Some lessons are too big for one letter. Others are so important that they need to be shared with ponies everywhere. When these two come together, Twilight Sparkle tries something new.

She writes a book.

Everypony remembers exactly what they were doing when they first found out about the griffin invasion. Many saw it as a growing shadow that threatened to overtake all of Equestria. To those in the towns and cities that would become the front lines, it was a terror made real. With Canterlot in flames and Princess Celestia injured, many wondered how anypony could make everything right again. I was among them.

But we did it. Together.

These are my experiences and lessons learned during The Great Griffin Invasion, and it’s not just my story. War is a dark affair, but we can always learn something from the worst of times. In fact, we have to. The lessons are too costly to let them go to waste. And maybe, with a little help from this book, we won’t ever forget.

-Princess Twilight Sparkle

(Valor is Magic is a story of war and values set between seasons two and three of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. As of the end of season three, the events of this story do not justify an AU tag.)

Dusky isn't looking for trouble. All she wants is a job, a place to call her own, and a quiet life.

But when Diamond Dogs kidnap four foals, it's up to Dusky—formerly Major Dusk Fireball, Household Battalion, Equestrian Royal Guard—to lead the citizen-soldier reservists of the Ponyville Home Guard into the Dogs' caves in a desperate rescue mission.

Feature box, 2019-08-10 to 16! Thanks, all!

Cover art by commission with Pillowrabbit (Deviant Art / Fimfic ). Thanks!

Follows my "A Story to Relate to," but can be read fully independently.

Side-story: Redheart's War

Additional character tags for searching: Sweetie Belle, Flitter, Cloudchaser, Sparkler, Dinky Hooves, DJ P0N-3, Octavia, Princess Luna, Starlight Glimmer, Davenport, Bon-Bon, Toola Roola, Coconut Cream, Rainbow Dash, Mayor Mare.

On July 3, 1943, Equestria declared war on the Axis Powers.

These are the stories of those times.

(Contains historical events, including warfare and atrocity, depicted in what I hope to be a genuine, accurate manner. For more explanation, please see the foreword.)

On a beautiful day in Ponyville, the Mane Six are enjoying each others company at a lovely little picnic in the park. Before long, Rainbow Dash suggests a friendly game of Hoofball, which, through a little forceful persuation, they are all willing to take part in. But when a rather crude bet comes into play, suddenly it's no longer "just a friendly game." On top of that, everypony has something to prove:

Rainbow Dash and Applejack have their usual rivalry going.
Twilght is determined to prove that eggheads can ball too.
Rarity is hungry for revenge against a certain rainbow-maned pegasus who forced her to join the game.
Fluttershy desperately wants to help her team as best she can, despite her obvious lack of skill.
And Pinkie Pie... well, Pinkie Pie just loves having fun.

Who will come out on top? Will Spike lose his mind trying to ref the game fairly, particularly with the players harpin' on him for every call he makes? And does the entire town of Ponyville really have nothing better to do than to gather 'round and watch the meaningless game?

The point of this story: there is none. I just really wanted to see the Mane Six do this. For the love of God, do not take this seriously.

I don't own MLP: FIM. I'm not profiting from this fic in any way.

This story is a sequel to Armor's Game

Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.

Canterlot has fallen. The Element Bearers have fled Ponyville. And now civil war ravages Equestria as the traitor and usurper Blueblood seeks to conquer the rest of the realm. Standing against him is a scattered army with divided loyalties and uncertain leaders. Yet even as the ponies' armies are arrayed against each other, in the black north beyond the Crystal Empire, savages and demons and worse are poised to invade Equestria, and few soldiers can be sent to confront it.

The war for Equestria rages, but if the Crystal Empire falls, nopony will live to claim it.

Map

As Twilight deals with life as the head of a nation and the responsibility that comes with it , she must also deal with her secret relationship with a certain moon goddess. As they face various issues from the get go. Including intense media and public scrutiny, a commitment to her friends and family, the complexities of the Equestrian political system and Luna's struggle to find peace with herself and her faults.

With a political crisis brewing on the horizon, Twilight must come to terms with her position quickly while also coming facing a daunting task in the form of reconciling Luna and Celestia's damaged sisterly relationship. In the end she'll learn that being royalty isn't all what it is cut out to be.

I highly recommend reading the first story. It's not completely necessary but it will be easier to follow the plot.

Sequel to Learning curve

My second attempt at romance with Twilight and Luna. Starts off as fluff in the begining but develops a political side story as the chapters go by. The story mainly focuses on Twilight and Luna and the issues they deal with after Season 3. Written before season 4 so it may not conform fully to canon. May fix this in a later rewrite. Criticism is once again welcomed.

War is ruin, predicted and then remembered as glory.

The Changelings and their vengeance-mad Queen grow ravenous in the south. Nations all around gaze hungrily at Equestria. In the north, beyond the Crystal Mountains, an unfathomable menace sends even the fiercest Diamond Dog packs fleeing before it. In Canterlot, a capricious Prince lusts for absolute power.

Against it all, Equestria stands toothless. Fearful for his country and thirsty for vengeance against Queen Chrysalis, Shining Armor desperately tries to convince Princess Celestia of the need for an Equestrian Army. Yet even as plans are made to march against the Changelings, the means for his triumph may have been delivered into the hooves of Prince Blueblood, who will risk everything to seize the crown he deems rightfully his.

Map
Royal Equestrian Army order of battle

It is two years since the return of Princess Luna, and Ponyville has been hit with the latest in a rash of disappearances that have stopped and started over the course of about ten years. The police are baffled, as no traces of the ponies has ever shown up, but rumors of a serial killer have been floating around the station. However, when a pony appears in the police station covered in blood, they find out that the rumors have more than a little truth to them, and that the horror stories have only started.

Link to cover art.

The Equestrian Civil War finally reaches its peak, as the two armies of both sides converge in the small rural town of Ponyville. Here, the blood of friends shall be shed, as three days of awful fighting would test a nation that was once filled with friendship and harmony.

(Inspired by the actual battle of Gettysburg)

At a fair held in the town of Dappleshore, Twilight stumbles upon something from her family's past and is drawn to investigate. But will she succumb to its sinister influence, and can Trixie and Luna set their differences aside to help her?

The title and certain themes were inspired by the song Filistata by Stolen Babies. The plot is loosely based on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H. P. Lovecraft.

This story was updated and improved on June 27, 2013 along with the addition of a bonus chapter. The changes are not massive, but there are a few new details and scenes.

Also available on deviantArt. Featured on Equestria Daily