Straight from the Canterlot archives, this collection of documents retells the rise and fall of Princess Twilight Sparkle, Enlightened Despot of Equestria, Defender of the Peace, Lawgiver, and Commander of Fort Libris.

Twilight Sparkle is, of course, known to historians as the first usurper to seek to schedule a coup d'etat by appointment. But for other details- such as, "What is the longest recorded time a pony has gone without sleep?", "Is it true what they say about swans?", and, "Why is there an owlbear in the Equestrian Witness Protection Program?"- these documents provide the answers and much, much more.

This is ABSOLUTELY SERIOUS HISTORY from primary sources. If anything makes you think this is silly, ludicrous, or unbelievable, blame Discord.

Written for FanOfMostEverything's Imposing Sovereigns writing contest.

EDIT 3-15-17: Wow, almost instant featured! Was NOT expecting that!

EDIT 4-8-2017: Featured in the Royal Canterlot Library! Thanks!

Part of the Remember Fort Libris print anthology, thanks to our Kickstarter supporters!

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.

--

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.

--

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]

On a whim, Rarity runs off to see Zecora about a certain variety of tea. En route she happens across Aengus Meagher, a Pokémon trainer with questionable morals who has hit his wall, unable to defeat Bruno of the Indigo League's Elite Four. Aengus is on a journey, traveling far from his home region on a quest to find something, anything that could help him overcome this stumbling block. Somehow he slips into Equestria for a few minutes, and out in the Everfree happens across a certain white unicorn, and, well...

Rarity gets caught.

These are their adventures.

So...the new tag thing complicates how I’m gonna put this out there. The story doesn’t start needing a Dark tag, but it will grow Dark as it goes on. There are at least two other “tags” that will spoil major plot points later on, and thus are left off.

Not your typical Pony-Pokémon crossover, although you will get exactly what it says on the tin. Some chapters are more about the comedy, others about the drama, though most will have some of each. Sex tag for innuendo.

Now with suggested music for a given section; look for the itty-bitty hyperlinked text. Most of these tracks are from the Pokémon series and side games, appropriate to where they are (but not all of them...sometimes I was looking for a certain vibe I couldn't find in the OSTs); it's just what I thought would fit best in a given area.

Names chosen were based off of common given and family names of selected nationalities in combinations where I know no one personally with either. Any likeness to any person, real or in a different fictional story, is purely coincidental (hooray, C.Y.A. disclaimers).

The war between Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia has destroyed Equestria, leaving the few survivors to struggle to survive in a dying world of eternal twilight. Fluttershy, twisted by the war, now ekes out an existence in Everfree forest, but even that life is under threat. Twilight Sparkle is coming, leading the last army of Dawn, and she will let nothing stop her from retrieving the Elements of Harmony and saving the world; not even old friends.

---

First Place in the Equestria Daily More Most Dangerous Game contest

With thanks to Luna-tic Scientist, Lord Of Dorkness, Nopony_Important and Monanniverse for their help in bringing this story to completion. Cover art is credit to 5kmoe.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/X4NpPxt.jpg[/img]

Immortals are few and far between in Equestria, and they are all known to each other. Two of them are about to get to know each other a little better. Because one has just turned up uninvited in another’s private chambers. Maybe it’s time they had a chat?

This story contains enormous spoilers for season 6, and won’t make a great deal of sense if you haven’t seen that.

Proofread, edited and significantly improved by NaiadSagaIotaOar. Any remaining problems with the story are from where I didn't heed the advice given.

The Everfree forest is just like any other forest—except it's full of monsters and weird magic junk, but ignoring that—it sometimes grows out of control and needs to be trimmed a bit. In order to keep the forest from growing too large, Celestia asks Twilight to start a controlled forest fire to burn a portion of it down. It seems like a simple request, but a series of mishaps and misunderstandings lead to some miscommunication and, subsequently, to Twilight setting fire to all of Equestria.

Twilight's had some time to think about what happened during the Tirek crisis, and now she has only one question on her mind:

Did Twilight get Celestia's immortality or not?

When she confronts her former mentor about it, she learns some interesting things about definitions, technicalities, and necromancy.

More importantly, she learns that even the greatest of ponies have their weaknesses.

A/N: Mostly TwiLestia friendshipping, and lots of headcanon. Also one or two cameos.

All Twilight had to do was finish Starswirl the Bearded's final spell. She didn't have to become undead, seal her soul in the Elements of Harmony, or enlist her friends in an effort to fix everything... but you have to play the hand you're dealt.

Even if it's rotting off.

-

Big ups to Themaskedferret for all her support on this story.

This story is a sequel to Queen No More

Twilight Sparkle made the most foolish and selfless decision possible. She saved the life of Queen Chrysalis. The dynamics of Twilight's relationships begin to change as Chrysalis introduces the changeling hivemind to her pony caretaker. Chrysalis' only hope was to relieve her loneliness, but events begin to unfold that will change Equestria forever.

Nothing is stronger than the power of redemption...

NOTES
1. This is the sequel to Queen No More but there is a time jump between its end and Hive Alive's beginning.
2. This is Alternate universe due to the fact that this story will run off of a disparate timeline. Events forward of season 2 may be similar OR significantly altered.
3. There is mention in Chapter 3 of an old changeling tale titled As a Star. A version of this has been written by Farseer.

NO MORE UPDATES: The story is complete. A sequel has been made: Queen of Equestria.

FULL TIMELINE SUMMARY OF STORY AND CHAPTERS

2014 ANNIVERSARY AND HOLIDAY UPDATE
Updated outer cover, inner cover, and description!
2 new HD wallpapers!
Hive Alive 2013
Hive Alive 2014
New extras collection, Hive Alive Moments, including...
Too Hot
Perfect Marriage
The Hive Before Halloween
Take Two
Shy My Heart

Featured May 24th, 2014 and on every chapter release since then.

Art by BlackWater (that's me)

One day, just like that, Celestia decides she's going to go mad with power.

Full-cast audiobook by Illya Leonov.

Edited by MrNumbers and Themaskedferret. Winner of FanofMostEverything's Imposing Sovereigns contest!

As seen on EQD and the Royal Canterlot Library.