AU in where Twilight is a dragon but still is Princess Celestia's student. Twilight has a more logical head on her shoulders and takes her job as a caretaker to Spike more seriously than canon.

motherly!Twilight, manipulative!Celestia

Idea sparked from Winter Quill's stories Growing Up With Scales and Sparkles and Scales

Cover art courtesy of Majestickfire9

Not Beta'ed, all mistakes my own. Don't like? Don't read. Cross-posted on ff.net under PlutoMilo

Now being rewritten: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/533926/the-element-of-magic

Six thousand years have passed since Empress Cosmos vanished from Equus. The realm she helped build is fracturing, destroying itself in a war none can remember the reason they fight for.

Only her Exarchs remember her at all now and the dream it once was. They have retreated from the world that has forgotten them and have families of their own.

But in the aftermath of the Breaking of the World, Amber will find a reason to hope again, and a distant dream of a better future is born.

A friend long gone has come home, and now they will wait for the day they can be reunited.

What if Twilight never became Celestias apprentice but instead she died as a child and became the adopted daughter of Death himself?

How will this new world grow with her destiny altered in such a way? Follow the adventures of a Twilight who lives a life among the dead while walking the world of the living as well.

Featured: 2/3/2021

Twilight Sparkle was merely sent to the caves beneath Canterlot in canon, but what if Chrysalis, who'd recieved a large power boost recently, and who'd realized that putting Cadance and Twilight in more or less the same place might be a bad idea, decided to use a spell she'd learned a long time ago, but never had the power to pull off. Twilight was sent to a parallel world. In this universe, or perhaps I should say multiverse, parallel worlds come in two flavors. 'Line' worlds, which are like parallel lines, never touching, even if they're an atom apart, and 'Mirror' worlds, which are essentially alternate worlds that closely resemble their counterpart, save for a couple differences. Now on a quest to return home, what adventures await Twilight? Note that this is a crossover, and I claim nothing in here for my own. I will mostly use video games and shorter anime as the worlds she'll visit, though OCs might exist.

Between the events of The Return of Harmony and Keep Calm and Flutter On, the daughter of a once-famous Equestrian Alchemist is discovered in the basement of her father's home, still alive and still young. Twilight must unravel the mystery as to what her father was up to, and why he imprisoned his only daughter.

After being banned from coming to the wedding, Twilight leaves Equestria and becomes a member of the Storm King's army. This allows Twilight to become close friends with Tempest as Twilight swiftly rises to the rank of 2nd Commander and is renamed Sparkle Shadow.

This story is a sequel to The Fallen Age

Long ago, before the rise of Equestria, long before the Three Tribes Era even, Equus grew and prospered under the rule of the seemingly immortal Empress Cosmos. For two thousand years, she and her five Exarchs guided the many races of the world into a better future.

And then, she vanished, and her name and all she had done was forgotten.

Ten thousand years have passed since that night. Her Exarchs have not been seen in millennia, and the few who do know of that time think they died long ago.

The civilization she helped create is now forgotten by most, destroyed in a war born of xenophobia. One that heralded the rise of the Three Tribes Era.

But now signs have begun to appear. A long-forgotten prophecy is about to be fulfilled. The once and future ruler of Equus is about to be reborn. But what does this have to do with Twilight Sparkle and the five new ponies who have just arrived in Ponyville?

In the far reaches of Canterlot Castle, high above in the towers lived the archmage. Everypony knew her, yet few had met her.

Twilight Sparkle sighed, having teleported away another noble seeking favors before reaching the top of the stairs for the second time today. They never learned. As the archmage, she already dealt with political squabbles far too often without inviting them into her home. Aside from personal favors for Celestia, she did what was required of her position and then returned to seclusion and research.

The nobility grumbled that no archmage should be a commoner, and Twilight’s disrespect toward them proved it. Each and every time they were forced to bow to her, they hated what they saw: the position, the status, the deference.

Was she not powerful? Was she not great?

Twilight, now reading through dusty scrolls and long forgotten tales, wrote in her notes — notes gathering dust of their own. A brief thought flashed through her mind.

Am I not powerful? Am I not great?

And then Twilight picked up The Tale of the Royal Pony Sisters.

Defunct side stories told in Across the Boundary. They can still provide a little context, but when in doubt, the main story here is canon.

Cover art provided by Lafiir

Twilight Sparkle has too much magic, and it will take her decades to learn to control it. Her spectacular loss of control during her entrance exam only proves that fact. She is a danger to herself and others.

After Sunset Shimmer’s disappearance, Princess Celestia needs a new student to bear The Element of Magic to defeat Nightmare Moon. With all of Equestria at stake, Twilight Sparkle…is not the pony she needs.

Princess Celestia seals Twilight Sparkle’s magic with the distant promise of one day teaching her.

But there are two diarchs of Equestria. Amidst a lucid dream, an offer is made.

“Hello, Twilight. Would you like to be my student?”

Cover art provided by Lafiir.

After reading a story to his little sister, Princess Celestia's student Shining Armor believes that the legendary Mare in The Moon is about to return. After disregarding his warning, the princess sends her student to a small town called Ponyville to look over preparations for The Summer Sun Celebration. There, he, his sister Twilight Sparkle, and young dragon companion Spike, meet some strange mares and odd fillies. How will he survive a town full of crazy ponies? And what will he do when it turns out he was right?

The story is inspired by the Twiley chapter of Crisis of Infinite Twilights written by Defender2222.

Now the first in what I'm calling The Shiny-verse