Isolated from her friends and taken prisoner in the middle of a war, Twilight must deal with the very real dangers of being percieved as an enemy as well as the nightmares of her arrival on 'Earth'. Can she overcome her own fears and the fears of her captors? Will the wayward unicorn's assistance be a boon or a curse to the 'humans?' Most importantly, will she ever find her way home?

"In short, it's a story of friendship and plasma rifles, with the emphasis on the friendship. The characters are well written, the XCOM setting is fleshed out very well, and the story is compelling. If you love XCOM, you'll love the story, but even if you've never heard of it, it's more than worth giving the first 3 chapters a read.

There's excellent action later on, but the real strength lies in the collision between the friendly and naive world of Twilight Sparkle and the desperate world of humans fighting a losing war for survival and willing to do anything to turn the tide."

--Arzoo

(XCOM/FiM crossover)
(Cover art commissioned by a friend and created by the magnificent FoxInShadow!)
(Original cover art by the amazing Carnelian can be viewed here!)
(Gore tag for blood and some violence)
(Many thanks to the studius OminousTen, Arzoo, xXFluttershyForeverXx and finally Setokaiva for giving my rambles a once-over)
(Now with it's own TV Tropes page! Get to tropin' folks!)

This story is a sequel to Memoirs of a Royal Guard

From the outside looking in, life has never been better for Silent Knight. He is the first pony in a long line of Royal Guard ancestry to earn a commission, he has a loving mare by his side, and he bears the kingdom’s highest honor for bravely risking it all to protect Princess Luna. The future shines bright with potential, but the shadows of the past lurk at every twist and turn that lies ahead.

Guilt, anger, and regret are constantly at war in the depths of Silent Knight’s mind. Despite his best efforts to enjoy the life he has, he finds himself trapped in the past, reliving the moment when his unit was ambushed and his ponies were killed. He refuses to show any weakness, instead hiding everything behind a tough face to protect himself and those he loves. But his true feelings—and what he plans to do with them—shackle everything he holds dear with chains forged in secret.

Secrets of a Royal Guard is a comedy series with romantic, dramatic, and adventure elements. It features an original character cast and their interactions with the princesses they protect. It is recommended that readers be familiar with Memoirs of a Royal Guard.

Quill & Blade Universe

This story is a sequel to The Dusk Guard Saga: Beyond the Borderlands

"With ever-excellent action sequences, steady and effective character growth for our two leads, and constantly high stakes, the viking once again delivers an exciting and memorable adventure." —PaulAsaran

Long ago, a city of great magical power and ability was beset by evil and sealed away beyond the scope of time. Now that seal has begun to fray.

First Lieutenant Hunter and the rest of the Dusk Guard have been dispatched. At face value, their mission seems straightforward: Secure the city. Hold until reinforced.

But nothing for the Dusk Guard is ever quite that simple, and this mission is no exception. As the city nears its return so does its ancient king, a shade who once wielded enough power to bring even immortals to their knees. And if he is allowed to regain his throne, will once more. Worse, the city may very well be under the iron hoof of his own followers, a ruthless order who will stop at nothing to see their king regain his former glory.

Dark magics. Cities lost to time. Ancient evil.

The Dusk Guard's first official mission has begun.

Book III of The Dusk Guard Saga
Epic Fantasy
Official Series Timeline at TDG Group Forums
Can be found on TV Tropes at The Dusk Guard Saga’s page (Page outdated)
Cover art by ... well, I don't know. I was unable to find any credit whatsoever on the hosting site or by searching. If you know, please PM and pass it on so it can be properly attributed!
Alpha and Beta read by Halusm, Seirs, Bugsydor, and son_of_heaven176. Many thanks for your help!
If you encounter what you think are typos in the story, PM them rather than clogging the comments feed with them.

Author’s note: From time to time you may encounter a hotlink in the text. These hotlinks are background themes I listened to when writing the fic and can be clicked or passed over at your own choice. It is recommended that for maximum enjoyment beforehand if you do wish to follow them, make sure that your volume settings on YouTube are at a comfortable level and make use of Ctrl+Shft+Clicking or the middle mouse button to open the song in a new tab. Be aware that there may be ads if you do not have an adblocker.

Or just don’t click on them until later. They are an entirely optional experience, and can be passed over without incident.

