Following her tragic death by yet another villain of the week, Twilight Sparkle finds herself facing something all alicorns eventually uncover.

The continue screen.

Twice, they denied her a great victory. Twice, she was left humiliated and beaten by pony hooves. But if there's one lesson Queen Chrysalis surely learned, it was revenge. If there was a second, it was where to stick the dagger in a loving mother.

But there are some things even she can't foresee.

Thanks to RBDash47, Cynewulf, Timaeus, and Alto for enabling the brainworms that led to this.
Preread by Cursori, VioletRoseIntheRain, and Cynewulf.
Artwork by skippyrip and can be found here.

In the dead of night, a thief breaks into the royal palace in Canterlot to steal Celestia's crown. She successfully sneaks through the palace and enters the room where this prize possession is kept, with not a soul the wiser.

Well, save for a certain Princess.

Featured on Equestria Daily!
Featured at the Royal Canterlot Library!

The results of Equestria’s parliamentary elections are in! To report the results, Princess Celestia sends out her new Minister of Elections... Discord.

While on a trip to Canterlot to do some research, Twilight happens upon a dust-covered book titled Insane Edicts: A Legal History of Equestria. Sure, the book seem innocuous enough, but when she opens it up she discovers that Celestia is far more eccentric than she'd like to believe.

Shining Armor learns the most important tactical lesson of his life.

Audio version! https://youtu.be/YgDr0Xc6rN8

Now with a Spanish translation by Spaniard Kiwi!

Many have opposed Celestia and all of them have fallen, one way or another. Some she has slain. Others she redeemed. Her servants and friends have done great deeds in her name and her fame has spread throughout all of creation. She is the Sun in all of its glory.

And yet she finds that she cannot get a single child to believe she is even real.

Part of the Monophysite Quartet.
Ageless, Or Celestia Plays Dice With the Universe, Have You Considered My Servant, Twilight?, and The Esoteric Rites of Darkness (NSFW), all coming from a single story idea called "Monophysite" and exploring some perception/idea/theory about who or what Celestia is and how that effects her friends and loved ones.

It could have been just another night. Instead, Vinyl Scratch leaves a show to find herself suddenly presented with a chance to make a difference in the life of a filly no one else will look twice at. Now if only she can convince Octavia she's not making a huge mistake...as usual.

Note: This story now has an indirect sequel set several years in the future in The Most Unlikely Places. Cover art by SonicDash777.

Almost everypony in Ponyville knows about Scootaloo. She lives with her Aunt Ditzy and her Cousin Dinky and is one third of the trio of terrors that are the Cutie Mark Crusaders. However, almost nopony knows who Scootaloo's mom is. When her mother finally comes home to Ponyville, Scootaloo doesn't want anypony to find out and her friends are determined to learn why. They discover something they never suspected...

Scootaloo's mom is awesome!

And that is exactly the problem.

During her studies in the Canterlot archives, Twilight Sparkle makes a startling discovery - Star Swirl the Bearded, the most famous unicorn in Equestrian history, had a son! Tracing the family line down the centuries, Twilight is ecstatic to discover a direct descendant of Star Swirl is still living today. She sets out to meet this "Beatrix Lulamoon", who surely is a great and powerful unicorn worthy of her heritage with a wealth of ancestral knowledge to share... isn't she?

Dramatic reading by Goombasa - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bECfAkLDoSM