Celestia is no longer who she used to be.
With preparations for the inevitable Changeling Invasion requiring more and more sacrifice from Equestria's previously unshakable ethos of pacifism and friendship, Twilight has taken a role as Celestia's, now Daybreaker, closest advisor and assistant.

She had not been prepared for what these tasks would require of her.
No longer able to reconcile her harmonic ideals with her current actions, Twilight has cut off contact with her closest friends to avoid hurting them... and herself.

But, as her unfortunate personal bodyguard is about to find out, Ponies were not meant to carry their burdens alone.

Marked Teen due to mentions of self harm and suicide

Disclaimer:
This story is based off of an unfinished roleplay arc between me and the owner of the OC featured within, Midnight Lancer. It was part of an EaW Nation Roleplay on Discord. For those of you unaware of what Equestria at War is, it's a Hearts of Iron 4 mod that ports Equestria to a WW2-ish setting.

It was written for a writing contest held in a similar server, which can be found at https://discord.gg/mares.

All credit to Midnight Lancer for letting me use his OC, and to the brilliant EaW mod team for developing the setting. Special thanks to Nico for providing a large part of the roleplaying framework in which this took place.
Disclaimer End

A short story taking place in the Equestria at War alternate timeline, where Equestria is in a total war against Queen Chrysalis' militarized autocracy.

It is told from the perspective of Sergeant Trenchline Hope , a pony who was ostracized for most of his life for his useless talent: Conflict. As one of the only professional full-time soldiers of the vastly underfunded Equestrian military at the beginning of the conflict, Trenchline has seen more than a few comrades come and go, but he remembers them all.