Celestia travels to a far corner of her kingdom to investigate a rumor about a colt with strange, illicit cutie marks. She meets Radish Root, a boy whose marks make him an anomaly in the fabric of Equestria, a mystery to himself, and an outcast among society.
When Radish joins the Royal Guard just prior to the return of Nightmare Moon, he finds his life being complicated by all the changes coming to Equestria. His marks will lead him into adventure, intrigue, and trouble... but will they ever lead him to answers?

Proofreader: Slavenger Karl
Cover Art Gallery
Table of original characters
A reader is translating this story into Spanish. Check it out here.

A thousand years ago in Equestria, Luna's frustration and desperation has been building for years and years as her social and political isolation grows, but just before Luna's jealousy and resentment can turn into murderous hatred against her sister, a new event triggars Luna's mental collapse and pushes her over the edge. When Luna by circumstance finds herself alone in Celestia's room she reads her sister's diary out of curiosity and discovers all of the disparaging criticism that Celestia has leveled at her over the years about how much of a nuisance Luna has been to her, but has been too polite to say directly to Luna's face.

Luna and Celestia had always supported and stuck with each other all their lives. Even when the common-ponies critisism and shunning of her was at its worst, the knowledge that her sister loved her kept Luna going. The realization that nopony, not even her own sister valued her or thought she was fit for the throne completely shattered whatever remained of her fragile psyche.

And so Luna just gave up...

She gave in...

If no one wanted her there...

Then she wouldn't stay there...

She would leave.

Story was almost cancelled, but then I realised that I still wanted to keep writing just a little further.
Just some forewarning though. This story is not for everyone. It is a slow-burn slice-of-life which lacks much serious threat. There is no big villain, and the storyline progresses quite slowly and you may get bored.
I am still new-ish to writing, so the writing quality (especially surrounding characters and dialogue) may leave something to be desired.

A story about someone with limited knowledge of the show, (basic facts on a small scale, no timeline stuff) wakes up as an alicorn (early-teen) in Canterlot. He is not happy about this fact.

General info:
No, they do not have OP alicorn powers. Yes, they are sort-of a foal, but not of baby age and this will not affect their personality or emotional-capacity in any way.
Gender swapping? No, I asked in the comments, people want a male alicorn.
Will this impact my other story (Clouds)? Probably, depends on if people want me to continue it or not.
Tags will be updated with story.

Celestia had always been hardworking, she had always loved her job. She loved being a princess and everything about it- the power, the responsibility even. And most importantly, she loved that everyone adored her.

Celestia loved her sister. But when a pony loves two things, she’s bound to protect one over the other. And so, she did. Her sister wasn’t “banished to the moon”, contrary to common belief; she was dead.

Celestia believed she was a horrible sister, a awful person.

And of course, Luna comes back to tell her that.

Princess Luna was always known as the solitary princess. She spent much time in her room, attached to none else other than her sister for their trade of the heavens. She was a very lonely princess, even if it appeared that she preferred the isolation.

Twilight Sparkle found an odd book in her shipment from Princess Celestia. Hoofbound and unlabeled, reading it opens a door she cannot, and will not, close with the youngest diarch.

She will not let one of her friends hurt alone, not on her watch.

Coverart is temporary until I can make my own.
(Featured 2/24-27/22, huzzah!)

My captor was kind, to a point. They provided me with a comfortable private suite, three meals a day, and tried to accommodate any of my needs within reason. It was a far cry from being locked away in a dingy dungeon or straight up killed, but I still was a bit wary about the true intentions of this alicorn. 

A gilded cage, however, is still a cage.

Edited by UnamusedWaffle. and INeedSleep

Thanks to Snuffy for proofreading chapter 9 part 1

Credit to Neither for the amazing cover art!

What made you think Nightmare moon was just evil magic personified? Nightmare moon is just as princess Luna and vice versa, two sides of the same coin.

So when she comes back and her sister expects some kind of change? She has nothing but pure hatred and boiling blood like poison for her sister.

Featured 12/17/2021 8:52 PM PST

Promises made were promises never kept by Austin, a habit he sustained along with a lifetime of laziness from a life of few worries. A life that received a harsh wake-up call and demanded a re-evaluation after a family tragedy. His immediate family in tatters and disarray, Austin is placed in a position of responsibility he never had the chance to prepare for. The easy life he knew is gone, now he must own up to his past failures and pledge a promise to his remaining family of absolute devotion.

A pledge he is determined to fulfill or would have had there not been a pair of keen eyes watching from beyond space and time. Displaced from all he knew and believed, stripped of everything but his name, confused beyond all measures and dumped within a world of impossibilities, insanity, and familiarity by an entity beyond reason or understanding, Austin is forced to forge his path within this world of fiction if he is to ever have any hope of returning, and he is not sparing any caution, effort, or opportunity to do so.

Regardless of the entity's intentions, ponies pleas, or whether this is the providence of a fate set in stone, Austin is determined to return to Earth, to home, and damned be all who dare jeopardize his promise and family.

Hello viewers, this will be quite the journey I'm about to embark upon, so many unknowns and errors bound to be posted but I will try my hardest to smooth them all out and deliver a story of quality. If you believe that certain tags that would fit the story should be added once more chapters are out, feel free to point them out. here is a small spoiler if you wish to know where this beginning is set which is a month after the season 6 final.

Biiiiiiiiiiiig thank you to LittleTigress for the Cover art.

Ayo! First feature. 4/30/22.

After dying in a car crash, (or whatever generic Isekai opening best suits you) Johan finds himself in the magical world of Equestria. Of course, magic is subjective, especially considering that Johan doesn't seem to have it in the slightest.

Now he's stuck in a world he doesn't seem to belong in, while his friend starts to reap in the glory of being the main character. All the while, mysterious conspiracies centuries in the making start to flare up, as villains from the ancient past and the present seem to both be gunning for the poor deer.

As if it couldn't get any worse, apparently he's developing a voice in his head. Great for him.

Cover by: Lux Arume links to their accounts can be found here:
Fimfiction
Twitter

First Featured 2/5/2021

Featured again 9/25/21

Featured again 11/12/21

Featured again 1/13/22

Featured again 1/22/22

Featured again 2/2/22

Featured again 2/5/22

Featured again 2/21/22

Featured again 4/21/22

Featured again 10/24/22

Featured again 1/7/24

Sequel: Left Behind: Sunny Disposition
Apparently it was scouted and is on EqD too

Nightmare Moon was meant to be released after a thousand years. A momentous occasion for her but terrifying for all the ponies on her day of freedom. She would get revenge on her sister and cover the world in darkness and shape everything to fit it.

That was the plan, at least. Instead, something went awry with the spell and she wasn't released when she was supposed to be. The mare-in-the-moon is brought into a world with stagnated technology, giant cities, and no sign of her sister or any of the other immortals. In fact, ponies don't seem terrified of her at all, and the stay within the core of her powers infused and changed the alicorn's body drastically.

The alicorn had no obstacles left! But...she was also a relic of the past. A past everyone seemed to have forgotten. A past she could no longer look upon.

Artwork by ElkaArt. Link in source.
Big thanks to Kryostase for helping spot errors I've missed.