After failing to stop Nightmare Moon in the ancient castle of the pony sisters, Twilight Sparkle is left with a scar that will permanently change the rest of her natural born life. As Twilight recovers from her ordeal, she finds that she is left with a difficult choice. Either live her life as a lie or sacrifice her innocence to protect the ones she loves. The path before her is set and she must now walk it alone. The sands of time continues ever onward, with everyone already trapped in its muddy depths. The sun will rise and the sun will fall. Waiting for its call, Death awaits for all.

Tags, rating, and characters can change.

Art created by:
http://cuteskitty.deviantart.com (top)
http://ventious.deviantart.com (bottom)

I just put the two together

[Please read the author's notes after the expansion before reading. Thank you]

Welcome to the new Equestria, Twilight Sparkle. See your friends at each other's throats? You have to choose between them now, to stop the heartache of war with decisive victory. For the nation lies bleeding, its harmony shattered into a million pieces. Black and white and right and wrong have blurred together.

You must choose wisely, or all shall die.

~Image by JohnJoseco~ If anyone can find a fitting, unique image for this story, please do not hesitate to link in the comments.

[Author's Note]

The following stories should be read in order to get a good grasp on references to previous works.

- Sunset (Mandatory)*
- My Little Muffin (Optional)
- Clash of the Heavenly Titans (Optional)*
- Blood is Thicker / The Reluctant Reunion of the Redoubtable Rabble-Rouser (Strongly Recommended)

All can be found on my Deviant Art account: http://ciroton.deviantart.com/
Those with * can be found here on FIMFiction.

Many years after sending her beloved protege to Ponyville, unease sits heavily on Princess Celestia's heart as her relationship with Twilight Sparkle seems to have cooled despite all they've accomplished together. On the advice of her sister, Celestia sets out to investigate and resolve the lost connection with her most faithful student. What does it mean to be a Faithful Student...or a Princess of the Sun?

Earned a six-star rating on Equestria Daily and featured on its very own TVTropes page!.

On one day each year, Celestia and Luna turn control of the sun and moon over to a group of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria. Twilight is finally old enough to take part.

But she can't.

*****

Winner of the Princesses Not Included Writeoff event. Thank you to all of the participants for both your support and your help in bringing this to its current form.

Cover art courtesy of the wonderfully talented CosmicUnicorn.

Now available in Spanish, courtesy of SPANIARD KIWI.

After the Friendship Games, Sunset feels it's time to return home.

Only when she gets there, Twilight's castle is nowhere to be found, Cadance just got her horn, and Princess Celestia is still calling the bacon-haired pony her prized student rather than a failed one. And just reliving her past isn't on the table thanks to a pair of wings Sunset seems to have sprouted upon her return to Equestria.

With Sunset being back before she's supposed to, will the world stay as harmonious and on track, or will everything go down in flames as Sunset has to deal with allegations that she's really a changeling in disguise, a nerdy stallion with blue hair that wants to be her coltfriend, a pretty pink princess in need of remedial magic lessons, and an annoying purple pre-teen pony that will absolutely not go to bed without first being read Starswirl's Complete Mystical Mysteries Compendium?

Only time will tell

Twilight Sparkle is the prized student of Princess Celestia, two-fold champion of Equestria, bearer of The Element of Magic, and general mare of renown. But we are all a product of our history and Twilight, along with the whole of Equestria, is no exception. When she is asked by Princess Celestia to look into an strange new field of magic, our studious heroine will get to learn first-hoof just how fickle history, and how important its quirks, can be.

I got this idea after cruising DA and seeing that there was a rather appalling lack of Solar Flare fan content. Since I'm about as talented at visual art as Stevie Wonder, I decided to go with the written word as my medium. Also credit to http://emeralddarkness.deviantart.com/ for the cover image

I'd really appreciate feedback on how I can keep improving, so feel free to point out any errors in the comments. I'm looking forward to continuing this story despite my poor work ethic, so updates might be a bit slow. Regardless, I hope you enjoy what i have so far.

And with that I proudly present, What Might Have Been

Magic, the most powerful of the Elements Of Harmony, it binds them together and helps keep stability over Equestria. Cut that off and what happens? What happens when the threads of friendship are severed, and the flames of chaos are rekindled? For Twilight, her existence's end is simply the beginning to something much bigger. How will she act in a world deprived of the harmony it once held as a creature that must thrive on the blood that Equestria has lost?

When Twilight plays with magic beyond her control, she finds herself and Rainbow stuck in a strange, horrible world. When they find out what happened, will they be able to get home? Will they even want to?

With no response from Princess Twilight during the Friendship Games, Sunset decides to go back to Equestria and talk to her face-to-face. Upon entering the portal, she is thrown into a alternate time-line that is in a constant loop. Nothing makes sense and with every second it makes even less sense. With only Twilight and another pony knowing what's going on, Sunset must help make it right again.

A letter from Princess Celestia to her most faithful student revealing Equestria's most shrouded secret.