Shining Armor was proud of his little sister and her accomplishments. Her coronation day was nothing short of spectacular, but it only served to remind him that he would never be able to keep up.

Princess Twilight was amazing, and nothing he could ever do could ever compare.

Once it was nothing more than old concrete and forgotten hallways. Then it became a haven for the fugitives of the everlasting war that raged between the different races. He was the janitor, always.

Life is fleeting. In an instant, a normal day can shift into an endless nightmare.

That's what happened mere decades ago, when a strange cloud appeared over Equestria and the surrounding countries. The world crumbled and thousands perished in the destruction caused by what is now known as "The Blight."

Now, ponies scavenge the ruins of old Equestria for anything to help them survive. All seemed lost until a mysterious group, The Great Royals Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Discord, and Twilight Sparkle, appeared with a message:

"We have hidden old Equestrian Bits all over this world, and whoever finds them all will be granted a wish...so long as it is within our power, it shall be yours!"

Thus the great hunt began. Ponies the world over began searching frantically for their chance at a better life. However, those searching soon found The Blight came with more than destruction and decay. A new race, strange and unlike anything seen before, arose from the murk to fight for their wishes and desires.

Let the games begin!

Cover art provided by the amazing Sin Ligereep.

Retiring as Colonel of the Equestrian Air Force, you figured the rest of your days would be spent sipping a mai-tai by the beach... Not wet work. But after Queen Chrysalis' attack on Canterlot, traitors are a plenty and the Princesses need someone they can trust... Someone like you.

So welcome to the world of espionage and counter-intelligence.

One of my commissioned works in the development. Hope you enjoy it.

The Princesses find an alien creature barely clinging to life at the scene of a terrifying crash. Can the Combined Power of the Elements of Harmony save it, or more importantly, should they save it? Will the arrival of this strange creature tear Equestria apart?

TV Tropes
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/Article2

Twilight Sparkle wakes up one morning to a harsh dose of unreality. She is stranded, without her friends, on an island which matches no known locale on Equestria. Surrounded and harried on all sides by the alien and the dangerous, she will find her mettle sorely tested, and find perhaps that the best friends you will ever have in your life are the ones you make when your back is to the wall...

Thanks to CedricBale and noobie56xx for tracking down the name of the artist so I could give them credit.

The star system Omega Centauri was just another oddity on a map to scientists in the not too distant future. However when they found the star was orbiting an earth-sized, earth-like planet instead of a black hole as its motion had suggested, a mission was scrambled to investigate this most unusual of celestial behaviors.

Hamstrung by politics, and nearly crippled before it began, the 'Lone Ranger' mission was reduced to just one crew member and left to his own devices.

These are the logs of Arrow 18 and its lone commander. This information is classified TOP SECRET by the Global Space Agency.

Do NOT tell the princess.

After an argument with Luna, Celestia realizes that she is the only creature in Equestria who cannot sleep in. She enlists Twilight to help, and the two of them come up with a spell that will allow her to spend the night on a different world. Unfortunately, all their research failed to reveal that the world they sought was populated. Now, the Princess must decide whether to continue with contact, or destroy the only non-Equestrian witness to their existence.

Cover art is called "Sleeping Celestia" by Briskby