Mighty lords chart the course of their people, for better or worse, through good times and bad. Their decisions have ramifications that echo across continents and generations. It is in the light of those decisions that the stories of heroes are ultimately defined, whatever side of the lord's reign they may fall upon.
Books are written about those decisions and their consequences critiqued long after most of those lords are gone to dust. A few even consider the personal cost of those heavy choices.

Rose Meadow was the sort who would be all but forgotten by the relentless march of history, save perhaps as set decoration. She was a guard, a professional whose main job was to stand outside an office door and make sure documents weren't stolen and the occupant wasn't unduly interrupted. That said occupant happened to be a head of state didn't matter much, except perhaps so far as to give her a vague sense of pride in her work.
Yet for all their unimportance on the grand stage of history, a guard overhears much, especially when the office door isn't closed properly...

This is a short story set in the world of the acclaimed Hearts of Iron 4 mod, Equestria at War. It is the first entry in the Quenta Roccolië and has been reviewed by Clarke Otterton.
Rated teen for discussion of war and death.
Written for the Fourth Annual Equestria at War Writing Contest with the prompt "A normal being's point of view and life amidst global events."
Thanks to Clear Skies-Roan for betaing.

Cover image is a crop of 'Palace Hallway' by plainoasis

It has been many years since the war started...

Chrysalis and her armies rolled over our defenses, overwhelming our forces with sheer numbers. We fought a fighting retreat, always on the run from the swarm. We thought it would be over, that this would be the end of Equestria, and the end of Harmony...

But it was not so. We gathered our strength and held our ground, at last. Desperately our soldiers fought on and held the swarm off. Ponies took up arms to bolster our ranks or grabbed a tool to aid the war industry.

And now, after all these years, we remain in a stalemate. The Changelings adopted their own variant of total warfare. They launch raids on defensive positions at night, send bomber squadrons to destroy civilian centers all across Equestria and sink civilian cruisers out on the sea.

The war drags on, and my ponies grow tired of grieving the loss of their homes and loved ones. It is time for Equestria to commit to this war and leave behind our outdated principles of pacifism and harmony.

This war has brought upon us a new age. And with it, a new Equestria must rise!

This story takes place in the 'Equestria at War' universe. Further knowledge of this universe is not required, but it's good to know. Link to the official EaW group can be found here.

Four decades after the events of EaW, Silver Rose - granddaughter of the Equestrian business magnate Pea Shooter, is on a gap year trip around the world. In a Maregyptian store, she comes across an old orange flag with a familiar symbol on it. She does not know its story, but knows that her grandfather once gave her a beautiful scarf with that exact symbol on it.

She's thrilled, remembering how her grandfather never could quite remember where he got that scarf, and decides she has to find out more about it. And as luck would have it, a tribe of Imazeeb - the Ataghan - have recently made camp close to the city, and their elder Umalez is all too willing to tell the tales.

It was supposed to be so simple for Grim Fate. A necromancer from a far-away land, she offered her services to King Sombra and easily rose through the ranks of his forces owing to her magical skill. With legions of undead thralls under her command, she'd rule the world as one of Sombra's Legates. All that stood in the way was the Lunar Empire to the south.

Eleven months had passed since the Lunar-Crystal War began. After some initial victories in the first weeks, the war had been nothing but a slow, agonising retreat. Now the Lunars had the Crystal City itself surrounded, and for the last week what disorganised and depleted Crystal legions existed in the city could barely resist.

Now pinned down in the midst of the war's final battle, Grim must put in her all if she wants to escape Lunar justice. Sombra himself may not survive, but Grim won't give up without a fight.

Takes place in my New Lunar Millennium alternate universe. More information can be found here, but no prior knowledge of my AU beyond the general concept is required to read this story.

Proofread and edited by Ebonyglow and Izzy Incraft. Cover image by ModularPon.

Garibald Talonuel attends a ball in Griffenheim, against his better judgment. It doesn't go as badly as he feared.

Based on the Equestria at War mod.

Now translated to Polish here, thanks to ZSADfghjk.

This story is a sequel to Set Sun, Broken Heart

Celestia and Flurry Heart have arrived in New Mareland, safe for now from the Lunar Empire. However, the distance from Nightmare Moon does not mean there are no problems to face for the two of them.

With a resurgent Karthinian Pact under king Garibald Talonuel III to the east, an Aquileian Republic reborn in the Second Revolution to the north and only the Celestial Sea between New Mareland and the Lunar Empire, Celestia must play a dangerous game of politics like she hasn’t had to do in a long time, all the while taking care of Flurry Heart.

