Princess Celestia, who is feeling a little lonely, asks Princess Cadance for a little help in finding a special somepony.

Along the way, Princess Celestia rediscovers herself.

An entry in the Weedverse.

Diplomacy has failed. Six years have passed Equestria's crowning of the princess of friendship, ushering in a supposed unprecedented age of peace and harmony. The concept of warfare is, to most ponies, nothing more than an unfathomable legend. They have let their guard down.

An unknown enemy has seized the opportunity to attack Equestria with terrifying new weapons of war, bent on taking the fertile land and restoring an ancient order. The valiant efforts of the Royal Guard have given Princess Twilight and her arcane scientists time to research and develop a response to their attackers, and the time has come for that response to be implemented. Utilizing weapons and tactics borrowed from another world, five squads under the command of Princess Luna will infiltrate the forests of the Equestrian Northwest to destroy a revolutionary magical matrix that Twilight refers to as the "radio" - a tool that allows enemy ponies to communicate across vast distances instantly.

Nightmare Two is comprised of three foalhood friends who, rather than be separated from each other in the draft, volunteer to become one of the five Nightmare squads. With their bodies forever altered to suit the needs of their mission, the three young mares join legions of ponies armed with powerful weapons to partake in a horrifying new breed of warfare - Equestria's first in over one thousand years.

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Heads up, folks. If you wouldn't mind leaving a comment alongside the thumbs-down, I'd appreciate it. This is my first foray into fan fiction and although it's a hobby I nonetheless wish to get better. :)

Got some FAQ's for you guys as well!

- Alternate universe in which the events of "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" did not occur. (As much as I loved it! :D)

- Numerical age tends to vary with headcanon, but the CMC here were just getting started with their adult lives when the draft went into effect.

- The war is pony v. pony, utilizing firearms and the Equestrian equivalent of a tank. The underlying headcanon is that ponies used firearms similar to muskets and tracked armored vehicles akin to our tanks in times of old, and what the enemy currently employs is essentially the natural progression of these technologies.

- There are no real-world weapons or equipment i.e. "Panzer IV," or "M16 assault rifle." Particularly acute details such as the caliber of weapons are also absent.

- Technology is based on that of WWI with some WWII elements. Firearms are primarily bolt-action.

- The "radio" spell matrix functions as what we know to be a radio, but is not identical.

- All four of a Night Mare's legs are permanently replaced by the augments.

- Night Mares are female. Stallions proved unable to properly animate the limbs.

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Hold up, now - fanart? You guys rock. Like, for real. Thanks a lot!

1. A great YouTube video coming from The_Pegasus_Box. Thanks, bud!
Check it out!

2. Click here for the collection on DArt.

3. https://derpibooru.org/740375?scope=scpeac921b191f688d04521575f31608785cbc3bbaa1
[img]https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/10/10/740375__safe_anthro_apple+bloom_gun_artist-colon-pusspuss_night+mares.png[/img]

Nopony has heard from Fluttershy for three months. Not Rainbow Dash, not Rarity, not even Pinkie Pie. Her friends have been tending to the cottage and her animals, keeping it clean and organized, but even with Twilight's constant magic scans and a semi-constant guard search Equestria-wide, no hint has been found of where she went, how she vanished, or why she didn't tell anyone. Some ponies even think, in their darkest nightmares, that she might be dead.

Then she shows up one day, very definitely not dead, but just as definitely not the same as she was.

And does she have a story to tell. Boy, does she ever...

Coverart by Paladin.

One month, they said. One month completely to themselves. One month of talking to one another, cuddling with one another, going on walks with one another, and living together. One month of sharing breakfast, sharing beds, sharing stories, and sharing sweet talk.

One month, they agreed on, and after the thirty days had gone by... if they were still as madly in love with each other as the day they first kissed... then they would share the joy of their relationship with their friends.

Sunset Shimmer loans Pinkie Pie a thumb drive.

Except that it's the wrong thumb drive. And that it contains exactly what you'd expect to find in the wrong thumb drive to loan away.

Rated Teen and Sex for discussions of pornography and self-love.

I deserve no forgiveness. If I could take it back, well... I would never have met her. Somepony who could forgive me. I think. Look, it confuses me so stop asking!

I hate him and what he did to the Crystal Ponies is something I will never forgive. So why is it that I care when ponies scorn him? When they hurt him, why does it make me cry? When I see him, why does my heart skip?

Is it just me or has Twilight gone crazy? Dude's a jerk.

Can we please change the subject?

Author's Note: Other is flagged due to the character flag limit. Expect Cadance, Shining Armor, Luna, and Discord at least!

Celestia ponders an anonymous gift, and what she will do with it.

To not act is still to act.

Okay, first off, you don't get to call me Flurry Heart. Not unless you have special privileges which are only afforded to those who are related to me and/or are national heroes. Or, I guess, if you're that guard that mom sends after me...

Point is, I'm Skyla. Got it memorized? SKY. LA.

Now these are the stories of how I earned myself that name. And a few other titles. And look, maybe mom and dad say I'm just going through a phase, but I say PHASES ARE FOR WIMPS. This, is who I am!

And the only reason I'm using Circus-Cinnamon's photo is because I can't find any other photos with how I really feel on it. I mean seriously, crystal ponies, I'm yelling half the time, is it that hard to take an angry picture?!

Princess Cadance is nearly ready to deliver Princess Flurry Heart into the world, and Shining should be the happiest stallion in the world. After all, he's about to become a father—what stallion wouldn't rejoice at this fact?

And yet... something's eating away at him. Keeping him up nights. Driving him to speak with anypony who'll listen. An anxiety. A fear. A doubt.

An inadequacy.

My submission to Scribblefest 2016. Rated teen for some mild descriptions of birth.

Pre-read and edited by the lovely Plumander. If you like my work, consider donating to my Ko-Fi.

Octavia tells her friends she's dating Discord.

They take it well.

Proofread by Soundslikeponies, Pearple Prose, Themaskedferret and Octavia Harmony.