Princess Celestia always knew that Twilight Sparkle was destined for great things, but she never revealed the source of that knowledge, not even to those closest to her. When the day of Twilight's true destiny finally arrives, can Celestia fulfill an ancient promise to save Equestia's past, present, and future, even it means saying goodbye to Twilight forever? How can Celestia refuse her mother's last wish?

Art by the inimitable Harwick

Pinkie Pie gets her friends to explain various aspects of Ponydom to the audience (aka a wall of Sugar Cube Corner's kitchen). A silly story poking fun at some of the fan-produced elements of MLP.

When history is rewritten so that Equestria is doomed, it's not a hard choice to try to revert the timeline.

While battling Starlight Glimmer's interference with the timeline, Twilight is faced with a moral dilemma when she lands in a timeline which has weathered Equestria's trials almost as well as her own. How can the lives of those living there be balanced against her vanished world?

Celestia: a filly of twelve. A cynical, hungry pauper, with a young sister to protect and feed.

But the food has run out. Winter has gripped the land for too long, and now the pair face starvation.

The cynic in Celestia knows she can't move the sun. But the child in her wonders... and so she tries.

(Inspired by the Donovan song of the same name.)

(Now with a dramatic reading here, by Crafty Arts, and here, by KeyframeProductions.)

(Now with a Spanish translation here.)

Starlight succeeded in her plan for revenge against Twilight Sparkle. She prevented the pivotal sonic rainboom from ever happening, effectively destroying the timeline that lead Twilight on the path to befriending the rest of the Six. Which also kills the three of them. Because Starlight is an idiot blinded by a quest for vengeance. But before Twilight fades away, she tells a slightly younger Princess Celestia and Sunset Shimmer several things they will need to know to have any hopes of keeping Equestria safe from the many countless terrors that await it in the near future.

The story of Celestia and Sunset picking up the pieces of a mirror yet to shatter. Destinies will change. Fates will intertwine. Hearts will break. And forbidden knowledge will eventually come back to bite the Princess in the... Plot adaptation prequel of the original series.

/x/x/x/

Tags:
Death: Spike (sad), Starlight (violent), Twilight (eh sorta) but their story counterparts are still alive
Profanity: nothing you won't see on tv
Violence: one particularly brutal scene near the beginning but everything else is pretty mild

Genres:
AU: takes place in universe with with no sonic rainboom
Drama: focus is on the dramatic dynamics of Celestia and Sunset
Sad: melancholic themes concerning main characters throughout
Tragedy: major canon character deaths at the beginning ONLY
Romance: possibly a romantic subplot or two that isn't the main focus

Characters:
Primary: Celestia and Sunset
Secondary: Luna and Twilight/Spike
Tertiary: Rainbow Dash and Starlight Glimmer
Supporting Cast: Pinkie/Rarity/Fluttershy, Wind Rider, The Oranges, Maud Pie, Stormy Flare, Firelight/Stellar Flare/Sunburst

Discord has failed to break the friendship between the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Desperate and with a rainbow of friendship blasting towards him, he teleports himself to a future where the Elements of Harmony are no more so that he could trade places with his future counterpart.

What he didn't know was that in this future, he has been reformed and the ponies there think he's somehow lost his memory and are determined to refriend him. Gag!

Meanwhile, the reformed Discord is teleported to the past, facing very hostile ponies and a world of Chaos his past counterpart had created. Chaos is a wonderful thing and he was all up for having some fun but what was the point if he had nopony to share it with?

After accidentally learning that each Princess has their very own secret rooms to retreat inside whenever they wish, Twilight Sparkle makes it her mission to uncover just what could be inside Princess Celestia's.

Perhaps Twilight should have knocked first.

Artwork by Hawk9mm.

Apple Bloom was starting to get suspicious. No pictures of her with her parents, no stories about it, no flashbacks where she appeared together with them. So she took matters into her own hooves, and had some tests done in secret, with Twilight's help, to determine her actual relation with her supposed family.

The results were... certainly unexpected. Interesting, to say the least. Absolutely devoid of any logical sense, more appropriately.

When Princesses Celestia and Luna visit a public art gallery, they come upon a painting of Celestia, banished to the moon. They react to this in the only reasonable way: artistic criticism and analysis.

*****

Cover art by that paragon of good sportsmanship and all-around talented person, Rocket Lawn Chair.

Originally written for the Reversal of Fortune writeoff, with the cover art as the prompt. Thank you to everyone there for the pre-reading and advice, and to Pascoite for his (always invaluable) additional help and editing suggestions!

Now available in Spanish, courtesy of SPANIARD KIWI.
Now available in Russian, courtesy of oranzinispegasas.

This story is a sequel to Put that crown back where it came from

You all asked for it. The reign of the mighty Leaf With Googly Eyes has arrived in Equestria as best villain, and total conquest seems a forgone conclusion.

That, or Celestia really doesn't want to work today.