From the stone age to the modern world, Celestia guides her little ponies into the future. And she needs to keep playing. Just one more turn.

Always one more turn.

Done as a speed-writing exercise in about three hours. Totally unedited. Enjoy!

Twilight Sparkle took a nap after Season 9 ended, only to find herself back at the start of Season 1. Stuck going home the long way 'round, will she be able to keep the timeline she remembers intact, or will the butterfly effect bulldoze over everything she held dear before the reset?

Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, this is a story concept I originally was going to abandon until I got a mountain of positive feedback. Expect character tag changes as each chapter comes out. (And yes, the cover image is inspired by Groundhog Day.)

Here's an entirely optional guide to the canon of this story, which will be updated periodically to include new details.

Featured April 20th - 22nd, 2018.

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

The continue screen.

Death is the end of everything. Unless you're Pinkie Pie. In which case, Death will do anything to keep you from dying, so he doesn't have to deal with you. Ever.

Unfortunately, it's never that simple.

Oh, hello there. First comedy one-shot in ages that is quite original. At least, I hope.

Do what you will, I think it was a great idea.

Oh, and you see the cover art? Yeah, I did that in about a minute. Pretty good, if I do say so myself.

This story is a sequel to Empress Rarity's 250th Birthday

“We are friends, are we not?”

The Empress’ two hundred and fifty-first birthday is just a few days away, yet there is little cause for celebration as Rarity’s Empire is crumbling before her eyes. Bad luck somehow meets her at every turn, and there’s a grim shadow looming over any hope for her nation and her crystal ponies. With a powerful darkness locked within her own mind, will the voices in her nightmares tear her apart? Or can she learn to rely on those she once called friends before it's too late?

Welcome to the sequel to Empress Rarity’s 250th Birthday.

This story was designed with new and old readers in mind. I have made sure to carefully place information to touch on the important facts to remind those that had read the first book of what happened, and to let new readers know what is going on in this one. Not everything is going to be explained from the last book at once, but it will be eventually covered.

So it is not necessarily a requirement to read Empress Rarity’s 250th Birthday, but it is highly recommended.

The group for the story: Birthdayverse.
Credit goes to Autumnschild for the editing.
Cover art is done by, and belongs to ifthemainecoon.

"The pieces are set, and the dice are in play. But does every pony have the heart for this day?"

Nearly two hundred years have passed since Rarity Belle merged with the Crystal Heart and took the throne of the Crystal Empire. Since then, through her care, determination, and vision, the Empire has flourished like never before. Now Empress Rarity stands as not a ruler of a providence, but the monarch of a rising superpower.

Today though, is the Empress' Birthday, and Lady Merry Sapphire, seneschal to the Empress, is determined to make this the best birthday Rarity has ever had. Little does she know that not everypony shares her enthusiasm for today...

Notes:
This is an official prequel to the Princess Twilight Sparkle's Birthday stories, created by Autumnschild. This story will develop and expand much of the world we made, but taking place 250 years before PTS500 and its sequel, PTS505. Due to its time gap and status as a prequel, you do not need to read the stories created by Autumnschild, and I have done my best to help that. However, knowing what happened in them will help you be a bit more aware of what is going on, and I encourage you to go read them for they are very enjoyable.

We now have our own group! Come check out the Birthdayverse!

Credit goes to Autumnschild for the proofreading for this story.
Razalon The Lizardman is credited for the grammatical overhaul.

Great thanks goes to these two, for this story would not be as good without them.

This story is a sequel to Changeling Courtship Rituals

Queen Chrysalis attacked Canterlot, brainwashed Twilight Sparkle's brother, kidnapped her former foalsitter, defeated her mentor in combat, and conquered her kingdom. She kidnapped the sisters of Twilight's friends, turned them against one another, and tried to drain all of Twilight's magic. Queen Chrysalis has, at every opportunity, done her very best to utterly destroy Twilight Sparkle's life.

For some reason, this has not caused the pony to fall in love with her.

However, due to Twilight's misunderstanding of changeling customs, it does mean they are now married. Twilight eventually managed to tell the Queen the truth, but she forgot that whether it's a kingdom or a heart, changelings conquer.

And since the changeling way of conquest didn't work, Chrysalis is determined to try the pony way. The only problem is, of course, she has no idea what that is. But she knows someone who does: Princess Cadance.

Now, with the absolutely sincere help of her mortal enemy, the pony she once locked in the caves beneath Canterlot while trying to steal her husband on their very wedding day, Queen Chrysalis is going to woo the sister-in-law of that very pony.

Surely this is the most perfect plan ever devised.

***

Proofread by ShutterflyYay.

Takes place roughly after season five (so Starlight Glimmer is running around occasionally)

This story is a sequel to Changeling Courtship Rituals

After many years of battle, Queen Chrysalis has finally defeated Twilight Sparkle.

To Twilight's surprise, she discovers that to changelings, this means they are now married. However, she has some thoughts about this...

***

A reboot/remake of Changeling Courtship rituals, where Twilight reacts in a much more normal way, rather than like a sitcom character.

For years, Twilight Sparkle and Queen Chrysalis have been at each other's throats. Both have experienced victory over the other, and both have experienced defeat. Out of all the creatures in Equestria, none despise each other the way the pony Princess and changeling Queen do. They seemed destined to remain locked in battle forever, or at least until one is finally dead at the hooves of the other. The cruel insults, the vicious loathing, and the powerful spells that have passed back and forth between them at each meeting have become the stuff of legend.

Imagine Twilight's surprise when she finds out changelings consider this dating.

And now they're married.

***

Sequel: Pony Courtship Rituals

***

Some beautiful fanart of the end of chapter three was done by Dmann892; you can see it here.

More awesome fanart, this time from chapter one.

Now with a TvTropes page (obligatory TvTropes warning goes here).

If you want a Russian translation, you can find it here.

There is now a reading of the story on Youtube, which starts here.

When Starlight Glimmer cast her spell and shattered the bonds connecting the Elements of Harmony, she inadvertently created a cosmic crack that would have further reaching consequences than she could ever imagine. The consequences of her actions rippled across time and space, shattering the very destiny of existence itself. The only thin string holding the universe together now is Twilight Sparkle, the representative of the Element of Magic and the Princess of Friendship. But with destiny already defied, how can she hope to pick up the pieces of a broken reality?
Well, starting with helping her other self might help.

Cover art created by myself. Shoutouts to Vebuzurr for being my proof-reader.