Often, when considering history, it is easy to dissolve it into merely dry facts and dates. Sometimes, however, the actual events, never written down, have a weight all their own.

--A collection of side stories to A Brief History of Equestria that would not fit the scope of the in-universe book.--

Now completed! (Comments may contain unmarked spoilers.)

A decade after Princess Celestia dies and names Twilight Sparkle her successor, Equestria splits along racial and partisan lines. Equestria's cities have declared independence and are at war.

The conflict engulfs Ponyville. Teenage Pound and Pumpkin Cake team up, using their talents of flight and magic to protect their loved ones. But the twins later join polar opposite factions of the war, and now their rivalry risks plunging all of Equestria into ruin...

The story complies with season 1-3 canon, but differs from the comics and season 4 onward.

This story is a sequel to King Sombra's Rise and Fall

An eon ago when King Sombra overtook the Crystal Empire with powerful magic, Princess Celestia feared that a malicious unicorn might threaten Equestria, too. Thus, she passed laws with the secret intention of preventing unicorn threats to the kingdom. She locked many powerful spells in the Canterlot Archives, took over magical education, and prohibited unicorns from raising the sun as they once did. Prince Blueblood discovers this and leads a revolt to establish a unicorns-only kingdom.

Proofread and edited by SpaceCommie. This story now has a sequel, Brother Against Sister. Part of the Unicornverse.

Bright Blade was happy, sure he may have no memories of his past before coming to Ponyville, but he was happy living with the mare who took him in and making many friends in the town he now called home. Unitl one day all that came crashing down. Now Bright Blade must use his mysterious powers to fight for his home and friends. Against a demonic army of ponies and against all odds, but with the Elements of Harmony at his side there's nothing any them can't handle. But all is not well as Twilight has doubts about her young ward, which may be due to the fact that she has no memory of even meeting or knowing Bright Blade. What could this mean?

It is a tale of war...
A tale of love and heartache...
Of sorrow and despair...
Of death and rebirth...!
This is War in Equestira: The Tale of Bright Blade

Inspired by the song This is War by 30 Seconds to Mars

Link to the Sequel!

(Many thanks to Delta93 for proofreading!)

(Battle scenes at Chapter 16 and Chapter 17, that's where the 'Gore' tag comes in, just in case.)

In retaliation for the attack on Canterlot, Princess Celestia leads a crusade against the Changeling Horde. The Elements of Harmony fight bravely in the campaign, and are rewarded with landed titles in the newly-conquered Duchy of the Outer Lands.

Friendship is magic, but will it prevail against the cold, hard reasons of state?

Tagged as 'Alternate Universe' because of divergence following Season 2's ending. But if possible, I will try not to go too far off track. The story will probably have a more medieval atmosphere than canon.

Rated 'Teen' just in case.

While the story will contain all of the Main Six, interactions between Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Twilight will (if according to plan) drive most of the plot. Thus the tags.

Other characters from MLP:FiM might be mentioned in the story, and they will deviate (a lot) from 'acceptable' canon. List so far: Princess Celestia, Spike, Applebloom, Big Mac, Granny Smith, Angel, Twilight's parents, Cadence, Shining Armor, Rainbow Dash's parents, Discord, Luna, Lightning Dust, Pinkie Pie's parents, Octavia, Pinkie Pie's sister (Inky), Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo.

Inspiration from the strategy game "Crusader Kings II", the novel, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and a metric ton of Chinese historical dramas.

While doing some cleaning in the library's basement, Twilight comes across an old, long forgotten board game. Deciding that it looks like fun, she invites her friends over for the night to give it a try. Unfortunately, this particular game might prove to be more of a challenge to the Elements of Harmony than anything they've faced before. For you see, in Diplomacy, the number one rule is: Never play this game with friends, or you may need to find new friends...

This has a sister-story named Games Ponies Shouldn't Play, which features the Lunaverse six instead. It isn't going to be the same story with swapped names; each group has different personalities so both games will be very different. I just couldn't decide which group of six would be more interesting, so I wrote both. I must hate free time...

And featured 1/29/15.... ten minutes after I updated with a new chapter....... Why don't I update this story very often again? Gonna have to fix that...

Fancy Pants is euphoric. After a long decade in Canterlot, he has finally achieved the support of the masses and has risen to become a Minister of the Democratic Empire of Equestria. He figures that, with his new-found power, he can change the nation for the better.

Unfortunately, there's one obstacle before him. It is known as the Civil Service.

He's going to have a tough time.

Crossover with Yes Minister and its novelisation, by Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay.

Featured on Twilight's Library 25/3 - 9/4

Mayor Mare, newly-minted Mayor of Ponyville, has big dreams and big plans for her hometown. Now all she needs to do is to navigate the entrenched interests, bureaucratic resistance and political pitfalls that stand in her way. And to top things off, on her first day the Mayor finds out that Princess Celestia is sending her prize student over...

Overarching Themes:
Season 1: Land Reform
Season 2: Democracy
Season 3: Reconciliation

A series of stories, corresponding with every MLP episode (if all goes well), from the view of the bureaucrats at Town Hall. Will try and stay true to canon. (EDIT: With 2 semi-exceptions: 1) Cheerilee is Mayor Mare's daughter, and 2) Princess Celestia is much more uptight when negotiating with officials.)

Inspiration from daily life, the UK series 'Yes, Prime Minister', and to the 'Letters from a Disgruntled Friendship Student' fanfic series by milesprower06.

For many years, citizens of Equestria have lived in peace and happiness, protected by the princesses and the bearers of Elements of Harmony; but soon, everything will change. This time there are no villains or unspeakable dangers; there's just war, hate, and ponies giving and taking lives. From the streets of Detrot to the Royal Palace in Canterlot, each pony will rise up against his fellow pony, and one of them will not rise up to see another day.

Also has a spin-off, called The Nest

Warning: Beware of spoilers in the comments! The story contains swearing and gore.

Now with a TVTropes page!

Credits:
Preread by TheSheepMaster, guy12389 and The11thWonder
Proofread by Vrilix and Tired Old Man.
Edited by Xephos and Time Paradox
Cover image by vovab. Used with permission.

Edit 4.03.2014: New version of the first chapter, fixed pacing and OOCness.

=====Originally Written February 2012===== EQD Post=====
After overwhelming Ponyville's mayor, the main six must fill in as she takes a much needed vacation. Yet, only one pony can take the title of mayor at one time. Which of our favorite ponies will be the first substitute mayor? How long will she be able to last before passing the job to somepony else? And in the end, will Ponyville survive long enough for its real mayor to return?

This story was written as a prize commission for the Smile Album Charity Event. The original prize was one by Stormy Seas and he provided the original premise for this story. He always wanted a story that could be shared and enjoyed by everyone, so be sure to thank him if you know him.