Early update, because it makes zero sense to just sit on a complete chapter for six hours.

Shit just hit the fan, damn.

Once again a purely awesome chapter that puts the phrase "Above par" to shame. If good stories are the sky then this is the moon.

Your fathfull lurking fan,
-Tidaka Tathaos.

Awesome as always!

You sexy, sexy man. I have a serious bro-crush on you, in a purely platonic way though.

As always, you amaze, it's good to see that the Twilight/Sparkle dynamic still exists. Looking forward to the next chapter! NEED MORE!

156770 YES! i take it that twilight and sparkle will settle their differences and save everypony, unless you have a hidden surprise for us. i LOVE your work on this. one of the best fics ever, on par with Past Sins, in my mind.

I know I ask this during every chapter but I WANT MORE!!!!! nicely executed story by the way.

Hoooo boy I love this fic

When I saw the chapter was up early I was all like
Then I started reading it... and holy shit... I can't wait for the next chapter shit just got real. Well it was already real, but now it's getting really really real times infinity (Or something lie that)

When I'm at war... DROP IT!

awesome character analysis, your writing is impeccable .

MEANWHILE IN THE LEAGUE OF SHADOWFAX....
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Wow. Things are certainly heating up to a point. Random speculation time!: I would like to believe that the breaking point for Sparkle will be when Rainbow Dash tells her to accept Twilight. Rainbow Dash, who has seen N3 in their worse and is the most effected by what N3 has done (besides perhaps Sparkle, though that is arguable since Sparkle did lock a part of herself away), If Sparkle is asked to accept Twilight from it will be a major event, by someone that Sparkle can somewhat sympathize with (even if they have been avoiding each other). The only other ways I see it happening is that the lives of her friends are put in enough danger to make her risk becoming what she fears, that or they fight their way through the battle, but many of the resistance dies, and Sparkle realizes she could have stopped it if she accepted the portion of herself she locked away. Realizing that denying herself is what caused hundreds of ponies to die, might be that kick she needs, albeit a tragic one. It is just as likely to make her completely insane, so I would rate it as the least likely of my three scenarios. Of course, it could just be something completely unexpected by me

Oh well, enough hypothesizing about the next chapter!

Want to say that I really enjoy your literary works, and place you as one of the best writers on here and Equestria Daily. When Fall Out Equestria still updated I would look forward to your story updating more which says a lot. That your works are not as popular as they should be saddens me.

Edit: I also wanted to say how your page marker for switching to Sparkle's point of view is an attention to detail that many would not go to. Not the full cutie mark, and grey, because it is not Twilight Sparkle, only Sparkle. Sorry I ended up doing a double take right now when I realized it.

I love you and I love this fic amazing work

I have to teach tomorrow, I'm already running a bit of a sleep deficit. If I go to sleep now I can catch 7 hours. *sees new 11 thousand word chapter of Ponies Make War* Screw sleep!

158137 I'm the same way, except I am the one being taught. Screw college, Ponies Make War, screw sleep Ponies Make War, and screw sanity Sparkle and Twilight. <--- so much of this.

I'm loving this story so much, but god damnit Twilight... Sparkle, even; accept the other half of yourself! Also, thanks for making it so the next chapter is out on my birthday.

Though it's bad that the pacifist is in charge and rejecting her darker half, it would probably be far worse if her darker part was in control. I'd imagine she'd turn the majority of Inner Canterlot into a pile of rubble in short order.

Unfortunately, I can completely understand why the pacifist part can't accept her darker half. It hates what it has to do enough, let alone actually letting herself take direct action, using magic to harm, even Puppets. The dark side most certainly would fight, and that's something the pacifist side has to stop, regardless of the damage it's inflicting upon her own psyche.

Here's hoping the darker side of Twilight gets to take the reins and all over some puppets. Really looking forward to whenever Twilight crosses paths with Esteem again.

please....just,just,....ju....just take my money
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I don't know if I've ever said this, but I really love your interpretation of the earth pony and pegusi magic. I really enjoy how it balances the races out, and it makes every character awesome in their own right. This may be my favorite fanfiction, and you sir, are a excellent writer. I hope you have plans to write more fiction after this, because this and Sparkle's Law are both top notch fics.

I recently went back and re-read the story from She's Alive on (the chapters before that were excellent, but just a bit too depressing for me), and I noticed a few things that make me a tad concerned about Spike:

From An Alicorn's War:

She stood motionless, hardly breathing, staring at the book she held aloft with magic. Then, she gently set it on the floor and began to cry.

Her tears came with great, wracking sobs that broke the otherwise perfect silence of the library. She fell to the ground, rocking herself back and forth until she could once again focus on what was important. In all, she wasted fifteen minutes of time shaking uncontrollably on the library floor.