New Mareland itself is in a turbulent state that could easily escalate should things go from bad to worse. For now, the country is united against the Lunar Empire, but that can change rapidly. This too Celestia will need to keep an eye on, for her own safety and that of her ponies.

The coming years will be decisive for all the world, from Soryth to Hornavik and from the far northern shores of Pingland to the warm mountains of Hippogriffia, Through the actions of few the fates of many will be set in stone, or forever changed.

Important: this takes place in the Equestria At War universe. Equestria At War is a mod for the grand strategy game Hearts of Iron IV, be sure to check out their Discord and Reddit if you're not familiar with it. They also have a group on this site: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212917/equestria-at-war

Rated Teen for sadness and the consequences of war, including trauma.

Cover art cropped from this: https://derpibooru.org/images/2361950?q=artist%3Amrscroup - I also removed the text remaining in the cropped part.

Featured on 18-11-2021. Thanks a lot for that

The bounty hunter Jean De Basse has joined forces with the runaway Paddy "Rose" Rockfeller, breaking his contract with General Petroleum. Their new mission? The assassination of Paddy's father, the wealthy oil magnate Rockfeller with the promise that Paddy would use her connections to wipe away Jean's debt.

Join Jean and Paddy once more as they embark on their second journey, a dangerous adventure from Haukland to Equestria by any means necessary. With General Petroleum's thugs and other bounty hunters on hot their heels, the pair has found themselves to be unlikely allies in an impossible mission.

But all they have to do now is just make it back to Equestria in one piece...

Set in the Equestria at War universe.

Sequel to The Bounty Hunter's Journey: The Escape from Stalliongrad

Amazing Art done by: Vistamage

The year is 1037 ALB. Harmony reigns around the world, with Equestria, the River Federation, and the United Kingdom of Aris rising above all other nations to secure peace and prosperity for all creaturekind.

But while nearly every nation has embraced harmony, not every pony has. Within the Chiropterran Republic, a festering vendetta has brewed among a small number of radicalized soldiers and veterans of the North Zebrican War. They were not content with their dream of eternal night being stolen from them, and have conspired for years for revenge on a scale that the world has never seen before.

And at the helm of this secret mission is the most bitter veteran of all: Perfect Shot.

This story takes place in the Equestria at War universe and was written for the Seventh Annual EaW Writing Contest. It is also an adaptation of the "Ten Million Relief Plan" mission from Ace Combat 7, though it is primarily an EaW story. No knowledge of any of the above is necessary to understand this story.

Sunburst flunked out of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and had little to aspire for before the Lunar Rebellion, but the new regime had plans for ponies like him. Former students of Celestia’s prestigious schools were offered jobs by the Lunar state, with Sunburst himself taking one of these offers up and finding himself working for the Imperial Institute of Arcane Sciences as a researcher and magic practitioner.

Yet on the job, Sunburst is told about what became of her old friend Starlight Glimmer. Out on the Equestrian periphery, his old friend preaches an ideology advocating the elimination of cutie marks and enforces this worldview on her followers through a dystopian system of control and manipulation. Upon hearing of it, Sunburst can barely believe it.

Then he's ordered to investigate Starlight by using magic he can barely pull off.

It can only go so well.

Takes place in my New Lunar Millennium alternate universe. Some original characters from the universe are featured, but no prior knowledge beyond the general concept is required to read. More information can be found here.

Proofread and edited by Izzy Incraft.

Equestria and the Crystal Empire have fallen to the Changeling Hegemony, led by the brutal Queen Chrysalis at the head of a mechanized horde of guns and tanks. Princess Cadance stayed in the Crystal Empire; Princess Twilight stayed in Equestria. Chrysalis rules the continent, only defied by Nova Griffonia, the poor Griffon colony in the north.

Across the ocean, the Griffonian Reich pledges to reclaim its lost territory, sundered by revolution a generation ago. While the Alicorn Sisters retreat to New Mareland, Princess Flurry Heart and Shining Armor turn to Aquileia, the Republic born out of the ashes of the Griffonian Reich. The Kaiser of the Reich is only a child, subject to a regent bent on war and conquest.

Flurry knows the Reich and Chrysalis have worked together.

She knows that war is coming to Aquileia.

She knows that Celestia and Luna abandoned her mother and Twilight Sparkle.

She knows that the world is on fire, and she is the last true Princess of Ponies.

She knows she will go home.

Cover Art by Opal Radiance, commissioned by Sunstreaker.
https://www.deviantart.com/opalradiance