Custom Tag: [First Person Zecora]

When Zecora is asked to show cosmetics from her herbal collection,
She finds herself in the middle of an elaborate misdirection.
Caught in the struggle to thwart a changeling plot,
She must find a way to help guard Canterlot.

Judge Prize winner in Bicyclette's Crackship Contest hosted by the Original Pairings group
Edited by: TheAncientPolitzanian
Cover Found Here: Guard Fleur de Lis

Featured from 3/2/2022 to 3/5/2022 (JST). Thank you very much for your readership!

"... at the forefront of our fandom’s writing scene ... Masterpiece." —PCaRG
"... really enjoyable ..." —City of Doors
"...worthy of high praise." —PaulAsaran
"Lots of wonderful world-building, great action, well-developed characters and an engaging story." —Hoopy McGee

Steel Song is a lot of things. Earth pony. Uncle. Professional bodyguard.

Retired.

So when he receives a mysterious package from Princess Luna a few weeks after the changeling invasion, he's understandably apprehensive. More-so when he presents himself before the Royal Diarchs to find that not only do they desire him to come out of retirement, but to take command of a most unusual position...

A position that may have more significance than any of them suspect. Because strange thefts are occurring on the Equestrian Railway, thefts that nopony can explain. Thefts that may have far more sinister intentions than their seemingly innocent nature may convey.

Intentions sinister enough to shift the balance of power in Equestria forever.

Book I of The Dusk Guard Saga.
Epic Fantasy
Has a collection of Side Stories as well, the first of which is here.
Now with a TV Tropes page!
"This is 100% Approved by Twilight's Library!"
Added to Twilight's Library 11/26/2013
Added to Canterlot's Finest 12/01/2013

This story is a sequel to Before the Storm: The Rise of Firefly

Three hundred years after Luna's banishment, an uneasy peace has collapsed and war erupts between the United Tribes of Equestria and the growing Gryphon Empire, who seek to supplant Princess Celestia as ruler of the heavens and claim the rich lands of the pony nation for their own. With the border defenses shattered, Canterlot endangered and the armed forces unable to stem the onslaught, who can stop the relentless Gryphon war machine as it overruns province after province, scoring victory after victory as it closes in on the Equestrian capital city?

In this time of peril, when the entire pony nation teeters on the brink of defeat, a champion will rise to lead the resistance to the gryphon invasion, becoming not just the commander of an elite force, but a symbol of Equestrian valor and fighting spirit. A born warrior and leader, the name of Firefly will be one day revered as not just the founder of the Wonderbolts, but as Equestria's greatest hero...

Taking place seven hundred years before present and canon to both the Gentlemanverse and Turnabout Storm novelization, this is the story of Rainbow Dash's ancestor, the founding of the Wonderbolts, and their role in the bloodiest conflict of Equestrian history. It is a multistory Magnum Opus consisting of several discrete stories, as described below:

Book 1: The War Begins

The Gryphon Empire invasion of Equestria launches at dawn with an all-out assault on the Equestrian Army and Aerial Corps border bases, accompanied by deep-strike raids against Cloudsdale and the Royal Guard training base of Fort Spur.

Will Princess Celestia unleash her enormous power to end the war quickly? Can Outpost Epsilon withstand the onslaught long enough for the much-maligned Royal Navy to reach them? And can the civilian populace of Cloudsdale resist a massive and determined air attack by the Imperial elite against its all-important weather factories and storm cloud production facilities?

Book 2: Rally and Recover

With the border defenses crushed and the remains of Outpost Epsilon evacuated, both sides lick their wounds, hastily reorganizing and preparing for the next Imperial offensive aimed deeper into Equestria.

Can missing Cloudsdale be located near the borders of Thestralslovakia? Will the once-disloyal and still-distrusted bat-ponies that live there side with Equestria or the Empire? What is the Imperial invasion plan? What role will the Changelings play in the conflict? And what will happen when a sixteen-year old gryphon cub faces off with the gryphon-hating pony named Thunderbolt; one of the most lethal and bloodthirsty beings to ever live...?

Book 3: Second Offensive

While the fate of Cloudsdale is negotiated and Firefly's forces prepare for additional action, the second Imperial offensive begins with an assault against the badly outnumbered Equestrian Army at Maresk two hundred miles inside Equestria, attempting to pocket and destroy the thousands of sorely-needed soldiers based there.

Can an out-of-favor earth pony Colonel rally his regiment to save the city and an entire Army Corps? Or will the city's soldiers and civilians alike face the fate of the border bases, becoming yet another crushing defeat in the Imperial drive on Canterlot?

• Writers: Denim_Blue and Firesight with occassional writing assists from Leo Archon and AJ_Aficionado
• Prereaders: AJ_Aficionado, SilentWoodFire, TheGoldCrow, Denim_Blue
• Guest Writers: AJ_Aficionado, Denim_Blue

Maps of Equestria and Equis: https://www.fimfiction.net/chapter/1105220

Technology has granted us many wonders, from an abundance of sustenance, buildings that reached for the sky, and a network that digitally connects the world being just a few. However, with these advancements must come a price; there’s little purpose in merely living, smog covers cities and chokes their inhabitants, and the night is bathed in a dull glow that blocks out the stars.

