If you came to hear a story, I’m sorry to disappoint. I suspect this’ll just end up as one big confession, really. When you’re the first Teutscher to set hoof into Equestria, I suppose that’s to be expected. And when you’re the universe’s favorite chew toy, doubly so. Still, with enough wit, some Prussian ingenuity, a droll sense of humor, and wanton murder, I might just survive this. Then again, when you’re going up against an unending list of things like government conspiracies, that guardian angel who keeps telling you to kill ponies, psycho Equestrian girls with allophilia, a lunatic princess, the legions of the Inferno, the Equestrian culture itself, swashbuckling sword fights, and laissez-faire economists, you begin to realize why there’s a big “if” in the middle of your life.

Your thoughts/critiques/deathreats are welcome in the comments. Spoilers are also encouraged. If you don’t have anything to complain about, do please tell me what you liked so I know what worked.

Now on TV Tropes. Posted on the Equestria Daily 5/28/13. Now in ePub format for your convenience.

For a thousand years, there was just Celestia. Then Cadance appeared, Luna returned -- and now Twilight has ascended. There are ponies who are very curious about just what happened, why -- and how. Especially the how. Twilight herself is on that list, a freshly-minted princess with far more questions than answers, about to face a brand new one: what truly makes an alicorn?

And what happens if it goes wrong?

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Cover art by Harwick.

Equestria is a nation on the edge of disaster after the devastation caused by the Lunar Rebellion. Beset on all sides by nefarious enemies, vicious foreign invaders, insane Lunar cultists, malicious fey, and diabolical conspirators all threaten Equestria’s borders and stability. Midnight Sparkle, daughter of Archmagus Sunbeam Sparkle and herself a newly minted Magus of Equestria, soon finds herself embroiled in the chaos surrounding her homeland. But what hope does a single unicorn have against so many overwhelming threats?

A chronological sequel to The Lunar Rebellion.

Two decades after the banishment of Nightmare Moon, her shadow still lingers. Princess Celestia has been left to tend the Twin Thrones alone and protect us all from those who would see Equestria crumble. Our enemies take many forms: some would tear the world down with their claws, others with their smiles. They are monsters all the same.

I have had many names, and I have been many things. Today I am Swift Sweep, and I work for the Equestrian Bureau for State Security.

Special thanks:
NCMares (DeviantArt) for the gorgeous cover art.
Octavia Harmony: primary beta reader and editor throughout the many months of production.
PaulAsaran: for great help with and feedback on plot development and initial story drafting.
Kleora, Cerulean Voice, Nonagon: for further help with editing and story development.

Until yesterday, my life was no different than anybody's. Go to work, pay the bills, sleep. Today, I woke up to a world without humans. The streets are empty, the power grid is running down, and not another soul is in sight. That might not be the worst thing, if I wasn't also a pony.

Where is everyone? Why is this happening to me?

Will l stay sane long enough to starve?

This story now has a hardcover! If you'd like one of your own, you can grab it here: https://starscribe.net/

Now with a TVTropes page! Для тех, кто предпочитает русский язык, перевод можно найти по ссылке.

Note To E-Reader users: This story contains illustrations in each chapter, which will be lost in the standard fimfiction chapter export. The generous Phoen1x took the time to produce an epub version with all the illustrations intact, which you can download here.

A huge thanks to Zutcha for all his hard work on the art of this story. Also a huge thanks to my editors Two Bit and Sparktail, for tolerating my half-written crap.

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.

Tempest Shadow would be the first pony to tell you she's not worthy of friendship. All she deserves after a life spent helping the Storm King conquer and pillage is four walls, bars, and solitude. But she's getting a new life in Ponyville anyway, at the side of Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.

Tempest Shadow isn't a friendship kind of pony. She's not a party kind of pony. She's not a happy kind of pony in the least. So what could there possibly be for her in Ponyville? More than she thinks, as it turns out. Come join her as she discovers what she's truly meant to do, what she's truly worth, and who she's truly meant to be with. Her life is going to change far more than she ever would have expected.

A serial that will update as individual stories are completed. Incomplete until the whole thing is finished, but the reader is urged to keep up with uploads. Individual stories may also be comedies or adventures. Warning tags may be added as necessary. Find more stories here!

Cover art by Firimil!

Octavia Philharmonica is a desperate mare. Her involvement in the ill-fated "pony pokey" at the prestigious Grand Galloping Gala has left her blacklisted among the elite of Canterlot who form her clientele. Faced with the possibility of being evicted from her apartment for inability to pay rent she decides to take a temporary job at a local nightclub. Of course, she's never set hoof in a club before and has no idea what she's getting involved in . . .

This story is a sequel to Accidental Harmony

Several months after moving to Ponyville, Vinyl and Octavia are planning their upcoming wedding. With help from friends like Lyra and Bon-Bon, what could possibly go wrong?

In the far future of Equestria's history, ponies and the other species of their world have ventured out to live in all the wondrous corners of their sparkling galaxy. Now, the spiral arms hold both the borders of six great civilisations and vast unclaimed regions of glittering stars.

Starships of all shapes, designs, and sizes now carry their crews as they seek adventure, fame, fortune, curiosity, or for some...to discover the secrets of the galaxy's turbulent past. But to many others, it's simply their day-to-day job to haul cargo and make a life in the space between worlds. To be one of the thousands who keep the galaxy running.

To be one like the cargo ship Claudia.

The crew of the small vessel all came from different places, desiring different things. Whether it was their wish to do this to prove themselves, their need for the money to save a loved one, their ambition to make a name across the stars, or having to make do with a path in life they hadn't expected to find their dream. But no matter their mixed origins, no matter their unassuming nature, they have one truth of the galaxy to discover.

That the black leaves few without trials if they wish to find a home within its both beautiful and foreboding expanse.