Tip of the Bow (first pic is the end of this part)
The Hilltops
Unification (not shown)
Where the World Ends

Oh how naive I was back then. For some strange reason, I thought I could manage to write/draw out a massive 4-part mess of romance, world-building, action, and adventure. All in that order.

The bulk of the story was set in the fictional Aldendrin, a country populated by medium-sized dragons and isolated from Equestria using a massive wall. The plot followed Spike and Apple Bloom’s adventures here for the first half, and the rest of the Mane 6 and CMC for the second half.

TotB was basically a romantic prelude to Hilltops, which focused on life in the metropolis of Bergen. From school rivalries, to great libraries and a plethora of never-before-seen technology like the artificial horn and the internet. The world here eventually became the base for Ponyville Diaries.

Unification was a battle chapter, in which the Mane 6 are sent off to an even MORE distant land to fight a bloodthirsty feral dragon laying waste to the more peaceful creatures to the south. It goes wrong, and the only ones who can defeat it are the young Crusaders and the experimental Elements of Unity.

Where the World Ends is the aftermath. The Crusaders find themselves separated and in the Everfree Forest without any way of getting back to their guardians. So they aimlessly wander around heading south and nearly killing themselves in doing so. The end to this story and the hypothetical epilogue became the base for Post Crusade.

TL;DR: This failed story is the reason why Diaries and Post Crusade exist.