She picked up the book, Draconic Appetites and Ailments, and set it in the useless pile next to the musical storybook It’s a Wonderful Equestria. Then, she decided she had picked out enough books, deposited the useful ones in her null-space, and left.

And from Entirely Predictable:

Twilight was shouting by now. “Should we all just go back to Ponyville, minus a dragon, and try to live in his new world? Leave the rebellion to Luna?”

Maybe I am reading more into the first section than is intended, but the fact that she finally breaks down and cries while looking at Draconic Appetites and Ailments and later references being minus a dragon make me wonder if what we eventually find out about Spike won't be pleasant. He was asleep in the same room where Nihilus was created after all, which is far closer to Nihilus than anyone should really ever want to be.

Unfortunately, it's entirely possible...

Naughty, being the anti-Twilight, would despise Spike, and they'd have no real reason to keep him alive, so I can completely understand it if something's happened to him that has yet to be flash-backed too.

I waited a while before starting this story, because it was labeled Grimdark and I generally avoid Grimdark. It just seems out of character with the show, and what attracted me to MLP:FiM wasn't the death or killing. But I had some time on my hands, and AestheticB wrote another story that I greatly admired, so I figured I'd giving it a shot. I'm very glad I did.

You've heard the phrase "learning curve," I assume. This story has what I would call a steep "acceptance curve." The violent, gore-slick world it proposes is very different from the Equestria we see in the cartoons, and it took me a bit of effort to get over that dramatic discontinuity. Seeing a Celestia and Luna who treated lives as utterly inconsequential was simply hard to accept, but once accepted, the story rapidly became one of the most engrossing I've encountered in the fandom.

Certain descriptions, such as the fights and Twilight's puzzling over the various enchantments she comes across, are wonderfully presented. Enough detail, richly woven, to make the magic seem like a system as real as physics or chemistry.

It may seem silly, because it's so minor, but one of the things I like most is how you blend dialogue and narrative. I've been working to keep them deliberately separate in my own stories, because it's more ordered, but the smooth gradient you have between spoken and unspoken is simply delicious to read. I did a quick skim to find a quote that I thought worked particularly well:

“Wait,” Fluttershy said loudly. Or rather, relatively loudly. Everypony heard her, which was atypical. She looked at them all. “If we don’t know how they work...” She let the sentence hang in the air.

See that? That was nice. I really liked that.

I did have some quibbles, but I hate when people post quibbles in comments on my stories, so I'll refrain. If you want to hear them offline, just drop me a message somewhere. And keep up the great writing.

I love this story. That is everything I have to say!

Ok. So previously I loved your story. But now I love your story. This chapter just tipped it for me. The character development just hit a really fantastic level. Everypony is just so nuanced, three dimensional and believable within the context. It's fantastic.

I have to admit, I have been re-reading a lot of this story in collecting inspiration. As examples of 'war' fics go, this is probably one of the best. It's a style I am trying very hard to emulate.

Finally, a question: do you have any prior fighting experience? It is unbelievably refreshing to see someone write a fight scene who actually seems to have some understanding of body mechanics while fighting. The way you describe Unimpressive's training with RD makes me believe so. It's quite accurate, and I really, really appreciate that.

Keep up the amazing work. I eagerly look forward to finding the time to finally finish catching up.

Twilight exhaled sharply, then set her shoulders and opened her eyes. She didn’t say anything.

“Twilight? Hello! Earth to Twilight! This is Pinkie Pie, over.”

Twilight put a hoof to her temple and rubbed. “Sorry, Pinkie. It’s just.. that was a lot of complicated magic at once. Last time I did that I started hearing voices.”

shouldnt "Earth" be "Equestria? amazing story

I wish there was a way for you to publish this as an actual pony novel - and then get it made into a set of movies. I'd pay money for that, seriously. You are a very talented writer and I'm just dreading the point where I actually catch up because then I'll have to wait for new chapters like everyone else. Thanks for putting so much time and effort into this, as its been an amazing read thus far and I'm sure the rest will be even more epicly awesome!

this joke has probably been done before but...

"A MAN CHOOSES A SLAVE OBEYS!"

You sir write stupendous combat scenes like no other. I am totally in love with this story.

come on sparkle let the darker part out, i did it and i feel great. and they released me from the asylum, and i got to plead insane!

Simply art this chapter was. Pure beauty.

...Ah! The Pinkie and Rainbow dual fight scene I was waiting for! Always loved that scene! Isn't almost time to storm the castle?

Silver out!

I enjoy Dash and Twilight trying to work through their issues.

“I can’t exactly throw parties in a machine shop. Somepony could get hurt.” - LMAO

“There are no loonies in fruitcakes, silly. Only money cakes.”

That is some really subtle forth wall breaking.

