While it is true that the past can't be changed, it is up to us to make sure that we use the past to improve our future. Join Gourmet Palate as he looks over the events that made him into the stallion he is now.

Takes place in the Quill & Blade universe, but it's not required to know the universe to understand this story. QnB and the characters therein are owned by Crystal Wishes and Anzel

Proofread/edited by Snowliasion extra thanks for giving me the push I needed, I'm in your debt.
Coverart was done by the amazing Rossby Waves

Snow paints the busy streets of Canterlot white while colorfully bundled ponies frolic about. The sounds of joy fill the air even more than usual. That can only mean one thing, Hearth's Warming is right around the corner.

This year Div, a member of Princess Luna's House Guard, has a conundrum. To liven up the holiday spirit in the palace the princess and her guards will be exchanging gifts. This has Div nervous, what are you suppose to get a princess who already has a kingdom?

This story is a side story to Crystal's Wishes

Being the pony everypony should know comes at a cost, but Au is willing to pay that price. She'll pay any price to stay in the spotlight.

If only the spotlight weren't so fickle.

This story is a side story to Crystal's Wishes

Sunridge Sweets is home to some of the best cupcakes in all of Canterlot. It's also where Red Velvet has spent the near entirety of his life—all eight months of it. Everypony calls him cute, adorable, and downright cavity-inducing, but how he feels about himself is a whole other story. And this is that story.

This story is a sequel to Memoirs of a Royal Guard

From the outside looking in, life has never been better for Silent Knight. He is the first pony in a long line of Royal Guard ancestry to earn a commission, he has a loving mare by his side, and he bears the kingdom’s highest honor for bravely risking it all to protect Princess Luna. The future shines bright with potential, but the shadows of the past lurk at every twist and turn that lies ahead.

Guilt, anger, and regret are constantly at war in the depths of Silent Knight’s mind. Despite his best efforts to enjoy the life he has, he finds himself trapped in the past, reliving the moment when his unit was ambushed and his ponies were killed. He refuses to show any weakness, instead hiding everything behind a tough face to protect himself and those he loves. But his true feelings—and what he plans to do with them—shackle everything he holds dear with chains forged in secret.

Secrets of a Royal Guard is a comedy series with romantic, dramatic, and adventure elements. It features an original character cast and their interactions with the princesses they protect. It is recommended that readers be familiar with Memoirs of a Royal Guard.

Quill & Blade Universe

A head full of romance is what many Canterlot ponies would call a frivolous waste of time. Everypony was meant to play by the rules of high society: keep your nose in the air, laugh at important ponies' jokes, and attend all of the right parties. Upper Crust and Jet Set had been diligent in raising their daughter Crystal Wishes to be a pony everypony would know, but she wanted more out of life than that. She hoped she would someday meet a handsome prince and fall in love, just like in the stories she wrote.

Crystal knew life wasn't as easy as a foal's tale, but that didn't stop her from dreaming. All of the wishes, hopes, and dreams inside her heart escaped into her precious notebook as she wrote about princesses in power and dashing knights. So long as nopony found out her secret, she could continue to play the part of a dutiful daughter while waiting for her own love story to begin.

Azurite isn't your normal sort of royal guard. Patrolling, protecting, and policing are fine for some ponies but they weren't for her after a routine call went sideways. Now, while struggling with the injury of her partner, she does her best to help others as a pony relations warrant officer in the palace. The palace, however, isn't quite the bastion of pony professionalism that she imagined and she soon finds her heart pulled in two different directions... toward a stallion and a mare.

Three of Hearts is an unconventional comedy-romance story that isn't afraid to take some of the most common tropes and turn them on their heads.

Quill & Blade Universe
Cover art designed and created for Three of Hearts by the super talented and ever sweet Painted Wave.

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 side story to Crystal's Wishes

On the surface, Velvet Step seems like a pretty straightforward mare. She is in the Canterlot Ballet, the dutiful daughter of Sunbeam and Pepper Ridge, and the very best of friends with Crystal Wishes, her fillyhood friend and current roommate.

However, Velvet has another side to her, one that not even Crystal knows about, and she is keen on keeping it that way.

Everypony has a story. Some tell of heroic feats and grand adventure. Others tell of villainy against the forces of Harmony. The story of an average guard, however, is one of obscurity. They live in the background, unnoticed but ever-present.

Silent Knight assumed his tale would be like that of his father's: join the Royal Guard and serve Equestria. He would be just another helmet and spear, part of the rank and file. And that was all he ever wanted.

However, when Captain Shining Armor asked for volunteers to form a House Guard for the recently returned Princess Luna, it was Silent's hooves that stepped forwards to set his new life in motion.