The only currency in war is life. It is a simple creed meant for an era that most believe has long since passed. With princesses, elements, and friendship, what could dare shatter the dream sewn by Equestria’s holy lights? What could ever throw us into a state of complete, utter darkness? Well, they always forget. They always forget that Tartarus exists for a reason – that something trapped by once upon a time spawned their beloved guards. They always forget that even the Sun casts a shadow, and it is in this shadow where we sit – to serve as a bolting line of defense against all threats that slither beneath the pedestal of our magical world.

Cover art by the awesome Baron Engel.

More Background Stuff!
Somehow featured on: 2015/05/10, 2015/08/16, 2015/09/02, 2015/09/06, 2015/09/21, 2015/10/05, 2015/10/08 & 2015/12/03.
A State of Darkness builds upon the alternate universe established by the backstory of my surprisingly named OC, Wing. Since I have a doctorate in physics, I really wanted this world to have an expanded structure regarding education. I also wished to portray an Equestria in which violence yielded consequences that stretched beyond the discovery of good morals. Before touching this tale, I had envisioned a flight school curriculum that included training analogous to graduate level education, and I had fabricated a history in which the demonstration of new combat-applicable techniques during this training brought about the creation of the Wonderbolt DarkOps. There is also a heavy influence from the adventures I have had roleplaying with my closest friends -- who have shaped my characters and worldviews in ways absolutely immeasurable.

This particular group of ponies has shown an ability to handle the somewhat shadier sides of the realm. While this organization relies heavily upon pegasi and their flying skills, it is not limited to one race, which I think is just fine and dandy - especially with regards to variety. All of these historical bits that swarmed in my mind served as the nucleus for what would become A State of Darkness.

One night, I was inspired by the image of a pony soldier awaiting execution. It touched that desire I held to dive into the grittier elements of the universe brewing in my brain. That picture sealed the deal for me. I started writing, and when my fingers stopped moving, there was something present that I wanted to share with the community and continue. I am a busy physicist without a lot of writing time, but I will try my best to keep updating regularly.

Arc Overview:
Arc 1: A State of Darkness The unicorn supremacist group Einhorn Vormacht emerges and jeopardizes the harmony upon which Equestria stands. [Installments 0-9]
Arc 2: A State of History One of the characters delves into his past for the sake of a curious, by-the-book guard. [Installments 10-14]
Arc 3: A Game of Darkness [Installments 15-29] An old colleague of Wing's reappears with plans to to hurl the world into a state of chaos that not even Discord is down for experiencing.

Strange dreams are haunting the night in Ponyville.

The dreams are lucid and clear, indistinguishable from reality. And sometimes, when ponies wake up, the dreams don't go away.

Hallucinations stalk the waking world. Reality is bending in ways that Twilight Sparkle doesn't understand. But she intends to get to the bottom of this mystery and save Equestria from whatever is hiding in the dark.

Twilight Sparkle wonders, sometimes, if the pony in her dreams is the real her. If that is her soul laid bare.

She's about to find out.

Written for the Distant Shores Writeoff. Cover art by CosmicUnicorn, used with permission.

"...The test ends when you open that door."

Princess Luna has begun searching for her own personal student, and her test has hit a small snag: Not a single unicorn, out of the dozens of applicants, has passed. In fact, every last candidate has failed the test in seconds.

But just what is the purpose of this test? And how can somepony pass it?

A young earth pony named Morning Glory is going to find out.

THIS IS AN OLDER VERSION OF A FIC RE-WRITTEN HERE:

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/417260/tapestry-a-world-apart

I'm keeping this up for archival purposes, however.
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Rarity is accidentally sent to a dark, frozen alternate reality, where the pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies never resolved their conflict. In a world where unicorns are hunted and killed, Rarity's friends rush to her aid, only to find themselves quickly enmeshed in a great war, in a world in need of heroes.

