This story is a sequel to Changing Expectations

When ages are segmented and divided in the annals of history, it is done so with great events as breakpoints. The Second Age of Heroes was unanimously declared to have started with the return of Princess Luna and the changeling Invasion of Canterlot.

For thousands of years, the changelings survived beneath The Great Tapestry, that which connects all living and nonliving things. Hundreds of generations worked endlessly to keep their existence a secret. With one command from Queen Chrysalis, the Masquerade was broken.

In a single night, the changelings waged war against Equestria and took the Kingdom by storm. Months later, the war between changelings and ponies has ended. A new tapestry, a new story, must be woven between the two species. Equestria and the Fifth Hive have gone through a dark chapter and have emerged stronger for it.

One war ends and another begins.

As The Sword of Damocles hangs above the heads of the formerly-human King Phasma and his Equestrian counterparts, the forces of light must work on an ever-shortening window before war once again brings Hell to Equus. Dark powers grow in the places that the light does not reach, and they bring one irrefutable truth.

Epitaph is coming.

Cover art by Nixworld.

Special thanks to my pre-readers!

Equestria and the Crystal Empire have fallen to the Changeling Hegemony, led by the brutal Queen Chrysalis at the head of a mechanized horde of guns and tanks. Princess Cadance stayed in the Crystal Empire; Princess Twilight stayed in Equestria. Chrysalis rules the continent, only defied by Nova Griffonia, the poor Griffon colony in the north.

Across the ocean, the Griffonian Reich pledges to reclaim its lost territory, sundered by revolution a generation ago. While the Alicorn Sisters retreat to New Mareland, Princess Flurry Heart and Shining Armor turn to Aquileia, the Republic born out of the ashes of the Griffonian Reich. The Kaiser of the Reich is only a child, subject to a regent bent on war and conquest.

Flurry knows the Reich and Chrysalis have worked together.

She knows that war is coming to Aquileia.

She knows that Celestia and Luna abandoned her mother and Twilight Sparkle.

She knows that the world is on fire, and she is the last true Princess of Ponies.

She knows she will go home.

Cover Art by Opal Radiance, commissioned by Sunstreaker.
https://www.deviantart.com/opalradiance

Featured on 4-16-23!? Holy crap!

Thunder Strike. Ask anypony who's ever met him and they would probably describe him as proud member of Royal Guard; specifically a Lieutenant of the Palace Division. Always doing his very best to maintain the safety and security of the staff and visitors alike, and never hesitating to do what's needed of him.

Ask those that know him and they might tell you how he's a chronic workaholic who's maintaining unhealthy, unreasonable standards for his own conduct and performance leading him to slowly but surely working himself to death, and who desperately needs a vacation before it's too late.

Like it or not, he's going to learn the hard way that nopony, no matter how dedicated they may be, can possibly burn the candle at both ends indefinitely. And perhaps something else along the way.

Anon has been in Equestria for 5 years, working under Celestia as a Minister of Foreign Affairs. His tactics were seen as dishonest at best and unethical at worst. But when Celestia leaves suddenly, she names Anon as her temporary replacement to the throne. With internal bickering over whether Anon deserves this position and heightened tension with the Griffons, Anon must choose carefully. Will he become a tyrant or a fair king? And how far will he go to preserve Equestria?

A fully rewritten version of a greentext I wrote back in 2019. Could be a bit dated with tropes that I thought was good writing at the time, but I’m still proud of it.

For the Second Person tag you should note that sections from Anons POV are in first person, everyone else is in second person.

Romance tag is there because of a romance I included that I think was poorly handled, but half the story wouldn’t make sense if I just removed it so I had to keep it in.

Gore and Violence are self explanatory. It’s not there abundantly, but it is there.

Also don’t read the comments if you don’t want spoilers. Story discussion happens in them and that might ruin the reading experience.

Now on The Good HIE List!

