Before her descent into madness and her rebellion as Nightmare Moon, Luna lived entire lifetimes as a mortal and traveller amongst the ponies of Equestria.

Restored to her true self, Luna knows she must return to her cyclic life to remain whole. As preparation she chooses to reacquaint herself with the lives of her subjects in this modern age, and in the guise of Sable Moonshine, unicorn scholar and distant friend of Twilight Sparkle, she travels to Ponyville to spend time with Twilight's companions. Despite the 'exciting' month of astronomical observation and scientific research planned by Twilight, Luna nevertheless finds time to work a day at Sweet Apple Acres. And then another.

And another.

Applejack, meanwhile, is pleasantly surprised by Sable's dedication and enthusiasm for hard work. She's less pleasantly surprised by Sable's enthusiasm for Applejack.

When she was birthed with horn and wings she was thought to be a pegacorn, a rare and blessed blending of the tribes, whose long life and power brought wealth and stature.

Then the guards came, seeking the first alicorn born in over a thousand years.

An entry for The Most Dangerous Game contest
Now archived in Twilight's Library

In an Equestria without the Princesses or the guidance of the Elements of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle is a researcher on the cusp of her greatest discovery and simultaneous fall from grace while finding love at the same time.

Initially written for the May/June Twiluna contest. Proofreading and idea-seeding credit goes to Pearple Prose Rated Teen for language and implied sex/violence.

Twilight Sparkle has too much magic, and it will take her decades to learn to control it. Her spectacular loss of control during her entrance exam only proves that fact. She is a danger to herself and others.

After Sunset Shimmer’s disappearance, Princess Celestia needs a new student to bear The Element of Magic to defeat Nightmare Moon. With all of Equestria at stake, Twilight Sparkle…is not the pony she needs.

Princess Celestia seals Twilight Sparkle’s magic with the distant promise of one day teaching her.

But there are two diarchs of Equestria. Amidst a lucid dream, an offer is made.

“Hello, Twilight. Would you like to be my student?”

Cover art provided by Lafiir.

Ten years ago, Twilight made the ultimate sacrifice in order to defeat Tirek. Equestria has been in a state of civil war ever since.

Canterlot has at last fallen, and the six heroes of the rebellion now go to face the ultimate challenge: defeating the godlike Twilight Sparkle. What they expect to be a brutal, hard won quest for glory and Equestria's salvation turns into something entirely different... and now they face a choice.

This story is a reaction piece against the Tyrant Sparkle trope.

Special thanks to Absolution for pre-reading and Danger Beans for proofreading.

Cover art credit: BluestreakFUS

Now with a Chinese Translation courtesy of Hellagur.

Twilight and Celestia have been in a relationship for a while now, and Twilight decided that it was the right time to introduce her new marefriend to her parents. Celestia was nervous, of course, but thought little of it.

But when Twilight asks about Celestia's parents, things get far more complicated.

After all, it's always a little awkward when your parents aren't exactly ponies in the first place.

Now on Equestria Daily!

And in Russian!

Entry for the Fourth Twilestia Contest

Super special thanks to Fuzzyfurvert and Habanc for putting up with me and my silly ideas and generally being awesome, and to OnionPie and Craine for proofing.

It's been nearly a year since Twilight Sparkle entered the newest phase of her adulthood: princessdom. And with that change come a lot of other changes, big and small.

However, there is one thing that hasn't changed: her bedtime.

When Twilight's foreign-born mother, Twilight Velvet, comes to visit, all Tartarus breaks loose in the Sparkle household after Twilight comes home late from a party. Unfortunately for everypony involved, neither mare is backing down--at least, not without a few good shouting matches.

Story edited by John Perry, Roger Dodger, and Nick Nack (they are all beautiful men deserving of your love).
Picture edited by me. Twilight Velvet vector by TrueDesknight. Twilight Sparkle vector by Flutterflyraptor. Library background by Martinnus1 (they are all beautiful peoples deserving of your love).

Comments are always, ALWAYS appreciated.

The words flowed across my tongue and out of my lips smoothly. They felt right, they felt... correct.

I felt the familiar thrum of magic throughout my body, a wondrous feeling, a beautiful feeling. It started as a warmth, then a tingle, then a flood of sensation... different feelings based upon the essences of the magic.

The pulsating purple shimmer surrounded my horn, and began to illuminate the different glyphs and geometric patterns I had painstakingly drawn out for the last few hours.

In my past I endeavored to force my magic, to bend it to my will for my own needs, but now it came effortlessly. Softly, gently, the magic lifted me up from the floor. I had closed my eyes previously in order to lessen the sensory input that could distract me, but now I opened my eyes to watch my ascent.

A faint haze encompassed my vision, but rather than clouding the objects around me everything was sharpened, brightened. I could see the aura of each object glowing faintly, and see the ordinarily imperceptible ley lines that connected everything.

I continued to chant, taking in the aromatic scents of fragrant herbs and incense, feeling the light tickle of the supernatural currents that danced through the air around me, tossing my mane this way and that.

I raised my forelegs forward, leaned my head backwards for the final words of power. I filled my lungs with air to expel that last essential command...

...and something went horribly, terribly wrong.

Princess Twilight Sparkle discovers a centuries-old mystery hidden in the Royal Archives. Her investigation leads through layer after layer of deception and misdirection, setting her hooves on a path that seems to be leading to a mysterious secret. Along the way, she learns that some friendships can be very, very strange.

Book 1 of the Alicorn Adventure series.

AUDIOBOOK by VisualPony
Featured at the Royal Canterlot Library
TV Tropes Page (Courtesy of Sandtalon)
Goodreads Page (Courtesy of Facedeer)
Equestria Daily Page

WARNING: Major spoilers in the comments. Takes place several months after the end of season four. (Not a Da Vinci Code crossover, BTW!)

Do you see a dark tag? No, you don't. Not dark. Well, okay, there are a couple of dark-ish bits, but that's all. Not enough to warrant a tag. Speaking of tags, there really ought to be "Badass Twilight" and "Friendshipping" ones.

Sequels and side-stories (and more) can be found here Offprint and AO3, and a hardbound two-volume set of all that can be ordered from The Ministry of Image.

My editor for the first edition of this story was Gogito, and I can't thank him enough for all the hard work he did. My editor for the revised version was PresentPerfect, and he did a terrific job of getting the story into excellent shape.

Twilight still isn't having a very good day. An army of changelings is attacking Canterlot, and the experimental spell that blew up in her face has stuck her in a time loop until she gets everything perfect and saves Equestria.

She's got a plan. She's also got a problem: Suddenly, she's not the only one whose day is repeating. And when you're caught between unstoppable force and immovable object, life has a tendency to get complicated.

* * *

This story is an authorized alternate-universe re-imagining of Eakin's Hard Reset, in which multiple loopers turn the time shenanigans up to 11. (Knowledge of Hard Reset is not required, but based on reader comments, will help in sorting out the early chapters.)

Cliff's Notes versions: RampantArcana has started a GitHub repository to codify the time-loop rules and the early-story timeline. Hawthornbunny has posted a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of all the loops, including the ones we don't see, with a lot of critical analysis. Those links contain spoilers (of currently posted chapters). If you're confused, either one of those fan projects is a great starting point, and story comments have a lot of insightful discussion as well.

Publication schedule: 2014 kicked my plot, but as of November I'm picking up the writing again and hope to have something by the end of the month.

Cover art by Alexstrazsa.