A good story lets you immerse yourself into the world it creates. A great story is one you don't even realize you're in until it's over. But what about the stories where the characters come to life?

...Literally.

How about one that's a little more than just a story.

A tale of a human who has found himself in an unfamiliar world, years off in technology from his own, in a town called Canterlot... but not that Canterlot.

A human in Equestria story with a twist.

Cover Art by PillowRabbit! Go visit their FIMFiction Page for their info!
Edited by:
Rhawkas
leeroy_gIBZ
ArceusFan493
Something new to add, hopefully. Always welcome for criticism and suggestions.

Original Chapters:
Google Docs

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.

This story is a sequel to Crystal's Wishes

Love had finally happened to her. Crystal Wishes married the stallion of her dreams and couldn't be happier with her life... until she discovers why ponies treat military spouses with so much respect. Life after the happily ever after isn't as easy as she hoped it would be when married to a royal guard.

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

I was living a comfortable life. Had a loving wife and son, money was absolutely no issue, everything was swell.

Next thing I know, I'm hearing voices, I can't move, I can't talk, I can't even breathe. Yet, I know I'm alive, though I don't entirely feel like myself anymore.

Then I end up being the last of survivor of my new race.

I'm not even human anymore...

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-A HiE fic as a changeling in an alternate universe where MLP was never aired on Earth.
-Starts shortly before the end of Season 2.
***Slow updates! You've been warned!***
-Current cover image is a placeholder. Trying to find a more appropriate one...
-Comments below contain spoilers!
-The [Tragedy] tag is there mainly because I can't put up the [Sad] tag, due to conflicts with the [Comedy] tag.

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.

Thorax is a junior processor, class Q, and has lived his entire life in the hive, yet he dreams of things bigger. Grander. Much more important than watching pH levels in vats all day. Wouldn't you know it, his application to the espionage services gets accepted, too! Maybe he really is going places!
Except he nearly flunked the exam, and knows nothing of the outside world. Regardless, Queen Chrysalis charges him with a very important mission: Spying on the inhabitants of Ponyville, especially Twilight Sparkle.
Nothing, of course, goes right after that.

Cover art by Chicmonster