After several bloody years of war, we are about to defeat King Sombra. I almost wish we would have lost.

This is your typical, stereotypical HIE story exposing all the HIE stereotypes, but like, compressed and crammed into one short chapter, making the pacing extremely awkward and fast. Yeah that's pretty much it.

*Disclaimer, I don't hate HIE stories, I actually love them. Don't sue me. Also, I'm so sorry for this.*

Big thanks to Flutterpriest for the narration! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z_Tb9JOfjQ!

This got featured on 9-26-2016... Why? I have no clue, but thanks!

After finishing her portion of the day's harvest in record time, Applejack heads home early to check on how Apple Bloom's doing alone in their house. What she discovers once she gets there shocks her right to her core, and what happens afterwards changes the way she sees her little sister forever.

First runner-up in Obselescence's The Most Dangerous Game contest, using the prompt "An OC and a major canon character (in this case, Apple Bloom) fall in love with each other."

It's a rainy day in Ponyville, and Button Mash is spending it like he spends any other day - gaming. But Babs Seed needs a place to crash while she waits out the rainstorm, and his basement is as warm as anywhere. In the process of making herself at home, Babs gets cozy - much to Button's discomfort.

At first, Chrysalis loathed him; the dumb-as-a-brick woodspony who goes by the name of Evergreen. But through circumstance, he is her only savior. And slowly, she comes to love the simple pony and his way of life. But her life as a changeling keeps holding her back. Will there be a happily ever after for them? Or are they doomed for failure?

*Comments contain massive spoilers!*

Check out the Sequel, Antecedent! http://www.fimfiction.net/story/25117/Antecedent

Cover art by Ink-Flow!

Edited version helped along by Fernin and Burraku_Pansa.

Twilight is a princess. She is unassailable, indomitable, and above all, she is Good. This is what other ponies see, and this is the image that Twilight herself strives to live up to. She is kind when and where she can be, she is wise to the extent she is capable. And, by some miracle, the image and the reality line up more often than not.

And then, quite by accident, Twilight happens upon some disturbing news from a long-buried part of her life that destroys all of it.

For the first time, I'd like to give a gentle warning that this story involves a sensitive topic Sexual abuse. If you're bothered by this, I urge you not to read it. If you are effected by it, I urge you to seek the help and the compassion of others.

An alternative to HiE stories. Midnight, a 14th century knight's steed and veteran of numerous battles during the hundred years war, faces her demise during one such engagement only to find that fate has other plans in store; including a chance to start anew in another world. But can a mare who knows nothing but conflict adapt to a land ruled by peaceful pastel-coloured ponies, or will it prove too much?

Warning: contains brief scenes of descriptive violence; especially in earlier chapters. Not enough to warrant an M rating, I think, but hopefully the mods will let me know if I'm wrong.

(Cross-posted from my Fanfiction.net account)

Daring Do is on a quest to recover the Ruby of Raksamakesh! As always, she's prepared for every situation she could think of as she approaches the labyrinth where it is located. That doesn't help when she comes up across something she couldn't have expected; a monster who's...slightly more inept than what she's used to.

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]

The surface isn't safe anymore.

In the ruined depths of Canterlot, a team of brave salvagers discover six mares, long forgotten but miraculously preserved. Though these mares cannot remember what happened to their world, they possess powerful magic that hasn't been seen for centuries.

Now the Elements of Harmony are thrust headlong into a world beyond recognition. Twilight and her friends must dive into the sunken remains of history to determine what happened, but Equestria isn't the harmonious land it once was. Before they can focus wholly on the past, they may first have to survive the present.

It isn't going to be easy.

Audiobook by Skijarama!
Original Soundtrack by Noc!

Special thanks to Doccular42 for the original concept, and M1ntf4n for editing!

Join the Empty Horizons Discord!

Big thanks to dA artist fantazyme and reader jeffh4 for making this fantastic rendition of Rarity at Mr. Rich's party!

On the fence of whether to read? Check out the Rage Review or hear PaulAsaran's thoughts!