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.

Twilight Sparkle isn't very normal, but she already knows this. It's just one of those things she deals with on the day to day. Of course, comments from the peanut gallery don't really help, and neither do surprise parties. But thankfully her therapist is there to help her through her days and can help her thoughts get sorted out.

And the peanut gallery, too, of course. Sometimes they help, as annoying as they can be.

After Twilight delivers a batch of books to Sweet Apple Acres as a gesture of goodwill, she finds that one member of the Apple Family is not interested in her offerings. Through her efforts to discover why, she inadvertently discovers Big Macintosh's most shameful secret.

Thanks to JBL for the story idea.

Thanks to Holo, Midnight Legend, ajvasquezbrony28, Sir Rustbucket, ValorlordV5, and Sage Runner for editing.

Now with a YouTube reading by Thornquill!

Rated Teen for some thematic elements.

Trixie loves Starlight. Twilight loves Starlight. Sunburst loves Starlight. Starlight loves to have her options.

It's always good to have options.

Right?

Written in August 2021 for Themoontonite. Special thanks to gara, wish, seer, silent, snow, rice, red, flash, shas, and mushroom. Love you all

Coverart edited without permission from legionsunite.

Twilight is stewing in discontentment, but an ominous letter with no clear sender offers the promise of something thrilling waiting for her at Reichenbuck falls. She knows it's too sketchy to go alone... but something risky might just be what the newly minted princess needs to feel in control of her life again.
What she finds when she arrives will test her patience and compassion. Trixie has always been a minor nuisance, and if it's just her and Twilight in the middle of nowhere, there's nopony she could hurt, is there?

Set sometime in the middle of season 5. Severe Twixie. Contains attempted suicide and self-image issues, but has a happy ending.

(AAA! Thank you so much for the feature!!!)

Learning of an opportunity to take over Ponyville once again, Queen Chrysalis launches an ambitious attempt to infiltrate it - her plan involving a disguise she hadn't tried before; a young filly.

However, in her haste and excitement, she forgot a crucial detail.

A detail that caught the attention of three caped crusaders.

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This is my entry for the recent prompt in Bean's Writing Group! The prompt was "Chrysalis secretly lives as a pony in Equestria", but I kinda voided the bonus prompt.

This 'Earth' is so close, and yet so far from anything Twilight described on the other side of that mirror. How is Rarity going to get back to her home when she can't understand anyponybody? And didn't Twilight say she became human, and humans didn't use magic? Yet clearly some did... and that wasn't even counting all the devices that might as well have been magical, as far as Rarity was concerned.

Who knew one strange little gem could cause so many problems? They'd taken it from her after it'd brought her straight into a lab for study, but... If she ever found it again, she was definitely going to let Spike eat it. As soon as she got home. And by Celestia, she was going to get home!

...Will Rarity ever find her way home? Is the gem that brought her to Earth the key, and is there more to the factions maneuvering around her appearance?

To complicate matters, this is an Earth recovering from its first alien invasion (Rarity being technically the second, then). ...Or does that actually explain things? No, no it doesn't. But it will.

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To go with the Teen rating (or rather to explain it) there is light profanity and violence. I don't believe either are at a level where the warning tags are needed, but I'll mention it at least.
There may be some darker, more explicit moments in flashbacks, but I'll save those for Interludes.

There are certain issues involved with having Philomena as a pet. Giving the entire palace staff permission to take a swat at the bird if it tries anything? Has solved none of them. The phoenix is still trolling everypony, happily setting off pony tempers (and the occasional fire alarm) without a care in the world. The swats just aren't working.

Maybe a few murders will do the trick.

...or, given that it's Philomena, Celestia might have to go just a little further.

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)

Rated C for Crackfic.

Change can be a scary thing. The familiar is comforting, it’s something that we know to be concrete and unmoving. But even concrete cracks, and even marble loses its shine. Jo has learned this the hard way, dissatisfied, disillusioned, and with a secret that is bursting to get out. Sometimes, all you need is a little magical nudge. A healthy dose of inter-dimensional radiation never hurt nopony.

Cover art is by me!

Spoilers: contains Human-to-pony TF, Transgender themes, and plenty of fluff

This story is a sequel to All That We Become: I Am the Deep

In spite of how well things have been with Cadence and her family following their reconciliation and newfound bond, Chrysalis is still quite shocked when she is asked to spend the day with Shining Armor and Flurry at the traveling fair. The seemingly benign trip becomes something far more important for both of them as one last awkward wall between the two finally falls.