No one alive today can say where she came from; simply that she has always been there.

And yet, few ponies have had a greater impact on Princess Celestia's life than Raven, her most faithful aide.

Inspired by and based off of a headcanon put forth by Heir-of-Rick, though perhaps a bit less insidious than what he had in mind. He very kindly provided an alternate version of his image for me to use as my cover image! Text added by me.

All comments and criticism very welcome!

Featured in the Royal Canterlot Library! Go there to read the interview for some behind-the-scenes info on this story!

Translations: Chinese, Spanish!

Many years after sending her beloved protege to Ponyville, unease sits heavily on Princess Celestia's heart as her relationship with Twilight Sparkle seems to have cooled despite all they've accomplished together. On the advice of her sister, Celestia sets out to investigate and resolve the lost connection with her most faithful student. What does it mean to be a Faithful Student...or a Princess of the Sun?

Earned a six-star rating on Equestria Daily and featured on its very own TVTropes page!.

OCCASIONALLY, WHEN RELAXING BETWEEN MONSTER TRUCK RALLIES AND ROCKET LAUNCHES, TWILIGHT "SCREW IT" SPARKLE RELAXES WITH A BOOK BY THE WARM FIRELIGHT OF OTHER LESSER BOOKS. LITERALLY, A BOOK, AS ONLY HER OWN AUTOBIOGRAPHY CAN SURVIVE THE SCRUTINY OF A GOD AMONG GODS-WHO-SUBSEQUENTLY-BECOME-MEWLING-WHELPS-BEFORE-HER-EYE-SEARING-GLORY.

THIS IS HER STORY.

AS IF YOU'D READ ANY OTHER.

(DUE TO A SURPRISINGLY APPROPRIATE WORDCLOUD, COVER ART NOW EXISTS. YOU MAY REJOICE.)

Celestia: a filly of twelve. A cynical, hungry pauper, with a young sister to protect and feed.

But the food has run out. Winter has gripped the land for too long, and now the pair face starvation.

The cynic in Celestia knows she can't move the sun. But the child in her wonders... and so she tries.

(Inspired by the Donovan song of the same name.)

(Now with a dramatic reading here, by Crafty Arts, and here, by KeyframeProductions.)

(Now with a Spanish translation here.)

A fun, delightful romp in which Twilight learns an important lesson about friendship, harmony, and why cobalt-jacketed atomic weaponry is a bad idea.

(cover fixed, apparently there were some technical difficulties)

This story is a sequel to Days of Wasp and Spider

Believed dead by their creators, the ponies that will become Celestia and Luna have broken their mental conditioning and escaped into the wilderness. Here they plan the revolution that will free all ponykind, knowing that it is only a matter of time before their ruse is discovered.

Back in their underground arcologies, the ponies' erstwhile masters deal with the consequences of the escape, all the while unaware that something lurking at the bottom of space-time wants them all dead.

A Soot-Covered World, book 2.
Canon species only/no humans.
This story has nothing to do with the Holocaust.
Art by InLucidReverie, used with permission.

SF (canon species only; no humans) Ponies were magically and genetically engineered to be the perfect servitor race. They are powerful, adaptable, intelligent and completely under the control of their creators. A laboratory accident frees one such pony from her mental chains, but how can one mare save herself and the rest of her kind if she doesn't even know she's a slave?
This is not the Equestria you know and these are not your little ponies... not yet, anyway.

Tags: Adventure, Diamond Dogs, Gryphons, NO HUMANS (did I mention that already?)
Other tags: historical, mind control, Clarke's 3rd Law, excessive use of high energy physics, before they were famous.
Detailed review by PaulAsaran.
Cover art by endrome , used with permission.
Russian translation (partial -- 'unofficially' completed in the comments)
A Soot-Covered World, book 1.

Discord, for a master of chaos, was actually a very good planner. Despite the confidence that he would bring Equestria to its knees in mayhem, several millennia of experience had taught him to have a back-up, no matter what. And after watching from the sidelines as Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon, he knew he had found an ace in the hole. Despite his defeat, Discord's greatest trick was still to come.

You know what this means: Equestria's greatest Nightmare is back. And this time, she's not alone.

Edit: Featured 9-27-2013, first time I've had a featured story. Thanks to everyone who's stuck by this story in spite of admittedly slow updates!

This story is a sequel to The Chaotic Touch of Harmony

It has been nearly a year since ponies and Mions appeared on Earth with humanity being divided in how to deal with both. While the ponies in the newly formed town of Trinity work to establish themselves, the rest are scattered throughout the planet while trying to find their place in the world and the Cult of the Koridost is quietly ramping up their genocidal campaign against humanity.

Will Discord’s vision of humanity’s ruin come to pass? Or will his less than direct intervention allow the planet to see a brighter tomorrow?

It is highly recommended to read the first arc because this is a direct sequel and many plot elements may be confusing without previously established context.

Again, thanks go out to Quite Quiet for his editing work.

Excellent cover art by Tulip

Nightmare Moon spends a thousand years banished to the Moon, fighting herself and the Shadows both within and without. She watches civilization rise and spread, a quarter-million miles away.

Can she reclaim her power? Can she overcome the six champions her sister has sent to defeat her?

Why do three of the champions look terribly familiar to the renegade Moon Princess? Why does the sight of one, in particular, break her heart?

And why, as the battle continues, does she increasingly hope that she does not win?

This is an expanded version of the two-part Series Opener. From Nightmare Moon's point of view.

Now with its own TVTropes page!

If you want to find out what the Great and Powerful Trixie was doing in Manehattan, and what happened in some other parts of Equestria during the Longest Night, read An Extended Performance. The direct sequel, however, is All the Way Back.