A different take on alicorn ascension. Sixteen years after arriving in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle is excited to have invented a brand-new kind of spell, but it will come with consequences she cannot possibly anticipate. Meanwhile, threats in shadows around the world conspire to overthrow the Solar Throne. With her world turned upside down, she will have to come to terms with the role that fate has dealt her while straining to keep Celestia in power.

Now with a TVTropes page! Please show it some love! Also check out the official side stories, Designing Intrigue, and Love and Barriers! (With even more in my stories page!)

(Please Note: This story was started before any season three information was available. All episodes in season three and later are non-canon for this story, which also means there's no Crystal Empire in this one. In addition, the promotional map released close to the beginning of season three was also not available and is not compatible with this story. While the OC tag is active because there are OCs in the story, they're really just supporting characters. The focus is on Twilight.)

Also be sure to check out the Rites of Ascension Expanded Universe Group! We're working to develop the resources needed for other authors to try their hand at writing stories set in the Rites Universe!

The Book Two cover art was created by the amazing Silfoe! The original cover art can still be found at Violet Squiggle's deviantArt page.

Author's Notes, including proofreader's credits, can be found here!

"This is 100% Approved by Twilight's Library!"

Ganondorf, King of Thieves, Lord of Darkness, Master of Evil and Wielder of the Triforce of Power, had long since grown thoroughly and completely bored with the path the gods had decreed for his destiny.

Time after time it was always the same, try and unite the Triforce, plunge the world into darkness for a time, search out and then kidnap Princess Zelda, watch his minions be defeated one after another and then finally battle Link for supremacy. Rinse and repeat.

All the while knowing that regardless of winning or losing, that no matter what he did or didn’t do, that in the end everything would end up repeating itself in another time and place afterwards, again, and again and again, in an utterly pointless never ending cycle.

Having decided that enough was finally enough, and refusing to continue to be a simple pawn at the hands of the gods, he vowed he would find a way to escape from his cumbersome destiny, a way to start anew far beyond the meddling grasp of the gods, a way to reach a realm upon which he could be the master of his own fate.

And after years of careful planning he had finally succeeded.

Sure, the fact he had to drag the know-it-all Princess and the green obsessed Hero along for the ride for his plan to work was a minor inconvenience, but he knew that sometimes sacrifices had to be made. And the fact that this new realm apparently decided to turn him and his two unwilling companions into miniature pastel colored ponies upon arrival also wasn’t exactly part of the plan, but he could cope.

After all, that was a negligible price to pay in achieving his deepest wish: freedom.

In this story Ganondorf, having grown sick of following through the motions his destiny placed before him as the eternal bad guy to be defeated time after time, seeks out to escape from his fate by breaking through the void between dimensions and running away from Hyrule to another realm entirely, Equestria, all the while dragging both Link and Zelda along for the ride.

Arriving long before the founding of the country, back before the events of Heart’s Warming Eve and at the highest point of the conflict between the Three Tribes, he and his two new companions will have to deal with a whole new world and it’s wonders and dangers. All the while this new magical world will have to learn to deal with its three new strange inhabitants in kind.

Just a warning: This is NOT a Displaced fic. All three main characters are the actual characters from the Zelda series that have been taken to Equestria due to Ganondorf’s master plan, and not humans turned into them.

Beta Reader: The Amazing Emtu!
Cover Art: The Incredible swagmu!
Proofreader: The relentless TranquilClaws! (From chp I - XXV)

Featured for the first time! 07/06/2018 to 07/11/2018

Now with a TvTropes page!

Edit: Crossposting at Royalroad where I have the same username.

Changelings are not what they seem to be, as Twilight and Celestia find out so soon after the invasion. In fact, Twilight becomes intimately aware of said fact. The problem is, though, she doesn't know it.
Funny what an expedition into the woods, amnesia and a queen that only wants to help can do to change a girl's life.

This story is a sequel to Steel Soul

Sweetie Belle has discovered a secret. She's spent a few months keeping it to herself, but the nightmares she's had have convinced her it might be time to reveal it.

