Cadance isn't Sombra. But Sombra's leadership is all the crystal ponies remember, a ruler they had to love at all costs, with the final payment being their own lives. And as they gradually come to see their new Princess as leader instead of savior, too much of that residual fear is being transferred to her. They praise her, adore her, refuse to correct her no matter what she does -- because they live in terror of the consequences for doing anything else. They have yet to find their own voices, and may go on repeating hers until Celestia and Luna switch shifts. So how can she make them tell her when she's wrong, see that there's nothing to be afraid of, and take the next step in coming back to themselves once and for all?

Forbidding them to do anything other than criticize her should do the trick, right?

...right?

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group -- but can be read as a stand-alone, and no knowledge of the other stories is required. New members and trope edits are welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

NOTE - this is the sequel to my other story, The Braggart and The Bug. This won't make much sense if you haven't read that first (sorry about that!).

Leech the Changeling is enjoying his new life as The Great and Powerful Trixie's assistant. Exiled from Pony civilization, they travel across the non-pony lands of Equestria, astounding and sometimes annoying the natives as they go. Leech certainly wouldn't ever want to go back to life in a Changeling hive now, even if his swarm wanted him to.

Of course, they'd probably never want him back anyway... would they?

Art once again supplied by ackdari.deviantart.com/ and butchered by me.

Teleportation - the best way to travel! Not many unicorns master this ancient spell, and even among those who do, the details of how exactly it works remain a mystery. Some even fear what it may or may not do to the caster, but nopony knows for sure.

After much studying, it is time for Twilight Sparkle to perform the spell for the first time. A simple test: Just move from Point A to Point B. But Twilight is about to find out that there is more to teleportation than she thought.

A lot more.

Set prior to the show canon.
Inspired by (but completely unrelated to) Ocalhoun's story Blink.

Teleportation. It is the best possible way to travel... As long as you don't think about it too much. As long as you don't ask where Twilight goes in that split second when she's neither here nor there.

The sound I listened to as I wrote it, available to you in order to give you the option of having the same atmosphere.

No relation to the other story with the same name, just a coincidence of both picking the same excellent title. I was unaware that the other one existed.
Dramatic Reading by Charles Spratt | Second Reading by TheDizzyDan | Third Reading by Crafty Arts | Fourth Reading by Stormy787
Russian Translation 1 (by Aloz) | Russian Translation 2 (by Doof Ex Machina)

This story is a sequel to Apotheosis

Celestia leaves Equestria in the hooves of Luna and Twilight.

While she searches among the gods to answer her questions, Luna and Twilight must struggle to fulfill their own duties to ponies and to Equestria.
Now with a Spanish translation by SPANIARD KIWI: https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/Apoteosis-3-3-857110357

It's been two years since Chrysalis and her hive's reformation, but tensions are high as ponies are still getting used to the idea of working with changelings. Twilight Sparkle, determined to open up Chrysalis to the idea of friendship, convinces her to attend the annual royal meeting. To everypony else, it's simply a mundane meeting to catch up on current events. To Chrysalis, she would be in a room with all those who were once her mortal enemy.

No pressure.

Featured: 8/10/16 - You guys a freaking incredible! Thank you all for reading!

Rated for suggestive, sexy themes.

Special thanks to Setokaiva for proofreading. I do not own the pic, nor know who owns it, but if anyone can point me in the right direction to get permission I would appreciate that.

Hi, my name's Nightingale and I think my Mommy's the best Mommy in the world. She doesn't just have one face, but many. And she always saves the very best face just for me.

Mommy has a great big list of ponies that hurt her before she adopted me. I really hope she gets to meet them all again. To make them apologize.

Artwork by LaurenMagpie.

[Complete! With TVTropes apparently!]
Also, apparently, an animated trailer.

In a world of brass and steam, Twilight Sparkle had thought she had made a life-changing discovery with the invention of the telescope. For better or worse, she was correct.

Now her discovery has not only changed her life, but the lives of those she seeks out in her desperate attempt to contact the only other creature as lonely as Twilight herself.

It all would have been much simpler, but it had to be the one Twilight could only call The Mare on the Moon.

Decidedly not within walking distance, then.

[Featured on EQD before story was meant to be submitted. 4/03/2015]

[Editing team: Southpaw, Wolfvenom, Maskedferret, SwanSong and BluePaladin42, without whom this story would be a fraction of its current state.]
[Special thanks to Novel-Idea for the updated cover]

Featured on Equestria Daily.
Review by PaulAsaran

An Evil Lord learns of a forbidden spell that will destroy the world. Naturally, he intends to cast it.

No problem! Princesses Celestia and Luna will just send Twilight Sparkle to go stop him. That usually does the trick. There's only one catch:

There are only thirty seconds left to stop him before the spell is completed.

Inspired by Half Minute Hero

This story is a sequel to Awakening

This is the long dark night of the soul. More than 10,000 years have passed since Celestia’s reign over Equestria ended and the entire continent sank into the ocean and faded into myth and legend. Although the pony tribes have colonized the stars, the earth ponies have lost their connection to the land, the unicorns no longer think magic even exists, and the pegasus tribe has forgotten how to fly.
Although the principles of magic and friendship and Harmony are under constant assault in this age of war and strife, a pegasus named Thunder Gale has travelled to the ends of the galaxy in search of a long, lost friend of his. His search has led him to a planet where the old ways have not been entirely forgotten and evils left dormant since Celestia’s time stir once again. In order to survive the night, he’ll have to seek out guidance in the last place he ever thought of looking: the wings on his back.
Not a crossover nor an alternate universe, this is the far future and all this has happened before, and will happen again.
Cover art by Silfoe.
Now featured on Equestria Daily!