Magic, the most forbidden art. Only nobles are allowed to learn from the great wizards and witches, and only from special schools set up by the state. For commoners, learning the mystic arts is nothing but a dream, a fantasy that many strive for but none achieve.

With one exception: Stalliongrad. The great, northern city boasted more magic schools than any other, and among them, the only one that accepts low born ponies. It's a dangerous trek to get there, and even more dangerous to simply stay in the frozen city.

Twilight Sparkle, however, will not be stopped. Destined to become the archmage, destined to sit at Princess Luna's side, she will not be stopped.

After all, Archmage Twilight Sparkle has a nice ring to it.

Twilight's fears over becoming a princess convince her to attempt a spell to glimpse the future. Unfortunately, she ends up doing a bit more than glimpsing; the spell turned out to be permanent, meaning she never returned back to her own time, and therefore didn't exist for ten full years.

Her absence caused a fall-apart of the elements of harmony, and Twilight is horrified to see how they've changed without her. She doesn't know how to teleport back, so she instead tries desperately to figure out what happened and piece everyone's lives back together.

In a separate universe, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle were born into the world as alicorn princesses, twin daughters of Empress Celestia. One day, they were sent away to Ponyville, where they were destined to meet 5 special ponies. The story is as we know it; with loyalty, kindness, honesty, generosity, laughter, magic... betrayal, distrust, danger... and so much more.

From the depths of the cosmos descended a single stone, which started everything. When Twilight picked it up to study it, she didn't expect it to thrust her and her friends into different worlds. Being split up in the vast multiverse whose existence they've only discovered now, was already hard enough to handle. But they are now forced to fight against all odds and new enemies for the hope of getting back home.

Thankfully, some of them may receive the help of familiar faces.

A flip of a coin. A twist of fate.

Twilight Sparkle, younger sister of Princess Celestia's personal student, Shining Armor, grew up listening to her brother's bygone dreams of joining the elite of the elite: The Royal Guard.

Now, fresh out of the Academy, this young mare is ready to prove herself equal to the deeds of the great soldiers she read about as a filly. Too bad the princess she ends up protecting isn't Celestia.

There’s no end to the monsters that lurk in the dark.

Ghosts, werewolves, mad scientists, cultists, mutants, zombies, vampires, aliens and more lie in wait in the dark corners of Equestria, terrorizing the night. But the most infamous and dangerous of them all is the legendary witch Twilight Sparkle, with a five hundred million bit bounty on her head.

Seeking fame and fortune, Rainbow Dash sets out to defeat the legendary witch and collect the massive reward. The one thing she wasn't counting on was Twilight being less evil than she expected.

More stories set in this AU can be found here.

Cover art is a work in progress by Abode_WTF

When facing Twilight Sparkle, Nightmare Moon was given a choice: redemption or revenge. What if she had chosen the latter? A grim fate awaits Equestria, but in a time of greater strife and conflict, Discord's return is accelerated. While he expected to bring chaos, he did not anticipate that he would end the Longest Night and bring hope and joy back to the land.

Discord struggles to reconcile his nature with his desire for admiration. While Twilight's friends strive to carve a new life in the ever-shifting Equestria, she searches for Celestia, the only one who can bring harmony back to her lands. But Nightmare Moon also seeks her sister in a desperate attempt to find her place in the world. New dangers lurk in the wild and more threaten to fall over Equestria. Nightmare Moon's decision broke the balance of the world. Will Equestria ever turn to peace, or will the spiral of chaos and destruction be the end of everything?

(An alternate history, this story takes the universe established by the canon and explores one possible outcome if Princess Luna had not been redeemed.)

Comments contain huge spoilers. Walk softly.

Special thanks to my pre-readers, MmmandarinOrange and DarkmatterButterflies for keeping my head on, taking the journey of the story, and making it so much better than it would have been if I wrote it alone.

This story is a sequel to A Clash of Magic and Steam

Survivors of a decade long war that ended two years ago, Wiggly Sprocket and Live Wire have fended for themselves after war claimed their parents.

While the United Pony Space Initiative proved victorious, the Lilian star system was left nearly in ashes. The warp nexus allowing access to the wider UPSI still sits as a ruined mess, leaving the small planetary colony and two stations to fend for themselves against resurgent piracy.

Wiggly Sprocket has dreamed of leaving the system since her parents were killed, and taking the first shuttle when the nexus is repaired. However, money is sparse and the breaker yards only pay enough to keep her and Live Wire afloat.

That is until happenstance sees a battered but functional ship fall into her hooves. Trading the safety of a steady job for the potential riches floating in the void, Wiggly and Wire never could have imagined what they would find in the midnight sea.

Reading the 1st book is not truly required, but it will give context you might otherwise miss.

After attempting to impress the judges during her entrance exam for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, something transpires that alters Twilight's life irrevocably, as well as the destiny of all Equestria. In a very literal manner, Twilight metamorphoses into the embodiment of magic, much akin to how Discord embodies chaos. How will this unprecedented transformation shape forthcoming events? And how will Twilight grapple with mastering the newfound god-like abilities that have been unexpectedly thrust upon her?

Twilight was always fated to be the savior of Equestria, along with her friends. But fate can be so easily altered. What happens in one alternate realm when instead of marrying a unicorn, Twilight's mother had instead married an earth pony, resulting in her daughter being hornless? Without her magic, Twilight's future and destiny are far less certain, as is the destiny of all of Equestria.

However, destiny is not so easily set off course. When the princess of the night returns, can one little earth pony hope to be the one to help her damaged heart?

Now with a TV tropes page! Thanks to redandready45.