This story is a sequel to The Order

Despite receiving a harsh reprimand from Captain Ironhoof for his "little stunt," Flash Sentry still struggles with his forbidden feelings for Princess Twilight Sparkle. Maintaining a professional stance while adhering to the law of the land proves an even more difficult task, especially when his one act of defiance only seems to awaken the seething rebellion within him.

When Flash is assigned to escort Twilight to the Crystal Empire at Princess Celestia's insistence, tensions on all sides only seem to escalate.

Full list of character tags: Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Twilight Sparkle, Flash Sentry, Shining Armor, Discord, Prince Blueblood, OC, Other.

Thanks to Sir Rustbucket and Holo for editing.

Now with a TVTropes page! A huge thanks and tons of Doge GIFs to Poptard for creating it!

Now Featured on Equestria Daily!

Rated Teen for some language, mild violence, and thematic elements. Sex tag is for sexual references in dialogue and implied sexual situations.

When the world is ending, where do you go?
Into Ships, sailing off into space? Hoping some new world will fare better than your last?
Into Vaults, buried deep underground? Waiting in stale air and light for the world to hopefully heal without you?
Into Portals, to new reflections of reality? Praying that alternate people made different mistakes?

When Equestria passed its point of no return, her citizens did as they always had in times of crisis: they herded together in one place.

And then they built a Spire.

Several centuries later, the daily life of your average pony is unrecognizably different...

...and yet, the more things change the more they echo the past.

Written for the 2023 Seerver Fic Exchange for Silent Whisper whose request was for a cyberpunk dystopia.

The most wanted mare in Equestria, Twilight Sparkle is the greatest thief in the world. As she follows in the hoofsteps of her grandmother, Twilight Twinkle, she's joined by friends and chased by family, all while trying to make a few bits!

An alternate universe fiction where Twilight Sparkle never entered Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. At least, not without a set of lockpicks. Gilda is her closest ally and friend, and a skilled marksman with her crossbow. And of course there's Rarity Belle, who can wrap Twilight around her hoof with a wink and a smile - and usually picks her pockets in the process. With friends like these, Twilight keeps one step ahead of Shining Armor and tries to get her hooves on all the bits she can carry.

____________________

Special shoutout to Ampris for the cover image. Check her out on twitter at @AmpDragoness - careful, some of her art is NSFW.

(Cover art by Weird Alicorn)

(NOTICE: As of 5/22/21, Special Chapters have been added to the story! They are denoted with SP and a number. They are best understood after having read the entire story, but have been written to fit their place in the narrative.)

"You've heard of it, haven't you? The Legend of the Two Sisters?"

Two thousand years ago, two sisters sealed away the world of demons by wielding its own infernal power against it. One thousand years ago, one of them was corrupted by her power and banished to the demon realm by the other. With the demon realm sealed away, the remaining sister faded into history, deciding to leave humanity free of their immense powers.

But with her virtuous sister long since a myth, the Dark Sister plots to return and conquer the land of mortals once more.

Standing in her way in the present day is Sunset Shimmer, a legendary demon hunter who was once a lowly high-school bully, but trained in the ways of the Light Sister to redeem herself. Half-human, half-demon; fully loaded with twin pistols and a huge sword, she runs a demon hunting service called "Sun Never Sets". Despite her history as a bad girl, she now uses her demonic abilities to challenge the forces of darkness with wit and style.

But also chasing the Dark Sister is her long-standing best friend Twilight Sparkle, another half-demon demon hunter trained in the light, but fallen to the darkness within herself. She's willing to sacrifice everything to stop the Dark Sister's return- even the rest of their friends. An unresolved rivalry stands between the two of them, and by facing her Sunset must learn what it means to carry the legacy of the Sister of Light.

Between the Dark Sister, Twilight, and all of the underworld being unleashed, Sunset has her work cut out for her.

But for her, the Sun Never Sets.

This story is mainly for people who want to watch the girls fight bad guys with big swords. 

This story is a re-invention of the world of FiM and EQG by a fangirl of games like Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, and Resident Evil. A crossover in spirit, this story sees the MLP cast re-imagined as various kinds of demon slayers, with focus on mechanically intricate fight scenes and wild over-the-top action while still adhering to the cheesiness of both MLP and DMC's 
Power of Friendship and Family themes.

