This story is a sequel to Midnight's Shadow

Midnight Sparkle's career has seen her though terrors nopony should have to endure: warlocks, hags, and worst of all, dirt. Her newest assignment promises to be no less challenging; when the Count of Honeyfield dies without a clear heir, Midnight is tasked by none other than Princess Celestia herself to oversee the transition of his estate to the count’s lawful heir. The question of why a magus of her talents and status would be given such a routine task quickly becomes moot; as the estate’s residents maneuver and plot for the late count’s estate, it’s clear that he might not be the only one laid to rest before it’s over.

The surface isn't safe anymore.

In the ruined depths of Canterlot, a team of brave salvagers discover six mares, long forgotten but miraculously preserved. Though these mares cannot remember what happened to their world, they possess powerful magic that hasn't been seen for centuries.

Now the Elements of Harmony are thrust headlong into a world beyond recognition. Twilight and her friends must dive into the sunken remains of history to determine what happened, but Equestria isn't the harmonious land it once was. Before they can focus wholly on the past, they may first have to survive the present.

It isn't going to be easy.

Audiobook by Skijarama!
Original Soundtrack by Noc!

Special thanks to Doccular42 for the original concept, and M1ntf4n for editing!

Join the Empty Horizons Discord!

Big thanks to dA artist fantazyme and reader jeffh4 for making this fantastic rendition of Rarity at Mr. Rich's party!

On the fence of whether to read? Check out the Rage Review or hear PaulAsaran's thoughts!

After the Changeling invasion, Celestia and Luna make the decision to have Twilight investigate the Elements of Harmony and solve the mystery of their power.

A thousand years later, Rainbow Dash awakens in a world she does not recognize. She has no idea how or why she came to be there. She does not know the language, the geography or any of the rules of this new time. She soon finds allies in Star Fall, a scholarly pegasus whose Talent is Magic, and Astrid, Star Fall's Griffin guardian. Together they set out to discover why Dash has been sent to the future, and how she might return to when she belongs.

War threatens the nations, a Nightmare stalks the shadows, and Rainbow Dash's arrival has turned her into a wild card in a deadly game that pits the law on both sides of a broken Equestria against a mysterious criminal figure, Max Cash. Yet the stakes are higher than anyone knows, for in her research Twilight Sparkle discovered a dark secret about the Elements, something that will shake the foundations of the world.

Cover image by SierraEx
Has a TvTropes page

A different take on alicorn ascension. Sixteen years after arriving in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle is excited to have invented a brand-new kind of spell, but it will come with consequences she cannot possibly anticipate. Meanwhile, threats in shadows around the world conspire to overthrow the Solar Throne. With her world turned upside down, she will have to come to terms with the role that fate has dealt her while straining to keep Celestia in power.

Now with a TVTropes page! Please show it some love! Also check out the official side stories, Designing Intrigue, and Love and Barriers! (With even more in my stories page!)

(Please Note: This story was started before any season three information was available. All episodes in season three and later are non-canon for this story, which also means there's no Crystal Empire in this one. In addition, the promotional map released close to the beginning of season three was also not available and is not compatible with this story. While the OC tag is active because there are OCs in the story, they're really just supporting characters. The focus is on Twilight.)

Also be sure to check out the Rites of Ascension Expanded Universe Group! We're working to develop the resources needed for other authors to try their hand at writing stories set in the Rites Universe!

The Book Two cover art was created by the amazing Silfoe! The original cover art can still be found at Violet Squiggle's deviantArt page.

Author's Notes, including proofreader's credits, can be found here!

"This is 100% Approved by Twilight's Library!"

This story is a sequel to Upheaval: Reckoning

Equestria's fragments have reunited, and the power of sunlight shines once more within Celestia. With the remnants of the Old Kingdom destroyed, the Abyssal Throne sent away, the threat of Gravitas defeated, and Black Rose no more, Equestria now faces the encroaching darkness of Oceanus and his rebels.

But the stage is not yet fully set. Twilight Sparkle and her friends must gather what means they may before the battle is joined.

Cover art provided by Captain Nibbles

Waking up in an alternate universe in which you are a supervillain can be hard.

Finding out your friends are rebels trying to kill or overthrow you isn't very easy to deal with either.

But trying to solve the situation? That's a real horn cracker.

Twilight Sparkle is an expert in unicorn magic, but earth pony magic remains a mystery to her. The books in her library have very little information about the earth tribe's abilities, other than their famous strength. Twilight is determined to uncover their secrets.

What she learns will change her life.

And it just might change Applejack's life as well.

Featured on Equestria Daily.

Once upon a time, there was a pony named Fan Service. She had an amazing life -- money, fame, good looks, but she realized it was missing something: character depth. And so she set out to seek the one thing that would make her life complete.

Written in four hours during a speed writing exercise. Totally unedited. Enjoy!

It's been a couple of weeks and way more than a couple of games since Pinkie Pie introduced the Mane Six to the joys of playing the classic real-time strategy title, Age of Empires II. Unanswered questions surround this mysterious game: where did it come from? Who made it? Why is there so much killing?

Never mind all that - Twilight Sparkle and her friends have a game to play!

NOTE: Though I've tried to make the story more about the relationships between the four gamers (no Rarity or Fluttershy, sorry!) than about the game itself, some rudimentary knowledge about Age of Empires II is required if you want to understand what is going on. I wrote this as a short-ish story so I'm not really going to go into technical details much.

=====INFO AFTER BREAK=====
References consulted while writing story:
ZeroEmpires (Commentary on Competitive AoE II matches)
wikiHow (5 Ways to Make Your Economy Boom in Age of Empires II)
Wikipedia (for info on Byzantines, Moon & Vikings)
Luttwak, E. "The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire" (Harvard University Press, USA), 2009 (Byzantine military strategy)

Youtube links:
Prologue - PakAttack95 (Youtube Channel)
Main Menu and Victory Music - mikec1000 Civilization Themes

Cover Image:
Wikipedia
Age of Empires II
Cutie Mark Vectors by Hawk9mm (deviantART page)

(Many thanks to Delta93 for proofreading!)

(Battle scenes at Chapter 16 and Chapter 17, that's where the 'Gore' tag comes in, just in case.)

In retaliation for the attack on Canterlot, Princess Celestia leads a crusade against the Changeling Horde. The Elements of Harmony fight bravely in the campaign, and are rewarded with landed titles in the newly-conquered Duchy of the Outer Lands.

Friendship is magic, but will it prevail against the cold, hard reasons of state?

Tagged as 'Alternate Universe' because of divergence following Season 2's ending. But if possible, I will try not to go too far off track. The story will probably have a more medieval atmosphere than canon.

Rated 'Teen' just in case.

While the story will contain all of the Main Six, interactions between Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Twilight will (if according to plan) drive most of the plot. Thus the tags.

Other characters from MLP:FiM might be mentioned in the story, and they will deviate (a lot) from 'acceptable' canon. List so far: Princess Celestia, Spike, Applebloom, Big Mac, Granny Smith, Angel, Twilight's parents, Cadence, Shining Armor, Rainbow Dash's parents, Discord, Luna, Lightning Dust, Pinkie Pie's parents, Octavia, Pinkie Pie's sister (Inky), Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo.

Inspiration from the strategy game "Crusader Kings II", the novel, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and a metric ton of Chinese historical dramas.