Getting mail hoof-delivered to her was not an unusual occurrence in Twilight’s day-to-day. There were often times that letters of great importance had to reach her within the day, and Equestria’s mail was not known for its speed or efficiency.
 
Twilight had been quietly watching Aurora stumble around a tower of toys she had created. The small foal had stacked as many things as she could find on top of each other, exclaiming that it was now bigger than Celestia’s castle! The light rapping on her door broke her out of the absent-minded daze she didn’t know she was in.  
Scooping up the dusty pink foal, she magicked open the door with a faint creak. A soldier from the castle stood there upright and obedient. Aurora made a slight squeak of excitement as he bowed low.  
As he produced a letter from a saddlebag draped over his haunces, Twi’s heart sank. The letter was a light blue colour with a dark wax seal on the back. Embossed into the wax was the symbol of the prince.
 
Twilight took the letter gently from the soldier’s mouth with her purple haze and looked up at him for confirmation. His eyes were steely and seemed to be staring off far into the distance. He bowed once more before turning sharply and marching back down the road, no doubt on his way to deliver more of his cargo.
 
Closing the door behind her, the letter still in the clutches of her magic, swirling and turning the blue envelope in front of her. She had only seen a letter from the Prince once before when conscription had become mandatory for all able-bodied ponies in Ponyville.  
She swallowed hard. The magic swirled around the paper and tore open at one side. As it pulled the parchment out from inside, Twilight made a small involuntary sound in the back of her throat.
 
Reading was always her gift, her passion, but as she read over the letter several times in haste, only two phrases seemed to actually register:
 
“Regret to inform you…”
 
“…killed in battle.”
 
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A little idea I had quite a while ago that I wanted to explore.  
My pony AU revolved around the idea that after the mane 6 had their time in the sun and started to settle down, there was a war. The war didn’t really have one villain to blame or an evil force…just ponies fighting and dying pointlessly over resources, religion, land etc.
 
Winter Solstice, the son of Celestia, was appointed 5-star General and immediately put out a conscription notice to all abled-bodied ponies. The war was on their doorstep, and no one could ignore it.  
Determined to protect their families, the notice was obeyed. Despite Twilight’s position as Princess and her objections, Compass Star (Aurora’s father) willingly left to go fight on the frontlines. He did not know at the time that his promise to his wife and daughter to return home safely, was never going to be kept.
 
This is copied from my tumblr.