Starlight used to collect scrolls. Old scrolls. Scrolls that taught you magic. When her father has her old stuff delivered to Twilight's castle, she discovers a particular scroll. One that transports you to a different dimension.

Equestria has fallen, and the remnants of its government have escaped to New Mareland with the Equestrian Royal Navy. The two most important remnants are, of course, together, and will have to remain so for both their sakes.

Important: this takes place in the Equestria At War universe. Equestria At War is a mod for the grand strategy game Hearts of Iron IV, be sure to check out their Discord and Reddit if you're not familiar with it. They also have a group on this site: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212917/equestria-at-war

Rated Teen for sadness and the consequences of war, including trauma.

Cover art: https://derpibooru.org/images/1137666?sort[]=99&sort[]=1137666&sd=desc&sf=faves&q=celestia%2C+flurry+heart

Thanks for getting this featured!

It is Canterlot, 1015 ALB, roughly one-and-a-half years after the end of the Great War. On a sunny afternoon, two conversations take place at the same time.

Written in 80 minutes as a challenge to myself. Enjoy.

Important: this takes place in the Equestria At War universe. Equestria At War is a mod for the grand strategy game Hearts of Iron IV, be sure to check out their Discord and Reddit if you're not familiar with it. They also have a group on this site: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212917/equestria-at-war

Covert art is cropped from this: https://www.deviantart.com/viwrastupr/art/Cutie-Mark-Crusaders-661798537

The following story takes place in the Equestria at War universe.

For some, the memory of the Great War against the Changelings was just that; a distant memory. But nopony can deny that, despite a victory, the repurcussions that followed have resulted in a dark time in the worlds history. God-Empress Daybreaker now rules across the Equestrian continent with an iron hoof, and has ruled uncontested for over two decades.

Even her protégé, Sunrise Sparkle, is starting to doubt her superiors' decisions. But given that nopony ever questions the God-Empress and lives to tell the tale, she simply kept her thoughts to herself. That is until a certain thought to be dead Princess of the Night visits her in a dream...

Cover art by Neither
Full size here

Searching for any records King Sombra may have left behind, Twilight learned of the shadowy king's tragic past. However, she also discovered his horn, in which his mind and remaining power were contained. Determined to learn how to use his Dark Magic for Good, Twilight brought Sombra back to Ponyville with her. After all, what could he possibly do as a horn? ...Or will he stay that way?

Edited by Darth Vendar and Myrkur
Inspired by Issue #1 of FIENDship is Magic
Gore tag just to be safe.

Edit 06/15/23: Now in the top 2K stories on the site, by rating! Thank you all!

Afer being hit by the Elements of Harmony, Sunset Shimmer finally understood just how evil she had been, and wishes for nothing more than to make up for it, and seek out forgiveness as Twilight told her.

The next morning she wakes up a week before she went through the portal to steal the crown, 10 days before the Fall Formal, and decides to try and right some wrongs she has committed among CHS before she leaves for Equestria.

When a filly version of herself appears in the middle of the library, Twilight must figure out what happened. She must figure out what it means. But most importantly? She has to comfort the last person she thought she would ever have to.

Herself.

All while dealing with her own shattering reality.

Credit to Kaitou for the coverart!
Thank you Blankscape for massive amounts of help writing it.

And, of course, the person who has been waiting a long time for this story.
Happy birthday Foals! Thanks for sticking with me for so long!

After the Friendship Games, Sunset feels it's time to return home.

Only when she gets there, Twilight's castle is nowhere to be found, Cadance just got her horn, and Princess Celestia is still calling the bacon-haired pony her prized student rather than a failed one. And just reliving her past isn't on the table thanks to a pair of wings Sunset seems to have sprouted upon her return to Equestria.

With Sunset being back before she's supposed to, will the world stay as harmonious and on track, or will everything go down in flames as Sunset has to deal with allegations that she's really a changeling in disguise, a nerdy stallion with blue hair that wants to be her coltfriend, a pretty pink princess in need of remedial magic lessons, and an annoying purple pre-teen pony that will absolutely not go to bed without first being read Starswirl's Complete Mystical Mysteries Compendium?

Only time will tell

What happens when the entirety of Equestria, if not the fate of the whole world, relies on the shoulders of just 6 heroes and their companions? Did anyone dare to question what would happen to the future if those heroes can no longer bear the burden one day, and those believed vanquished rise again?

Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer & Spike have witnessed the outcome of such dependency; a future without the bearers of the elements. Chaos, darkness, conflict, fear, anguish, sorrow and ruin. And their only response to that was acceptance, rehabilitating Starlight Glimmer to be part of their ranks so perhaps she could make a crucial difference.

But there are many more events aside from time manipulation that can cause such dark times. The heroes triumphed over many fiends and challenges that brought everybody to the brink of doom. Even those they reformed narrowly managed to save their land from rule through fear and intimidation by the former changeling queen's hooves.

Ultimately, it does not change that time could be running out for them and this world at any minute. There might be no future in anything they believe to have accomplished while everyone else spectated powerlessly. False hope sown by narrow minds only reaps exasperation after all. But all inhabitants of this world deserve something else, something nobody could never achieve on their own.

A future of lasting harmony.

It has been several years since Chrysalis’ defeat during the Canterlot invasion. Since then, the fortunes of her changelings and kingdom have rapidly declined. With mass starvation, ponies capturing more of her spies and love collectors every day, and her own powers diminished to the point of being a complete non-threat to her enemies, she fears that it may soon be over for both herself and her entire race.

As Chrysalis reminisces about past failures, a pony named Time Keeper crashes a large metal box into her bedchambers. He claims to not only be a time traveller but also to have accidentally killed Twilight Sparkle on the day she was supposed to go to Ponyville to defeat Nightmare Moon.

In an effort to avoid the prospect of the universe tearing itself apart at the seams from the ensuing paradox, Chrysalis agrees to go back in time and live out a facsimile of Twilight’s life herself, and if time allows, she'll work on her own little project: shaping the future more to her own liking.