Oh my gosh, that was an epic chapter. The fight scenes are truly amazing. Dang, shit is hitting the fan, and this is a large amount of shit. In fact, I think we'll have to upgrade to a turbine engine from a 787. The argument between Dash and Twi Sparkle is was intense. Sparkle needs to let go and just allow for the real Twilight Sparkle to come back and take over. This is such a massive story, SO many more things are bound to happen before everything is resolved. Seriously, I have to clean the drool off of my keyboard after each chapter because I want more of it.

Umm, am I the only one who sees the assassins creed references with Pinkie? Or has this been established already? Because thats a brilliant idea, assassin ponies.

And wow, grab your umbrellas. Shits about to hit the fan.

So the one thing Luna warned twilight against with the mind splitting is what's been going on all along. WHAT THE FUCK TWILIGHT! Let it go! Your friends need you! Dash needs you!
Also. Is it confirmed that's spike is dead now?
I haven't been able to figure it out?

My god. This story is getting super-duper intense. I love it so much. One of the best stories out there.
I'll probably read more tomorrow.
This fic is like chocolate to me - I always need more of it.

Oh, and one more thing -
Rainbow Dash kicks all ass.
And I'm starting to get a little pissed with Twilight. Even though I know she can't help it.

Pinkie is amazing. Nuff' said.

This is one of the better chapters so far. It focusses entirely on the internal conflicts of the characters and then suddenly lets everything else go to hell too, as expected of you. Finally, the long awaited confrontation between Twilight and RD! And everything has gotten even worse! How the hell did that happen!

There's really not much else to say about this chapter. You've given the characters impetus for emotional hijinks in the previous chapter(s) and now you're detailing them. It's almost too perfectly by the book, hence the sudden attack on Loyalist HQ just when you've reached the height of all your character's emotional distress so you can reasonably keep them like that and delay the resolution. You clever bastard, you.

Best chapter since the Battle of Cloudsdale! I'm fully with Dashie on this argument: Nihilus Nix Naught was cruel. Sparkle is crueler by forcing Dash to keep those memories, instead of fixing them both with a simple memory spell. Rainbow Dash is best pony, because if I were in here place, I would have brought that blade down on that shell that used to be Twilight Sparkle. Sparkle is most definitely a cowered, and the only time I felt Rainbow was in the wrong was when she said, “No better than her? You’re the one taking away free will. You’re the one who’s no better.” That was harsh, even in this situation, Dash.

I see where this is going. The only way to beat off the puppets and save all those ponies and her friends is for Twilight Sparkle to fight. But for that to happen, Sparkle has to let Twilight out. At least I hope thats what you're doing with this, but judging by just how diabolical you've been through the rest of this, someone's gonna die first. Someone close to Twilight, but not essential to the story. So you're gonna kill off her parents, and that will be enough to let Twilight out and teach Titan not to make Twilight Sparkle angry. Because you wouldn't like her, when she's angry. But thats how I would write it. You are far better at tragedy than I am, so I doubt that we're gonna get a badass Twi-hulk out of this. (Not hulk like a giant green pile of muscle, more of an OP rage monster.) Crossing fingers and clicking that link!

2304871 IDONGETIT!

5008273

Nope. Nope nope nope.

That is the worst thing that she could do. Ask someone who has suffered from even temporary amnesia, they will tell you that forgetting anything willingly is never a good idea.

We are the sum of our ideas, the things that have happened to us, the choices we have made, and the circumstances that arose from them. The only way Rainbow Dash can get through this is to face it.

What happens if the memory spell doesn't stop at what Nihilus did? What if Rainbow Dash forgot her name? Her friends?

There goes the Elements of Harmony.

Besides, use of such a spell when Twilight is currently dumping all of her own negative emotions will only make her to be no better than Titan. A monster, a non-being. She should only use it against her enemies, and not those she considers friends.

The combination of Unimpressive’s telekinetic blast and Dash’s extended wings sent her sprawling. Her wings crumpled under her, and the immediate pain told her that she was going to have some nasty bruises. She heard rather than saw the clopping of his hooves as he moved to stand beside her.

How far does Telekinetic energy go?

Applejack’s timing could not have been more perfect.

She burst through the wall behind them, sending small pieces of stone showering down to the cobbles beneath her. She was covered in her massive set of armor, and when she landed on the street, the stones beneath her cracked. Dash marvelled for a moment at the sheer amount of momentum one would need to break through a solid stone wall headfirst.

SOMEBODY ON-

“No, Rainbow Dash. You’d become an abomination.”

Is that so?

Twilight.

if you continue along this path You will suffer and your mind will become useless and your friends will watch as you slowly go insane from the constant pressure and fighting.

Twilight.

You Must Forgive.

Something just occurred to me. Where the fuck is spike twilight needs her number 1 assistant to keep her head on straight.