This story is a sequel to Right/Wrong

Dear Luna,

I know you can't hear me but...

A stand-alone sequel. Contribute to the TVTropes page!

This story is a sequel to If You Came to Conquer

Princess Nightmare Moon had tried to keep it secret. She had suppressed her power, feigned ignorance, played the outdated fool at every opportunity. She should have known that something like this would happen. A threat that would reveal her, whether she played dumb or not.

If she had to reveal herself, then at least she could protect Equestria in the process. She nocked the arrow. The bow felt so flimsy, but she could not risk him absorbing a spell. She laced magic across the arrow and the string and the air, enough to make it fly faster and aim smoother. She sighted him easily; Tirek was a large target. Now he only had to turn around. An arrow to the spine would kill him simply and instantly, no matter how much magic he had absorbed.

Once he was dead, the hard part would come: explaining herself to Celestia.

Prereading thanks; Meta Four, Blank!, Yami Vizzini, and especially Craine

Russian translation by Doof
Chinese Translation by Dreams Set Free

Comments contain spoilers.

Celestia has to realize that there aren't as many absolutes as she thought.

Contribute to the TVTropes page! Reading by Agent Fluffy! Reading of the old version by Lotus Moon! Recommended by PresentPerfect!

Nightmare Moon won. She defeated Celestia, broke the Elements, banished the sun. This all happened a very long time ago. So long ago, that she has had plenty of time to change her mind.

Of course, fixing our mistakes is never so simple, and never without consequences. Even with particularly potent help.

"If you came to conquer, you'll be king for a day. / But you too will deteriorate and quickly fade away."
— "No Control" by Bad Religion

A big thanks to Craine, Sorren, and Idylia for prereading and editing. If you enjoyed the story, don't forget to check out their pages.

Equestria Daily
Royal Canterlot Library (FIMfic version)
Russian translation by Doof
Chinese translation by Dreams Set Free

Kitsune Heart has done a dramatic reading of this story! Find it over here.
ObabScribbler has done a dramatic reading of this story! It includes a full cast of voice actors. Find it over here.

Comments contain spoilers.

The opening of the Empire has also meant the reintroduction of the species who live there. It's been over a thousand years since Equestria has been through this particular migration -- more than enough time to forget how hyper-territorial, angry, unreasoning, and just plain foul these travelers are. But it's finally the right season again, and that means Ponyville is about to get a refresher course in dealing with the second-worst thing to ever come out of the North.

...well, maybe first.

(A stand-alone, no prior-reading-necessary part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group: new members and trope edits are welcome. )

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

This story is a sequel to Rise of the Phoenix Empress

It has been nearly nine hundred years since Sunbeam Sparkle claimed the throne of Equestria after Celestia’s abdication. In that time, she has forged Equestria into a powerful centralized empire that spans most of the known world. Even the distant griffons and zebras pay reluctant homage to the Phoenix Empress.

In this series of connected one-shots, we’ll be taking a look at life the new Equestria Sunbeam Sparkle has forged, through the eyes of its inhabitants.

Study Buddies: Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle are the Empress’ co-students. They also rather dislike each other, mostly due to Sunset’s less than friendly attitude. Can they find a way to work together to fulfill the Empress’ high expectations, or will they just end up trying to kill each other?

Sunbeam Sparkle is not a good pony. She might not be pure evil, but she is ruthless, ambitious, and so power-hungry that she would even aspire to usurp Celestia's throne. Worse, she succeeds in manipulating Celestia into not only surrendering rule over Equestria, but her immortality as well.

It is often said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In most cases that’s true. Many good ponies have begun with good intentions, but slowly lost their way. However, this is not always the case. A rare few virtuous ponies have the character and strength of will to resist temptation, and are never corrupted by their authority.

Even rarer, there comes a time when gaining power makes a pony better than they were before. This is one such story.

Shining Armor goes to sleep one night and wakes up in the future, having been resurrected by his wife Princess Cadance for the fourth time. All of his memories of the past century are missing, and his kingdom is nearly unrecognizable.

As Shining struggles to make sense of the new world around him, he begins to suspect there's more to the story he isn't being told...

Written for The Writeoff Association's "All the Time in the World" contest.

You've read this scene before.

Sunny believed the tales. Really believed, in a way that most ponies didn't anymore. About the Elements of Harmony, and about Twilight Sparkle. Back when Equestria had princesses, and was whole, when every creature knew the real power of Friendship. She believed⁠—and she knew that, one day, if she believed hard enough, it could be again.

Elsewhere, distant, Twilight Sparkle watches her would-be student, and frets.

A Russian translation by NovemberDragon is available here. | Русский перевод от NovemberDragon доступен здесь.

A Chinese translation by forgivenlove is available here here. | 这里有forgivenlove的中文翻译。

A reading by ObabScribbler is available here.

Part 1 of Equestrian Scions, which continues with The Dreamer and Me.

A late addition to the "But what happened to Equestria?" story pile.

[04/29/21 - 05/02/21] Featured. That's a first for me. Thank you all so much.