Stink Beatle, or drone 007, was a changeling of the Badlands Hive! Well, was, you see, his Queen is an idiot and a bit of a psycho. So instead of partaking in a stupid idea, like invading the capital of the strongest nation that Equus has ever seen, he left the Hive to live amongst ponies in peace… Yeah no, that didn’t happen either. He somehow winds up in Canterlot shortly after the invasion… In the castle, under a Princess’s wing.

Doesn’t this just put a hole in your leg?

Celestia was a mortal once. She had dreams and hopes. Like any other mortal being but has long since forgotten what it was like to be a unicorn.

As the generations have passed, she has grown to hate what she is. She has grown to hate the sun who made her immortal. She hated the voice she buried deep down, clawing its way up with dreams of blood-red infernos and fire.

She hates she listening to it.

In the narrow alleys of Canterlot, Twilight, a dreamy orphan, grows up hidden in the shadows of the mighty Sun Empress Celestia. Through a series of surprising events, Twilight suddenly finds herself in the role of Celestia's personal apprentice. However, with this new position also come strange dreams that haunt her at night, and the monarch's behavior towards her becomes increasingly enigmatic and atypical.

Twilight's life takes a dramatic turn when she looks behind Celestia's carefully maintained facade. While rummaging through forbidden archives, she discovers censored documents that not only reveal the truth about her past but also Celestia's secret plans for the fate of the world. Caught between loyalty to Celestia and the urge to find her own identity, Twilight must decide how far she is willing to go to uncover the truth and avert the impending doom.

Every lover of a strong and clever Twilight will get their money's worth here. There are some very dark, but also very sweet scenes.

I appreciate any help, feedback, and criticism.

Alicorns fly. Sunflowers turn with the sun.

Celestia didn’t think these statements were particularly reliable.

She had her reasons.

Inspired by Raven, one of my favorite stories on Fimfiction. Cover art by Plainoasis, used with permission.

Thanks to PaulAsaran for proofreading the story.

Thorax has been living in the Crystal Empire for some time now and ponies are adjusting to the idea of living with a changeling. One day, on a walk with Sunburst, Thorax learns about the holiday Hearth's Warming and decides that he'll make a gift to show his thanks to the ponies that have made his new life possible - The Royal Family.

This is a collaboration I've been working on with theOwtcast for the past month or so, and is set in something of an AU to their story The Odd One (kind of like the timeline is set up that part of the story coincides with the holiday season). Big thanks to theOwtcast for their contributions, especially the artwork they made to feature in the story. I hope everyone reading this enjoys it, and Happy Holidays/Hearth's Warming!

It has been a decade since Twilight Sparkle was crowned sole Princess, and Equestria is at peace.

The Crystal Empire, not so much. King Sombra is apparently unkillable, despite all efforts. He returns several times a year to be destroyed, leaving behind his horn and always swearing vengeance. The jaded Crystal Ponies, some literally jade, have grown used to their tyrant attempting to return. Princess Cadance rules with her husband Shining Armor, while their daughter Flurry Heart excels in school. All is well.

All seems well, until Cadance begins to suspect that something is wrong with her daughter after the latest battle with Sombra. Flurry quite literally walks off a blast of concentrated dark magic. What Cadance discovers will shake her family to the core and upend everything she thought she knew about her daughter.

Flurry Heart is evil. If Cadance cannot save her daughter, she must stop her before it's too late.

A thousand year absence from the world would be disorienting for anyone, but when your job is Head of State, understanding how society has changed during your interregnum is vital. Princess Luna, banished in the age of the longboat and the longbow, has returned just in time for the launch of the tablet computer. With the help of her sister, she undertakes to understand the history she's missed and the people she finds herself among, in order to resume the duties of her title.

This story takes the form of a series of conversations between Celestia and Luna that take place months and years apart. It is openly concerned with political ideas and how societies are organised, and not at all concerned with monsters and magic beyond the conceit of immortal monarchs. The Alternate Universe tag is there because I will be ignoring every single one of the thousand year catastrophes that occur in the show after the Nightmare Moon crisis, the retirement of the Princesses, probably the presence of any other Princesses, and anything else in the show I feel like ignoring, because I find them irrelevant to the themes I want to cover.

In short, if you wanted The Audience with ponies, I got you covered.

This story can be considered canon to my comic works such as The Sunjackers, and my other associated worldbuilding projects, and uses the same date system as them (ie. roughly matching our own, with the return of Nightmare Moon happening the same year as the episode aired, 2010). May also be your jam if you like Equestria At War, but not affiliated at all.

"There's just gotta be a place up ahead, where men ain't low down, and poker's played fair. If there weren't, what are all the songs about?"

Buster Scruggs asked and he received just that.

Had this idea after watching the film and I saw that no one else had posted anything similar. Figured I'd attempt it.

Twilight is on a mission. There are twelve missing ponies to find, whether they be dead or alive. But what she finds will destroy everything she believes in. The Equestria she knows is not all that it seems. But there is one who will set everything straight.
"It is said that history is written by the victors! And the victims' bodies are lain in a bloody heap, left to be forgotten. Well, I have seen through the victims' eyes and seen the lies you have spoken! No more... No more will your lies infect me! "

Cover art done by Sonadow2865
https://www.deviantart.com/sonadow2865/art/The-Seventh-Light-873458878?ga_changes=1&ga_submit_new=10%3A1615945338&ga_type=edit

Editor/ beta reader Gboyd
Coauthor/editor/beta reader Sonadow2865

This story is a sequel to They're... ON HOLIDAY?

Ayyyy, featured despite the sequel curse on 16.10.2023! Can we keep the last spot in the box? What's in the box? Why is the box?
EDIT: Added a character cheat sheet on the bottom.

Updates: Weekly-ish

Six years have passed since the Canterlot invasion. While the relationship between the Changeling Hive and Equestria is warmer than ever, the relationship between the deadly tunnels under the Badlands and the small, mostly defenseless changeling drones who live there isn't.
However, thanks to the knowledge granted in the recent years by a mysterious "smart box", and the guidance of drone veterans who survived under the "old rules", the post-Canterlot "new rules", and the terrifying "shippy time", fewer and fewer drones perish daily while mining materials for the hive's day to day operations.
Fewer, though, still means far from zero, and there are those among the drones who are doing all they can to finally transform the underground from fatal threat to something the drones deserve - not just a place to hide, but a true home. With copious amounts of goop, unstoppable curiosity, copyrighted board game, and a blessing from High Score, there's no way they'll fail, or at least not for long.
Drones know that everything is a trade and life is just a price. Unfortunately, sometimes there are near-invisible asterisks.

--High Ranks--
Chrysalis - no need to explain.
99 - a classless changeling. You figure out her rank on your own.
156 - current highest rank infiltrator. She and 387 might be an item.
387 - current highest rank warrior. There's nothing special about him.
2119, 3012 - unlucky top floor guards
--Drones--
10000/10k - drone leader
20100 - a drone supposedly out on a mission for the hive. Painter, the worst nightmare of casinos
57999 - the closest Ds have to a doctor, grows plants in a greenhouse
65536 - a drone living in Canterlot, a Nightguard. Sort of Luna's adopted kid.
99380 - hive mind manipulation specialist, that might be a curse.
99111 - mechanist, tinkerer. Engineer would be too... successful.
99856 - alchemist
99200 - explorer/survivalist
99012, 99066, 99971 - quicktrotters
99911, 99158, 99112 - drone crisis response team
99999 - a drone.
Smiley - a Silent who surived long enough to gain some mental capacity. Can't talk.
--Other--
Gloom, Night Hunter - Canterlot Nightguards