Twilight wanted to teach Ember pony customs. Instead, she learned about unicorns, dragon eggs... and Ember’s mother.

Special thanks to ChappedPenguinLips for editing.

Anon and Co. go out for dinner to have some good vibes and even gooder pizza. His friends were prepared for a wonderful outing, that’s not what they got.

Or, Anon is a full grown man who refuses to eat the crust from pizza and gets his comeuppance.

Every year, Crystal Wishes and Silent Knight have a dream: their foals, friends, and family all gathered under one roof to celebrate Hearth’s Warming together.

Despite their best efforts, something always gets in the way. One year it was an outbreak of pegasus pox, but usually it’s just the fact that everypony has plans already in place, commitments to their own families, and other such unfortunate obligations.

This year, however, their dream is coming true. It just might not necessarily be how they imagined.

Welcome to the 2018 Quill & Blade Hearth's Warming story! This takes place well after the events of the main stories and includes some spoilers. Co-Written with Crystal Wishes.

Everypony has a story. Some tell of heroic feats and grand adventure. Others tell of villainy against the forces of Harmony. The story of an average guard, however, is one of obscurity. They live in the background, unnoticed but ever-present.

Silent Knight assumed his tale would be like that of his father's: join the Royal Guard and serve Equestria. He would be just another helmet and spear, part of the rank and file. And that was all he ever wanted.

However, when Captain Shining Armor asked for volunteers to form a House Guard for the recently returned Princess Luna, it was Silent's hooves that stepped forwards to set his new life in motion.

Spike, after being rejected by Rarity, has been dating Sweetie Belle for a few months. Though they love each other, he feels she's trying too much to be like her sister. Can Spike show Sweetie that he loves her and nopony else?

Coverart by Haute-Claire

Spike only wants things to stay the same. Time, however, has other ideas. He's going to need a lot of help... An everypony story.

(Cover image by Rannva)

Idol Hooves holds a special place in Equestria. He's probably the only exiled changeling to serve in the Royal Guard, or at least, that's what he expects, as exiles don't really broadcast that fact. However, it's well known that Princess Celestia loves all of her little ponies, and her guards perhaps more so, and that makes it one of the best ways for a changeling to discreetly feed.

But how does a changeling even get there, let alone get exiled in the first place? For that matter, why would it ever go to Canterlot? Set a number of years before the series proper, before Luna’s redemption, Idol details how he was exiled, the ponies he’s met, and the series of misadventures that led him to joining the Royal Guard, and should continue a good ways into the series, as something of an alternate perspective.

Soon, he’ll have to deal with a boisterous new princess to serve and a royal wedding in the works bringing a third to power. Will his old instincts bring this new life crashing down around him? What precipitates Chrysalis’s ill-fated assault on Canterlot? Is it really so wrong for a changeling to enjoy good craftsmanship to an obsessive degree?

New cover art provided by the fantastic Carnifex

And a TVTropes page here.

And an Ask Blog of questionable canonity!
Out of Idol Curiosity

Fanart by Norad2! Major thanks! Short For a Royal Guard

Art by Egophiliac of Idol and his Daring Duckie Please don't tell him what that brush is meant for.

Rating updated to (T), it's a bit darker than (E)
Comedy Tag added as well
And changed the character tags a bit.

The sun has gone out over Equestria, sending Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends off to Canterlot to deal with whatever new villain has caused the disaster.

...thankfully, it turns out to be a far smaller problem than anticipated.

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Editing Credit: Bad Horse (Inspiration), Docontra

With a reading by Big Ash
Credit for the cover photo Celestia Stained Glass Window goes to LampKnapp at Deviantart.

Spanish translation of the first chapter done by Spaniard Kiwi

Smolder has a nightmare.

What confuses her is that it's of something she didn't think she was actually afraid of.

Featured 3/8/2019

She is as beautiful and graceful as the moon, and just as hard to reach. He is a young artist with much to learn about the world. When he accepts her challenge to create an artistic masterpiece, will he win her heart, or learn a terrible lesson in the nature of beauty and love?