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]

Apple Bloom's parents died years ago in an accident, when she was only a baby. That's what Applejack and Big Macintosh have always told her, and even though they must have suffered a great deal they still managed to raise her properly and give her all the love her parents couldn't.

But her brother and sister have been hiding a secret, through shame, ever since their parents' deaths, and now the time has finally come to tell Apple Bloom who she really is. But how will the youngest Apple react to what really happened? Can their family bonds survive the truth?

(Credit to the author known as Somber, who wrote the fantastic "Simply Rarity", for the inspiration for some minor details about Sweetie Belle's family history.)

The Great and Humble Trixie Lulamoon's reputation could not possibly be any worse, but that is about to change.

Following the disaster with the Alicorn Amulet, Trixie turns herself in to the authorities to account for her crimes. In penance, she is tasked by Princess Luna with the defense of Hollow Shades against a shadowy and unknown foe.

Trixie will have to draw upon every trick and every scheme she knows just to survive. And when faced with a fate worse than Death, she will have to prove there is more to her than flash and spectacle, and learn just how far her magic can go.

And learn how to Rise.

A Side-Story of The Code's Apprentice and The Code of Harmony
Many, many, Many thanks to Hooves McCoy
and The Cacophonous Muse for their aid in editing this story.

On a dark night filled with even darker magics, an insane cult attempts to give Nightmare Moon a body and life of her own, utterly separate from Princess Luna. But, when the spell is interrupted by Celestia, something unexpected is created.

Now, a little black alicorn filly named Nyx finds herself living under the care of Twilight Sparkle, only to be haunted by memories and emotions from her past. Is she Nightmare Moon reborn or is she simply a doppelganger with a soul and mind of her own? Can Twilight Sparkle protect Nyx from those who refuse to see past her dragon eyes and black coat?

Or, will Nyx be forced to inherit the sins that may not even be hers and become the greatest evil Equestria has ever known?

For a thousand years, the Code of Harmony has ruled Equestria, and the Code of Dissonance has sabotaged its works at every turn. Now the war for control over the land will come to a head, and one unicorn's decision may decide the fate of all.

For though she does not know it, Twilight Sparkle is the shining example of the Code of Harmony. Her teacher, Princess Celestia is Harmony's most powerful master and she knows her enemies are hatching a plan that threatens to cast down the Harmony of her throne and all she has sacrificed to create.

What she does not know is her foe seeks a new Apprentice to turn to his dark ways. A unicorn with seemingly limitless potential for magic, whose thirst for knowledge may yet lead her down a dark path, who is known to be such a faithful student of magic, eagerly seeking the truth no matter how forbidden it might be...

Sequel: Code of Harmony

This story is a sequel to The Code's Apprentice

Sequel To : The Code's Apprentice

The land of Equestria has been changed forever.

New monarchs sit upon the thrones of the Sun and Moon, the once almighty power of Harmony overturned to make way for a new Diarchy of Balance. Political unrest and turmoil have engulfed the land, and at the very center of it all, Princess Celestia - renamed Tia Sunbeam - seeks atonement for the crimes she committed in the name of Eternal Harmony.

With much of her power sealed away, Tia must live amidst the citizens of Ponyville as the world changes all around them. As Ponyville works to rebuild following the struggle between student and teacher, they must cope with the edicts of a new government determined to bring equality to all creatures, beliefs, and ways of life - even those that were long since banished to the dark places of the world.

Tia Sunbeam will struggle with her own deeply held convictions on the way the world should be, versus the way it will now become. She will face a truth she has long since denied, and realize the true meaning of Harmony. And perhaps, most importantly of all... She must make some Friends.

Cover art by SinSays at http://sinsays.tumblr.com/ - Go spend some money with her! :D
Oh, and go check out my new side story - Rise - It's going to become relevant here!
(character tags are not comprehensive! Some are being kept secret! ;3)