This story is a sequel to My Neighbor

In 1945, First Sergeant John Arrow liberated Dachau. Seventy-five years later, he sits down with Rarity and remembers the Holocaust.

Content advisory: contains explicit reference to genocide, but shies away from graphic descriptions of the precise atrocities.

This story is dedicated to those who suffered the horrors of the Holocaust, to those who survived and those who did not. In Memoriam.

It is also dedicated to those who have fought to prevent such evils from ever happening again. For any veterans or others living with that trauma, I've placed a link for the veteran helpline, a link for the suicide hotline, and link for international crisis lines. There is no shame in needing to talk to someone. No one should have to bear this alone.

Other stories in this canon:
My Neighbor
Their Neighbors

Public domain picture by Dorsm365 from Wikimedia Commons

Original characters are my own creation. My Little Pony and its contents are the property of Hasbro, Inc. and its affiliates. Please support the official release.

War changes ponies. It can make civilians into soldiers, and soldiers into heroes. But becoming a hero requires a sacrifice, not only of blood, sweat, and tears, but of the soul. For when the dark days come, it's the heroes who bring the sun, and when it returns, they're forever lost in the light.

Being a hero doesn't just mean being brave. It means giving up your life to the cause—regardless of whether or not you die.

First attempt at telling a story through poetry. Might try more things like this if the ideas hit me.
Winner of The Rarity award for EFNW's Scribblefest 2016
Cover art by Sheandog

Practice makes perfect. And Princess Twilight wants everything to be perfect. Especially the end of the world.

John is alone on this world and has not seen a single soul in a long time. His only companions have been the ghosts only he can hear. Driven by guilt, he goes from town to town, searching and doing the only thing he can do:

Give the dead their final rest.

Discord once gave him a gift. It was given in grief. John has yet to understand what this gift means. He has lost track of time and madness and sanity wage a constant war in his mind.

For John, the greatest terror in his heart is facing the Goddesses.

He's about to meet one of them.

Ten years ago, Twilight made the ultimate sacrifice in order to defeat Tirek. Equestria has been in a state of civil war ever since.

Canterlot has at last fallen, and the six heroes of the rebellion now go to face the ultimate challenge: defeating the godlike Twilight Sparkle. What they expect to be a brutal, hard won quest for glory and Equestria's salvation turns into something entirely different... and now they face a choice.

This story is a reaction piece against the Tyrant Sparkle trope.

Special thanks to Absolution for pre-reading and Danger Beans for proofreading.

Cover art credit: BluestreakFUS

Now with a Chinese Translation courtesy of Hellagur.

Twilight is taking tea, just like she used to with the princess. She's the princess' faithful student actually. Did you know that?

Winner of the 4^th Panic Fiction contest for the Quills and Sofas Speedwriting Group. Originally conceived and written in half an hour. This version here has undergone some very slight refinement.
The prompt was 'What's That Smell?'.

Discord says goodbye.

Spanish: https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/Un-ultimo-chasquido-862607171 (Thanks Kiwi)

At 3:15 AM, Adams woke me with a loud knock on my front door.
"Put your boots on," he said when I answered. "There's a biblical monster in my house."

* * *

A Visual Companion, by the author
Interview with the author, from the Royal Canterlot Library.
Audiobook by Robin Jacks and Wubcake.
Audiobook by Scribbler.
In-depth analysis by the Heroic Tales cast.
Literary Analysis by ScarletWeather.
Special thanks to GaryOak.
Reviews:
City of Doors
One Man's Pony Ramblings
PresentPerfect
Louder Yay
Between Lines
Bad Horse

The stars are vanishing from Equestria. It's not so bad.

My entry in the first Quills and Sofas Speedwriting Competition! An experimental story written in just under an hour and totally unedited. Enjoy.

We trained her.
We taught her.
We raised her to godhood.
She brought us down to earth.

Sequel can be found here: Memoirs in Ink and Blood