Everyone wears a mask. For the rulers of Equestria, that mask must be impeccable for their subjects. Only around their guards can the two Princesses relax ever so slightly, occasionally showing that they are just as fallible as any other creature. For one Princess, the burdens of her own mind begin to make the mask crack. However, when Private Steel Heart notices that it is, in fact, the pony underneath the mask that is beginning to splinter, he offers to help.

He had no idea such help would first involve getting attacked with a large brush.

Warning: Involves slow-burn romances, lots of feelings, comforting moments, adorable affectionate gestures, lethal amounts of fluff, feel-good auras, and a deadly combing implement.
Takes place around Season 8-9 (ish)

Cover art used with permission by the talented Yakovlev-Vad, seriously, check out his art. He's fantastic!
https://www.deviantart.com/yakovlev-vad/art/Oops-Sketch-743917791
*Edit. Featured on the first day? WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Alternative Version

Echo 1 is the callsign belonging to a group of armored vehicle operators in Takistan, the battlefield where every warfighter respawns. They're labelled loose cannons after an explosive incident, and are confined to their base as punishment. As the three start to ponder their use, a freak accident results in their arrival to Equestria.

Another day, another area of operations.

Echo 1-1 Actual: "Raptor", Stryker Commander (Sport Shades)
Echo 1-2: "Roar", Stryker Driver (Aviators)
Echo 1-3: "Splash", Stryker Gunner (Striped Shirt)

No gore, projectiles are magical. The level of violence shown is hardly above that depicted/suggested in the show.
A story inspired by my unhealthy ArmA addiction.

This 'Earth' is so close, and yet so far from anything Twilight described on the other side of that mirror. How is Rarity going to get back to her home when she can't understand anyponybody? And didn't Twilight say she became human, and humans didn't use magic? Yet clearly some did... and that wasn't even counting all the devices that might as well have been magical, as far as Rarity was concerned.

Who knew one strange little gem could cause so many problems? They'd taken it from her after it'd brought her straight into a lab for study, but... If she ever found it again, she was definitely going to let Spike eat it. As soon as she got home. And by Celestia, she was going to get home!

...Will Rarity ever find her way home? Is the gem that brought her to Earth the key, and is there more to the factions maneuvering around her appearance?

To complicate matters, this is an Earth recovering from its first alien invasion (Rarity being technically the second, then). ...Or does that actually explain things? No, no it doesn't. But it will.

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To go with the Teen rating (or rather to explain it) there is light profanity and violence. I don't believe either are at a level where the warning tags are needed, but I'll mention it at least.
There may be some darker, more explicit moments in flashbacks, but I'll save those for Interludes.

~Completely Re-edited as of 06/13/2021~

I was once a woman in her twilight, my children both old and fresh.

Now I am the child.

I was once a mother and a wife, my family held importance above even my own well-being in my heart.

Now I am orphaned.

I was once a respected human being, a woman to treat as an equal.

Now I am simply an assistant.

I was once happy.

Now...

... Now I am Barbara The Dragoness.

Barbara the assistant.

Barbara the child.

Barbara the widow.

Barbara...

The Lost Soul.

This is the story of my second childhood, and how I found the strength to keep moving forward.

Nightmare has it all. Everything she worked for is now hers. Equestria? Check. Eternal night? Double-check. But there's always a price to pay. For Nightmare Moon? It's the two voices in her head. But the solution may lie in the kitchen.

Featured 9/16/2021

John is alone on this world and has not seen a single soul in a long time. His only companions have been the ghosts only he can hear. Driven by guilt, he goes from town to town, searching and doing the only thing he can do:

Give the dead their final rest.

Discord once gave him a gift. It was given in grief. John has yet to understand what this gift means. He has lost track of time and madness and sanity wage a constant war in his mind.

For John, the greatest terror in his heart is facing the Goddesses.

He's about to meet one of them.

This is honestly just a random drabble that has nothing to do with my other work.

It was just something that helped ease my writers block, but then turned into a short two thousand word story.

The Goddess Of Shadows.

Who is she truly?

Even she doesn't really know...but at the same time it doesn't really matter anymore.

Names rarely do to one as old as she.

So come, come take a seat and listen as the Goddess herself bestows upon you the story of her, her Human friend turned mate and the love that spanned many a world.

Try not to take this too seriously. It's just a little bit of fun that my fans convinced me to upload after doing so on Fanfiction.

Enjoy. Love you all :)

I got dragged to Equestria by pure accident due to an experiment gone 'wrong', roughly forty years before Nightmare Moons' arrival.
No matter what I do, as a pony-changeling hybrid, something will change with Equestria. I just hope I don't doom the country before Nightmare Moon even arrives... Or worse.

This is the first story I ever tried to write professionally, so there WILL be errors, for that, I apologize in advance.
I'm editing and proofreading it on my own because I literally suck when it comes to using this site competently.
Lastly, I am a slow writer due to IRL getting in the way but I will try my hardest to settle the story down whether it's popular or not.

Fair warning, there may be spoilers in the comments.

Thank you to Little Tigress for the fantastic cover art.

Sunset flees Equestria through a magic mirror, but not before altering the spell matrix in charge of determining the destination coordinates.

Now a new world lies before her, brimming with potential.

And danger.

This was an experimental project written to test a few new writing approaches and specific setups. See the opening author's note for more. Not related to any of my other works, though technically in the same setting.

Light editing passes only, as this was experimental (again, see note). But hey, if you like what you see, check my other stuff. It's more polished.

Crossover with Gears of War.
Updates daily until complete. Merry Christmas folks!

After 989 years on the moon, Nightmare Moon is eagerly awaiting her return to Equestria, take down her sister, and claim what should rightfully be hers.

However, one can only brood and plan for so long before things grow... stagnant.

And then, something catches her eye, coming towards her moon's surface at an alarming speed. Maybe this, whatever it is, will prove to aid her in her plans.

[Sex] tag for implications, nothing explicit (obviously it's rated T guys yeesh).

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Story was written for Jinglemas 2021 as a gift for PeerImagination. They wanted a Nightmare Moon and Human romance, and I hope I did good by ya! Apologies for the story length, but it got waaaay out of hand on me and I have a disease where if I'm writing something I'm liking then I tend to do more than I should.

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Cover art by Aquaticvibes, used without permission so if there are any issues feel free to yell at me.

Pre-read and edited by the wonderful Pascoite who helped a ton with the olden speech, and Fregz for putting up with the initial storyboarding that went out of control.

Top of the Box of Shame (M on) 12/26/2021, 12/27/2021 (Oh no not this shit again), 12/28/2021 (The third day), 12/29/2021 (YOU'RE KILLING ME, SMALLS!)