Legends tell of the lost land of Equestria, once the home of all ponies. It is said that the Fire of Friendship was born there, and that the land was ruled over by four beings with brilliant souls and powerful magic. Gone are the glory days now. In this ruined world there are only mindless undead, ravenous changelings, and prowling, demonic beasts. The bonfires that keep the peace in the lands beyond Equestria are failing, and as the Fire fades, so too does the strength of nations.

Yet, perhaps there may still be hope. Perhaps, somewhere in the heart of that forsaken kingdom, there may still be a way to break this curse.

A Dark Souls crossover. Expect pain and misery.

Part of the Borderworld.

Princess Celestia was there before the oldest mortal pony was born; she will be there when the youngest foal dies of old age. She is as much a fixture of Equestria as the sun, the land, and the sky. She is also the rock that keeps Twilight Sparkle's hooves on the ground. No matter how bad things get, they will always be there for each other.

Princess Luna is a newcomer to modern Equestria: a stranger in a strange land. She is a pony out of her time and out of her place, struggling to escape the shackles of her mistakes. When a spectre from the past manifests in the present and incapacitates Rarity, the two cross paths for the first time since Luna's return and something unexpected happens: they see something they need in each other.

Struggling with self-doubt and haunted by a magical malady, Rarity reaches out to the princess and learns more about Luna than most ponies ever will. While Twilight throws herself at unravelling a magical mystery, Luna and Rarity, with the help of a few of Celestia's hoof-picked elite guards, must fight to make peace with themselves before they can make peace with the past. Luna seeks to reconcile her relationship with Celestia, and Rarity must learn to overcome the harshest, most bitter, most devious enemy she has ever faced: herself.

Completed in it's entirety for the second time, Shades of Grey version 3 is the culmination out many hundreds of hours or work, both mine and that of the editors, teachers, pre-readers, and readers. It is the first story I conceived, and it's taken over two years to bring it to this final revision that I am happy with. This is a story I am proud to have written. For better or worse, it will always be a piece of me and vice versa.

Special thanks go to Chris, without whom my ability to write at all would never have gotten off the ground.
Huge appreciation goes to ReplayMasterOfTime for the cover art that I have come to love so dearly in those two years.
Additional thanks go to: Pascoite, who has helped me grow through his reviewing; Mystic, the one-time EqD pre-reader who also helped with early editing and learning; and InsertAuthorHere, just for being an established name who gave me a shout out and filled me with the will to keep going.

There are dozens more to whom I owe the existence of this story. They know who they are, and I love them all.

Please enjoy this legacy of mine.

-Scott

This story is a sequel to Movements of Fire and Shadow

"Return rainwater to a cloud and it will fall again soon enough." —Luna

After her redemption, Luna sought solitude from all ponies, including the twenty four elite guards assigned to serve her. But seven of those guards were not so easily dissuaded and sought the errant princess out, beseeching her to accept their pledges of unwavering fealty. They succeeded, and discovered her a scarred shadow of her former self, stripped of all thoughts and memories that might lead back to Nightmare Moon by the very magic that saved her.

Now, the princess stands strong in the company of trusted fellows that laugh, and grow, and bleed alongside her. They are all flawed, and they are all hopeful, but above all else, they are all equal. They are guards no longer. They are Paladins. One path. One destiny. One whole heap of trouble for Luna.

Equestria doesn't know what it's in for.

I, Paladin is a spin-off based on Luna's guards from Shades of Grey and Movements of Fire and Shadow. Knowledge of those works will be helpful, but is not necessary.

This story collection is a series of vignettes, although no particular plan or schedule is in place. They will appear whenever I happen to have ideas.

Oh, and [AU] because pre-Twilicorn, and Twilicorn will never happen because Twilicorn is dumb.

-Scott 'Inquisitor' Mence

Lyra thinks Discord is an idiot for not thinking to dodge when the Elements of Harmony were about to strike him. Discord thinks this is the perfect opportunity for a game.

Part of the Borderworld.

Now with audio reading by Dreamless Portal. Chinese and Spanish translations also available.

Unseen horrors lurk just beyond the horizon, but the future is not immutable.

A strange new pony arrives in Canterlot bearing knowledge that could help avoid the dark times ahead. What begins as a straightforward mission soon develops into an adventure that will carry all involved to the borders of Equestria and beyond.

5-star Featured on Equestria Daily... for some reason. I've been meaning to add this disclaimer for a while, and so here it is: this was a first fic of a first-time author, and it really shows. Know that whatever well-founded critique you have to level at it, I will almost certainly agree with. It has problems, of that there is no doubt, and significant enough ones that I'll always be bothered that the story is up. Taking it down feels like bad form, however, and bringing the writing in line with my current standards would require a full rewrite, which would be dishonest to the readers who have been through it already. I leave it up as a badge for having completed something, but just be aware that if you start in on it, you will almost certainly finish bewildered and dissatisfied.

When her mother passes away unexpectedly, Twilight Sparkle reflects on a parent she neglected in pursuit of her own dreams. With only a little time left before the funeral, she returns home to piece together what she can of a life she barely remembers, hoping to make peace with the memories of a pony she took for granted.