Ponyville is shaken to its core when a body is discovered in the Everfree Forest. As the townsponies grieve, the mysterious Special Agent Bentgrass from Their Majesties' Royal Investigative Service arrives at the Books and Branches library and drags Twilight into a world she's only read about: lies, corruption, suspicion, and murder.

Faced with an indifferent police force, and Agent Bentgrass's infuriating methods, Twilight must put the pieces together and catch the killer. But as blood continues to spill and questions pile up, one thing is terrifyingly clear: in the dark of the Everfree, much more is at play than mere murder.

"Equestria's Guard: the Bravest and the Best. Do you have what it takes?"

So the advertisements say. When Rainbow Dash saves the life of Princess Luna, however, she quickly comes to learn that there's a lot more to the guard than what everypony knows. As she faces down threats to her friends, her Princesses, and her country, Rainbow will have to decide exactly who she is loyal to.

A Price of Loyalty story.

Reader, in ancient days, the old lords of the world numbered in thousands. Then hundreds. Then even less.
Now, they are found only in tapestries and fanciful ballads.
The creatures are all vanished. All but one.

Rumors say there are more of him, somewhere far away. A young and supposedly gifted mage called Star Swirl, and Heartstrings, a gentle spinster, have joined him on a journey to find the rest.

Featured in The Royal Guard's Fic Spotlight #5
TV Tropes page (that could use more love)

Applejack has never missed a meal on purpose before, let alone a Pie Day dinner – that glorious day of the week serving Granny's famed hot, fresh apple pie. So why was Applejack absent at the dining table today, of all days? Little does the rest of the family know, Applejack's a lot closer than they think – she's in her bedroom, nervously pacing around and building up the courage to perform the single hardest thing she's ever done.

What is this herculean task that not even Applejack can overcome?

Being honest…

Editors' credit goes to: ping111, NotMurphy, John Perry, and Distaff Pope

Cover art used with permission by MuffinExplosion

Rated Teen for light sexual references.
Featured on Equestria Daily 9-19-2013

Now With Dramatic Reading!

North of Canterlot, in the far marches of Equestria near the border with the Griffon tribes, there is a mountain that flies.

West of Canterlot, beyond the Galloping Mountains and a desert painted in the pastel hues of a faded rainbow, a tower sits at the edge of the world.

South of Canterlot, past the Everfree forest and the desolate badlands, a city of gardens waits to be born.

The Lost Cities Challenge! Awesome authors who have taken it upon themselves to explore other abandoned places:

- The Land of Glass and Stone, by RazgrizS57
- The City that Breathes, by Pearple Prose
- Aletheia, by Foehn
- Far Kobresia, by Baal Bunny
- Keskiyönnon, by Bradel
- Unknown Architecture, by Not_A_Hat
- The Gentle People, by Bad Horse
- The Seal of Wax and Glass, by DuncanR

Dramatic Reading by Illya Leonov: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4.

Royal Canterlot Library interview for Lost Cities.

Once upon a time, Spike went for a walk.

While on his walk, he was judged by an ancient alicorn, lodged with griffons, parlayed with air pirates, charmed a maiden of a mystical race, and dealt with the scourges of hate, fear, and racism while deliberately drawing the armies of myriad nations to the brink of global war.

Once upon a time, Spike went for a walk, and did all of this so that he could keep a promise to the one that meant the most to him... Twilight Sparkle.

In the first of three books, Pillars of the Sun (Chapters 1-15), Spike is devastated by Twilight's fate and grows more and more despondent as he attempts to understand what has happened to his dearest friend. A gentle nudge from a pony he trusts sends him looking for answers. When that nudge becomes a push he unravels ancient secrets... and risks losing himself before his attempt to rescue Twilight can even begin.

This story is a sequel to Upheaval: Breaking Point

Following the events of Breaking Point, Twilight Sparkle and her friends discover that Equestria's demise may not come from an enemy invasion, but from within. The Barrier Lands and the Heartland begin the slow and uneasy process of reuniting into a single Equestria, but this long-delayed joining is already in danger at its conception.

With Celestia's power in her grasp and her agents by her side, the wheels of Black Rose's plans for Equestria's future continue to turn. However, her brazen gamble has done more than just bring down a centuries-old barrier. Ancient powers begin to stir: the remnants of a dark period in Equestria's history, the immortal inhabitants of Celestia's homeworld, and a rising tide of darkness coming ever closer.

This story is a sequel to Monsters

You might think that Equestrian nights are but serene exhibitions of Luna's work on the sky. You may believe that you can just lay out on the grass and admire the beautiful stars as a warm evening breeze caresses your mane. And you would be wrong.

Equestria is a magical place, and where there is magic, there is chaos. Dead rising from their graves, inanimate objects coming to life, strange apparitions making your foal cry in her room... sounds familiar? No? Then I'm doing my job right.

I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I work the Night Shift.

This follows canon up to the end of season 2.
Check out the Fanart Repository for lots of awesome Night Shift art!

Featured on Equestria Daily.
Winner of Stories Back from the Read 2013.
One hundred percent approved by Twilight's Library!
Special thanks to Nonagon and Wise Cracker.

Twilight Sparkle loves being a librarian. She gets to spend all day surrounded by her favorite things in the world—books—and best of all, nopony ruins it by trying to talk to her (or at least if they do, they have to be quiet about it).

But when the new head of the Equestrian Library Association gives her an ultimatum, Twilight's future as Ponyville's librarian will hinge on her ability to face the most horrifying creatures she's ever had to deal with:

No, not her new boss (who's clearly up to no good). Not the cult of the Dark God Cacophonon. Not even the strange book that won't. Stop. Staring. Worse than all that.

Library Patrons.

Equestria is a land of magic and harmony, a peaceful realm ruled by immortal and benevolent monarchs. At what cost is this possible?

Following the discovery of a strange and powerful device, Twilight Sparkle is whisked away to the edges of a land she thought she knew so well. Here, surrounded by ponies whose very existences have been kept secret, she must contend with vicious enemies, hostile allies, and the truth.

Chapters 1-16 edited by KiltedKey