In the middle of the night of 1986, a twelve-year-old girl wakes up to find an armored pegasus underneath her bed. The pegasus suddenly leaves, but not without the little girl following him back to Equestria. There she finds Princess Celestia when she asks the little girl what her name was, she nearly goes into shock.

"It's Lauren," she said. "My name is Lauren Faust."

Update: Proofread by Fort Impression and Airchi. And a huge thank you to SecrretBrony01 for finally getting this edited fully.

I also want to thank MrAquino, FanficFanPony and Starburst Gleam for helping me keep this story moving with their helpful suggestions. And a tremendous thank you to Lotus Moon for volunteering to read this on YouTube from beginning to end.

The history of war may be written by the winner, but the Royal Historian is the one who provides the notes and background to the writer. The recent events that some have called ‘Mare Wars’ or ‘The Invasion of the Barracks’ are no exception. The Royal Historian has painstakingly compiled this folder of notes and background material on what should more accurately be called, ‘The Opening of the Guard.’

Please remember to return the folder back to the Royal Historian when you have completed reading, in the event we gather more material that needs to be included.

Musty Pages, Royal Historian

Source for inside photo
Featured on Equestria Daily and the Royal Canterlot Library
With sequel, The Night Guard - Night Mares
And an interview by Benman

This story is a sequel to A War of Words - The Opening of the Guard

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.

The story of four mares who answer the call to guard Princess Luna, and the troubles they go through to gain acceptance and respect in their new jobs. Or it could be considered to be the story of four interlopers into a traditionally male role and the underhanded tricks used to secure their position despite their obvious unsuitability for the job. Pick one.

Cover photo credit to the fantastic MuffinExplosion at DeviantArt.

Thanks to my editors: Peter, MSPiper, Featherprop, Seether00, GameKnut and Tek

Author's notes on the development of the story and characters may be found here.
This is a sequel to A War of Words - The Opening of the Guard which is featured on Equestria Daily

Rainbows at night. Strange apparitions in the sky. Seismic disturbances. Bizarre rumors.

No doubt about it...there's definitely something strange going on at Canterlot High School.

Twilight Sparkle is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery.

But are the Rainbooms ready to deal with this Twilight Sparkle?

Side Story to The Demesne of the Reluctant Twilight Sparkle

When Doctor Princess Twilight Sparkle got Ponyville and the surrounding lands as her exclusive demesne, she knew it meant changes and stuff. Glittering opportunities. Dire crises. Friendships gained and imperiled. The dawn of a new age for Ponyville. A renaissance of the arts and sciences. A great test of her abilities as a leader and as a friend.

The brewing civil war took her by surprise, on the other claw.

The Princesses and their allies in Canterlot are working to change the laws, disband the new militias and ensure a lasting peace, but they need time. Soon, this cold war of arms and intimidation will heat up, and all the laws and decrees in the world ain't stopping it.

Doctor Princess Twilight Sparkle will buy them time. She will do what it takes to keep her friends, her family, and yes, her demesne safe.

With the help of a handsome griffon security professional—that's me, by the way—a devious illusionist, a ruthless athlete, a bored noble, and a pair of boater-clad con-ponies, she'll stop the damn war herself if she has to.

Touch wood I'll live to tell about it...

Frothy Brew is the barista in the Canterlot café owned by himself, his wife, and his daughter. Years of hard work had made the café a successful and modestly popular place to stop and get a drink or a snack. Nothing prepared him though for it to become a hub of interaction with the undisguised changelings that were being seen more often in the streets of Canterlot. Can he put aside his feelings for the species though after witnessing the most horrifying aspect of the invasion years ago?

This story runs concurrently with the latter part of my Change of Life story. While reading that and Prelude To Change is not necessary, they do give valuable background that is glossed over in "Conversations". Cover art and story illustrations are all done by Foxenawolf.

Amethyst Breeze and Ember are two detective mares who recently established a Private Investigator's office in Ponyville. Low on funds, the two mares take almost any job, so long as it pays. However, when things in Ponyville start getting turned upside down, literally, the two mares discover that they may have bitten off more than they can chew...

A collaboration between myself and TGM. Cover art by the amazing Photonicsoup. Now avaliable in re-edited technicolor glory courtesy of Royal Guard prereaders NightWolf289 and GaryOak and EqD prereader 63.546.

Special thanks to Derpator and RainbowBob for prereading! Cudos to FluttersIsShy for showing us off in Megamane! And millions of huggles to haru for the amazing Japanese translation! Check them all out! They're awesome and you won't regret it!

What is a sock to a pony? What is it really? Something special, something wonderous?

Hardly.

And yet, a quartet of them bothers Twilight on her birthday.

Sometimes, socks are what you have to make do while reaching for perfection.

Cover image by therainpony. Check out their awesome stuff!

Proofed by: Dumbgamer99 and Senyu

This story is a sequel to Growing Pains

After a magical mishap involving a filly, magical empowerment, and an aging spell, Twilight finds herself stuck with a rather large problem.

When Princess Celestia shows up to help her out however, it becomes apparent that Twilight isn't the only one affected by her new looks. Which in turn brings back feelings she had long thought forgotten.

Reading the prequel to this story is not required though it does help.

Enjoy.

Ditzy Doo hesitates to eat a muffin, and then Twilight and her friends debate ethics. These events are related.

(Inspired by "Do You Want to Go Skateboards?" by Takarashi282, who I felt missed the more obvious crossover point. Both stories based on this youtube thing.)