How will the mane six get into that elusive box? Will it take talent, effort, or just dumb luck? And does the box contain great things, or just a bunch of junk?

Twilight is visiting her parents' house, her childhood home, after the Summer Sun celebration. Feeling a bit nostalgic, she realizes that she still has a bit of Zecora's flashback potion left over. Surely it couldn't hurt to relive a bit of her childhood...

The war was over and done with. No pony seemed to realize that there was very little preventing the Changelings from attacking once more. However, immediately after her defeat, Chrysalis finds out exactly why it would be unwise to attempt another invasion of Equestria.

The two most intriguing minds in Equestria sit down and have tea together.

Twilight's ascension to the throne was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but as the months have passed and the shadows of the world grown a little darker, the lessons of her mentors and the weight of her responsibility has done nothing but made her more uncertain about her ability to rule.

Now, on the day of a grand gathering of nations, an attempt on the life of one princess and the abduction of the other brings with it an old foe and the weight of the world. With the fate of empires resting on her shoulders, Twilight must undertake a grand journey into the heart of madness and the untold history of Equestria to save her princesses and the world entire...

But save them from what?

Featured on Equestria Daily 10/12/13
I am humbled once again to be assisted by the brilliant RainbowDri in bring this story to fruition. I couldn't have asked for a more insightful assistant or all-around excellent guy.
Coverart supplied by the extremely talented dreampaw (Power leads to corruption). I can't thank her enough.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are widely considered to be goddesses incarnate of Equestria. But goddesses have entities they must answer to. A thousand years ago, Celestia was challenged by one of these entities for the fate of her domain. She won, but at a terrible cost.

Now, the Game begins again, with Twilight Sparkle and her friends caught in the middle.
Cover art by Acceleron

Featured on Equestria Daily on 11/3/13

When a young earth pony from Stableworth travels to the capital on an errand for his mentor, his life will be forever changed.

***

Takes place in pre-unified (feudal) Equestria.

[An older project from the early days. Revised/updated April 2022.]

__________
Image by Hawk9mm (deviantart)

Twilight knows the princesses have seen more than their fair share of unpleasantness. She and her friends have, too. But after a terrifying experience during a trip to the Griffon Kingdom, Twilight fears what else she may see in the line of duty and begins to wonder what it really means to be a princess of Equestria.

Celestia had a problem. Somepony wrote a novel about Nightmare Moon's rebellion. This made Luna quite unhappy, and unfortunately for her sister, Luna has not yet gotten the hang of modern traditions like freedom of speech, the abolition of the death penalty, and not bothering Princess Celestia when she's trying to sleep.

Fortunately, Celestia also had a faithful student, one who is now a Princess with an ill-defined portfolio and perfectly capable of dispensing justice by the laws of both today and one thousand years ago.

Now Twilight Sparkle has a problem.

(Title image hacked together from vectors by Martinnus1, Hawk9mm, and Paulie15.)

Celestia wakes to find her birthday cake missing, and begins a full investigation to find the responsible party.

Written for One-Shotober.