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.

In the first year of a unified Equestria, Princess Platinum relishes her duty of raising the moon, but in all the centuries of her predecessors, none had ever reported the moon talking to them. What a wonderful, special gift, yet one given on the verge of Star Swirl’s student Luna taking over the responsibility. She won’t give it up easily.

An entry in FanOfMostEverything’s Imposing Sovereigns II contest.

Featured on Equestria Daily.

In a nearly empty library, a librarian tears pages out of books and tosses them out an open window.

Twilight studies in the same library, alone.

They exchange words and a dance.

Awake and alone, Applejack will find a way to survive.

And here's a TV Tropes page, if you're into that kind of thing.

Queen Chrysalis planned for months to finally take Canterlot for herself. Months of reconnaissance, bribery, and maneuvering to finally lower the defenses of the Equestrian capital at just the right moment. But while her stated goal was always to have enough love to feed the desperate Swarm, the reality of the invasion was something else.

The queen spawned thousands of drones, filling the sky with untrained warriors in order to marshal the greatest forces when the day of battle arrived. But then that day came, and they won. Now what? Most of those drones didn't even matter enough to earn a name, and so they will probably die unremembered. But at least one is determined to make something of herself in her queen's new world. She's determined to understand these strange creatures called ponies, and to survive the invasion no matter what.

Begins during a reimagined Canterlot Wedding. Updates every Wednesday.

Sponsored by TyrannisUmbra on my Patreon. Edited by Two Bit and Sparktail. Cover by Zutcha.

Every morning, Princess Celestia wakes up in terrible pain, and every morning, she chooses to endure it. Until one blissful day grants her the blessing of feeling normal.

Few things in her life have ever frightened her so much.

6th-place winner in the /fic/ write-off "Look, I Can Explain..."

Featured on Equestria Daily!

Reading by Skijaramaz

Now translated into Russian.

The house was hers. It was old, and rotting from the inside out, but she had lived here longer than she could remember. Cleaning was impossible, as every time she cleaned or repaired something, it would rot and disappear when she turned away. It was a losing battle, but she needed to stay, though she couldn't remember why.
One day, an injured pony comes barging in, pursued by timberwolves. He's the first guest she's had in... well... longer than she could remember! His presence signals the start of a very interesting change in her private little life.

Everypony in Ponyville is happy, carefree, and content with their life on the whole... except one. Rarity harbors a dark, murderous secret. She is Equestria's only active serial killer. She has to balance her fashion life, her friends, and her murderous urges as best as she can. This is the story of her mind.

Edited wonderfully by Kaidan and Kagji5

Now with a Tumblr!

Now with a TVTropes Page!!!

It has been a year since I last saw her when she appeared on my doorstep, strangeness in her eyes and a mumbling under her voice.

She asked for my help to investigate a peculiar object, which once held an odd ancient magic. But it's benign now, she said.

It's benign now.

The newly coronated Princess Twilight suffers an abrupt tragedy. Having lost two loved ones, she begins to question her own mortality, and that of her friends.

AJ, Dash, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy. . . they are just the beginning. Twilight will live for thousands of years, so every pony she cares about—every pony she will ever care about, will die.

She could barely handle the pain of one funeral, let alone the thought of hundreds of them. Twilight finds a clever way to ensure all of her friends never die. They can’t all be ageless alicorns, but they can all move into Twilight’s Dollhouse. Then they can be best friends forever.

Sequel: Twilight's Dollhouse 2
Fanmade Song: Twilight's Dollhouse

Source: Dreampaw
Editor: Gage of Grandiloquence, Breath of Plagues
Pre-read & Idea pony: TypeWriterError,
v1.1 Revised chapters 1-10 on May 1st 2013
--Pending a few more revisions, including ch. 14
Now on TV Tropes.