The Order vindictively hunts unicorns and rules its citizens with an iron hoof. They claim the unicorns are responsible for the endless winter, and they claim their ruthless tyranny is necessary for the survival of ponykind against the cold, and they may be right.

The Ceruleans claim The Order must fall, that its cruel reign is what brings the winter, and the Ceruleans are willing to fight to bring a blue sky once more.

It is a world of heroes and villains on both sides, of powerful secret weapons that threaten to change the world forever, of powerful secret societies with mysterious and ambitious goals, and where magic is threatened by the dawn of powerful new technology. It is a world in turmoil, and a world in need of heroes of every kind.

It is a world apart from Equestria.

Everything seemed to be alright the day that Discord came back to Canterlot under the watchful eye of Celestia as a (mostly) redeemed draconequus. But the luxurious life of royalty is so... BORING! "Do something creative," they said, "It'll be fun," they said. Thus it was that Discord sat down and began writing the worst stories he could imagine! But between posh living, running a ministry, court dates, random quests from Celestia and Luna, and learning about the magic of friendship, surely these stories can't be that bad, can they?

There are a thousand reasons for not making a purchase at the Carousel Boutique. Some of them are legitimate. Many are excuses. The majority are lies. Falsehoods which Rarity has been listening to for years now, without the slightest touch of variety in the performances. Lies which, during the first week of Ponyville's summer tourist season. have escalated to the point where it feels like they're the only words being said at all.

So if nopony is going to buy anything no matter what Rarity does -- why not call them out on a few? Surely that couldn't do any harm, at least not more than what's already been done?

Surely...

(A stand-alone, no prior-reading-necessary part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page (with new Recap section) and FIMFiction group: new members and trope edits are welcome. )

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Twilight was supposed to gather the Elements of Harmony the way Princess Celestia planned it: meet the embodiments of the Elements while running errands in Ponyville, team up with them, discover the meaning of friendship, and then defeat Nightmare Moon. It was all so simple.

Too bad she really underestimated Twilight's ability to screw things up.

Additional Character Tags: Octavia, Nightmare Moon, Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, Princess Cadance

Edited by WorkbenchManiac: chapter 7-25, 27 onwards
Edited by docontra: chapter 26 onwards

XCOM Record: Operation: Rising Star
11:52 am, 18th Febuary, 2016
Northwestern Territories, Canada.

Summary: Witness reports contact with extra-terrestrial creature. X-ray is unconcious and unresponsive. X-ray does not match description of previously observed species.

Response: Strike-One dispatched on high alert, orders are to recover X-ray alive. Alien Containment prepared for the new arrival.

***

The war ended. They were beaten back, their mothership destroyed, their command structure in ruins. Lost ships and soldiers continued in vain, but thanks to XCOM, humanity won, and the world was saved. The Volunteer saw to that - everything changed because of one man.

And then suddenly, everything changed again. Only this time, it's not a man's doing - it's a mare's.

Proofreading by the aweome Setokaiva, entirely without me asking!
Tagged Dark and rated Teen: Gore, because there is going to be some blood shed by the end of this.

Caramel is a pony of many secrets, one of which being that he isn't actually a pony at all. Revealing his true identity to his beloved marefriend Applejack turns out to be a far more painful experience than he had originally believed, and now he is left alone and heartbroken. Perhaps, with the help of the professional tips on mare courting everypony seems so inclined to give him, he can win her back? With advice like this, not likely.

Be warned, this fic includes terrible dating advice.

Cover art created by a very generous MindEdge.

Once upon a time, Silver Spoon's life made sense. She had the right friends, the right house, and the right school for a young lady coming up in the world. Once upon a time, Silver Spoon lived amongst proud towers in a vibrant, bustling city that never slept.

Now she lives in Ponyville. Not so terrible once one gets used to it. Silver's learned to appreciate some ponies, harbor grudges for others, and tolerate the rest. But sometimes, she wonders if one pony in particular is as popular as she thought.

Preread and edited by Autumn Wind, Cthuluigi, and SaddlesoapOpera

Chinese translation by hehelover