Starlight Glimmer has succeeded. Twilight Sparkle and her friends never met. Their influence on Equestria never came to pass.

But is victory truly worth earning if the future you end up with is coming apart at the seams? Starlight isn't so sure anymore.

After all, it's hard to be sure of anything without a cutie mark to guide you.

Edited by the always amazing Jacky Fresh!

This story is a sequel to Sharing the Night

Twilight Sparkle is the alicorn of the stars, and after a period of self-discovery, ancient-goddess-discovery and a minor case of malmanifestation madness, she has finally come to share the night, a city, her ex-villain status and a bed with Luna, the alicorn of the moon.

Things are looking pretty good for her.

The five demigoddesses she created out of spite? Not so much. Celestia and Celestia are a little lost too, and for some unknown, completely mysterious reason, dragons are flooding into Equestria—and they're not acclimating. Someone probably should do something about that.

It never gets dull in Ponyville, does it?

TV Tropes

Magic isn’t real. Twilight Sparkle abandoned that fantasy in her childhood, along with nonsense like pony princesses and myths of a monster in the moon. The only thing worth believing in is that which can be proved—scientifically, of course.

But then a series of un-scientific phenomena starts happening at Canterlot High. The magic-obsessed transfer student won’t leave her alone, a vivid nightmare haunts her dreams with increasing intensity, and her benevolent mentor-slash-principal is clearly hiding something big. Everywhere she turns there’s talk and sight of magic; rumours of a thousand-year old prophecy and a monster returning to seek revenge. And worst of all? Twilight finds herself almost willing to believe it.

Almost. Good thing she’s smart enough not to, right?

An EQG-adjacent retelling of the season one opener. Sciset. Animated trailer. Reviewed by PaulAsaran. Art by me!

As a thank you, and upon seeing the potential in her, Twilight Sparkle has invited Sunset Shimmer to be a part of her team. Sunset has absolutely no idea what she's doing and she does not feel like she belongs; Whether if its from her regrets of trying to pursue power desperately and being corrupted by it, or her immense failure as Celestia's first pupil, or even her general inexperience with friendship, Sunset Shimmer has been humbled into nothingness, and has to rebuild her life from scratch.

And most complicated of all, Sunset Shimmer is now in love with Twilight Sparkle, the girl that changed her life for the better, and saved her from herself. She will keep these feelings extremely close to the chest; but her heart is on her sleeve now.

Can Sunset Shimmer improve? Can she be worthy and deserving of the friends that were imposed upon her? Could she possibly ever deserve to be side by side with a princess? Can she earn Twilight Sparkle's love?

Can she belong? Or is all of this temporary... And eventually she will have to move on, to anywhere more fitting of her insignificance? Are things destined to go wrong around her?

Will Midnight Sparkle return?

This story is a prequel of Across the Shimmerverse!

After experiencing an intense nightmare while attending Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, Twilight Sparkle sets out to unravel the mystery of its source. Unfortunately for her, the answers lie in a place she'd rather not look: her fellow students.

If you can hear my voice, know that Equestria is on an aethereal precipice. Your fascination with the Night has ensured you are already attuned to the latent dark energies of the Aether, allowing me to share insight into what has yet to come. Keep these insights to yourself.

3/14/24 Still Alive Edition

There's only one pony in Ponyville that the Mane Six have never met. Pinkie Pie has never thrown him a party, Applejack has never sold him a mug of cider, and Twilight has never seen him check out any books. And as far as that unicorn, Lapis Print, is concerned, that's exactly how it should be.

Lapis can't risk them knowing where he lives, what he does for a living, or even what his name is - if he gets his way, the Mane Six won't even know he exists, and nopony in Ponyville will miss him once he's gone.

It should be a piece of cake - after all, it's not like the biggest magical power in Equestria is about making sure everypony looks out for each other, right?

(Rated Teen for language - mental cursing mostly.)

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/418440/those-forty-years (The sequel is out! Check it out here. Check out my latest blog for why it's on my co-author's profile instead of this one.)

A legendary magical discovery leads the protagonist Twilight Sparkle through a chain of events that not only explain Celestia and Luna's history, but a history about herself that even she could not have imagined.
Co-Author profile link.

WE HAVE COVER ART! 8/3/2016 Check the source for the artist. (permission was given)

Twenty years ago, a horrible infection -dubbed the Blight by those who saw it- swept over the world and decimated plant and wildlife. What land was not withered was cultivated and preserved by cloisters of civilization; Conclaves. The world outside the Conclaves is still ravaged by the Blight, threatening to always sweep in and kill what usable land remains.

In an effort to prevent the already limited food stocks from becoming strained further, people created machines to assist in the work force. Steam powered, Clockwork, coal burning; a multitude of different sorts of semi-intelligent machines. All of them built with Robot-Ethics built into them: The Three Laws of Robotics.

However, at a young age, one girl sought to grant the robots something greater. A freedom that they never knew they could have.

Humanized/Robotized characters.

Spike led Thorax into the throne room of the Crystal Castle confident he could convince the others that the changeling could be trusted. That he meant no harm, and instead wanted to be an ally and live peacefully with them. That he could make them see Thorax for what he really was. That they could befriend the changeling and accept him as one of their own.

They didn't.

And consequences followed.

SPOILERS IN COMMENTS!
First featured on 11/12/2016. -- Now with a TV Tropes page. -- Review by Arcanum Phantasy -- Review by PaulAsaran

After a display of dissatisfaction turns into a revolution, Celestia found herself meeting a most unfortunate end at the hands of the mob. Being powerless to stop them or even muster up the courage to sway their minds, Twilight flees Canterlot and vows to bring Celestia back to life.

Through this vow the young unicorn starts to venture into territories of magic either hidden, forgotten, or unknown. On this path she encounters creatures and ancient entities that boggle her mind and aid her in her quest, but Twilight fears she might be losing the grander picture. Is the end of her journey bringing her beloved mentor back to life or is she slowly being corrupted by the miasma she now wades through?

Now on EqD!

Art by StDeadRa on DA. Hover over the cover art here to see the source link.