This story is a sequel to Secrets of a Royal Guard

Duty, honor, and loyalty above all else. That was what Silent Knight had been told ever since he was a colt. They had guided him all his life and he was more than ready to follow in his father’s hoofsteps by dedicating himself to the Royal Guard. Then he discovered something else he had never expected: friendship and love. He learned that he owed these values not just to his job, but to his wife, his friends, and his family. Unfortunately, he learned that too late.

War has broken out between the gryphon kingdoms and Equestria is stuck in the thick of it trying to protect their ally, Nordanver. As Silent marches off to war, he must contend with the guilt that battles within him. He played right into the claws of Sudramoar's sovereign, and now he must leave his newlywed wife behind so that he can pay the price for his foolish actions.

Knowledge of the Quill & Blade AU is recommended to understand this story. It is a direct sequel to Secrets of a Royal Guard.

Mole Cricket, a changeling, faces the greatest challenge of his life so far: Convincing all four princesses that he deserves a chance at earning citizenship in Equestria. Can he convince Twilight Sparkle, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance that he can be a contributing member to society?

An Interquel to the story "Your Fangs Are Showing", this takes place between chapters 3 and 4.

An unexpected encounter with a stallion helps Fluttershy feel better about a personal problem... And then hilarity ensues.

There is now an Interquel in progress, taking place between chapters 3 and 4. And there is a sequel planned.

"We've had some interesting nights..."

~John de Lancie, Bronycon 2015, in response to someone asking him to comment on Celestia and Discord's relationship.

Celestia and Discord--tense acquaintances, close friends, or something more? It seems like they must spend some time together off screen to have developed any relationship at all. But of course Celestia only has nights free, and Discord, no matter when he hangs out with somepony, always has to make things interesting with his chaotic ways. And so we end up with some 'interesting nights' for the sun princess and the master of chaos...all alone...in Celestia's room...frequently.

Just what could they be doing in there?

(Yes, John de Lancie said a sentence, and I wrote a ten thousand word story about it. I knew something like this would happen if I went to his two panels at Bronycon, but I did it anyway, and I have no regrets! )

Beautiful cover art by Silvy-Fret: Silvy-Fret's Deviant Art page

Beautiful art at the end of the story by Nekoi-Echizen: Nekoi-Echizen's Deviant Art Page

When Discord returned to Equestria, after a thousand years of restless imprisonment, he was the embodiment of insanity. When the good Ponies of the empire heard of his intentional release, they were flabbergasted. Why let this maniac roam free and wreak his "Chaos" everywhere? However, soon after his release Discord began to calm down. He was seen to possess a strong ethic and, an admittedly sporadic, reserve.

After a while Princess Celestia saw fit to put Discord to work, "for the good of Equestria." His most recent charge was to write a book on Chaos. Discord however, has other plans. He has been conflicted about the nature of his release and subsequent freedom. Ultimately he becomes obsessed with finding out the "real" reason he was freed.

Credit for the amazing cover art for this fic goes to the generous alexmakovsky on deviantart, and the image itself can be found here.

This takes place in a Season Four cannon that exists without Rainbow Power and ends before the Finale, hence the AU tag. I might try to figure out how to canonize it fully at some point, but I'm not holding my breath.

Suddenly finding herself in hell, Twilight is presented with one fact: for the rest of eternity, she's stuck in a library holding every book possible. She's expected to organize them and is allowed to read them.

What makes this hell, again?

Now has two Spanish translations, one by SPANIARD KIWI and another by Pugg-Senpai.

“Yes, Princess, I’m ready to use my magic for good instead of evil…most of the time.”

“I’ll leave the Elements with you, Twilight…just in case.”

Directly following the events of “Keep Calm and Flutter On” Discord and Celestia call each other out on these little ‘disclaimers’ and try to explain their words while still maintaining their new friendship. They soon agree on some interesting conditions for Discord’s recent reform, leading to the castle, some Royal Canterlot Voice from Luna, cake, and an interesting night and morning as Discord figures out how to relate to his former princess foes in a much less evil (if as obnoxious as ever) sort of way. He especially enjoys his new ‘friendly’ way of bothering Celestia.

Later, following Tirek’s defeat (and Discord’s final reform), the chaos master and the sun princess assess how their friendship has gone and where it might go from here. Luna throws in her two bits as well. Naturally, cake is eaten. And, of course, no matter how reformed he may become, Discord ‘loves’ teasing Celestia as much as ever…and it’s sort of grown on Celestia too.

(Rated Teen really only because of some suggestiveness, and I just want to err on the side of caution :) )