For a thousand years, there was just Celestia. Then Cadance appeared, Luna returned -- and now Twilight has ascended. There are ponies who are very curious about just what happened, why -- and how. Especially the how. Twilight herself is on that list, a freshly-minted princess with far more questions than answers, about to face a brand new one: what truly makes an alicorn?

And what happens if it goes wrong?

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Cover art by Harwick.

On an expedition to explore the deeper depths of the Castle of the Two Sisters, Twilight finds something far older.

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In the quiet, she will be tested. It may prove her undoing.

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She will not return the same.

Artwork credit to GroaningGreyAgony.

The stars are vanishing from Equestria. It's not so bad.

My entry in the first Quills and Sofas Speedwriting Competition! An experimental story written in just under an hour and totally unedited. Enjoy.

The ever-humble Rainbow Dash has selflessly agreed to give Scootaloo a wing-up on Flight School with a few lessons. Twilight Sparkle, however, has her doubts...

Alicorns are not immortal - merely long-lived.

On her deathbed, Celestia confesses to Luna about the loneliness she suffered during their thousand years apart - and of Celestia's secret plan to make up for her greatest failure as Luna's sister.

This is an expansion of my entry into Flashfic 150 - September 2019 with the prompt 'Bittersweet'. I felt the idea had legs beyond 150 words and took it a bit further.

Celestia had a problem. Somepony wrote a novel about Nightmare Moon's rebellion. This made Luna quite unhappy, and unfortunately for her sister, Luna has not yet gotten the hang of modern traditions like freedom of speech, the abolition of the death penalty, and not bothering Princess Celestia when she's trying to sleep.

Fortunately, Celestia also had a faithful student, one who is now a Princess with an ill-defined portfolio and perfectly capable of dispensing justice by the laws of both today and one thousand years ago.

Now Twilight Sparkle has a problem.

(Title image hacked together from vectors by Martinnus1, Hawk9mm, and Paulie15.)

Somewhere, high in the skies of Equestria, a derelict airship drifts. Alone.

It should remain that way.

Being an alicorn is wonderful... except when it isn't. There are plenty of things that put a damper on limitless vistas of possibility afforded by such a long life: Court, mortal needs and expectations, the occasional decade of ennui.

And the dreams, of course. Agelessness comes with its own special kind of dreaming. Celestia finds that her own "Inner Court" is a bit too literal, and it--and she--are troubled at the prospect of a near-immortal Twilight Sparkle.

If only she could articulate exactly why that was.

art by spectralunicorn

Part of the Monophysite Quartet, which also includes Celestia Isn't Real, Have You Considered My Servant, Twilight?, and The Esoteric Rites of Darkness. All four stories have a common origin point in an old story idea I called "Monophysite" and touch on who or what Celestia really is in some way. They are otherwise unrelated.

Discord says goodbye.

Spanish: https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/Un-ultimo-chasquido-862607171 (Thanks Kiwi)

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!