Too many ponies have become complacent in what they have, but one, a creation of technology herself, has had more than enough of it. The structure of society in this modern age has trapped and tortured her for years, and the technology and magic that suffuses the world only adds fuel to the fire, but when an opportunity presents itself in the form of a beautiful and free travelling showmare, she may finally get the chance to escape she’s been so desperate for.

My entry to the Sunset x EqG Villain Second Chances Contest

A nation fractured and surrounded by enemies, a physically weak ruler who struggled daily to maintain an empire that weakened with each passing year. Together with nobles increasingly ambitious and emboldened as the emperor's authority dwindled.

All this added up to a powder fuse for a nation that would explode into conflict with the ambition of the various duchies and counties that already wielded considerable power.

And in the middle of all this chaos, he is born.

An old spirit in a young body. The first and only heir of the Von Greifenstein dynasty and the last hope of a declining Griffonian Empire.

Grover the Sixth, Emperor of the Griffons.

This story is based on the mod for Hoi4 Equestria at war. It's really worth checking out. All types of constructive criticism are accepted and very well welcome! I don't own any of the images! They all belong to the Equestria at war Dev team and their Artists!

Three hundred years after Luna's banishment, Equestria is at a shaky peace, its borders protected by the Equestrian Armed Forces from several hostile races, from raiding Diamond Dogs to the increasingly aggressive Gryphons. Incidents are many, and tensions rise as the newly unified Gryphon Empire sets its sights on the lands and riches of its pony neighbors.

In this troubled time, a young pegasus orphan named Firefly comes of age. A born warrior, her name will one day be known as not just the founder of the Wonderbolts, but as one of Equestria's greatest heroes...

Set in the same universe as the Turnabout Storm novelization but taking place seven hundred years before, this is the story of Rainbow Dash's ancestor, the origin of the Wonderbolts, and the coming of the Great Pony/Gryphon War. Also referenced by multiple stories in the Gentlemanverse.

• Rated MUST READ by the Pleasant Commentator and Review Group - October 2, 2016 (8/10 stars).
• Rated RECOMMEND by the Reviewer's Cafe - April 13, 2017 (8/10 stars).
• Rated 4/5 Stars by Personal Review of xTSGx December 6, 2017.
• Rated WHY HAVEN'T YOU READ THIS YET? by Personal Review of PaulAsaran March 30, 2018.
• Rated 9.6/10 by Firefoxino of My Little Reviews and Feedback Group April 17, 2018.

Writers: Leo Archon and Firesight
Prereaders: AJ_Aficionado, SilentWoodFire, JamesCyberlink, Denim_Blue

Cover Art by Equestria Prevails, classified as creative-commons/share-alike: http://equestria-prevails.deviantart.com/art/Firefly-351657539

Princess Cadance wakes up with a hangover, and some garbled memories of the previous night's events.

Thanks to Marston241 for giving me the idea for the story.

Now with a reading by CaptainBron3y.

Rainbow Dash was the Iron Wing. She was a war hero, the Slayer of Shadows, the Liberator of the Crystal Empire, the Wrath of Celestia. And depending on who you ask, she still is.

But the war is over. There's little need for a pony like her in peacetime. So she keeps telling herself that she needs to adjust, that she needs to find a new role to fill in the world that she saved. But Equestria seems content to let her remain what she has become, even though they have no need of a warrior.

"This isn't how it's supposed to be", is something she keeps telling herself. But every time she says it, the only thing she can reply is, "so what should it be?"

One whole year after the close of the war, and Rainbow Dash still doesn't have the answer.

Art by NCMares.

What does time mean for one that is timeless?

For the one named Galatea, it does not concern her much. For as long as she has remembered, she has been given a few tasks to carry out as Mother willed it - to observe this world, and learn from it, too. And she has been given all the time in the world to see it through, for the good of her land and people.

Or, perhaps, in some ways, it does matter. Time changes everything after all, including what one makes of it. And, just maybe, her purpose isn't so set in stone as she thought it was.

9.5/10 and 9.17/10 from the Reviewer's Mansion.

A standalone piece in the Spectrum-verse. TV Tropes page here!

Edited and proofread by VoxAdam and Kizuna Tallis - thank's a bunch, you two!

Cover by my good friend skysayl - thank you so much

Rated T and tagged sex for suggestive themes and precaution for later down the line.

Based off the character created by Jed R, and inspired by the fairy tale 'The Shepherd Boy', by the Brothers Grimm.

Three ponies are about to land on the moon in search of hope and salvation.

Reading by StraightToThePointStudio
Reading by VisualPony
Reading by Rainbow Infinity Readings

Entry into Bicyclette's Thousand Words Contest
Thanks to The Sleepless Beholder for editing.