After being crowned Twilight finds out that she has become a unwilling player in the millenia old powerstruggle of the noble houses. Learning in a quite blunt way that she has to take on a consort. Simply because of a law that states that there must be a royal consort atleast once every 300 years. And not only that, but also that the only nobles themselves can select those of which she can choose them from.
With a ruse she seemed to get a decent choice. However, how will life turn out for the bookish scholar when it turned out that her new bride has been the comfort mare of a spoiled brat ever since getting her cutiemark? And almost equally important. How will the noble react to a 5P:
a pretty pissed purple pony princess?

Coverart by: G_Haze

Sunset Shimmer is having the worst day of her life. She used to be important. She was the personal student of Princess Celestia. She was a future leader of Equestria. She was the kind of mare that everypony envied.

Today, it's all crashing down around her.

Alternate Universe: What if Sunset Shimmer hadn't gone through the mirror?

Twilight Sparkle wants to reestablish her old rapport with Princess Celestia - the close relationship they had when Twilight was the Princess’s personal student. But life moves ever onward and the connections they had in the past will not be enough for the alicorns to overcome the challenges that lie ahead. To make it through their shared trials and revelations, Twilight and Celestia will need to grow beyond their existing bonds and become much more than faithful student and immortal mentor.

Twilight is very excited to have perfected a new transformation spell. While trying it out on Cadance, however, an ill-timed sneeze turns everypony in the room into cats, including Princess Celestia.

Stuck in the form of a tiny (and adorable) kitten, without access to magic, Twilight has to find a way to fix everything, all while dealing with her growing feline instincts, the hazards of a pony-sized world, and a Princess Celestia who seems to have forgotten she ever was a pony.

This story was commissioned by DbzOrDie. It features cover and interior art by the talented Elbdot.

[Complete! With TVTropes apparently!]
Also, apparently, an animated trailer.

In a world of brass and steam, Twilight Sparkle had thought she had made a life-changing discovery with the invention of the telescope. For better or worse, she was correct.

Now her discovery has not only changed her life, but the lives of those she seeks out in her desperate attempt to contact the only other creature as lonely as Twilight herself.

It all would have been much simpler, but it had to be the one Twilight could only call The Mare on the Moon.

Decidedly not within walking distance, then.

[Featured on EQD before story was meant to be submitted. 4/03/2015]

[Editing team: Southpaw, Wolfvenom, Maskedferret, SwanSong and BluePaladin42, without whom this story would be a fraction of its current state.]
[Special thanks to Novel-Idea for the updated cover]

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!"

There's a lot of unpleasant surprises that can be found in photo albums. A third pony in what you thought was a private moment, inexpertly applied bodypaint, or just evidence of that time that your mother dressed you up like a burrito.

Twilight Sparkle was expecting to come out of Family Night with a few fresh blushes on her cheeks. What she wasn't expecting was a mysterious pair of wings in her baby pictures.

Hopefully Celestia will have some answers.

Many thanks to Present Perfect for supplying the brilliant concept, and to Evehly for the beautiful artwork.

Hope is the faith of the young. Losing everything she holds dear, Puppysmiles embarks on the adventure of her life to find her mother, her hopes of meeting her again driving her through the horrors of a world not of her making. Too bad the Wastelands doesn't care about hope.

Twilight wakes up after a failed experiment and quickly discovers just what that failure did to her.

Will she be able to function in her new form long enough to find the counter spell, or will she go crazy before she gets the opportunity?

Can she handle being a carnivore in a town of herbivores?

What happens when a pack of Timberwolves comes, driving her to an ultimate decision?

5/11/2014 -Featured!

On a dark night filled with even darker magics, an insane cult attempts to give Nightmare Moon a body and life of her own, utterly separate from Princess Luna. But, when the spell is interrupted by Celestia, something unexpected is created.

Now, a little black alicorn filly named Nyx finds herself living under the care of Twilight Sparkle, only to be haunted by memories and emotions from her past. Is she Nightmare Moon reborn or is she simply a doppelganger with a soul and mind of her own? Can Twilight Sparkle protect Nyx from those who refuse to see past her dragon eyes and black coat?

Or, will Nyx be forced to inherit the sins that may not even be hers and become the greatest evil Equestria has ever known?