Since before the founding of Equestria, when darkness threatens the harmonious balance of the world, souls of heroes are called upon to save it. The greater the power, the more potentially disastrous the coming doom. So when a new, mysterious pony ascends to alicorn-hood, Twilight Sparkle immediately calls upon her former mentor for aid, bringing the power of the royal sisters to help determine the cause of her sudden appearance.

Will Equestria be ready for the potential threat that can come with such a powerful force being unleashed? It will take courage, patience, and weathering the ire of one rather angry mother to survive.

Edited by: TheAncientPolitzanian
Pre-read by: Perfectly Insane and Stormfox
Cover Art: Extra Life's Logo edited by Myself
Inspired by: Jan Animation's series, Button's Adventures, and his Deleted Scene: Hearts and Hooves Day
Featured from 12/29/2021 to 01/02/2022. Thank you!

Dusk Shine is completely fine with being a stallion.

Sure, he doesn’t like it, but I mean who does, right? He isn’t good enough to be a mare, like his friends are, so there’s no way he could be transgender.

Feeling out of place and alienated around his closest friends has to be some kind of friendship problem, and that is what he’s here to study after all.

Maybe once he fixes this hole in his heart, he’ll understand why his friends seem to want him around. Maybe he’ll even be somepony who deserves them.

I'm Moondancer, friend of Princess Twilight. Yeah that surprised me too. Especially after she abandoned me and my party but water under the bridge as ponies say. My friends, Minuette and the others in Canterlot decided it would be prudent to visit an orphanage in town and make the fillies and colts happy since Hearths Warming is coming up in a few months. Everything changed when I meet a filly who is scarily like me. Better question is why do I feel this way?

It started small. Pictures out of place, or mislabeled books. But then, it changed. Entire new rooms, long and dark corridors. Moondancer was sure something was strange with her home, and she was determined to find out why. The line between reality and nightmare becomes blurred as she goes deeper down the rabbit hole. Will she able to keep her sanity by the end of her trip?

When Sweetie Belle gets asked by Diamond Tiara to skip class with her, she knows something isn't right. Curious about what could be driving Canterlot High's darling popular girl, she plays along. Even if they're not quite friends, some things are just too important.

Written for the 1000 Words Contest II

Shining Armor has been living a lie.

Many see him as powerful and brave.

Yet deep inside is a soul who is playful wishing for true freedom.

Coming across a ancient tome, how could he pass up the chance to live as how he always saw himself?

A simple carefree night turns his life upside down, Gleaming Shield wants to live her own life and the pull to break free is becoming too strong.

Can Shining Armor balance a life between two parts of himself?

Or will He and She lose everything?

Cover Art belongs to The talented and wonderful Marenlicious.

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Made Popular on 7/2/16.
Featured on 4/12/17*6/19/18

Conflict has been boiling between the two Apple siblings for a while now, but when the trouble between them seems to reach it’s climax, an unexpected twist leaves them back at square one. Big Macintosh, the hardworking backbone of Sweet Apple Acres, claims he isn’t Big Mac. He denies being himself, and denies being the big brother to Applejack.

At an impasse on what to do, Ponyville’s local psychiatrist is called to help find out what happened to Big Macintosh. Can she find out what is going on with him? Whatever the truth is, the mind inside of Big Macintosh makes one thing perfectly clear. “I Am Not Big Mac.”

Content Warnings: Discussion of Death, Loss, Grief. Explicit Language.

WARNING: Spoilers in the comments.

Flash Magnus and Flash Sentry find themselves in a competition to win Twilight Sparkle’s affections. As the competition escalates, Flash Magnus begins to realize that it might not be Twilight Sparkle he wants to win the affection of.

Story and Concept inspired by Shilic with assistance from Sir Fiddler
Preread by SockPuppet and Graymane Shadow
Editted by LuckyChaosHooves

T and Sex Tags is due to very suggestive themes especially in Chapter 4. Nothing explicit.

There are LGBT themes in this story.

Entry for the Pillars Shipping Contest.

First Place Winner of the Pillars Shipping Contest.

It has been nearly a thousand years since Twilight Sparkle died. Celestia and Luna are gone. The Holy Equestrian Diarchy, ruled by a bigoted and brutal theocracy, has driven ponies apart and divided them along tribal lines. Unicorns are driven from society, feared and hated.

The lessons of friendship, painstakingly written down in the journal of friendship by Princess Twilight and her friends, have been warped and twisted to fit the Diarchy's hateful ideology. But to the average pony, this is the truth and reality of the world they live in, beset on all sides by enemies monstrous and magical.

Emberglow, a young pegasus mare, aspires to join the elite Knights, magically enhanced warriors dedicated to the holy Saints worshiped by the state religion. Can she uncover the lies and deceptions that have led the world to this bitter place?

Thanks to QueenChrysalisForever for prereading Chapters 1-24. Prereader for chapters 29-31 is MrRTS.
Prereading for chapter 34-? by Horsetorian
Additional pre-readers: bananachips/CommissarVulpin, Thought Prism, Chyre
Special thanks to my amazing editor, Cyonix
Cover Art by JodTheCod

Note on timing: I began writing this long before Season 9 aired, so none of those events happened as far as the narrative of this story is concerned.

Come join us on the Rekindled Embers Discord!

Edit: Featured 8/7/20! Yay and Thanks!

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.