A flip of a coin. A twist of fate.

Twilight Sparkle, younger sister of Princess Celestia's personal student, Shining Armor, grew up listening to her brother's bygone dreams of joining the elite of the elite: The Royal Guard.

Now, fresh out of the Academy, this young mare is ready to prove herself equal to the deeds of the great soldiers she read about as a filly. Too bad the princess she ends up protecting isn't Celestia.

It started with a Nightmare: a corrupted monarch, a desperate sister, and a fragmented kingdom left in their wake. Saddled with the burden of protecting Equestria alone, Celestia chose to be strong enough not to. Instead, she found another way: three mortal ponies, the most magically gifted of their generation, to stand by her side as defenders of the realm.

For a thousand years, they've been everything Equestria needed them to be. Scholars, guardians, warriors, heroes—or, as Celestia prefers to call them, Angels. And if their inaugural achievements are any indication, her latest nominees for that illustrious order might just be the best ones yet.

Provided, of course, they don't blow up half the kingdom proving it.

An alternate universe retelling of the events of Friendship is Magic. A non-zero number of changelings were harmed in the making of said account.

Special thanks to CouchCrusader and totallynotabrony for their editing assistance.

The plan, he thought, was perfect. Instead of returning to the mortal world as a shade of his former self, King Sombra would transmute his soul into the body of his greatest foe, using her influence and power to destroy Equestria from the inside and take vengeance on the Princesses that stole his beloved empire.

There's just one problem: after her fight with Tirek, Twilight Sparkle changed her address. This turns out to be a much bigger problem than Sombra thought. A Dinky-Doo-sized problem, to be precise.

5th-place finalist in the More Most Dangerous Game contest.

Cover art crudely Photoshopped by me from this and this. I am art and so can you.

Reading by Neighrator Pony

The few.

The proud.

The only ones who were available at the time.

When the royal budget is blown, Luna needs to show that the disasters that have so drained Equestria's resources aren't going to continue. Reforming the Lunar Guard on a tight purse means that she doesn't necessarily get the ponies that she would have chosen, but how bad could it possibly be?

They're reckless, dangerous, they weren't even supposed to be here today, and they might well be Equestria's last hope.

(Featured and flattered!)

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.

Hearth's Warming Eve has come once again, which means fun in the snow, warm food, and spending time with family. At least, that's what it means for most ponies. For Scootaloo it means a day off from crusading, loneliness, and the coldest night of the year. When Discord begins to whisper to her from his stone prison, she questions the beliefs held by many. What was so great about Harmony? What could be so bad about a world where chocolate milk fell from the sky?

Thanks to The Band Brony, Gsppcrocks10, Inkscrawler, TheBuggiest, and minjask6572 for help with editing. Thanks to SStwins for the awesome cover art.

Now with its own TV Tropes Page!

Charis is an earth pony philosopher with no cutie mark who has a desire to see the world through a perspective other than her own. She keeps pestering Discord to become his student, much to Discord's annoyance. Every day she asks, and every day, he says "no."

Until one day, he changes his mind and takes on a magic-less earth pony as his protege. Now that he has relented, the draconequus is delighted with his student, realising something has been missing in his life.

Discord, now reformed, now has the Princesses watching him, waiting for him to corrupt the innocent earth pony filly.

Eventually, he does something far worse.

Edit: Featured! 6/11/14

This story is a sequel to The Alicorn Academy

Hoodwink, Minerva, Ivy, and Brimstone return in this story. The Crystal Empire has been sacked, the enemy has control of the Crystal Heart and the love that it radiates, and those within the Crystal Empire are feared lost.

Can four foals make a difference?

Reading Mail Order Orphan and the Alicorn Academy are very much encouraged. Otherwise, you might be a little lost.

The Witch of the Everfree... a tale that has spread among all who live by the ever illustrious forest, to whom the witch truly is, no one knows apart from the one herself... until now. Twilight Sparkle had lived in the Everfree throughout most of her long life, since the corruption she was alone until not long ago when she met few companions. Trained along side her sisters through bond in arcane magic, given true immortality, she continued her studies alone only every now and again seeing how her race fared. Now, forty years after she was dubbed a witch by her race, three little girls stumble through her woods in search of the ever mysterious "witch", what could really happen? read to find out.

FEATURED: 16/03/14

Clarifications:
Many have wondered what Twilight looks like and such so to clarify, she does not look like a human female, she retains her fur coat, she is of human height and has hands. The facial structure is more detailed such as where the eyebrows should be there is a darker patch of coat much in the color of her mane.

The story starts a few episodes in, around halfway through season one I would say, some shall stay canon whilst some with alter, I am sorry for this inconvenience.

Twilight is still Twilight in every way, though she has been with little to no contact throughout her life apart from when the Everfree retained people, in such her words would become haggard sometimes so that's why you will probably go "huh" when you first see her talk to the CMC.

That is all for now.

This story is a sequel to Astral Aegis

We had almost fifteen years to prepare. We have a world that would be a shield for Equus when war finally comes to us. We have new weapons, armor, and vehicles for this war. We have the Aegis Guard, which I trained to the best I could, a force that would serve on the front lines and more for this war. I just hope that is enough.
Editors: Personal Gamer Chapter 1-6
Rozen Knight Chapter 10 and onward.