Twilight Sparkle has always admired Princess Celestia. Her fortitude, her wisdom, her eternal grace and love for all her subjects. Twilight has often fantasized about what it would be like to be in Princess Celestia's horseshoes. She never imagined those fantasies would come true.

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Events take place a short time after the Crystal Empire's return (early S3).
Proofreading from chapter three-onward provided by Daemon of Decay.
Cover image used with permission from TexasUberAlles, thanks!
Inspiration for Sunny Skies from PhantomFox.

Princess Celestia has a nightmare of her faithful student dying in a horrible attack that destroys most of Ponyville.
What is worse, though - is her response within the nightmare.

This story is an indirect prequel to my other story: An Old Guardspony'sLast Duty.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/13398/An-Old-Guardspony%E2%80%99s-Last-Duty

I wrote it as a separate story because mixing too much [Dark] into [Normal] stories is frowned upon – and I wanted to describe a nightmare that is vividly bad enough to make Celestia want to do something about it.

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Many Thanks to my Moony Maiden - you know who you are! Your editing prowess has made this work at LEAST 20% cooler.

(As always - MLP:FiM belongs to Hasbro. They own the world - I only play in it.)
Picture used under Creative Commons License (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickgensel/7003567267/in/photostream/)

[EQD Featured - 10/04/12] Derpy Hooves loses her job and home to personal failures and finds that her life of passivity and reckless indulgence have left her with nothing but an empty void in her heart. When she cries out for help, she receives two answers—one from a concerned Twilight Sparkle who tries to set her life back on track, and the other from a phantom mare who lashes her spirit to that of Silver Cross, traveling warrior and refugee of a destroyed nation.

The clumsy but well-intentioned optimism of the Elements of Harmony and the unshakable death wish of her new "soulmate" are challenging enough, but Derpy will have to contend with overzealous agents of the crown, romantic entanglements, wielders of impossible magic, an outrageously evil despot, and even the dreaded contents of Spike's Secret Stash before all's said and done. Little does Derpy understand that her pursuit of a way to fill the holes in her heart and mind will only draw her ever closer to the forbidden truths of Equestria's Lost History . . .

Cover Art by the talented McLarenF1LM22

The following is supplemental material. Do not read before finishing Episode 03.

APPENDIX

Character Ages
Ponies keep track of their age by seasons, not years. Birthdays are still celebrated annually, but measuring age in years is an unreasonable choice for creatures with a lifespan of roughly 25-30 - there just isn't enough room for demarcations that any reader could relate to. For clarity, the character's ages as of the time of this story are given in three categories below.

MLPL2 Character Age Chart [GDocs Format]

For reference, please note that MLPL2 begins about three years after the Nightmare Moon incident.
More characters will be added as they receive significant roles in the story.

Deleted Scenes

Episode 01, Scene 1 (Draft 4)
Episode 01 [ver. 1]

Twilight, now a Princess, has some sudden doubts and fears about her new position as pony royalty.
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This story has some speculation/fan theory. If you're okay with that, then please, read away!

Rainbow Dash usually had her head in the clouds, but she always thought she knew up from down. When an incredible revelation sends her life into a tailspin, she finds herself at the mercy of emotions she never thought she had, faced with hard questions and impossible choices.

Life is full of changes, but none of them are quite as disturbing as having a horn pop out of your skull…

Original Lauren Faust canon; non-alicorn Twilight, non-alicorn Cadance, no ascension. Diverges from the cartoon after season 3, with nods to later continuity wherever possible. Contains mature themes.

After Princess Celestia appoints Twilight Sparkle and her friends to be ambassadors to Earth, they decide to introduce themselves to the humans by appearing in a horse show, but they need someone to get them ready. They call on Megan, the legendary warrior who guarded ponykind in days of yore. Megan has banished or slain countless demons, but can she convince the ponies to hold still long enough for her to braid their manes?

This crosses over with G1, but should be accessible to all.

Featured on Equestria Daily!

Featured in The Royal Guard.

Now with its own TVTropes page!

Editing and fact-checking by Horsegirl123. Additional editing by Portmeirion.

Big thanks to Trinityinyang for the cover art!

It's funny how a random whim can turn out to cause the most profound encounters in a person's life. By attempting a bit of magic, I was able to get the once in a lifetime chance to talk with actual royalty! Only, royalty from another world...

For thousands of years, mules have used their mystical martial arts to protect the very ponies who despise them, but when the scandalous "Cakegate" photos reveal Princess Celestia for the confection-snarfing tyrant she truly is, the mules decide it's time for a regime change. It's time to assassinate Princess Celestia!

Featured on Equestria Daily on 6/11/2012, Star-5 Story.

The sun has stopped moving! Twilight has become an alicorn! What madness is this?
No, it's not what you're thinking. The royal sisters just decided to take a vacation, that's all! And they left Twilight Sparkle in charge! This is a test run for the young mare—one does not simply go from zero to princess in an instant, and so our dear purple pony friend needs some training first. Trollestia Style!

(In case you're wondering: Trollestia Style = give Twilight the crown and temporary wings, run off, and see how she fares on her own. Then again, this might just be an excuse for the royal sisters to go on vacation. You never really know.)

Will Twilight pass the test? Will Celestia and Luna decide she is ready to become a permanent alicorn? Uh, duh, I think we already know the answer. But Twilight doesn't!

Takes place shortly before Keep Calm and Flutter On. It's also worth mentioning that Twilight has no freaking clue how to fly.

After being stood up by Princess Celestia at one of Canterlot's most prestigious restaurants, the mane six plus Spike are stuck with the bill. How are they going to repay their massive tab?

Coverart created by the talented Seto.