Things are hard in Ponyville for Fluttershy and Discord; mainly because of Discord. But when magic starts to go on the fritz and eventually starts failing altogether, it's up to the main six and the Draconequus to find out what's causing it and, more importantly, how to fix it.

This would be a lot easier if anypony trusted the King of Chaos to begin with, but with bigger problems on the horizon, some things will have to wait to be dealt with. Like trust. Or loyalty. Or friendship.

Of course, sometimes what we think isn't important to deal with right now, is exactly what's needed to prevent things from getting far, far worse.

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 The Dusk Guard Saga: Rise

"Viking ZX has pride in the fact that he can throw his readers into a ride." —PCaRG
"... an exhilarating romp that leaves you guessing half the time and keeps you thrilled throughout." —PaulAsaran
"... you’ll enjoy this one." —City of Doors

Blade Sunchaser is a griffon on the run.

Seven days ago she was the bodyguard of two of the wealthiest railroad magnates in Equestria. One day after that she was in a jail cell.

She didn’t stay there for long. She’s got a job to do, a job with a payoff bigger than any she’s ever earned before. All she needs to do is track down two stolen bits of crystal and bring them back to her employer. Stolen bits last seen being taken north, past Equestria’s furthest borders, into the lawless wasteland known as the Ocean of Endless Ice. A haven of ice dredgers, criminals, and pirates ripe with violence, danger, and dark secrets. But for this kind of payoff, the danger is nothing. She’ll face anything, go anywhere, and do whatever it takes to see her mission through.

Even start a war ...

Book II of The Dusk Guard Saga
Epic Fantasy
Equestrian Map of the Ocean of Endless Ice
Official Series Timeline at [url=https://www.fimfiction.net/group/204855/the-dusk-guard-saga/thread/127607/the-dusk-guard-saga-timeline]TDG Group Forums
Can be found on TV Tropes at The Dusk Guard Saga’s page (Page outdated)
Cover art by Midnight Sonare
Alpha and Beta read by Siers, Raptra, and Jorlem.
If you encounter what you think are typos in the story, PM them rather than clogging the comments feed with them.

Author’s note: From time to time you may encounter a hotlink in the text. These hotlinks are background themes and can be clicked or passed over at your own choice. It is recommended that for maximum enjoyment beforehand, make sure that your volume settings on YouTube are at a comfortable level and make use of Ctrl+Shft+Clicking or the middle mouse button to open the song in a new tab, where it will play automatically without your involvement.

Or just don’t click on them until later. They are an entirely optional experience, and can be passed over without incident.

"... at the forefront of our fandom’s writing scene ... Masterpiece." —PCaRG
"... really enjoyable ..." —City of Doors
"...worthy of high praise." —PaulAsaran
"Lots of wonderful world-building, great action, well-developed characters and an engaging story." —Hoopy McGee

Steel Song is a lot of things. Earth pony. Uncle. Professional bodyguard.

Retired.

So when he receives a mysterious package from Princess Luna a few weeks after the changeling invasion, he's understandably apprehensive. More-so when he presents himself before the Royal Diarchs to find that not only do they desire him to come out of retirement, but to take command of a most unusual position...

A position that may have more significance than any of them suspect. Because strange thefts are occurring on the Equestrian Railway, thefts that nopony can explain. Thefts that may have far more sinister intentions than their seemingly innocent nature may convey.

Intentions sinister enough to shift the balance of power in Equestria forever.

Book I of The Dusk Guard Saga.
Epic Fantasy
Has a collection of Side Stories as well, the first of which is here.
Now with a TV Tropes page!
"This is 100% Approved by Twilight's Library!"
Added to Twilight's Library 11/26/2013
Added to Canterlot's Finest 12/01/2013

This story is a sequel to Trixie Lulamoon and the Horrendous Hypothesis

Enter the Dragon is an in between story and is recommended reading.

Princess Twilight Sparkle has a school for gifted foals. Some of them are fantastic. One of them had a Horrendous Hypothesis. All of them will be learning Princess Twilight Sparkle's curriculum for friendship.

An entry in the Weedverse.

Wut?

Family portrait

The stupid goes flying right out of Sumac's head.

Majestic!

Discord's the only creature in Equestria who can recognize the human for what he is -- not the long-lost Seventh Element that never actually existed and couldn't have existed before the human arrived, but a meta-reality warper, an entity far more powerful than Discord with the power to warp the minds of all around him and the very rules of magic to make sure that he's always the Big Hero. And the role the human's assigned to Discord is the Villain to beat down or kill.

Pre-reform Discord's fine with being the villain. But on his own terms. Not dancing on some alien interloper's puppet strings.

Without friendship, or even allies, Discord's going to have to find a way to defeat a creature who can alter fate itself and who can even mind-control him. Or he may just end up worse than dead.

Art by Tenchi-Outsuno. Progress Bar at my writing journal.

Trigger warnings: Mind control (magically induced love, magically induced friendship, magically induced stupidity, Discord being Discord), noncon/dubcon (magically induced love, other forms of highly dubious consent), rape (female on male), violence/gore (mostly against Discord), literally everything in chapters 19-21, humans not being presented as unilaterally wonderful and superior to ponies and/or draconequui.