"One day, I swear to you, I will stand in the ashes of the Elements of Harmony themselves and proclaim a new world." -Starswirl the Bearded.

This is the story of Princess Celestia: her origin, the battles she fought, her betrayals, her adventures, the friends she made along the way, her one great love, and her ultimate destiny.

Now on Equestria Daily!

[Thanks to _Medicshy for his faithful editing and input. And to Heliostorm as of chapter 13.]

[Cover image by tamponandtwilaloop on deviantart, used by permission.]

Warning: updates irregularly lately.

She's the original. She won the paint-watching test, fair and square.

So why do the townsponies keep avoiding her? Why do all her friends keep whispering around her? And why does Twilight keep insisting that she isn't any good at baking or throwing parties?

She's the original. The best Pinkie. She won the test, fair and square. She's not some copy, not anymore…but perhaps being a copy would be easier than being herself.

Featured on Equestria Daily

Comments contain spoilers.

Partially inspired by Quadrophenia by The Who. The [Pinkie Pie] and [Other] tags together represent Pinkie Pie's clone.

Editing and prereading thanks; Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi, CDRW, Sereg, JapaneseTeeth, MidnightRambler, and especially Nonagon. If you liked this story, be sure to check out their pages too!

Now I'm to begin
The life that I'm assigned
A life that's been used before
A thousand times
—The Who, "905"

This story is a sequel to Princess Celestia The Changeling Queen: Stories Behind the Mask

At the Royal Wedding, Chrysalis and the Changelings were revealed to all of Equestria.

But another mask was torn away that day. A mask born for a thousand years. A mask created on one promise. A mask, that has become synonymous, fused, to its bearer.

A mask that when ripped off, causes Twilight, her friends and Luna to question everything they ever knew about the one pony, one very important pony.

At the Royal Wedding, the meaning of the phrase 'Princess Celestia' changes forever.

NOTE: Chrysalis is NOT Celestia!!! That'd be impossible to pull off.

Credits to: Plainoasis for the design of the cover art
Note 2: Original cover art here: https://angelea-phoenix.deviantart.com/art/Contest-entry-Changeling-Celestia-337023552

Pre-read/edited by Zervziel,
Blankscape,
FinalFan,
Courage Fire
Aurora Borealis

Side Stories to this can be found: here.

An audio-reading on youtube up to Chapter 21 is up by StraightToThePoint Studios. I'm aware there are others but this is the nearest complete one: [embed]https://youtu.be/X3eMW673CSY[/embed]

There are also 2 print versions of Princess Celestia:The Changeling Queen. Nonexistent Publications run and Ministry of Image's run.

Contribute to the TV Tropes Page (thanks to Babs_Seed72 for getting it up)

After the drama that was her brother's wedding, Twilight returns to the Golden Oak for a bit of rest. However, upon her return she discovers that someone else has arrived there. Someone she never excepted to see again so soon, and certainly not for the reasons they say they're here for.

Doctor Whooves, Lyra Heartstrings, Derpy Hooves, Octavia Melody, Vinyl Scratch, and Bon Bon are background ponies. They've been those ponies who sit in crowds, watching everything that the Mane Six do, singing along to their songs, and cheering for them when they win against an enemy. But they have lives, too.
Now rogue changelings are showing up in Ponyville, dimensional rifts are opening up, ponies are disappearing, and the Mane Six are nowhere to be seen. Can six background ponies stop all this madness, or is Equestria doomed without its main characters?

WARNING: Major shipping between the Background Six. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

EXTRA CHARACTER TAGS: Vinyl Scratch, Original Character