Octavia isn't the type of mare to mix up with suspicious crowds. She stays away from ponies who are different from herself, never giving them second thought, never considering the fact that they might be friendly.
But what happens if Octavia doesn't have a choice? What if she needs one of these uncouth ponies she so despises, and avoids at all costs? And mostly, what will her family say if she goes as far as to fall in love with one?

Rated teen for some minor sexual themes

This beautiful new cover pic is by the great and powerful (in my opinion) RainbowShy1241. A big huge thanks to you, because it's awesome!

Twilight and her friends are approached by Princess Luna who presents them with a set of questions that trigger a long and perilous journey.

Did you ever stop to wonder what became of Trixie, Gilda and Blueblood after your encounters? What did these episodes truly mean to you? What role will they yet play in the lives of the Elements of Harmony?

Last, are these questions as relevant as the journey towards the answers? Who will benefit from seeking these answers - you, them, or I?

A different take on alicorn ascension. Sixteen years after arriving in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle is excited to have invented a brand-new kind of spell, but it will come with consequences she cannot possibly anticipate. Meanwhile, threats in shadows around the world conspire to overthrow the Solar Throne. With her world turned upside down, she will have to come to terms with the role that fate has dealt her while straining to keep Celestia in power.

Now with a TVTropes page! Please show it some love! Also check out the official side stories, Designing Intrigue, and Love and Barriers! (With even more in my stories page!)

(Please Note: This story was started before any season three information was available. All episodes in season three and later are non-canon for this story, which also means there's no Crystal Empire in this one. In addition, the promotional map released close to the beginning of season three was also not available and is not compatible with this story. While the OC tag is active because there are OCs in the story, they're really just supporting characters. The focus is on Twilight.)

Also be sure to check out the Rites of Ascension Expanded Universe Group! We're working to develop the resources needed for other authors to try their hand at writing stories set in the Rites Universe!

The Book Two cover art was created by the amazing Silfoe! The original cover art can still be found at Violet Squiggle's deviantArt page.

Author's Notes, including proofreader's credits, can be found here!

"This is 100% Approved by Twilight's Library!"

Princess Celestia has returned from a diplomacy mission with the Changelings, and she has a big surprise. She and Queen Chrysalis have fallen for each other and are now a couple. Cadence, more than a little distraught over what has transpired, plans to separate the two and prove that Chrysalis is still the evil enemy she was at the Royal Wedding.

Sequel: To Cast the Doubt Away

[Complete] Celestia awakens to see an empty world, white sandstone stretching the horizon. She wanders the world as she builds it from her imagination, filling it with life, but as time passes, the world that she created begins to seem like little more than a lucid dream, conjured from the dust.

After the defeat of Queen Chrysalis, the changelings left behind don't know what to do. They eventually decide to seek the one who defeated their queen and make her theirs. What really goes on in a changeling's head? Can Cadence handle the vile creatures without prejudice? What do the crystal ponies think?

Teen due to cursing, only references to sexual stuff, and cursing

When Luna becomes the unwitting test subject of an ancient spell she discovered, she gets more than she bargained for.

Now a male alicorn named Lucian, he is forced to wait for several months before he can go back to being the mare he once was. With the help of Twilight Sparkle, however, he realizes that his accidental transformation is not the curse he had believed it to be. Thanks to his new identity, he is able to move into Ponyville without being recognized, and gets to make friends for the first time in centuries, learning many important lessons along the way.

At the same time, however, Lucian must deal with his own long-forgotten personal demons; what can he do when his past begins to catch up to him? Can he protect those closest to him? And more importantly, can he even protect himself?

The answers, perhaps, may lie with his sister's greatest pupil... who may come to be far more than just a friend to him.

Note to readers: This story takes place between season 2 and season 3. Therefore, inconsistencies with season 3 canon may ocasionally occur. Consider it an "Alternate season 3," if you wish.

Cover by jamey4

Twilight wakes up with a serious head-ache caused by her horn spontaneously growing due to a sudden increase in her magical power. Nopony seems to have an answer for it, but it has attracted the attention of an unusually powerful militant foreign nation intent on her capture and execution. When a string of events lands Twilight before Celestia's father himself he tasks her and her newfound magic with tying up some loose ends he'd left behind long ago, ultimately connecting with this foreign nation's goals. With their powerful enemy baring down on Equestria, intent on taking it in a stranglehold, Twilight and her friends have little other choice than to travel the world and hunt for the rest of Celestia's family and end several thousands of years worth of feuding to prevent the war coming to Equestria before they themselves are caught.

Image Picture by Lostzilla of DeviantArt.
(find him yourselves)

Ech is a whiny bitch, but he helped edit a little I guess. (you too bats)

Meet Cyr. He's one of the last of his breed: A Changeling Behemoth, living battering rams that are selected and mutated from the worker caste of the Hive. Aged from centuries of labor and service to his Queen, he grows disgusted and weary of the Changeling's plots and malevolent attempts to feed on love, especially after his capture during the Canterlot wedding. Thus begins a new (and possibly more enjoyable) chapter of his existence.

On a dark day, one may wonder: just what horrors lie beyond the veil of the heavens? What ghastly demons exist that could only spawn in a pony's dreams? What terror!? What blight in the face of all that is good!? What- wait, it's the Mane Six?

What sort of twisted reality contains a lycan Applejack, a vampiric Fluttershy, a ghostly Rarity, and a lich queen Twilight Sparkle, you may ask? Why, it's just the Nightmare Realm, existing one and a half dimensions below and above the normal Equestria, and they are sick and tired of Nightmare Night not living up to its name in the 'real' world.

However, are these nightmares truly nightmares, or do they just like a good scare? Why, it depends on who you're talking to! So sit tight, give way to fright, for coming soon is Nightmare Night!