Princess Twilight Sparkle discovers a centuries-old mystery hidden in the Royal Archives. Her investigation leads through layer after layer of deception and misdirection, setting her hooves on a path that seems to be leading to a mysterious secret. Along the way, she learns that some friendships can be very, very strange.

Book 1 of the Alicorn Adventure series.

AUDIOBOOK by VisualPony
Featured at the Royal Canterlot Library
TV Tropes Page (Courtesy of Sandtalon)
Goodreads Page (Courtesy of Facedeer)
Equestria Daily Page

WARNING: Major spoilers in the comments. Takes place several months after the end of season four. (Not a Da Vinci Code crossover, BTW!)

Do you see a dark tag? No, you don't. Not dark. Well, okay, there are a couple of dark-ish bits, but that's all. Not enough to warrant a tag. Speaking of tags, there really ought to be "Badass Twilight" and "Friendshipping" ones.

Sequels and side-stories (and more) can be found here Offprint and AO3, and a hardbound two-volume set of all that can be ordered from The Ministry of Image.

My editor for the first edition of this story was Gogito, and I can't thank him enough for all the hard work he did. My editor for the revised version was PresentPerfect, and he did a terrific job of getting the story into excellent shape.

Cadance isn't Sombra. But Sombra's leadership is all the crystal ponies remember, a ruler they had to love at all costs, with the final payment being their own lives. And as they gradually come to see their new Princess as leader instead of savior, too much of that residual fear is being transferred to her. They praise her, adore her, refuse to correct her no matter what she does -- because they live in terror of the consequences for doing anything else. They have yet to find their own voices, and may go on repeating hers until Celestia and Luna switch shifts. So how can she make them tell her when she's wrong, see that there's nothing to be afraid of, and take the next step in coming back to themselves once and for all?

Forbidding them to do anything other than criticize her should do the trick, right?

...right?

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group -- but can be read as a stand-alone, and no knowledge of the other stories is required. New members and trope edits are welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

A serious meeting of the Shadowbolts is derailed when it's revealed Sugarcoat has been dating Pinkie Pie.

Naturally, there's a perfectly logical explanation for this.

My entry into May Pairings 2024. No, the tags aren't wrong.

A thank you to Scholarly-Cimmerian for proofreading before publishing. Cover by me.

One of six.

This story is a sequel to Idol Hooves and The Deathly Tired Princess

Recently promoted to the rank of Colonel, (not his fault) Idol Hooves is tasked with the supervision of rebuilding the Crystal Empire's Guard Force. As the first Colonel in several centuries, Celestia, Luna, and his friends Shining and Cadence feel the rank and his stoic demeanor will be a boon for the traditionalist crystal ponies.

Plus his recent fame thanks to the plush dolls made in likeness are sure to draw recruits in by the wagon full!

How will Idol and his family handle this new life in the land of the far north? Can Idol keep Cersus out of trouble long enough to finish his task before being court-martialed?

NOTE: This story is a sequel to my own Idol Hooves story, which is based off Vdarke's Changeling of the Guard. Events depicted in this story are not cannon unless he decides later to borrow some!

Commissioned the cover art from Scope from the COTG Discord, and it looks lovely! You can find him on Twitter, and Deviant Art

Editor in Passing HorseWordFan is the one you have to thank for the newest round of edits!

A human finds himself in Equestria under very unpleasant circumstances with no explanation.
His reaction: get the heck out of Dodge and start a new life where Equestria and her ponies can't reach him.
But an alicorn's reach is long and the events which brought him here and his treatment in Canterlot are not so easily forgotten by those who did it. How does one say 'go away' to an immortal goddess?

Yay! Featured, thank you all.
A TV Tropes page
Revised 08/31/14 for clarity and grammatical issues, no events changed. I am working on a sequel, but it will be from Fancy's POV.
P.S. Green is NOT Lyra. There are other green unicorns.

This story is a sequel to Drawn With the Night

Sequel to Drawn With the Night. Fancy Thunder and a small team go to Canterlot to fulfill a commission.
She decided to ask a few 'innocent' questions and toss a few stones in the placid waters to see what is stirred up. Specifically, how will the Princesses react to a pony who doesn't need them, and thus doesn't worship them?

A TV Tropes page

This story is a sequel to Hinterlands

Two years ago, bounty hunter Bitterroot turned a lich and her necromancer apprentice over to the authorities. Now, that apprentice, Amanita, has been released on good behavior. She has no more interest in necromancy. In fact, she asked Bitterroot to turn her in all those moons ago and helped capture her master. With nowhere for Amanita to go, Bitterroot takes her in until she can get her hooves under herself.

But all isn’t well in Canterlot. A killer is stalking the streets, striking with impunity and leaving no trace. The Royal Guard is befuddled. Bitterroot’s investigations have yielded nothing. And night is turning into a time of dread. Something needs to be done. If only the dead could speak. If only there was a moral necromancer around.

Amanita doesn’t want to admit it, but the part of her past she hates the most might be the most useful part right now. Just because ponies are dying doesn’t mean they need to stay that way. What she buried needs to be dug up again.

Her demons are rearing their ugly heads. It’s time to face them.

Reading the preceding story will provide some context for this, but isn't required. Cover art is modified from this image. Other entries in this series:

• Hinterlands
• Urban Wilds
• Death Valley

Beyond Equestria, the lands to the north are hostile and unforgiving. Ponies eke out a subsistence in uncontrollable weather, separated by mile after frigid mile of snow and mountains. A land where only the hardiest survive is no place for civilization.

Yet civilization encroaches from time to time. When a colossal bounty is placed on the head of a unicorn deep in the arts of necromancy, a motley crew of bounty hunters assembles and gives chase. It’s too good a chance to pass up. They’ll bring her to justice, no matter what stands in their way. Not her dark magic. Not the inhospitable environment.

And certainly not each other.

Other entries in this series:

• Hinterlands
• Urban Wilds
• Death Valley

A new god, worlds-between-worlds, and tons of sass from a certain somepony are only a few things that have made Luna's life all the more interesting. Now, she finds that every day is more of an adventure than it used to be with somepony worthy of sharing it with.

Her relationship may be nothing but a disaster waiting to happen in the eyes of nearly everypony in Equestria, but Luna and her special somepony know otherwise.

This is a side story to Favorable Alignment as much as it is a stand-alone story. You can read this all on its own. The original version of this story scored Highly Recommended in PresentPerfect's spoiler-filled review! Contribute to the TVTropes page!

This story is a sequel to Divine Move

Gods cannot die, so what happened so long ago that ended in the total collapse of Pre-Equestrian civilization?

After many years of unspoken tension mixed with isolated peace, those that remained have received the cryptic message many never wished to see. When such events unfold, Princess Luna recalls a desire she thought she had all but buried and leaves Equestria without a word, only to be followed by the enigmatic and arrogant Sombra.

Now Luna and Sombra – whose ways have remained undecipherable to every princess so far – try to use what knowledge they have to save the world and themselves.

Book Five and Final Book of Sombra's Odyssey. The cover art is fan art drawn by dragonofruin with edits that were done by me. Beware of the numerous unmarked spoilers in the comments! With some help from: NorrisThePony and an anonymous user. The gore and violence tags are for descriptive injuries in the scenes featuring combat, which is only a small portion of the story. The original version was rated Pretty Good in this extremely spoiler-heavy review by PaulAsaran! Contribute to the TVTropes page!