If you ever met Sunstone when he was but a young colt, you would’ve seen a large grin, two purple eyes full of determination, and an earth pony who could take on the world.

But something happened over the years. As Sunstone grew older, more and more did his cheerful smile morph into an ugly scowl. His enthusiastic attitude gradually capsized, leaving in its stead a disgruntled husk of his former self.

Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle: Two gifted unicorns that would quickly undermine everything Sunstone has been hoping to achieve, unintentionally turning him into the underdog he never wished to be. Resentment overtaking his better judgement, feeling doomed to be living forever in the shadow of his immensely successful brother and sister, Sunstone has had a lifetime of feeling thoroughly unremarkable.

Unable to bear his inability to stand out amongst his younger siblings, Sunstone vowed to never see his family again. It’s been five years since he departed on a journey to finally understand his true place in Equestria.

Not once has he looked back at the life he left behind.

Celestia travels to a far corner of her kingdom to investigate a rumor about a colt with strange, illicit cutie marks. She meets Radish Root, a boy whose marks make him an anomaly in the fabric of Equestria, a mystery to himself, and an outcast among society.
When Radish joins the Royal Guard just prior to the return of Nightmare Moon, he finds his life being complicated by all the changes coming to Equestria. His marks will lead him into adventure, intrigue, and trouble... but will they ever lead him to answers?

Proofreader: Slavenger Karl
Cover Art Gallery
Table of original characters
A reader is translating this story into Spanish. Check it out here.

[description slightly updated 10/10/22]
What if Applebloom hadn't admitted to being Anon-a-Miss when she did? What if Sunset took the situation to extreme measures? And what if the Crusaders never stopped posting…?

This is the story of the aftermath of what might have happened, Sunset's recovery from the trauma of abandonment and resulting depression, and the road towards healing and forgiveness. This is also the story of why Anon-a-Miss continued to function long after the intended purpose was completed. There will be roadblocks, detours, and maybe even engine troubles, but through friendship, Sunset's wounds may yet be mended. However… as the one behind the wicked veil of anonymity continues to wreak havoc, who else will be hurt due to her desire for vengeance? Why does she seek it, and for what is it sought for? When the collateral damage inevitably collapses under its own weight, Sunset will not be the only one bearing scars.

[END OF PLOT SYNOPSIS & HOOK]

/x/x/x/

Third person. Present tense (flashbacks are in Past tense). Rated T rather than M as there is no explicit sex or graphic violence. Profanity tag may be pushing the rating a bit (frequency of F bombs was reduced in editing). Sex tag for discussion of sexual activity (both heterosexual and homosexual) and implied nudity. Suicide / Self Harm tag for failed suicide attempts, mentions of past attempts, discussion of cutting, and for descriptions of scars. Contains cannabis mention and implied use (not enough to justify tagging Narcotics but enough to mention). Also contains minor character death (of an OC, in a flashback, off-screen), medical trauma, mental illness, and some depictions of homophobia and the usage of slurs.

TL;DR reader discretion is HIGHLY advised. Feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions about exactly what method of suicide attempts are depicted in case certain types may cause you harm. I don’t want to trigger anyone if I can help to prevent it. (I am using ‘trigger’ here in its medical context.)

It has been pointed out to me that there are some inconsistencies concerning the timeline and canon. I will mention that here to spare you further confusion. This takes place in a light AU I call my EEGC (Extended Equestria Girls Chronology) which consists of multiple fics set in the same universe and timeline. In it I have changed, among other things: Twilight gave Sunset the journal in the events of the first film, the Anon-a-Miss incident occurs within weeks of the first film and long before the second, the OTHER Twilight & Sunset are ‘altered’ and ‘taken care of’ respectively, and the Human World and Limbo are now the same location. These changes were made because the EqG canon is literally impossible otherwise, given the events of the show (and has only grown MORE impossible in time).

Thank you all for getting me featured repeatedly!
Thank you for the likes, comments, and favorites!
Thank you especially for the constructive criticism!

Sweetie Belle's job at the national radio station, Equestria Public Radio, had been a major success. Working her way up from newbie audio technician to host in just a few months, every show she did every weekend was just another joyous radio where she could share her interests with the world. Every weekend night, she would come on and serenade the world with her personal jazzy picks and talk to so many people about whatever interests or idiosyncrasies they had. The only thing was, no one knew it was Sweetie behind the mic. All they knew was Lady Luxury was more than willing to listen to each and every one of her viewers.

Spike was lonely after he came to terms with Rarity's lack of affection. Months and years pining after her and barely a hint of reciprocated affection. While on a year long trip around Equestria, Spike had a lot of time to think and after days and days of soul searching and consideration, he realized the affection he held for Rarity's little sister just bubbling under the surface. A long time friend and companion, he was conflicted, so he called in to his favourite radio show to ask for advice.

