Celestia discovers a lingering trace of Nightmare Moon's soul still lodged in Twilight's mind—a survivor of the lingering effects of the Element's magic.

Faced with the threat of gradually losing her friend to Nightmare Moon's evil influence, Celestia realizes the only way to save Twilight is to let the storm of dark magic take its course all at once.

And yet, as Nightmare Moon's corrupting magic tears away at Twilight's forgiveness and understanding, and Twilight begins dredging up unexpressed doubts once kept controlled, Celestia must face a lifetime of confrontation her student has kept covered.

It is going to be a long night for both alicorns.

This story was written for the Tenth Bimonthly Twilestia Contest. It placed somewhere.

Guard
noun

1. a person who keeps watch, especially a soldier or other person assigned to protect a person or to control access to a place.

There is more to a Royal Guard than meets the eye. Capturing crooks, chasing ruffians, fighting monsters, stopping assassinations, and protecting the Princess with all their worth -- with a thousand years of peace time, they have become more and less. But the future is uncertain, and within the horizon, the dark storms are a brewing.

Aiming to become a Royal Guard had never been Twilight's first choice of career -- it certainly was not what Mom and Dad wanted her to be. Still, that didn't stop Twilight Sparkle to pursue that dream. Now that she was one, she had to deal with monsters, cultists, vengeful ghosts, prickly teammates, forgotten childhood friends, and a Sunset Shimmer. Not exactly what she had expected out of her military career in peaceful Equestria, but perhaps it wasn't far off from what she wanted.

Serious thanks to Sunglow for offering proofreading and commentaries.

Link to the Spacebattles Thread

Sunset Shimmer isn't a normal girl. She can levitate objects with her mind, shoot hot energy from her palms, and when she's scared, she can disappear and reappear somewhere else entirely.

Her parents know. Her siblings know. What they don't know is how different Sunset really is.

When nightmarish creatures attack and kidnap her sister, Sunset ventures into the unknown and discovers a world teetering on the edge of total darkness.

What begins as a rescue mission turns into a struggle to save a kingdom, as Sunset learns just who and what she is, and the weight that comes with it.

This story is a sequel to A Noble Death

For the former Spartan Noble Six, life after death no longer holds any mysteries. Finding herself in the aftermath of a war against the changelings that she had brutally finished, Six has to contend with one of the greatest challenges a soldier can face: walking away from war.

Only a month after the Changeling-Pony War ended, another changeling monarch appears in Canterlot. King Phasmatodea of the Fifth Hive, a complete unknown to pony and changeling alike. Battleworn and rich with mysteries, knowledge, and artifacts, King Phasma catches the eye of both the Princesses of Equestria and Six. To the Princesses, he is the ticket to preventing a future war with the changelings. To Six, this King Phasma seems to be more important than any native she has met, for he claims to be something that Six swore she would never see again: another human.

Cover art by Frazy#1225
Written in collaboration with K.K. Slider
Warning this story contains spoilers for the two stories A Noble Death and Changing Expectations
Edited by AlwaysTired and UnamusedWaffle

This story is a sequel to Long Road to Friendship

It is a new year for Sunset Shimmer; a fresh chance at real happiness with her five best friends and her girlfriend. But Sunset is constantly troubled by her uncertain future, and haunted by the consequences of her past.

For her battle against Princess Twilight has drawn forth ancient forces with eyes on the last bastion of magic: Canterlot City.

As darkness closes in, Sunset must find her light and guide her friends to defend their world against old rivals and legends best left forgotten, all while dealing with their ever-looming futures.

But when graduation comes, what will Sunset Shimmer do? For she is still a stranger in this world, with or without her friends, and the road before her guarantees nothing.

Of course, with the universe conspiring against her, it'll be a miracle if she even makes it that far...

Story plot edited by HenryAnthonyCourtler
Pre-read by DrakeyC
Wonderful cover art designed by HanasakiYunarin!
Text added by Amber Spark!
The page of Spectacular Tropes!
Presenting the French translation!

A prequel of sorts to The Wheel and the Butterfly Saga. Can be read on its own.

Discord recounts his exploits as a newly formed being, provides insights into his motivation, and talks about one of the greatest foes he faced while he ruled Equestria over a millennium ago.