It's action heavy, leans way too hard on it's melodrama, and often references and recreates scenes from it's component games, so it definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea. That being said, I've attempted to make it as reader friendly as possible, so it's still understandable if you aren't familiar with Devil May Cry or related games.

In short, this story is about recreating MLP and its lore in a campy, action focused manner.

The violence is all video game-esque, written to be entertaining instead of graphic, and the gore attempts to be "soft gore", where grievous injuries are described in broad strokes and spectacle rather than in gritty detail. Mild language, suggestive themes, and slight horror aspects at times.

If this sounds like something for you, have fun! If not, have a nice day.

There are many axioms in Equestria. "Go with the grain." "Count your blessings." "Strive to be happy with what you have."

And, though left unsaid, the most important one of all: "Know your place."

Although Flash Sentry loves Twilight, she can never know of his love. She can never return the feelings. It wouldn't be proper. After all, social order is more important than fulfilling one's own wishes.

Alternate Universe tag is due to the existence of a caste system in this story. Please keep that in mind as you read.

Thanks to Sir Rustbucket, Draconian Soul, Regidar, and Loopy Legend for editing.

Now Featured on Equestria Daily!

Now with a poem by Fiend from the Darkness!

Now with a YouTube reading by BlackIrisBalloon (and multiple voice actors)!

Now with a Korean translation by Kianoke!

Followed by What Hath Joined Together.

Rated Teen for mild violence and thematic elements.

Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns is famous across Equestria as a center of academic excellence. Only the best and brightest unicorns are offered places, selected by their academic merit, magical ability and passion for study. To make the admissions process as fair and reliable as possible, all candidates are given three exams by different teams of examiners, who then meet in private to decide which students are most deserving of a place.

Winner of the December 2014 Writeoff competition: Behind Closed Doors.

Equestria, a country that is suffering the fractures of instability is now on the cusp of disaster. The Elements of harmony having been separated for nearly a millennia by biological, ideological, and geological differences. Has created weakness in the world. Ancient mistakes were beginning to show as a new age dawned, leaving old wounds in the form of a powerful and dangerous magical anomaly to take Equestria by surprise.

Where little hope shines, the solar Princess Celestia trained three students to battle a growing threat. Magic, Kindness, and Generosity were Equestria's last line of defense. Yet with the last three elements seemingly lost to the darkness of a millennia past. The Princess knew their chances were slim, with her hooves forced. Princess Celestia knew that slim chances were better than none if it meant reuniting harmony and healing wounds that were never closed.

(Essentially a Alt-U to the first two Episodes of Season 1)

Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, and Moondancer are the top students in Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns. One is a dedicated bookworm with a love of learning, other is an outcast full of ambition, while the last one just wants to enjoy life... a lot.

Connected with unlikely friendship, together, they fight crime live their lives, one day at a time.

(Sometimes they fight crime, too)

While it is set in Stallionverse, knowledge of previous stories is not required (you'll miss a joke or two at worst).

Teen rating and sex tag for slightly edgier humor, innuendos and Moondancer.

Guest chapters provided by the ever talented Eyeswirl the Weirded. You can't hug him through internet (you can try), so give him love by checking his stuff- quality guaranteed.
My own chapters are edited by the ever kind and generous Docontra, whose patience knows no bounds.

Twilight Sparkle didn’t care about overseeing the Summer Sun Celebration in some podunk little town. She just wanted a chance to study the history of the Lunar Rebellions and maybe, just maybe, convince Celestia that her sister’s return was a real possibility. Now it’s a lot more than just a possibility, and one Canterlot egghead isn’t going to be able to take on Nightmare Moon and her army alone.

(Season 1, Episodes 1 and 2 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic rewritten and expanded as a mature fantasy adventure)

Many years after sending her beloved protege to Ponyville, unease sits heavily on Princess Celestia's heart as her relationship with Twilight Sparkle seems to have cooled despite all they've accomplished together. On the advice of her sister, Celestia sets out to investigate and resolve the lost connection with her most faithful student. What does it mean to be a Faithful Student...or a Princess of the Sun?

Earned a six-star rating on Equestria Daily and featured on its very own TVTropes page!.