The smallest things can make the biggest changes in our lives.

A routine medical procedure reveals a previously unknown link between the King of the Changelings and the Prince of the Crystal Empire. With this knowledge now revealed to them both, will they find a way to contend with the change?

Or is it simply easier to keep things the way they are?

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Rated Teen for mentions and discussions of conception and paternity.

Thanks to happytime27 for the pre-read.

My entry in the My Little Pony Renaissance Contest.

Cover Art Borrowed from racingwolf.

Featured From 6-29-2021 to 7-4-2021. Thank you all.

“Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else.” ― George Orwell

The end of everything Twilight knew and loved allowed something else to seep into what was left of Equestria. Something that had long been forgotten by the only one who had the ability to understand it. To Twilight it is the most jarring, the harshest, and perhaps the most benevolent thing that she could ever imagine ...

Reality.

This story is a sequel to A Total Eclipse Of The Fun

Following the events of the second Return Day, Celestia and Luna made a pair of agreements. The second is that it's finally time to correct for a thousand years and more of almost totally nonexistent cooking skills. However, that's going to require teachers. And two very lucky ponies, the recently cross-promoted Solar head chef Anise Verum and her junior sous, Blending Stock, get to be the ones who instruct them.

There are lessons to be learned in that kitchen.

The first concerns how to survive explosions.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group: new members and trope edits welcome. This story is a sequel to A Total Eclipse Of The Fun, but it's not necessary to have read that one first.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Sun comes down, Moon goes up. Moon is lowered, Sun is raised. Ever since Discord was originally defeated, that has been the pattern, the heart of stability for life in Equestria, a celestial sign that ponies retain the helm.

But Luna remembers what life was like before, and the shards of beauty which could be found in chaos.

With the second anniversary of the Return approaching along with the associated holiday, Celestia wants to know if there's anything Luna would like to do in marking the occasion. And all Luna wants -- is an eclipse.

Other than Celestia and Luna, nopony has seen an eclipse in more than a thousand years.

This could be a problem.

(This story takes place along the general Triptych timeline, several moons before Luna's Lottery Lunacy.)

Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

For so long Discord has been unable to do something important, something that, while it might seem trivial to us mortals, is neigh-on unfathomable to a being such as he. Something, that is fundamental to the very existence of mortal beings, yet is so rare to those of a higher plane that it is virtually beyond comprehension. Then, by some random cosmic roll of the dice, Discord is finally give the chance to do something that he has so rarely had the chance to do before.

Discord was given a chance to make a choice, and this is where it led him.

*Commissioned by a close friend of mine after a 3-hour chat in the middle of the night*

A normal day was all it took.
A simple failed prototype, a missed experiment.
There was an explosion, and I woke up. I don't really know what happened between those two events, but I'm fairly certain I shouldn't have awoken in a small, dark box.

I'm scared.

Cover art by the amazing Avatar of Madness!

Due to a mix-up in the pantry, the jasmine tea that Princess Celestia orders for consumption with her breakfast turns out to be made out of coca leaf, instead.

A period of overwhelming bureaucratic efficiency, aggressive platonic affection, and mild insanity follows.

EDIT: Featured (briefly) 6/13/17! Thank you all!
EDIT: Featured at #1 6/14/17! WOW! Awesome, thank you all!

Summary

When the Goddess spoke to her, Celestia learned she was going to die. It was not the only knowledge she gained with the Goddess’s gift.

She learned that she was not the original Celestia, who had died more than a thousand years ago, right after concluding her bargain with the Goddess. The greatest achievement of her life.

She learned her true date of birth. Eleven years ago, seconds after a young filly named Rainbow Dash completed her first Sonic Rainboom.

She did not learn her true purpose. Yes, the Goddess had whispered it to her along with the other parts of Her gift, but Celestia had already known it. She always had.

Author's Note

Why does Celestia's personality change so much between seasons, going from a distant immortal goddess to an exhausted retiree aunt?

Why do Celestia's abilities go from omniscience and raising the sun to being helpless in a fight against an old has-been, a weird bug, and a racist child?

Why can't Celestia act to save her life?

Why is Equestria always being saved just in the nick of time?

Why exile Nightmare Moon for a thousand years?

What's up with Daybreaker?

Anyway, this is my headcanon for all that, and more. Enjoy!

Thanks to Reese and Fillyfoolish for feedback on the first draft.

Blog Post

At 3:15 AM, Adams woke me with a loud knock on my front door.
"Put your boots on," he said when I answered. "There's a biblical monster in my house."

* * *

A Visual Companion, by the author
Interview with the author, from the Royal Canterlot Library.
Audiobook by Robin Jacks and Wubcake.
Audiobook by Scribbler.
In-depth analysis by the Heroic Tales cast.
Literary Analysis by ScarletWeather.
Special thanks to GaryOak.
Reviews:
City of Doors
One Man's Pony Ramblings
PresentPerfect
Louder Yay
Between Lines
Bad Horse