In the modern era, it has become common for foreigners to mock Equestria, seeing the pony nation as weak, naive, unwilling to commit to hard decisions. More belligerent neighbors often view the ponies as easy prey or targets, to have their magic stolen, to be devoured and pillaged, or conquered as a ready supply of slaves.

It was not always thus. In ages past, Equestria was a land of heroes and legends, of darkness and bloodshed. In time, the princesses learned to temper strength with mercy, power with forbearance, and righteous conviction with benevolence.

But now, a thousand years after the younger princess was banished to the moon, the long peace is drawing to a close. Forces both within and without Equestria awaken, seeing a nation weak and easily toppled. Seeing a people grown fat on peace and luxury, who have long forgotten the hardships of war and conflict, or the glory of bloodshed.

Woe betide to all who come to Equestria with ill intent. For in all these long years of peace, the Princess of the Sun has never forgotten the lessons of war, and her eyes watch over her beloved subjects with not only patience and understanding, but an implicit promise of protection.

The time will come soon, when those who would do Celestia's Little Ponies wrong will come to learn... That even an Empire of Mercy is still paved upon the bones of its enemies.

[...]
Alternate universe story based on two main principals: First, that Rainbow Dash is taken in as Celestia's student in addition to Twilight. Second, that the threats to Equestria are both larger in magnitude, but also countered by a more competent and militarized Equestria. Also, it will follow my headcanon that alicorn's are gender neutral.

It is also somewhat based on my love of story threads that are disconnected but still intersect. The continuity will not really have a single group of main characters (Though it will start with mostly Rainbow Dash and Celestia), but rather a number of different story threads playing out simultaneously across the world. I have plans for the Mane Six, Celestia, Luna, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, and Scootaloo at the least.

I will be posting every 28 days on saturday, at least for the time being. Story is in present tense, third person. Genre will kinda be all over the place, parts of the story will include the whole spectrum from war story to slice of life to drama to who knows what else.

Beyond Equestria, the lands to the north are hostile and unforgiving. Ponies eke out a subsistence in uncontrollable weather, separated by mile after frigid mile of snow and mountains. A land where only the hardiest survive is no place for civilization.

Yet civilization encroaches from time to time. When a colossal bounty is placed on the head of a unicorn deep in the arts of necromancy, a motley crew of bounty hunters assembles and gives chase. It’s too good a chance to pass up. They’ll bring her to justice, no matter what stands in their way. Not her dark magic. Not the inhospitable environment.

And certainly not each other.

Other entries in this series:

• Hinterlands
• Urban Wilds
• Death Valley

With Canterlot's steam-powered upgrade from the Great Innovation, Directors Celestia and Luna thought the upcoming wedding in Canterlot would dazzle everycreature around. But then the cyborg changelings came - and in their wake, the return of Equestria's formerly most prolific usurper. Can Sunset get the truth from Chrysalis in her last Canterlot case? And will she like what she finds - about Chrysalis or herself?

Pic credit goes to Underpable. Commission for PrussiAntique.

Thanks to Steel Quill, SweetBanana, and TCC56 for pre-reading/reviewing!

WARNING: Steampunk Sunset Shimmer Strongarms Sadistic Steel-Swathed Shapeshifters. Say that three times fast.

This story is a sequel to The Witch of Canterlot

Sunset Shimmer needs a vacation. She doesn't feel she can really match the accomplishments of the ponies around her, and even though she knows leaving Canterlot is just running away from her problems for a while, maybe it's what she needs to get her head back in the game.

Griffonstone needs someone to save it. The griffons won't ever admit that, but it isn't half the city it used to be. The birds still in town do everything they can to leave, and the whole place is ravaged by terrible gale-force winds.

The earth roars! The heaven howls! The crowds cry out for a hero! Can Sunset really end a curse that's lingered for generations?

Tanya Degurechaff gets tossed into Equestria and transformed into a Changeling Queen. It's a nice retirement from modern warfare as an aerial mage. Then Queen Chrysalis attacks and forces her out of retirement. Historians refer to this as 'a bit of an oopsie.'

The year is 1019, and the scars of the Great War are finally starting to fade from Equus. Queen Chrysalis of the Changeling Hegemony was defeated by a last, desperate alliance of free creatures from across the continent. The All-Ponies Front pushed into the heart of her empire in Vesalipolis after years of daring tank maneuvers beyond muddy trenches while planes dueled above. The Stalliongrad Soviet fought beside the Principality of Equestria it once shunned. The Crystal Empire modernized and stood with the Yaks across the northern mountains. The penguins and bears of the north resisted in the bitter cold. The deer of Olenia rose up under their rightful queen. The Republic of Nova Griffonia mostly made money selling guns to all the little ponies.

The war, and what came afterward, was a time of great upheaval and change. Princess Celestia and Luna abdicated their titles to Twilight Sparkle; the Princess of Friendship rules beside Prime Minister Sunset Shimmer and the Council of Friendship. The Crystal Empire, being a time displaced feudal state, did not change that much. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor rule as a universally beloved sovereign and a war hero. As the world changes around it, the eternal Crystal City stands still.

Princess Flurry Heart, currently going through "a phase," would like to change this.

By summoning the Ghost of Communism Past as her new political science tutor while her mother is away.

It is up to Shining Armor to avert the dictatorship of the poneletariat and the downfall of the bourneighsie.

May Harmony help them all.

Aurora is a unicorn filly with the mind of a human, however, the said human does not remember much from his old life on earth, just bits and pieces.

Being born in Canterlot to a unicorn family she quickly discovers that her unusual dark coloration makes most if not all ponies wary of her, and her social life confusing and full of different emotions. As she grows and develops, she sees the world differently than most ponies, making her curious and adventurous. And that leads to... Complications down the road. Especially when the Magic Of Friendship develops in Equestria at the same time.

If that's not making it difficult to adapt to her new environment and body, a certain white alicorn makes Aurora hooves full of mysteries and plots to solve, making it difficult to learn magic and have a life of a simple filly at the same time.

[The first five chapters are 'test chapters'. I plan to remake them in the future.]
[See tags for warnings please.]
COVER ART

When your daughter dresses in all black, talks to changelings and tells you that life is meaningless, you know she became an irredeemable villain.
She must be killed. Shining Armor knows it.
Cadance says it's just a phase, but he knows.
It's definitely not a phase.

Made for the Shining Armor is a Terrible Dad contest. Couldn't resist writing about that big dumb unicorn.
Cover by emmaneiac.
Featured from 15/03/2024 to 19/03/2023. Thank you.

After evil King Sombra conquers the Crystal Empire, why is Flurry Heart the only pony in her family who thinks something is wrong?

A contest entry for: The Shining Armor Is A Bad Dad And Also A Himbo And Flurry Heart Is A Goth Or You Will Be Penalized And This Is Definitely Not Somebody's Weird Fetish List Contest

briefly featured for part of 2-24-24, somehow

It's been a little over a year since Princess Flurry Heart founded the settlement of Winter's Hearth deep in the unclaimed territory of the Frozen North, and in that time she and her subjects have faced many dangers. But whether through grit or sheer equine spirit, they've survived every one of them.

So when the yaks of the Northwestern Tribes decide to declare war on them, it feels like just another Tuesday.

The yaks feel differently.

This story was originally conceived as an entry to Imposing Sovereigns IV, but I didn't end up writing it until several months after the contest closed. You can read the actual entrants to that contest here! The intended prompt was Flurry Heart/Strength.