Sequel to Steel Soul.

This story is a sequel to What I've Become

It is highly recommended that you read What I've Become before you read this story, since this is the second story in The Humanity Within Trilogy, and you will be lost if you just plunge into this without any preparation.

Also, this story already has a sequel: What I Am!

Things have been turning up roses for me lately. I'm no longer fighting to survive, I have people that I can turn to, and I have my face back, all because of the kindness shown to me by strangers.
But will they continue to help me once they find out what dark secrets haunt my past? Will they shun me for the evil deeds that my abductors forced me to do while I was in their service? Will they continue to protect me from the monsters that destroyed my life, once they realize what kind of monster I really am?
How does one forgive a murderer?
WOOT! Feature the day it came out! (how did that happen?) 12/1/2014
Edited by Malefactory. He is fantastic at this kind of thing!
Proofread by Cantankerous. He's freaking amazing.
Also proofread by PhiliChez.
Cover Image done by the very talented PaintSplotch! You can find his FimFic account here.
And here is his DeviantArt Account!

This is the first book of The Humanity Within Trilogy. Its sequel is What I've Done.

I wasn't always like this, a monster, running through the woods on an alien planet. I was once a man. I had dreams, a girlfriend, and a great job.
Then They came. In the middle of the night, They scooped me from my home, and... changed me.

Now I'm a beast, a demon the like of which the world I've become stranded on has never seen before, scraping by on the fringes of society, hiding from the natives, and doing my best to avoid notice.

After all, who could ever be friends with a monster?

Cover Image done by the very talented PaintSplotch! You can find his FimFic account here.
And here is his DeviantArt Account!
Now 100% approved by Twilight's Library!
Mad props to my prereaders:
ThatPonyWithASword.
Admiral Applejack.
JXWheeler

This story is a sequel to Rescue on Diamond Mountain

Story seven of the Savage Skies series. The first months of Dawn's stay in Ponyville have been tumultuous, to say the least. Fortunately, winter is coming, not only offering the colt respite from his enemies, but also giving Dawn the opportunity to enjoy the season with his new friends and family. Little does he know that this is to be a season of many firsts for him.

Meanwhile, a new pony has come to Ponyville in response to Twilight Sparkle's call for research subjects. Unfortunately, this stallion's past experiences have left him bitter and paranoid. It will be up to Rarity, of all ponies, to make this unexpected guest feel welcome in Ponyville and heal the wounds in his heart.

This story is a sequel to Of Two Minds

Feeling worn down from cleaning up the leftovers from Discord's reign of chaos, the Mane 6 decide to take a short vacation to Manehatten. No sooner do they arrive, however, than they encounter an oversized ninja squirrel that leads them into an ambush set by Discord and a mysterious assistant. The girls awaken to find themselves fused into Multi-mental Occupancy pairs and forced to take part in a scavenger hunt in exchange for Discord reversing the process. The girls will have to work together like never before in order to succeed.

The Great and Powerful Trixie is finally the successful stage magician she always dreamed of becoming. However, she can't stop thinking about Ponyville and went wrong for her there. When she brings her new show to town to try and repair her image, the only pony that will accept her is Twilight Sparkle. A conversation leads to a bet, and the bet leads to attempting a mind-swapping spell that fails and traps both Trixie and Twilight in the former's body. Can the two magically gifted ponies get along, and can they keep the mishap a secret from Twilight's friends until a solution can be found?
Comments are appreciated.
[This story takes place in the same continuity as the Order-naries saga. Reading those stories is recommended but not required to enjoy this one]

An old stallion is tasked by a mysterious god with keeping the fire burning in an old lighthouse. He guides the way for the ponies of Equestria's past, present, and future, both teaching and learning the simplest truths of life in the process.

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The comments are gone because of my fiddling with the powers that be (that is, removing chapters and reposting them after editing) a few years ago, when I had no idea of how Fimfic works. I don't remove comments willingly.

Edited and preread by the omniscient, omnibenevolent and omnipotent sourichan,
jeray2000 and JeffCvt.