Shattered Skies has lived quite some time. He had done well for himself over the past few thousand years; staying out of the public eye and remaining generally uninvolved from pony society while he tended his forests.

Who wouldn't want that, right?

His job came with excellent security and fringe benefits, but after he was betrayed by a princess he trusted, all he wants to do is to live a normal life even if the world tells him otherwise.

Oc disclaimer: The original characters that appear in the story that are not my own have been obtained from the original owners via written permission.

Idol Hooves holds a special place in Equestria. He's probably the only exiled changeling to serve in the Royal Guard, or at least, that's what he expects, as exiles don't really broadcast that fact. However, it's well known that Princess Celestia loves all of her little ponies, and her guards perhaps more so, and that makes it one of the best ways for a changeling to discreetly feed.

But how does a changeling even get there, let alone get exiled in the first place? For that matter, why would it ever go to Canterlot? Set a number of years before the series proper, before Luna’s redemption, Idol details how he was exiled, the ponies he’s met, and the series of misadventures that led him to joining the Royal Guard, and should continue a good ways into the series, as something of an alternate perspective.

Soon, he’ll have to deal with a boisterous new princess to serve and a royal wedding in the works bringing a third to power. Will his old instincts bring this new life crashing down around him? What precipitates Chrysalis’s ill-fated assault on Canterlot? Is it really so wrong for a changeling to enjoy good craftsmanship to an obsessive degree?

New cover art provided by the fantastic Carnifex

And a TVTropes page here.

And an Ask Blog of questionable canonity!
Out of Idol Curiosity

Fanart by Norad2! Major thanks! Short For a Royal Guard

Art by Egophiliac of Idol and his Daring Duckie Please don't tell him what that brush is meant for.

Rating updated to (T), it's a bit darker than (E)
Comedy Tag added as well
And changed the character tags a bit.

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.

A different take on alicorn ascension. Sixteen years after arriving in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle is excited to have invented a brand-new kind of spell, but it will come with consequences she cannot possibly anticipate. Meanwhile, threats in shadows around the world conspire to overthrow the Solar Throne. With her world turned upside down, she will have to come to terms with the role that fate has dealt her while straining to keep Celestia in power.

Now with a TVTropes page! Please show it some love! Also check out the official side stories, Designing Intrigue, and Love and Barriers! (With even more in my stories page!)

(Please Note: This story was started before any season three information was available. All episodes in season three and later are non-canon for this story, which also means there's no Crystal Empire in this one. In addition, the promotional map released close to the beginning of season three was also not available and is not compatible with this story. While the OC tag is active because there are OCs in the story, they're really just supporting characters. The focus is on Twilight.)

Also be sure to check out the Rites of Ascension Expanded Universe Group! We're working to develop the resources needed for other authors to try their hand at writing stories set in the Rites Universe!

The Book Two cover art was created by the amazing Silfoe! The original cover art can still be found at Violet Squiggle's deviantArt page.

Author's Notes, including proofreader's credits, can be found here!

"This is 100% Approved by Twilight's Library!"

It's just been a few days since the friendship games, but something drastic has changed. The solar system of Earth isn't what the inhabitants of the planet are used to. Plus there are two teenage, high-school students, who control the most important objects in the sky.

Editor: GaleSinger

The Great Freeze. Was it our hubris in controlling the sun, or was it that others started to covet that control? At this point, the whos and the whys don’t change anything. Our star is dying, and those responsible for it are long dead. Their causes and motives, lost to all but a few.

For the past hundred years, our sun has been growing dimmer, kept alive only by Celestia’s constant efforts. But not even she nor the legion of magi and scientists can stop the inevitable.

Our only choice is to flee to a new world, one that could give our doomed species a second chance. The Seeding colony ship is that chance. There are so many worth saving, and yet so very few seats.

May our children never forget the sacrifice of those we leave behind.

~Excerpt from Princess Twilight Sparkle’s journal three days before Seeding.

While this fic will borrow heavily from Beyond Earth, it will be written so that you do not have to know anything about BE to enjoy the story.

Sunset Shimmer has never needed anyone or anything - she had her magic, she had her ambition, and she had intellect. Others just stood in her way or held her down. So what do you do when your plans for world domination fall through?

Now she's about to discover that the only thing harder than hitting rock bottom is climbing your way out of that crater. Good thing she has some new friends to help her along, but its tough to seek forgiveness from others when you can't forgive yourself...

Special thanks to KiltedKey (Chapters 1/2) and SolidFire for their editing work.