Featured on 1/11/23! Thank you all.
Featured on 1/12/23. Thanks again.
Featured on 1/13/23! Three days in a row? Thanks guys.
Featured on 1/14/23. Four days in a row. Thanks guys, I’m touched.
Featured on 1/15/23. Five days? Holy shit I never expected this guys. Thank you all so much.
Featured on 1/16/23. This makes me wonder if there’s a limit to how many times I can announce a featured slot.
Featured on 2/2/23. Also marks the day I officially finished the story, so hooray.

I am known by many names, The Hands of Fate, The puppeteer, The Doll maker and my favourite name, The Stage Master, and I have arisen in Equestria to tell many stories from throughout the multiverse.

Quick warning: crude/ vulgar language such as swearing, and..... Well I don't know what else to be honest, just expect some swear words to pop up every now and then ok?

This story was very inspired by Iridescence T wind's story 'puppets of tragedy' go check this out!

Here is a link: Puppets of Tragedy

Jacob Irving is not your average human. He's not popular, impoverished, and devoid of purpose. Seeking an escape from his life, he stumbles upon a hole that unexpectedly transports him to Equestria. Since he no longer calls himself Jacob Irving, he calls himself by a name he used to go by.

Featured on 08/22/2023 (LET'S GO!!)
Featured on 12/25/2023 (GREAT CHRISTMAS PRESENT!!)

Adam Inns has always been a simple man. For him, whiling his days away in a log cabin with a good book and a good view is a life well spent, no matter which planet he inhabits. But one day, after a misunderstanding with a Royal Guard gets Celestia involved, she decides to have a little fun at Adam's expense, and he suddenly finds himself as the proud owner and sovereign of a brand-new country, his to do with as he pleases.

However, the joke slowly finds a life of its own, as the poor and outcast find themselves on Inns' doorstep, with nowhere else to go and little reason to love Equestria. As the new state begins to grow into its own, Adam discovers that the calculus of rulership is not as forgiving as he once thought - and as the Equestrian system shudders under the weight of a thousand years of status quo coming to an abrupt end, his newfound convictions soon put him on a collision course with his friend, Celestia... a course neither may be willing to correct.

Can harmony and friendship really prevail against cold, hard realpolitik?

It's simple really.

I get Isekai'd into the body of magical Genghis Khan moments before he begins his conquest for world domination.

Universe, Say hello to the new and improved STORM KING!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *cough cough* ow... my throat...

Warning: This story contains anthropomorphic animal people, an evil king building an evil empire, the power of friendship, not so evil plans for world domination, boring magic rainbow sunshine world politics, and a protagonist who really doesn't want to die.

Enjoy ;)

PS- This story is being cross-posted over from my Wattpad to here, so the editing might be crappy :/

First Feature: February 9th 2023

The age of chaos has come to an end. The Avatar of Chaos, Discord, has been defeated by the valiant actions of the newly-minted alicorn sisters. Their courageous victory has earned them the adoration of their hometown of Evergreen, and they now seek to unite all of ponykind under their banner.

In the disconnected world left in the wake of Discord's reign however, theirs is not the only story to be told. Not all of them even start in their world, for that matter.

Geralt is a unassuming man living a comfortable but mundane existence. While not dissatisfied with his own life, he has always dreamed of what it would be like to make more of himself. To be able to live a life of adventure and glory, to steer the wheels of history.

Fate has smiled upon on him and granted him the opportunity to do so when he is swept away by a chaotic winter storm across worlds, finding himself in a new feathery body. He soon finds himself taking the first steps and rising above anywhere he thought he could reach as he defends his new home, and begins to build a shining beacon of prosperity that will resound throughout the ages.

But victory comes only to the prepared, and the road to his dreams will be long and hard. It is world filled with all manner of mysteries, monsters, and rivalries. A world where a land is kept safe by the armies that it fields. And so Geralt will resolve to stand tall, to defend his lands and his people, and to see his banner flying forevermore.