This story is a sequel to Lines and Webs

For four long years, Celestia's apprentice Twilight Sparkle, once a model pony and a hero among heroes, has waged a bitter and secret struggle with her onetime mentor. Though she works from the shadows, directing her forces from the Old Capitol in the Everfree Forest, Twilight Sparkle is unable to gain any advantage,

Likewise, Princess Celestia finds her once-faithful student far more cunning and elusive than she had anticipated, and even now searches for a way to bring Twilight Sparkle's rebellion to its knees.

It is a game of greys, of knives in the dark and of poisoned wine, where pawns are moved and traded and exchanged for greater advantage, all the while drawing both sides nearer to the conflict which shall tear Equestria in two.

At the center of this conflict is a new pawn, one who only wished to see the truth for herself. Drawn into a deadly game whose rules she does not understand, Sweetie Belle must learn to survive in a world where all is darkened, and nopony can be completely trusted.

Because when gods play chess, all pieces are expendable.

A nation will crumble, old enemies shall return in the most unexpected ways, and regardless of who is victorious, only one thing can be certain.

Nothing shall ever be the same.

Followed by Stormsinger.

Darkness holds dominion over the world. Cinders of Sun and Moon gathered from a long-forgotten catastrophe are all that remain to shelter the village from the consuming void. But their power wanes. Lanterns of Sun and Moon held close against his chest, a stallion takes up the mantle of light bearer and forges into the abyss to return light to a world that has all but forgotten it.

Beyond the safety of the village gates, he will meet a voice of shadows and starlight, and many are the revelations it has of the world he thought he knew so well.

7/10/19 update: This story has been completely remastered to meet my 2019 writing standards! Enjoy!
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[Cover art by Ventious]

Warning: The following story contains M/M shipping. If you don't like it, you know where the exit button is.

Also the picture is a real painting that I did several months ago.

On the way home from a stressful day for dinner on a rainy night, Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis were riding in a cab when suddenly as they were passing the poorer part of Canterlot, someone threw a painting out of frustration into a garbage can below. Curious, the unicorn got out of the cab and pulled it out of the rain to find an painting done with impressive skill. As time goes by, his curiosity about the artist who paint it lead him to a stallion down on both himself and his luck by the name of Acrylic Brush.

A huge thank you to Isk for helping me proofread this story. And to Milo Chalks for finishing the last remaining chapters.