A sweet wholesome fic about Radio host Sweetie Belle and Lonely Listener Spike. A web of love and pseudonyms inevitably to be unraveled. Will love withstand the deception?

Rated T for innuendo, crude humor, and mild profanity.

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!

Over 5 centuries ago, halfway through Celestia's millennium long reign, a rebellious political faction attempts to take over Equestria and start a new pony republic. Celestia is accused of crimes against ponykind and put on trial in an effort to remove her from power. Celestia must defend herself, and her actions, against the conspirators who aim to take over her kingdom. The fate of friendship and the future of Equestria hangs in the balance.

Told through the perspective of Princess Twilight reading the story to Luster Dawn.

Cover art by Decoy the Skeletal Boy:
https://www.deviantart.com/theflamingalberto
https://twitter.com/skeletal_boy

Sunset Shimmer's life was good, she had plenty of friends and greatly enjoyed where she had eventually ended up in life. It's a shame then that reality had a different opinion on where she belonged. Now stuck in the past prior to first leaving for the human world, Sunset will have to figure out what kind of direction she wants to take in life this time around.

After all, the future she herself lived with her friends was not reachable without doing things that she now found appalling. Even so, she knows that staying in Equestria could very well doom the world to a much darker future. If she had time to draft a plan she could probably figure out something that would keep herself out of the way while also not affecting the timeline, it's a shame then that the two princesses of Canterlot would just not leave her alone!

Apparently this thing got feature mere days after publishing... somehow.

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.

READ THIS INSTEAD

Has been republished ((again)) so I can submit other stories without waiting for the dreaded approval waiting time. Or I'm delusional, and that's not a thing. I was not. It really does work like that.

If you want to know why it was originally taken down, read the blog. ((Also my profile's comments. This shit is cringe))

244 likes 17 dislikes before the shameful snap I made ratings visible again 'cause ppl are still reading this for some reason.

New story of similar theme coming soon, so hold 'yer horses. But this time without the cringe. Hopefully.

Takes place in an alternate universe where princess Platinum, commander Hurricane and chancellor Puddinghead begrudgingly works together in threat of annihilation by the windigos to form Equestria without their advisor's intervention. However, not everything is sunshine and rainbows, as the desperate union continues to be plagued by ethnic strife between the three tribes, and constant border raids/skirmishes from their new neighbours begin to breed a culture of mistrust and paranoia.

One such raiders were the 'savage' eastern griffons; whose origins were hidden by the impassable eastern mountain ranges which cut the Equus continent into two. Wild tales and speculations came out of the mysterious eastern lands, as even the coasts were lined with mountains; seemingly to protect its vast riches from outsiders. Little did they know, the eastern lands did not hold vast riches nor fertile lands, but was a chaotic and violent collection of warlords, counties, dukedoms and kingdoms; all fighting for so long to the point that their original casus belli had been lost or forgotten due to time.

There was no creature in Equestria who could stabilise the isolated region; many griffons having fallen attempting to unite the vast lands. Luckily, the next ones wouldn't be Equestrian. (Yeah, you know where this is going)

Enter Bismarck and Mauser; the former having been forced into retirement by the boisterous Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the latter continuing to refine his rifle designs, and eventually witnessing his Gewehr 98 becoming the standard issued German rifle. The latter was a realist and an extremely gifted statesman; whilst the former was an inventor whose name would label the infamous "Mauser" small-arms company.

Can they unite the fractured eastern lands? Can they create a unifying identity to rally the apethtic citizenry? Can they fix the agricultural and economic strife? Can they turn their divided lands into a unified superpower? Of course they can.

* Erwin Rommel (Griffon)
* Winston Churchill (Changeling)
* Franklin D Roosevelt (Changeling)
* Queen Victoria (Changeling)

Disclaimer: First time writing. Writing on a phone. Harsh criticism is fine, just don't be unreasonable. Historical accuracy is thrown out the window to fit the narrative. Realism is also thrown out the window (goodbye immersion). Totally not a Gary Stu story with all the modern weapons (pretty much just a 'civilised' vs 'uncivilised' situation). The pony civilisation is not a fairy tale utopia. Lots of death. Research_all and add_equipment are used liberally. Victoria 2 (and hopefully soon Victoria 3) are referenced frequently (mostly in comments).

Cover art link: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Otto_von_Bismarck_by_N.Repik.jpg
(The image is free to use, and requires no permission nor request to use) (If you're a dum-dum and asking if I made the cover art, "ofc I didn't make the covert art.")

Featured 06/27/21 ("The world must've gone terribly wrong for something like this to happen...")

When Twilight first saw her, she thought the mare was beautiful, and she couldn't help but be attracted to her. When she got to know her more, she began to realize that the mare was somepony she connected with and loved. But as date after date went by, the mare got more and more nervous, as Celestia struggled to figure out how she would break the facade to the mare she had grown to love.