sticks.
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Princess Celestia disguises herself as a younger mare and goes for a walk around Canterlot where she promptly gets mugged. Now on EqD.
Review: One of those "Don't judge a book by its cover" fics - certainly not what I was expecting, and actually quite good
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Chrysalis strives to be remembered.
Review: A wonderful look into what life as a changeling could be
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Each night I’m trapped in the dark, immobilized. I hear whispers as they operate on me: they say I shouldn’t be alive. Twilight refuses to tell me about the operation. Sometimes she can’t look me in the eye. What did they do to me?
Review: This one took me by the gut and threw me for a loop.
Wow.
Just when you think you've got the story figured out, it warps again.
Loved it.
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A colt loses his family, Celestia deems his best hope lies not with ponies, but a dragon.
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Every night, in a little stable just outside of town, an old mare lays down to sleep. Every night she has the same dream of rainbows and open sky...
Review: This broke my heart.
I sat back from my kindle reader, and could not touch it again for hours, although I had naught else to do for that span of time.
My eyes rebelled from their chains of control and poured out their misery onto my cheeks, whilst I fought to mitigate the damages and rein back the waves.
This reminds me so much of "Black Beauty"
This is probably the shortest story to make it onto my top favorites list
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The CMC know that Babs Seed was bullied in Manehatten, but how bad could things really have been?
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Dimension travelling with Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash
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Equestria's first interstellar journey
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Daring Do finds a crypt. She wishes she'd left it alone.
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“It's a rare man who is taken for what he truly is.”
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Equestria’s newest baron has just discovered that his new barony is entirely underwater, his new castle is a broken-down old riverboat, and his new subjects are… seaponies. Welcome to the Barony of Fen.
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When a young foal goes missing, it's up to Carrot Top to step in and save the day.
Review: A great throwback to the choose-your-adventure books I was fond of in my early youth
Had a great time with this one, exploring all of the paths after finishing my adventure
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Twilight Sparkle is the newest member of Celestia's Royal Guard. Fresh out of the Military Academy, she's ready to prove herself, but will her first assignment be too much for her to handle?
Review: I could not for the life of me shake the feeling of "wrongness" I felt while reading this.
It does a great job of leaving a sour-sweet impression of fitting into roles not perfectly suited for oneself, and even an unexpected epic journey thrown in.
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Princess Celestia was quite clearly overworked lately. Twilight just had to find a way to help. Unfortunately, the only answer she found was a bit odd.
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Twilight found a book to teach her the duplication spell. The spell came with a warning: do not cast on self. How could she resist?
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Twilight once said the want it, need it spell ‘works every time’. Ever wonder why?
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Twilight, a filly firmly rooted in the Enlightenment, is assigned to read Frankenstein. One reading session later, she is determined to show the world what a great stallion young Frankenstein really was.
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Twilight and an investigator from Canterlot must catch a killer
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Spike is no longer the chubby baby dragon he was, and he no longer has to go through his hundred-year wyrm sleep. But as he and Twilight move back to Canterlot, Spike finds that his new larger body means the end of his old life.
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.my name is charon, ferrypony of the underworld, and i will not taste the soothing kiss of oblivion until i have ferried the last pony into darkness.
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Hostages? Check. Wanted by the Royal Guard? Check. Permission? Check. It's going to be a long day for the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
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When Luna discovers the power to banish things to the moon, she decides to play pranks on Celestia.
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One day, the great Dracony Celestia appeared in the sky over Canterlot. Only the brave warriors of the Box Kingdom lead by Queen Luna can protect the land.
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Luna is hungry, hungry for cookies. Cookies that Celestia won't share. She decides to liberate them.
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A young Chrysalis experiences her first Nightmare Night.
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It's Christmas eve, and a young Luna, Celestia, Chrysalis, Sombra and Discord try to stay awake long enough to see the one and only, Santa Claus.
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Luna and Celestia are told that they will be soon receiving a new nanny to look after them. Luna welcomes the idea, Celestia doesn't.
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Behind the scenes of a perfectly normal visit to Canterlot lies chaos. Also, custard.
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Twilight finds she and her friends are trapped in their own minds and must escape.
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The CMC each deal with their emotions when their hated enemy, Diamond Tiara, dies in an accident
Review: I am still left with the same question: Why am I crying, too?
