Over a thousand years ago, two royal siblings fought for the sky and were exiled, one by her sister's hoof, and one in penance for what she had done.

In the present Republic of Equestria, no one remembers them as anything more than legends and old pony tales. Save for one shy filly who fell from the sky one fine summer's day.

An Alternate Universe "What If" tale, reconstructing the beginning from a different angle.

The badlands of Equestria is a cruel and harsh region of burning rock and coarse desert. A place where evil creatures and ponies who kill reside, it certainly doesn’t have the most honest beings in Equestria. It certainly is not the place where good oaths are usually upheld between anypony, not even good friends.

But it is here that you, a unicorn colt, a timid dreamer full of ambition to become somepony as great as all the greatest names in history, were born. It was here that you left to go to the inner land of Equestria, where Celestia ruled peacefully and where you would ultimately fail to find your destiny. And, upon your return, it is here where, with the help of your new teacher, the gun slinging hermit stranger named Anonymous, you will receive your true education, make an oath to find your own way to do true good in a land of bad, and become the great figure you always wanted to be.

(This is story is set in the Reversed Gender Roles universe of Equestria, where the women take on the gender roles that men usually have in society and vice versa.)

In a dimly lit tavern, Rarity tells Twilight a tale of loss, heartbreak, and how you haven't lived life until you've sobbed in a bar.

Twilight finds out that Rarity was nervous about asking her out.

Surprisingly, this is quite upsetting information.

After Derpy is late home several nights in a row, Dinky makes a sad discovery about why her mother works so hard. Being the clumsiest pony in town can be a costly problem, but Dinky wants to help fix things for her Mommy.

Cliff, being a man of science, is busily working on a method of returning home.

But he also has a side project he tinkers with whenever he's not working on that, and today seems as good a day as any to give the thing a proper field test!

Luna takes her job very seriously. When she hears there's a human having difficulty sleeping, she decides to share a bed with him until he feels safe and happy again.

After being inexplicably portaled into Equestria, Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle try to figure out what the hell to do with you. Apparently, they knew this was bound to happen.

Eventually.

This story is a sequel to Default

The local human has a lot of time on his hands now, and time proves itself unkind to him in its abundance.

Not that he can do a lot about it.

Still, it's just one of those things.

Guard
noun

1. a person who keeps watch, especially a soldier or other person assigned to protect a person or to control access to a place.

There is more to a Royal Guard than meets the eye. Capturing crooks, chasing ruffians, fighting monsters, stopping assassinations, and protecting the Princess with all their worth -- with a thousand years of peace time, they have become more and less. But the future is uncertain, and within the horizon, the dark storms are a brewing.

Aiming to become a Royal Guard had never been Twilight's first choice of career -- it certainly was not what Mom and Dad wanted her to be. Still, that didn't stop Twilight Sparkle to pursue that dream. Now that she was one, she had to deal with monsters, cultists, vengeful ghosts, prickly teammates, forgotten childhood friends, and a Sunset Shimmer. Not exactly what she had expected out of her military career in peaceful Equestria, but perhaps it wasn't far off from what she wanted.

Serious thanks to Sunglow for offering proofreading and commentaries.

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