Spike left Ponyville to live in Canterlot two years ago. Now he is back, and Rarity is stunned by what she sees. What happened before he left and what will happen now? What will Rarity do with her feelings, and how does he feel about her now?

[An AU where Sunset Shimmer never went through the mirror. The mirror portal didn't exist, and neither did the humans.]

When Sunset woke up to find herself in some part of Equestria she's never been before, she had originally planned to drive all the ponies apart in this place and gain more power to show Celestia that she's strong enough to be an Alicorn. But she didn't need to; all the ponies were already fighting with one another.

EDIT: Sequel is up now!

Twilight Sparkle has always respected the laws of science and magic. It's a respect that got her a scholarship to SGU, where she formed a small but comfortable group of friends and has received top grades in her two years there. It's a life that makes sense.

With her final year beginning and a special instruction from the Princess to bond with a fellow pupil, Twilight has enough to fill her life and her mind. It doesn't make sense that she should have recurring dreams about a mysterious mare, that this mare seems eerily familiar despite being a total stranger, or that she can recall the dreams with unusual clarity.

Twilight has questions about Equestria and about herself, and the answers could reshape her perception of both. She begins her research with a central question:

What lies beyond the edge of a dream?

Featured on Equestria Daily

Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle have a few drinks together... Okay, maybe more than a few. This is followed by a desire to do some science. This simultaneously goes much better and much worse than the girls would have expected.

Thanks to Novel Idea for the story prompt inspired by this great comic by Crydius.

From birth, Luna was a gifted unicorn.

So gifted, in fact, that Princess Sunset, the Solar Diarch, personally took notice of her abilities when she applied to attend Princess Sunset's school for the Gifted and Talented. When her pegasus sister, Celestia, hatches a phoenix egg, their entire life is changed.

Now, as Princess Sunset's personal students, the two sisters must figure out why sources of knowledge are disappearing, being stolen, or forcibly taken by dark shadows. Could the weird behaviours of the changelings explain the reason?

The one thing they do know is that something dark and powerful is plotting something in the shadows. And only they can stop this evil.

And why does Princess Sunset insist that the situation is nothing to worry about?

Cowritten by Meowofy and iAmSiNnEr

The story is a roleswap AU, we hope you enjoy!

Cover art commissioned, drawn by Cyonix, link to his Deviantart here.

For clarification: Luna and Celestia are not princesses in this story, even if tagged as such. There is just simply no non-princess Luna and Celestia to be tagged.

Preread by Jes
Helped and Edited by Sleepless!

Discord has failed to break the friendship between the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Desperate and with a rainbow of friendship blasting towards him, he teleports himself to a future where the Elements of Harmony are no more so that he could trade places with his future counterpart.

What he didn't know was that in this future, he has been reformed and the ponies there think he's somehow lost his memory and are determined to refriend him. Gag!

Meanwhile, the reformed Discord is teleported to the past, facing very hostile ponies and a world of Chaos his past counterpart had created. Chaos is a wonderful thing and he was all up for having some fun but what was the point if he had nopony to share it with?

One fine morning, Spike woke up early and ran some errands. Then he found Discord putting up a seller's stand, apparently ready to open his own business. One which offers a one-day transformation into anything the user wants. And he apparently had the patience to set up his shop LEGALLY. Twilight and the others brace themselves for the inevitable...

(Content of future chapters controlled by user votes!) (Now with Tropes!)

Now with a 'dramatic' reading: Prologue

Current poll: The transformation is chosen already (Tatzlpony!) You pick who becomes the Tatzlpony! (Voting ends 6/25 at 5PM EST)
Previous poll: The Cutie Mark Crusaders (63 votes out of 390) and Age Manipulation (83 votes out of 392) won
Previous poll: Sunset Shimmer (transformation error won with 83 votes out of 325)
Previous poll: Princess Celestia (85 votes out of 397) and Seapony/Siren (104 votes out of 421) won
Previous poll: Trixie (86 votes out of 357) and Alicorn (90 votes out of 338) won
Previous poll: Fancy Pants and Fleur Dis Lee (genderswap won with 199 votes out of 381)
Previous poll: Princess Luna (zebra won with 85 votes out of 368)
Previous poll: Rainbow Dash (griffon won with 274 votes out of 596!!!)
Previous poll: Rarity (diamond dog won with 184 votes out of 444!!!)
Previous poll: Starlight Glimmer (changeling royal (Chrysalis-type) won with 74 votes out of 257)
Previous poll: Pinkie Pie (alicorn won with 80 votes out 282)
Previous poll: Spike (unicorn won with 60 votes out of 225)
Previous poll: Applejack (minotaur won with 56 votes out of 254)
Previous poll: Fluttershy (draconequus won with 75 votes out of 181)

(Voting closes after a week from the posting of the current chapter)

Sunset Shimmer has lived in the human world for over ten years now. Some of the best and worst days of her life have happened there. When she finds herself no longer having a place in the world she's grown accustomed to she travels back to her homeland of Equestria to figure out who she is and where she belongs. What she finds is a land and people irreversibly changed by time.

Twilight Sparkle now rules over this new Equestria. It is a time of peace and prosperity for the entire world, so why does the Princess seem so sad?
Figuring out her own problems, an entirely different home than the one she grew up in, and her increasingly complicated relationship with Princess Twilight could be the most difficult thing Sunset Shimmer has ever done.
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Story takes place post FIM and EG

Sunset Shimmer's life was good, she had plenty of friends and greatly enjoyed where she had eventually ended up in life. It's a shame then that reality had a different opinion on where she belonged. Now stuck in the past prior to first leaving for the human world, Sunset will have to figure out what kind of direction she wants to take in life this time around.

After all, the future she herself lived with her friends was not reachable without doing things that she now found appalling. Even so, she knows that staying in Equestria could very well doom the world to a much darker future. If she had time to draft a plan she could probably figure out something that would keep herself out of the way while also not affecting the timeline, it's a shame then that the two princesses of Canterlot would just not leave her alone!

Apparently this thing got feature mere days after publishing... somehow.

When a shooting star listens to the soft wish of a young dragon, Spike finds himself in a bit of a 'freaky' situation with the stunning Rarity. A day in the life with each other gives them both a glimpse of what the shoe is like on the other hoof in terms of their relationship.