Sometimes, when I look at fanart... things happen.
This was one of them.
I'm sorry.

Shining Armor has everything - the wife, the house, the life. So when he rolls over to find the creature that crashed his wedding and nearly wrecked his chance at happiness snuggled oh-so-sweetly at his side, with his darling Cadance at his other, it's all he can do to keep it together and try to assemble the missing pieces.

Long ago, Celestia sealed her sister into the moon. Her subjects, however, began to fear her and the elements she wielded, seeing they could be used on anypony. Heart broken, she fled her kingdom, leaving it to the ponies who inhabited it.

A thousand years later, Equestria is predominantly under the control of Earth Ponies. Industry thrives and magic is considered a thing of fantasy; Big Macintosh always thought this himself. However, his life is soon to turn around, and he will find himself on an adventure like no other.

(The main picture might be subject to change; just trying to paint a portrait of what kind of era the ponies are in in this alternate world)

(REBOOTED FOR GREAT JUSTICE)
(Proof-read by Sage-Wolf)

(Made the feature box. Awww riiight!)
(Well that was certainly short lived!)

Two passengers on a train ride toward an uncertain future. One is a pony. The other only pretends to be.

Sex is tame and non-explicit. Don't be afraid to read.

Written expressly for Equestria Daily's Outside Insight Summer Fanfiction Contest.

Now with a dramatic reading by Illya Leonov!

Russian translation courtesy of Arsus.
Chinese translation courtesy of viczhn.
French translation courtesy of BroNie.

Inspired by the artwork of RubleGun and Raddjuret. Musical accompaniment by Patrick Poe.

Featured at Equestria Daily and the Royal Canterlot Library.

Reader Testimonials

"Vinyl + Octavia is one of the fandom's most cliché and mismatched pairs, and yet this is a real romance with genuine depth and emotion." - horizon
"Holy shit this is impressive. Like... Holy shit, man." - Skeeter The Lurker
"You have crafted something wonderful here, a true gem. You should be proud." - Illya Leonov
"Note that I hate this ship when I say this is far and away the best ScratchTavia I've ever read." - PresentPerfect
"Fuuuuck it's so good!" - Luminary

(R63 Twilight x Rainbow Dash story)

After getting some quick advice from her friend Elusive, Rainbow Dash visits the library to read the latest Daring Do book, as well as tell Dusk Shine how she feels about him. Hopefully she can.

Courtship - the period in a couple's relationship which precedes their engagement and marriage, or establishment of an agreed relationship of a more enduring kind. During courtship, a couple gets to know each other and decide if there will be an engagement or other such agreement.

Celestia loathes Courtship day. She despises it for many reasons, but perhaps today will be different...

Featured!!! 11/30/2014 Yay!!

Sweetie_Belle.jpg is a fantastic file, doing her duty and sending electronic heart attacks into the populace at large. But her life isn't all copy and paste, there's trouble in Equestria.zip, and only Sweetie_Belle.jpg can restore peace to the numerous files and codes in Cheerilee's_Classroom.exe

Sweetie_Belle.jpg will travel far and wide to solve the mystery of the corrupted Diamond_Tiara.png, with her friends at her side: Flightless_Chicken.gif and Apple_Bloom.png

This is their story.

Now with a reading by kingfish! Go check him out :

[This is]..one of the most bizarre yet internally coherent stories I have ever read. - PresentPerfect

Sunset Shimmer encounters Santa Claus in Pinkie's living room and they have a short chat.

Cover art belongs to Astral Sketch.

Now with YouTube reading by kingfish!

Second reading by ObabScribbler!

Third reading by AliCentaur Br0ny!

...and a fourth reading by LoneWriter1800!

Wow, guys. That's a lot of readings.

Except for the occasional adventure, the ponies' lead pretty dull lives. Luckily, a certain God of Chaos wants to change that. He's got a story planned out for each of them and knows exactly what he wants them to do, say, and feel. But ponies aren't always the most cooperative of creatures, are they? Sometimes they just insist on writing their own stories! How can Discord deal with a group of equines who, despite the author's plans, just won't stick to the script?

Note: Based on "The Stanley Parable", an ingenious adventure game. If you haven't at least seen a little footage of the game, you might not entirely understand this story. I suggest looking up the game (you don't have to buy it, just learn a little about it) before reading this. It isn't 100% necessary, but if you're confused about any parts of the story, I highly suggest finding out more about "The Stanley Parable".

This story is a sequel to A War of Words - The Opening of the Guard

For centuries, the stallions of the Royal Guard have protected Equestria from every danger imaginable.
Now they face a new threat to their position that will not be so easy to defeat.

Mares.

The story of four mares who answer the call to guard Princess Luna, and the troubles they go through to gain acceptance and respect in their new jobs. Or it could be considered to be the story of four interlopers into a traditionally male role and the underhanded tricks used to secure their position despite their obvious unsuitability for the job. Pick one.

Cover photo credit to the fantastic MuffinExplosion at DeviantArt.

Thanks to my editors: Peter, MSPiper, Featherprop, Seether00, GameKnut and Tek

Author's notes on the development of the story and characters may be found here.
This is a sequel to A War of Words - The Opening of the Guard which is featured on Equestria Daily

The history of war may be written by the winner, but the Royal Historian is the one who provides the notes and background to the writer. The recent events that some have called ‘Mare Wars’ or ‘The Invasion of the Barracks’ are no exception. The Royal Historian has painstakingly compiled this folder of notes and background material on what should more accurately be called, ‘The Opening of the Guard.’

Please remember to return the folder back to the Royal Historian when you have completed reading, in the event we gather more material that needs to be included.

Musty Pages, Royal Historian

Source for inside photo
Featured on Equestria Daily and the Royal Canterlot Library
With sequel, The Night Guard - Night Mares
And an interview by Benman