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.

Our Group
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.

Shining and Cadence knew that raising a princess would present challenges above and beyond those of raising a born alicorn. As one might expect of Twilight Sparkle's brother and sister-in-law, they prepared as best they could for many of the problems they might encounter along the way.

Of course, that doesn't mean anypony told Flurry, who feels like this is a bit of an overreaction to her wanting a cookie that happened to belong to somepony else.

Flurry in the cover image courtesy of AleximusPrime, used with permission. Source link to the image can be found by mousing over it.

Be it ancient menace or new threat, diplomatic snafu or domestic concern, monster attack or friendship problem, Twilight Sparkle and her friends have always risen to the challenge.

That's a bit of an issue this time around, when the challenge is a marked absence of Twilight Sparkle.

Ever since the Ponyville clone massacre, one survivor who escaped capture has been living undercover in Manehattan. But when a changeling mistakes her for one of his kind and brings her back to Chrysalis, it marks the beginning of mayhem for everypony.

Set in late season 6. Started for Camp NaNoWriMo, July 2019. Cover art by gordonfreeguy.

Flurry Heart has reached that stage in her life where she is looking for a purpose, something other than ruling or going through something so lame as a Goth phase to try and find her way in life.

Her father may have just given her just that it seems. Cadance has some concerns though.

Written as a response to a prompt in the Goth Flurry Heart Contest but is not an entry.

As Rarity stepped into her workroom, her sewing machine stashed in the corner and half-finished designs chucked into an overflowing trashcan, she felt her already hollow heart somehow crumble further, still in denial over one simple fact: 

Rarity used to be a designer. A good one and a bad one all at once.

But... she wasn’t a designer anymore. 

And if she wasn’t a designer, then she had no use to anypony. 

And if she had no use to anypony, she was worthless.

And if she was worthless, she was better off dead.

Thank you to Maxima for the cover art, and to Jykinturah and RBDash for seeing the absolute worst parts of me as I went through hell last year yet staying with me as if it was the most natural choice in the world. Thank you as well to my supporters on KoFi and Patreon for having faith in me even when I didn't.

It wasn't Eric's fault he hit the alien with his truck. How was he supposed to see a dog-sized horse walking down the highway in the pouring rain? His life would've been simpler if he just left the animal like any other roadkill. But in his injured delirium, the horse spoke.

This accident soon ends with an intimate personal knowledge of just how dangerous magic can be. An ancient rises, tied to a mysterious tome the pegasus was protecting on the night of the accident. A malevolent force grows within those pages, whispering louder and louder about the cleansing flame. But without the spells inside that cursed tome, Eric's humanity will be gone forever.

He has no choice but to master the words of power contained within, before his life is turned to ashes around him

A commission for Muziki. Edited by Two Bit and Sparktail. Cover by Zutcha.

The various artistic works created for this story are credited to their artists within the chapter they appear.

Lyra always knew there was something more out there. She learned in her youth, when she became the victim of a bloodsucking horror that kept her enthralled to his twisted will, feeding on the blood of others to sustain itself. Until Bonnie came, and set her free with fire and bullets. After agonizing withdrawal, Lyra's body healed. But her soul was another matter entirely.

Now she tries to live a normal life, passing the day to day as a music tutor. But horrors still stalk her nightmares, lurking in every shadowy Canterlot alley.

As time passes, something deep in Lyra rebells at this vision of her world, where mankind are desperate prey always fleeing from dark things. Something is calling to her, a vision of a better world. Once her soul wakes to magic, it will never sleep again.

Unless someone puts her in the dirt, of course. Someone like her monster-hunting girlfriend.

Updates Saturdays.

This story is a tribute to the World of Darkness. Knowledge of its setting and characters is not necessary to read this--its lead character will have to learn everything right along with readers. But for the curious, I'm using 1st Edition Mage the Awakening, Hunter the Vigil, Changeling the Lost, Vampire the Masquerade, and Werewolf the Forsaken. It's primarily a mage story, but will include elements of the other books where appropriate.

This story started with the simple premise of wondering what Twilight and her unicorn friends would look like as a cabal of mages. But given how long I've been writing and how old the fandom is now, centering a story on Twilight felt too predictable at this point. I wanted to use one of the background characters as viewpoint instead. Everything else grew from that premise--making the changelings into changelings, some earth ponies into werewolves, etc.

Editing by Two Bit and Sparktail. Two Bit was also my enabler for this story. The cover was made by the fantastic Zen. I'm really happy with how this one came out.

In the narrow alleys of Canterlot, Twilight, a dreamy orphan, grows up hidden in the shadows of the mighty Sun Empress Celestia. Through a series of surprising events, Twilight suddenly finds herself in the role of Celestia's personal apprentice. However, with this new position also come strange dreams that haunt her at night, and the monarch's behavior towards her becomes increasingly enigmatic and atypical.

Twilight's life takes a dramatic turn when she looks behind Celestia's carefully maintained facade. While rummaging through forbidden archives, she discovers censored documents that not only reveal the truth about her past but also Celestia's secret plans for the fate of the world. Caught between loyalty to Celestia and the urge to find her own identity, Twilight must decide how far she is willing to go to uncover the truth and avert the impending doom.

Every lover of a strong and clever Twilight will get their money's worth here. There are some very dark, but also very sweet scenes.

I appreciate any help, feedback, and criticism.

The world is a large place, and so many stories will never be told.

But we can spend a moment with these creatures, and catch just a flash.

Inspired by Flash Of A Reflection
Additional character/genre/warning tags will be noted beside a specific chapter's name.
All entries are set in the Eventide Verse.
Also check out author Patreon, Ko-Fi and commissions.