Stardust was just like any other thestral, he woke up, he went about his day to day life, and he went to sleep, never breaking from the norm until that fateful day… the day he was ripped from his own reality and thrust into a familiar, yet unknown world, made a pawn in a centuries old feud between an ancient king and powers that threaten to destroy the very universe. Saddled with a role he never asked for, Stardust embarks on an impossible quest, a journey to find his way home and back to the life he left behind, a journey whose outcome could determine the very fate of the world itself.

No one's important. No one's special. Except for the princesses.

Blueblood's always known this. He's always accepted this. He'll never be special. He'll never do anything important.

But now he has to. There's too much at stake.

He knows he'll fail, but he has to try. Because...

Blueblood just wants to run his charity and be left alone, but High Society - and starry-eyed mares - have other plans.

He's not a good stallion, but maybe he's a better one than even he would guess. Now if only he'd stop being so cynical...

Not long after becoming Equstria's new reigning monarch, Twilight receives a letter from Prince Blueblood. It's not a declaration of war from the land's rightful ruler to the unprincipled usurper who's claimed the throne, and he explains why.

My entry in the 2022 Crackship Contest, this story didn't make the top eleven.

Two decades after the banishment of Nightmare Moon, her shadow still lingers. Princess Celestia has been left to tend the Twin Thrones alone and protect us all from those who would see Equestria crumble. Our enemies take many forms: some would tear the world down with their claws, others with their smiles. They are monsters all the same.

I have had many names, and I have been many things. Today I am Swift Sweep, and I work for the Equestrian Bureau for State Security.

Special thanks:
NCMares (DeviantArt) for the gorgeous cover art.
Octavia Harmony: primary beta reader and editor throughout the many months of production.
PaulAsaran: for great help with and feedback on plot development and initial story drafting.
Kleora, Cerulean Voice, Nonagon: for further help with editing and story development.

At first glance, Princess Luna's charioteers might appear to be little more than Royal Guards dressed in festive apparel for Nightmare Night. However, there is far more to the story than that - the Night Guards once played a pivotal role in the history of Equestria, and have sacrificed more for their beloved princess than most ponies are even aware of.

The Royal Guard has intensified their training regimen after countless attacks on Canterlot. They’re tougher, better, faster, stronger – and, after months of hard training, they only accept the best of the best. The Night Guard, the elite soldiers trained to protect Princess Luna during the evening, are similar to the Royal Guard, only ten times tougher.

Undeterred by the challenges that await him, Pipsqueak (now a full grown stallion) signs up to join the most elite soldiers in all of Equestria... The Night Guard.

He isn’t doing it for the fame or glory. Pip is motivated by one goal and one goal only: to fulfill a promise he made as a foal. He will become the guardian of the night.

This story is technically a sequel to The Dream Stalker, but it is not necessary to read that story first in order to understand this one.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/6MrWqNZ.png[/img]
(Featured on Equestria Daily!)
(Artwork from stupidyou3 on Deviantart)

Sequel: Left Behind: Sunny Disposition
Apparently it was scouted and is on EqD too

Nightmare Moon was meant to be released after a thousand years. A momentous occasion for her but terrifying for all the ponies on her day of freedom. She would get revenge on her sister and cover the world in darkness and shape everything to fit it.

That was the plan, at least. Instead, something went awry with the spell and she wasn't released when she was supposed to be. The mare-in-the-moon is brought into a world with stagnated technology, giant cities, and no sign of her sister or any of the other immortals. In fact, ponies don't seem terrified of her at all, and the stay within the core of her powers infused and changed the alicorn's body drastically.

The alicorn had no obstacles left! But...she was also a relic of the past. A past everyone seemed to have forgotten. A past she could no longer look upon.

Artwork by ElkaArt. Link in source.
Big thanks to Kryostase for helping spot errors I've missed.

The future is not as bleak as many would have thought. While humanity may have spread amongst the stars, they do not decimate one another in warfare anymore. The main reason that the current state of military technology would render the death toll at near-cataclysmic proportions.

Humanity, however, has not lost the very violent natures that its ancestors once honed in order to create the perfect soldier, one who had full control over mind, body, and spirit. They squirm in their peacetime, wanting, needing to find something to fight. The aliens they coexist with share the exact same need, their warlike tendencies beginning to work against their peace.

Ten years after the declaration of universally accepted peace, the War Games were founded. A single galaxy was designated, where the Interstellar Battle Fortress made its appearance. A mobile fortress that was a cloning facility, factory, and colony, all in one.

Only those who had proven themselves in the military command of their respective factions could be awarded the chance to enter the galaxy of Messier 83, the battleground of the War Games.

Planets would be conquered, lives would be lost, all in the name of galactic entertainment.

But when a far-away planet makes its way into the War Games, a planet filled with a race entirely non-humanoid in nature, will it shift the balance of the Games?

These are the tactics of the future. Welcome, commanders, to the War Games.

"Cover art is used with permission request pending, by artist Einik"
http://einik.deviantart.com/

[[The story will update as I have time.]]

This story is a sequel to Tales from Everfree City

The Equestrian experiment is failing.

Fewer than forty years after Commander Hurricane, Princess Platinum, and Chancellor Puddinghead united the three pony tribes into one nation, that nation stands on the brink of ruin. The Triumvirate that once led Equestria forward lies broken in the aftermath of war and civil strife, leaving only the unicorn queen, Platinum III, to rule from Everfree alone. The Cirran Legion, once the backbone of Equestria's military, has been dissolved, and with it, any semblance of control over the countryside has withered away.

To the south, along the fringes of equine civilization and settled lands, an old soldier flies alone. Once, she protected these ponies; once, she led them, standing shoulder to shoulder with the unicorn queen and the earth pony chancellor. But now she is just another sword in the wilderness, a leaf adrift on the winds of fate, as the twilight of her years fades away.

Because the Equestrian experiment is failing. And Commander Typhoon, daughter of the legendary Hurricane, is dead.

Art by egil. Editing by LoyalLiar
Part of the Price of Loyalty universe. Prior reading of A Beginner's Guide to Heroism and Tales from Everfree City is strongly recommended, but not required.