Macabre has spent the majority of his life locked up and hidden away for demonstrating his special talent. With his cutie marks obscured by scars and his horn completely removed, he is known as a Marked One. When Twilight Sparkle learns of the Marked Ones, she aims to rehabilitate them, and find uses for their unsavory talents, starting with Macabre. To her, he's just an unfortunate, misunderstood pony. To him, she is everything.

Special thanks to enti0 for the cover art!

Life. What is life? Is it the role of the cosmic die, entropy at its finest; Order into chaos? Might it be the universe’s very own form of cancer, spreading everywhere due to a glitch in the makeup of reality itself? Or even the result of a God, spending endless eternity’s alone and creating something, anything to make this dismal existence a bit less dull?

My creators saw life as a challenge to overcome, something to surpass. To succeed life is to succeed creation itself, and in doing so, to transcend the boundaries of mortality. Because if you can create something better than life, what are you but a God?

Author's Note: Editor/proofreader for chapters three and up. Give a thanks to Gildomar for editing and proofreading, as well as helping me bounce ideas back and forth.

PS. KnightmareKnight edited chapter three, but they are not currently an editor anymore.

"Nopony exists but you, and you are but a thought."

Twilight's life as she knows it harbored a sense of security, but all that changes when Princess Celestia then arrives to deliver a message. To reveal the truth about Twilight's world that the mare's conscious mind has long since forgotten.

As her memories return, she is forced to come to terms with the fact that she was never Twilight Sparkle at all, but rather a structured thought experiment whose knowledge expanded through lives she herself requested to live in order to harbor a greater understanding of existence.

But sometimes there's one life among many that's the hardest to let go of...

Inspired in part by a "Three words" game in The Writer's Group, and Mark Twain's "The Mysterious Stranger".

Edited by Breath of Plagues

Featured on Equestria Daily!
TV Tropes page.

Princess Celestia sends Twilight Sparkle a letter, asking the same question she always does. Maybe a visit from Spike will prompt her to give an answer at last.

Lengthened version of the 6th-place finisher in the /fic/ mini write-off "One Little Mistake."

Thanks to The Descendant for reading over this for me and making sure it had something useful to say.

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This is the first book of The Humanity Within Trilogy. Its sequel is What I've Done.

I wasn't always like this, a monster, running through the woods on an alien planet. I was once a man. I had dreams, a girlfriend, and a great job.
Then They came. In the middle of the night, They scooped me from my home, and... changed me.

Now I'm a beast, a demon the like of which the world I've become stranded on has never seen before, scraping by on the fringes of society, hiding from the natives, and doing my best to avoid notice.

After all, who could ever be friends with a monster?

Cover Image done by the very talented PaintSplotch! You can find his FimFic account here.
And here is his DeviantArt Account!
Now 100% approved by Twilight's Library!
Mad props to my prereaders:
ThatPonyWithASword.
Admiral Applejack.
JXWheeler

Red Team had been given an assignment. It wasn't the usual sort of assignment. They were assigned to defend their base 'until further notice'...and then never received notice. All announcements sounded pre-recorded, and enemy assaults were few and far between. The enforced inactivity was slowly fraying the bonds of the team...

...until something unexpected arrived. A tiny creature appears one day in their fortress, in need of compassion and care. Somehow, she finds that in this group of strange individuals, as she becomes their baby.

-------------------
Crossover with Team Fortress 2.
Part of the PWNY-verse.

Edit: Since I get these comments a lot, I will say here, I've never played the game and don't intend to include much in the way of game mechanics, so please don't suggest such things.

Edit 2: FAN ART! for chapter 9 by G_Haze. Makes me so happy.
Edit 3: More fan art from G_Haze, This guy's amazing!
Edit 4: New fan art! by The Pyromanecer. Thanks so much!
Edit 5: More fan art by shiningkord98.
Edit 6: New Fan Art by The Pyromancer
Edit 6: More awesome fan art from G_Haze! So awesome!
Edit 7: New fan art by Pioneering Author

Hi there, my name's Abel, I'm the new changeling on the block.
Been living in Ponyville for three years. Been here a year before Twilight and managed to make a name for myself as a darn good accountant that goes by the name of Balanced Books.
Even got along with each of the Bearers pretty well. Well enough that Twilight decided to invite me along for her brother's wedding.
Getting past that shield the first time wasn't fun. Figuring out the plot behind the wedding, also not fun.
Did I happen to mention that any and all changelings who are NOT a part of Chrysalis' Hive Mind have a VERY good reason to hate her? Me moreso than most?
Yeah, that was torture.
Now all I have to do is explain to the bucking princessess about my true nature and pray to, well, them, that I'll be allowed to return to my life as Books.
Wish me luck, my interrogator is here.
Cover art provided by jjamess10

Cardiac the unicorn is a bit of a nervous wreck.
He has anxiety, but he went for a doctorate.
He has hemophobia, but he became a surgeon.
He hates violence, but became a soldier.
He loves masks, but he took the bandages off.

This is Cardiac's story.

Ba-Dum. Ba-Dum. Ba-Dum. Ba-Dum. Ba-Dum. Ba-Dum. Ba-Dum. Ba-Dum.

"Suppose I killed them all?"

Most folks in town know about Longbow, even if not many really know her. She's somepony parents teach their foals to avoid. Everypony understands that she's dangerous.

Everypony except Twilight, who just moved to town.

Supplier of trashy romances... RainbowBob
Sounding board... buckweiser
Free idea fountain... Maskedferret
Veteran who understands... Biker_Dash