Diplomacy has failed. Six years have passed Equestria's crowning of the princess of friendship, ushering in a supposed unprecedented age of peace and harmony. The concept of warfare is, to most ponies, nothing more than an unfathomable legend. They have let their guard down.

An unknown enemy has seized the opportunity to attack Equestria with terrifying new weapons of war, bent on taking the fertile land and restoring an ancient order. The valiant efforts of the Royal Guard have given Princess Twilight and her arcane scientists time to research and develop a response to their attackers, and the time has come for that response to be implemented. Utilizing weapons and tactics borrowed from another world, five squads under the command of Princess Luna will infiltrate the forests of the Equestrian Northwest to destroy a revolutionary magical matrix that Twilight refers to as the "radio" - a tool that allows enemy ponies to communicate across vast distances instantly.

Nightmare Two is comprised of three foalhood friends who, rather than be separated from each other in the draft, volunteer to become one of the five Nightmare squads. With their bodies forever altered to suit the needs of their mission, the three young mares join legions of ponies armed with powerful weapons to partake in a horrifying new breed of warfare - Equestria's first in over one thousand years.

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Heads up, folks. If you wouldn't mind leaving a comment alongside the thumbs-down, I'd appreciate it. This is my first foray into fan fiction and although it's a hobby I nonetheless wish to get better. :)

Got some FAQ's for you guys as well!

- Alternate universe in which the events of "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" did not occur. (As much as I loved it! :D)

- Numerical age tends to vary with headcanon, but the CMC here were just getting started with their adult lives when the draft went into effect.

- The war is pony v. pony, utilizing firearms and the Equestrian equivalent of a tank. The underlying headcanon is that ponies used firearms similar to muskets and tracked armored vehicles akin to our tanks in times of old, and what the enemy currently employs is essentially the natural progression of these technologies.

- There are no real-world weapons or equipment i.e. "Panzer IV," or "M16 assault rifle." Particularly acute details such as the caliber of weapons are also absent.

- Technology is based on that of WWI with some WWII elements. Firearms are primarily bolt-action.

- The "radio" spell matrix functions as what we know to be a radio, but is not identical.

- All four of a Night Mare's legs are permanently replaced by the augments.

- Night Mares are female. Stallions proved unable to properly animate the limbs.

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Hold up, now - fanart? You guys rock. Like, for real. Thanks a lot!

1. A great YouTube video coming from The_Pegasus_Box. Thanks, bud!
Check it out!

2. Click here for the collection on DArt.

3. https://derpibooru.org/740375?scope=scpeac921b191f688d04521575f31608785cbc3bbaa1
[img]https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/10/10/740375__safe_anthro_apple+bloom_gun_artist-colon-pusspuss_night+mares.png[/img]

Fluttershy knows it is her honor, her destiny, to have been born into the Lunar Guard. She knows it with all her heart. But sometimes, when she can get away from her drills and be alone with her animals, she is beset by doubt. Sometimes, as she straps on her armor and raises her spear, she wonders why there is so much disharmony in the world.

Sometimes she feels like Equestria is missing a little kindness.

Equestria Daily

Thanks to Rex Ivan, docontra, Reese, and JackRipper for helping to make it readable.
Cover art done by Conicer.

Twilight Sparkle has always admired Princess Celestia. Her fortitude, her wisdom, her eternal grace and love for all her subjects. Twilight has often fantasized about what it would be like to be in Princess Celestia's horseshoes. She never imagined those fantasies would come true.

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Events take place a short time after the Crystal Empire's return (early S3).
Proofreading from chapter three-onward provided by Daemon of Decay.
Cover image used with permission from TexasUberAlles, thanks!
Inspiration for Sunny Skies from PhantomFox.

Luna has had enough of Celestia's games, and has found the perfect means of revenge. Using a long-forbidden spell, she transforms her sister into little more than a small filly, all so she could pull the greatest prank ever. Unfortunately, she soon learns that before you fool around with dangerous magic, you really need to read the fine print...

A sequel can be found here.

Luna discovers something hidden from Celestia for twenty years, now, with emotions running high, she enlists the help of the Mane 6... but what seemed to be a single mystery, soon reveals a darker and much more complicated plot that will soon decide the fate of Equestria.

Check out the Empty Room TV Tropes Page (Warning: Spoilers!)

Revised chapters edits and proofing (with many thanks) by: lammy, Trevor, Nick Nack, Fifth Alicorn

Ponies get older over time. They slow down. This is a part of life. But Rarity, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie can keep pursuing their dreams as they get older. Rainbow Dash can't. This is her last chance to be a Wonderbolt, and despite working her tail off, she's not getting any better. In fact, she's getting slower. She just wants things to be fair. She wants one last chance to achieve her dream.

She wants to be faster.

This is what happens when she gets her wish.

A three part story.

Featured 10/7-10/9/13. Posted to Equestria Daily on 5/2/14.

Now with a sequel.
MEDALS AND RIBBONS:

This story is part of Twilight's Library because of Skeeter the Lurker.

Twilight's Library Ribbon

And

It also won Skeeter the Lurker's medal.

Skeeter the Lurker's medal

Entry for the Writer's Group Contest & the Rainbow Dash Contest.

Winner, 2nd place, Rainbow Dash Contest.

Voted in by Twenty Great Stories on 11/3/13.

Voted in by The Royal Guard, March 2014

Edited by: SpaceCommie, Cola Bubble Gum

Artwork by: 2135D

An earlier draft of this cover art was featured on EQD.

All Fluttershy needs is a little bit of help, and everything will be fine. She can always count on her friends to help her in her time of need. They're such good friends. But... where are they?

Fan Art by Madness-With-Reason (Spoilers!)

A special thanks to Breath of Plagues, Cola Bubble Gum, Death the Kid, and Jaestring.

Night and day. Fire and ice. Creation and destruction. Everything has an opposite, and Chaos is no exception. Princess Celestia tells Twilight the true history of Discord's rise, the Alicorns' fall, and the creation of the Elements of Harmony.

She tells her student the story of Order and Chaos.

Princess Luna faces a philosophical quandary that challenges the very concept of Equestria's cuboid storage devices.

Fluttershy loves animals. Her special talent is taking care of them, after all. However, there is a darker side that her friends rarely see. Ever so often, a creature under her care suffers and not even she can fix it. She has grown accustomed to doing what needs to be done in those situations.

Perhaps a little too accustomed. When a tragedy hits close to home for her, she realizes that there are others out there suffering, and she can help them.

She is the Element of Kindness after all.

Cover art by the awesome xXKatrynaXx