Celestia discovers a lingering trace of Nightmare Moon's soul still lodged in Twilight's mind—a survivor of the lingering effects of the Element's magic.

Faced with the threat of gradually losing her friend to Nightmare Moon's evil influence, Celestia realizes the only way to save Twilight is to let the storm of dark magic take its course all at once.

And yet, as Nightmare Moon's corrupting magic tears away at Twilight's forgiveness and understanding, and Twilight begins dredging up unexpressed doubts once kept controlled, Celestia must face a lifetime of confrontation her student has kept covered.

It is going to be a long night for both alicorns.

This story was written for the Tenth Bimonthly Twilestia Contest. It placed somewhere.

Twilight, believing something has happened to her memory, seeks out Princess Celestia to see if she recognizes it and can offer a cure. But the answer lies far deeper in the root of her nature and her life as the Princess of Friendship than she would have ever expected.

Some types of magic carry with them a heavy price. Celestia is faced with the grim task of teaching this to her growing student.

Thoughtful little snippet inspired by the prompt 'Breaking the Rules'.

The war was almost over. Nightmare Star had been driven from the cities of Equestria and forced back to her lair in Canterlot. The largest army the nation had ever seen was ready to strike her last fortress and put an end to her reign of terror. The Nightmare's final hour had come.

But when Twilight Sparkle began the assault on the city, things did not go according to plan. The Princess of Friendship was faced with an impossible choice – and the lives of her friends hung in the balance.

A teenage Twilight Sparkle asks Princess Celestia a complicated question with a simple answer.

When Starlight Glimmer and Twilight Sparkle conduct an experiment into the inherent properties of magical duplications, both end up with far more then they bargained for when one such embodiment of Twilight's own image starts to show an unprecedented level of unique understanding and self preservation. The copy is alive when by all definition it shouldn't be, and Twilight and Staright must discover a solution while the duplicate continues to contemplate the nature of its existence and identity.

Featured 08/05/16

Twilight does some research into her tried and true teleportation spell.

Twilight Sparkle's long journey had been aimless. Formless. A search for something she could not, or would not name. Her living, singing ship had plied the void for so long with no destination in sight.

But everything is different now. This is a mission of mercy.

Thank you to TheMaskedFerret for her help, and for being a friend when I needed one. And for ScarletWeather, who also read this and is also very good.
Cover Art from the animated "Echoes of the Past". Watch.

A pony wakes up in an empty void and discovers that it is infinitely malleable to her whims and desires.

A loving tribute to pretentious, incomprehensible mind screws.

• Many thanks to AquaGalaxy for the cover art! (Click the image to see it larger.)
• Once you've finished this story, I recommend reading "Applied Starlight: Explained".
• The genre tags are not correct. I'm not really sure what genre this story is, but if I could choose anything I wanted I'd probably go with [Ominous], [Puzzle], and [Parody].
• Featured by Equestria Daily and The Royal Guard.