Cover art used with permission from possim.

This story is a sequel to Freeport Venture: Old Wounds

When one of her apprentice's friend-of-a-friends goes missing, Archmagus Sunset Shimmer doesn't hesitate to get involved. However, what initially appears to be a simple case of a missing child will wind up leading her to a criminal conspiracy and political intrigue at the highest levels of Freeport.

After the changelings' failed invasion of Canterlot, Twilight tries to soothe some of Ponyville's rampant paranoia by casting a spell to prove there are no imposters hiding in the town. But her spell leaves her in an alien body, facing a mob of angry ponies who just don't believe her when she says she is Twilight Sparkle.

Or, at least, she was Twilight Sparkle, anyway...

Featured on Equestria Daily, 2/17/13
Cover art is by the awesome and amazing Conicer

Princess Luna still feels alone, nineteen years after her return to Equestria . But when she finds a friend in an online game, everything seems better. She can be herself without worrying about what others think, and she can finally talk to another pony, even if he never knows who she really is.

Celestia is worried about her sister, especially right now. Upcoming peace talks with a powerful new nation mean that all the Princesses need to be completely ready. With her Luna so absorbed in a fantasy world, she wonders how she'll make it through the harrowing weeks to come.

Button Mash feels like a failure. He's still living at home, he still can't find work that can use his degree from the university, and he still feels alone. His friends are getting married, starting families, and thriving in their careers. On the plus side, he plays games regularly, and his best friend is a mare, even if she doesn't know his name. He hopes that his upcoming vacation to Canterlot might help his mindset.

But, unbeknownst to all of them, a sinister web within a dark plot threatens to ensnare Equestria... And Luna may be the only one able to stop it.

She may face it alone, or maybe she'll have some help from her knight in faded armor...

Cover art credit to yamashta. Link here.

Preread by -TGM- and Goldenwing

Edited by m1ntf4n, PheonixStarr, Wing, and the_Doc, and Swan Song, and Orion Caelum.

Follows canon up to about season 4 or so. I'm not sure when everything went off the rails, but it was originally as true as possible when initially written.

Link to the Discord chat HERE!

Equestria is a husk of what it was before.

Friendship never existed, the windigos took over the world completely.

All that remains are insane alicorns, gods, and monsters.

As the remaining ponies cower in fear and hide away from the constant battles, two alicorns clash once more only to experience something new.

Now, Midnight Sparkle and Nightmare Moon must work together to uncover what could have been. They start with the other alicorns.

C̷̨̦͖͙̭̤͙͕͊̾̅͗̅̄̓̔ͅe̸̤͉͉͔̲̟͕̒̇́͜ͅl̷̢̪͇̟̙͈͕͙̆͊̕e̵͖̝̲͈̒͐̕̚s̸̹̽t̷̢͍̖̭̙̄̆̂̆̓̚͝ỉ̴͉̎̈͑̚͝͠͝å̴̢̡̨̛͙̫̱̤͋͋̊̿̕͘Daybreaker. M̸̡̜̲̮̳̣͑̂̀͘í̸̢͈̙͆̑̓ ̶̛̳̣͓͂̀̈́́̚͠͝A̷̩̮̰͐̃̈́̔̇̓̈́̃͆͝ͅṃ̶̩̲̟̰̣͎̬͐̆̿ō̵͍̳̝̣̪͛̅r̶̡̖͈͕̜͇̤͙̠̾͋̄̑̆̅͗͘ȅ̶̝̜̘̙ ̷͙̠͂̔̔̏̂̒̑̍̀Ĉ̷̛̛̘̼͉̅̓̒͐̓̈͝a̷͈̟̦͑̄̇͐̔̎͋d̸̥̳͓̖̠͍͔̗͑e̶̻̬͈̳̺͈̳̖̣̣̓͋͑n̸̢̩̹̳̲̖̦̲͂̓́̉̑͜͝ͅz̶̢̤͈͔͙̪͚̜͐̑̏̊̚a̵̝͓̱̖̞͕̰̓̓͆͠Heartbreaker.

It wouldn't be easy. They didn't care.

An experimental AU. Set to be less than 20k words, and uploads will be as I write the chapters.

Romance will come in later chapters. You have been warned.