The worlds are changed.

Where Equestria was set to follow a familiar path of harmony and friendship, the path is waylaid by the appearance of a creature out of myth, bearing grave tidings.

On Earth at the dawn of the third millennium, a war that should have never been rages between humanity and the ones who would seek to perfect it.

For down the road less travelled, Equestria is Empire, a dark mirror of what it once was and should be.

Lyra Heartstrings, musician and dreamer, previously content to spend her life in the shadow of Princesses or their faithful students, must now decide the role she’ll play in this new reality. But within the threads that connect us all, just as even Princess Celestia can have the humblest desires, the smallest person may change the future.

Authored by Team Spectrum, currently consisting of Sledge115, VoxAdam, and RoyalPsycho.

Cover by skysayl.

Our TV Tropes Page.

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Equestria Timeline
Dramatis Personae/Character Sheet
Story Outline

Side Stories

Equestria
The First Second of Eternity, by Sledge115.
A Sun in Winter, by Sledge115 and VoxAdam.
In Night's Garden, by Sledge115.
Celestia Regina, by Sledge115.
The Rose of Florentina, by Sledge115.
Wallflower of Canterlot, by Sledge115.
Sogno di Volare, by Sledge115.
Velvet Quill & Sunny Skies, by Sledge115
Joy to the Worlds, by VoxAdam, TB3 and Sledge115.

Earth
Story of the Asian Front, by Kizuna Tallis.
Snowbound, by DoctorFluffy.
The Slow Mutants, by DoctorFluffy.
The Light Despondent, Remixed, by DoctorFluffy.
Dissonance, by RanOutOfIdeas.
Starvation, by DoctorFluffy.

Luna suspected something was troubling Twilight, but she didn't realize just how deep the hurt went...or how close she was to losing her.

Art by FidzFox

Featured from 4/5/2021 to 4/8/2021, peaking at #1. Thanks, everypony!

An audio reading of this story by Rainbow Infinity is available at this link.

The princess of the night is not a pony you would imagine as being too shy to ask out her crush. Yet here she was, unable to talk to the mare that had stolen her heart no matter how long she tried to muster the nerve. She just hopes that at least Twilight would enjoy the new dream Luna crafted specifically for her.

Done as part of the monthly request thread on my patreon! For just five bucks a month you too could have a story just like this one, written just for you.

Luna has a brilliant idea to cure Twilight of her ophidiophobia. Twilight thinks there are far too many hypothetical coils involved in this plan.

Preread by KevinItk

I blame Blissey1, Silfoe—the former because he commissions snake princess pics, the latter for drawing them so gorgeously—Fractalman, and also Damaged. Y'all know why.

Princess Celestia ascended Twilight into an alicorn without giving her any notice, then she left her to return to Canterlot to make preparations for the newborn alicorn's coronation, leaving Twilight's mind reeling from the sudden change of species and what it means.

Twilight can't sleep because her over-analytical mind is plagued with fear, uncertainty, and doubt. But maybe a visitor can help ease her worries and comfort her enough for her to fall asleep.

[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]

Luna has hidden a deep, dark secret from the ponies she watches over so lovingly. Were they to discover it, she can only imagine what it would do to the image they now hold of her. Twilight thinks it's just precious and plans to uncover it once and for all.

In the name of dapples.

Written because I was brainwormed by the wonderful art of my friends, Amarynceus and SilFoe. In turn, they were then brainwormed to make a couple contributions of their own.

Cover art by Amarynceus, because why not use something I brainwormed by the person who brainwormed me?

Twilight Sparkle is blissfully happy to be dating Princess Luna. But when the ever-clumsy Twilight breaks one of Luna's oldest possessions, Twilight is sure that failing to fix it will spell disaster.

Adventures in taking the TwiLuna contest's prompt (and this story's title) extremely literally. (And this took second place, woot!)

Edited as usual by the amazing Jordanis, with assistance from TheAccidentalBrony.

After working the day away, Twilight decides that she wants to have fun. What better fun than by playing a prank on Princess Luna? Armed with her sticky notes and quill, Twilight is ready to start a prank war.

Twi x Luna shipping story.

It's not easy to go back to your life after a thousand years of insanity and exile. It's not easy for Luna to even leave her room. All the same, there's a special somepony that Luna desperately wants to get closer to, and that's worth facing the outside for. All she has to do is get up the nerve to talk to her.