Sometimes, there is more to a bully than we allow ourselves to see
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Steven is on a finding-himself journey around the country. It's a regular day, he found a nice wood, and decides to take a stroll. And of course, the universe decides to mess with him and summons up a portal for him to step into. What could possibly go wr
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In the prehistory of Equestria, one pony is about to make an amazing discovery.
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Can a creature that feeds on love ever feel it?
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Part two of An Affliction of the Heart.
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The first hybrid child ever, Swarm, child of Warden and Kuno, grows up in a strange and sometimes unaccepting world.
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A hybrid develops new powers, a dark queen escapes, while a pegasus and a changeling try to normalise their married life.
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Celestia gives Twilight a simple request: start a controlled forest fire. This quickly spirals out of control until all of Equestria is on fire.
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Three missing pieces, two loving alicorns, and a single stupid decision that will set young Princess Cadence on a fresh new course.
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Filly Cadence turns her first heart.
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Princess Cadence tries to legally change her name to "Princess Cadance." Footnotes ensue.
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In which Shining Armor receives a promotion, Princess Cadance reunites with an old friend, and cloudfall is finally made.
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When the Royal Wedding scatters defeated changelings all over Equestria, a member of the hive winds up being captured in Ponyville, tied up, stunned, shot by a cannon, and held against his will. The truly frightening part is he’s starting to l
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Rainbow Dash promised to take the rambunctious Scootaloo under her wing on the whim of pride. However, when Scootaloo's repressed emotions come to surface, Dash finds there's more to the little filly than fun and flight training.
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Have you ever needed to be loved so bad that when you got it, it was painful? Scootaloo has! And when her mom shows back up from deployment for a bit of leave, her idol/big sister Dash faces new challenges with an intense internal conflict.
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A young filly writes to the newly-crowned Princess Twilight, asking for advice. She's made one small mistake, though, in assuming Twilight feels qualified to give it...
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When Discord finds a crack in his prison he begins whispering to a lonely Scootaloo.
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As Rainbow Dash tells Pipsqueak an epic tale, the boundaries of fantasy begin to waver
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Rainbow Dash makes the mistake of showing Twilight her Daring Do fanfic, and gets lectured about the proper use of dashes. This is followed by the worst pun in the universe.
Review: Fiction contains a barrel of laughs, open with caution
I'm sure I was thrown a few funny looks while I was reading this in the resturaunt I was reading this in.. but it was totally worth it
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Like Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was not born into her royal title. Follow a younger Cadance along the path to ascension, and her discovery of the true essence of love.
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Applejack takes drastic measures to prevent Big Mac's death, and learns something of sacrifice.
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A comedy of errors launching a full fleet of ships!
Review: I'm not normally into shipfics.. but this one was greatly amusing
Admiral Arkensaw Pinkerton sets to sail all ships!
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Hasbro just released the official My Little Pony MMO, with an A.I. Princess Celestia to run it.
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In a physical world emptying rapidly of humans, a young man helps CelestAI with tasks she cannot accomplish herself.
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Roseluck goes on a journey through her past to discover what her future holds.
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Before the Princesses, before Equestria's prime, there was a war, a mare, and a dragon.
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Rarity is a pony of great popularity and esteem. What does a mysterious pony outsider want with her?
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The victory over Queen Chrysalis has left a single changeling stranded in Canterlot, alone and broken. A certain pink pony is also alone in the Canterlot night. What will become of this unlikely pair?
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Pinkie Pie and Sweetcake should be living happily ever after, despite the fact that some ponies in Ponyville aren't entirely pleased to have a changeling around. But it turns out that angry townsponies are going to be the least of their problems
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Celestia must brave the depths of her old castle to save Twilight and Luna
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It should never be forgotten that those who have been touched by Tirek are forever within his grasp.
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When the bakery is about to be run out of business, Pinkie finds a plant that's more than it appears
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Silly Octavia, Vinyl's not a vampire, right?
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Q's days of making overconfident, stupid mistakes come to a middle. TNG crossover, Discord is Q.
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A dragon who is not really a dragon turns up in Celestia's bedroom to give her unsolicited advice regarding Discord.
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Somepony seems to have thought it would help Discord with staying on the straight and narrow if he were required to send Celestia reports on friendship, like Twilight Sparkle does. Somepony was plainly out of their mind.
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Discord wants to know why Celestia wanted to reform him. Celestia wants to know why it worked.
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Discord wants Twilight to hit him. Twilight does not respond with the expected delight.
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The origins of Luna's personal guards.
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Sometimes, the moments that define our lives, that change the course of our destiny, aren't grand adventures. Sometimes, they're just everyday events, lined up like dominoes, waiting for a tiny breath of air to send them tumbling down.
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Ever had one of those days when you wake up to find you've accidentally switched places with your counterpart in a world where you and all your friends are stallions?
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Pinkie Pie tries to fly internationally. What could possibly go wrong?
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King Sombra meant to possess Twilight Sparkle's body and take over Equestria with it. Due to an addressing error, he ends up in Dinky Doo's body instead. Neither of them is very happy about it. *5th place in the More Most Dangerous Game contest*
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As the Earth is under threat, humanity reaches out for one last hope of salvation.
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A collection of short stories related to Project: Sunflower
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Spitfire is apparently the only thing standing between the Wonderbolt Academy and total chaos. Temporary Captain Fleetfoot is not Spitfire.
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Diamond Tiara hates Nyx. We all know that... But has anypony ever thought to ask 'why'?
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Scootaloo discovers an empty cardboard box behind the post office. This is where her day begins.
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Chrysalis sends seven changelings to Ponyville in a clever attempt to break up the Elements of Harmony. Things do not go according to plan for either the changelings or the ponies.
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Octavia and Vinyl confront an instrument that plays music that can kill.
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What does it mean for a pony who has everything to be generous?
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Rainbow Dash teaches a preteen Scootaloo how to fly, strengthening their bonds, both to each other and the ponies around them. A story about love, family, and growing up.
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Celestia's Day Off
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It's a beautiful day in Ponyville. Then again, every day is a beautiful day for Derpy Hooves.
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A dragon wanders into a land that banished him centuries ago. Never did he imagine he would return, but when the sun and moon failed to rise one fateful day, something compelled him to begin the journey home to the princess who shattered his heart.
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When you have so little, and another has so much, it’s easy to justify theft. The more precious the commodity, the easier it is to tell yourself you need it more than they do. And what is more precious than time?
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Twilight Sparkle is General of Fort Book and must defend it at all costs! A story of filly Twilight
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What is there that is left for a human in a world full of ponies?
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A young artist in love will do whatever it takes to satisfy his heart.
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Equestria's golden age of Harmony has virtually eliminated crime, but one of the few "rats" who can still slip through the cracks is planning a billion-bit heist. If only he hadn't made the mistake of stealing from a dragon …
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Being a statue can drive you mad, yes?
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A gryphon survives a battle in the north. His friend does not. He wonders, sometimes, who really won.
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An ancient magical artifact causes floating lie meters to appear above everypony's heads. This causes Twilight to reflect on honesty and friendship. Based on an idea by theworstwriter.
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Twilight and co. journey to find the legendary Tears of Gaia. Little do they know what awaits them
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Twilight ponywatches.
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Twilight gives her life to stop a changeling invasion. Repeatedly.
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A sequel to Hard Reset
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Twilight discovers that the Elements of Harmony aren't as benevolent as she thought, and crosses time and space in order to stop them
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Twilight goes OCC and starts using puns
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Princess Twilight has a hard time adjusting to having a full-time bodyguard, especially when their personalities clash and she struggles with the burdens of her new royal status.
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Storm Kicker, Princess Twilight Sparkle's bodyguard, finds herself in a difficult situation after the princess refuses to let her help fight Tirek. How far will she go to help the princess she has sworn to protect?
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Twilight's bodyguard Storm Kicker faces her most dangerous and terrifying opponent: a prankster alliance between her sister, Rainbow Dash, and Sparkler.
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Twilight and her friends chase a conspiracy that has been affecting Equestria since the fall of Discord.
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Rainbow needs to tell Twilight something important, before it stops mattering.
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Rainbow Dash waits for Applejack
Review: Simply put: Heartbreaking.
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Roseluck’s husband receives a gift on their anniversary, but the gift is not what it seems.
Review: This should be accompanied with a 'dark' tag. Seriously. Gave me the sudders..
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I found myself in the Ponyville hospital this morning. A heart condition, they said...
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Designated as a guardian of death, one pony is forced to take on a task he never asked for.
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Twilight Sparkle discovers an urn, and a decade's worth of questions, in the ashes of her library.
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Recurrent nightmares and newfound anxiety make Spike come face-to-face with his greatest fear. What if Twilight never needed him in the first place?
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Star Power isn't Twilight Sparkle -- but she does play her on TV.
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Deep Cover isn't Applejack -- but she does play her on TV.
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Butter Up isn't Fluttershy -- but she does play her on TV.
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Can Ponyville survive when our favorite six mares have to fill in for the mayor?
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Rainbow Dash has come all this way, and she doesn't want to go. But all she's getting is another hour in the ball pit.
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Derpy Hooves is secretly a changeling. Nopony particularly notices, or cares.
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A thousand years is a long time to go without a good, stiff drink
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Celestia's thirst for good alcohol leads her to a pair of new drinking buddies
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Sometimes growing up means more than just time passing. For some, it means letting go of what they hold dear and moving onto greener pastures. And for others, it means becoming what they never wanted to be in the first place.
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Twilight Sparkle enlists Rainbow Dash's help in a "Fuzzy Muzzle Nuzzle" research project. The experiment only has three steps. That's not too much to ask of a close friend, is it?
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Twilight Sparkle banishes Rainbow Dash to the Cuddle Zone. Granted, her aim was a bit off.
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While enjoying Movie Night out with the girls, Twilight Sparkle discovers what it feels like to snuggle somepony. She then makes the logical next step: attempting to distill cuddles into portable, consumable form. For science, of course.
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Fluttershy finds a genie who will grant her three wishes, but this genie has plans of her own.
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Twilight invites Discord to play a game of chess. Surprisingly, he accepts.
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What lingers amongst the shelves? What watches from the corners? What is in the library?
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It's hard saying goodbye to your home of many years.
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A dragon has lived alone for centuries in a cave far beneath the earth. When a pony trespasses on his domain through no fault of her own, what will become of her?
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Rarity is sick, so Applejack goes over to take care of her.
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Only a few hours after the Griffon Empire declared war on Equestria, Princess Celestia waved a white flag and asked for an audience with the Griffon Emperor. The Emperor thinks she's here to negotiate Equestria's surrender. He's wrong.
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A being from ancient times, long before the Alicorns, teaches the young Princess Luna through her life the ancient way of protecting the dreams of children in order to become the next guardian of dreams.
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Twilight's ill, and shares a rare moment with her beloved princess
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Everyone catches a cold sooner or later. This holds true even for Celestia.
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A strange mare arrives in Twilight’s library, claiming to be her future self—here to stop a terrible plague. But Twilight worries that this stranger’s bold claims may hide something more sinister.
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Celestia writes a report to her queen about what she's learned from living among mortals.
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Scootaloo finds a new lease on a life she's struggling to survive.
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Diamond Tiara keeps breaking her promises. Realizing his normal parenting methods aren't working, Filthy Rich has to get creative.
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Pinkie Pie finds out a new way to prank her friends: bake some poison joke powder into cupcakes and muffins, and offer them to unsuspecting victims. She and Rainbow Dash together head off to embarrass their friends once again.
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Luna attempts to teach the new generation of alicorns the Royal Canterlot Voice. It could go better....
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Sometimes, we all need company. Big Mac found his in the form of a doll — a filly's mere toy. She provided companionship as an inanimate object, but now, it's not enough.
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A pony's encounter with modern utensils.
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Spike enters a relationship with Celestia when Rarity denies his love.
Review: This fic branches into two endings - I reccomend only reading the rarity one.. I don't believe the other is any good
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There once was a little filly named Diamond Tiara. This is the story of how she died.
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When a clash of cultures accidentally leads to Scootaloo getting in a fight with her shy new classmate, it's up her big sis Rainbow Dash (and a garishly-dressed Twilight) to help her realize the importance of getting along with griffons.
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A monster threatens to destroy Ponyville, again. More importantly, it wrecks havoc with a certain clockmaker's schedule.
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Twilight has been keeping Spike up at night with obsessive writing. One night, Spike's curiosity gets the best of him, and he discovers Twilight has been writing bad shipfiction about herself and her friends. He decides to teach her a lesson.
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Ghosts belong in books, not in Libraries. Now Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike must make sure it stays that way.
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Here in the White Box, the lights hurt my eyes.
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When Wild Fire got her name, it wasn't through friendship or magic.
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A mind-altering magical infection threatens Ponyville and Twilight has to stop it... by giving up reading.